The Colombian rider Juan Mauricio Soler won the ninth stage of the Tour de France today as the field endured a brutal final day in the Alps.

Soler, riding for Barloworld, led over the intimidating Col du Galibier and held off a chasing pack of nine on the descent to Briancon to win by 38 seconds from Spaniard Alejandro Valverde. Michael Rasmussen kept hold of the yellow jersey as he came home a further four seconds adrift, increasing his advantage over the field to two minutes and 35 seconds. “I’m really happy … winning a stage is a dream,” said Soler.

But it was another disappointing day for pre-race favourite, Alexandr Vinokourov. The Astana rider, suffering from sickness, trailed Soler by three minutes and 32 seconds and crossed the line in tears with his dreams of winning the Tour effectively dashed. “I did what I could,” admitted a tearful Vinokourov. “The team worked well again and tried to reduce the gap. It was another horrible day for me.”

Earlier, the peloton endured a scary moment as an errant dog wandered out into the middle of the road. Several riders were forced to take evasive action before T-Mobile’s Marcus Burghadt crashed into the canine. Remarkably, neither animal nor cyclist were hurt and Burghadt was able to continue cycling after a change of bike.

Stage nine result

1. Mauricio Soler (Colombia / Barloworld ) 4hrs 14 mins 24″
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d’Epargne ) +38″
3. Cadel Evans (Australia / Predictor - Lotto )
4. Alberto Contador (Spain / Discovery Channel ) +40″
5. Iban Mayo (Spain / Saunier Duval ) +42″
6. Michael Rasmussen (Denmark / Rabobank )
7. Levi Leipheimer (U.S. / Discovery Channel )
8. Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg / T-Mobile ) +46″
9. Andreas Klцden (Germany / Astana ) +47″
10. Carlos Sastre (Spain / Team CSC )
11. Christophe Moreau (France / AG2R ) +54″
12. Mikel Astarloza (Spain / Euskaltel )
13. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine / Discovery Channel ) +1:32″
14. Juan Jose Cobo (Spain / Saunier Duval ) +1:36″
15. Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spain / Caisse d’Epargne ) +1:49″

Overall standings

1. Michael Rasmussen (Denmark / Rabobank ) 43 hrs 52 mins 48″
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d’Epargne ) +2:35″
3. Iban Mayo (Spain / Saunier Duval ) +2:39″
4. Cadel Evans (Australia / Predictor - Lotto ) +2:41″
5. Alberto Contador (Spain / Discovery Channel ) +3:08″
6. Christophe Moreau (France / AG2R ) +3:18″
7. Carlos Sastre (Spain / Team CSC ) +3:40″
8. Andreas Klцden (Germany / Astana ) +3:51″
9. Levi Leipheimer (U.S. / Discovery Channel ) +3:53″
10. Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg / T-Mobile ) +5:06″

The organisers of London 2012 may have foreseen some of the criticism they have received since unveiling the Olympic logo - variously derided as an uninspiring emblem, a puerile mess, an artistic flop.

But yesterday evening, they were forced to pull the promotional video for the new brand from the official website after complaints from a completely unexpected quarter - Britain’s epileptics.

In the two and a half minute animation, the logo comes alive, springing from athletes’ bodies and bouncing vividly across the city, and one flashing section has triggered seizures.

As the flow of complaints about the quality of the 400,000 brand gathered pace yesterday (the emblem was likened to a “broken swastika” and a “toileting monkey”), one viewer, Christopher Filmer, rang the BBC to say he suffered a seizure while watching the footage on television and his girlfriend had also suffered a fit and needed hospital treatment. “The logo came up on TV and I was thinking about the 2012 games and then I was out,” he told BBC London 94.9FM.

Last night it emerged that eight people had suffered seizures and several people had contacted the charity Epilepsy Action to say they had been affected. One section of the film, in which a diver plunges into a pool with a multicolour ripple effect, is thought to have triggered the seizures.

Graham Harding, a clinical neurophysiology expert who developed a test to measure photo sensitivity levels in TV material, said the video breached Ofcom regulations and should not be broadcast.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games pulled the animation from the site last night and said it was looking into it as a matter of urgency. “We have just been notified of the problem and we have taken immediate steps to remove the animation from the website,” a spokeswoman said. “We will now re-edit the film.”

She said a five-second section of the animation, rather than the logo itself, had prompted the problems.

Epilepsy Action said the images could affect the 23,000 people in the UK who have photosensitive epilepsy.

Iran and the US have agreed to hold a second round of talks about Iraq’s security, to follow up on a landmark meeting held in May, American officials said today.

“We think that given the situation in Iraq and given Iran’s continued behaviour that is leading to further instability in Iraq, that it would be appropriate to have another face-to-face meeting,” a US state department spokesman, Sean McCormack, told reporters.

He said no date had yet been arranged for the talks, which would be held in Baghdad.

The US has accused Iran of aiding Shia extremist groups in Iraq. In turn, Iran blamed the US-led invasion in 2003 for the sectarian violence between the majority Shias and the minority Sunnis.

“They need to stop supporting sectarian militias that are exacerbating sectarian tensions, they need to stop supporting EFP networks that pose a threat to our troops,” Mr McCormack said, referring to explosively formed penetrators, devices crafted to penetrate tanks and armoured vehicles.

With growing public impatience over his “surge” strategy, the US president, George Bush, recently agreed that the US and Iran, which have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, should start talking about stabilising Iraq.

But as the state department announced the further talks, there were signs that the hawkish vice-president, Dick Cheney, is winning the debate over military action against Tehran.

The Guardian reported yesterday that the shift followed an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the past month.

The White House claims that Iran, whose influence in the Middle East has increased significantly over the past six years, is intent on building a nuclear weapon and is arming insurgents in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

Mr Cheney, who has long favoured upping the threat of military action against Iran, is reportedly being resisted by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates.

Last year Mr Bush came down in favour of Ms Rice, who along with Britain, France and Germany has been putting a diplomatic squeeze on Iran. But at a meeting of White House, Pentagon and state department officials last month, Mr Cheney expressed frustration at the lack of progress and Mr Bush sided with him. “The balance has tilted. There is cause for concern,” a source told the Guardian.