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Tour de France - *Pau - Hautacam

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  1. 16:42 - Thanks so much for following our LIVE coverage of this eventful tenth stage to the Tour de France! Tomorrow is a rest day for us and Le Tour, but join us again on Wednesday for complete LIVE coverage of another day in the Pyrenees.

  2. 16:41 - For full results from stage ten paste the below link into your browser: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/tdf/std/ite_10.html

  3. 16:36 - The GC at the end of stage ten: 1. Cadel EVANS 42h29'09' 2. Frank SCHLECK 01" 3. Christian VANDEVELDE 38" 4. Bernhard KOHL 46" 5. Denis MENCHOV 57" 6. Carlos SASTRE 1'28" 7. Kim KIRCHEN 1'56" 8. Juan Jose COBO ACEBO 2'10" 9. Riccardo RICCO 2'29" 10. Vladimir EFIMKIN 2'32"

  4. 0km - Cunego and Valverde are going to cross together right behind Samuel Sanchez and Valjavec! The two men lose three minutes on their GC rivals today!!

  5. 0km - Kichen over on his own at 4'17" behind the winning time, he grabs his gut in despair... AND EVANS TAKES THE YELLOW JERSEY BY ONE SECOND!! Vandevelde is third!!

  6. 0km - Nibali across in 3'40" he may claim the white jersey, he is followed by Mikel Astarloza.....

  7. 0km - Ricco is the first across from the favourites at 2'18!! The gap between Evans and Frank Schleck is exactly 1'50" and if that is the exact gap, then Evans will be first with Schleck second on the exact same time!! We'll let you know as soon as we can confirm that.....

  8. 0km - Vandevelde pushes for the placing, moving to the front of the Evans group.....

  9. 0km - Kohl is fourth at 1'05" behind the winning time.....

  10. 0km - Frank Schleck crosses the line 28 seconds off pace!!

  11. 0km - Piepoli wins it, Cobbo is second!!!

  12. 0.5km - 500 metres to go, and Cobbo is riding right on Piepoli's wheel. Riccardo Ricco had promised a stage win for Piepoli today, and he again looks as good as his word....

  13. 1km - Evans is trying to pull back as much time as possible, as is Menchnov. They're sharing all of the work, but can they keep the CSC man out of yellow tonight by themselves?

  14. 1km - Frank Schleck is about 20 seconds behind the two leaders now.

  15. 1km - ONE KILOMETRE TO GO FOR PIEPOLI AND COBBO!!

  16. 1km - Evans has probably heard that Schleck is in trouble, and he launches a stunted attack to try to perhaps limit his losses. Not a real attack though. The favourites still bunched very much together and Menchov has moved to the front.

  17. 2km - Evans at 2'01 back and Kirchen at 3'21" back. Cunego at 4'46 back and slipping..... Schleck has lost site of his two Saunier Duval riders. We will possibly trade one Luxembourg rider in yellow for another at the end of this day, but there will be no Luxembourg stage winner. UNDER 2K TO RIDE!!

  18. 2km - THERE IT IS!! The Cobbo-Piepoli attack finally works!! We're looking at a Saunier Duval one-two, but not the one I predicted. Schleck is fading, but can he sustain enough of a lead to take the yellow jersey? Two kilometres to the finish line atop this brutal HC climb.

  19. 2km - Frank Schleck in the virtual Maillot Jaune now as he started the day 1'50" behind Evans and 1'56" behind Kirchen. Schleck could take the yellow jersey today!

  20. 3km - Cunego is finding a second wind, after passing Valverde he's now gone past Andy Schleck. The former Giro winner is really battling now, and is 4'29 to the leaders and two and a half minutes to the Evans group.

  21. 3km - That Evans group is keeping very tight. Nobody wants to make a mistake.

  22. 3km - Kirchen just hanging in there now, is 2'50 behind the three leaders and one minute behind Evans's group. Piepoli doing the work in front of Schleck right now.

  23. 5km - Piepoli joins Cobbo and Schleck is following for the time being. The Saunier Duval riders not able to drop their rival.

  24. 4km - Alejandro Valverde is being distanced from his group. He is losing his shot at the GC as we speak. Cunego passes him and the Spaniard jumps on the wheel of the Italian.

  25. 5km - Schleck is not going to be able to respond to Cobbo's attack, but Cobbo is starting to fade Piepoli and Frank now have him in their sites.

  26. 5km - The yellow jersey is 1'55 behind the leaders and 24 seconds behind the Evans group.

  27. 6km - Cobbo wants it on his own!! He's dropped his team-mate Piepoli and CSC's Frank Schleck and is going for the gold himself!!

  28. 6km - All of those ones still riding together, Evans, Sastre, Menchov, Ricco, Vandevelde looking good.

  29. 7km - Sastre really struggling!! Nobody wants to make a move, but Sastre is able to stay with the six-man Evans group.

  30. 6km - Piepoli and Cobbo are just dominating at the front of the lead group!! Schleck stays with, but Kohl and Efimkin are dropped.

  31. 7km - Kirchen was about to catch the Evans group... And Evans launched a shocking attack along with Mikel Astarloza.... That looks like it may be a bit of a bluff as Kirchen has lost site of that Evans group for the moment, and Evans has closed down the attack.

  32. 8km - Valverde's group includes Samuel Sanchez and Damiano Cunego, and Valverde is forced to do the work at the front as Pereiro and Arroyo have faltered after working so hard for their team leader.

  33. 9km - Kim Kirchen is completely isolated and is now 55 seconds back. As predicted, he will likely lose his yellow jersey today. The American Vandevelde looking brilliant.

  34. 9km - Nibali has joined the favourite group that includes Evans, Ricco, Sastre, and Vandevelde. The gap is 20 seconds up to the group of leading climbers.

  35. 9km - Cobbo attacks! We assume for Piepoli, but maybe for himself!!

  36. 9km - The five leaders are Efimkin, Kohl, Cobo, Piepoli, and Frank Schleck.

  37. 9km - VALVERDE WITH A MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION!!! He was off of his bike for a bit, and this is a disaster for Caisse D'Epargne!! Under 10km to go for the group of leaders!!

  38. 10km - Kohl and Cobbo try to join the three leaders!! Evans is starting to fade along with Sastre as this attack comes in..... Piepoli just riding Schleck's wheel as everything has been blown apart!

  39. 10km - Frank Schleck has gone off now, and he's followed by Piepoli and Efimkin!! Menchov is also struggling at the back. Cobbo, Evans, Menchov, Vandevelde, Kohl, and Sastre in a small bunch now as Riccardo Ricco appears to have been dropped as well!

  40. 10km - Sastre gives a stunted attack, which Menchov follows easily.

  41. 11km - Details of the Hautacam climb: 14.4 km, 7.2% average gradient, 1520m altitude, 10% high gradient.

  42. 11km - Kirchen is beginning to fade!!

  43. 12km - Piepoli moves to the front along with Frank Schleck as Di Gregorio is caught! Andy Schleck has been dropped, as Piepoli is setting a gruelling pace! Di Gregorio also dropped.....

  44. 12km - Our expert predictions today. Sean Kelly goes with Frank Schleck. Emma Davies goes with Denis Menchov. Carlton Cole goes with Cadel Evans.

  45. 12km - Jens Voigt continues to set a bruising pace at the front of the yellow jersey group!

  46. 12km - At the base of the climb the gap was 40 seconds, it's now 13 seconds. As expected, Freire also quickly falls off of the back.

  47. 13km - Cancellara gets a pat on the back from pretty much everyone as he slips off of the back of the yellow jersey group. What a day of work for the Swiss world time trial champion.

  48. 14km - THE HAUTACAM CLIMB BEGINS!! CSC still pushing hard.... Here's the lead group at the start of the climb: Evans, Sastre, Cancellara, Schleck, Schleck, Voigt (CSC), Kirchen, Duenas Nevado, Nibali, Fothen, Kohl, Menchov, Freire, Ricco, Cobo, Piepoli, Vandevelde, Astarloza, Dupont, Efimkin, Goubert, Roy and Duque.

  49. 15km - Gap down to 1'15" for the yellow jersey bunch. Evans just sitting comfortably in the middle of that group, to the displeasure of Phil Bedford. Phil writes: "I know its early, but he really REALLY needs to start taking control of this race and show the pretenders who's boss." He also laments the Australian's cajones, or lack thereof. Compared to Valverde he's got cajones in spades.

  50. 17km - Approaching the Hautacam, Di Gregorio's gap is down to two minutes exactly. Oscar Pereiro is working hard for Valverde. He's doing all of the work at the front. Who knows where he would be if he didn't have to work for Vavlerde? The gap between the group of favourites and Valverde's group is two minutes!

  51. 19km - About 20 men in the yellow jersey group, including five CSC boys! Cancellara, Voigt, Schleck, Schleck, Sastre (all CSC), Freire, Evans, Vande Velde, Efimkin, Cobo, Menchov, Kirchen, Ricco, etc.

  52. 21km - The gap from Di Gregorio to the yellow jersey group is 3'09" and the gap to Valverde is 4'41". The world time trial champion Cancellara is still doing a lot of the work at the front of the group and doing some more serious damage to Valverde/Cunego! Bjarne Riis has played his tactics brilliantly today, as usual, setting it up so that Cancellara was in the initial break-away so that he would eventually be in this lead group. Shear genius!

  53. 22km - The Casise D'Epargne group is desperate to get back now, and they are being distanced further!!

  54. 23km - Cancellara now doing much of the work at the front of that CSC/yellow jersey group. The Schleck brothers and Carlos Sastre are in very, very good position, but who is going to benefit from all of that work?

  55. 24km - The gap between the Vavlerde group and the yellow jersey is up to 1'10"!!

  56. 25km - The gap is down to 4'30 and falling fast. CSC still taking back time from Di Gregorio. Arroyo and Pereiro are working hard to lead that train of the second group of favourites, much to the chagrin of Regina Reinke. Sorry that you're not have such a good day Regina.

  57. 26km - Gap is down to 5'20" Stefan Schumacher and Damiano Cunego have rejoined the Valverde group by the way. Good for them, but they've shown some real weakness.

  58. 30km - De Gregerio's lead is down to 2'25" over the three chasers Dupont, Roy and Duque and 6'03" over the favourite group, which now includes 16 riders including Nibali and Freire. Valverde is only 15 seconds back, but he has shown himself incredibly vulnerable for the final climb.

  59. 30km - Valverde is 25" down on the yellow jersey group now. That gap had reached 55 seconds.

  60. 33km - De La Fuente still leads the polka dot jersey classifications, but Ricco is just eight points back now.

  61. 34km - Oscar Freire has been caught by the yellow jersey group.

  62. 38km - This is a very fast descent. We'll let you know if the Caisse D'Epargne guys can pull back any time.

  63. 44km - The mountain points back at the summit of the Tourmalet: 1. Di Gregorio 20pts 2. Roy 18pts - at 2'10" 3. Dupont 16pts 4. Duque 14pts 5. Fothen 12pts - at 3'10" 6. Cancellara 10pts - at 3'45" 7. Freire 8pts - at 4'30" 8. Ricco 7pts - at 6'00" 9. Voigt 6pts 10. Sastre 5pts

  64. 46km - As the first man over the Tourmalet, Di Gregorio pockets 5000 euros for the Jacques Goddet prize. Cha-Ching!

  65. 48km - A very steep descent is proving exceedingly dangerous, as a Lampre man Sylvester Szmyd nearly crashes on a sharp angle and one of the motorbikes hits the side of the mountain in a bad looking crash! We hope that everyone there is safe and okay.

  66. 50km - The 14-man lead group: Voigt, Sastre, Menchov, Cobo, Evans, Efimkin, Kohl, Schleck, Schleck, Ricco, Piepoli, Kirchen, Vandevelde and Duenas Nevado.

  67. 50km - Ricco blasts off the front with ease to take the extra mountain points. The main bunch six minutes behind the leading Frenchman. Valverde is shielded by some Caisse D'Epargne team-mates, including Pereiro, and he crosses just 40 seconds behind the yellow jersey group. He could catch the leaders on this descent now....

  68. 50km - Stefan Schumacher was also dropped, we should add, as this 14-man group of favourites and climbers nears the summit. Cobo and Ricco moving to the front.

  69. 50km - The favourite group is down to 14 men.

  70. 50km - Ricco and Juan Jose Cobo still there for Saunier Duval. Andy Schleck also there with his Luxembourg compatriot Kim Kirchen, who wants to keep his yellow jersey!

  71. 50km - David Arroyo fading badly as the Caisse D'Epargne riders are the biggest victims of this move by CSC. Christina Vandevelde is surviving with his former CSC team-mates as Jens Voigt is just destroying the field!!

  72. 50km - Jens Voigt is putting the hammer down, but Menchov, Evans, and Kirchen are surviving..... Valverde continues to fade!!

  73. 50km - DI GREGORIO OVER THE TOP FIRST! He takes 20 points and his gap is about 6'30.

  74. 50km - VALVERDE IS FADING!! This is a deadly effort by CSC!! We'll let you know what happens to the Spanish star.

  75. 50km - Roman Kreuziger and Sandy Casar are starting to fall back, as well as Damiano Cunego!! What a stunning turn of events, as CSC are just killing people at the front. Cunego had struggled from the start of this Tour, but came into today's stage with some added confidence. This could be the deathblow to his Tour if he loses out some more time today....

  76. 51km - Rémy Di Gregorio (Française des Jeux) is nearing the summit of Tourmalet alone! He has been one of the biggest French hopes for a while and even when he fails to reach Hautacam in the lead (we cannot see him making it there alone), this will still be considered a very good day for him by his countrymen. The peloton is 7'09 back now.

  77. 53km - Chuck O'Ceallaigh from Gilford, New Hampshire has just written in with this prediction: "Call me crazy but I think Valverde is playing a sly and sneaky game. He will surprise many. What better way than to win the stage on Bastille Day in the Basque region! Vive le Tour." I am one of those who is in the Valverde camp, and has been in his camp since he won stage 10 of the 2005 Tour from Lance atop Courcheval. We know a lot has happened since then, but still believe Valverde has something special in him.

  78. 54km - Di Gregorio is 5 kilometres to the summit of the Tourmalet. The Frenchman is 1'10 ahead of his ex-escape companions and 7'40 ahead of the yellow jersey bunch. Kim Kichen holding out well on this first climb by the way.

  79. 55km - Cancellara, Dupont, Fothen, Roy and Duque still riding well together, although it looks like Freire has been dropped off of the lead group. Di Gregerio is still off on his own, and the yellow jersey group is still 7'47 back. I can't imagine the Frenchman will survive the next 55 kilometres with the HC summit finish at Hautacam all by himself, though it would make for a very cheerful Bastille Day for the French faithful.

  80. 55km - Yaroslav Popovych and big George Hincapie being distanced now! Those are two less foot soldiers for Cadel Evans, as the CSC riders are doing some major damage at the front!

  81. 55km - Haimar Zubeldia is really suffering!! And again IN YOUR FACE WALKER!!! The Euskaltel man is stuck in Erik Zabel's group. HA!

  82. 55km - CSC have pulled Txurruca back. The favourites riding very tightly together now, with the CSC boys looking very strong in front! They've got several notable contenders today (Voigt, the Schlecks, and Sastre), but as Christian Vandevelde noted at the start of the day is it a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians?

  83. 56km - Jufre and De La Fuente riding together now in a small group of stragglers that includes big Norwegian sprint star Thor Hushovd.... And Sylvain Chavanel has slipped back into that group! Bad news for Les Bleus on Bastille Day.

  84. 57km - David De La Fuente has fallen off of the back of the peloton. Anyone who included him in their Fantasy Team for the Pyrenees has to be an absolute fool, wouldn't you think? IN YOUR FACE WALKER!!

  85. 57km - Jens Voigt has taken his position at the front of the main peloton in front of apparent team leader Carlos Sastre and another CSC guy and one of the Saunier Duval men. A lot of people who wrote in today thought this would be Bjarne Riis's squad's time to shine.

  86. 58km - The two riders who have escaped out of the peloton are Txurruca (Euskaltel) and Augustyn (Barloworld), who have about 45 seconds on the main peloton, which is still eight minutes off pace.

  87. 59km - The Saunier Duval guys have been caught, by the way, and the main bunch is riding pretty much together at this point.

  88. 59km - The six escape riders have actually managed to stay pretty much together as Di Gregorio made his solo move.

  89. 59km - The peloton really being thinned out as a Barloworld rider (Not last year's polka dot jersey Mauricio "MC" Soler, who abandoned this Tour early on), launches an attack.

  90. 60km - Remy Di Gregorio has gone off of the front of the escape group, as he goes for this on his own. The gap is still at eight minutes. The rest of the break-away splitting up.

  91. 62km - Saunier Duval really attacking hard to try to force a bunch of the slower riders off of the lead of the peloton. Josep Jufre doing much of the work to try to split the stragglers off.

  92. 64km - First atop this climb since 1980 - 1980: Raymond Martin (Fra) 1983: Patrocinio Jimenez (Col) 1985: Pello Ruiz-Cabestany (Esp) 1986: Dominique Arnaud (Fra) 1988: Laudelino Cubino (Esp) 1989: Robert Millar (Sco) 1990: Miguel Martinez-Torres (Esp) 1991: Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) 1993: Tony Rominger (Sui) 1994: Richard Virenque (Fra) 1995: Richard Virenque (Fra) 1997: Javier_Pascual-Rodriguez (Esp) 1998: Alberto Elli (Ita) 1999: Alberto Elli (Ita), 2001: Sven Montgomery (Sui) 2003: Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) 2006:David De La Fuente (Esp)

  93. 65km - Remember who is still part of that lead group: Cancellara (CSC), Dupont (AG2R), Fothen (Gerolsteiner), Freire (Rabobank), Di Gregorio, Roy (Française des Jeux), Duque (Cofidis).

  94. 67km - THE LEADERS HIT THE FIRST BIG CLIMB OF THIS YEAR'S TOUR! The HC Col du Tourmalet (17.7km long with an average gradient of 7.5% and an altitude of 2,115m) The gap is 8'45.

  95. 69km - Well Richard, who picks the teams has been a source of massive contention between the International Cycling Union and Tour de France organisers for quite some time now. Most of the teams are part of the 18-squad UCI ProTour, but not all UCI Pro teams were invited with the notable exclusion of Astana this year. That is because, last year Tour organisers broke away from the UCI ProTour when the intentionally excluded the Unibet squad from racing in Paris-Nice and the Tour de France among other events. The precedent set in 2007 is that the Tour picks the teams, and the UCI whines about it.

  96. 69km - Richard Hoskins of Didcot has written in with this question and prediction: "Who chooses the teams that ride in the Tour and how do they qualify? I remember watching Team Tinkoff in the Giro earlier this year but there not in the Tour. I know about the Astana ruling on the tour but how and who chooses, which team rides in which races? As for today, I think Menchov and Evans are going to be up there showing there Mustard on the climbs."

  97. 70km - Freire filling up on what we can only assume is a Powersauce bar (Get sauced with Powersauce) as the leaders stroll through the feed zone. Gap up to 7'59.

  98. 72km - As long as we're shamelessly promoting away, we'd like to remind you that you can actually watch every stage of this year's Tour de France LIVE on your PC for a marginal fee (4.90 euros for a month's subscription to Eurosport) through our Eurosport Player. Paste the below link into your browser to have a peek: http://player.eurosport.co.uk/

  99. 73km - Gap up to 6'34. WALKER has just predicted a Popo surprise today. I don't mind that pick one bit (Yaroslav is in my GC team for Fantasy), but am going to stick by the Italian one-two of Piepoli-Ricco.

  100. 73km - Russian Yury Troffimov abandons this race. Our first of the day.

  101. 75km - Gap up to 5'24 and climbing.

  102. 76km - My Fantasy team today features the likes of Valverde, Ricco, Piepoli, Kirchen, Astarloza, and Nibali. Four of those guys paid big dividends for me yesterday, and I'm slowly closing the gap on my arch-rival and managing editor WALKER. Get in on the best Fantasy Tour de France game on the planet (FACT), by pasting the below link into your web browser: http://fantasy.tour-de-france.eurosport.com/default.aspx

  103. 77km - The gap to the peloton is up to 4'33 and the gap to Bichot is 1'45.

  104. 81km - Freddy Bichot is giving chase to try to bridge the gap and add some French interest to today's break-away.

  105. 81km - Points at the Pouzac intermediate sprint: 1. Oscar Freire 6pts 2. Leonardo Duque 4pts 3. Jeremy Roy 2pts. The former world champion Freire has earned his green jersey for the end of the day (depending on Kirchen's finish on the final climb of course).

  106. 81km - Hushovd long ago gave up hope of catching the break-away before this Pouzac intermediate sprint.

  107. 82km - Everyone expects the yellow jersey Kim Kirchen to lose his overall lead now that we're in the truly high mountains. Here is what the Columbia man told us before the start of today's stage: "It is a long stage, it is a classic, and the last climb is going to be a tough one. I think Valverde and Evans, who went down yesterday, had a bump yesterday so they will be nursing themselves. My goal is not to lose any time."

  108. 82km - Gap up over two minutes and climbing.

  109. 83km - After that Cat. 3 climb the lead of the seven remaining escapees, Freire, Roy, Di Gregorio, Fothen, Cancellara, Dupont and Duque, has soared over one minute and 30 seconds.

  110. 88km - Thor Hushovd, hoping to prevent Oscar Freire from taking more points out of him at the intermediate sprints, is trying to bridge the gap up to the escape group now.

  111. 89km - Points at the top of the Cat. 3 Loucrup climb: 1. Leonardo Duque 4pts 2. Remy Di Gregorio 3pts 3. Markus Fothen 2pts 4. Jeremy Roy 1pt

  112. 89km - The gap at the summit is 31 seconds.

  113. 91km - The leaders hit the Loucrup ascent (2km, average gradient of 6.9%). Freire, Roy, Di Gregorio, Fothen, Cancellara, Dupont and Duque move to the front as the rest of the escape begins to fade. Gap at 40 seconds.

  114. 93km - Duncan Rimmer sends his prediction in and notes that Wegmann is one of the few riders, as a Gerolsteiner rider, who uses electronic gears. As Dunc says, not a good endorsement. His prediction is the same as mine, a Piepoli Ricco one-two.....

  115. 95km - Without men in the break-away, Milram and Garmin-Chipotle are still sharing the work at the front of the peloton.

  116. 98km - The gap is now falling fast, and it's down to 35 seconds.

  117. 106km - The average speed in the first hour of riding was 44.4Km/h.

  118. 106km - The gap now at exactly one minute as it continues to bounce up and down.

  119. 108km - Valverde's response to whether or not he was concerned about today's final climb after struggling in the Pyrenees yesterday: "It was fine yesterday, my feeling was good, it was a first climb stage. We won't be allowing Ricco to go away again today, that's for sure. [As for the Hautacam] it's not fear, it's respect. I've got to respect the mountain."

  120. 110km - What did the two Caisse D'Epargne men themselves have to say about the Pereiro v Valverde debate? Our reporters caught up with them at the start of today's stage. Here's what the 2006 champion had to say (he did appear slightly peeved): "It's going to be a bit of a different one with the more than difficult climbs. There are going to be some big, big gaps out there. Yesterday Ricco was strong, but I don't think the favourites are going to allow him to get off today. I'm helping [Alejandro Valverde] of course, but I have to see what my opportunities are."

  121. 112km - The points at the Lamarque-Pontacq sprint: 1. Freire 6pts 2. Feillu 4 pts 3. Pozzato 2 pts. So Oscar Freire, who is wearing the green jersey but was not leading the points classification at the start of the day, does take the points lead from Kim Kirchen who is in danger of losing both of his jerseys today. The Spaniard nearly ran over Feillu in that intermediate sprint, and the Frenchman tried to apologise for getting in his way but the Rabobank man was having nothing of it.

  122. 112km - A near crash in the peloton from Danny Pate in one of those sharp winding roads through Lamarque-Pontacq.

  123. 114km - The Pereiro v Valverde debate heats up. Regina writes: "My prediction is that if they tell Pereiro Sio again to stay behind and pull this useless Valverde I stop watching this tour. I'm still very upset about yesterday :( And it's not the first time it happened. Need I say, that I really would Like to see Oscar Pereiro Sio winning?"

  124. 116km - Points at the summit of the Cote de Benejacq: 1. De La Fuente 4pts. 2. Pozzato 3pts. 3.Duque 2pts. 4.Fredrigo 1pt.

  125. 116km - As the peloton goes over the summit of the day's first climb, the gap is 1'14.

  126. 117km - Cav, meanwhile, is receiving medical attention from the Columbia team car, for that little scrape on his elbow. Again, it doesn't look like anything very serious.

  127. 117km - David De La Fuente has gone over the top first, attacking late to shore up his polka dot jersey.

  128. 119km - Just to put a little bit more teeth into my prediction, I am going to go with Piepoli. He and his compatriot will help lift each other to incredible heights today, with Ricco moving into GC contention and Piepoli taking the stage win.

  129. 120km - The Cote de Benejacq begins. It's 2.6km with an average gradient of 6.9 percent and Fedrigo is moving to the front of the escape group on this opening climb.

  130. 122km - Milram are pushing the pace at the front of the peloton, as they do not have a single rider in this early break-away and are obviously not pleased with that situation. The gap, "yo-yoing" as David Harmon puts it, between about 50 seconds and 1'10.

  131. 125km - A lot of Riccardo Ricco fans chiming in that they think he's going to take a third stage win today, and a couple think his team-mate Leonardo Piepoli will take the spoils. I am going to go with the Italian today..... And if I have to be more specific, I will say that the Saunier Duval man is going to win it...

  132. 126km - Gap drops to 1'12.

  133. 129km - Wegmann has been suffering from a mechanical issue, apparently with his gears as he seems unable to shift from the big chainring. The German has to pull over to the side of the road and change bikes, and is furiously trying to work his way back into the break-away.

  134. 130km - Cadel Evans, not known for his loquaciousness, played down his hopes in our pre-race interview today referring to that same crash Claire talked about. The Australian told our reporters this: "I'm just happy to be able to make the start today, as for the race, we'll see what happens."

  135. 131km - Clare Fogarty from Ireland writes this: "I think it'll will be interesing to see how Columbia fare out, having given so much on the first few days, I hope they haven't burnt themselves out! Also, what about Cadal Evans? The team around him aren't exactly the top notch climbers and he'll be hurting after that tumble yesterday!"

  136. 133km - Good news sports fans, Mark Cavendish has worked real hard and has now returned to the peloton.

  137. 133km - The gap is fairly stable at 1'40.

  138. 136km - Cliff Wilson enjoyed Blazin' Saddles. He writes: "Speculation or not, I reckon Pereiro would be a good bet for the overall win - much better than the unreliable Valverde. Ricco reminds me a lot of Rasmussen - and we know what happened to him (not that I'm suggesting anything untoward). Good article today - thanks." Air your views by reading another exciting edition of Blazin' Saddles!

  139. 137km - Felix devotes the first half of his "Blazin' Saddles" column today to the only former Tour winner in the peloton, Oscar Pereiro. Read all about it by pasting the below link into your web browser: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/14072008/58/tour-de-france-blazin-saddles-radio-ga-ga.html

  140. 138km - Our friend Felix Lowe, who spent the weekend in this very chair, has written in with his prediction: "I'm going for Ricco to do it again. He just looks so strong. That said, it's about time CSC raised their game a little so expect an attack from one of the Schlecks or Sastre. Evans will suffer after his crash yesterday and he'll hold the wheel and lose a bit of time. Kirchen will not finish in yellow, that's for sure. I expect Valverde to lose time too, with Pereiro finally coming to the fore. On verra, as they say in France."

  141. 140km - The full composition of the escape group: Popovych, Cancellara, Gutierrez, Burghardt, Augustyn, Cheula, Pozzato, Le Mevel, Tosatto, Dupont, Fothen, Lang and Wegmann, Feillu, Vogondy, Freire, Fedrigo, Chavanel, Di Gregorio, Roy, Bertogliati, De La Fuente, and Duque.

  142. 141km - Bad news for both British and American fans. Double stage winner Mark Cavendish has crashed with Danny Pate, who did brilliantly in the opening time trial last week. Cav looks to have hurt his elbow, but it doesn't seem too serious.

  143. 141km - Another one writes off Valverde, and he adds the yellow jersey Kim Kirchen. Graham Potts writes: "I am going with Ricardo Ricco for todays stage. I just cannot see anyone sticking with him if he accelerates like yesterday. I also think this stage will be the undoing of both Kirchen and Valverde, there weaknesses will be show cased and Evans wheel sucking will commence."

  144. 142km - A puncture for Columbia's Adam Hansen, who has changed his wheel and is now rolling to rejoin the peloton.

  145. 142km - Yesterday's long solo artiste Sebastien Lang is also in that group, which Auge is now trying to join as he bursts out of the peloton.

  146. 143km - A very decent group of climbers in the attack group helped build a lead of 35 seconds. Among the 24 men, some of the notable names are Freire, former white jersey Yaroslav Popovych, polka dot jersey David De La Fuente, German climber Fabian Weggman, world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, former Milan-San Remo winner Filippo Pozzato and Frencmen Nicolas Vogandy and Pierrick Fedrigo.

  147. 147km - Jackson Robert writes in, and writes off Alejandro Valverde after his minor struggles yesterday: "Its going to be a day of broken bodyÂ’s and broken hearts, It will give us a good indication on who is a contender today , Team CSC should have a go today they have been very quiet, I imagine Ricco wants another stage , but I cant see them letting him get away today, Sastre the schleck brothers will go on the attack. Vaverde is out of the picture they dshould put the team behind Pereiro."

  148. 148km - A group of about 20 riders, including Vogandy and Cheula, have gone a bit clear now, but the peloton is still very much within the sites of the escapees. The escape group includes the man in the green jersey, Oscar Freire, who is just keeping the points jersey warm for the overall leader Kim Kichen, who is of course wearing the yellow jersey today. Freire only trails Kirchen by four points, though, so in theory he could legitimately take the green jersey by scoring on the intermediate sprints today. That must be his big idea here.

  149. 149km - One of the Barloworld guys, Giampaolo Cheula, has gone off the front, and it looks like the French national road champion Nicolas Vogandy has joined him. A few other riders try to bridge the gap as well.

  150. 153km - Euskaltel's Mikel Astarloza was involved with one of those early failed attacks. The French guys, meanwhile, are just going to keep going for it at the start. None successful just yet.

  151. 155km - Antony Birt raises a good point: "Who would bet against a few frenches attempts today as it Bastille day. I reckon a group of French riders breaking away before the climbs. Who do you think?" Well, Tommy Voeckler already gave a stunted try, before failing, and I wouldn't surprised if he tried to get in there again along with Auge, who also launched an initial attack.

  152. 156km - And they're off!! The real start given at 13:05 local time (12:05 BST), and immediately the French riders attack, led by Cofidis's Auge.

  153. ----- - In short, my prediction: PAIIIIIIIIIIIN! What's your prediction? Email jstahl@eurosport.com to let us know.

  154. ----- - And the second half today is where the good stuff happens. Starting at the village of Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, the Tourmalet climb (KM 106), the first HC or out of category climb of this year's race, lasts 17.7 km with an average gradient of 7.5%. Then there is a 36km descent before the final climb, the 14.4 km (7.2% average gradient) ascent to the finish line in Hautacam at 1520m altitude. Some portions of that final climb reach as high as 10% gradient.

  155. ----- - Let's take a brief look at today's route. The first half is very rolly with some flat and uphill passages, including two Category three climbs, Benejacq (KM 38,5) and Loucrup (KM 67), and two intermediate sprints.

  156. 12:00 - Since 1930 the Tour de France has passed through Pau 62 times.

  157. 11:55 - Superb weather out there today for Bastille Day as the sun is shining brightly during the calm roll through the neutral zone. The temperature is a warm 21 degrees Celsius.

  158. 11:50 - FICTIONAL START GIVEN: The real start will be given in about 15 minutes.

  159. ----- - American Christian Vandevelde (Garmin-Chipotle), third at the start of the day, said this: "I think I can keep the place today, I think if I have a good ride, I can keep my place and maybe even move up. I'm going to leave it all on the road today. The rest day is tomorrow, and everyone's just going to go for it today. NothingÂ’s going to be left behind. [As for my former team-mate Frank and Andy Schleck] it's just a matter of who's working for who, though, there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians [in my former CSC team]."

  160. ----- - Two-time Tour of Spain victor Denis Menchov said this: "Every finale if it comes to a climbing finish is tough, but I think this is going to be the most difficult. I'm feeling reasonably good at the moment, we'll see how it goes. It's difficult to say the tactics to be honest, we'll see the situation of the race when we get to that moment. Today, it's not about following for me, it's about going for it."

  161. ----- - Riccardo Ricco's team-mate Leonardo Piepoli, who the stage nine victor predicted would win today, said this: "I hope to work today with Ricco helping me. This is the first real climbing stage today. I finished fifth in the Hautacam a couple years ago, so I know it. It's just about the same difficulty as the Alp D'Huez."

  162. ----- - Our reporters just caught up with former Giro winner Damiano Cunego at the start line. Here's what the Lampre man, who has struggled so far, has to say: "My main goal today is to arrive with the leaders today. It's going to be a huge test, my main goal is to stay with Cadel Evans and Carlos Sastre up there. I'm just going to try and stay calm and get a good roll going out there. Anything's possible."

  163. ----- - Allons enfants de la Patrie, Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! Hello folks, and welcome to this critical 10th stage of the Tour de France, which just happens to take place on the 14th of July, otherwise known as Bastille Day! This 156 kilometre journey from Pau to Hautacam, which starts from 12:05 British Standard Time, features two HC climbs and could include our first attacks by the big GC contenders!