16:16 - The new GC: 1. Frank SCHLECK 68h30'16'' 2. Bernhard KOHL +07'' 3. Cadel EVANS +08'' 4. Carlos SASTRE +49'' 5. Denis MENCHOV +1'13'' 6. Christian VANDEVELDE +3'15'' 7. Kim KIRCHEN +3'23'' 8. Alejandro VALVERDE +4'11'' 9. Samuel SANCHEZ +4'38'' 10. Tadej VALJAVEC +5'23''

0km - Vandevelde and Kreuziger cross together about two minutes behind the yellow jersey group!! The American and Czech are the other big losers today.

0km - No one's been able to attack the yellow jersey, as Menchov and Kirchen have definitely lost a bit of time.

0km - CYRIL DESSEL WINS IT!! Then Casar, then Arroyo, and Popovych!! Hincapie leads the next group at 25 seconds back, but the winner is the AG2R man....

1.3km - Popovych launches his attack!! Casar follows.... There's a sharp right hand turn coming up shortly before the ride straight in.....

2km - Menchov has lost 34 seconds on the yellow jersey group!! All from this descent!

5km - With five kilometres to go, the four leaders have about 30 seconds on the chasing trio, and 1'34" on Sanchez, and 1'45" on the yellow jersey group.

9km - Sanchez continues to build a gap, but it's only about seven seconds over the Maillot Jaune group, who are 1'45" behind the four men who will likely contest the stage win.

12km - They continue to slowly, cautiously wind their ways down this massive mountain. Cunego was actually with the yellow jersey, it was his Lampre team-mate Szmyd who was stuck with Kirchen and Menchov.

15km - Menchov has slipped back to Cunego and Kirchen in this descent, and he has really let the gap go.

17km - Sanchez is descending like a hawk, and Kohl is as well, as the Austrian is sniffing the yellow jersey possibly! What a great descent! Kirchen is just trying to keep pace.....

18km - Gap down 1'38".

22km - Augustyn has gone straight over the barrier!!!!! The South African goes sliding down the gravel!!! Insane!! His bike is gone, and he is able to climb back up the mountain on all fours like a frog!! He is desperate to find his bike, but that shows the risks of this descent.

23km - Augustyn follows in the footsteps of Robert Millar and goes over the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond first!

23km - AUGUSTYN ATTACKS!! The South African from Barloworld makes a move for the points, or maybe more, about a half a kilometre from the summit!

24km - Gap up to 2'08" with Voigt still putting the hammer down for CSC. Kirchen still riding at the back of the yellow jersey group, right behind Sanchez.

24km - Maxime Monfort being taken in by the yellow jersey group. Nibali and Kreuziger are not there though, so there could be a change in the white jersey classification.

24km - Voigt is doing a turn at the front of the yellow jersey group, as Chris Froome is being passed by the yellow jersey.

25km - Valverde makes a move, but Sastre and Kohl easily follow him, Kim Kirchen is being distanced and Kohl counter-attacks.... Gap down to 2'45" but Kirchen is the only one who is dropped.... Temporarily, as Schleck moves back to the front with the pace slowing and Kirchen is allowed to return to the yellow jersey group.

27km - Dessel overtakes Schumacher, who could still stay with this lead group who could contest the stage if they can hold off the yellow jersey long enough. The gap to the big boys is 3'22". No one considering an attack in the yellow jersey group, with L'Alpe-D'Huez still to come tomorrow.

27km - Gap from Schumacher to the peloton is 3'50".

28km - Schumacher looks like he's getting a bit of a second wind, but the gap is only 24 seconds to the nine chasers.

30km - Gap to Valjavec group is 30 seconds, and to the yellow jersey is 4'30".

32km - Kim Kirchen has managed to stay with the group of favourites along with Evans, Sastre, the Schleck brothers, Samuel Sanchez, Valverde, Kohl, and Menchov. But Vandevelde and Efimkin have both been dropped!

33km - Stage 11 victor Kurt-Asle Arvesen has been caught by the Maillot Jaune group and is now working hard for his captains as CSC just continue to show their depth.

33km - The chasers are one minute from Schumacher, and 4'55" ahead of the yellow jersey group, which has just dropped Efimkin.

34km - Gap to the yellow jersey is down to 6'40" for Schumi. Still a ways to go.

34km - Having done his part for CSC, Gustov falls off the back of the yellow jersey group. Still a lot of riders in that bunch.

35km - The chasers are just two minutes behind Schumacher, while the yellow jersey group is 7'45" back.

36km - Gap to the yellow jersey group is down to 8'08" as CSC is really powering things at the front of that group. We were mistaken when we were earlier reported that Astarloza and Carrara had been caught, but they are still riding in between the two main chase groups along with Flecha and Txurruka.

37km - Bernhard Kohl's Gerolsteiner team-mate Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) has joined CSC to do some work at the front of the peloton, which is just being steadily thinned out.

38km - Haimar Zubeldia is being distanced now as is Philippe Gilbert. The heat has to start playing a factor at this point.

40km - Zabel (Milram), Dupont (AG2R) are dropped by the peloton.

41km - Schumi has three minutes on the first chase group and 10'33" on the yellow jersey group.

43km - Andy Cripps wrote in earlier with the unlikely prediction of Pozzato "(dont ask me why!?!)", and wouldn't you know it the former Milan-San Remo winner is riding at the front of the peloton at the start of this ascent! He is putting in a big effort with the CSC team, working for white jersey Vincenzo Nibali, and will likely fall back eventually.

45km - Schumacher has started the final Bonette climb. The first ten kilometres of this climb vary between 3 and 7% gradient, with a majority of the first half at 5-6%. The following 7 km has an average gradient of 7.5%. The final two kilometres have an average gradient of 9% and a maximum gradient of 9.5%.

48km - Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Pate (Garmin) struggled on the first tiny ascent that precedes the Bonette and were subsequently dropped from the Cunego-Valjavec group.

51km - The Cunego-Valjavec gruppeto is now 5'05" behind Schumacher. The peloton is 11'45" off of the Gerolsteiner rider's pace. With a 6'40" split between the chasers and the peloton, Valjavec (AG2R) is now the virtual yellow jersey after starting the day at 6'27" behind Frank Schleck. Very interesting.....

52km - The gap to the Cunego group is six minutes, which means he has more than five and a half minutes on the yellow jersey group. The Italian stands to make up some serious time today....

55km - Gap up to 11'13"

58km - Mike Hutchings was asking whether or not we think Schumacher will stay away. Well, we just walked over and got the opinion of former Tour champion Stephen Roche, who said flatly "no." Rochey added that Schumi would need ten minutes on his rivals heading into this final climb, which he won't likely have, adding that CSC are liable to make up some time prior to the start of this ascent.

63km - A puncture for Cancellara who needs to change his wheels in the middle of this fast descent. He had been doing much of the work for CSC in the peloton.

67km - The Cunego group has shrunk to 26.

84km - The peloton goes over the top at 9'20" behind Schumacher.

84km - CSC still in charge at the front of the peloton, which nears the summit.

84km - Popovych has moved to the front of the chase group to try to take the points as he crosses the summit. And Popo is over first, with the chasers now 4'30" behind Schumacher.

85km - Schumi getting a big boost from the Italian fans as he is within one kilometre of the top of this summit... "Allez, Allez, Allez" they say in their best French accents, as a huge German flag also gets waved right in his face.

87km - The peloton is over eight minutes behind Schumacher.

88km - Marky mark is possibly bit premature in his reaction to Cunego's attack: "I knew the boy Cunego would come good! Now if he can just get ten more minutes ahead of the rest before the top of the St. Etienne...." The Lampre leader currently has about 1'40" over the peloton.

89km - Regina Reinke has written in her prediction and another dig at Alejandro Valverde: "I have a very good feeling about Menchov. Not that I can see him anywhere at the moment. Where is he? And Oscar Freire is super cool. Where is this useless Valverde? Can't do anything without Pereiro, can he?! I still feel very bad about how Pereiro fell on Sunday :( Speedy recovery for him. Superstar he is. Any idea how long it takes for him to recover?" Pereiro is scheduled to undergo surgery for a fractured arm today so he won't likely be better in time to compete in the Beijing Olympics for Spain.

91km - Cunego's group has caught and overtaken the green jersey Freire.

93km - Gap to the peloton from Schumacher is 6'30".

96km - The Moncoutie group easily joined the Cunego group, which now contains nine riders, who are 3'50" from Schumacher: Cunego, Valjavec, Szmyd, Pauriol, Moncoutié, Carrara, Weening, Casar and Monfort.

97km - kevin delaney in Dublin has asked for an honourable mention for his comparison between Damiano Cunego and "Malcolm in the Middle". Sorry Kevin, the "Looky Likey" contest was last week, though I guess this counts as an honourable mention.

98km - Voeckler grabbing a drink from a team bike, as he is distanced by Schumacher, who is now all by his lonesome. Egoi Martinez has attacked.

99km - Rosseler was also dropped from that original five-man escape group. The peloton at 5'14" back with the pace being set by CSC.

100km - Interesting..... Sandy Casar and a pair of Lampre boys attack from the peloton.

102km - The chase group, now at 1'40" behind the leaders, is just going to be slowly strung out as this ascent starts with an incredibly narrow, windy path.

103km - The average speed in the first hour of riding was 49.2 km/h.

107km - Here are the chasers: Popovych, Arvesen, Voigt, Zubeldia, Txurruka, Arroyo, Gutierrez, Portal, Burghardt, Hincapie, Siutsou, Augustyn, Cheulo, Fischer, Tirralongo, Dessel, Flecha, Freire, Gilbert, Chavanel and Pate. Some very dangerous climbers in that group and a bunch of top-20 threats (no real overall threats though).

113km - Clare in Eire taking a piss out of this blogger's reliance on Fantasy Teams to determine his race favourites: "I'm going to go with Thor Hushovd, predominantly because I had a bet on him for Green and also because he is in my fantasy team. In reality though, I think it'll more likely be Denis Menchov."

115km - The gap is up to 21 seconds from the five escapees down to a chasing group of about 24 riders, including green jersey Oscar Freire. The main bunch, meanwhile, has slowed down dramatically, with Evans riding at the back.

118km - Menchov was coy when our reporters caught him at the start line today: "I'm feeling rather well. Cycling is like that, I went down on the last climb, but I picked myself up again. We'll see amongst the other favourites what they're going to do, and we'll see how CSC work today. I've got a lot of experience out there and that can help."

121km - Moncoutie and Barredo reigned back in by seven or eight riders, and the peloton not letting this big group get away.

124km - Eugene Owen has sent in his pick: "kohl looked very good 2 days ago I will go with him, and for menchov to gain more time on evans; CSC may find sastre and schleck racing one another; as a south african i hope the young jan augustyn does well as both he and barloworld deserve a showing; he has done well so far on most of the climbs and not been too far off the pace"

125km - Barredo is trying to join Moncoutie, but the peloton is very much still in striking distance.

130km - After Chavanel's third failed attack, his Cofidis team-mate David Moncoutie went off the front. J A Flecha, meanwhile, is already struggling at the back, while Belgian Christopher Brandt, who has been fighting a stomach bug, is having a word with the medical car.

133km - The start of this stage is consistently uphill up until the HC ascent at the Col de la Lombarde, and as Chavanel drops LeLay, the peloton is closing down the attack.

135km - Points at the Vignolo intermediate sprint: 1. Hincapie 6pts 2. Tankink 4 pts 3. Chavanel 2 pts.

141km - Bill McCarthy has come in with this comment: "In German "schlecht" (which sounds a lot like "Schleck") means bad. So that makes Frank and Andy the Bad Boys of the Tour. I don't think Cadel would argue this. Its just a pity they don't have a brother Nicolas, then he would be Nick Schleck (nicht schlecht) Not bad." Thanks for that one Bill, we will save that for later.

145km - Here we go. A Lampre man, a Caisse D'Epargne man, and an Euskaltel man are off the front on their own..... But are unable to get any distance really. Fedrigo also tried a stunted attack.

146km - Big George Hincapie having a go at joining Barredo's attack, but the peloton is keeping a tight grip on the American. Sylvain Chavanel also trying to get involved again.

147km - Carlos Barredo tries to go off on his own for Quick Step, and he keeps peering back towards the peloton, obviously hoping that somebody will join him.

151km - A Rabobank rider, an FDJ rider, a Caisse D'Epargne rider, a Liquigas rider, and an Euskaltel rider are all travelling in a row to try to push the pace at the front of the peloton as Chavanel was easily caught.

155km - Cofidis man Sylvain Chavanel tries the day's first attack, a Lampre rider tries to join him, but the peloton is not letting them get away.

----- - Overall leader Frank Schleck was not looking at his prospects of winning the race in Paris, focusing more on the joy of wearing the yellow jersey for the first time and today’s stage: "Very, very hard that's clear, but it's going to be tough for everybody. Two really, really high climbs over 2,000 metres it's going to be tough. I'm not thinking about [the time trial], I'm just thinking about the yellow jersey, but don't ask me about time difference."

----- - Cadel Evans preferred his rest day on Monday to the first one: "A little bit less stressful than the last one, being in yellow for the first time brings a little bit more media attention. When you're running for GC it's always preferable not to lose time. CSC have strength in numbers, but we'll see how they ride today. For me it's such a long race, three weeks, even if you are nervous you get too tired to be nervous by the end of it."

----- - Our reporters also caught up with Vandevelde at today's start line: "It is hard and it affects everyone differently, everyone has different sensations, it's almost like there's a barrier over 2,000 metres [altitude] people change. I'm not so bad, I'm still within 40 seconds of the yellow jersey, so I'm really happy with how things are going so far and we'll see how things go in the time trial. It's a bit of a disadvantage [for Evans and me to be alone fighting CSC], but at the same time they have to drop us and they have to put time into us right now. We're in the driver's seat."

----- - Oscar Freire is doing well to survive the mountains and is hoping to wear his green jersey all the way to Paris. The Spaniard from Rabobank (219 pts) has 47 pts over Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and 52 over Erik Zabel (Milram).

----- - Today would be the day to put your neck out on the line and pick the overall winner. Stephen Roche almost does so, backing Cadel Evans to get the yellow jersey back, but then quickly reneges, telling Tony Gibb, "maybe you're right Tony," when he picks Denis Menchov. We actually agree personally with the British cyclist.

----- - Today's stage starts at 11:30 BST. Featuring two out of category climbs, stage 16 is one of the most difficult tests of this year's race. At the 72.5-km mark the peloton reaches the summit of the Col de la Lombarde, a 21.5-km climb at an average gradient of 6.9%. Then with 23.5-km left to race the riders reach the top of the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond, a 25.5-km climb at 6.5% average gradient. Ouch.