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Tour de France - *Roanne - Montluçon

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16:10 - Thanks for following our LIVE coverage today and thanks to all of you who wrote in. Sorry we couldn't get to all the comments and questions, but please join us again tomorrow for the decisive stage 20th individual time trial in what is sure to be a thrilling day!
0km - Haussler gets fifth, from Duque, Pozzato, Hushovd, Forster, and Dean rounds out the top-ten.
0km - Gerald Ciolek takes the mass sprint ahead of Erik Zabel.
0km - Chanel keeps looking back at Roy and smiling, and forces Roy to go around the far side, and Roy does it too late, Sylvain Chavanel wins it!! Jeremy Roy is second, and Chavanel adds to his six victories this season and he deserved it!!
1km - Chavenel still in the lead-out position with Roy very much on his wheel.
2km - Burghardt attacks from the peloton, and he's looking for another place. No fight between Roy and Chavanel just yet.
2km - Roy follows Chavanel up the bridge into Montluçon....
5km - Five K to go!!
7km - Under the heading "more pies and cheese" Chris has informed us that Wisconsin apparently has a lot in common with York (not PA): "Oddly enough, there's a Ripon in Wisconsin, too. And Wisconsin (and Michigan) are one of the few places outside the UK or Canada that you can get decent pasties. Mmmm...pasties..."
8km - The gap is still 2'53" and it looks very much like the sprint teams have left things way too late. Chavanel and Roy will contest today's win.
10km - A nine-man group of stragglers, including Cioni, Eisel, Kuschynski, Marzano, Krauss, Bichot, Vogondy, Terpstra, and Di Gregorio are now 12 minutes and 12 seconds off pace. That group of Fabian Wegmann, Romain Feillu and Juan Antonio Flecha are apparently 30 minutes back, and won't likely make the time! That would be a horrible result for those three men.
13km - Gap still at three minutes, and you know what, this might last.... Chavanel definitely showing all of his time trialing skills ahead of tomorrow's ITT right now.
15km - Barloworld's Gianpaolo Cheula took the final two points at the Commentry intermediate sprint, by the way.
15km - Under the heading "pies and the tour" Sam Dansie has sent us this hint: "And just down the road from York (UK) is a town called Ripon and a butchery called Appleton's. Now they make a legendary Pork Pie there. Most of the cyclists left in Le Tour look like they need a couple after three weeks of racing."
16km - Gap down to 3'05".....
18km - Danielle from Florida is back with us and talking a bit about the overall: "Wrt Sunderland's comments - The yellow jersey does strange things to people. Remember Tommy Voeckler and all of his Bakery Boys that went far and above their abilities to defend the jersey? Then how he absolutely killed himself in the Pyrenees to hold onto the jersey a couple of more days! Or is he going to crash and/or have several bike changes like rasmusson trying to hold onto the podium?"
20km - The two leaders have 20km to go and 3'35" on the peloton! They might just make it.... But we think not. So for that Mark Cavendish-less mass sprint we're anticipating, we want to see a surprise that no one has talked about since he has not done anything, since Silence-Lotto have been working so hard for Cadel Evans. That is, we are boldly predicting the other Australian, Robbie McEwen, to salvage his Tour with a stage win today.
22km - Gap dips under four minutes under the pressure of the sprint teams we just mentioned.
25km - chris fitz from York (Pennsylvania, not North Yorkshire) gets in on the TTT debate: "The most unfair aspect of the TTT in the Tour is that it favors the biggest and wealthiest teams who can buy up and stack their top TT talent in the race (e.g. Ekimov, Yates, etc). Rarely have we seen a budget outfit race competitively in that event. I find it actually more fair without the event although it's a joy to watch." Legend has it that they make a very nice mince pie in York, the one in England and not Pennsylvania mind you.
30km - Milram working hard for Abel, Liquigas there at the front as well, followed by Quick Step, Barloworld, and CSC.
33km - Sarah (in boring old London) writes: "In response to Kieran in Dublin, I think CSC probably deserve a bonus TTT win - I still remember the 2005 TTT (I think) when Zabriskie crashed with only about 1km to go and lost the yellow jersey. Heartbreaking. I'm a huge fan of TTTs - one Vuelta didn't they once open with a TTT so the time standings were just lists of teams? Makes it simple to see who's in the race I guess." You remember correctly Sarah. The American crashed into the barrier with under 2km to go and lost the maillow jaune. We're back in the pro-TTT camp (and we're easily convinced).
36km - By the way, the gap just reached a new high point of 5'05" before starting to dip again.
36km - Alain from Lebanon has returned to our original talking point about Cunego: "How often have we seen a Giro winner and Italian biker fail at the Tour De France?? quite a lot. Gigi Simoni and others have failed to leave their marks on the tour. I don't know if it is due to the effort provided in Italy that they carry out to France or maybe the Tour De France is much harder than the Italian race. But now we have to add Cunego to the list of riders that couldn't live up to the expectations. Thumbs up for Jens Voight for carrying out his role once again for CSC in this Tour!!!"
37km - Chris from the land of Cheese (hint, not France) has insisted on pushing this debate a bit further. He raises a good point we think as well (keep in mind this blogger only fancies himself a moderator here): "Not meaning to prolong this debate too much, but in response to Kieran...assuming CSC DID win the TTT, wouldn't that have made tomorrow's ITT even more interesting, rather than the presumed cakewalk for Cadel Evans?"
38km - The remaining Barloworld riders have moved to the front of the peloton to try to kick the tempo back up. Robbie Hunter, who won his first TDF stage last year, is probably hoping for a mass sprint.
40km - CSC sports director Scott Sunderland has given his view on captain Carlos Sastre's chances of retaining the yellow jersey and keeping his 1'34" advantage over Cadel Evans in tomorrow's time trial: "At first I thought that it might not be enough, but now after the L'Alpe D'Huez I'm convinced that he has a good chance. His motivation is very high, this might be his best chance to get on the top step of the podium."
42km - The gap has climbed back up to 4'45"
46km - The riders who were dropped on that first climb, Fabian Wegmann, Romain Feillu and Juan Antonio Flecha, are now 5'00" behind the peloton.
46km - Kieran in Dublin joins the TTT debate and makes a very good point, in respect to this year's race, we think: "What would be the point of one this year? ASO would need to have 'invited' another team that would be capable of threatening. It would just be a bonus stage for CSC."
47km - CSC have continued to ride at the front, with Arvesen right there. The end of the stage is very bumpy, and who knows what sort of counter might be launched for the Norwegian national champion. The gap has steadied at 4'20"
50km - Chris has responded to the TTT debate pointing out that they changed the rules in 2004 to only penalise riders based on the team's final position irrespective of the actual gap and that the Posties only really dominated from 03-05: "Yes it favours a strong teams, but by that logic the mountains favour the climbers, the flat stages the sprinters, ITT strong individuals. The point of the grand tours is that are different to all the other races in a season and you have to be good at everything to be a contender. At the end of the day no one ever lost the tour because of a weak TTT."
52km - This team time trial question seems to have inspired the imagination of quite a few of our readers. Chris Nollet from South Range, Wisconsin said: "I have to agree with Les Carter that the TTT was an absolutely breathtaking stage to watch. In fact, several years ago, while randomly flipping channels, I came across it and have been hooked on the Tour de France ever since. Since there is a team standings classification, shouldn't there be a race day that explicitly celebrates teamwork?"
54km - Gap dips under the four minute mark. The peloton creeping back up, with more teams doing work at the front. The sprint teams (Quick Step) have slowed the pace a bit in order to prevent a counter-attack.
59km - At the Chantelle intermediate sprint Zabel took the last two points. Unless Freire suffers a bad crash and is forced to abandon, Zabel has very little chance of taking over the green jersey. He is currently third, now two points behind Hushovd, but 51 points behind the three-time world champion Freire.
60km - Gap is beginning to fal for the two Frennchmen. Has dropped from its peak of 4'51" down to 4'20".
63km - Les Carter from Richmond, Virignia writes: "We have heard plenty about the ITT on Saturday but whatever happened to the Team Time Trial. They were a joy to behold, I remember the Posties making these look like ballet on a bike." The Tour seems to have agreed with the persistent criticism that the TTT unfairly favours the strongest teams (and possibly hurts the French squads), and we haven't seen one since Lance Armstrong retired in 2005 (there was one every year from 1999-2005).
65km - Clare in Ireland! weighing in on Cunego: "I know I've been a bit hard on Cunego over the tour, but I really do feel for him today. He must be so disappointed. But I say Kudos to him for finishing the stage yesterday despite all the pain he was in! He's a real hero in that respect, to show that you have to take the good days with the bad days! It's good to see someone who despite all of the press coverage on how bad he was doing, didn't feel the need to go down the same pan as some other less favourable dirty cheaty snakes!"
69km - Alain from Lebanon has predicted that the French national time trial champion will be able to make this break-away last all the way: "A little stage like this with mind climbs will favor a guy like Chavanel. Not the average Richard Virenque but a good climber nevertheless."
70km - Gap up to 4'51"
73km - Bernt Lorentzen in Copenhagen writes this one in: "Norwegian media and experts says that todays stage is made for CSC-Saxo Bank's Kurt-Asle Arvesen. Do you guys agree?" He's riding at the front with CSC right now, but with the time this break-away is getting I don't see Arvesen doing anything today.
76km - The gap hits three minutes.
78km - Gap is already up over two minutes and that will keep climbing until somebody decides that it's too high.
83km - Gap is up over 45 seconds.
89km - Chavanel has been joined in this attack by FDJ man Roy.
92km - That escape did not last long, and Duque tries to go.... He's easily held back by the peloton, but Sylvain Chavanel counters for one of his daily attack attempts.
94km - Another attack from an Agritubel rider, and a Rabobank guy hops on his wheel. The two men now trying to make a bit of a break are Langevelde and Lequatre.
95km - The attacks are fast a furious, with Popovych really doing his best to try and get away.
96km - Escape over! The counter-attacks begin with Schumi sticking near the front in order to attempt to latch onto any successful such efforts.
98km - John from Poznan tips Duque today. Not a bad call.
101km - Gap is down to 22 seconds and shrinking fast.
105km - The peloton taking a quick jaunt through Vichy, the capital of occupied France during WWII and a world synonymous with "collaborator."
110km - Sean Kelly has just said that he reckons Damiano Cunego's future lies in the realm of one day classics, and he could emulate compatriot Paolo Bettini in that respect. What do you think? Is the former Giro winner's career as a Grand Tour challenger cooked? Email jstahl@eurosport.com to share your view.
116km - The gap hovers at 45 seconds, with Liquigas and Caisse D'Epargne incredibly intent on closing this one down.
120km - Average speed for the first hour of riding was 45.8km/h.
121km - Bichot (Agritubel), Di Gregorio (FDJeux), Vogondy (Agritubel), Eisel (Columbia) and Kuschynski (Liquigas) are dropped by the peloton on the Cote de la Croix-Rouge.
122km - Antony has written in with his own prediction: "My call is stefen schu finally!- and if he doesn't get this stage the tour should give him one for effort." He's already got one for effort Antoy, it was called the first ITT (who knows, maybe he'll get a second ITT as well).
130km - Sean Yates has just given his prections for the stage and the Tour. Martinez for the stage, and Sastre for the Tour. Stephen Roche is predicting Stefan Schumacher will get his stage win.
138km - Liquigas now begins to lead the chase. They obviously wanted Poazato in that group and are upset that he's not involved. Gap at 1'15".
141km - It's a scorcher out there today at 25 degrees Celsius air temperature, and 39 degrees at road level. There is also a slight chance of rain.
142km - The four escapees persist with a 40 second lead. Thor Hushovd's Credit Agricole has moved to the front of the peloton to try to prevent this very dangerous group from gaining any traction.
146km - The tradition is not that strong to prevent guys who have a realistic shot at taking the greatest prize in the sport from actually attempting to do so, it's just that the "realistic shot" is incredibly rare. Most recently in 1987 Spaniard Pedro Delgado, who trailed our very own Stephen Roche by just 40 seconds, attacked on the Champs Elysess, but was ultimately caught and Rochey won the race. The Champs has only hosted the final "processional" stage since 1975, with the notable exception of the 1989 time trial, which was also held on the Champs.
147km - We've got our first question of the day in from our friend Danielle in Florida: "If Sastre holds in for the time trial and is down by a second or two (or vice versus), is there any way he will try to challenge heading into Paris? Or is the tradition of not racing on the last day that strong? (Has that tradition always been?)"
148km - AT THE SUMMIT OF THE CROIX-DE-SUD: Schumacher pockets 4 points from Fedrigo (3 pts), Ballan (2 pts) and Martinez (1 pt).
149km - Quick Step try to spring Gert Steegmans into this group, but nothing doing for the Belgian fast man.
149km - The gap is already up to 30 seconds. Oscar Freire is riding at the front of the peloton to lead the chase.
152km - The usual suspects involved in this attack. Stefan SCHUMACHER, Pierrick FEDRIGO, Egoi MARTINEZ, and Alessandro BALLAN. Ballan promised to attack at the start line today, and wouldn't you know the Italian has taken his first opportunity. We're pleased to see Schumi in there, as we've added him to our fantasy team.
154km - Four riders have attacked. We'll let you know who momentarily.
155km - Several riders are already dropped on this ascent, including Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha and Roman Feillu, who finished third yesterday after attempting, and failing, to chase down Marcus Burghardt and Carlos Barredo.
159km - The peloton begins the Cat. 3 Croix-du-Sud : 11 km at 3.5%.
160km - The day's first climb, the Cat. 3 Croix-du-Sud (KM17.5), is an 11 kilometre ascent at 3.5% average gradient. The second and final challenge today is the Côte de la Croix-Rouge (KM42), which arrives soon after the first climb. At 1.4km worth of climbing at 6.4% gradient, it is definitely one for the specialists.
163km - Already quite a few attack attempts in the first couple of kilometres. With few sprint teams left with anything to contend for (the green jersey is essentially wrapped up for Oscar Freire), this could be another day for a break-away.
165km - The real start was given at Roanne at about 13:30 CET.
12:10 - The "Depart Fictif" is given at 13:10 local time, or 12:10 BST.
----- - Our reporters just caught up with Lampre one-day specialist Alessandro Ballan, who discussed the loss of his team leader and his hopes for stage 19: "To lose Cunego, our principal man, was hard for us. Obviously we would have preferred to go all the way with him, but with all the injuries, it was impossible. This is the last chance for us to have a go. We're going to try to make a break-away today, that's for sure. But we won't be alone, there will be other riders in there, but it depends on the legs."
----- - The big news this morning is that former Giro winner and Lampre team leader Damiano Cunego will withdraw from this race after suffering a bad crash on stage 18 and receiving five stitches on his chin. The Italian had lost nearly 12 minutes on the peloton after the crash and dropped from 14th overall to 20th, watching his already terrible Tour fall apart.
----- - Welcome to LIVE text comments and timing of this 19th stage of the Tour de France. Depending on what happens on the Champs Elysees, this could be the last chance for a sprinter to take a stage win. Full coverage starts at 12:30 BST!