CYCLING Live

Tour de France - *Cérilly - Saint-Amand Montrond

Gaps live

Live Comments

  1. 16:40 - Thanks for joining us today - return tomorrow for the final ride in to Paris where everything will be confirmed. Who know, maybe Evans will surprise us all and attack? Not likely, but who knows...

  2. 16:39 - So, the podium tomorrow will be Sastre, Evans and Kohl, with Menchov taking fourth and Vandevelde fifth and Schleck sixth.

  3. 16:36 - Less importantly, the 53km time trial was won by the ever-present Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner.

  4. 16:35 - CARLOS SASTRE HAS (PRETTY MUCH) WON THE TOUR DE FRANCE! The Spaniard takes an unassailable 1:05 lead to Paris... Evans has to settle for a second successive runner-up spot.

  5. 16:31 - Sastre crosses the line in 12th place at 2:34. The little Spaniard kisses one finger and points it towards heaven before he is mobbed by his team...

  6. 16:31 - Schleck is actually catching up on Sastre, who seems to be taking it easy on these closing kms.

  7. 16:29 - Schleck isn't letting Sastre out of his sight as the two CSC boys roll down this slight incline towards the finish line. Only an unfortunate crash will stop Sastre keeping hold of the yellow...

  8. 16:27 - The race referee toots his horn and warns Schleck at keeping in Sastre's slipstream...

  9. 16:26 - Kohl at the finish line... 9th best time at 2:20! That means the Austrian stays on the podium ahead of Menchov.

  10. 16:25 - Sastre passed Schleck...

  11. 16:25 - Danielle writes in: "Always enjoy the tours that end like this – someone has a lead but the guy in second (or 4th in this case) on paper is a good enough tt rider to catch him. It makes the leader the underdog and I like routing for him to only lose by enough to keep the yellow. Like Voeckler that last day in the Pyraneas when he needed to cross within 5 minutes and he turned the corner at like 4:40 (if I remember right) That is what it is about, the "little guy" hanging in there when he has no right to!"

  12. 16:23 - Sastre has his three-minute man Frank Schleck in his sights - a measure of their contrasting fortunes out there today. How wise was it for CSC to let Sastre go on Alpe d'Huez? Extremely!

  13. 16:22 - Evans sets only the 7th best time at the finish line, 2'05" down on Schumacher.

  14. 16:22 - Evans comes into the final kilometre... he still needs to make up 1'08" on Sastre to win the Tour. IT'S ALL OVER!

  15. 16:20 - Menchov at the finish: 6th best time at 1:54. No podium position for the Russian, who will finish fourth in this year's Tour.

  16. 16:19 - Evans at the last intermediate sprint at 47km: 7th at 1:54. It is not going to be good enough.

  17. 16:18 - Fatigue is finally caught up with Cadel Evans... he'll have to come back next year - maybe with a better team? - and do it all again, but one better.

  18. 16:17 - Kohl is only 12" down on Evans according to on course advanced timing technology.

  19. 16:16 - Vandevelde is giving it his all at the finish: 4th fastest, 1:04 down on Cancellara. Chapeau.

  20. 16:15 - At 47km, Menchov goes through in 6th at 1'38".

  21. 16:14 - Valverde is more than 4 minutes down at the third check: displaying just why HE WILL NEVER WIN A MAJOR TOUR!

  22. 16:13 - Brandon writes in: "It would seem that evans is playing the classic laying in the weeds. By taking a easy ride he keeps his check points moderate and fools his competeters in to a false sense of security. I just hope it pays off for him enough that he still has the energy to hang w/ sastre on the hills and then burn him downafter the last check point. I smell a not so liesurely ride to paris." Maybe i missed the sarcasm, but Brandon, I would say Evans' chances are pretty defunct - provided Sastre does not hit the wall over the last 15 clicks...

  23. 16:11 - Sastre at the 32km check point: 19th best time at 1:53. He has only lost 23 seconds on Evans!! CARLOS SASTRE IS GOING TO WIN THE TOUR DE FRANCE!!!

  24. 16:09 - At the second check, Frank Schleck sets only the 54th best time, a huge 3:49 down on Cancellara.

  25. 16:08 - Podium out of Frank Schleck's reach... he is well down coming to the 32km second time check...

  26. 16:07 - Evans really needs to find his composure here and get back into a rhythm... if not, his yellow aspirations are toast.

  27. 16:06 - Schleck junior is 1'17" quicker than Kreuziger in the white jersey standings at the end of the day and so he will win that competition tomorrow in Paris!

  28. 16:05 - Kohl at the second check... he's 1:33 down... which means three seconds slower than Evans... which means Evans is a couple of seconds ahead of the Austrian in the overall standings... Evans on the podium, but only third place at the moment!

  29. 16:01 - EVANS LOOKING BAD!! The Australian is 1:30 down at the 32km check... only the 7th best time... his dreams of victory are definitely fleeting...

  30. 16:01 - Kirchen sets the third fastest time at the finish, 1:00 down. He passed Andy Schleck just before the crossing the line there...

  31. 16:00 - It's not looking good for Evans either... he seems to be rolling even slower than Menchov!!

  32. 16:00 - Not looking good for Denis... before the Alps, he was my tip for victory in Paris... at this rate, he'll be lucky to make the top five!

  33. 15:58 - Menchov losing time at the 36km second check: 1'08" down on Cancellara. Maybe he's gone for it too early. That is only the 6th fastest time, and 11 seconds slower than Vandevelde.

  34. 15:57 - Arrival of Kreuziger at the finish: not a bad effort... 16th, more than three minutes down... could still better Andy Schleck... battle for the white jersey could be close.

  35. 15:55 - Vandevelde 57" down on Cancellara at the 36km point. That's the fourth best time after the Swiss, Schumi and Kirchen.

  36. 15:54 - At the 36km check, Valverde sets the 31st best time... he is quite off the pace, the Spaniard. Three minutes down, in fact!

  37. 15:52 - The sun is out and it is a hot day with very little wind. Pretty perfect ITT conditions out there. Just a few clouds in the sky. A lot of the road surfaces have been newly laid.

  38. 15:52 - Virtual podium: Sastre 1'21 ahead of Kohl and 1'26 ahead of Evans.

  39. 15:49 - SASTRE is 46" down at the first check - but that means the Spaniard has lost only 12 seconds so far to Evans. He is still in yellow and this is by no means over!!

  40. 15:48 - Frank Schleck is 1:31 down on the summit at the first check...

  41. 15:43 - Kohl sets the 6th best time at the first check, 34" down on Cancellara and Schumacher's time. That's four seconds quicker than Evans. IS CADEL CHOKING IT??

  42. 15:42 - Jeyssen writes in to share his lofty prediction: "Just wanted to say that: The tour will be decided today." Hmm... you might be right.

  43. 15:40 - EVANS is 38" down at the first check!! But this means nothing until we see the time of Sastre...

  44. 15:39 - Kirchen comes through the 36km check 57" down on Cancellara's time at that point, in third.

  45. 15:39 - Jamie thinks Menchov was listening to AC/DC... the best thing to get pumped up for a big race against the clock.

  46. 15:38 - Vandevelde is 28" down at the first check. That's solid from the American. The top four still to come through...

  47. 15:37 - David Millar's Menchov prediction has not been proven so far: The Russian has set the third best time at the 18km checkpoint, 22" down on Schumacher.

  48. 15:35 - Of course, Peter Roberts is right. I do think I am better than David Millar. That goes without saying. Heck, I'm even better than both Cancellara and Schumacher. Get with it. Oh, and before you throw all your toys out of your pram, of course this is not the truth. I'm just trying to add a few adjectives to the commentary. Of course, if you just want times and names then you could always run along to the BBC. Goodbye.

  49. 15:33 - Curmudgeon Peter Roberts writes in with this: "Please leave out unnecessary emotive, biased comments 'Mushroom'. 'thrashed', 'nifty' - no matter how amusing you think yourself, and seriously improve your arithmetical accuracy - two errors in reference to differences in time between the 'nifty Swiss and thrashed Millar'. If you are going to be biased, and critical of riders who can't reply, and whose performances you couldn't even approach, you're ill advised to leave yourself open to criticism." Lighten up Pete. If that's possible.

  50. 15:32 - Brian Jensen writes in: "I know that time trials have been nicknamed "race of truth," and I understand why. But Stage 17 was the race that will truly define the top finishers of Le Tour 2008. The top 12 in that stage all ended the day in the top 13 of the GC. (Kim Kirchen was the 13th.) That, to me, is the real race of truth."

  51. 15:30 - David Millar: "I wouldn't be surprised if Menchov has a real horror out there today."

  52. 15:30 - Kirchen is third through the first check, at 24".

  53. 15:29 - David Millar on Stefan Schumacher: "It is incredible what he has done. This guy is the best time trialler in the world this month." I guess that's a complement from the Brit, who thinks this course is going to be really hard for the Schlecks and Sastre.

  54. 15:28 - Evans is getting a big cheer from the crowd as he goes up a little rise...

  55. 15:25 - CARLOS SASTRE STARTS THE MOST IMPORTANT HOUR OF HIS LIFE!

  56. 15:25 - Schumacher beat Cancellara by a whole 21 seconds at the end. What a turn-around for the German, who was 12 down on the second check. That will take some beating.

  57. 15:23 - Frank Schleck on course... Just one to go, his team-mate Sastre.

  58. 15:22 - SCHUMACHER IS THE NEW LEADER!! The German blitzes Cancellara's time by a packet!

  59. 15:21 - Schumacher has just gone through the third checkpoint AHEAD OF CANCELLARA!! By 14 seconds! That means he made up 26 seconds in that third zone... incredible.

  60. 15:20 - Off pops Bernhard Kohl! It will take a miracle for the 26-year-old to stay on the podium tonight...

  61. 15:19 - "For Cadel Evans is this going to be a day of destiny or the road to nowhere?," asks David Harmon.

  62. 15:18 - NERVOUS SIGNS FOR KOHL!! The Austrian has not even started and he's already fallen over - on his way to the ramp!! Maybe we are going to witness a Rasmussen here today...

  63. 15:16 - THREE, TWO, ONE... GO! Cadel Evans zips down the ramp and starts his bid to become the 2008 champion.

  64. 15:16 - Carlos Sastre is warming up in the start zone on the spinners. The Spaniard is decked out entirely in yellow. Frank Schleck is to his left.

  65. 15:15 - Vandevelde looks like a dinosaur as he rides... he has an extraordinarily large lump sticking out of his back. Maybe it's his backbone.

  66. 15:14 - DENIS MENCHOV DOWN THE RAMP AND ON THE WAY. The Russian is looking very focused and relaxed.

  67. 15:13 - Christian Vandevelde of Garmin on course... just the top five to come down the ramp now, at two minute intervals.

  68. 15:13 - Just an idea, but maybe Menchov was listening to Kraftwork's Tour de France?!

  69. 15:12 - YV comes up with this one: "Hi, can i ask a question irrelevant to today's TT first? Just wanna know what colour is Denis's iPod...Fabian Cancellara will be sieze the golory today, and i don't think Kohl will be able to hold on to his current GC standing(neither do i think that he'll do a Rasmussen)." Well, I only saw the white headphones of Denis' iPod (so, admittedly, it could even have been an old school Sony walkman) so your guess is as good as mine. One thing is for certain, he will only be tuning into race radio once on the road. Not, say, Girls Aloud.

  70. 15:09 - Cadel Evans is making his way to the starting zone... could he be the first Australian to win the Tour de France? Find out very very soon.

  71. 15:08 - Andrew Tomkins says: "Considering the amount of work Cancellara did for the schlecks and for team CSC in general during this Tour De France, i reckon that that is a superb ride, that won't be beaten. Sastre will hold on to yellow and set up an aggressive and attacking performance by Evans tomorrow into Paris. Hmmmmm......" Hmm indeed. Have you ever seen Evans attack before, let alone on the Champs??!

  72. 15:07 - Tadej VALJAVEC and Samuel SANCHEZ are on course. Up next, Alejandro VALVERDE. Then we have the big six.

  73. 15:06 - Jamie writes in with this: "In the event of Menchov, Evans and Sastre finishing today within a few seconds of each other, can you visualise tomorrow being a head to head as it where, reminiscent of the LeMond and Fignon battle back in the good olÂ’ days?" You know what, if they all started within 10 seconds it would make the usual routine final stage a whole lot more exciting. Thing is, the riders tend to conform to tradition and just roll into Paris. That Fignon-Lemond battle in '89 was a time trial, remember...

  74. 15:01 - Schumi has slowed on the second zone, at 38km, coming in almost 13 seconds down on Millar.

  75. 14:59 - Kim Kirchen and Vlad Efimkin are on the course... Just the top nine left now.

  76. 14:54 - Andy Schleck down the ramp and out on his way... What a talent, this young, nubile Luxembourger. One bad day in the Pyrenees saw his GC hopes fade, but he's in the top ten and could well press for honours some time soon. One to watch.

  77. 14:53 - Menchov is plugged into his iPod and working up quite a sweat in the paddock. What music do you think he's listening to? Could it be Valeriya, the Madonna of Moscow, a Russian pop sensation who has clocked up album sales in excess of 100m? Or maybe something like The Strokes? Send in your thoughts and suggestions...

  78. 14:51 - Roman Kreuziger next down the ramp, the 13th place Czech. He needs 1'58" to better Andy Schleck and take the white jersey into Paris. Schleck junior is up next...

  79. 14:50 - Thoughts, views, opinions, suggestions? Email me on lowefelix@hotmail.com and we will get this show on the road.

  80. 14:49 - Denny Menchov is warming up in the start zone. A big day for the Russian, who will give it his all to make the podium.

  81. 14:41 - Schumacher is riding a storming time trial. He's already overtaken Sylvester Szmyd of Lampre and passes through the first time check on LEVEL TERMS WITH CANCELLARA. Can the German make it two ITTs out of two this year?

  82. 14:39 - FACT: In the Vuelta last year, Denis Menchov, over this distance, beat Evans by 1'02". So... don't forget the Russian, who is currently 1'05" down on Evans in the standings...

  83. 14:38 - FACT: The average time that Sastre loses to Evans over this distance is 2:35... If he does that today, he will be out of yellow tonight. But the pressure is on Evans to deliver. Ce n'est pas donné, as the French say.

  84. 14:32 - Next down the ramp is Vincenzo Nibali, currently 19th in the overall standings.

  85. 14:30 - USEFUL INFO: Any rider finishing 16 minutes shy of today's winner will be out of the time restriction and will not be allowed to ride into Paris tomorrow. Lucky for our current slowest man, Tommy Voeckler, who is 10:58 adrift of Fabian Cancellara. Barring the most extraordinary miracle, the dimunitive Frenchman will be able to grace the Champs with his presence tomorrow.

  86. 14:27 - Meanwhile, in the paddock, Bernhard Kohl is warming up on a set of spinners. Can the Austrian polka dot jersey hold his place on the podium or will he do a Rasmussen?

  87. 14:18 - SCHUMACHER IS OFF AND DOWN THE RAMP! And with that aerodynamic blue helmet perched infeasibly high on his head, he looks even more like a mushroom from Super Mario Land than ever before...

  88. - - Chavanel fades and crosses the line in 6th, almost three minutes down on Cancellara.

  89. - - Millar beats Lang on the finish, but is then trounced by Cancellara by a whole 1:15. Nice work from the Swiss, who will no doubt remain at near the summit - if not at the top - right until the end today. 1:04:11 is the new target time, 1:16 ahead of Millar and 1:58 clear of Lang. Hot stuff from the nifty Swiss chrono specialist.

  90. - - Sebastian Lang of Gerolsteiner has usurped Danny Pate at both the penultimate and final time checks, setting a new target time of 01:06:09. That will be shattered in a few minutes by Cancellara.

  91. - - CANCELLARA ON A ROLL: The Swiss speedster has just thrashed Millar's time at the 36km mark by 1:03. The new landmark is 42:38. If team-mate rides half the ITT as Fabian, he might well keep the yellow today...

  92. - - People quickly forget that Sylvain Chavanel, winner of yesterday's stage, is in fact France's time trial champion. He has just bettered Millar's time at the first check by two seconds. Still, it's still somewhat short of CSC's Cancellara's landmark time.

  93. - - BEST TIME for Fabian Cancellara at the first check point. The Swiss rider, one of the favourites today, set a time of 21:30, taking a huge 48 seconds off second-place David Millar (Garmin) after 18km in the saddle.

  94. - - Danny Pate of Garmin Chipotle is currently leading at each of the checks, and set the current reference time at the finish: 1:06:44. The big guns like Cadel Evans will look to be nearer the one-hour mark than that. Keep following the time checks above in the graphic. Full live comments coming up for the top-20 riders.

  95. - - The intermediate time checks today are coming at km18 in Rond-Bernard, km36 in Charenton-du-Cher and km47.5 in Les Piots Doux.

  96. - - Sebastien Rosseler clocks 01:07:21 to take the lead so far today.

  97. - - Leif Hoste now takes the lead after speeding round in 01:07:40. It just keeps on getting better.

  98. - - Brett Lancaster goes one better with a time of 01:08:00 and takes the lead early on in the day.

  99. - - Eisel is the first man to finish in 1:13:12 but it is AG2R's Christophe Riblon who sets the early pace with a time of 1:08:17.

  100. - - Austrian Bernhard Kohl, in third at 1:33, is already certain to take the King of the Mountains jersey back to Paris and will seek to limit the damage. "He worked on the track to improve his position in time-trials but even so, I'll be glad if he finishes in seventh place overall," said his Gerolsteiner team manager Hans-Michael Holczer.

  101. - - Second place Frank Schleck, 1:24 behind Sastre, will probably be content with celebrating his CSC outfit's victory in the team classification and look for a final place in the top five.

  102. - - Russian Denis Menchov, Evans's equal at least against the clock, is also a serious contender for a podium place if not outright victory as he starts 1:05 behind the Aussie and 2:39 behind Sastre.

  103. - - Sastre lost 2:50 to Evans in the penultimate stage 12 months ago to finish fourth overall. However, the Australian's 2007 domination of Sastre is no real indication as in 2006, in a similar 57-km stage in Montceau-les-Mines, he beat Sastre by only 1:01.

  104. - - Twelve months ago, in the final time-trial in Angouleme, Cadel Evans took one minute and 27 seconds back from Alberto Contador. He will start this afternoon 1:34 behind Sastre.

  105. - - Vladimir Efimkin, tenth on GC, gets going at 14:59 and is followed every three minutes until the yellow jersey of Carlos Sastre starts at 15:26.

  106. 10:18 - Bernhard Eisel, 145th and last on GC, was the first man out of the hut at 10:18 for today's 53km time trial between Cerilly and St Amand-Montrond.