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Tour de France - Gap - Pinerolo

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  1. 0km - Voeckler comes home 26 down on the Evans group so he's still 1:19 ahead in the GC.

  2. 0km - The Schlecks and Evans group have caught Contador and Sanchez just before the finish. No time gains.

  3. 0km - Under the flamme rouge for the two Spaniards. They have 25-odd seconds on Voeckler, apparently. But they only have five seconds on the Evans group.

  4. 0km - Even though Voeckler's been off twice, Basso is still behind him. He'll keep his yellow, but Evans will be close tonight.

  5. 0km - Contador and Sanchez have a big gap in the valley as they time trial their way to the finish.

  6. 0km - Mollema takes second place 37 secs down.

  7. 0km - VOECKLER!! The Frenchman goes into the same back garage space as Hivert did! This is extraordinary.

  8. 0km - That's two for Boasson Hagen and four for Norway!

  9. 0.5km - Eddy clenches his fist - he knows he's won!

  10. 1km - Under the flamme rouge for Boasson Hagen. One day on from Hushovd, we have another double stage winner from Norway.

  11. 2km - Contador and Sanchez flying down this descent!

  12. 2.5km - Voeckler leading the descent before he almost comes off on the same bend as Hivert!

  13. 3km - Boasson Hagen is onto the flat and is looking good for the win.

  14. 3.5km - Hivert over shoots another bend and ends up in someone's back garden!

  15. 4km - It's Taaramae setting the pace as they go over the top. Schleck is in second place, ready to take this one on.

  16. 5km - Taaramae ups the pace on the front - just as they catch and pass Hoogerland.

  17. 5.5km - Basso came to the front for a period. Now it's Andy Schleck on the front, looking over his shoulder.

  18. 6km - Boasson Hagen continues his ride to glory... what a win this will be for the Norwegian.

  19. 7km - Hivert almost comes a cropper on the descent! The Frenchman has to take a foot out and narrowly avoids going over the edge... but he does on the next bend, and rolls into a ditch!

  20. 7.5km - Another dig by Contador! But Frank Schleck responds with a dig of his own.

  21. 8km - Boasson Hagen crosses the summit in the lead. Mollema and Hivert pass through 30 seconds down.

  22. 8.5km - Andy Schleck not going to make the same mistake twice - he's right on the front now.

  23. 9km - CONTADOR ATTACKS! He takes all the main favourites with him...

  24. 9.5km - Boasson Hagen looking good as he hits the forest section of this climb. Chavanel is in pursuit of Mollema further down the hill. Casaer and Paterski are there behind.

  25. 10km - Muravyev is dropped by the leaders as Hivert attacks in pursuit of Boasson Hagen.

  26. 10km - Now it's Liquigas and Szmyd on the front of the peloton, working hard for Basso.

  27. 11km - Chavanel is caught by some of the chasing riders as Edvald Boasson Hagen breaks clear! What a Tour the Sky man is having. Second yesterday, will he go one better today?

  28. 11km - BMC's Hincapie drives Cadel Evans forward on the front of the peloton, which has already been cut down.

  29. 12km - Chavanel catches and passes Perez! The Spaniard is really suffering, and the Quick Step rider has left him for dead. Will France get their win today?

  30. 12km - CRASH: A Vacansoleil rider comes down in the peloton on a tight bend.

  31. 13km - News coming through that Levi Leipheimer of RadioShack has been dropped.

  32. 13km - Chavanel leads the chasing group. Fofonov has been caught by the chasers.

  33. 14km - ATTACK: Astana's Dmitriy Fofonov drops his fellow escapees and rides in pursuit of Perez.

  34. 14km - Leopard Trek and BMC have come to the front of the peloton as they prepare the way for the final climb of the day.

  35. 15km - Lone leader Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel) is onto the Cat 2 climb to Pramartino (6.7km at 6%). He has less than a minute now on the chasing group.

  36. 15km - Oh look, Andy Schleck is smiling. Alberto Contador zips past him. The Spaniard has two Saxo teammates with him. There are going to be fireworks.

  37. 16km - The gap back to the peloton comes down to 7:03. Meanwhile, Bernie Eisel - Mark Cavendish's room-mate - needs a front wheel change.

  38. 20km - Perez Moreno passes under the 20-to-go banner. The Spaniard has 58 seconds over the chasing group.

  39. 22km - Lampre's Grega Bole is on the front of the peloton, alongside another Lampre teammate. They want to cut the gap for their man Cunego.

  40. 25km - The gaps have pretty much stabilised on this long descent. Contrary to common believe, these long downhill drags are not easy, and the riders will arrive at the foot of the Pra'Martino in a pretty exhausted state. The peloton will be blown apart instantly - the GC men are bound to start their attacks from the outset.

  41. 32km - Big gaps on the front of the peloton, with two Garmin riders well ahead of the bunch alongside one Europcar man.

  42. 34km - Hoogerland has been dropped by Roche and De Weert on this long 46km descent.

  43. 36km - Bike change for Thor Hushovd on the back of the bunch. Interestingly, Garmin are now setting the pace on the downhill ahead of Europcar.

  44. 42km - Tom Southam: "Can Tommy V win the Tour? I personally think that he will struggle, but if - like many, we did indulge that Francofantasy for a little while, we would all also have to deal with the thought of a 'gurner' winning the Tour. And not since the days of the fairground coming to town would gurning have been rewarded so. Facial expressions are ridiculous things at the best of times, but there are some riders whose effort masks are just something else..." Tom Southam blog: Can gurner Voeckler triumph?

  45. 45km - Perez continues his descent 1:15 ahead of the chasing group, who have 1:05 on the Roche trio. The peloton is a futher 5:40 back, that's around eight minutes down on the lone leader.

  46. 55km - Tyler Farrar and Thor Hushovd are amongst the riders struggling off the back of the pack. Europcar are controlling things on the front and it's the yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler who crosses the summit in pole position, 7:50 down on Perez. It will be interesting to see if any of the GC men use their descending skills to try and force a gap on this long descent.

  47. 57km - Ruben Perez adopts a dangerously precarious streamline position on the bike as he zips down this fast descent. The road is wide and has a great surface - whereas today's final descent is narrow, bumpy and riddled with pot holes and cracks.

  48. 61km - Roche, De Weert and Hoogerland are a further minute back, with the bunch another 4:40 back.

  49. 62km - The fans are out in their thousands atop this first category climb to Sestrieres. Ruben Perez goes over the top and will now start this long 40km descent before the final climb to Pramartino. Chavanel leads the others over the top, 1:06 down.

  50. 63km - Perez has opened up quite a gap after that attack, and he passes the one-to-go placard looking good with 30 seconds on the other ezcapees.

  51. 64km - ATTACK: Euskaltel's Ruben Perez attacks the leaders from the back. Nobody has the legs to repond.

  52. 65km - Julien El Fares ups the pace on the front of the leading group, who are being caught by the three chasers. The gap is down to 2:15.

  53. 65km - The weather conditions are far cry from those yesterday: the lashing rain and grey thunderclouds of Gap have been replaced by the sun and blue skies of the high Alps. That means that the treacherous descent into Pinerolo will not be made all the more testing with wet roads... which will please the Schleck brothers. Pinetolo weather report

  54. 66km - No one has been dropped from the breakaway group as yet, but they could soon have three more riders joining them as the Hoogerland trio continue to press on. Meanwhile, a few riders are beginning to flake off the back of the bunch.

  55. 67km - Hoogerland, De Weert and Roche are making in-roads here: the trio rides 3:30 down on the leaders and 2:55 ahead of the bunch.

  56. 68km - The Lanterne Rouge of the Tour, Andrey Amador, now leads the Tour on the road. Chapeau.

  57. 70km - Casar, Muravyev and Boasson Hagenn set the pace on the front of the peloton. They riders are passing the Olympic bobsleigh run of Cesana Torinese - not a downhill that Andy Schleck would like...

  58. 71km - The three chasers are 5:02 down on the leaders and 1:09 ahead of the bunch.

  59. 72km - This is a dramatic sweeping descent down towards the foot of the climb to Sestieres. Impressive stuff. Meanwhile, up front the 14-man breakaway is onto the Cat.1 climb to Sestrieres (11.1km at 6.3%).

  60. 76km - That attack by De Weert is an interesting one: the Belgian is 12th in the GC and could be targeting the top 10. Sky's Rigoberto Uran is currently 10th - and the Colombian also wears the white jersey as the best young rider too. White jersey standings

  61. 79km - The peloton approaches the summit of the Col de Montgenevre with Europcar still on the front.But two Leopard Trek riders have come forward - it looks like the Schleck brothers - as well as a trio of Liquigas men, including Basso and Szmyd. The gap is 6:35.

  62. 80km - Tjallingii stops for a front wheel change on the descent.

  63. 81km - Roche is joined by De Weert and Hoogerland. They already have about a minute over the peloton.

  64. 82km - Chavanel crosses the summit of the Col de Montgenevre ahead of Tjallingii, Fovanov and El Fares in that order.

  65. 83km - A couple of other riders have tried to follow Roche: Kevin De Weert (QuickStep) and, would you believe it, Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil).

  66. 83km - ATTACK: Nicolas Roche of AG2R breaks out of the peloton and heads off alone up the hill.

  67. 85km - Pierre Rolland - a real "rockstar" according to Lance Armstrong - is leading the peloton up this climb for Europcar. Hushovd is right on the back alongside Cofidis' David Moncoutie. Lampre's Alessandro Petacchi drops back to get some water.

  68. 86km - Mollema and Casar set the pace, before handing the baton over to El Fares. The group is still together as one, with Chavanel currently on the back.

  69. 87km - The peloton is passing through the feeding zone at Briancon.

  70. 88km - The 14-man group is onto the Cat.2 Col de Montgenevre (7.9km at 6.1%) and already some of them are struggling. Lanterne rouge Andrei Amador is on the back.

  71. 90km - Voeckler has teammate Anthony Charteau to his left as he approaches the summit of the Chaussee climb. Johan Gene leads the peloton over the top 7:05 down on the leaders.

  72. 92km - Chavanel took the points atop the short and sharp climb, with Leukemans taking one point in second.

  73. 93km - The 14 leaders are onto the Cat.3 Cote de la Chaussee (1.4km at an average of 8.3%) with a lead of 5:55 over the bunch.

  74. 94km - Green jersey Mark Cavendish sprints clear to pick up the last solitary point available at the intermediate sprint.

  75. 95km - World champion Thor Hushovd towards the back of the pack, taking it easy. The Garmin-Cervelo boys have yellow bib numbers today - they're the best placed team after Hushovd's victory and Ryder Hesjedal's third place yesterday in Gap. Team standings

  76. 97km - Intermediate sprint at Villar-Saint-Pancrace: Casar took maximum points ahead of Boasson Hagen. But it was largely uncontested.

  77. 99km - The Europcar team of yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler lead the peloton ahead of the BMC team of Cadel Evans.

  78. 100km - The 14 leaders near the intermediate sprint with a gap of five minutes. The sun is blazingly hot today, although there is still snow on top of the highest mountains in the Alps.

  79. 105km - Chavanel took two points atop the summit of the Cote de Sainte-Marguerite ahead of El Fares, who took the remaining point.

  80. 106km - It's an interesting group on the road. Just three Frenchmen - Casar, El Fares and Chavanel, all of whom have been pretty active in this year's race. Amador is the lanterne rouge of the race, currently in 170th position almost three hours down on the summit. Boasson Hagen is the only stage winner from this year's race in the break. There is also that rare sight of riders from RadioShack and Liquigas in the break...

  81. 108km - The race is LIVE NOW on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521) and is also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player: click here to subscribe

  82. 110km - The leaders have four minutes over the peloton as they arrive at the foot of the Cat.3 Col Sainte-Marguerite.

  83. 111km - The average speed for the first hour of racing today was a rapid 51.3 km/h.

  84. 112km - Astana's Paolo Tiralongo has withdrawn from the race.

  85. 115km - This group of 14 riders has quickly built up a lead of 2:05 over the peloton, so it looks like it will stick. Green jersey Mark Cavendish will be pleased - he's been let off the hook for the intermediate sprint.

  86. 118km - French champion Sylvain Chavanel is also in this group, as is Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana), Dmitriy Muravyev (RadioShack), Andrey Amador (Movistar), Maciej Paterski (Liquigas), Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) and Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun).

  87. 120km - BREAK: Around 10 riders have broken clear of the peloton, including Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), Sandy Casar (FDJ) and Julien El Fares (Cofidis).

  88. 125km - Today's intermediate sprint comes with 97km left to ride, sandwiched between the first two Cat.3 climbs of the day. With Mark Cavendish running away with the green jersey, it will be interesting to see if Jose Rojas (Movistar) and Philippe Gilbert (Lotto) try to do anything - perhaps even distance him on the first climb? Green jersey standings

  89. 130km - The pace is so high that around 30 riders - including Nicolas Roche (AG2R) - have found themselves distanced from the peloton, although they're fighting to rejoin the bunch.

  90. 135km - The leading group has been swept up by the peloton. The average speed for the stage so far is a high 50 km/h.

  91. 140km - Here's the latest from our blogger, Blazin' Saddles: "Frandy Schleck were hit with a sucker punch on Tuesday's stage 16 when they failed to grasp that one of their rivals would ever consider an attack while it was raining..." Blazin' Saddles: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

  92. 140km - The attack by Roche and Hushovd caused a split in the peloton, but it has come back together again. The 10 leaders have 32 seconds. Fascinating stuff. Who is your tip for victory today? Have your say below...

  93. 145km - With the lead of the 10 escapees dropping to 25 seconds, two riders have broken clear of the peloton in pursuit. They are Nicolas Roche (AG2R) and the indefatigable world champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo).

  94. 150km - With some big climbs on the agenda today, we could see a shake up in the KOM competition. Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) currently leads Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) by just two points after both men picked up wins in the Pyrenees. King of the mountains standings

  95. 155km - The best-placed rider in this group is Sandy Casar, currently 21st position and 14:36 behind his countryman Voeckler. The 10 riders have managed to extend their lead and it's up to 45 seconds.

  96. 160km - Garmin-Cervelo are leading the chase in the peloton. Jonathan Vaughters' team do not have anyone in the break, and the American said last night, after Thor Hushovd's excellent win, that Garmin were keen to continue animating the race and would hunt down their fifth stage win. Their hard work has seen the gap tumble to just eight seconds. Stage 16 report: Hushovd doubles up in Gap

  97. 165km - This is an intriguing group, containing some very familiar faces: Linus Gerdemann (Leopard Trek), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Remi Di Gregorio (Astana), Rui Costa (Movistar), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Geraint Thomas (both Sky), Sandy Casar (FDJ), Danilo Hondo (Lampre), Tejay van Garderen (HTC) and Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil). They have about 25 seconds on the peloton.

  98. 170km - A small group of around 10 riders breaks away from the peloton and has 10 seconds over the bunch.

  99. 175km - The stage today starts easily enough, with around 65km of largely flat roads. But then there are two small climbs in quick succession before the Cat.2 Col de Montgenevre, a mere amuse-bouche to the main course first category slog to Sestrieres. A long descent will bring the riders to the foot of the punchy Cat.2 Cote de Pra'Martino before an 8km ride down into Italy and the finish in Pinerolo, described by Andy Schleck as "fataly dangerous". Stage 17 guide: 'Fatally dangerous'

  100. 177km - France's Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) lost a little time to Cadel Evans (BMC) yesterday as the Australian latched onto Alberto Contador's attack on the Col de Manse to move up to second in the GC, 1:45 down on the Frenchman. Can Voeckler hold on to the maillot jaune today? General Classification

  101. 179km - Race director Christian Prudhomme waves the flag go get this stage under way.

  102. 11:35 - The sun is out in Gap as the remaining 170 riders ride through the neutral zone ahead of this first of three stages in the Alps.

  103. 11:20 - Welcome to live coverage of stage 17 of the Tour de France, a 179km up-and-down trek from Gap to Pinerolo in Italy, via the huge climb to Sestrieres.

 

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