After the major news that broke yesterday
our riders just want to get on the road and away from the media.



Today 6 riders form the BOTD. EA-Sony stays in the peloton.



And then the rain starts to fall. Wet roads are never good.



The breakaway's lead is down to 4 minutes by the sprint point.



And for the first time in the tour the peloton
takes interest in the sprint points.



It was going to happen eventually,
the first crash of the tour belongs to Sergio Pardilla.



Sylvain Chavanel makes a bold move with 18kms to go,
Or is he just making a statement
for his new team next year XBox-Mircosoft?



His move attracts Lars Boom to follow.
The peloton better react fast to pull these men back.



Larsson wasn't going to let next year's rival get away that easy.



And Larsson attack finally gets the peloton attention to chase again,
but is it to late?



No they come charging up the left side of the road!
Should be a close finish on the line.



Wheel to wheel are Petacchi and Juan José Haedo.



And the win goes to Ale-Jet, Haedo 2nd,
and somebody should tell breakaway man
Luca Paolini he is celebrating a 3rd.

Stage

Sprint

The mountains may be over but the tour carries on,
two flats stage with an ITT in the middle will wrap up the action.



It takes a few different combinations before we get a set a breakaway.
Jimmy Licina again is among, he has had a very demanding tour.



These 5 men are working well together.



And at the last sprint point the lead is at 8 minutes, they could make it.



5 minutes as they ride under the 10kms to go banner,
surely one of them will take the stage.



And just when you thought the stage was coming to a conclusion, a crash!
2nd overall Thomas Peterson hits the ground,
he gets up really fast and starts chasing down the peloton.



Peterson saves his overall placing by catching the peloton with 4kms to go.



So lets jump back to the breakaway who are closing in on the finish.



Björn Schröder gets a surprising win for Nutrixxion Sparkasse.
Licina gets 4th after having nothing left in the legs to challenge for the win.

Stage

GC

The sprinters will have to give way for the climbers for the first time this tour
as the riders head up Super-Besse Sancy.



11 riders form the BOTD including our own Andrew Talansky.



At the sprint point the lead hovers around 4 minutes.



Fast forward to the first major climb of Col de la Croix Saint-Robert.
Andrew Talansky goes on the attack looking for a solo win
with the peloton breathing down their backs.



However Talansky can't get away and is in a group of 5 over top.



Andrew is pulled back with 10kms to go along with Enrico Gasparotto,
leaving 3 men up front still.



5kms to go, with the breakaway in sight Thomas Lofkvist goes on the attack. He is followed by Thomas Voeckler and Ryder Hesjedal.



It takes 2kms before the rest of peloton realizes how dangerous that move could be. So when Andy Schleck attacks
all the EA-Sony climbers try to follow.



Vino and Andy are flying up the climb
as they close the gap to the first three attackers.



And they go right past Hesjedal and Voeckler,
they have unmatched speed today.



Andy Schleck makes the pass and takes the stage.
But more importantly starts the clock.
But it's clear that yellow is now his.



22 seconds later come the Canadian and the Frenchman.



Everyone else comes in 10 seconds later with Lofkvist hanging on to take 6th. Big names to lose time today include Marco Pinotti, Nicolas Roche, Gustav Erik Larsson, Chris Horner, and Amets Txurruka.

Stage

GC

A long 32km ITT usually shakes up the GC,
however with the time gaps so large between riders
its effect might be minimal today.



Raivis Belohvosciks is the odds on favourite for the stage win,
and shows it right away by putting his name on top of the leader board
early with a time of 49'35".



Two pre-race favourites that don't show up today are Patrick Gretsch and ...



Stefan Schumacher. Both post times 52 seconds slower than Belohvosciks.



Jimmy Licina has had a great tour so far with a stage win and 10th overall.
But he can only hope not to lose a bunch of time to keep his top 10.



Kessiakoff starts off strong on the course breaking both time checks
but when he gets to the finish he is 24 seconds off the lead.



Peterson is in the same boat as Licina, don't lose 2nd overall.



And then the yellow jersey of Michael Albasini,
and the yellow gives him wings as he will win the stage (by a lot).



For an added insult Albasini passes Peterson on his way to line.
But no worries for the team as Peterson and Licina hold their GC spots,
and Kessiakoff even moves up from 7th to 6th.

Stage

GC