Its the first mountain stage of the race and what a stage it is! For starters we have the Peyresourde, before the main course of the Aspin and the Tourmalet. If that was not enough, it is followed by the desert, the summit finish at Cauteret.
Zaugg, Ford, Brandt, Van Garderen and Sprick attacked first today, and they were being chased by the slightly later attackers of Gonzalez Martinez, Naibo, (Brad) Armstrong, Voeckler and Van de Walle. They built up a big lead before another bunch of riders went away on the Peyresourde: Gusev, Moncoutie, Vinokourov, Bruseghin, Sinkewitz, and Eltink.
Perhaps the biggest story of the Peyresourde though was that of Thomas Dekker. The Dutchman's Tour de France dreams are in tatters and he is dropped early on. He really did have an excellent chance of the podium in Paris at the very least, until his crash on Stage 10.
Mathieu Sprick was the strongest of the breakaway riders and Wikipedia's Frenchman went solo before the top of the Peyresourde. He remained in th lead down the descent and all the way up the Aspin.
Over the Aspin 2nd is Zaugg, 1'42 behind Sprick and just 30 seconds ahead of Gonzalez Martinez. The Magenta rider is the strongest climber of the break but was part of the 2nd attack group so has spent much of the time chasing.
2 minutes later is Brandt, then there is a futher 2 minutes to Voeckler. Theres some more remnants of the breakaway inbetween Voeckler and the next group of interest. Vinokourov, Eltink, Moncoutie and Gusev are 8'45 behind Sprick. Sinkewitz has just been dropped from the group.
Accumalux, France TV and la Gazetta lead the peleton over the top - 15 and a half minutes behind Sprick. Thomas Dekker is a further 10 minutes down the mountain now.
So, onto the Tourmalet. It is a long climb and the steepest of the day. Surprisingly, with 16km to the top, Frank Schleck attacks!
Pluchkin makes the strongest countermove while Di Luca, Kashechkin and Monfort all attempt to follow Schleck.
France Televisions are having none of it though, and soon Schleck is the only one from those attacks to remain ahead, although France TV seem to have him covered.
Having just been off the front, Pluchkin is dropped! Thats a surprise
Frank Schlecks advantage seems pegged at around 30-40 seconds as they make their way through some remnants of the early breakaway. Schleck finds an unlikely ally in Virgin's William Ford. The exhausted Aussie is for some reason allowed to relay for the peleton for some time.
Schleck's advantage is now up to over 2 minutes. France Televisions have lost their momentum so 2 and a half km from the top, Gadret decides that enough is enough and attacks
This is it now! Kloden, Popovych and - crucially - Devolder attack!
Mathieu Sprick is now descending the Tourmalet though, leading over the top
- Gonzalez Martinez follows 3'30 later
- Zaugg is 5 minutes behind Sprick
Close to catching Zaugg are Moncoutie and Eltink - having distanced Vinokourov and Gusev.
Schleck has caught Sinkewitz and crosses the summit 7 and a half minutes after Sprick
Devolder is 9 minutes down on Sprick, and 30 seconds ahead of Brandt, Gadret and Rujano
A minute after Brandt, Gadret and Rujano is a group of 8: Kloden, Kashechkin, Karpets, Popovych, Di Luca, Duarte, Mayo and Sastre.
Behind those 8, Pluchkin and Zabriskie are the leading riders in the next chase group - Evans and Valverde are further back.
Gadret's strong descending skills help him and Rujano to catch Devolder in the descent.
There are a lot of gap reducements in the descent so this is how things now stand ahead of the 13km up to the Cauteret. (All time gaps are to Sprick)
- Mathieu Sprick Leads
+ 2'11 - Moncoutie and Gonzalez Martinez
+ 3'00 - Schleck, Eltink, Vinokourov and Gusev
+ 4'00 - Sinkewitz
+ 4'30 - Devolder, Gadret and Rujano
Devolder and Gadret attack away from Rujano!
While up front, Sprick has cracked - he is caught by Moncoutie at the same time as them both being caught by Frank Schleck
Schleck and Moncoutie press on and as Schleck is trying to leave behind Moncoutie with 6km to go - Brajkovic and Gadret are closing fast!
The gap is just 20 seconds now!
But it seems Devolder is contempt to sit behind Moncoutie for a short while, sensing this, Gadret attacks away to close in on Schleck. Now as Moncoutie does finally crack, has Devolder missed his opportunity here?
Going into the final kilometre, Gadret hasnt managed to catch Schleck and is now struggling
Although not showing it as visibly, Schleck must be struggling too as he isnt pulling away from Gadret! Now Devolder is closing the gap on them both! But its ultimately too late for the Belgian, Schleck wins the stage.
Devolder is 2nd ahead of Gadret - all 3 are given the same time.
Moncoutie hangs on for 4th while Rujano beats Eltink into 5th
