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By Andy Nicolson
1300: The first climb of the day - the Col de Larrieu - has given up its secrets thus:
1. Alexandre Botcharov (C.A) 4pts
2. Pierrick Fedrigo (BTL) 3pts
3. Alessandro Ballan (LAM) 2pts
4. Amael Moinard (COF) 1pt
At the top of the climb, the gap was up to 5mins 30secs, and not to be outdone, the temperature at road level is now at 33 degrees. Hot stuff - hope David Millar's got his Caspar the Friendly Ghost cream on.
1256: There are indeed some interesting names in the break - amongst them Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan, Dmitry Fofonov, Fabian Wegmann and Pieter Weening.
And Gert Steegmans has joined Vicente Garcia Acosta in an attempt to bridge the gap.
56 clicks gone, 110 left.
1250: "I think Kim Kirchen will win today. He will be able to get over the climbs without too much trouble and has the sprinting speed as well. Also, after losing the yellow jersey he can now go for the green jersey where he is 2nd."
kuzfan on 606
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1245: The best-placed, overall, of the breakaway is the Russian, Alexandre Botcharov, of Credit Agricole - he's in 35th place, 20 minutes down.
The gap is now 3mins 20secs, after 47km.
1240: Ping! Looks like the umbilical has gone; 11 riders are away with a two-minute gap after 45km.
Cadel and a slew of others are, meanwhile, watering the verges.
1237: It's Miguel Indurain's 44th birthday today - the Spanish legend is younger than me!
A few years ago I happened to be staying at a small, rustic hotel near Figueras in north-east Spain. I got into conversation with the owner who, after the chat turned to sports, took me into his office which was festooned with sporting memorabilia from teams that had stayed in the hotel.
Amongst which was one of Indurain's shirts, signed by the man himself. Quality.
Shame the owner's enthusiasm didn't extend to waiving the bar tab, but you can't have everything, I guess.
1223: And we're off and running on 606:
"I don't think Schleck'll try to grab the yellow jersey today. Even if it's only a second, why try to get away on a course with only one Category 1 mountain while next weekend you've got to deal with Alp d'Huez and others. Even if Silence-Lotto isn't that strong, the likes of Popovich, Aerts and VanSummeren will make it over the Col de Portel."
TheGSgirl on 606
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1220: But guess what? Threat or not, Voeckler's back in the bunch. No mercy today, it seems.
1218: Meanwhile, back to the elastic chat - Frenchman Thomas Voeckler of Bouygues Telecom has got away after 28km.
Voeckler is 123rd overall, an hour and a half back from leader Cadel Evans, so is no threat.
1213: Barloworld's team manager Claudio Corti has responded to the news of Nevado's positive test:
"I want to find out more about what has happened before going into detail and taking further action. However the one thing I will say is that the team is not involved in this story at all and we'll take severe action against anyone who damages our credibility and the image of our team."
1209: The elastic almost snapped, as 13 riders broke free just before the first intermediate sprint, but the behemoth brought them back.
Results of the first sprint were:
1. Leonardo Duque (COF) 6pts
2. Thor Hushovd (C.A) 4pts
3. Oscar Freire (RAB) 2pts
1202: Riders are popping off the front trying to escape, but each time the peloton pulls them back in as if they were attached by elastic.
It's 23 degrees and sunny in the Pyrenean foothills, with a 10km/h headwind.
1150 BST: Morning all!
The riders are rolling out in the neutral zone, while I'm reeling with the news that Moises Deunas Nevado - team-mate of Geraint Thomas on Barloworld - has tested positive for EPO.
(BBC)
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