2004 Tour de France Part 1

half-a-dozen it's afraid to use about eggs things you might pick up from the supermarket not Tour de France victories but coming into the 2004 race Lance Armstrong was just one win away from being the first man in Tour history who'd be able to count his wins on the fingers of more than one hand he was already in pretty exalted company of course only four other men had ever won five tours but although they'd all ridden again after their fifth win none of them not even the great Eddy Merckx had been able to muster a sixth as it happened Lance Armstrong's ride into history began in mercs his backyard the prologue for the tour was in the belgian city of liège six kilometers flat-out through the city streets however all the historical evidence says that it's gonna be a massive test to pull off and even the famously focused Armstrong arrived in the age struggling to keep it all in perspective it's it's never been done it's it's it's legendary but I can't think about that I have to think about I mean sitting here today I have to think about the prologue okay what's the prologue like after that I have to think about the TTT and when we if we make it to the end and it shakes out that did I win again then I guess I can comment it comment on it then and say say how I feel but I refuse to think about that and put myself in that position now because I think that's the worst karma you could ever create I sort of I mean I mean how the hell can you write your victory speech before you've written three weeks of hard bike races and I'm not doing that I got I mean there's especially this year there's a lot of guys that are good and it's gonna be tight so who if anybody can beat Armstrong well while the Americans going for his sixth win Germany's ya know Rick will be trying to avoid his sixth second place in this race the 1997 champion pushed Armstrong incredibly close last year and he leaves the pack of contenders again this year I hope I'm a good training before and I feel good I have a strong team and I hope I can Spain's even Maya has already beaten Armstrong this year fact he hammered him in and I feel Time Trial last month but my knows that beating Lance in June and repeating the trick in July a totally different propositions I will not buy a sign for you I'm assuming an ad Armstrong's old teammate Tyler Hamilton is more upbeat about his chances Hamilton finished an astonishing fourth last year after riding with a broken collarbone for three weeks this year he has a new team custom-built to help him take on his old leader my objective the team's objective is to win it's clear no confident I'm confident in the team I'm confident my itself really comes down to me there's a lot shirt certainly there's a lot of pressure on me but I feel like I have the best of everything so now no excuses now for me another US postal defector has joined the enemy this year roberto our ass used to be Armstrong's chief protector in the mountains now as leader of his own team the spanish climber will be one more dangerous attacker for the defending champion to worry about not I say you must play by others believe in better a much has come the others are a 30th minute and he's got a take on the course as well this year which some people think has been designed to make it more difficult for him they've taken out the first week time trial which is usually where he builds up a big lead over his rivals let's take a look at the route now you certainly gets its money's worth out of Belgium this year with the prologue and two stages before the race leaves Waterloo for vasquel heading back into France by the bone-shaking cobbles of the famous Harry rube a one day race as a rule change at the team time trial this year which may help some of Lance Armstrong's rivals and the sprinters will lead the pack on a high-speed chase cross country all the way to the Atlantic coast week two starts with a plane journey to Limoge for the first of two rest days and it's south through the vineyards ignoring the free tasting signs and into the Pyrenees this is where the battle between the defending champion and the men who reckon they're strong enough to attack him will really start the highlights will be consecutive mountain top finishes at L'Amour's e and plateau de bay both stages that Armstrong has won before after another day's rest the riders head up to the Alps and the first individual time trial of the race it's only 15 kilometers long most 15 kilometers are up the legendary climb of ALP d'Huez the tour's most famous mountain has never been used for a time trial before and this promises to be a classic stage no sooner the riders out of the Alps than they face the tour second individual time trial the 60 kilometers against the clock around bizarre song could well decide the race and if they don't and it will have to be decided on the show silly zeg now usually the prologue is full of home interest in the form of David Millar not this year though you might have read in the newspapers at Britain's World Time Trial champion is out of the race after confessing to the use of the performance-enhancing drug EPO and while the rest of the riders were lining up for their pre-race medicals here in the edge David was locked in judge's chambers across the French border in Nam ter answering a series of highly uncomfortable questions the rest of his coffee his team is here of course but understandably not starting the race in the best frame of mind shocked and I feel sorry for David it's good friend of mine and always will be in you know think times are this is going to need more support than than anything so just thinking of it now david has more than just missing the tour to worry about he's already out of Britain's Olympic team for Athens and once he's had time to speak to Crawford his management very likely be out of a job well the Prolog course in Liege may well have suited David Miller but of course we'll never know now 6.1 kilometres has some cobbled stretches and a couple of tricky corners that could turn treacherous if it rained and having lost David Miller to the legal system coffer this proceeded to lose a rider on the warm-up ride the australian matt white who should have been starting his first Tour de France came off after hitting a television cable just off the route and headed off to hospital instead with a suspected broken collarbone once the race started another as he went down Michael Rogers touching the tarmac with a pedal and losing himself any chance of taking the early race lead as we join the action that is in the possession of the Spaniard óscar Pereiro the member of Tyler Hamilton's Phonak squad we're looking now at Fabian Cancellara here Paul he has we won't know of course the drama at the other end with yen's voice just the losing first place by two hundreds of a second whatever do we do without the clocks in the old days of the old finger and thumb on the stopwatch because there's no way we could split these riders without the electronic timing these days Cancellara has been talked about by a lot of people as the one man who could challenge the big boys in the prologue Time Trial and I think they may have just reason to do that now we expected this man to put in a fine performance and look at that he's well inside he's the fastest man to that corner so far and I think he's not gonna fade at all he's a very big strong guy rider built this is a new best time this is a new best time his first everyday in his first ever Tour de France he's on top of the leaderboard 650 point 93 that is a superb time young Ulrich he says I'm tired of finishing second and he knows better than most he's done it five times it's a long time since he won they in 1997 I don't if you can hear the crowd but we can they are screaming at Yahoo it he is the pin-up boy of world cycling they say he has more talent in his body than any current cyclist the one man to add to that is Lance Armstrong who has always regarded this man here in pink and white of t-mobile as the most talented bike rider on the circuit he is a powerful bite rider he came from an East German upbringing to win the Tour de France a few years ago but since then he's been dogged by illness and injury and defeat as well three times at the hands of Lance Armstrong and you're right filled this year he doesn't want to be beaten again he wants to be the number one dog well he's on his way and Eric and that means there's only one man left to start his test now and time is nearly up Armstrong is in the start house we'll see him very shortly ahead of Ulrich is Hamilton ahead of Hamilton his mayo behind them all is Armstrong almost impervious to the noise going on about him as he now concentrates the countdown Armstrong launches into his Tour de France will it be a record-breaking race for him he looks to win number six he says I'm not thinking of Paris I'm taking this day by day and assessing it as I go well he's off look at the powerhouse from Germany here this man's leg is look at those muscles evil they're like Pistons they're huge muscles there that are pumping around these pedals are all too weak the three point one killer me to check at the moment and that's where we'll get our first indication put a mayo's there Mayo has gone through 13 seconds off Cancellara's race time Cancellara still looking set to win this prologue look at the comparison between the two riders we've just got a glimpse there of the way they were peddling even Basso he's a man who I think can finish in the top five is coming into the finishing straight won't be too happy with this time he's going to finish her fairly close to 50th position but more importantly he's going to lose himself almost half a minute on Fabian Cancellara this is Lance Armstrong those legs once they catch up with the cadence he just sits there and pumps he has got an incredible cadence here he's able to accelerate quickly paul ulrich has gone through same time as tyler hamilton at 3.1 kilometres covered they are locked together now we're waiting for lance to get there ten seconds adrift ten seconds those two men have gone through slower than fabian cancellara we're looking here at Alessandro Petacchi this sprint in a couple of days time we'll be in front of a huge bunch who's practicing they're practicing the last for the line its 55th place for him but we're now waiting in the next 30 seconds or so we should get an indication of how Lance arms on his riding he actually looks pretty good to me he looks very fast to me but we don't know Ulrich and Tyler Hamilton virtually same time at that check no time arms on is there he is lying in second place he is only two seconds off the win it is possible watch out for the corner this is the corner that has been the undoing for several riders he went round there very carefully didn't touch his brakes he went in at the right speed he's in the right gear to accelerate away we're now looking at Iban Mayo four from the end a good ride though by him this is amazing now Myo is doing a good ride the man that caught rider time soil is at least not going to lose that many seconds but Cancellara is just about holding off the man from the toilet on Lance Armstrong has gone through only two seconds down and the good riders should accelerate as they come up towards the line I don't think deep down Paul we expected a win from Armstrong today I don't think Armstrong expected it but he did want to go out today and serve a bitter psychological bow to everybody else you know at 3.1 kilometres Cancellara still has the fastest time of 3:18 but Armstrong is only 2 seconds slower than him at this point and I'm sure that informations gone forward to this man the big German fella dear Paul 8 seconds difference at the halfway mark Greg LeMond wants won the Tour de France by 8 seconds it could be that important it could be so important it's all down to seconds the sport has come to such a level now again that it could even be fractions of a second this man has the most ungainly Time Trial position and style in the world but it's probably one of the most efficient it is indeed an Amal ttan is not going to lose too much time nowhere near Cancellara's time but only 17 seconds it'll be rounded up to 18 seconds for the overall classification that's not a lot he won't be worried about that he will be concerned about the form though being shown by Armstrong two men left to finish number 11 the Challenger six times he's ridden the Tour de France Phil six times he's been on to the podium never lower than second place in the overall classification he dearly wants to beat this man Lance Armstrong who has been the Dominator for the last five years in a row in six miles or 6 kilometers rather of the Tour de France we have already developed a great battle between these two terrific athletes first and second in the Tour de France three times Ulrich has finished second to Lance Armstrong he's currently second in the time Charlie and go back a little bit but it shows you right now that Olek himself has continued to accelerate as he comes up to the line it is not going to be a race winning time though he's all so just try to conserve time here as Ulrich finishes 50 just slightly better than Hamilton only one man now compete Fabian Cancellara who's not too far away from the finishing straight and the man who can beat him is Lance Armstrong the time he has to beat is six minutes 50 seconds 0.9 Armstrong is watching that clock tick over look at that face the pain is going all through his body it's telling him please stop please give me a break but look at the time hold on believe this is a winning time as he comes up to the line a Lance Armstrong who won in Luxembourg in 2002 he's going to throw down the gauntlet you know that book has made him a very very angry man as he races up the line he's gonna have to sprint it's going to be test well he closed his missed it as he hits the line 1.6 5 seconds Fabian Cancellara in his first Tour de France he's 23 years of age has won the prologue in the battle of psychology Lance Armstrong wins that he wins the first battle but it's going to be a very long war this three-week event look at that face look at the man as he comes up to the line hit that is an absolutely superb ride and he has filled delivered a serious psychological blow to everybody else he's announced to them that he is the strongman but here is the winner who is the new yellow jersey fabian cancellara filt 23 years of age I tell you Paul this is wonderful he was born on March the 18th 1981 he's been a professional since the year 2001 he was a sensational teenage start he is now about to become a Tour de France stage winner at the very first day of his very first tour he'll probably want this result signed by the entire peloton to put up on his wall Fabian Cancellara two seconds ahead of the defending Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong with Jose E van Gutierrez in third 8 seconds back and Brad McGee to oft óscar Pereiro and yen's Voigt separated by another couple of seconds for Armstrong though the real race wasn't with Cancellara with all Rick Hamilton and Mayo and they all had disappointing rides 15 16 and 19 second deficits on the American may not seem a lot but there are a lot over six kilometers and who knows how important they may become down the road Fabian Cancellara couldn't have cared less about the bigger picture though there was on the podium posing for the biggest picture of his life starting an endless round of interviews including one with Ned Bolton your first Tour de France your first day of your Tour de France you couldn't have dreamed that it would end like this yes it's more enduring because before when I was young I have only seen TV in television the two de France with women in the Rhine to win or with now with Lance Armstrong now I'm here this is now is three-day and this all new is all specialist is more is more more zombies it's too much now the tour attracts its fair share of celebrity spectators Robin Williams Eric Idle Arnold Schwarzenegger last year however as far as we know none of those stars was romantically involved with Lance Armstrong Sheryl Crow is and just to help him keep a low profile she's tagging along this year they're bolting caught up with her before the start I think cycling is like what rock and roll probably used to be like when the stones are in their heyday I mean now a rock and roll or musics become sort of it's kind of silly really they're great personalities in this board and you really get to know who they are and then you start following them like you do or you would have your music idols and people are very dedicated and very emotionally committed to their cyclists and it's it's not dissimilar than probably what it used to be like I think with Lance's situation he he has the opportunity and certainly the capability but the opportunity now to do something that's never been done before and that's I think as history goes and his originality goes there's there's nothing like doing something that's never been done I think everybody really wants him to win just to see someone do something that it has always been seen as the impossible you know you've had great cycles before win five but this will really be history in the making and if anybody can do it it would be Lance and I think also we've gotten the opportunity to watch Lance grow as a person through his career and that's something we all relate to so there are yeah I mean I'm probably more nervous er than he is it was plenty for Cheryl to be nervous about on stage one which was officially flat but actually featured five small climbs the kind of squall II whether that has crash written all over it it also featured the novelty of Lance Armstrong wearing the green jersey of the points competition leader courtesy of coming second in the prologue as winner on the opening date Fabian Cancellara was officially leader of all categories and since he couldn't wear all the relevant jerseys Lance was forced into his castoffs while the crashes weren't long in coming mario Cipollini went down off-camera the first thing he's done off camera in his entire career and yen's Voight and Frank Reni a simply pointed themselves at the grass verge when they realized they had no chance of making this corner worse off was Austria's Bernhard eyes Alou seemed to lose traction on the white lines in the middle of the road before touching somebody's back wheel and going down Fabian Cancellara was up front at the intermediate sprints protecting his yellow jersey remember there are time bonuses of six four and two seconds for the first three riders under the banner at each of the designated sprints out on the road and with to push off starting the day just ten seconds behind him we couldn't let the Norwegian champion go unchallenged push-off took the six seconds here Cancellara for for second place a two-second net gain to loft at the next sprint though Cancellara was second again with push off to nowhere to be seen so four seconds back to Cancellara with bigger bonuses available for the first three riders across the line at the finish though Cancellara and his faster thought slow team couldn't afford to relax as we joined commentary with less than five kilometers to go they're riding hard at the front of the pack to try to reel in a two-man breakaway consisting of Denmark Jakob peel and mark founders of Belgium Cancellara has shown us how to Time Trial yesterday earlier on today he's also shown us how to sprint at five kilometers to go he is also in here there is in yellow ulrich team are moving to the trumpet not for yan ulrich but for a sprinter an example six times a winner of the points competition yeah to Slovakia Bob just kicking it up there to bring the pace up a little bit higher I caught the lock slipped figure of the t-mobile rider Rolf al dang who happens to be sharing a room at the moment with Erics Arnold not spoken about their example very much but you can never discount him in a sprint and last time the Tour de France came to Charlevoix who was the winner hair example on his birthday is not the same date this year's birthday runs on the seventh of July I think it's the same date every year so if he can't win on his birthday today it's strange the way that works is my fine hair example will certainly be super motivated coming back here you know if you've won in a place in your career you're always motivated when a race goes back there these two riders now have been suffering for a long time then looking back and they know the main field is gripping up the pace they know the main field is not too far behind them and they know that very shortly the teams of the sprinters must get themselves organized on the front end of the peloton four kilometers to go two and a half miles 15 seconds advantage it's a time like this when you've worked this hard they should give them a victory when I'm afraid it doesn't work like that in professional sport and they're out to hunt them down a 15 seconds it's all over it's only a matter of when mark routers it worked for him last time when he win in Antwerp it's not going to work this time Jakob peel it were for him last time when he went down in Marseille it's not going to work for him this time either I've noticed Gerolsteiner all suburb and it crashed there's a crash in the field I don't it will see it but we're hitting shouts on the race radio there's the split in the peloton then there is the chaos so so and somebody has gone down on it's a Phonak rider now let's hope it's not I don't think it's Thailand no it's not Thai lamilton who's gone down it'll be a Nikolai's yalla bet was L what it's all about on the run into the finish just a small touch of wills and somebody can go down but everybody was alert at that moment you see if these well bike rider went down now we're approaching the out skirts of Charlevoix three kilometres to go this is not going to take them very much more than three minutes these two riders have not given up at all and they have still but a breadth of chance in them they're just hoping they can survive but look at this on the front Cancellara is now whipping up the pace and it's not to conserve his yellow jersey the track sets up the line what is morally the the big man from Italy Alessandra attacking the new sprinter on the block unlucky shall appear here because that means he'll lose time today another great concern but a shame unnecessary loss of time who was one of the ride I think either delayed off they'll be gone up as well he got out before we recognized who it was but take a look at this now Fabiana fabian cancellara the winner yesterday's first Tour de France not riding not thinking long-term he'll still be in yellow tomorrow but right now his world would be complete if Alessandro Pataki won the stage he's the boss he's the boss he's the king of the sprint two kilometers to go that time will tell the riders and unfortunately when they take the next left hand belt it bell it goes right the way up towards the finishing line it's a long hard line up a long hard final kilometer Cancellara on the front shattered there by Matteo Osato and not far away at the back end of that blue line will be Alessandro Pataki and all of the sprinters Phil will be fighting to get into his will and it looks to me like now it is all over for the two leaders and that is tough at one and a half kilometres from the finish and a long straight up to the line shortly they have pulled back those two leaders there is the catch as they come round up left-hander so close yet so far grouches looks at cross at the punch he'll see what he expects the riders on fastball to though leading the charge as they are caught and now it's a detour for Kersey Foote who had cuts in the front that's on a big spanner in the works for fossa a lot of sprinters in the tour this year you can see the big organization coming from ag2r but they're getting swept away they don't have the firepower of a support low and there's still a lot of blue and white jerseys of faster Botha low on the front end of the main field there is a line of pink jerseys to there as well at t-mobile that is the team of Eric Sowell they're example we'll be looking for the victory but there's a good organization coming in for supporter they're looking for the final kilometer there kicking up the pace this is a routine they put to subscribe they put to successed in the giro d'italia on nine separate occasions her example there Phil is trying to get the jump up to the wheel of Alice's go to tacky he's got it under one kilometres ago now Zeidler Scott is the first pink jersey we can see there also stood a great he's trying to bursting onto the scene and jimmy caster is there also tore her chuffing started the bounces way up towards the leaders wiped away now the Navy talked about Lance Armstrong and Ulrich taking a back seat now because this is a matter for the sprinters you don't get mixed up with the men of steel who have no nerve who won't win the Tour de France but they can win at these stages Zorba leads to the right Dan Alejandro is there so too is Fabio Darth Bal dato this is going to be one terrific sprint for coming up through the middle there you can see baton cook as well the man who want the green jersey point of competition last year the blue jersey of Gerolsteiner is daniel ohon though tour how soft has moved up into second position everybody is looking for position I think Alessandra Pataki is out of place but tour her shop this the hot Sun is on the left of our picture here courtesy field running in the center of our picture now this could be a tremendous job and brought me McEwen coming late on the line and I think it's kur Cebu so does he Boyka cured came late but he could have stolen it on the photo he won a stage of the Tour Switzerland when the other guy caught he won this year Robbie kept going I think I'm gonna give it to Kersey poo but that was desperately close and hush off was right there as well and he will move right up the overall classification probably to second now there is McEwen on the right this is yarn jersey poof pushing to the middle push off is over to the left the camera nice the shores down below were not interested in this because we need to know where those wheels are look at the face of Yonkers who I'm pretty sure he knows with confidence that he was ahead let's have a look from there the helicopter angle here hold off starting the sprint there on the right-hand side has got a great line there right up against the berries that means nobody can overtake him on the inside only coming round the left-hand side which is exactly what Jan Kersey who is trying to do cursor Putin had roughly set up here by his teammate a last lunch for the line here coming by Robbie McEwen McEwen is alongside the Estonian but as you can see the lung I aligned it was too desperate yanker Sifu gets win number one nice move by him well the helicopter shop confirmed it yankor seafood just ahead of a fast closing Robby McEwen with two of our shaft in third happy in Cancellara's team mate Alessandro Petacchi the world's leading sprinter this season was back in eighth apparently having lost the fight for position in the home straight all the contenders for overall victory finished safely in the main pack so no time gaps there before the stage everyone was talking about Pataki you were the man who crossed the line first normal because he has so many victories this year as well Tom Boonen and well maybe they were too much marked and I had a little more Liberty maybe that and the Sprint as well suited me because with a little uphill and with a headwind so this is a sprint not very fast print but you need to have a much power and strength so that suited me as well trailing in six minutes behind yanker cebú was brand Magee one of the three race favorites for the prologue now a leading candidate for first rider to abandon a second day on the podium at four Fabian Cancellara though and after the yellow jersey he promised his mum who can they have start thinking about who gets number two afterwards he spoke to net Fabiana you said you wanted to stay in yellow you've done it how does it feel Wow what I'm happy I'm thinking more so more happy because another day in yellow jersey is it's very very good it's very nice Christ it's a crazy day it's crazy these two days too much crazy but it's good this good feeling and I hope I can this half tomorrow after the stage another another day well a look at the general classification shows that Cancellara's lead has doubled he started the day two seconds ahead of Armstrong now he's four seconds ahead of tour for shoved bush off picked up an 8 second bonus for being third on the stage and if Fabian hadn't battled for all those intermediate sprints out on the road he might have lost his lead Lance Armstrong now slips to third ten seconds back not the battle worrying and his lead over his main challengers remains the same a staged to look like being another long windy day's work for the faster board low team chasing down breakaways to keep their man Cancellara in the yellow jersey bad news for Alessandro Petacchi who had really rather have some fresh legs in front of him for the sprint finish mario Cipollini wouldn't mind some fresh legs either unfortunately for the world's former fastest man he stuck with the ones he's got and then out 37 years old but although he's not as quick as he once was she opposed still packs I mean wardrobe it's good to have him bringing some color back to the tour after four years away he isn't [Music] yes The Lion King is back the big Italian with the understated personality in the shy retiring racing style has returned to his old hunting ground it's fully a decade since Super Mario won his first stage on the Tour de France in 1993 and in the following six years he notched up another 11 the last of which came in 99 when he blasted to four consecutive wins in the first week of the tour one of those was the fastest road stage in tool history of course there are always three traditional questions which we always used to ask at mario Cipollini number one how many stages will he win there may bemay liciadventure Siddhanta Mahapatra become an intermediary because they're not the most return and the kappa-b that Duvalier pick up a sheet honorable error or general result that it'll be tough Donnell is the big red train the hallmark of his dominance throughout the 90s the distinctive sight of half a dozen Scarlet psychos bearing down on unsuspecting French towns if he's gonna do it much will depend on his new teammates at Domino vac NZ no glorious Technicolor Cipollini is now in black and white dawn 2 is his youth now 37 age has not withered him but it's probably slowed him down a touch add to that the emergence of Alessandro Petacchi as the new chip of the old chip o block and he's in for a struggle Pataki has been sweeping all before him quadruple stage winner last year at the tour he's just come back from line stage wins in the Giro d'Italia vadhaka Claro que si esto mental of the sauna squadron pinatas Russo de lui Sudan Giro d'Italia still maintained we chanted a queen Selassie running the Father because to sprint inertia Quixote the rain the Villa Rita would officiate a procedure number two what awful sort of clothes really wear and how much is it going to cost him in fines the undisputed world wardrobe champion has picked up where he left off his controversial full spandex all in one body hugger which he done for Saturday's prologue was deemed just too all-in-one for the tour at the age of nearly 40 he was forced to wear shorts for the day extreme measures but the tour simply wouldn't allow him to start without the intervention of the scissors just another clothing crime in a long list of previous offences the mello Yello the Stars and Stripes Green Machine and how could we forget Julius Caesar gone - of the long locks that could launch a thousand attacks on sell a thousand coffee machines and finally exactly how far up the first mountain will he give up the answer of course is not very far the slightest twitch on the altimeter and chippers heading for an early bath and by the way don't believe him when he says there that content values released immediately sporty-er and I want that boat for some reason they'll divide that buddy just put an officer on the wand Chabot has never completed the tour and just when you think it'll end in tears with him it normally does a nice little side bet might be the battle for the back seat in the broom wagon between Pataki and chipper so I've given that this is almost certainly mario Cipollini last appearance at the Tour de France like that final one for the road enjoy while it lasts well it would be nice to see Chabot register a win before he retires from the tour at stage two 197 kilometers from Charlotte and amore was developing nicely his successor Alessandro Petacchi and for Fabian Cancellara a six-man break was out front none of them a threat to Cancellara's race lead so faster bought a low could relax let other teams do the chasing and save their legs to set Pataki up at the finish providing the brake court as we join the race they're approaching the final intermediate sprint of the day inside 40 kilometers to go and with a lead of a minute 45 over the chasing pack looking here now at Christoph Marjan still a member of the six-man leading brake marks c'mon sitting right behind him and somewhere in the distance is the last sprint of the day for those small time bonuses the small prize and a small number of points for the green jersey competition and it looks as though it is going to be a rather nasty uphill sprint this last 500 meters gonna be tricky you can see once again on the front there Christopher Mosier is the man leading it out looking over his shoulder Scanlan in second position really hope to hurt but they need to watch out for the man who's been a hundred percent successful so far the right from coffee this is in the the ideal position here to surprise them all you have to do if you wins this he's got to hang on oh there's been a mass crash at the back of the peloton here one of the demean of a can see riders down again I'm just trying to see who it is but that this well it's certainly not on this occasion it's fun evening he's out man for mario Cipollini who's gone down there quite a funny me meanwhile while he sits in the grass back at the front yeah Kapila leads outlaw but he's going to get picked again and this is a fine piece of sprinting by properties as indeed edilene makes it a check back to the crash man Haron that's and reappear on has gone down to team CSC that somebody else is rather seriously ended is still at the side of the road there jamm mateo funny me who's pretty hard hit fortunately he was able to dive across I think into the side of the road and get himself into the grass but this is rather dramatic for mario Cipollini because he is an ideal under on let's have a look here desert riders go down as well well let's hope he's not tired didn't look like Tyler Hamilton a one two three stepping off his bike there that was Anthony Chateau gel are caught the doctor here just checking on fine a knee and again checking his collarbone that's the biggest injury all bike riders fear this when they go down just because of the way that you go down that is the bone that more often than not will crack and I think it might be the situation here that this mouth could have just snapped his collarbone well this is why I think this is their the called in the doctor's car there it looks as though he might be out and this is a big blow for Cipollini that's for sure well with less than 25 kilometers to go the inevitable happened when the pack led by the sprinters teams swallowed up the six-man break and everything was in place for a big bunch finish the man with the most a game from it though was in trouble tore who shaft of crédit Agricole just four seconds off the race lead remember was involved in a crash that damaged his bike and forced him to swap to a replacement that didn't seem to suit him what sprinters like to see in the last kilometer of a race is a long wide Boulevard like this straight up to the finish line so they can judge how to make them effort by point pointing exactly where the line is unfortunately that's not the situation today because at 400 meters to go the road actually starts to curve around the curve and curves around up until 150 meters to the line only then can they actually see the line and know when to open up the sprint if Alessandro Pataki wants to win this race this afternoon he's going to want to go right along these barriers properly in third position behind two of his teammates and then he will open up the sprint for the line maybe he'll open up his account here at the Tour de France this year it is flakier here who is riding hard at the front and riding with supreme determination for his team and he's an it's unusual for the Spanish rider to be so good on the flat really five kilometres to go he's a great bike rider we've seen a lot of him throughout this season in fact he's had completely changed bike rider since he came across to a faster portal oh and tell you what fell at 5 kilometres to go this was very reminiscent of the Serengeti plains you know this looks like the migration of the great wildebeest I'm going slightly faster mind you running down the side now of oh there's been another crash and Seco got a man down now well this is amazing the way this is happening and looking these number this is Stefan Michalak granda who makes a return after a few years out of the Tour de France perhaps it's not the time to remind him of that I don't think it is he's not too worried knows now he's inside of five kilometers to go he's not got to worry about the elimination time just trying to fix his machine on his own but the action and the excitement is really on the front end of the main field that's a portal oh and the blue and white jerseys are very much in control and I think they have got themselves organized to perfection look at that the fourth place rider is the yellow jersey don't forget he is a class of auto low rider and then right behind there are four or five others now they're keeping the tempo high but they're also seeing a situation here where Alessio is setting up the sprit possibly for big Magnus back stead and wouldn't that be a lovely result especially for one Megan in South Wales but let's see what happens here now as Alessio are looking here Scot Sunland making a return to this team as well the Australian 1996 was the last time Scott rode the Tour de France since then he's had to recover from a near-death crash in the bike races well he is now in there somewhere and his working very hard but just look at the change of rhythm there as Fabian Cancellara now goes to the front as he rides yet again in support of his man Pataki right now he's forgotten about his yellow jersey he's thinking about the stage win for his team leader the man who is regarded as the fastest man in the world he wasn't the fastest man yesterday when he only finished eighth but faster Bertolo have got the organization which they didn't have yesterday Cancellara is in first place I would think it's next there to Beto Sato coming up then the last man to be just in front of the big sprinter Alessandro Pataki will be Marco Bello and he's the man who sets him up for the final sprint to the line look at that the MIOSHA of the Tour de France first in the race and first on the race right now as he just puts his head down and keeps that rhythm going keeps the pace up not far short of 50 kilometres out goodness me they went through the straw bales I wasn't sure where that was an example that was their example and you know what he's doing he's battling to get the wheel of the Man fifth in line there because the man fifth in line is Alessandro Petacchi there's push soft as well everybody is moving up through this line here to try and battle for the wheel of Alessandro Petacchi they know if they can be on that wheel they've got a great chance of opening up the sprint and this isn't going to be too quick I think the mario Cipollini who's lost his lead out man today don't forget with panini crashing out with a broken collarbone suspected I don't if you saw to the right there Paul that was drubbing McEwen his waving his arms in the air he's now moved into the heart of the field here well he was trying to get up around the outside taking a few risks everybody is taking risks now the arms are coming off the handlebars heads are being used to keep themselves in position baden cook is right up at the front end of the main field you could see now kim kirk and moving up into third place he's got the national champions jersey of luxembourg on his shoulders but he is well and truly a facet water low rider i tell you what the big heads of the race here have got out of the way Lance Armstrong Yahoo Tamayo Isabelle dear Tyler Hamilton they're all taking a back seat now because this is the front row in the afternoon matinee and the man driving with tremendous speed is Cancellara I think the legs are slowly now having to give best comedies takeover cover this takeover but it's still a lot of blue and white jerseys of passaportes low on the front Kip Kirk in here looking great he's all over his bike he knows it's got to bury himself for the next 500 meters or so and when he swings off he knows and one of his teammate will take up the pace making this is how you lead out a big sprint but look you can see in there about eighth position a lot way back still for Alessandro Pataki is slightly boxed in he's got a number of riders from Gerolsteiner moving up through the outside faster Portillo right now need to kick it up a notch well the faster Portillo boys have got control but here comes girl Stein have got a big splinter in down low Hondo that's not Hondo has got there yet it'll be the helpers but look at that sweet brown to the right now momentarily out of range here they come back into view now faster both have been split up here by the girl Steiner team and Eric zorbel is still in there the six times winner of the green jersey pushed off a little bit further down this is going to be wall a terrific sprint push off needs to move up right now if he's going to get himself the yellow jersey the end of the day don't forget he needs to finish in third position but now they're kicking up to the light is going to be a loft sweeping left had been Alessandro Kentucky has got Eric Sowell right on his wheel but in fact really Agricola taking over supremacy well look at this now because her shop is being led here to a yellow jersey first three they've been good enough on the bonuses the lead out now and again Alessandra Pataki's be moved out of it a little bit pushed off these find yourself in the perfect position as they swing now toward the finish push up must kick here this is going to be tomatoes he's older than all has been a Christ keep your eyes on the front because Lori McEwen is taking it MacEwan always comes out best weather going gets rough put shot is the new bio shawl of the Tour de France at McEwen in Belgium gets the result and he leaves behind at the debris well he gave warning on stage one Robbie McEwen and he timed it perfectly on stage two no need for a photo tour shaft was even happier with second John Patrick Nizam took third for the second day running though Alessandro Pataki was a disappointing eighth the jammer Toph and Nene out nursing a broken collarbone mario Cipollini had no help in the sprint he came in tenth as a freelance while Lance Armstrong and the rest of the overall contenders avoided the home straight crash and finished safely in the same time as the winner well he's been overshadowed by Alessandro Petacchi for most of the season but Robbie McEwen was time today at 66 kilometres an hour coming across the line that bolting caught up with him at the bottom of the podium steps second yesterday and a stage winner today it's all working out beautifully for you isn't it yeah yesterday I was a bit disappointed because I felt really great in the sprint but I ran out of Road to be able to catch Koo super today I started fairly early and yeah if you're not feeling really good you you don't win from that distance I think I hit the front at 2:50 to go but now I felt great I was able to go all the way through to the line and to get one in a stage when you know in the first two days is great takes pressure off now you had special reasons to dedicate that stage win today as well yeah next teammate of mine Steve a multi a unfortunately passed away last week and was buried today excited for him and his family and also for my my teammate and roommate who Nick gates who couldn't start today because he injured himself yesterday so a great day for Robbie McEwen but as far as the standings go second place was more important today to hold off took it and the 12 second bonus that comes with it was enough for him to leapfrog Fabian Cancellara and take first place Cancellara who did his bit at the front delivering Pataki to the finish is now second and two good days for Robbie McEwen move him up to sir and Lance Armstrong down into fourth by the way riders can't lose time for crashes inside the final kilometer of the race so Kurt as Larson keeps his 15th place and all the other big names are where they were in relation to each other so turboshaft is the second yellow jersey of the 2004 race the first Norwegian as well as the first man named tour I believe it to lead the tour however he almost didn't make it to the finish involved in that crash with Fredrik messy like 15k to go had somebody touched my bark and I debug breakdown so I had to change it and the whole team went back to get me back on and it was so hard I was I was already dead like tired but last 5k I recovered and Jylland ended up perfectly it out took me up to a perfect position to and minutes ago that stage you must have thought it would have been tough to get end up in the yellow jersey yeah after I the problem 15k to go I said off I think will be hard to like beat l3 but I'm in good shape I got the power and now I show almost I took my 12 seconds an hour I mean y'all this is the infamous pave the cobblestones of northern France tackling them on a road bike is like trying to peddle a pneumatic drill the big difference being that at least with a pneumatic drill you're the one inflicting damage on the road this terrain forms part of Perry Roubaix that's the most famous one day race in the cycling calendar so for the tour organizers it's simply a matter of paying their respects to them each one of these cobbles is a unique piece of cycling history to the riders though they all look the same like a trip to casualty in fact there were only four kilometers worth of cobbles on the 210 kilometers stage split into two sections but everyone knows the kind of carnage Perry Roubaix regularly produces and the bunch was extremely nervous approaching the first stretch of pave all trying to get to the front where it was safest there is a lot of work being done here now as they try to defend the front of the peloton just look at that long line and it's been a crash there is another pile up again at the back that's not that in fact he's no Val who was moments ago driving the charge saw that number and all of a sudden I thought it was a number one it looked very much like number one but it is Benjamin no Val this is the kind of accident that can happen in this hat accident must have happened pretty close up to the front end of the main field this is eben Mayer who's gone down number 31 now this is a very important moment we had said that the cobblestone sections and the run-up to the cobblestones was very dangerous he banged my oak does not have any teammates around him as we speak and in fact two or three of his teammates went down in that incident he's gonna have a major battle right now to get himself up to the rear end of the main field while the tour doctors dealt with the aftermath of the crash the front of the field was already on the cobbles that Lance Armstrong protected by a full retinue of US postal workers behind them knew Scouts hell had regrouped to try to paste the bruised and bloody Mayo back into the race to wash off the yellow jersey was in the same group but the gap was widening not coming down which meant there was going to be a new race leader at the finish the most likely candidates with a man who started the day second and third fabian cancellara and the tours inform sprinter Robby McEwen remember the winner gets a twenty second bonus second gets 12 seconds eight a third get eight seconds and at this stage of the Tour de France it could produce almost one of seven or eight riders as the new leader of the tour just hope we get it right when we come to the finish but Robbie McKern who's never worn the yellow jersey and only three Australians ever had by the way Phil Anderson Stuart O'Grady and Brad McGee and I know that Robbie would like to join that rather salubrious group of Aussies certainly Woody's in fine sprinting form the acceleration he got yesterday surprised one or two of his competitors including one by the name of Alessandro Petacchi who said I wanted to get onto McEwan's wheel but he came past me so fast it was absolutely nothing I could do and when I saw that he got the gap I basically gave up because I knew I wasn't going to win this is the group of the yellow jersey after yellow jersey for a date he started the day with an eight-second advantages over Cancellara 17 second advantage over Robby McEwen and 18 over Lance armed from but that has all completely changed right now well looking down there a very select group Alessandra Pataki obviously feels confident now as he's got his team working again on the front there is a this is going to be a sprint Royale even though we split the field because some of the best winters are still here I'm not too sure Baden cooks mate I think he must have been left back baden cook I haven't seen him I think he might have had an incident earlier on at the rear end of the events but certainly Cancellara is looking to see if he can help his own teammate out to get himself the win Cancellara will hope that Robbie McEwen doesn't get into the top three because if Robert McEwen does not make top three on the stage then Fabian Cancellara the first wearer of the yellow jersey will get himself the yellow jersey back again but there's a lot of confusion there are a lot of riders in this group here Phil from fossa bought a lone nice and organized don't discount ya know Rick having a go to try and lead out Erik Zabul kazar wall is just bobbing around in and out there with the pink and white jersey of t-mobile and as always also the possibility the marks Kalin could win this he packs a good spin to low you'll feel his job perhaps is to lead out as John Patrick Nizam who is still the team's a number one sprinter in this race he won in Paris last year and was right up onto the play scenes at yesterday so he's warming up now the pressure is going on here as they're they tried to take control for Pataki but lotto have a man in second place this is a dodgy part of the course here they don't come into the nice long straightaway until 1.5 kilometers to go they're going through a nice little neighborhood but unfortunately there are three or four very difficult corners that they have to negotiate faster below keeping the pace nice and high they're trying to keep their man as Lally Sandra Pataki at the front end of the main field Daniel o Hondo could be a serious contender for the win this afternoon a couple of years ago we remember he went three stages of the Giro d'Italia we thought he was going to be the new sprinter on the block well this is the difficult part of the race today now but they're going so quick they pulled it into a long thin line which will eliminate some of the dangers around the back streets here as we run through the suburbs of West scalice is really a very nice residential area below the the neighbors have had to move the cars off the road today for the arrival of the Tour de France two kilometres from the finish now the big sprinters are still here Robbie McEwen is here Dan Alejandro John Patrick Nassau and of course Alessandro Petacchi who's looking for revenge today the team that's got the biggest organization though is Gerolsteiner in the pale blue jerseys there they're looking over their shoulders to see the position of Danny lo Hondo John Patrick Nassau is not too far away he won the final stage of the Tour de France last year if you remember on the shores Alizee the one that all the sprinters want to see now they're at one and a half kilometres to go it is straightening up Robert McEwen is a lot way back miles is far back I think for the moment he's gonna panic but Robbie is a clever white rider he'll wait for a slight slowing in the front end of the main field and take advantage of that to catapult himself up into the top five well he is an awful long way back if he wins this it would not surprise as he the Baytown lead by rider there he is there the green jersey sitting on the back wheel I think of Euler they're probably Kim Kirk and actually a look Sandberg champion similar colours to the champions of France and Holland but Kim Kirk and it is and in fact McEwen is College we're now there the big lead out though is coming for Don Alejandro here the third wheel of those three boys and Libby the Benelli swinging over because Hondo's being left now is John Patrick has on that MOX Gamelin are both moving up here now this is going to be a tight screened and Robbie still is not in the frame as they line up for the finish now Hondo gets the big lead out this could be a great win for the German if it happens Jean Patrick has on digs on the left of our picture now now Hondo goes here Honda launches for the line but there's a big fan Robbie McEwen no way through or isn't always a shame the cars come in the front view here because there's macule off to the right now as we try to look over the top of the car McEwen he's digging in and if he hits the line first I think he's going to he's got tremendous power McEwen I think that job Patrick Lazar who has taken it on the line that is a great result but cured maybe third or fourth and I don't think that's good enough but we'll have to see how the maths work out on that one as to who leads the tour but the winner is Nassau the winner was John Patrick Nizam making the first stage finish in France a home win ahead of our example but more importantly for the race overall Robbie McEwen took third and the all-important eight second bonus that went with it Lance Armstrong's group was just behind them and nearly four minutes had passed by the time he bound Myo struggled in facing the prospect that his Tour challenge might be over just four days into the race Robbie McEwan's tour though was getting better by the day he'd finished second first and third on consecutive days and the bonuses he picked up along the way were enough to put him into the race lead by a second ahead of Fabian Cancellara the leading big name was still the biggest of all Lance Armstrong in fifth and the time gaps to his major rivals were starting to open up closest to him were two Americans rubber banks Levi like Homer and the rejuvenated Bobby julik riding for CSC both within 10 seconds ya know Rick was another five seconds behind them just ahead of Tyler Hamilton the climbers Francisco manthe beau and Roberto a - were over half a minute down but the big loser was Eva Myo who in the space of a stage had slipped to a hundred and first place four minutes and seven seconds behind the man he beat in a warm-up race for the tour just last month Robbie McEwen by the way did double duty on the podium taking the green jersey as leader of the points competition as well as the yellow of race leader let's have a look at one or two emails this is what we've had from a lot of you allant using extra and Alex McGee will give you credit if it is an unwritten rule in cycling you don't attack when there has been a crash why did the peloton not wait for a bomb IO the US Postal team seemed to increase the pace at the front well first of all I don't think the US Postal team were attacking Maya at all they knew the cobblestones were coming and the strongest men got to the front because they knew there will be a lot of crashes behind they weren't attacking any particular rider on this situation at all they just wanted to make sure they were safe I don't think you can expect anybody to wait in that situation for I think everyone was very nervous about the cobblestones I don't think they accelerated the pace they certainly didn't wait for a ban Maya after the cobblestones but let's not forget there was another cobblestone section coming up a little further up the road and I think that's why the speed of the main field just kept up and then at the end of the day Oscar tell us Cathy we're not strong enough to bring Maya back into the race as Tunes to the Spanish riders don't really like riding on these particular roads and if you get yourself in the wrong position in the peloton the chances are you will fall I don't think it was any case of a rider attacking another rider it was simply a case of every man riding for himself on that particular day Graham Lange in Plymouth as someone who has just turned 40 I'll be interested to know the age of the oldest rider ever to complete the race well indeed we're not absolutely certain who is the oldest riders to actually finish the tour but we can certainly tell you there are a number of riders at your age Graham who have ridden extremely well in this race the oldest winner by the way is firm and lambo in 1922 he was a mere 36 just a youngster who's Ian Christoph yo blue Tamela Cramer Polydor yeah Combe Agostino they all completed the tour when there were 40 years of age that must have been fantastic for them David Murphy from Glasgow this is one for you Paul why do they have feeding stations when you can get replays from team cars throughout the race well in fact the reason is I think that out on the course the reason to have a feeding station is so that it takes away the chaos of all the riders in the field going back to the team cars to take onboard food and drinks if that was to happen that'd be a constant movement of riders going back to the team cars all of the time and it would be very precarious the reason they changed the rules to allow riders to go back to the team car to take onboard drinks and food it's basically because of safety in the old days riders were only allowed to take drinks at the start and at one point during the race but because of the factor that physiologically we've understood a lot more about athletes bodies and we know now they need to take on three four and even five liters of drinks during the course of a race that they've made the rules just that little bit more flexible they certainly spend a lot of time back at those cars when the Sun comes out let's hope it isn't too long before it does and gets warmer moving on our last question a mic beer from Liverpool is there a wet weather tire well yes there is in the 1980s when I was racing or when I went to the UK to race in the city centre races they had a tire specifically for wet weather conditions and I thought it was very good it's never really been adopted in races like the Tour de France because the grubber compound was so sticky it felt as if it was sticking to the road once the weather started to dry out and it's impossible really to have riders start on a wet weather tire and change halfway through the race like the Tour de France just because it's not structured the same way as a Formula One event for example and remember the tires at the moment have blown up very hard and that's probably why some riders are falling in the wet often four times the pressure of a car tire let's go back to the action now it's a funny event the team time trial sort of a cycling equivalent of tax rates for the rich whereby a big star on a strong team can gain significant advantage over a talented challenger who can't quite afford the same supporting cast in 2003 for example Lance Armstrong won the Tour / ya know Rick by 61 seconds and 43 of those came from the team time trial his advantage over Eva Mayo in this event was closer to three and a half minutes now to their credit the tour organizers have recognized this problem but instead of having the gumption to simply drop the team time trial as they did for a few years in the 90s they've introduced rule changes to limit the amount of time each team can lose on the stage that is to say they're loaded to lose the colourful spectacle of nine men riding in formation in skinsuit but they'd rather it didn't have too much effect on the outcome of the race here's no bolting to explain well just when you thought the rules governing the team time trial were complicated enough to watch out they've just got a whole lot more complicated now pay attention the gentlemen will say this only once the new rule [Music] they are important for items because is not the publication finish on the day the winner is delay is very very long now it's possible a new rule is finished is the ante on the top is the street Minister return to Japan Tea Party I'm already in between two team is possible 22nd of example the first team time in Europe the second team 50 seconds 15 seconds it's possible to time into a practical general it fit in thickening so basically what that means is the default lot of DOMA we lost four minutes 53 seconds on the team time trial last year you're frankly no good at it then why don't I put in any effort in at all the worst that's gonna happen to you is he gonna lose three minutes big deal in fact there is a little more to it than that the most time the second-place team can now lose is set at 20 seconds the third place can lose no more than 30 seconds and so on all the way down to that maximum 21st place time limit of three minutes the confusion is so abundant that not even the riders themselves have fully digested the facts teams like our team we spend a lot of effort a lot of time a lot of money a lot of equipment to build a team that can go fast in climbs and on the flat and you know we really put in a big effort to make our team try working good and now it's all limited I mean nobody really seriously is talking about having a two minutes hurry limit on IPS type trial I would like that why would my a white why is that no you know the climbers he cannot lose time in the team control but asked the big and heavy guys we lose six minutes eight minutes on a time trial on IPS so we should then have two minutes early on both front rides or just forget about it the upshot of it all is that once more in the tour's long history of tampering with the rules uncertainty and possibly amused Battlement will be widespread sit back and enjoy the show which is more than the riders could this shot shows you just how fortunate they were that there was no rain on the cobbles on stage 3 no such luck on this stage though and the early teams were all having trouble in the driving rain race leader Robbie McEwen wasn't out of trouble even had he finished on the way back to the team bus he had the indignity of being attacked by souvenir hunters or possibly very young eBay merchants who were after his bottle well Robbie's quick to lose his at the best of times and gave them a lesson in manners by taking it back off the chief culprit and handing it to a more respectful young fan in front of him not so sure about the English lesson he gave them though the best early time was set by the Spanish squad alas Bally oz who came in with a time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 18 seconds with the teams going out in reverse order of their rankings in the team competition US Postal will ask to start at the first time check after 19 kilometers though they were only 5th fastest and their tour novice Ben Hammond no vowed had dropped off the bag leaving 8 men to take their turns at the front by the time they hit the second time check the weather had improved substantially and so heard they through the 41.8 kilometer point they had the best split time 28 seconds faster than the leaders in the clubhouse alas belly ours as we pick up commentary the next team to finish will be Yan Ulrich's t-mobile so as t-mobile come up now it's 112 55 and Counting it's going to be a very fast time here for these riders they come to the line now then this is the time that they've got to beat 113 18 they've got to go round these corners very quickly t-mobile and not going to do it they will not get bit there this time but they will go very close indeed well this is an incredible sprint for the line they've just slipped behind balloons as they come up to the line but they're in second place 113 22 for t-mobile they really did pull that one out of the bag Tyler Hamilton's team here still looking strong but they are down now to five riders I cannot believe this this is bad this is panic on the streets of London or should I say panic on the streets of northern France a it's panic poor but their time is improving that since they've lost their men they've gone through in second place what they've done now is throw out all their cards they can't lose anybody else otherwise they've got to stop and wait the team CSC are catching a couple of riders who were dropped from team Phonak a little earlier that Santiago Perez who's being caught there and Nicola halibut and they will just try and ride to the finish now and make sure they don't get eliminated but team CSC are doing a fabulous job here they were well down in the fifteenth place of the first time check and they're pulling themselves up now into the top five there's the times of the leader at the bottom 1 13 18 it'll be a big core but I think it's just possible lists as they come up the rise and make the left turn onto the cobblestones they could sneak it by a couple of seconds they're gonna have to get put a bit of a sprint in but what a turn up the problems this team has had on the road and Purdue to produce this ride this has been absolutely remarkable and as they come to the line the clock will give them best time 1 the 1310 incredible that is unbelievable this team has had five riders for the last 15 kilometers the majority of the work must have been done in there by Tyler Hamilton there is Oscar Sevilla babyface they call him he's looked like a 15 year old for the last 10 years but he said that Tyler Hamilton can really count upon in the big mountains this is a huge bonus this afternoon for Tyler Hamilton and team Phonak let's not forget first participation in the Tour de France for this team which is why Hamilton switched across it looks like settling the fourth Bobby Weis a saying just take it easy we're not gonna worry about second on these cobbles as they swing into the home straight nobody's gonna fall they cruise to the line here do they hold forth it's gonna be close I think because they were fifth at the last check and they've just got about enough time to get to the line here for fourth and that after all their trouble simply brilliant one 1349 fourth at the moment absolutely magical performance just to remind ourselves Phil at the first time check team CSC was 12th place 58 seconds down off the leaders they have done one of the performances of the event when you add in all of the mishaps and misfortunes they've had out on the course this has been a great ride by this team absolutely outstanding a face their the study of a Bobby julik who is refining himself once a third place finisher let us never forget that in the Tour de France in 1998 well there are two teams left one we've never seen a tall fellow faster water low but they're not featuring at all but I can now tell you at that US postal at the third check is through one minute and eight seconds ahead of earless a Belarus and clearly in the lead wow that is unbelievable one eight at 56.8 kilometres covered here comes faster brought elope they're nowhere in the hunt at any of the time checks life has not improved form they're not interested in the overall classification they're hoping that Alessandro Petacchi will find his sprinting legs very shortly and start winning stages for them ninth at 114 55 here they come no need to worry the big commander-in-chief George Hincapie brings them around the corner it is a magnificent time as they race up towards the line Hincapie Paul II shall play poker for a living look at that face please look at Armstrong two into second place now the first five get the time they all will get at the same time Lance Armstrong is back where he's been for five years the leader of the Tour de France in the yellow jersey Hincapie enjoying the victory look at his face now lads coming to the front it's incredible it's the Pacific Ocean as he crosses the line the fastest time of the day one hour 12 minutes at zero 353 kilometres an hour thank you very much look at that smile superb did this there were moments early on I thought the crowd had gone home but can you hear them now this is the most popular man in France as well you read so many things against him in the press sometimes the journalist should go out and speak to the public all smiles and high low and medium fives among the eight US postal finishers that Lance was already dried off in addressing the world on television by the time the knives came in and having no vowel at all rookie rolled home 30 minutes late for the celebrations it was a great team day though for u.s. postal albeit not as great as it would have been last year have a look at the two columns of times here the first one shows the real time gaps between US postal and the teams behind them the second shows the adjusted times using the new limits for every place in the pecking order so despite beating Phonak into second place by a minute and seven seconds US postal officials margin was only 20 seconds last year Armstrong would have gained 119 on the an ORAC of t-mobile this year it's half that of 40 seconds and it's the same all the way down the line to you I'll tell in eighth place who effectively get a minute 15 back on their real deficit cut from 235 to 120 the one fact of the day not opened to reinterpretation by calculator is that Lance Armstrong took over as race leader and are even that was a byproduct of the stage win rather than the main objective at this point having the race lead isn't something he's going to want to waste precious energy defending now the team time trial always gives the general classification a top-heavy look and this year it was no different the top five places all occupied by US Postal with Jose Enrique Gutierrez and Tyler Hamilton a Phonak the only outsiders in the top eight and here's how Armstrong stacked up now against his rivals for the race overall after that result Hamilton was the closest serious contender 36 seconds in arrears yeah Nora now 55 seconds back Bobby julik Francisco manthe beau and Levi Leipheimer were all grouped around the minute mark then there was Roberto at acidy minute 45 and even my out nearly five and a half minutes behind the leader so the first yellow jersey of the race for Lance the first souvenir cuddly toy of her Tour career for Sheryl Crow and the first and who knows possibly last experiment with adjust of timings for the team time trial event now you may have noticed on this year's Tour de France coverage these little yellow boxes fitted to the back of every single bike these things are transponders another finishing line you can see here a long electro-magnetic loop the width of the racing track now as these transponders pass through the loop every single individual bike is registered don't be fooled by the fact that they appear to be behind the real finishing line that's because they're fitted to the back of the bike exactly 1 meter 20 from the leading edge of the front wheel so that when they pass through here that means the bike itself is finishing the race now what they do with that information is another story altogether right this is the readout from the transponders at the end of stage one here they all are instantaneous highly accurate but still unofficial timings the official timings are still done in the traditional way here using the finishing line camera you can see yanker seafood crossing the line just ahead of Robbie McEwen what these offer however is an instant very accurate cross referencing for example here you can see this rider you can't quite make out the number on his back and although we probably know who it is conformation is given straight away here because we know from his transponder crossing the line that tore her shaft was indeed in third place it's that sort of very accurate read out that these transponders offer the tool when groups of riders bunched together cross the line that they all receive the same finishing time as the first in the group to finish but where one group stops and another one begins has always been a point of vagueness for the officials this technology removes any room for doubt defining the group's instantly and precisely and it's not just at the finishing line that they record these timings one kilometre out the flam Rouge has a similar loop and if this system is adopted officially so will every intermediate sprint and mounting prize just a little footnote to that on the final intermediate sprint of stage one after the riders across the liner there was chaos for fully 20 minutes while the organisers tried to work out just who had crossed ahead of who now when i quiz these guys about white had taken so long to get that information out they had one very simple explanation they hadn't fitted a magnetic loop this is after all the trial its new technology but it is precisely that sort of problem that it's designed to sort out now as much as he was happy to win the team time trial and open up gaps on his major rivals Lance Armstrong would have been too thrilled to be wearing the yellow jersey to other riders it would be a career highlight to Lance at least at this stage it was almost more trouble than it was worth for one thing all the other squads look to the leaders team to control the race and trying to defend the jersey means chasing down every madcap attack that goes off the front Lance would have preferred to be back in the bunch in civilian clothes keeping himself and his team fresh for the mountains where the next big showdown with his rivals was going to come so if anybody fancy taking the jersey on stage five they were welcome to come and have a go if they thought they were hard enough and a long stage after a tough team turned trial is the perfect opportunity to get a jump on a tire peloton Stage five was 200 kilometers from a me on to shark was another difficult day on the road windy and rainy and littered with crashes Brad McGee didn't actually go down in any of them but he did get off FD sure comms Australian rider had been suffering all week with a bad back and finally conceded that it wasn't going to get any better on a 3400 kilometer bike ride as we joined commentary the inevitable breakaway is out front and there are some good riders in it the Australian Stewart O'Grady Sweden's Magnus back steady appeal of Denmark has been in just about every break since the tour began and two Frenchman sandy casar and Thomas Voeckler riding in the colours of the French national champion and Verla is the highest place man in the classification three minutes behind Lance Armstrong so if the break stays away he will be the new leader of the race there all started to look back now a great he's in an ideal position he's going to force yak appeal to bleed out the sprint a thousand meters to go it's a long way the two others are just about to make contact there we are comes back now if I was one of those I'd have gone straight for it and I wouldn't have wasted time and there he goes again and Pele again grits his teeth all five men at 900 metres are back Maggie just hasn't got it he's going to be fifth Maggie's on the rivet here this afternoon but it's now four Ida's booklet very nervous he's used a lot of energy to attack her yak appeal in second position trying to get some breath into his body for the final explosion of the line sandy casar has been very clever if he's got anything left in those legs now he needs to lords the counter-attack Oh gravy looking over his shoulder waiting to see if Maggie backs Ted is going to come back very nervous they're losing big time now agreed he moves up into first place if he opens the spring back he's go for it he's got not much left in his body but it's one last little attempt how great he takes a look at Maggie wanted somebody in front he needed a win it's got the biggest man in the race too high bi now this could be a perfect finish to it O'Grady is the pure man it's a track finish this he's the ace rider on the track he's won medals there at every color Commonwealth and World Championships now those sandy casar is he going to upset it now comes a granny on the inside her Grady grits his teeth taste honkers up nobody will beat Oh Grady in a finish like this the Australian remembers 1998 tainted on the line peel his second Kazaa is third the MIOSHA all of the Tour de France popular is fourth and that bags dead finish his fifth Welch one half minutes later the main field arrived and there was another sprint to pick up the bonus points for sixth place Robbie McEwen at the leader of the green jersey points competition nabbed them ahead of Yannick Tom back and tour for shaft and there's confirmation of the results are Grady winning the stage but fourth place more than enough for Tomas burglar to take the yellow jersey with the group containing Lance Armstrong and all the other leading contenders coming in 12 minutes 33 seconds down first man on the podium though was the stage winner Stewart O'Grady second win in the tour six years and his first incredible Stewart many congratulations that was quite a stage and pretty extraordinary conditions as well hard conditions very very hard and that really sucked what you didn't enjoy it no no really I mean you enjoy it because you're out there and definitely enjoy now because I've won but yeah I mean it's just a hard slog it's just a big psychological battle you know you're always looking around to see if other guys are hurting the block headwind the rain never eased up it was just a hard day well the stage five result changed the general classification beyond all recognition while Lance took a days holiday that five-man gang had broken into the top of the standings and established squatter's rights Thomas burglar in particular looked as though he was going to prove difficult to shift with the lead of three minutes over the second place man O'Grady and nine and a half on Armstrong who'd slipped to sixth there were no changes in the time gaps between him and his challengers for overall victory although of course everybody had been bumped back down the order by the five man break well it was common knowledge that the yellow jersey was up for grabs for anyone who got into the right break on stage five thomas burglar took advantage of it that's why he was the new race leader time for the emails I'm first one here from Brian in Liverpool why do all the riders get the same finishing time when they cross the line in one big group those at the front are up to 20 seconds or more ahead of the ones at the back will you quite right Brian but you know can you imagine on the narrow roads when the riders are sprinting for the finish if the boys in the back tried to be the boys at the front it would be absolute carnage so it makes sense if you finish alongside one another you are given the same time and it really is up to the referees of the day if there is a measurable gap and daylight between the groups say of a second or more they will get a separate time Ian Forks could you please settle an argument I say that helmets are now compulsory but my son says that it is up to the teams as to whether they should be worn Paul well in your right in fact it is compulsory in all professional racing for riders to wear helmets but there is one exception to the rule if they come to a mountaintop finish and a mountaintop finish that is more than five kilometres in length they're allowed to take the helmets off for the final climb of the day right the final question today Rudolf more says join the interviews at the end of your program can you get the woman to stand out of camera shot as she is not important to the content and a big distraction well I'll tell you what indeed rudolph that is marilene flesh and she is the head of broadcasting and in fact if it wasn't the hair we probably wouldn't get access to the riders themselves because she makes sure they come to our camera however she has promised me that she will in fact never get in the way of the camera again and I'm sure she's telling the truth now back to the action Stage six took the race down into the Loire Valley 196 kilometers from Bonn Val 2oj the two big Italian sprinters in the race were already heading home Alessandro Petacchi and mario Cipollini abandoning without a stage went between them well the weather was improving but the road safety statistics weren't Lance Armstrong came down in an early crash and as part of their contractual obligations a couple of teammates fell off with him he was soon back on the bike though and back in the race this is gonna be the most difficult finish we've had for the sprinters in the Tour de France so far why because at 600 metres to go it climbs up all the way to the finish line it's made just that little bit more difficult to judge as well by the fact that just here with around about 400 metres to go there's a very nasty Bend around to the finish the riders trying to win this will hug the corner there and come around and hope to see the finish line in front of them but unlucky it's not there it's a further 200 meters of the road around the final Bend if you want to win this sprint you have to wait until the last possible moment to open up the gallop a man who's got the experience to do that I feel could very well be Eric Zabul the man who on six occasions has won the green jersey you'd like to open up his account at the Tour de France this year with a win right here in our Jay as we do in commentary Spain's Juan Antonio Fletcher is out front on his own trying to win with a solo escape for the second year running but the pack is bearing down on him fast as he powers towards the finish for kilometres to go to pink of white jerseys on the front of Timo I'll be thinking about their example now what kind of a lien out would that be if Yan oriT came to the front to lead out his old mate Erik Zabul because I think this is a good finished Bazaar book and in the past we've seen or it actually leads our bailout to a finish like this in the outskirts of Liege - what kind of a win would this be if Fletcher survives because inside four kilometers to go he has still got 18 seconds over the field they're not pulling him back right now and unless they reorganize and they haven't been very well organized at all so far because he is holding them and he's riding so strongly remember he will respond to the cheers here these people know what they're watching they'll know who's in the lead and they will shout him on the french-led a winner and this is a run away just now by one Antonio Fletcher of Spain who rides for until now trouble at the back there that looks as though Decker has sat up and slipped off the back flat tire for Eric Decker but it's not a problem for him now he just cruise into the finish he will not make contact with the main field again here this afternoon because there is such a lot of pressure on the front end of the main field it is 13 seconds advantage for one Antonio flicker at three kilometres to go to the finish that's around about three and a half minutes of effort Lee has to keep going on it's going to be very difficult for him on the last 600 meters but it looks as if he's got the strength in those thighs of his still ticking over they have not been able to reorganize remember they're preoccupied now they've got to look for their sprinters the men that tried to shut this race down for and put them in position to win the sprint while at the same time they've got to continue the chase just inside 2 miles from the finish now and this is a wonderful ride by Fletcher whichever way it goes they are coming back it's 13 seconds they're saying now he just got to keep on trying and hoping the only disadvantage it is slightly ever so slightly uphill and those legs surely will complain down again 10 seconds this time it's slowly but surely they're eating into this man's advantage he looked I think the whole of Spain is on his shoulders egging him on to try and get himself the victory another second disappearing right now as he sees the banner indicating two kilometres to go Stefano's Anini on the front before the organization on the left-hand side there stuart O'Grady's team moving forward as well Jimmy Casper I think this afternoon going to try and repay the favor to Stewart O'Grady and get him to the front in an ideal position well he continues now without looking over his shoulder he knows exactly what's going on behind him he's looking though for the two kilometer banner it's just around this corner there is still a very good chance here for Fletcher Bazar builds men as they are at the moment t-mobile are being sent to the front to try put zorbel in a position to win there is the gap now you have to feel sorry for one Antonio Fletcher Heat that's all he's got left after a breakaway of a hundred and seventy plus kilometres five solitary seconds and they're about to gobble him up the eagle has landed I think the vultures are in the trees now ready to pounce on that lone man at the front he has been pulled back into the fall for a crazy moment there I thought he was going to survive he sat upright now inside of the last kilometer he's being caught now look at the movement on the right-hand side you can see riders now trying to set the sprint up for everybody there's been a I think there's been a crash in the final kilometer as well one or two riders have gone down I can't see the yellow jersey I can see this is what's happened this is the yellow the red kite one kilometer to go they'll be given the same time well it's very very close if that is the kite of there'll be a big argument as to whether they get the same time or not so were those boys on to the right side of the kite but we don't know where Lance Armstrong is he's not here that's for sure we think they'll all be given the same time let's get back to the action of the front here now Zabul is right there in the picture you trying to break in here but I'm not sure that the twice GARP only tried to have a little bit of a dig in second place spells over this is the sweep up the hill here now no sign at all of Robin occurring this time out either Tom Gordon in second place Buxton was in fact I saw Patrick that's on Bourbon is in the perfect position here to take this one now he digs in the quick step driver this is the win he has wanted and he's not gonna relinquish this Tom Boonen gets his first victory in the Tour de France as it's the line right on the line stood Oh Grady Paul's show ends tip has got second good ride by O'Grady recovered overnight but those absolute carnage at the fact we're looking to see where the leaders of the Tour de France at his Hincapie and there is Armstrong right behind him Armstrong is in second place I should think there is Oscar severe as well but this accident happened right underneath the one kilometer to go banner so we should all have exactly the same time at the end of the day I haven't seen Tyler Hamilton I haven't seen young already come up to the line but I think fortunately that accident happened Phil and one kilometres to go exactly Oscar severe went down there he's just looking at his hip he must have gone down quite heavily they travel up there is floyd landis coming up through the finishing line we're looking for a pink jersey there's the yellow jersey of thomas booklet but as you can see that accident was right plumb beneath the red fire of the last kilometer tom bone and left us postal so that he could be free to ride for himself instead of Lance Armstrong and he did that brilliantly here rocking the bike like our example in the final meters beating the old master at his own uphill strong Mans game to take a superb first stage win the promises many more stood over ad came in ahead of Zabul to and picked up some valuable green jersey points in the process behind the sprint though it was chaos riders all over the road at the one kilometer banner it was the one kilometer banner that saved them all losing time because according to race rules any rider who crashes in the final kilometer of a stage is given the same time as the main field being that that particular rule is there precisely to discourage people taking unnecessary risks in the running but that was no consolation to Robbie McEwen the crash didn't cost him any time but it stopped him sprinting for the points places which meant Stewart O'Grady's second place was enough to deprive McEwan of the green jersey by two points in the end though all the day's drama did absolutely nothing to the overall standings the stage 5s KP still held the top five spots ahead of Lance Armstrong nine and a half minutes back in sixth and the time gaps from the defending champion to his challengers stayed the same all the way down the line Armstrong though was unimpressed at what he perceived to be the cause of yet another crash coming in they got the barriers really tight and you've got 200 guys raging through there at 40 miles an hour I don't know what the hell they're thinking I mean you're gonna have crashes and we were fortunate that that crash was literally ten meters inside the 1k barrier our banner otherwise you know we would have been who have been docked half a minute and it's just anyways alright bad luck and good luck I look at this Chris Boardman is down the time trial is hardly started that Tour de France has hardly begun and I think bomber could be out of it already it was 1995 when Chris Baldwin crashed out of the prologue so spectacularly and it happened in the finish town for Stage seven Sam Bria not a good omen for a race in which road accidents were threatening to decide the fate of the leading contenders there's a crash there's a crash in the main field there's a crash crash there's about 14 riders down in the middle of the main field looking down at the side about the orange jerseys of Oscar tell Oscar D there's a number of them gone down very hard well the man who suffered the most has undoubtedly been even my Oh who went down on stage 394 minutes as the pack all fought for position approaching a dangerous section of cobbles the spaniel was expected to attack Lance Armstrong in the mountains this year now he's so far behind he'll have no choice son Roberto err ass another Spanish climber was also caught up in that crash his team had chased him back to the main group Harris has had a good week staying out of trouble and within striking distance of Armstrong the man he helped to victory last year hopes to beat this year crash shoot shoot Dahl the bullet or as a race radio is shouting to us perhaps the biggest story of the turns that Tyler Hamilton hadn't crashed in fact the man with the loyalty card at casualty had been busy coming to the aid of his teammates now this is Robbie McCune has gone down in the green jersey and he's probably the best bike rider in the race ya know riff has been almost invisible for the first seven days intelligently riding close to the front and ghosting past the pile ups the only casualty on t-mobile has been one of his helpers Ralph al dag who couldn't decide which side of a traffic island to take and ended up going into the man in front of him there's no doubt this is the most crash ridden tour in recent memory and not even Armstrong can claim immunity stage 7 took the race up out of the Loire Valley almost to the Brittany coast 196 kilometers from Chateaubriand to Sam barrier and almost immediately the tall registered it's a hundredth crash victim spent Montgomery of Gerolsteiner down and out of the race with a broken collarbone with the points competition so close McEwen and O'Grady were going at it out on the road with a two-man break out front they were both sprinting for third place and the queue looked clearly faster he took no Grady at the second intermediate sprint despite the confidence man having a teammate lead him out and repeated the trick at the 3rd so from two points down he was now two points up and ownership of the green jersey was going to come down to the finish on the run in the two-man break was caught but another attack of seven riders was launched almost immediately and from it three men pulled away francisco manthe beau Aviles belly arse Flores in the orange abou Scout L and Phillip o clock Sato in the blue and white a faster boat alone this is a big attack by Flores and he's spread-eagle this breakaway of seven and there's no sign of the peloton we are inside two kilometers to go this is the break that will decide the day Scarponi has come back right up to him if he comes to a straight sprint Scarponi surely will be favourites watch out for philopappos Otto's going now way that occurs are quite rider and white they're of faster portala dragging himself up there is Matt Sabo this man has got a very gangly position but he's in fine form he's just dragging himself back up the group has been split into two I'm surprised Paolo Bertini is caught in the second half of the acceleration well Paolo is a very crafty bike rider him welcome back yet but Pizarro's riding his first Tour de France he's in the middle of these three as the Balearic Islands now hit for the finish here this is man Sabo who's a very good climber and he's pinching a few seconds over the big boys here and he's also the Spanish national champion now then this group was split into two ek Flores isn't a bit of difficulty they're in third position on the road man Sabo needs to keep riding Pizarro is going to be very cool this man has won a lot of races already since turning professional he's in second position in the blue and white jersey he is in the ideal position to take out the sprint EK flores in the orange jersey just trying to pull himself back into the race well he is pulling pisar toe to the victory here for sure he keeps this up because he wants time over the field the other boys just want the stage win man Sabo looks over his shoulder he'll see passata bizarre to by the way was the rider who finished second to the Irish rider mark Scanlon in the Junior World Championships a few years ago and Scanlon also riding his first Tour de France this year but it looks like Pizarro is setting himself up coming right on his back wheel Flores but Pizarro has gone this is a very very difficult finish to go that far out but I think Pizarro should have the strength now but look the Flores no chance Filippo Pizarro for fastball too low then comes a Flores then comes man Sabo had the packet right on the heels of the rest of them but I think brushed or is he just gonna hand on yes he is promise of Ostia Dino on the line and at the green jersey right there of steward O'Grady the youngest man in the race and the third tour debutante to win a stage twenty two-year-old Phillip Botox Otto probably knew he had it as soon as he recognized the two Spanish climbers he was up against a great win nonetheless I'm much clearer than the sprint for the minor points going on behind him to rush off led the bunch home Stewart O'Grady in the green jersey came across in tenth place while Robbie McEwen tired at the end of a long day in the wind was thirteenth and that was enough for O'Grady to hold on to the green jersey by a single point the competition was hosting up behind him though third and fourth Danilo Hondo and Erik zarbor were also separated by just a point and tohe shaft moved up into fifth it started the week as Fabian Cancellara is cast-off when the young swiss claimed all the jerseys by winning the prologue he took yellow and green pass down to the next man in the standings which just happened to be Lance Armstrong he was aren't begun to risk his chances of the six tour win by getting his elbows down to the bunch Prince so on stage one it was up for grabs to push off took one intermediate sprint on the road and third place on the stage and that was enough to fill a proper blue-collar worker in the green jersey the next man to take it was a former winner of the competition overall Robbie McEwen and with finishes of second first and third on consecutive days he was setting the standard of consistency for everyone to be out on the road though Stewart O'Grady is being smart knowing he couldn't match McEwen for straight speed in a bunch finish he got himself into a breakaway and promptly won all three intermediate sprints plus the stage itself without any competition from the real sprinters very smart that away day was worth over 50 points suddenly Stewie was in contention when McEwan got caught in the pileup of the one kilometer banner the following day the finishing straight was clear for O'Grady his second place to Tom Bonin was enough to take the jersey by two points of course yesterday McEwen started paying more attention to the intermediate sprint and beat O'Grady in both of the ones they contested but at the end of a punishing day in the Brittany wind it was O'Grady who gritted his teeth slightly harder at the finish his tenth place versus Robbie's 13th kept him in green by a single point with Thomas Burke was safely in yellow the green jersey competition was the main attraction on stage eight to 168 kilometers from long bow West almost to the coast and camp there at the first print of the day tour push-off took first place and six points Robbie McEwan took second and four points toward O'Grady was nowhere to be seen so McEwan had gone from one point behind to three points ahead of his fellow Australian well the first of the daily crashes happened with just over 8 kilometers to go Samuel du Moulin was the chief victim as the pack left him behind heading at high speed for another tight run into the finish in camp air now inside five kilometers from the finish as still two teams believe they're carrying the day's winner but now we're seeing the arrival to are with a lot o riders Robby Mook you won't be far away the green jersey of Stewart O'Grady is also moving to the front he will fancy this is a good scoring opportunity for him and off to our picture I've seen at the peril of Bertini he fancies this because it is sharp uphill before the line and also the Italian former champion in Salvatori commit so all riders believing now they're in with a shout today well Robbie McEwen will like this finish as a very nasty left-hand corner at 250 meters to go in the past there we've seen Robbie McEwen cruising around these corners especially in the wet it's as if it's dry for him don't forget Robert McEwen in the past started his career off as a BMX rider and he's probably one of the best bike handlers in this event picking their way around the first of this big repetition of traffic roundabout on the outskirts of camp air there are six of these in the final five kilometres fortunately I've got my breath held here to see whether or not everybody's going to get around safely at the back end of the pack you can see how riders are pricking their way around here very precariously I have to say that that is not the level the wind out of quite a lot of riders there who've lost enormous distance by making that corner through the roundabouts it'll take a huge effort now for these boys at the back their day is probably over now and it's going to go the front end that it's going to decide this race that there are more roundabouts that come there's a very short climb just look how far behind now the men at the back of the peloton for them their day is over the riders at the front will try to keep the pace high they will take them into the roundabouts as high speed and if they can't come out at high speed they'll be on the floor and still controlling the race at the front is quick step and looking now for the victory to klöden is also moving up behind it that white jersey the champion of Germany cloten we looking after Eric's árbol you can see they've got the main field stretched out into a very long line this is again to exaggerate the point of why the big contenders Armstrong Alric Hamilton like I'm a ride near the front end of the main field this field could split on the run into the finish and you've spent the whole day sitting in the pack and just because there's a split down towards the end you can lose five ten or even thirty Seconds to one of your challenges christoph moreau whipping up the pace but there's a big battle now happening between 6th and 10th place the sprinters are all looking for the wheel that they want to follow there is their example nice and comfortable in about 10th position but Robbie McEwen is right to the fore McEwen currently holds the lead in the green jersey points race and he will want to try and get across the line ahead of Stuart O'Grady who is the man wearing that green jersey and O'Grady himself has been very close to the front end of the pack three kilometres to go now for the whole field that's surviving in today's stage of the Tour de France de vivre Marty continues a clothing here looking over to his teammates to see that gaps are forming there because one or two riders beginning to bottle out now on the slippery road surfaces they know that the sprinters are forcing the way to the front that is always by design this is by nature a very tough type of rider to finish the sprinters will be pushing and shoving if they get caught of course they get fined or disqualified but they've got to get caught first it's a tough man sport at the end of the stage when the whole field rush for the line as they head now for two kilometres to go all of a sudden it's thinning out a little bit at the front Michael Rogers on the front this man's got a very big turn of speed he's thinking about just one thing he wants to make sure that the keep the line and long stretched out line there inside two kilometres right now what he is doing this for is his own teammate the young kid from Belgium Tom Boonen 23 years of age winning a stage in the Tour de France at his first attempt they've got another teammate up there as well in third position that you can see right there from don't know it's he'll bilious that says Stefano's and nene will take up this one because he's in about third position he'll Belarus the Balearic Islands team have been very aggressive over the last couple of days but look at so Nene coming round there there's another crash at the back end of the main field we'll stay at the front end of the fright of the pack we might well switch of our camera gets all of it over Chanti Garcia de Coster he's pushing on now for the Eels Belarus team he's been marshal he tried it yesterday remember and the light blue jerseys are trying to bring up now down low Honda there's batini and there is the crash and it's a coffee dish rider I think who has gone down it looked to me as though it was Janet tombak he's a sprinter well he's out of this sprint but he can of course get into the finish that's really sad but it seems to me whenever there's a crash there's a coffered his boy in trouble back to the front and watch out for the boy in the white jersey with the red spots now Stefano's and nene on the front looking a little bit further back you can see Paulo Bertini Gerolsteiner swinging off Robbie McEwen is not far away but tini are about to take up the pace making at the front but they're in the green jersey of Stewart O'Grady in the middle the pink jerseys on the shoulders of Erik zarbor we're getting to the difficult part now they're looking to see when they're gonna notice the one kilometer to go there's still a couple more Sprint's to go and a couple more corners Bateen he's got the acceleration this is the one he wanted this is a strong finish for Bertini Koosman out I think it is used lateral noise Robbie McEwan himself has latched on to the back wheel there good acceleration there sure agreed he's been caught out he's waiting for somebody else to make the acceleration there inside of 1000 meters to go but that was the move that everybody was waiting for Paulo Bertini was waiting to pounce he's left off the front and this might be just the right moment McEwen right on his wheel well that's incredible McEwen as gallant as will he doesn't know what to do here he wants the win is even talking to batini as he goes past now they're inside the last 600 meters to go and they couldn't open the sprint because of the nature of the finish McEwen has waited for the field to catch up and retake his place in a crucial stage of the race well macule read the MU but petit he went just that little bit too now as we've got an attack now by Kim Curtin Kim Kirk and he's got the gap professor Butler this would be remarkable two wins in two days if he can just hold off the front of the main field yesterday was filippova zato this is the luxembourg national champion with a slight gap over the front end of the main field crédit Agricole have got their man tore hop right up there in second position on his wheel you can just see there tucked in his ear example then it's Stewart O'Grady then coming up there is Tom Boone and the sprinters may well have just been caught out this is the corner at 250 meters to go they line up for the finish Kim Kirk and looking for win at number three of the season may well have done it right - hush off the reason the boys in green and white have worked so hard he's coming to the front and he's going to get the stage win it's all worked out for Clary Agricole that's what they wanted tore hush off gets the points he'll be right up in that green jersey competition he raced into the yellow it became Norway's first race leader early last week he started off this second week of the Tour de France in similar style to push off taking the most macho stage win celebration prize on the tour to date after Paulo Bertini had confused everybody by jumping off the front far too early in the king of the mountains jersey kim careful was second there example was third again and Robbie McEwen a crucial forth against O'Grady's 8th in terms of the points competition well there aren't many people who would look at the weather on a day like this and say isn't it good the Norwegian Wood it was called today and windy it was serene II and I was just like oh I think about her a nice wish sometimes is disappearing I was like motivated today because I was waiting for my day and finally today I did it and in the process he moved up in the green jersey competition 25 points off the lead at the start of the day he'd moved to within 11 the lead though was still alternating between the two Ozzy's are now back with Robbie McEwen who'd fought back impressively after Lou in that stage six crash it's always good to be in the lead rather than trying to chase points down then I got in the situation last year I crashed on in New Jersey I suddenly 20 points behind had to make it up and it's really difficult now I've crashed again in the Jersey this year and you know missed out on you know 25 30 35 points and now I'm in the lead but it's only slender and they're still yeah anything can happen here this long way to go all right let's wrap up the other competitions now and although the mountains don't really start until after the rest day Paulo Bertini has usually been first over what climbs we've seen so far he retains the Polka Dot Jersey and she's happy much since the start of the race and Thomas Voeckler holds on to the race lead ahead of his fellow escapees from stage 5 with Lance Armstrong the nearest big-name nine and a half minute back in sixth that cushion is going to be pulled from under him pretty smartly wants the serious climbing starts but the popular Frenchman at least has the honor of carrying the yellow jersey into the rest day there's a scene when shows that Olivia only Doku awake reclamation democracy to the conquest and food on a TPC Sigma Y a pair of a community escalate it up right up to visual comas Espace don't need maximum if you Wow well as a site one take many days in the mountains before the serious contenders relieved Thomas burglar of the pressure of being at the top and here's how they'll stack up coming out of the rest day Lance Armstrong the defending champion is 636 seconds ahead of Tyler Hamilton who's 11th yanil Rick is 20th and 55 seconds behind Armstrong then come the Spanish climbers Roberto our ass a minute and 45 down into 36th place and even my Oh five and a half minutes back in 89th they'll all move up over the next week Sebastian surely probably won't he's already nearly an hour down in a hundred and seventy sixth and last place yes thanks guys just time for one or two questions interesting one here from Harry Haywood who comes from barns how do you're asking how many other riders have made their tour debut and taken out victory in the prologue like the swiss cyclist fabian cancellara yesterday well in fact there have been four pool here the first man to do it was the Italian Francesco Moser back in 1975 a couple years later dietrich tira from germany did the same thing then a bit of a gap to Eric van der on from Belgium but then 1994 Chris Boardman did the same thing in lille and he set the fastest ever prologue wreck over 55 kilometres an hour and before anybody writes in David Miller won the opening stage of the Tour de France in his first attempt but that was a long time trial stage not an individual prologue that's right not about memory our Paul anyway let's move on Ellen Cheatham from up come in Devon Ellen we seem to get this question every year widest I cliched their legs so we thought we'd let Bradley McGee tell you the answer I don't know what the traditional role it is it's definitely just for me as an athlete firstly massage every day it just feels clean it feels feels right yeah I've been doing it since I was 15 years old so it's more natural do it then not the dog thing thanks Brad ok Ellen there you are let's move on now to Terry Jones Newcastle where my eyes deceiving me or Oscoda really sponsoring the cars in the Tour de France the answer is yes it's the first year of a new contract for Skoda after Fiat pulled out last year now before the tour almost everyone seemed to have circled stage 16 the time trial about des as being the day who have most likely decide the outcome of the race almost everyone I don't think that let me just put it this way I don't think the critical stages of the Tour de France are gonna be in the Alps I think they're for me and in my opinion in between just us and all the American viewers I think it goes down before then it was unlikely to be going down on stage 9 though it was the shortest road stage of the race 160 kilometers from San Leonardo no black to get high with nothing more testing than a couple of fourth category climbs but even they were too much for younger Sifu the winner of stage one back in Charlevoix had been suffering before the rest day and he abandoned early in the stage two riders then managed to escape the bunch in a goal and a lose a of goose Kyle tell and for the post Simeone of dama never can escape with the peloton putting the hammer down to pull them in on the closing stages whose touch-and-go where they'd survive and Simeone e's teammates were worried enough to be up at the front trying to get in amongst the pursuers and disrupt their rhythm ten kilometers to go now for the two leaders it's still there it's still possible a minute 33 the gap the peloton attempts to disrupt the chase by teammates of Simeone not going down well with certain members of the bunch it certainly isn't it's difficult to understand the pressure that these riders are on who are chasing at the front end of the main field and make push to the point of actually making almost animal decisions it's a decision that you don't make let literally it's just something that you react to and if somebody's coming alongside barging you while you're trying to do a job like this sometimes you make a decisions that you wouldn't in a nice cold calm atmosphere but it's not cold and calm the atmosphere in the front end of the main field everyone is fighting for survival everyone is trying to do their job at the front end of the main field and tempers today are starting to flare they are and this is a nasty split in the road here as they go either side to what is a narrow street at best of times we're racing now up to 9 kilometres to go for the leaders these boys are probably at 10 kill meters as the split there has been done safely although it hasn't because that was a crash in the bottom of our picture somebody clipped somebody and this was the danger and Phonak have a man down there and a couple of earless Berean is there Belarus right as that's Gonzalez has gone down well I just this was at the back end of the pack somebody's gone down very hard on the far side as well and that was right in the middle in fact you see the one rider who went down it was his own fault because in fact he was switching across from the left hand side to the road to the right and he actually hit one of those directional signs in the middle of the road trying to see who is really down and hurt quite badly in it so one of the riders from CSC it could be Kurt Allison who in fact there was a rider who a couple of days ago who'd had an injury out on the road he didn't look too good and I think in fact Iverson was the first rider to go down and then got catapulted across the road just looking here to see exactly who it was but he does not look very good at all the race doctor is up alongside and you can see here just exactly how it happened it was in fact the man who went down I feel fairly certain was the CSC rider somebody went right off into the crowd on the right hand side and we're just having a look down here to see just exactly who it is at the mannered with the blue coat on there is the doctor is Airport this guy's gone down very hard indeed well I'm not sure that it isn't Kurt Apple Iverson because he got flashes on his he got class honestly I'm not sure pop I'm not sure he was writer who was involved in Exley Tesla days ago and he had a very nasty cut to his thigh and this man had a big bandage on his thigh as well so I'm fairly certainly could well of be Kurt Adler Iverson he went down hard he's back up on his bike and it is Iverson I've been riding new bike for him for because I reckon he smashed that one to pieces he went clean over the top of the falling rider for kilometres to go they are three quarters of a kilometer behind the two leaders at the moment officially it's 40 seconds to them this is John Dharma game warning of a tight bend here as we swoop through the town of get Aid and then we go out the other side of it these two boys went away at 37 kilometers today they planned an attack if it were to succeed of a hundred and twenty three kilometers they've got just four kilometres to go and now a big effort by the Basque Rider Landel news but Simeone ease with him they may well just survive you know because they've got a fairly good advantage there outside of the 30-second mark the main feel though is absolutely splintering at the front end because of the pressure and the difficult nature of the run-in there's McEwen pulling his way up through the middle of the main field McEwen is obviously thinking about getting himself a few more points it's 35 seconds and this is a great move here coming off the front sir by tho f digit comm team but it's a reason to do that is to try and whip up the pace I think for Baden cook that's what we would assume it actually looks like carlos de cruz here who's got himself up to the front he was the rider had the flat tire and got back just before that big crash he's trying to get away now well I thought it was Carlos - this is what I couldn't believe that he'd got back into the main field it looks very much like the shape and form of carlos de cruz trying to whip up the face of the map front end of the main field that's three kilometres to go right now more don't be nervous looking back to see what the gap is you can see the race referee there trying to pull everybody out of this gap the reason for that is because the main field are absolutely boring down upon these two riders well they still got to rise up without the backside of the town now we go out onto a and then we swing back for the finish on a brand new road made especially for the arrival of the Tour de France and to take out a roundabout which would have been at 200 meters to go they are under three kilometres to go now we are talking seconds I can't see them surviving but I'd love them to well they could it's 25 seconds but look how long that big main field is stretched out completely Simeone looking over his shoulder wants to see if there's any sign of weakness in the eyes of any girl and they lose they lose shoulder Landa lose in the orange jersey has never had a victory in his whole career and he turned professional four years ago two kilometres to go these riders dare not now start to make any tactical maneuvering because if they do they will get wiped out immediately we are talking of slightly more than one mile in old money as we race for the line and the peloton are not being timed currently but it can't be more than 16 or 17 seconds these boys are slightly ahead of the rest as they continue now the crash may have just done enough to disturb the rhythm to give them the victory there's the three riders who are being brought up now they are saying twenty seconds and two kilometres surely that is possible it's completely and utterly possible if these two riders don't start to mess around and look for tactical maneuvering in the sprint they could just hang off the front of the main field and probably could see a situation here where they'd be given the same time as the main field because I think the main field will just come onto their wheels a flicker they are nearby Simeone and land Alou say didn't seem to want to come through there this is the turn back towards town now to give us the new road eventually that has been specially built for the finish there is the last thousand meters and the peloton who have given it their best shot may have misjudged it by two guys who broke away after 37 kilometres now Simeone doesn't want to go through now and calling him foo is lando loose here comes the cavalry charging into town right now they are looking for the final kilometer flag Dara Stefano's and Nene in third place right on his will was Tom Boonen moving up through the middle is the green jersey of Robbie McEwen around the corner is the two leaders they should not get caught they will I think survived over this last 500 meters but who is going to take out the victory it's a shame you know when you've got a two-man break we like this because somebody has to lose Symone he's won seven races in her career which began back in 1995 the guy in orange has never won a race and this is his fourth year as a pro they cannot afford to mess around it's a slightly uphill finish if you wait you're dead because the peloton are on your tail and it's a big lead out now and I can see the pink Jezebel example looking for the mint or hush off is brilliantly placed in second wheel and Robbie McEwen he's boxed in in that green jersey here comes the charge now philippi Simeone has got to go all of the way he can't wait he's giving land to lose the perfectly that one thing's for sure everybody will finish in the same time can't they got the legs here comes rush off here comes Tom Bowen and now there goes a bouncing bomb and a cure as they get to the line let the loser is going to be passed by an acuity one stop one on one as they hit the line and it's got to the Australian rugby McEwan has won the stage the Tour de France unbelievable you feel so sorry for those two guys who were off the front but they messed about just a little bit in the last 500 meters and what a great comeback by all of the sprinters Robbie McEwen got his wheel across the line I think just ahead of Stuart O'Grady and on the other side Eric Savile a great finish and so close that even the winner heading straight for the nearest TV set after he crossed the line to watch the replay and make sure [Music] a fantastic victory in the green jersey and after my crash a few days ago I'm I'm still suffering a lot with my knee and but I still able to win the stage this is incredible and as a result Robby's lead in the green jersey competition had doubled to a hush off second place on the stage was enough for him to overtake Stewart O'Grady O'Grady retained his second place in the overall standings though a few seconds closer now to Thomas burglar with Lance Armstrong still six nine and a half minutes back usually the opening stage in the mountains is a monster in the Alps or the Pyrenees an open invitation to the favourites to stamp their authority on the race which is exactly what Lance Armstrong had done in the majority of his five Tour wins this year though the organisers had thrown in a couple of sparring rounds here in the massive Somme trowel and it was impossible to predict exactly what the favourites were going to do or what they were going to be forced to do in response to a maverick attack either way it looked like being fascinating to find out and one thing we did know this was the year that the best climbers Jersey all things being equal was actually going to be won by the best climber stage 10 that brought the first substantial climbs of the race and 20 of them nine mountains spread over two hundred and thirty seven kilometers from limos to Sam floor it was the tour's longest day and coincidentally Bastille Day which meant it was odds on would see a French rider having a go in fact he was odds obviously resharper wrong looking for a record seventh king of the mountains title when actual notes for company he led the race over the first six climbs of the day and accelerated away on his own up the seventh the first category cold had a peg hole Brock is just dancing away he's riding at his own pedal rate and he's riding at his own rhythm just making sure that he gets the maximum points where he goes over the summit of this client advantages opened up a quite a lot over the last kilometer and a half to 24 seconds ahead of axel Mertz but actual merge could very easily pull it all back together looking then over the top goes where Ron come with the 15 points he gets there he also gets the lead in the king of the mountains here comes axel Mertz and they're clothed they're not very far apart so I suspect that I never know with resharper on in all honesty but I would expect we shall belong to hang on well you can see the clock ticking away here on axial mercs and it's going to be around about the 30 to 35 second mark and it's a kind of distance that can be completely and utterly wiped away over the summit as axial mercs takes onboard a drink here and he will probably very quickly be up to a maximum in fact it's just 40 seconds over the summit there the official time jet coming through well the rock is one of the fastest descenders as well as one of the best climbers and it was obviously had no intention of waiting of working together with mercs as the pack came down off the payroll it was a nasty crash involving yanil Ritz t-mobile teammate Mattias Kessler who fell really heavily cracking a rib and bruising a lung amazingly though he wrote to the finish before leaving the race and going to hospital crédit Agricole Sebastian Eno though it was even worse off he fell on the same descent and was helped straight into the ambulance outer head though Rishabha ronk was closing in on a superb solo Bastille Day win this has been one of the most outstanding performances and we'll talk about this for many years to come now they start to cheer they can see him for the first time resharper on stage win at number 7 - marriott with the great place names of the Tour de France lose Rd dawn Kota rake or shovel more zine and Monde on - and to that he can now add a little mountain top of Sam floor and I can imagine exactly what his victory salute is going to look to is going to be one finger up to the sky when he comes around the corner face looking just a little bit drain but it will be a relaxed face when it comes around this corner the crowd can now finally see him it's Bastille Day here in France this afternoon and it's a frenchman who's going to win well what a great tour the French you're having the race leader will stay on the shoulders of the French champion while the man who been one of the best French riders resharper on his 12th Tour de France his 7th stage win he is again at the leader in the king of the mountains and has happened in some floor this is really a remarkable performance by rasathi ronk today to go out and cover this course in six hours for 240 kilometres that's an incredible average speed you can just see the seams there at the finishing line he is being absolutely Moff therefore by the French press well they all want the very first words that come out of his mouth and I can imagine it be something similar to am pretty tired just we apathetic a exact mo coach a sativa Mon Buddha Dhamma Faso Sol de l'année passée courtesy of immersion Arizona's Gagne Sasa general por el equipo a step the vitamin e po Massa Clare sample module employed edema me Vidura hada person as well chaperone [Music] usually Mme no samples a week northenr become the path to the first power even as the persons attorney is it empowers all VA one kilometer to go it's actually only 800 meters as the big sprint starts now now is Lance Armstrong gonna have a dig a Jan yulik we gonna have a dig yuxi Kim gherkin looking over his shoulder and Erlich isn't far off the front off from there in fifth position there he's got a teammate right in front of my thinking was Jose acevedo there was a good move coming here from credi area got Lauren Raja trying to wing off the front there as they take this hairpin Bend they're around about 600 meters to go to the finish I don't think that Ulrich is going to let Armstrong sneak away over the last few meters just to get himself a couple more seconds faster ease algún is the rider there trying to go there with their brochure but there's a break my man sabor the champion is paid gone home left of the picture now and still on son he's trying to move forward here now Ulrich is just following wheels in the center Francisco man Sabo's had a great day out today just nipping points at the mountain summits he's trying to pull away but look at this Thomas avoid the yellow jersey of the Tour de France he's looking for a bonus here he's being traveler challenged by cloud land Lea's cloud man Sabre all Rick is on the wheel there as well that's a little bit trouble here this is now no it's not in fact it's Oswald's arbol is there there's a gap to the main field for Armstrong as well Sowell's just on the back there on the wheel of clothing there's man Sabo there's a gap between Armstrong and the rest of the field and not sure if they'll give it but there is a definite gap in the peloton that we know gap there as they come over the line it will be closing as our vault man Sabo there is displayed now it looks as though they'll give the others and all over it was tagged onto the back just along with Armstrong with the other boys and if char lamilton is in that second off we may have lost what couple of seconds so a great win for the wrong which catapulted him up the overall standings but the favorites didn't all finish in the same time in the group as they usually do Tyler Hamilton Oscar Sevilla and Roberto our ass all lost seven seconds and here's where it happened right behind ya know Rick in the pink and white of t-mobile the judges ruled that there was a break in the group and once that happens the clock starts ticking full concentration by Hamilton and company which produced the first change in the time gaps between the favorites since the team time trial stage 11 not a particularly arduous dates or another split in the field looking at the face of the three leaders here they're well safe now they've just moments ago passed under ten kilometers to go and that they are now leading by six and three-quarter minutes and at in fact they're telling us on the race waves come down to six minutes forty at ten kilometres to go it's not a problem for these riders they are certainly not going to lose it six minutes in the final ten kilometres of racing but they will start to get quite nervous because you know they've led this race since the 47th kilometer they've been at the front for around about 106 kilometers of racing so far in fact when Antonio Fletcher seems to be oh look at this move here now that was the attack and they're all looking each other and they've given him a gap he's a dangerous man he settles down but straightaway Martinez knows that and that's a sign that Martinez he's looking for the win he has had no wins this year and in fact he hasn't had a win last year he won the overall in the GC among Cuchillo Mont coochie I rather see the two Spanish riders that's a good move very good movement I'm surprised to see that there's no challenge there come immediately again there from he going Martinez Mont kucing now has got himself an advantage in these guys if they don't react immediately are going to see themselves losing any chance of a stage victory that was a desperate move by the man at the back there Quan Antonio Fletcher but they are given the advantage to France now France have not ridden well in the Tour de France like this for very many years and if they get another victory after the one of today it will certainly be the old Kakariko well and it's a coffered this rider have had a stage win already this is the team which is been wracked by a bad luck bad management and of course that the cheating riders who have been thrown off this squad like David Miller for taking drugs and now they tried to put matters too right here and this is a great attack by David monkey g8 multiple Jeana all he can do now he's made the move he's taken the risk of going out for the long attack he has to just bury himself he's got to get into the zone he's got to concentrate on tapping out a rhythm this is going to be a very long time he's inside of nine kilometers to go to the finish got to pick up that pace and these two riders I'm very surprised to see that Juan Antonio Fletcher was the man who started the aggression but he wasn't able to back it up it was a brilliant move there by mong-koo Chie because let you made the attack Martinez made the counter they were both caught out of wind and then monk Uche wasted no time it's one thing making the move Paul it's another thing hanging onto it exactly he's opened up the gap but he has to contain his effort he's got to actually just keep riding over the next few kilometres you know he's an excellent rider he's in the Tour de France here filled for the fifth time but in the past he's finished very high up 13th place overall in the Tour de France back in 2002 but in fact this year in the prereq Prix Tour de France warm-up he finished 11th in the Dovan a liberate a race that was won by eben maya well like other riders in this race he's never won a race this year he finished third in a race in the alcobendas and incense burns offense span of course let's go down yeah he finished third overall but again he didn't win a stage of that race and to me these two Spanish boys are in serious trouble here they're looking in each other they need to make friends and start to work together but otherwise Mont coochie is going to carry on the Tour de France for the French we're coming through on race radio now the first time check for Mont kuch a over those two chases is 27 seconds so it's certainly going very much in the right direction I think in fact Juan Antonio Fletcher must have been just a little bit on the rivet there that's an experienced cyclist used because in the old days when they made leather saddles they used to have brass rivets right on the front of the saddle when you were not feeling very good you'd sit right on the front end of the saddle and there's thus the term sitting on the rivet and all these boys are sitting right back on their new star plastic jobs right now and thinking what are we going to do he timed his move to perfection they both hit him they were out of breath and he went he's got a first-time gap of 35 seconds at enormous just at this stage he's winning into the last eight kilometers to go and helicopters totally confused now because there were two riders chasing one rider up there he's won ten races in his career this man is nearly 30 years of age now which I find amazing because we still talk about him as a new boy could move there you just saw the team car of team cockiness going forward the race referees have allowed them to go through because that gap has gone over the 30-second mark in fact that was an attack straight out of the handbook there feel absolutely what effect yeah he waited for I going Martinez to make the effort to nail back the first move which came from fun Antonio Fletcher and as soon as the junction was made he went straight over the top in a counter-attack and Eve very BB easily opened up immediately a gap of 10 or 15 seconds what he has to do now is get into a rhythm concentrate on keeping those legs ticking over the pain in a situation like this is almost unbearable but you are able to support it just for a fraction of a second longer than anybody else because you feel now as if you're gonna win the race the Marvis crowds cheering once again a Frenchman out front on a day stage of the tour so these two guys don't look to me as if they've actually got very much firepower left in those legs of theirs they've been at the front of the racer they all attacked after 47 kilometers and continued to build up them build up a big advantage which at one time was in excess of eight and a half minutes since then it started to come down but what's more important as we speak is the gap of this man David mong-koo tier two the two chasers Martinez and Fletcher it's now 54 seconds so it's definitely going in the right direction oh there's no question almost of minutes that is incredible he has given this a hundred and ten percent to break their spirits he's obviously pushed himself right to his maximum because he's got to break the spirit straightaway and get out of their sight then he can sort of slow down a little bit but Fletcher is kicking himself now because I really thought that - or Martinez should have had this race sewn up but dabit mong-koo qi8 carrying on the true French tradition here is now going on you know it's been 10 years since a Frenchman has won back-to-back stage in the Tour de France time flies it certainly has and this is excellent for French cycling which has really been in the doldrums for many seasons it's also very good for team Cofidis which is a team that's had an awful lot of bad luck over the years and this year they're looking at getting themselves their second stage victory at the Tour de France tudo great he's already got a win and Mont coochie as far as I'm concerned right now is gonna walk away with this one so that's the peloton under 10 kilometers from the line no reaction whatsoever the drama up front doesn't mean a thing to them the gap to them is actually coming down they are getting a little bit closer up to the leader now that just over 7 minutes says 7 minutes 12 seconds is the overall spread of the breakaways these two riders are 617 but with alone the reader now I think has put one over big time here on Igor Martinez fully enough Martinez who won the Tour de l'avenir in 2003 David mong-koo chie down there he finished second in that race in the year 2000 so anything you can do I can do as well it's couldn't start to feel quite confident now as he keeps extending his advantage over the two men who he was with and it really looks to me as if they had lost all firepower in their chaser Igor Martinez and Juan Antonio Fletcher Fletcher's attack there looked a very strong attack and he was very quickly nailed back by Martinez but this man from France went straight over the top of that attack and now he's looking at tickling the one minute advantage and that is a good advantage for him he's not showing any signs of weakness just look at the way he's peddling they're very strong well posed on his machine well if you look at this style of the two chases and look at the faces on the two chases it looks to me as if these men are men who have surrendered the hope of getting the victory here this afternoon and settling for second and third place on the road out of the saddle Juan Antonio Fletcher Juana stayed in the Tour de France last year when he wrote for the Ibanez TOCOM team and that was on the road into the outskirts of Toulouse right now he was the man who set up the aggression he was the man who opened up the attacks with 716 kilometers to go but he couldn't keep it going this man I think can well our television cameras got the best seat in the house now right behind it yet another Frenchman in full cry here but they may eventually have to succumb to the likes of Armstrong Oh Rick Hamilton and maybe even the Spanish sliders her ass and that Mayo but right now the French are enjoying their own race for the first time I can remember with so much success it's a long time since the French have had so much success and the French teams have had a lot of success out of this year's Tour de France as well inside of five kilometers to go look at that face he's concentrating right now you can just see that whiteness over his lips it's been a very hot day out in the saddle a lot of these riders will have certainly lost a certain amount of salt and they've had to take onboard huge amounts of liquid probably drinking between 5 & 7 liters of water on this 103 mile race this man has certainly got the speed to survive I hope he keeps just a little bit under his belt for the final climb of the day because although it's not marked on the race profile as a climb there is a naughty little climb on the run into the finish at around about two kilometres to go and of course let's not forget the final 500 meters are not that easy either now the only thing that will help him he arrives there with a minute to go which is what he's got more than a minute now over the two chases he'll be here he'll be able to ride up lightly sharp rock did it yesterday when he won his stage it was too far ahead to be caught two and a half miles to go or something like of four kilometres from the finish there down below is the town of fish Jack doesn't look up hill does it we have a nice little downhill to it first of all though before we climb out and now things are looking extremely good he's racing now is somewhere around a 58 kilometres an hour and that they're never gonna catch him he's still moving away our computer steadily counting in his favor it's now a minute and 24 seconds for Fletcher in second position I think Fletcher was just trying to surprise those two riders but maybe he was just trying to hide his form because he didn't have the legs this afternoon I don't think to go for a move like this he won his race in the Tour de France last year on the last-minute burst which he was able to keep on the way down towards the finish but this counter-attack by David mong-koo Jay was a superbly timed move he waited I think for the rivalry between the two Spanish once they came together after the first initial move by Fletcher he went straight over the top and he's never looked back since and he's in fact really extending his advantage because it's now not too far away from one and a half minutes over the two chases and it doesn't even have to worry about the main field because they're only just inside of six minutes 49 yeah they've just gone another four or six kilometers to go I think for the main feel of this man is coming up to inside three now just gotta watch these corners these roads they're twisting turn duck and dive adverse cameras don't be taking too many risks now of the French crowd here are going to enjoy the occasion now as a copy this team is looking to take their second stage win of this talk and if you go back to April they were all under voluntary suspension by the sponsors because they were tried to sort out a huge doping problem within the team they didn't know what to do so they stopped everybody ride until they sorted it out they weren't allowed to race again in fact until the Dunkirk all-day race in May so they've done well to get my cells into shape for the Tour de France now they're looking for win number two Studio Grady got the first one for them in the opening week of the Tour de France now mong-koo ta is going to get the second one because these two boys irise smile they're on the face of a fairly new pro at least he's pretty young Igor Martinez they are not going to get it under the banner and in fact as we're watching these pictures you might be hearing the cheers now they've just cheered mong-koo ta under the two kilometers to go banner it's not long before you'll be with us here on the finishing line no problem at all now he just needs to not take too many risks on the run into town there are one or two tricky little corners as he maneuvers his way into the outskirts of this very interesting medieval town of fizzy AK cross over the bridge which goes back to medieval times but now he's in a nice long straight inside of two kilometers to go and they can actually savor his victory here this afternoon because he's got a huge buffer over the two chases and of course he'll be able to wait for an awful long time before the main field comes charging into town as well well the long straight road before we swing right and then climb the nasty little climb up to the finishing line he won't worry about it now he's got a minute and 40 seconds even down here at basement level the crowd are packed here getting a glimpse of yet another Frenchman there is the kite the most popular sight by the leading rider the Tour de France it means a thousand meters or to the line but in the outskirts of town right now and he picks his way through very carefully now he can actually enjoy the last few kilometres you can almost feel the pain being lifted away from his body as he now is looking to see the flag that everybody in the sport of professional cycling would like to see and that is the last kilometres akai to the red kites Laflamme huijin he's not too far away from it and then you can you can hear the crowd here on the finishing line they're actually just looking at the big screen here there's the enjoyment he knows he's got it and this is a fabulous world by this young man where we go back to 1994 and there were three French stage winners consecutively Jacky jarana followed by Luc LeBlanc followed by one resharper wrong that was ten years ago resharper ranked one yesterday and now mong-koo Chie is making it to French wins in as many days wise man just making sure nobody's coming back it in never believe what the judges are telling you in time gaps make sure there's nobody in sight and then enjoy the moment he's going to win by about a minute and 30 seconds on the line what has been an incredibly quick stage arriving here some twenty five minutes ahead of expected time he's gonna knock chop his a twin number 11 here but this I feel today Phil is confirmation of what everybody's always expected from David Mann kuch a everyone as he always thought that one day he was going to be a great star at the Tour de France here he started to enjoys inside of a hundred meters to go this is his biggest ever win you bet your life it is and of course his first let's hear is he selling to the crowd here another victory for France an incredible ride got away with 116 kilometres to go with the other two we left them out side up nine kilometres from the finish and he's home and giving properties a twin and number two of this tour so they've known every aspect of emotion joined this year of a sponsorship but let's hope the two stage winds might stop that team from withdrawing the support of cycling well this is a great way to do it this is a man that they've invested a lot of time and money in over the last few years and they've been waiting for him to come up to do something very special at the Tour de France and after finishing fairly high up in the overall classification you know a couple of years ago he actually finished 13th overall in the Tour de France and they started to tip him as a man capable of getting onto the podium but that's what he wanted to do today he wanted to go out and get himself some individual glory I think a lot of riders in this Tour de France are being given freedom because the big contenders like Armstrong and Oregon the rest are waiting to the final week which is going to be a real serious showdown and let's tell you right now the final week of this year's Tour de France starts tomorrow on the road to the Pyrenees the last day before we call the big famous names I'm sure of that you can see the clock counting down now as the two spanish are gonna fight out each other for second place today at least Fletcher's going to get a place on the podium because when he came into on surely was wiped away in the last thousand meters and he didn't get a victory like he did in Toulouse last year Fletcher and ego Martinez away he's pausing himself bathed in accounts any second he's letting the climb up here and take its toll on perhaps one Antonio Fletcher there's the time gap for you it was an amazing gap in the end these two boys knew as soon as mangu che settled into his rhythm they were not going to catch him so they didn't even bother to chase him down huge advantage Muslim junior still a minute and 50 seconds since the Frenchman crossed the finishing line and these two Spanish I think must really be kicking them I think we tipped these two guys are either one of them to win the stage and we never ever gave David Monte too much of a chance though the commentators death throes I'm afraid we chose one of these two to win - mom - ta got the great win of the day here's the big effort that Fletcher has something left at least plenty of gas there second per one Antonio Fletcher third for ego Martinez [Applause] fourth position moving up they're printing for fourth place here they trying to send it up an eric tombola example is an idealization not too far away from or I the steward of gradient effect Robbie McEwen in the green is just a little bit further back well I'll tell you what info crazy sorry absorb it gets this here take the green jersey lead away from a cure and there was only ten points between them McHugh by tradition comes late and he moves to the right people are song is mixing the Ron McKuen shoulder both its Gibbons armor a great finish here taller shot these on the wheel now on the L example but now the Cure has got the wheel of butcher but has he got the legs I don't think he has because coming up the line it's Russia follow the BIOS arvo and I think they're just getting in there was McEwan's button just about hang on to his green jersey there Armstrong also getting himself mixed up with that one but wisely just moving out toward the end even people who knew nothing about cycling could tell that stage 12 to land well he was important Sheryl Crow was back on the race and she had half the population of Europe and a good portion of Texas for company the slopes up the final climb to LeMond she were absolutely packed and with good reason everybody knew this was where the faceoff really started between Lance Armstrong and the men intent on depriving him of a sixth Tour de France and the question for those riders to paraphrase Cheryl was are you strong enough to beat my man the man as usual had his own opinions you hear stories from from from teammates and Friends of his or people that are close enough to know and that say that he's happy to get second and I'm not saying that as a criticism I mean when he gets seconds like yeah that's a great race eh I got second Lance was stronger or the guy who got first was stronger and I'll take second if that's his approach and then I think that's great what's gonna happen to Robert to Harris because he was your right-hand man in the mountains now instead of setting the tempo for you he's gonna try and blow your weight here [Music] Tyler's he's a he's a contender no I think he needs a lot of things not a lot he needs a few things to happen in his favor but he's certainly a person that can win can win the tour he has to stay out of trouble he's different than am i oh who I think with 60 Kazon the final time so we'll for sure lose time Tyler you won't look at him and say this guy will for sure lose time cos he can time trial is over he's one of the favorites as I've said many times I think especially early on in the pyrenees when those climbs favor the spanish climbers the more that we can have roberto being aggressive Myo being aggressive whoever else remain being aggressive that's better for us I think I think that that historically that's a chance that we have to distance or work a little bit and if those guys are attacking that that's not well it's now day 13 in the tour the font it's taken a long time to find the serious crimes of this year's race and the same man has been in the other jersey for seven days Paul they must attack him but I have a feeling Volker might do well today I think Volker is actually going to survive he's written very well I think he's actually transformed over the last few days and I think what's impressed most people is in fact the way that his team have risen to the occasion very often when you get a yellow jersey into a team it changes the approach of the whole team and that's what's happened to the brioche Boulanger team well Lance Armstrong of course he was the last winner here at Lemoine G and he was with Roberta Harris on the same team then he even asked her ass to slow down because he was hurting Armstrong well now they're rivals and he could well be a Spanish winner here today because there's most the people out here speaking the common language which he's Spanish and if you want to be morbid antic then its Basque watch out for a BAM male stage 12 was one long gentle ramp leading to two massive spikes in the landscape the coldest BAM and the cold the tormal a with the finish 300 meters below the summit of the tormal a at Mamaji well we're looking at US postal at the front of what is left of the Tour de France right now at mid climb of the coldest pan and it is Novell and Beltran the two Spanish climbers for Armstrong who have blown this race apart the only men really who are left are the significant names of the Tour de France and the myau sean is still continuing to surprises Thomas voile they're riding about ten minutes in the front he has divided an onslaught where I think we've rarely seen on the coldest path unbelievable the way they came at this climb I think everybody's not necessarily worried about the coldest man in itself they're worried about the descent offered as you can see this is actually the easiest descent if you were to come down on the west to east trajectory it's a safe to set down into the town of arrow below us but the way we're going over here the descent off the summit of the pole nespa is very treacherous there's some very nasty corners someone have come round on themselves almost yeah three four degrees that'll do unbelievable while we're looking at Beltran taking over you know Val and you come on us posted we're turning out to be a bit of a star now now we know why they selected him he can drive now because that was rebel back sir Grecian a man he's probably number three on the team in the mountains and he's also in trouble now as well we'll get a chance here just to see which riders are being eliminated from the front end of the main field crystal ball jab just going back there as well from Deaf desert cop Vicky Sorensen in difficulty steward O'Grady that's not a surprise as Stewie is not one of the biggest bike riders when it comes to the big mountains that he too will get left behind upon these slopes of the coldest band just in front of him Martin CEO Bruce Aiken yes well Stewart I think that's to be expected for a Grady today second overall remember he'll be losing that place today I think but that's all right he still looks for another stage win he's having a great Tour de France like many riders in the tour these are not the days that they appreciate here's the John Dory who safely escort the race they're waiting to go through because they must be as confused as everybody else those groups of riders all over the Col that span today they still got to get to the front though and now look at this here because this is to Belle dia and he was a fifth in the Tour de France last year and it wasn't happy with his tour at all and Landa lose is also within the man who nearly was the winner the other day right there's an attack off the front end of the group it might slow it down a bit it might slow it down and I think the US Postal have got complete control they don't want to react to every little flurry of attacks on the front end of the main field they will have a number of names notched into their brains or into their helmets too which will tell them who they have to react and chase after and that certainly is not one of the men that they're too worried about but you can see the reaction is coming here from Bert that Oscar tell Oscar tell team they want to have somebody in every move that goes off the front because there are so many orange jerseys on this final climb of the day looking to see if the Basques could win well this looks like francesco sickly are a year from the Kanzi just about seeing through the picture breakups sorry about that atmospherics the trees everything working against us his life a little bit further down at the back again he's still hanging on though this is jebel dia and the man who finished fifth in the Tour de France is a great climber all of his country people are waiting for him at the finish were by the way this others now come out here we can't work this weather out at all camis it's very wet but at least the sun is shining he's just about hooked on again that well in fact that was Filippo Simeoni who's attacked at the front end of the group were one of the riders from Domino McKenzie and this is at the back end of the group number 118 there is Kristian van de Velde up I don't think anybody's going to react to this acceleration by Filippo Simeoni because he's not really somebody who's regarded as a possible overall winner and he very well think that he's going to give himself the slight advantage over the front end of the peloton in fact he's got around about ten seconds and that might well just carved the speed down of the front end of the main field this is Simeone if you remember he was on the attacker a couple of days ago and charging into the finishing line we thought he was going to come out with the win at the end of the day just holding him there he won a stage of the Tour of Austria this year but now the peloton here now having made their initial surge reduced to around 55 60 men I would think here now nobody missing as far as we know in the key players of the Tour de France but they've all had a real dig today and there's the air force that belongs to the Tour de France by the way they've all decided to Park the helicopters here pick up the VIPs and give them the best seat in the house well on the cold air span the marginally ahead is that Filippo Simeoni and I think he's just been God this is Christoph morrow who's having a go a long way down in the overall classification he probably feels as if hurt they won't lift the pace to chase him down he was 8th overall in the Tour de France last year but this year he's already lost himself huge chunks of time because of the fact that he got caught out over the cobblestone section of stage 3 and he trailed in around about four minutes behind the winner on that occasion John Patrick Ness on this climb by the way as the weather starts to play havoc with the pictures is a fairly long climb at twelve point three kilometers seven and a half miles 6.5 percent is the average gradient but I can't tell you that halfway through the climb with about four kilometres to go to the summit it's nine and a half percent well this is the attack we've just seen how Christoph morrow as he goes forward now to try and link up with Filippo Simeoni two riders if they've got the legs today might get away here and continue the great French dream while we look further down the back of the race here now we've got a CSC rider here who's trying to you know that with Simeoni I beg your pardon that was Simeone here comes Mauro somebody else has got clear as well and this of course who else would it be resharper wrong tricky Ricky you cannot discount this man he's regarded as the darling of France he's chasing after Christoph Moro because let's not forget Moreau the other day was out on the road just picking away at the points he's fourth in the king of the mountains classification with 30 points 54 points behind resolver off at the start of the day but that's why Barack has responded and Beltre who's done all of the pace making to destroy the field has cracked there he is now slipped to the back of this very select group and that's the price you do pay also the other man though valour is also cracking at the moment that's amazing these men surprised to see Beltran cracking Phil because Beltran he really looked like he was going to ride the whole way off this mountain there will be some strange reactions in the body I think because of these climatic conditions well they gave a hundred and ten percent there to do a lot of damage to the main bulk of the racer but it looks as though they paid the price in full here they Armstrong still has of course and some of his faithful team it's including Hincapie and Floyd Landis up at the front but you know Bronk is a danger now Barack he's seeking the yellow jersey he lies fourth in this race that's got to bring a reaction from a book Claire otherwise he won't be in yellow Paulo Bertini he did a magnificent job of work in the few kilometers leading up to the corner at the bottom of the coldest map he now I think will just sit up and find his own rhythm and comfortably go over the summit of the climb now we're looking at a three-man leading group Christophe Moro in the green shorts there Filippo Simeoni of Domino vacancy and riche RV Rock the man who has won the king of the mountains classifications on six occasions and let's not forget as you said Phil he's fairly high up in the overall classification and what a surprise that would be if rossabi ront climbed up from fourth into first place well nothing surprises me with this man you know at Rishabha rank now we're just being told by helicopters have just been grounded so we're going to lose on magnificent helicopter shots for the moment because of the bad weather but wants to get round the mountain and the cold a tormal a which is where we finish is now bathed in sunshine so we should get them for the finish well the amazing thing about the Tour de France is the fact that so we don't have to rely completely on the helicopters there is a fixed wing Eric low air plane which flies at 10,000 feet above the race and brings us pictures all the way through they might get just a little bit softer but we'll be able to witness all of the attacks a big battle here between the French well they've destroyed their own a break here that lets Simeone go on a front here this is resolution coming up as well and he's got a rider from us catalyzed wheel wouldn't surprise me I don't think it is mayor at the mall but it might be and if it is that the crowd here they're gonna release a raucous cheer because they could see this on the television as he climbs away I don't think it was mile poor but we'll have a little closer look at his face there in a sec looks me like my PE going Martinez again wasn't it Martinez and Simeon just gave the other day yeah it was those two riders in the breakaway trying to get themselves off the front this is definitely Michael Rasmussen on the front you can just see the World Championship bans everybody from Danish television was waiting for the mountains because they felt that this man was gonna ride superb ly this afternoon now you give him 20 seconds advantage over the top of the coldest man you won't catch him because he was a former world mountain bike champion now this is interesting now because it was US Postal that caused the big split here and did all the making the men who survived the hit are now having to stay in that peloton because these riders have decided to push on now and try and win the day and of course if they win the day in gain time they will gradually become men who can threaten the overall leaders Rasmussen for example is 11 minutes behind at the moment but he could be closing in if he got a good win today but he's only around about a minute and 40 seconds behind Lance Armstrong in the race of the big challenges I'm very surprised to see the blue guard filled losing Manuel Beltran but still they can hand over some very solid other bite what's the problem there there's a problem for Floyd Landis yes just saw one rider get pushed to one side Landis getting pushed across there by his own teammate who sees Armstrong enforcing we can't control our cameras and we've cut away from it nothing coming to us at the moment on race radio this is Michael Bogart of the back to Rabobank who were clearly in trouble as well while his younger teammate a Rasmussen is beginning to move clear here awfully sorry about the pictures are we do have an airplane flying at 10,000 feet and it will catch these signals but our helicopters are down because of the weather but the weather is clearing very rapidly on LeMond gee so we should have a nice slide to the finish this is the group US Postal now just trying to keep a good tempo going and the limiting their loss adjust now because we're looking here at the two leaders Martinez and Rasmussen they're not exactly running away from the chase group are they no they've only got themselves 5 to 10 seconds advantage as you can see there let's have a look at the back of the pack there is the yellow jersey still defending very well it's good to see him holding on here and number 117 at the back there from the Liberty Seguros team is there Marco Serrano and I think just in front of him was number 111 that's Roberto Harris he sitting at the back there's Tyler Hamilton - off to the right so they're all in the group they've read it well they're allowing us postal allowing might be the wrong word to do all of the pace making and use their energy up remember us post love to destroy to the team in this effort today sitting right here at the back - is Kemal Camano of the goose Goodell team another danger man when the roads go up looking over his shoulder there is Eva Mayo this is quite an amazing group now I think we could just move up there Harris and the foanna and Tyler Amazon and the Mayo Shawn all right let's look at his face you can see what it looks like well I tell you who's just in front of him as well number 31 eben mayo a lot of riders under pressure it's still a very large group let's just move slightly for that was your setup only there and in fact Rasmussen now decided to go alone everybody wanted to see how this man was going to perform in the mountains we've seen him write very well in the past and races like the tour of Spain and of course like the Giro I don't think they really have to chase down Michael Rasmussen he's not really regarded as a threat for the overall classification system at the Tour de France and I think right here he's finding himself using up an awful lot of energy because still 30 kilometers to go to the finish from the summit of this climb Michael Rasmussen there's no doubt in anybody's mind he is a star for the for the future and don't forget Rabobank had never had a candidate to win this race overall they've always been a very good all-round team to take stage wins etc but Levi Leipheimer was that's the reason the American was brought to the team to try and win the Tour came close he's had an eight but last year cause he had that horrible tragic now they've got a two-pronged attack here but even so as they wipe out Martinez it's bit George Hincapie stamping on the pedals he's a magnificent cyclist he is unbelievable George Hincapie rides a superb early season classics campaign right in there great races like the Tour of Flanders and of course like the incredible performances we've seen he put it in parry Roubaix but once the month of July comes it's dedicated to just one cause and that is the cause of his leader Lance Armstrong I'm a little bit surprised to see Roberto Harris riding so close to the back of this group number 111 but you know he's already two minutes behind Armstrong in the overall classification the big difference between riding for a leader and actually supporting the weight as the leader of the bike race yourself is a completely different thing now he has to reverse his tactics hibi that had been in the same situation as two years ago when he was coming up there LeMond gee he would have had to been riding here right now making the pace for Lance Armstrong there is Armstrong there's no mesh it's coming at us as to how he feels by looking at his face but I think pretty good right now nobody else is getting a look in here the whole field of the Tour de France again being placed into second subservient to the work being done that by US Postal only Michael Rasmussen is in front just look at him though he's got two four three riders in front of him one behind the rider behind him there is just in case Armstrong has a problem and needs to change his time look at all Rick's face is really grimacing he's looking for the power is a big big powerful bike rider using probably a couple of teeth bigger and his sprockets at the back there then Lance Armstrong his key surrounded by his men to that andreas klöden in the white jersey national champion of germany just off to the right-hand side was giuseppe kiddy knee winner at the summit of the out there's a couple of years ago and she has his moments in the flashes a lie for Oracle remember he's lost a good man the other day in that very nasty crash coming down the Queen Mary there's her ass in the little boy in the blue jersey and the yellow jersey here I think he's under a little bit of pressure here he's happened to work very hard to hold position that Harris may have sense that because he's gone round him and moved right up and that was probably a very wise move here we go back up to the leader Michael Rasmussen he's been around a long time but not in this particular branch of the sport he was a mountain biker and a world champion he's now 30 years of age and just to give you some idea of his successes he won a the 6-day to the dolphin a this year which is the build up race in the Tour de France and last year he was a stage of the Tour of Spain so he really is a great bike rider last time I want a mountain bike world championship was 1999 when the certain Lance Armstrong was winning his first Tour de France they were the mountain stage that this man won in the tourist Bain was no mean mountain stage either because if you remember he went to the summit of the climb called quarter a which is not too very far away from where we are here yes and we shot Barack from their haunts as well and so too did one miguel indurain well there he is and he still looks good to me he's goal of Lee position on that bike and little small man he is and he keeps on the inside he must think goodness me there's all these riders can climb like me in the Tour de France it's a big battle now Hamilton number 21 sitting at the back there but my life distillery look too far back in the group if I was feeling strong and what to be riding up alongside Ulrich and Armstrong so would I because you know Tyler Hamilton unadorned this to happen as a habit of falling off and it's gonna be a very treacherous descent down here two kilometers to go to the summit of the climb now and the leader Rasmussen has an advantage of around about thirteen seconds that's Chet choo Riviera on the front there Lewis says his proper name but his nickname in the team is chechu and he was always on form in the month of July for Mars armful came across the team with Roberta Harris from kalmyk the yellow jersey of philly suffering he's just holding on he wants to hold on for another meter another kilometer he's under serious pressure I actually want this guy to stay in contact over the summit here this afternoon been so courageous over the last seven days of racing that I really would like to see him keep the yellow jersey for one more day we've seen though we've seen him in the situation where he does hurt him he does suffer deeply but he does have the ability to get out of the mess he gets himself in and we've seen him even sprint out for the primary of place he had the fifth and the sixth where's he's jumping around the riders who cracked and that rider is numb less than me Kelly Bartoli who is slipping back and Barthel he seen them I assume come round him but he just nips on nips round him gets back into the peloton one and a half kilometers to the top then it's a freewheel down and take it easy he's riding on courage there I don't know if you noticed he actually looked down to see what his gears were telling him that's always a bad sign because it means that your body is not enjoying the gear ratio that you've selected but he knocked it up one sprocket and accelerated onto the back of the group already grimacing there on the wheel of Rosa Acevedo the Portuguese rider now they are keeping Acevedo in reserve here as well I think for Ana final ascent to the climb maybe Acevedo has got to be the Roberto Harris of 2002 well as we watch Michael Rosen see here I can hear the race director jean-marie LeBlanc telling all of the race followers to leave the race for the descent because not only is it wet but the visibility is reduced by father so let's hope that they can see their way down as well as Bartoli just about keeps the race inside here as we're looking for the last kilometer of the climb and just look at this man how many times we see him point LeDoux that appears to be down and out he goes back as if somebody kicks him and he goes straight to the field well this is courage this is the yellow jersey it really has a special spell that it casts over a bike ride in his squat cast a very special spell over that man Vogler here this afternoon he was off the back and now he's halfway up the main field Hamilton surrounded by his teammates there number 21 you can see riding fairly comfortably he's got Santos Gonzales not too far away from it the leader of the race is just going past the one kilometer to go banner to the summit while still the US Postal fill are not showing any sign they freshen they shed for men not coming up this grind Riviera here now doing all the work Floyd Landis George Hincapie they've lost four men but they've still got plenty around Lance Armstrong for the final ascent one kilometer to go for Rasmussen I think weren't about to hit the same marker we're not getting a time check anymore than 10 seconds going up slightly so it's still very good that resharper wrong he's waiting now about ten men down to try and get the point over the top it'll be second at the moment but it'll be good enough for him christoph maro is still here and show some good ability on the mountains at what we've seen of them this year there's the concentration of Rasmussen 30 years of age and seeking his first ever stage win in his first ever Tour de France well the Danish were waiting for this they were very excited about the possibility that this man was going to win here this afternoon they said that he's a strange bike rider he always predicts when he's going to operate a breakaway and that's exactly what he told them today that he wanted to go out on the attack he wanted to win today state he did exactly that in the door for deliberate earlier on this year he actually purposely lost time when the overall standings so that he could attack the next day and win the stage George Hincapie Floyd Landis here these boys get better and better every year we see them ride in cap he seems to continue to develop the what three years ago he wouldn't have been on the mountain at this stage of the day here he is setting the pace keeping everybody under control and just cloud not to the left there the champion of Germany looking out for his team captain young Ulrich as we start to head up towards the summit now it looks as though Rasmussen he's going to get his name in the history books to the man who topped the client first it's been a very good climb by him and being a mountain biker and they tend to have better skills on the road cyclists he could well descend very quickly he's going to go downhill like a man possessed and he won't be scared at all about the weather conditions it is a bit scary on the descent of the coldest man especially with the fact that the clouds have come down to make it a little bit foggy in one or two of the corners but there are some dark corners as well because after the first two or three kilometers of the descent you go into a forested area and that's very difficult in a forested area to actually be able to read the lay of the line the lay of the land and the corners that you're not going to go through well veranke moving up there to snatch second place i don't think they'll give up to see this man here when the crowd gets thick and deep like this you know you're not far from the summit of the first casualty climb there's a magnificent cloud here the rain is still coming down but it is beautiful at the finish of Mamaji now all of our spectators have come back onto the finishing line in their thousand-dollar where they've been but they're back and just look at the crowd on top of the ASP and seeing the leader go here's the Sprint per second unless they sweep up Rasmussen and Rashard Barranca watch out because it was only seconds in it Rasmussen that will go over the top and that's Outlaws look the wrong way we shot I think Morrow picked him Mauro picked him I think just on the line there but the acceleration has pulled Rasmussen back into the fold Mauro they're going across in second place I think the photo will give us the right answer but this is a bit of a worry Phil for me to see Tyler Hamilton sitting at the back of the group surrounded by all of his teammates shouldn't be there well they're sitting on the back of two is a charnel of Villa Blanca he's last of that very select front droop over the Aspen so now they're starting the descent they go over the top of that climb with 25 kilometers to go they will drop down into the small town of Santa married their combat and it's a descent of a round about eight kilometres five miles of descent as you could see sylvain Chavanel just on the back of the group there there's the banner indicated 25 kilometres to go to the finish and I know this descent it is a very precarious dissenter the race has been the race has been the backed over the last couple of years as you get a chance to have a look over here you could see there you've climbed up above the cloud level as the riders will charge down into that rather nasty foggy area and then they'll make their way down into Safari or compact in the bottom well now we've got to watch it down here no heroics just come down this mountain because I have a better shot at the climb up to the finish it's drying nicely on the LeMond G climb is the wrong curse just waiting for confirmation who got that second place there is the long that long fast descent and the trouble is these are very quick straights like this and then you try and slam the brakes on for the sharp bends your bike gets gives that whole feeling of accelerating when the water traps between the brake blocks and the rim of the wheel there is the scary moment you can see the first part of the climb is nice and open it's not in the forested area but it's actually most dangerous when you get into the forest towards the bottom of the descent and then it's hard to pick the line of the riders going around these corners as they can see at the back it still selves as Sharon out one of the big hopes for French cycling but most certainly hoping that he can stay in contact with a group to help his leader [Music] this is what's left of the head of the peloton now as we begin our descent of the coldest pansy lash ever now the last man just hanging on widely lying off to get a good look at the corner and it looks as though we've got an attack here by Moroz gone off the front Matt Rasmussen is still ahead as he makes December we haven't seen him so there is a possibility that he was wiped out when he went over the top well they just caught on to the tail end of Rasmussen as they went over the summit of the climb and rustavi wrong I think was given third place at the top of that climb and immediately they began to send christoph moreau decided he wanted to go out on his own but it looks I can see a figure just in front there now from this distance it's very difficult to see whether or not that is a figure of somebody descending or whether it's one of the race lead motorbikes well we're know pretty soon the way they're going down they are taking it common sense down here because these roads are treacherous and what's the point of risking things now because all of the projected leaders of the Tour de France are in this very select group which radio just crackling in here as we go down the descent they are actually saying that Rasmussen has opened up a slight gap on the descent so it wasn't a motorbike in front it was Rasmussen and Christoph Moro [Applause] down through the trees now see the gap starting to appear Armstrong by the way is a fairly good bike rider very good at handling his machine in situations like this but as I said in the early part of the day and the weather conditions change what is very important is to make sure that you do have the exact right tire pressures this is the leader now this'n factor is probably Martinez or except Aria coming forward hitter Johnson this is the corner by the way I remember it distinctly from years gone by where who came up in the opposite direction at Tour de France when Greg LeMond was the world champion and he was knocked off his bike by one of the team cars of Deanna Cordova the team leader for the center next one this is the back of the group just looking in the back of the race there's one of those nasty corkscrew bends and fortunately all of the riders getting ground safety but they can't afford to take any chances now it never be a spectator port standing on the outside of those corners absolutely not these guys come into these corners sometimes at speeds in excess of 60 miles an hour it's actually in this area of this very descent that we are looking down at the climbed out from the Colville apology that my very good friend Sean Yates once had recorded a hundred and twelve kilometers an hour on the descent unfortunately today the riders are coming up so as they yes that's a good point that poor well after the mounting points where we think that Barack was given third place on the climb he's now got 95 points if that's the case axial mechs still holding on intercept place Christoph Morrow now beginning to get in the frame there because he's 43 and he is in third place still less than half of Rishabha ronk as they continue there is the leader now so we do have a Rasmussen still up there as we pulled right back it looks as though the good descenders I'm not sure where we are here but I think we're the head of the lead group well that's a heavenly group just go around the corner there is Rasmussen just going on to those houses chasing him still is Christoph Moreau there was a rider from Muscatello Scotty it looked like the smaller shape of her in fact David it's a barrier there's the yellow jersey doing a fabulous job here this one man was dropped at two kilometres to go he's actually said I can't climb the same way as the big stars do like Oregon Armstrong I'm always on the ribbon I've got to slow down and accelerate and slow down and accelerate and he's done that to perfection here what a fighter a great fighter that is Vogler 20 kilometres to go for the head of the race that's 12 miles and of course the last 12 are all uphill we're only down here for the moments as very pleasant they all a mangy now the Sun is coming to the roads are getting a little bit dry there's 20 kilometres to go for the rest of the string here so they're not that far behind the leaders who are continued to push off we are lining ourselves up for a great battle on LeMond Jie every man for himself I would suggest here's the leader still driving on Michael Rasmussen looking for his first ever stage win he has been waiting for these mountains like the first time cyclists never mind a first-time rider in the tour he is relish the thought of climbing the big mountains of the Pyrenees Michael lebra's Muhsin drives on now holding off a very select group of riders on today's stage here we're looking at a ya know Rick and still trying to be guided through by a clone where is Armstrong right now I haven't seen Armstrong this is the OL regroup Hincapie is looking over his shoulders and I think that is because maybe Lance Armstrong has had some kind of a problem Armstrong is not in that group there hink Kathy is sitting up so that would indicate that Armstrong has had a problem to me there is he's in that group devil Ulrich is gone now we don't know how this has happened our cameras our helicopters were flying of course so we're not sure why Armstrong is here he's got his team all around him he's looking three regular when you look down there he wouldn't take any risks on the descent you see now they're looking let's see what happens here Jan Ullrich in the pink jersey Ulrika let's not forget four or five years ago was regarded as a very bad descent that but now he's put himself into a position where he actually looks very comfortable this small group pretending the yellow jersey and the big contender to the overall title yan ulrich have got the advantage on Armstrong for Armstrong as is men around him there are eight riders now in that group all in pursuit of Rasmussen this is the first time I think we've seen Lance on the defensive like this for a long time Rasmussen being chased by eight rides including Christophe Morrow and also the Mayo Jonah Vogler and an ORAC and I think even Mayo is also in that group so Lance Armstrong's being put on the defensive here by some very very important names on Rasmussen who's trying to win the stage might have got himself involved in a major battle here running armed stronger I hope was only just sitting back and not taking too many risks on that he said he doesn't want to blow his Tour de France on the descent of the coldest man but in front are men who are serious challenges a bank bio is in the orange jersey the pink jersey is yeah norick the pressure is on the journeyed group american [Music] the yellow jersey this is really quite an interesting composition of this little group because although well let's not forget we still have Michael Rasmussen a little bit of the road at around about 15 seconds chased by Razavi Rock the group which is forming their a very serious group contains Y an ORAC Andreas klöden he banned my Oh Christoph Moro want Miguel Mercado Thomas booklet the yellow jersey and that Laura brochure now Laurent Brousseau has been successful in the Pyrenees before he won a stage on the 14th of July a few years ago on to the town of the new Dom PLA Armstrong is surrounded by his teammates he's got four very strong teammates with him and I think only Phil at the end of the day will we find out the story asked just exactly what happened to arm from on that descent absolutely and we'll have to work it out I think you might have a degree of correctness thinking there was no problem in him mechanically and maybe there's a problem with you physically that's the only other reason other than playing safe and taking care care on the tricky descent because he's racing into better weather and he'll gamble on chasing back on the climb up to the finish this is Rasmussen waiting for no one as he continues to try and hold them off there Jan Ullrich and his klöden the ebon Mayo Christoph Mauro Juan Miguel Mercado Thomas boy clear the yellow jersey long brochure and that we think resharper ronk makes up the eight riders they're reforming here at the moment well this poor this the first time I can recall it yam Puli actually on the attack will walk out it's about to be heal that gap now because here they come this is called control this is called not panicking this is called all of your teammates around you and over you have have a quick look there at ya Ulric he's only got one teammate left with him Armstrong still has four very strong teammate and I'll give you the names that we're talking Jose Acevedo we're talking here George Hincapie we're talking Floyd Landis and chichi Riviera strong experience bike riders that's what's going to count towards the end and that's why you need a team because you can't win the Tour de France by yourself alarms only been isolated alone there he would have probably have been left behind well I thought I'd seen David echeverria in fact it was the orange jersey of echeverria coming up here to be sharply wrong the race situation still on the front of Michael Rasmussen with about 15 seconds over this chasing group of two riders David echeverria they're just joining up two reefs are Barack and a further 20 seconds back to the group which now contains Armstrong auric and the yellow jersey the yellow jersey thomas Vogler phil doing a brilliant job it's unbelievable the way this man is riding and again he fooled us he hangs off the back and then he goes and he's up of the leaders it's a barrier go straight two victories at the Tour de France he's got two Tour de France wins throughout his career but they're about to get picked up by the front end of the group that's a lot on brochure this is quite a big Elm edgardo the rider from quickster Davi tomate we've expected to see him ride well once we came up into the mountains I think he's dropped back just a little bit too far in the overall classification to be a real threat for a high finish but he certainly is a very good climber you can actually see there it's a long way back down the line but there's a lot of riders starting to reintegrate the group here Tyler Hamilton I believe must have made the group but he did start that descent with absolutely the wrong place he was at the back end of the group as we have a quick look now just looking through this group who get a chance to pick up who's here Levante Basso is in the group from TCS soon this is the area do bullet on the back end of the group like Raja [Applause] we're also trying to counter to move like Medicaid Oh [Applause] now if those four lighters get together Paul then we are going to see four riders who might cause no concern to the big riders will the rest situation as I can see it now as Michael Rasmussen is still leading but I have a feeling that Rashad Barack and David Victor Barry I've just been picked up by the front end of this group that man tried to launch out there we just saw was long Raja trying to get across to find Miguel Mercado that looked like it's your barrier just behind there in second we're there taking great respect on the roads here this is the last start of the last climb of the day soon as we start Ramon Jeep will take us up to the finish we're just starting the climb now it's some 13 kilometres to the summit here come the leaders this is David at seborrhea heading up the chase group and your guess is as good as mine at the moment lon Raja is certainly ahead of this group and that Rasmussen is certainly the leader that's about all he know 13 kilometres to go Santa Maria compound played throughout the history the first year we came through this town was in 1910 and not long after that at Eugene twist-off with the famous man who repaired his forks in the Forge and he was penalized because he had some little boy blow up the bellows who was tough the rules in those days now you can see Erasmus in here and he must have started the final climb of the day because he's taken off his helmet now the rules in professional cycling nowadays say that you have to wear a helmet to crash helmet on every stage of the race however if the final climb of the day is more than 5 kilometers you can take off your hats at the helmet at the bottom of that final climb so he started going uphill that's right we saw the PMU sign which announced the start that by master signal view on the climb to the finish now there's no more downhill it is literally every man for himself on this climb up the mountain Rasmussen is still ahead men car though I think it is now has joined brush yard in the chase behind followed by the group is not very much in it though because Rasmussen leads those two chases by just 13 seconds and then that's 24 seconds or just 11 seconds behind the two chasers is the main group containing Armstrong pouring the yellow jersey Thomas Vogler and of course Tyler Hamilton who I seem to think I just caught a glimpse off recovering at the bottom of that descent well Rasmussen continues to ride at the front here is Matt Accardo and blusher but they're bringing them back with their teeth they may that's not a good sight though and McCardle looked over his shoulder he will have seen the group still coming up brush odd in fact got his helmet off but he's got his handlebars I will record he'd find that rather annoying now you have to think about the psychology of Jan Ullrich orc has been caught out by Armstrong's tricks as he calls him a couple of times over the last few years this is a Chavarria job done he tried to escape on the descent now he'll just have to survive up to the finish having seen aura can get a slight advantage on Armstrong on the descent I wonder if he's going to make the mistake of thinking that Armstrong was in difficulty and try and attack a long way from the top is another problem there I was a supporter as a rapper Panks supporter they're pretty scary they're always a bit of a shock that we're gonna be fool if you tired by us Goodell because the only crowd here outnumber anybody else up on top with LeMond gene there is a void Claire than a brilliant ride looked in trouble went back to the front was in the attacks and he's now looking very settled to be the yellow jersey tomorrow as well Lowell embrasure drives up to the right by the US postal coming back into control now of this race and I think they've had their shocks but it looks good again as George Hincapie gets back on the front check to Riviera coming to the front now what a fer the US postal riders involved in the crash in the early part of the event nearly every bike rider in the US Postal Service had a crash at one time or another including Lance Armstrong and just for the record of all of the major contenders for the final victory only one man didn't crash in the first ten days of the race his name was Yan Ulrich everybody else was on the ground at one time or another sometimes you need a bit of luck he was in the place so it didn't happen he was delayed by crisis we never fell off a bike there's that very very select group now the strongmen of the Tour de France coming back it together now it could be that they were calmed down a little bit and that will give gas bruseles chance to win that stage [Applause] and it Hamilton off to the right number 21 oh then this group now remember when he at the end of what has been a nearly 200 kilometres stage today the a span in the RET they safely descended it and are now beginning the final climb up to 17 hundred and fifteen meters which is twelve point eight kilometers Amaral about two kilometers up the climb at the moment there's the ten kilometers to go sign up wasn't a bad guess was it as we now see floyd landis on the front Armstrong walk it'll be interesting finding out later as to exactly why he was behind Yankovic we're looking now a floyd landis as he continues to set the pace here if there was any shockwaves they put them to rights now the riders are all together with the exception of a couple of riders just ahead big organization now and we really will not know until after the race tonight just exactly what happened to Armstrong on that descent my own personal feeling is that art from didn't want to take any risks at all on the descent and allowed other riders like a like a like Yan or if they're wearing number 11 maybe to take a risk or two too many on the descent running down towards a line Georg touch Nick is in this group christoph moreau is in this group it's amazing how many numbers wearing we're pairing there one there they're all the leaders and the heads of state of all the teams that there's your Penta Simoni on the far side number 171 ever since you said his Morales in his boots and he was going home he's got better and better and I think he will win the stage probably in the Alps maybe here who knows these boys I think have had a big fight today and the now just taking a few deep breaths as they settle down for the climb up to the finish just as moose and now out in front and that the fact they've slowed down he might have a chance of this stage win now yep but this climb gets very hard up towards the summit yes it is around about 12 and a half kilometers in in length it's an average gradient of 6.8% but as you get up to the last five kilometers it tips up to 8% and then 10% and it stays at that all the way to the finish and sadly enough I feel very sorry for the bike riders for because once they've crossed the finishing line they can't actually free will because it continues to climb up to the area where they have to park all the team cars and it's rides it because normally four or five kilometers to the actual summit of the mountain this is the cold normally and the first came into the tour along with the first mountains in the history the Tour de France in 1910 on the very first mountain roads the tour client I can tell you the road surface wasn't quite as good it certainly wasn't it was almost like a dirt track but has come across then many many times since then Landis already got his helmet off going to the front before the team setting all the pace making this man started his season off very well this year with a brilliant win in the tour of the Algarve despite a beating in the time trial staged by his own teammate Lance Armstrong quite a single second now moving up just a little bit further back to two Riviera in camping and the rest these guys trying to pull themselves into the race that is Roberto Harris I think they're trying to come up to the group again well if he's got caught out and it looks like it right it is Roberto Harris then what an earth happened to him with he got caught out with whatever caught the proper Midlands Armstrong but he still got a little bit of work to do but he's obviously feeling good because he is coming up towards the group once more could have been dropped on the dissenter like Tyler Hamilton I felt they were riding too far to the back of the group before the start of the descent of the cold-ass man had ascent which is in the early part of the clutter descent very fast and then after that it is very tricky with some nasty hairpin bends down towards the bottom the Sun has come out for the riders here at the Tour de France now as we sit up at the finish of the line in the small town of Alamo G and all of the big leaders there is Roberto Harris he's reintegrated the group but fortunately at the yellow jersey too has managed to stay in contact and they're gonna have a hard time getting rid of this young man he's got a rather ungainly style as he gets out of the saddle and it's all really based on courage here his ability to stay in contact with some of the best bike riders of the world should keep this he doesn't look like a man showing any signs of weakness he's got around about nine minutes to lose on Lance Armstrong and he's got around about six minutes to lose on rossabi rock and the way he's been riding I can't really see that happening to him this afternoon so I don't really think anybody has missed the wagon in this group now there he is again Paul just trying to give us a heart attack avoid club but he's once more riding himself back into the situation today a quick head count in this group I've actually not really been able to see if anybody has missed out I've seen Armstrong there I've seen auric I've seen Hamilton il Moro Basso all of the big names are in this leading group now so we're looking now to a fairly interesting first showdown but it's not going to be that decisive I don't think on the first day of the race into the pyrenees all the us poster boys waited for the mechana dare to throw off their helmets and they just got back on with their job in Cappy looking as though during this experience never seen him look so good as he climbs on the mountain and they just widen up here he's turned into a mountain climber as well as a great classic rider right now hitting out the tempo floyd landis waiting if he should fail bobbing in out the picture there we can see Levi Leipheimer and I'm just worried a little bit about Tyler Hamilton here and his two teammates are waiting for them that is Gutierrez and Perez he's not having a good day when you see two teammates riding alongside a leader like this the information has gone out that he is not good he is not in great form just moving up alongside of his teammate there is Santiago Perez there trying to pace Hamilton back into the group but just look at that he doesn't have the power in this peddling action right now his body is rocking they're gonna have to try and survive this is the first sign of the crack of a champion at the tour but there's a move at the front this looks like it could be event Basso well that's gonna hurt if it is an attack here I saw that yak appeal just came him to the tail there passed tile Hamilton remember the peel is fifth overall in this race and he's going to conserve that or improve now that is Carlos Sastre by the look of it as we get clear of the field another man we together bow but he is a great climber and he's always written well in the mountains well Rasmussen by the way we kind of forgotten about him on his own at the front of the bike race is around about 33 seconds ahead of that group but this was a very good move this is the leader right now he's on his own making his way toward the summit of this climb is on the easiest part of the climate it's very easy for me as an ex non climber to say this is an easy climb he's on they're part of the climb which is only around about four or five percent the yellow jersey has cracked and that Ridge over onto the put a good look at in there the run rival teams Ohio feeling the wrong keys just saying stay cool here I think he's active past him a word of advice avoid is in desperate trouble right now but he's fighting and he's got every chance of hanging on here we think Levi Leipheimer is just ahead he's also been detached slightly after that attack by sastra who won a stage I've been asked last time this is Tyler Hamilton here now and he is in big trouble Santiago Perez is the teammate who's been earmarked to try and get him up to the finishing line it just goes to show to you the difference between being the leader of a team and being a helper Barack I think today here is do his healthy small thing of actually trying to help the yellow jersey not lose too much time Barack his history of trying to finish high in the overall classification at the Tour de France is behind him he's actually giving encouragement and psychological help to the young man who's there in the yellow jersey whoa look at these two now ruby era acevedo tried to look after Lance Armstrong they're the last two u.s. posties at the front now it sees a free-for-all now as they race towards the line but what a difference the sauce is for two years ago it's a battle royal now on the slopes of the coldest pan riders are being spread eagle dropped from the group we have seen Tyler Hamilton in trouble Levi Leipheimer they are there this lifetime and meanwhile is the capture here of Rasmussen by this very select group first up should be Carlos Sastre but then comes the Armstrong group unbelievable it was 25 seconds just a few moments ago and Rasmussen now has been brought in and look at this all Rick to the kaiser is starting to crack he doesn't have the acceleration Phil he's a huge man on a bike he uses a massive gear he cannot respond to the accelerations of like Armstrong's leave his lunch it wait for it because Armstrong's building here on songs realize that though Rick is in trouble he's getting around to grab on to the wheel of Acevedo once he's got him we are being treated to the situation of two years ago when it was over a bird to harass that looked after Lance Armstrong to the line all right now he must not panic he has to get into his rhythm he is capable of losing 20 or 30 seconds in the first few kilometres of a climb but what he has to do is get into his own rhythm Armstrong realizes this he wants to try and put time between himself and yeah norick I think ya know Rick is really the only man that he fears in the sport of professional cycling how many times has he said Paula Rick is the most talented bike rider he's the one that Armstrong is afraid of and he wants time this afternoon well Acevedo was brought onto the team when Harris was taken away because he wanted to lead his own team now at Lance Armstrong is riding on the wheel of Acevedo Acevedo's job is simple Pacey's captain till he can do it no longer and then we will see if Armstrong goes for the stage win there is yeah Ulrich there also in now coming on to the tail 2 is a Simoni have but right around the corner being distance at the moment and all of the men in the Tour de France are in desperate trouble now Armstrong is putting himself in a position here to open up and go it is deja vu of two years ago on LeMond gee it won't be yellow jersey this time for Lance Armstrong but there will be a great deal of satisfaction the time coming through now to Armstrong and all Rick is 25 seconds or it has got the great Italian alongside him in the pink and white jersey there's Giuseppe good evening just pacing him making sure that he doesn't panic a little bit further back there is a little climber from the quickstep team that is it Juan Miguel Mercado still there is no sign of any pain and this is a bit of a surprise for because andreas klöden the t-mobile riders it on with him 8f began auric is actually staying up tight up there alongside arm from he should really be with the team leader helping him out he has gone with him and the Acevedo is setting all the pace Armstrong will assess who's around him when he can but you know who is not around in sadly and number 21 Tyler Hamilton the Myo Shaun avoid Clair because of his big lead over Armstrong at the start of the day he'll probably still be in the yellow jersey tonight but he will have conceded time remember to the resharper wonk is in this cube this is a band areas this is the battle royale now and Farooq is trying to nurse the Mayo shown here despite the fact he is fourth overall and on the rival team back up at the front now Acevedo stamping on the pedals repaying the big confidence that Armstrong had in him when he said getting on my team and now as he drives on clothing and baths are the only riders there further down it looks like Oh Rick now is beginning to struggle even more this is the first big climb of Frandsen the body after a long hard race over the flat doesn't react maybe the same way as you wanted to a little bit further down there you can just see I think that is a leave on live high mode just off the back of the Armstrong group with Gilberto Simoni but it's a further 20 seconds back to the group that contains the man regarded as the number one challenge of this group here in fact is containing Rasmussen so light primer is in front of Rasmussen now 51 there is Christoph Moro he's only about 15 seconds behind Armstrong gale touch Nick going through there for Gail Steiner calculi was there still waiting though but number 11 well that looks to me as though young Ulrich now is in desperate trouble on the day that they weren't supposed to attack they all kept telling us they would just see how it goes well I can't blame her for not giving that plans away but there are two is long brochures riding now Guarini taking a good look at Natalie saying can you lift anything is there anything more we can do about this because Armstrong is in a position family I think we'll see one of these familiar dots to the front and accelerations here eben Meier is tagged on to the back of this group he's the big star but he's behind there he is in the orange jersey if I were a betting man I go for my own now to win the stage francisco man Sabo is also here and Dennis men shop and are also in the group there that's man Sabo number 61 this and there goes a move and that jack appeal I think who's gone as these tacks now no it's at Carlos Sastre again sastra again has gone for CSC well he's not so stranger to winning in the pyrenees either he's gone to try and see if we can get the advantage but this just might rattle the cage of Lance Armstrong who won't want to see riders stealing the glory away from him and his team here this afternoon he doesn't have to attack really Armstrong he's ridden on the front with his teammates and they've set a tempo that has basically just eliminated one or two of his rivals rivals like like Levi Leipheimer like Tyler Hamilton and of course more importantly like Yan or so now Carlos Sastre is out on his own with an advantage a very much not very much more than 10 or 11 seconds well they are not going to chase after they're not going to disturb their rhythm Acevedo here gritting his teeth holding it as long as he can because he is the last US postal man in that group but the speed since they hit the a Spanish than all of the damage hail if he's beginning to lose ground that gain here and this is not a good sign Guarini is the rider facing him as they come off the wheeler of long brush art they are now at five kilometers to go a lot of people asked what does the flat 12 stages in this Tour de France going to do to bite riders with all of the mountains stacked up towards the end well this is what it's done the big riders like Yan already who use monstrous gears have a very hard time first day into the mountains changing from using the big gear ratios to the smaller gear ratios required in the mountains this is what's happening to yang horik today don't ever discount this man he could once he gets his engine going he's still a very talented bike rider but immediately we hit the mountains today Armstrong's team have put him into the red zone well in many ways it's a shame you can see the two pedaling stars there Guarini pedaling a small gear while ulrich suffers pending that slightly higher gear but now we are looking at the face of Armstrong and Acevedo is going to push himself until he can pedal that bike no more today then he will hope that Armstrong can finish off this enormous day in the talk and tomorrow this doesn't even compare in because tomorrow is a terribly difficult day and if your name is Eric what would you be thinking when you go to bed tonight there's clothes and looking over whereas the team leader Don because he's not in the group here well this is Carlos Sastre on the front now he said ticking away the kilometres it's four kilometres to go for him that's around about eight and a half to nine minutes in the mountains compared to for kill at four minutes of racing on the flat stages Carlos Aston out and looking to try and get a victory for this team team see a safe now as an acceleration and this looks to me as if this is the acceleration from the t-mobile rider now this is a bit of a surprise well this is a magnificent piece of riding now Acevedo can do no more and he's got to drop off the pace and hope that Armstrong can handle the rest now the man who's won the Tour de France for the past five years it's down to him the man with his enormous ability no longer the team it's him against the rest now who's going to help him because rather Sastre at the moment is not a big deal here comes the move they're trying to drag the wheel of Armstrong here to see if they can control the day this is not an attack this is just control solutely just keeping his eyes out to see if anybody's going to try and come up to him that just behind him there is Francisco man Sabo leader of the eel Valley our esteemed Balearic Islands from Spain over on this right hand shoulder you can see óscar Pereiro the interesting thing is that both Oscar Sevilla and Tyler Hamilton are not in this group and there this is a great Phonak team Pereira and Gonzalez are the two riders riding on the shoulder of Armstrong one will hit him soon and try to get the places over his going further and further back here he's not chasing easy he's hanging on to what he's got he's not moving up at all for the gap to the yellow jersey at the moment is around about a minute and 17 seconds so there's no problem for him he should stay in the yellow jersey at the end of today stage we expected him to crack but we didn't really expect to see this man in the pink jersey there crack Yan already hanging on to the back of the group and I can only think that what has happened to Ora here is he's used monstrous gears over the first 12 days and surprisingly enough Tyler Hamilton on his own terrain he's regarded as a very good climber is also being put into difficulty this afternoon yes Tyler Hamilton will live to fight another day as of course where the an alligator is a strange business racing a bike in the mountains the body can do strange things tomorrow could be their day that man there Thomas Vogler has lived up to the tradition of wearing the Mayo yawned he won't give up and I he will keep his lead tonight I'm sure of that he'll just look a little bit closer in the eyes of all those behind him here we are Carlos Sastre it's his fourth Tour de France he didn't finish his first woman he crashed on the eighth stage then he came with a stage win he did wear the white judge are a bigger part and that's how I was I'm talk about Yvonne Basso who is also in the group at the moment the basque flags fly as man Sabo he is 10th overall in the tour and about to improve been joined there by Avant basserive embosser I don't think we do any work at all because his teammate is up the front of this group he in fact is tried to defend the position of Carlos Sastre Armstrong has not reacted to these accelerations now that is somewhat of a surprise to me now look at this this is my Oh at the back now number 31 looking a bit further forth there's the blue jersey of art from dancing away through the crowd making sure he controls everything here we go oh this is now a total of three four on the slopes of the tormal a we've never seen this before we didn't see it in the days of tyranny when he won in 70 was chased by Eddy Merckx we didn't see it either when Lance Armstrong won because he only had with him his teammates her ass and that you see bubble-hockey he's checking over his shoulder the seals with him he knows Odin isn't it he knows the boys ahead are not gonna damage him over all yet and here he goes he's building up for a move as he's not seen Alric he's not seen any of them he thinks well I may as well go and try what happens wave and battles responded immediately to get onto the wheel of Armstrong arm from now has to assume complete control E as no teammates left to use them all over the flat part of this course before we got to the mountains even Basso let's not forget this man has finished fifth overall in the Tour de France and been the best young rider as well he left a cross to the wheel of Armstrong arm from has not got the big gap that we've seen him get in recent years but certainly that was a serious acceleration and put all the Spanish climbers in a lot of bother well even Basso he was listed by many as a pre-race favorite we didn't rate him too much but he's right there right when it really matters we're back up to the leader sastra that man beyond a resis gave us as to the team captaincy over Bobbie Julie said he's our man for the overall and on day one when is a chance to put in your quest for overall he is looking like the winner just now or is he there's the control arm song doesn't need to panic in a situation like this he doesn't want to push himself too far into the red zone because he knows tomorrow is a very hard day at the Tour de France a lot of big mountains to go over here Easter's control look at that face that face doesn't tell you anything does it this is telling he's gonna win the three songs it probably does have its concentration he's looking at the back wheel of the man that he's chasing there Carlos Sastre pulling himself up nice and slowly there it is I felt it fell trying attacking I still have to admit that beyond erases put together a great team for CSC in Denmark here because they got to ride alongside Lance Armstrong they've good themselves so hard on the flat as well and they're still very much in the race Armstrong is in a daily sandwich right now Davis by the team nationality not by the riders by the way as they come up together now three riders Armstrong against two others team CSC have been the leaders in the team race in this competition for a while now and this is why and Armstrong that won't be over woody by their presence because the men he fears most are all struggling and this was the day rider said older cloud to LeMond she won't be decisive it's rather easy well they all change really feel because of the weather conditions once the rain came down and made it a lot more difficult a little bit further down you can see here this is Andreas klöden on the left hand side with Francisco man Sabo I filled this afternoon maybe the leadership of t-mobile is going to switch across from one rider to another because birth yes really something there's public julik as well yes there's Harris sitting on the wheel Ulric and harris was the man that paced Armstrong two years ago to his great victory on the Mayo jaune and the Tour de France there is Prashad with no sign here of Tolerance and he's in the next group as far as we know as you say Paul pointing it out that Michael Rogers of Australia is doing the ride of his life in this group he's a rider for the future he's only a young man two minutes and eight seconds from the leading group of freak down to the yellow jersey he shouldn't lose it this afternoon he started the day with a very nice buffer over Lance Armstrong it was a nine minute and 35 seconds but and currently he's lost over two minutes of that now the acceleration coming from even Basso and Lance Armstrong on the front as they go into the tunnel it was actually in that tunnel going the opposite way that Sean Yates recorded 112 kilometers now going downhill that indicates to you just how steep the incline is two kilometres to go that's for the leaders now because Guarini is pacing auric here in this same group as Harris and his Cloudant is also here a front Mary's angeas clouding his could be year what did what is the overall cloud he lies 13th he's 10 knees down he's gonna be up there and above all Rick they may have to ask questions who is going to lead the t-mobile team by the end of this day now there's only two riders down there right now even Basso at the front number 61 the leader of this team seventh overall in the Tour de France a couple of years ago and back in 2002 he finished 11th but he was also the best young rider tips for future stardom look at the orange jerseys here they were expecting to see Oscar tell you study on the attack sounds like there's a problem at the back of the group and by the way is at the moment riding alongside the race leader's yellow jersey of Thomas Brooklyn this is an unbelievable crowd well this is an incredible crowd they are basically all Spanish that's the Basque flag as these two riders go up now they thought they will be looking for a ban Mayo but instead they're seeing that the master of the Tour de France Lance Armstrong follow the wheel of even Basso this is Plowden who might becoming the new leader we talked about this man four years ago as about to become one the greatest bike riders he got the bronze medal in the Olympic Games in Sydney and he went into virtual anonymity well he's back now since he won at the German championship and he might have to take over yet from young Ulrich but for the Moen theme here he comes again this man in yellow is on a piece of elastic and he's about to wind riders back in he deserves every yellow jersey he gets great bike ride this this man you know has been pushed up to the point of stardom in France here Armstrong looking over his shoulder he wants to see if there's any sign of witnessing even Basso but Basso is riding a superb ride here this is the first time we've seen anybody really capable of staying up alongside arms on and turning pedal foot pedal with the same amount of energy and encouragement as he is even Basso his fourth Tour de France and he's had no stage wins but he has been best rookie with a white jersey victory in 2002 the year Armstrong on this very crime had took over the lead of the Tour de France and went on to win it and it was Basso who took the best view come his jersey now they ride side by side Francisco man Sabo here the champion of Spain a very strange style as he tries to drag himself up to the two riders in front the white jersey is Andreas klöden the man on his wheel is carlos sastre but there's a long way down there's a long way down they have opened up some serious gaps here but I don't really believe that Armstrong actually attacked it was just the pressure of his team that literally exploded the main field exactly what happened two years ago Armstrong now is putting seven into a position where he's been obliged to finish off for the others have started as he continues to go to the tunnel toward the finishing line here Najee I'm just wondering whether Armstrong will want to now accelerate if he can away from Basso they need time on someone's time now more than the wind there's no way that he's either going to think about offering the victory to the other man with it because there's a 20 second time bonus for the first rider to cross the finish line as well and that added to the already around about 45 second advantage he's got over yan Ulrich would put auric a long way behind in the overall classification we've heard his team but coach Chris Carmichael's has said that Armstrong wants to try and get four minutes advantage over auric before the final time trial of the Tour de France he needs to get every minute every second that he can along the way if that's what his goal is Knights have half of that today when we see the clock counting because he is flying up this hill we're inside the tunnel our cameras can't work in those conditions were way full and to come out here they are Armstrong continues to hold high revs here thinking of time more than the victory coming up to around 500 meters to go to the finish now super dry by Basso let's not take that away from him look at his face which one's got the string to finish this off as Lance Armstrong looks for a stage win number 17 if he tries to take this one Basso hasn't won a single stage of the Tour de France 500 meters to go now I'm strong looking across these men are riding mano man against man really just pitting themselves against each other trying to see which man is the strongest as they've charged up to the finishing line but event ba so filled to me looks very comfortable indeed but watch out for the rage of our song once he gets close to the finishing line because I think he wants to get the win here I'll do lines in history likes to repeat it I think Pauly's gonna give us one of those treats of explosive power when he sees the flag that matters he's cheered all the way up here Basso though has had a tremendous first day in the pyrenees and he really has got an awful lot out of the race day as he got enough left to take on Lance Armstrong how often we've seen that familiar style of Lance Armstrong his concentration is high reving Basso is just looking at in and straight ahead to see where that banner is to see should he make the move and if so when they're both waiting this has been an unbelievable escapade by these two men but it's the first time really we've seen a man able to rival Armstrong in these uphill finishes now the kick digging deep jams that have been closer they're looking for the banners in fact Basso is coming to first squat he's gritted his teeth here he's trying the acceleration Armstrong is putting his toes down he is holding on here and I think he is gonna have a sprint he would be looking for stage win number 17 if he gets it a Basso is giving him a lead-out whole song hasn't died has another thing about it better gets the stage when our son gets the same time a small second-place bonus he won't get the yellow jersey today but boy has he done some damage and a great ride here too by andreas klöden he's going to be the new leader of t-mobile tonight look at the time gap so we're gonna see some serious time gaps here this afternoon 20 seconds there for floater just coming across Matt saber at 23 seconds and this is Carlos Sastre the man who really set it up for Team CSC this team he's going to be well ahead of anybody else tonight in the team race Chester in [Applause] more riders coming up there you could just get a glimpse there I think that was scum only coming off from domina but can see in this group that is a bat my oh just a little bit further back in the orange jersey moving up there óscar Pereiro crossing the line at Santos Gonzalez for the team of Phonak the team of Tyler Hamilton those are names we expected to see here this afternoon but they didn't make it my own coming to the line cutting the ribbon just in front of it looks to me as if that was one of the riders from Phonak as well little bit further back the time is ticking by for one and y an orange a minute and 12 seconds for the man from Germany regarded as the most talented bike rider in the world Phil oh they a couple of days ago we were listening to serial game art who said it was a bad sign as we see Simoni coming up here he said it was a bad sign to see ya or Rick riding such a big gear on all the flat stages yeah he did indeed wasting far too much any but that Eastern that all his life we're talking there man has never finished worse than second in any of his six tours de France here it is christophe Mauro promised so much out on the a span today but he's coming in now with other riders like Levi Lima but looking at the clock it's counting down to almost two minutes now this is huge losses absolutely huge Armstrong is going to feel very happy tonight but heaven he's got to go out and do it all again tomorrow it's going to make a very different stage now Armstrong hasn't got yellow jersey like he did two years ago here comes young Ulrich now and this is going to be very depressing for the big man because the clock has gone over two minutes the young Ulrich here two and a quarter and Counting at that's Oscar severe just about hanging on the back and I thought he might have done something special as well a brush or two and look at this as we hit the line it's going to be 226 for ya boric well they wanted four minutes they're taken two and a half in one go here comes the MIOSHA fighting all of the way he will still be the race leader tonight he lost time we expected that but he still continues to grow as a man what a big variety he looks as if he's up all over his machine here still a long way to go to the finish quick calculation by the way Yan auric is now three and a half minutes behind Lance Armstrong in the overall classification about Roberto Harris he's five it's so much easier to ride tempo for a team leader than it is to be the actual leader himself and today he's learning that as a very seriously hard lesson this kid is showing us a lesson in one thing absolute and utter courage and determination of the climb that the kid is so tired unbelievable three minutes says it's Lance Armstrong and the winner Basso finished but he will keep his yellow jersey you can hear the crowd shouting for him now there's Tyler Hamilton coming in with that group knees lost himself three and a half minutes in the crowd I would think are going to go absolutely ballistic right now because the Frenchman who has led this race for more than a week is dragging his body literally dragging his body up to the finishing line this man has got through all kinds of Hell through his body over the last 12 kilometers of this climb what he's done what he's set out to do at the start of the day he has kept at the yellow jersey on his shoulders so let's have a look at a stage result that might just have heralded a change of the guard in the upper echelon of world cycling first Yvonne Basso leading home Lance Armstrong and third Andreas klöden who left his team leader yeah norick on the final climb to finish 20 seconds behind them the first of Armstrong's perceived major rivals was even my own ninth man home a minute and three seconds behind then ya know Rick lost nearly two and a half minutes ere ass nearly three minutes and Tyler Hamilton three and a half to an Armstrong who wasn't so much attacking was ready to control the race well he controlled it pretty well but I think this man was genuinely stronger at the finish and even Basso who came here saying he was looking to ride well in the mountains and think about a challenge next year to himself into the decision of perhaps being a challenger this year I feel good then for sure for me is he's fantastic today the Tour is longer and tomorrow is another day and now I sleep and talk with my team 27 minutes after pass across the line Robbie McEwen did the same he placed himself carefully to leave energy for a wheelie Thomas Voeckler author of one of the heroic rides of the day almost got knocked to the ground by sheer acclaim from the crowd line in the final climb but against all predictions he held on to his yellow jersey and well yes I'm very happy to keep the yellow jersey but I'm not even for me I'm proud of the team because they really have to have done a good job sin since I take the I took their Jersey but I have no regrets I gave all I could today so this is how the classification looked Armstrong up into second but still the best part of five and a half minutes behind Berkeley with Andreas klöden and even Basso now fifth and sixth the pair of them on the same time 633 off the lead behind them Santos gonzales was now the leading Phonak rider over 2 minutes and 11 places ahead of his team leader Tyler Hamilton yen all RIT was 11 places and two and a half minutes behind his supposed domestique andreas klöden roberto aris wasn't the leading Liberty Seguros rider in the race he was down in 26th in fact of the big four challengers to Lance Armstrong only II BAM Mayo was even the highest place rider on his own team and he was in 32nd place 12 minutes off the lead an impartial observer it looked like carnage Lance Armstrong was still showing a cautious post-race face and today we started with confidence and with the intention to win the stage and the team was super as you saw and so we have the best team just a question of whether or not the leaders the best in the river well he's certainly the best in his team which is more than a lot of his rivals could say here are the gaps from Armstrong to the man who were his main challenges before stage 12 with the an ORAC the only man within four minutes of him after one day in the pyrenees and here's how he stood against the men who might pose the biggest threat to him from here on in andreas klöden though is clearly a graduate of Lance Armstrong media school this is his reaction to the suggestion that he was now t-mobile's best hope deepens and her heart away to Simba Sabina on the edges a bikini one of my movies and that's being a royalty has my phone blame when when young kind-hearted they can have an academic look furnace vana Manish lava at Budokan is he owned as problem is this letter Venezuelan had finally gotten by now and this conveyor against NYADA about Hoffa Morgan's past this better he doesn't know anybody now if Lance Armstrong's rivals had suffered on day one in the Pyrenees they were probably facing day two after a sleepless night of worry because it was much harder the final climb up here to Plateau debate in particular was really vicious and of course Armstrong had the psychological edge of having won here before so either all Rick Hamilton and company were going to have to redeem themselves with big comeback rides were to be down to their supporting casts and even Basso to try to make life difficult for the defending champion well everyone who raced the tour two years ago knew how hard the final climb up to the plateau de Bay was going to be and this year there were six other mountains to get over to reach the foot of it Tyler Hamilton never got there the man who wrote the whole of last year's tour with a broken collarbone couldn't deal with the lower back pain which was robbing him of his ability to climb and his challenge to Lance Armstrong ended at the feet zone and 279 kilometers to go I'm Arzu belty a fifth overall in last year's race one place behind Hamilton also abandoned followed by last year's best young rider Dennis men shop well Rasmussen still looking pretty good and determined this bunch look at the back here they slipping slowly away it's been a long tough day today and they're still tough climb still to come we've been over the cold is our sport aid s be called a liqueur and they were on the cold and yes at the moment but they only get worse I hasten to tell the riders we've lost have five riders six riders have abandoned the race so far today and very shortly they are going to continue over the top of the cold and yes which is a tough climb it takes us up by the way to nearly 1600 the kaga yes it's a 10 kilometer climb and once over the top of that they go briefly down a little bit but not by a great deal and once they're down that belong to the Porte de layers and then they'll finish on the actual big climb of the plateau de vie it's a brute this walk and I think I mentioned a friend of mine who's in the area from England that rode it the other day and he tell he thought me to say it was a real tough climb and as it's now proving it's maybe the place will remember where Thomas of Euler lost his yellow jersey because up ahead the peloton what's left is riding away well I'm sorry to have to say that you know any acceleration now from Thomas Vogler is not going to be enough because the main field is a long way around the corner he's exhibited an amazing amount of courage over the last few days in his state at the top end of the overall classification I think yesterday he dug so deep into his suitcase of courage that he didn't have anything left for this afternoon stage but he will have to still get himself to the finish and he could still stay high in the overall classification now the cup front end of the main field has completely changed over the flat stages we saw the red white jerseys of brioche level on share controlling the main field keeping this man in the yellow jersey the front end of the peloton now has changed colors it's now the Blue Train of Lance Armstrong and by the way Myo is now almost two minutes behind but he's still riding looking down there now the predominance of the blue jersey of US Postal shows you just what a great team this is the Pacemakers keep going as long as possible Ulric there number 11 and sits on the wheel of number one the two great rivals three times Oregon's finished second at two Lance Armstrong it might be different this year because all week has dropped away already to 16th place but he said if he starts a pit if he continues riding this badly then he will pass the team leadership to earth to clothing and that would be interesting but you know Lance knows and we all know that this man has a habit of becoming good in the last week of the tour he banned Maya not a great day for the Spanish team this afternoon this is all of his teammates around him number 33 on the left hand side is little David echeverria on the other site number 34 United Chavarria same name not the same family but today they are dedicating themselves to make sure that they they keep their man in the Tour de France for another day you have to survive every day of the Tour de France to come out and fight again if he can sire survived through the roads of the Pyrenees he might bounce back he's not going to win the Tour de France this year but he could bounce back and win a mountain stage let's not forget number 31 there the man we're looking at was the winner last year of the ALP d'Huez stage of the Tour de France no pressure on him win won't matter but he was racing defense he finished sixth in the Tour de France that year there's the yellow jersey the yellow helmet on this young man who has he held the lead in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France since he took it a long time ago on the lock breakaway to the small town of Chartres and since then he's been in yellow and defending it to absolutely an utter perfection with all of the courage and all of the strength of his body could muster but I think today what is going against him is his youth it's just 25 years of age in fact he only turned 25 on the 22nd of June a week before he won the French national championships and today just doesn't have that resistance and stammer that you get naturally in your body till you reach the end of your nightly or 20s just panning down here of to a very select leading group now and it's not very long here which is Oh liberties to good us that was Harris there who was also beginning to lose Grandal and if he's paying from the crash looked like Harris who was just slipping off the back a couple of teammates up alongside him aren't from - seems to be losing to teammate and oh I don't believe it a bad mayo is lord of the day this is it Eva Mayo has walk to the side of the road I thought he was going to try and continue he's going to abandon at the Tour de France the second big name goes today we saw number 21 the leader of Phonak Tyler Hamilton now we see number 31 the leader of Scootaloo Scotty and he's left his three teammates in no-man's land now because they've got a ride on to the finish without their leader it calls it their I can't go on anymore I cannot continue I know what it feels like it's a horrendous thing especially when you star the Tour de France as a man who wants to but look at this look at this he's changing his bike he's gonna carry on the teammates are there alongside him into Silas I can't pull out of the Tour de France this is what the Tour de France is all about Phil it is such an incredible event that even when you can't go on you want to you want to get back onto the Machine a couple of guys pushing him here somebody from a different team is just giving him a bit of encouragement they're coming alongside they was pushed by the cinta Garcia Acosta this is unbelievable well I tell you you can't see what we can see from our comedy box but the crowd here are all dressed in orange they are glued to a huge television screen on the top of the plateau de Bie they are totally silent nobody is looking in each other that you're staring at these pictures and they don't believe what they're seeing but Myo appears to be abandoning and I think that a words of incursion saying don't do it you don't get a second chance go back into the Tour de France fully engrossed by team manager up there alongside him that was very dramatic it's happened on occasions before a rider has just been psychologically blown to pieces and just says I can't do it let's not forget how far this man has fallen psychologically before the start of the Tour de France he saw himself as a winner of this bike race now he's a broken man he's riding in the back with what you might call also-rans but no one's an also-ran when they take part in the Tour de France he stopped at the side of the road the team manager came up alongside and they said now come on just try you can keep going you've had a bad time you've had crashes but you can't ride back into the event in the mountains and still be a factor so there you can see that was a very dramatic moment there for a band Maya who's had a fabulous season this year he's ridden eight times to victory in some very big seven eight day races there he is alongside a lot of his teammates his teammates were a little bit bewildered there when it looked as if he was going to pull out of the event just in the group with him Fabian Cancellara at the back here number 43 the winner of the prologue time drop he - banished to the lesser parts of the main field this afternoon fabio bell data in the green and red jersey at the back so my Oh continues we're looking at a five-minute deficit now on Lance Armstrong it puts him about ten minutes behind the leaders on the road today which are now down to two Cancellara here is he can't believe his luck every time against drop he comes across a group of quite famous men and off he goes again I think what happened there to this man they banned Mayo number 32 is a psychological defeat he was psychologically blown apart there by that defeat in the Tour de France 12 days ago he thought he was going to beat Lance arm from he thought he was going to be the number one man at the Tour de France he got blown away on the stage three cobblestones affair when he crashed us before the first section of cobbles a torn that he lost time in the team time trial now he's changed machines it's a tough thing but I think for the crowd here he really needs to carry on physically I think he's fine psychologically he's taken a beating absolutely I tried adjust his gears days in the lowest gear he can ride and obviously the gears touching the spokes in his wheel I tried to just put that matter right they should do that so this is the spare machine the mechanical get bit of a telling-off tonight for not having that machine here correctly adjusted when he came in there so the mechanic just making sure that the gears are correct he's in the lowest gear possible on his machine he's around about six minutes behind the yellow jersey group or the group which now contains Lance Armstrong but he has I would say a good 50 minutes in today's stage if he's going to stay inside of the elimination time there is the yellow jersey riding alongside the yellow jersey there I have a funny feeling that's certainly your better Simoni the winner of the Giro d'Italia on two occasions Paul there are so many tired bodies in the Tour de France and this is day two in the and you know we got rather tired of people telling us how easy the race had been for two weeks well now was showing how these riders have really kept up such a high speed and they're in trouble there's a stage winner the other day and that's number 97 Davenport PGA also just about dangling in the back of the peloton this is why the Tour de France is the biggest toughest race that exists in the sport of professional cycling you have to keep all your forces and only use it when it's necessary people wondered why arm from was so quiet in the first 10 or 12 days of this race people wanted white Armstrong let the lead slip away because he knew that the lead was more important in the last week of the race for the middle week of the race there's the yellow jersey at the start of the day Humber's bookless still riding on absolute and utter courage trying to keep the yellow jersey on his shoulders and have a look at this there is the jersey trying to get back onto the group of lance after you know he's actually only lost 15 to 20 seconds on the armstrong group he's not going to give up without an unbelievable fight this man clearly has read the history books of the Tour de France because that this is the maker of heroes and that it looks as though a void Clare is going to be spoken about for a long time Loren djellaba who was one of the great riders in the Tour de France is now retired he works here on the race as a journalist and said very kind things about him in this morning's French newspaper L'Equipe true courage in the tradition of the Tour de France and I think that's what we're seeing today by Thomas Void clap he still don't forget they lead it in the white jersey his best young rider it's being worn on the shoulders of sandy casar just now who's in third place so he can't afford to lose too much time because he'd like to wear white tomorrow if he can't wear yellow this is the sad sight though almost 10 minutes now behind the on the road and Eva Mayo being encouraged to continue on the Tour de France wow this is a tough day today this is the toughest bike race in the world nobody can ever deny that you see that just looking at the face of a vampire I think physically he will come back he will recover but this is a real severe blow to this man who wrote so superbly in the Tour de France last year he wrote so well in the Tour de France last year that we were convinced that he was obviously a man who could climb onto the podium at the Tour this year 26th overall last year at his second attempt at the Tour de France and he also won himself a very impressive mountaintop finish to the summit of the slopes of the armed where's there is the leading group which has been seriously reduced in numbers the majority of the riders on the front end of that group are wearing dark blue jerseys of the US Postal Service and look at this this is unbelievable it really is a remarkable performance by this young man in the yellow jersey he was dropped he made his way around a lot of other riders he was actually given a very good piece of advice yesterday I don't know if you remember that he was caught by Rijo veer off the leader of the king of the mountains classification rustavi wrong said to him don't panic don't try and stay in with a big leaders for too long because you'll blow up completely just ride at your own rhythm find what's comfortable for you and then you'll stay in contact with the race [Applause] but there he is and he's not too far away from the summit of this climb the fifth climb of the day so far this is the very long ascent of the col de LAN yes and you know what I think he might just make it he might just get back on the descent because he's not lost too much time he's lost around about thirty seconds on the slopes of this climb getting back into his rhythm he's got a teammate of Lance Armstrong's there that looks like Beltran which is a bit of a surprise because Beltran was one of these strong riders look at that that is amazing that is what the sport is about people there's a team manager from a different team here actually passing him on board a drink and something to eat that is because they have respect this man for the courage that he's shown over the last eight days of this race he is clinging on with his fingernails to that yellow jersey he wants it for what what day if he can he's got to survive but to do so he has to go over the sides of this climb within a minute of that leading group with Lars Armstrong on and then take some unbelievable risks on the descent I've known in the past riders able to bridge the gap of two minutes on the set if you could take the risks necessary and I think this man would do that this afternoon well there's all the time gaps now just about working them out the 52nd is indicating the gap between at Rasmussen that voice and that Sharon L 429 to the bunch containing Lance Armstrong who still looks the strongest of them all back there he's being shadowed by an Ulrich on the climb there's yen's voice and the pain on his face and behind is that for the moments at least because it keeps coming back the yellow jersey of Euler long way behind is the orange jersey of a vampire a lot of great battles happening it's a pity we ever got 500 cameras this afternoon to watch it every story that's in for unfolding here at the Tour de France because you could be sure that every bike rider in the race today has a story to tell at the end of the day Rasmussen is doing a fine job setting the pace I really appreciate the effort from yen's Foy because yet is not a climber by any means he's riding on courage just trying to stay in contact here with Rasmussen who is obviously the superior climber shandell's been dropped let's have a look at the back end of the peloton there you can see all the blue jerseys of the US Postal Service of the front just setting their tempo for Armstrong they're not trying to eliminate Thomas buckler they're just doing a job of work this afternoon riding their tempo looking back down the main road a little bit I'm looking for the shape of the yellow jersey Daria's and what a great performance he's lost himself about a minute and he's reduced it to 30 seconds if he goes over the top 30 seconds down he might catch them back [Applause]

Channel: Success Cycling

Views: 55,141

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Id: IWtr-9tZ6T4

Length: 234min 30sec (14070 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 11 2019