LATEST ACTION (all times BST)
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By Pranav Soneji
1300: "Should be the most dull day of the tour thus far I imagine. Not looking good for Sastre given the "hills" on the time trial are mere pimples, not likely to sap Evans noticeably, and the trial distance is almost 2x the distance than previous TTs where Sastre has lost time to Evans. C'est la vie, I suppose we'd say..."
Pete Harris on 606 Your thoughts on the action
1253: Four riders have broken free of the pack, they are Egoi Martinez (Eus), Alessandro Ballan (Lam), Stefan Schumacher (Gst) and Pierrick Fedrigo (Btl). The quartet have opened up a 30-second lead over the peloton. Schumacher is a former race leader, whose crash 100m before the end of stage six at Superbesse saw the end of his brief yellow jersey spell.
1247: The peloton heads for the category three climb at La Criox-du-Sud, which starts at 11km and goes on for 6.5km. It's still all bunched up right now.
1244: What have I started? "Hinault Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross suggests Damiano (not Cunego) in Manchester via TEXT 81111 (see 1148 comment).
1242: Quite a bit of bustling in the first few kilometres, but no-one has made a successful attempt to break away, put the pace is pretty fast.
1235: Apologies to all you texters, who inundated me with the Dancing Naked Indurain (you know who you all are), while David D via TEXT 81111 has come up with "Lord, won't you buy me a Merckxedes Benz' by Janis Joplin. This is my kind of inane chat. If you tuned in for incisive, in-depth Tour de France coverage, that will come once we get some serious action on the roads to Montluçon. I hope...
1231: To business - the flag has been waved and the stage has started.
1230: My new favourite - Dancing Naked Indurain - Blue Pear (see entry at 1148) from toffeestevo, the 606er who started this whole shebang off. That is the standard to beat people.
1215: The riders must contend a category three climb at La Criox-du-Sud at 17.5km, before a slightly less demanding category four climb at Cote de la Croix-Rouge at 42km.
1210: "Money Merckx The World Go Round. Well it works for me if I say it in Brendan Foster's accent. "
Alex 5 Live on 606 Your thoughts on the action
I'm truly gutted I didn't think of that. Schoolboy error from Soneji, like not checking your chair before you sit down, only to discover a drawing pin strategically placed in the middle of the seat. Happens to me everyday.
1205: "Montlucon is of course significant in Tour terms as the hometown of 1956 winner Roger Walkoviak, a rider who you can view whichever way fits your preferred slant. He's a surprise winner in the absence of the man most expected to ride and win (Anquetil), a one-time winner and a winner without a stage victory.
"It's quite fitting that this year's Tour should pass through his hometown, given the way things have panned out thus far."
Alex 5 Live on 606 Your thoughts on the action
1200: Some fresh-in news - pre-race title contender Damiano Cunego has withdrawn from the Tour following his crash during Thursday's stage between Bourg d'Oisans and St Etienne. The Italian, who rides for the Lampre team, suffered a badly grazed chin after a collision with Philippe Gilbert and Alexandre Botcharov 33km into the 18th stage. After languishing at the back of the peloton with his team-mates rallying around him, Cunego was taken to hospital in St Etienne for further treatment before announcing his withdrawal from the race.
1148: A few weeks ago, during the first few stages of the Tour, a few 606ers came up with the ingenious idea of sticking riders' names in various songs and toffeesteveo has just come up with "Baby its (Bernard) Kohl outside" by Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews in honour of the Gerolsteiner rider. However, with a potentially not-so-exciting day today, can anyone come up with songs with riders from the past to pass along the time? I'm desperately trying to think of a song with something that remotely sounds like Merckx...
1132: Apologies for the slight time lapse between posts, I had to run and get my breakfast so I had enough brain food to keep you all entertained throughout the day. The race will start at 1230 BST, so plenty of time to get your thoughts in on 606 or via the wonderful world of text messages.
1109: "I expect the big guns to do absolutely nothing today. Mainly because they won't want to (fairly sure the only objective Lotto and CSC have right now is 'get our man to the finish line safely'). But also because the baroudeurs won't let them. Lots of teams that haven't won yet will see today as their last chance.
"Steegmans for instance promises he will attack today (in the tour diary he keeps for the newspaper I work at)."
TheGSgirl on 606 Your thoughts on the action
1055 BST: Hmmm, intriguing. We could be set for a low-key day in the saddle today with the key 53km time-trial on Saturday, a stage which many observers believe will settle the finishing places on the podium in Paris.
However, the riders still have to negotiate the relatively climb-free 165.5km route from Roanne to Montluçon, to the joy of green jersey wearer Oscar Freire and his sprinting buddies.
Points are on offer at Chanetelle at 102.5km and Commentry at 143.5km
(BBC)
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