Cycling Live

Tour de France - Chablis - Autun

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  1. 0km - Alexandre Vinokourov rolls across the line 1'20" behind!! That's a huge blow for him. Make no mistake, he will still be favourite for victory with the bookies, but he is now almost two minutes behind his team-mate Andreas Kloeden.

  2. 0km - Pozzato takes victory by a matter millimetres from Freire!!!

  3. 0.2km - Liquigas' Filippo Pozzato is flying, he's neck and neck with Oscar Freire!!!

  4. 1km - Millar is caught as the sprint is launched!

  5. 1km - David Millar surges in front! But Lampre are on his tail!

  6. 2km - The leaders pass under the 2km barrier, Lampre still lead, though a Bouygues rider attacks, followed by David Millar!!!

  7. 2km - George Hincapie is at the front too. The American fancies his chances.

  8. 3km - Bennati and Bruseghin are looking behind to check where Ballan is. They are launching a huge bid for the stage win.

  9. 4.5km - Of all people, it's Fabian Cancellara who's leading the chase, but he goes off the course on a tight corner!!! What drama! The Lampres are at the front again now!

  10. 5km - Superb descending from Popo, though he is still only a few seconds ahead of the field.

  11. 5.5km - Vinokourov's group is 56 seconds back! This is a disaster for the Kazakh.

  12. 6km - Tom Boonen is benefitting from Vino's strength and is getting a tow along with Patrik Sinkewitz.

  13. 6.5km - Four Lampre riders move to the front now! Alessandro Ballan will be their man.

  14. 7km - Yaroslav Popovych attacks now, he's haring after Lefevre!! Will the two of them work together?

  15. 8km - Vino is having trouble negotiating his way round those that have been dropped. There's not much space on the road with the team cars there too.

  16. 9km - One of the Bouygues riders attacks, it's Laurent Lefevre. He takes the 4 points for reaching the summit of the climb first.

  17. 9km - Vino passes the 10km to go mark now!! He is still almost a minute back!!!

  18. 10km - Michael Rasmussen hits the front now as de la Fuente drops back. Rabobank still have four men at the front of the pack.

  19. 10km - Maxim Iglinskey is hauling Vino up the final climb. He is still trying to make his way back to the peloton.

  20. 11km - David de la Fuente attacks!!!

  21. 11km - Philippe Gilbert has been caught, and now so too has Chavanel.

  22. 11km - Rabobank hit the front of the peloton. Are they preparing to launch Freire? Or maybe Menchov?

  23. 11km - Wegmann is off in pursuit of the two leaders, who are tackling the final climb, though he is being caught.

  24. 12km - The lead duo have seen their advantage cut to 23 seconds as German champion Fabian Wegmann attacks!!!

  25. 13km - The Astana train has steamed past a group that have been dropped on the peloton. This has turned into something of an emergency team time-trial for them.

  26. 15km - The peloton have closed the gap on the lead duo to under a minute, and will be able to see them up the road. There's just one climb to come, the Cote de la croix de la liberation.

  27. 16km - Johan van Summeren is benefitting from a free tow frmo the Astana boys. A TV shot has just shown that Vino has ripped his shorts, and has grazed his backside.

  28. 17km - Serguei Ivanov, the powerful Russian, is towing the Astana team back, though they will struggle to make it back to the peloton before the end of the stage.

  29. 20km - 1'27" is the gap between the leaders and the pack as the pass under the 20-kilometre barrier. Meanwhile, Vino and the Astana boys are a full minute back from the pack.

  30. 23km - A six-man Astana train has dropped back to help Vino back to the peloton. If you need help, there's no stronger team than Astana to get you moving.

  31. 27km - Vino has fallen!!! Antonio Colom stops to help him, but Vino is furious!!! The race favourite will have to time-trial his way back to the peloton.

  32. 29km - Zabel is safely back in the peloton, but how much energy did that cost him?

  33. 29km - 1'48" is the latest split. It's going to be very difficult for this pair to preserve their lead.

  34. 32km - The riders have a very twisty descent after this climb. The peloton are stretched out right along the road.

  35. 34km - Intermediate Sprint 3 - Bibracte-Mont-Beuvray: 1 Gilbert 6pts/6secs; 2 Gilbert 4pts/4secs; 3 Hunter 2pts/2secs.

  36. 34km - Erik Zabel has a technical problem!! He's forced to stop, and four of his Milram team-mates drop abck to tow him up to the peloton. Meanwhile, Carlos Sastre has also had a problem and is working his way back.

  37. 36km - Charly Wegelius hits the front. Are Liquigas preparing to launch Pozzato?

  38. 39km - Cheula and Bonnet have now been swallowed up by the pack.

  39. 39km - The pace is too much for Sven Krauss. He has gone out the back door.

  40. 41km - Gilbert and Chavanel are making a good job of this. They have stabilised their lead at the 2'10" mark.

  41. 46km - 7th Climb - Haut-Folin (cat 2): 1 Chavanel (10 pts); 2 Gilbert (9pts). Michael Rasmussennips ahead of the peloton to go over the summit in fifth position, and picks up 6 points toward a possible third consecutive KoM victory.

  42. 47km - Chavanel and Gilbert are managing to stay away fairly well. They have already put 52 seconds into Bonnet and Cheula, while the peloton are 2'05" back.

  43. 48km - Valverde has a problem. He drops behind the peloton, though is being dragged back by a team-mate, possibly Garcia Acosta.

  44. 51km - Thor Hushovd is feeling the pace on this climb. He has been dropped by the peloton.

  45. 52km - Philippe Gilbert and Sylvain Chavanel have attacked and left Bonnet and Cheula. Chavanel will be keen to pick up the points at the top of the next climb, the Haut-Folin.

  46. 54km - The gap has come down to two minutes now, and is falling rapidly.

  47. 57km - A minor stumble in the peloton as one of the Caisse d'Epargne boys, David Arroyo by the looks of things, nudge into the back of a team mate. Nobody hurt though, and nobody hits the tarmac.

  48. 62km - 6th Climb - Côte de Chateau-Chinon (cat 4) 1 Chavanel (3 points), 2 Gilbert (2 points), Bonnet (1 point).

  49. 62km - Geoffroy Lequattre is back on his way. Let's hope he isn't forced to pull out later on.

  50. 66km - Another crash in the peloton! No sooner has Kloeden just re-joined, than Cofidis sprinter Geoffroy Lequarte hits the deck on the exit of the feeding zone! His right arm is hurt.

  51. 70km - The leaders can grab a well earned bidon at the feeding zone in Saint-Gy.

  52. 70km - Klöden is receiving treatment from the Tour medical.

  53. 73km - Klöden appears to be fine. He's being towed back to the peloton by Paolo Savoldelli and Daniele Navarro.

  54. 75km - A fall in the peloton...IT'S ANDI KLÖDEN!!! One of the favourites for overall victory!!! He has fallen into the ditch!!! He's back up on his bike after a few seconds, but is grimacing. He appears to have hurt his back.

  55. 76km - Things are looking bleak for our four leaders. Their advantage has fallen to the four minute mark. Chavanel won't be too bothered, he has a jersey waiting for him at the finish.

  56. 80km - Glorious weather today, perfect for cycling. It's not too hot, there's a fresh breeze in the air, and the sun's out! A stark contrast to Monday's stage in Belgium.

  57. 84km - 5th Climb - Côte de Saint-Maurice (cat 3): 1 Chavanel (4 pts); 2 Gilbert (3 pts); 3 Bonnet (2 pts); 4 Cheula (1 pt). Chavanel now has 24 KoM points.

  58. 85km - The peloton have reduced the gap to six minutes now.

  59. 87km - Maxim Iglinsky of the Astana has a puncture now, and drifts back to his team car..

  60. 88km - Sprint 2 - Montreuillon (Km 94.5): 1 Bonnet (6 pts/6 secs); 2 Gilbert (4pts/4 secs); 3 Chavanel (2 pts/2 secs).

  61. 91km - The gap continues to fall. It's now down to 7'10. Meanwhile, Christophe Moreau has suffered a puncture, and is being towed back to the peloton by a domestique.

  62. 96km - 4th Climb - Côte de Coulon (cat 4): 1 Chavanel (3 points); 2 Gilbert (2 pts); Bonnet (1pt). The Frenchman moves onto 20 points in the KoM classification.

  63. 96km - Brett Lancaster has abandoned! A blow for the Milram team to lose their Australian.

  64. 96km - Oops, a small crash in the peloton. Saunier Duval's Iban Mayo is down. He's being helped back by David de la Fuente. One of the Predictor-Lotto boys is down too, though immediately back up on his bike.

  65. 105km - The quartet have now seen their lead cut to 8'43". Their hopes of staying out until the finish have taken a bit of a blow over the last 20 kilometres.

  66. 108km - In terms of the breakaway riders' positions in the general classification, Sylvain Chavanel is seventh at 44", William Bonnet is 22nd at 56", Philippe Gilbert 45th at 1'06" and Giampaolo Cheula 154th at 1'40".

  67. 111km - The gap continues to fall. It's down to just over ten minutes now. The peloton are taking no chances, it seems.

  68. 114km - And the URL of David's message board is: http://uk.messages.eurosport.yahoo.com/Cycling/Competitions/messagesview?bn=UKS-CY-Tour+de+France

  69. 115km - To follow David Harmon's live commentary of stage five, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/embedvideo.html?p=index#

  70. 117km - Cheula has caught up with the lead three! A sterling effort. The Barloworld team will be thrilled with that.

  71. 121km - The peloton are beginning to react. The gap reached a maximum of 14'45" after 56 kilometres, though have now fallen to 12'50".

  72. 123km - Sylvain Chavanel continues to surge ahead in the King of the Mountains classification. Barring any huge surprises, he will be in the polkadot jersey tomorrow. By my calculations, he now has 17 points, 8 more than Augé.

  73. 124km - 3rd Climb - Côte de Champignolles-le-bas (cat 3). 1 Chavanel (4 pts); 2 Gilbert (3 pts); 1 Bonnet (2pts).

  74. 126km - The Rabobank and Caisse d'Epargne teams are at the front of the peloton at the moment while the leaders prepare to take on the third climb, the third-category Champignolles-le-Bas.

  75. 128km - The lead is absolutely spiralling! the trio have 14'30" ahead of the peloton and 1'25" ahead of Cheula, who looks like he may well catch them.

  76. 130km - 2nd Climb - Côte de Domecy-sur-Cure (Km 52.5): 1 Chavanel (3 pts); 2 Gilbert (2 pts); 3 Bonnet (1 pt).

  77. 132km - The next climb on the agenda is the côte de Domécy-sur-Cure (cat 4, 1.3km @ 6.2%)

  78. 138km - The peloton crossed the first climb a full 10'40" behind the three leaders. Giampaolo Cheula continues to persevere with his attempt to catch the lead trio. He's 2'25" behind.

  79. 142km - Cheula continues to pull clear of the peloton, though he's losing ground on the trio up the road, who have an 8'40" lead on the pack and a 2'35" lead on Cheula.

  80. 143km - 1st Climb: - Côte-des-grandes-châteleines (Km 39.5) Chavanel (FRA/Cofidis) 3 pts; 2 Gilbert BEL/FdJ (2 pts); 3 Bonnet (FRA/Credit Agricole) 1 pt. Chavanel now leads the King of the Mountain classification with 10 points, one ahead of Augé.

  81. 143km - 38.7km/h is the average speed over the first hour.

  82. 145km - Astana's Andrey Kashechkin has a puncture. He rolls back to the team car to have the wheel changed.

  83. 146km - The leaders are approaching the first climb of the day, the côte des Grandes-Châtelaines (cat 4, 1.5km @ 6.7%)

  84. 146km - Intermediate Sprint 1 - Avallon: 1 Bonnet (FRA/Credit Agricole) 6 pts/6 seconds; 2 Gilbert (BEL/Frncaise des Jeux) 4 pts/4 secs; 3 Chavanel (FRA/Cofidis) 2 pts/2 secs

  85. 153km - So the escape group of the day has been formed. We're just waiting to see whether Cheula can join them. The latest splits are 1'55" from the leaders back to the Italian and 4'00" back to the pack.

  86. 157km - Cheula is struggling to make up the ground on the lead trio. He has it twice as hard working on his own. He's 55 seconds off the pace, while the peloton are 1'45" back.

  87. 160km - Gilbert, Chavanel and Bonnet continue to extend their advantage over the peloton. The gap is now up to one minute. Cheula is still striving to make up the ground on them. He is 35" back from the leaders.

  88. 162km - Sylvain Chavanel is adamanant he will escape! He attacks again, and is followed this time by FdJ's Philippe Gilbert and Credit Agricole's William Bonnet. Giampaolo Cheula of Barloworld tried to go with them but couldn't match their tempo. The trio have now opened up a gap of 30 seconds on the field.

  89. 165km - Hoste, Chavanel and Isasi are all reeled back in. Their attack was short-lived.

  90. 168km - Sylvain Chavanel goes now as the peloton rolls into Nitry! He was in a long breakaway yesterday, though his legs are clearly still feeling good. He leads by a few metres at the moment. Chavanel is joined by Predictor-Lotto's Leif Hoste and Euskaltel's Inaki Isasi.

  91. 170km - More and more attacks are coming now, though the fast pace of the peloton has so far kept things together.

  92. 174km - An attack from the Stephane Auge - the first of the day. He clearly wants to keep hold of his polkadot jersey...but he's swiftly eaten up by the pack.

  93. 176km - The peloton is still grouped together. No breakaways to report yet.

  94. 181km - To follow the progress of the peloton via our live GPS system, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/cy/tdf/gps/index.html

  95. 182km - The official start is given on stage five of the Tour de France!

  96. 11:50 - Meanwhile, Vladimir Gusev retains the white jersey of the young rider's classification. He's 6" clear of Rabobank's Thomas Dekker and 7" clear of Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux).

  97. 11:50 - Tom Boonen is in the green jersey. He is 12 points ahead of Erik Zabel in the sprinter's classification, with arch-rival Robbie McEwen 14 points adrift.

  98. 11:50 - Stephane Augé is still in the polkadot jersey, and lies two points clear of both Sylvain Chavanel and David Millar in the overall standings. He will have a hard time defending it today, though. There are no fewer than eight climbs on the agenda.

  99. 11:50 - Fabian Cancellara is starting his fifth day in the yellow jersey - he's the first prologue winner to do that since Dietrich Thurau in 1977. He holds a 29-second lead over Thor Hushovd in the GC.

  100. 11:50 - The initial roll-away has started, so we're on schedule for the official start to the stage at 11:55!

  101. 11:30 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text commentary of stage five of the Tour de France, a 182.5km journey from Chablis to Autun.