Cycling Live

Tour de France - Albi - Albi (I.T.T.)

Live Comments

  1. 16:28 - Rasmussen crosses the line 2:54 down on Vinokourov. Behind him is Valverde, whose hopes for this Tour are all but dashed.

  2. 16:22 - Michael Rasmussen is about to catch Alejandro Valverde as Iban Mayo comes in. Mayo clocks 1:12:38, a full 6:04 down.

  3. 16:19 - Michael Rasmussen, Iban Mayo and Alejandro Valverde are still out on the course giving it all they've got. The two Spaniards are suffering today though.

  4. 16:17 - Cadel Evans is in the home straight, he has made back a lot of time in the second half of the course. He clocks 1:07:48, the second quickest of the day. And it looks like it will stay that way.

  5. 16:15 - Alberto Contador is putting in a superb time for a pure climber. He is 6th quickest so far, 2'18" behind Vino.

  6. 16:13 - Carlos Sastre comes in 23rd, 4:00 back.

  7. 16:11 - Rasmussen 2'37" behind Vino at the third checkpoint.

  8. 16:11 - Andreas Kloeden comes in second quickest so far, 1:39 adrift of Vino.

  9. 16:04 - Kloeden is 1:38 down on Vino, while it's 4:03 for Valverde at the second checkpoint.

  10. 16:03 - Iban Mayo has gone through over four minutes down on Vino at the second checkpoint.

  11. 16:01 - Cadel Evans is really turning up the heat now. He is quickening massively! 1:01 down on Vino at the third checkpoint. The course is drying out too.

  12. 15:58 - Alberto Contador has flown up the Cote de la Bauzié! He's 1:49 down on Vino at the third checkpoint.

  13. 15:56 - Andriy Kashechkin rolls in now 1:08:18, well inside the time of Bradley Wiggins. He takes second place.

  14. 15:54 - Alberto Contador is 2'03" down at the second checkpoint while Christophe Moreau rolls in a massive 9:26 down!

  15. 15:52 - Andreas Kloeden goes throuh the third checkpoint 1:19 behind Vino. Meanwhile Oscar Pereiro clocks the 11th quickest time of the day, 3:22 down.

  16. 15:44 - Rasmussen is not doing too badly. 1:42 behind after 18km.

  17. 15:43 - Alejandro Valverde is having a nightmare! 2:18 is his deficit after 18km.

  18. 15:41 - Andriy Kashechkin is third quickest at the third checkpoint, 1'36" behind his team-mate Vino.

  19. 15:39 - Cadel Evans is 57 seconds off the pace at the first time-check.

  20. 15:37 - Andreas Kloeden falls!!!! A huge blow for the German!! His mechanic is out of the car and imediately helps him back up. We will have to wait until the next time check to find out how badly he will be affected by that.

  21. 15:33 - Christophe Moreau is now a massive 5:44 down at the second split.

  22. 15:32 - This is a blistering ride from the pre-race favourite!!! 1:06:34 is his time, an incredible 2:13 inside the time of Bradley Wiggins!! There's our stage winner right there!

  23. 15:31 - Yaroslav Popovych comes in second quickest at 1:08:50, excellent ride considering the fall, but he is immediately followed by Vino!!!

  24. 15:29 - Sastre goes through the first check in 26th place at 1'41"

  25. 15:28 - Vladimir Karpets rolls in seventh, just over one minute off the pace.

  26. 15:26 - Vinokourov continues to build his lead. 1:00:38 is his time at the fourth time-check, 1:57 ahead of Wiggins.

  27. 15:24 - Kloeden will soon be arriving into the first time-check...he's third quickest at that point, 34 seconds behind Alexandre Vinokourov!

  28. 15:22 - Levi Leipheimer is 1:31 down at the first split. Not good from the American.

  29. 15:20 - Poor time by Menchov. He's 2'35" down at the third split. We expected better from the Russian.

  30. 15:16 - The last man is away, the yellow jersey of Michael Rasmussen!

  31. 15:15 - Valverde is away now. He's not the world's greatest time-trialler, but can he keep in contact with the likes of Vino and Kloeden?

  32. 15:14 - Vino is coming up to the third check point now....50:07 is the time! A full 1'19" inside that of Wiggins!!

  33. 15:12 - Vino is absolutely flying! He has smashed Bradley Wiggins' second intermediate time check by 52 seconds!

  34. 15:10 - Cadel Evans powers away. Just three men left to go: Iban Mayo, Alejandro Valverde and Michael Rasmussen.

  35. 15:07 - Moreau is a massive 2:55 down at the first checkpoint. That's the Frenchman's Tour hopes gone.

  36. 15:06 - Vladimir Gusev rolls in third-quickest, 42 seconds down. That's a quite superb performance given that he had a nasty fall. Contador goes now.

  37. 15:02 - Gerolsteiner's Markus Föthen comes in sixth in 1:10:13.

  38. 15:01 - Chavanel powers across the line and takes provisional second place!! Just 24 seconds behind Wiggins. SUperb ride from the Cofidis man.

  39. 15:00 - Kloeden goes now! He looks psyched. Incredibly, he has never won a stage in the Tour de France.

  40. 14:58 - Sylvain Chavanel is still flying! He's second quickest through the fourth split, just 30 seconds down on Wiggins.

  41. 14:57 - Levi Leipheimer powers away from the start ramp now. Andreas Kloeden, now the favourite for the Tour, is the next man to go.

  42. 14:53 - George Hincapie arrives in fifth at 1:31 down.

  43. 14:48 - Vino is quickest at the first split by 10 seconds over Bradley Wiggins!!! He is going for broke, and indeed he needs to.

  44. 14:46 - Jens Voigt is about to catch Vladimir Gusev. That's bad news for the Discovery man.

  45. 14:45 - Thomas Dekker arrives in fifth-quickest, 1:50 down. He can be pleased with that.

  46. 14:44 - Sylvain Chavanel is flying! He goes through the third time-check third quickest, 42 seconds down.

  47. 14:39 - Christophe Moreau goes off now. Can he make up for the disastrous stage he suffered on Wednesday when he got trapped in the second group after Astana put the hammer down in the peloton.

  48. 14:34 - Some of the umbrellas are going down around the course now. Good news for the latter riders.

  49. 14:32 - Hincapie goes through the second split 1:39 down.

  50. 14:25 - Thomas Dekker's still going very well - he crosses the 53:17, 48 seconds down at the third split. That puts him in 4th position at that point.

  51. 14:25 - The rain has stopped here in Albi, though the roads of course are still soaked.

  52. 14:24 - Vladimir Gusev is going well! He's 56 seconds off Wiggins at 18km as Vino powers off the start ramp!!! What can the Kazakh do today?

  53. 14:21 - A big roar goes up at the start at Yaroslav Popovych begins his TT. From now on, it gets serious. Next up is Vinokourov.

  54. 14:18 - Vladimir Karpets, the winner of the Tour of Switzerland, is underway now. He could certainly do well today.

  55. 14:13 - No change in the top five for a while now: 1 Wiggins 01:08:48; 2 Hoste +0:42; 3 Millar +1:13; 4 Rosseler +1:21; 5 Grivko +2:02.

  56. 14:10 - Poor time for a time-trialler of the quality of Savoldelli. He rolls in 5:36 down.

  57. 14:09 - Wiggins' time is looking all the more impressive now we see that George Hincapie has gone through the first split 1:26 down!

  58. 14:05 - The weather is showing some very small signs of improving. The rain seems to be easing off a little, though the roads are all still wet.

  59. 14:02 - Rabobank's young hope Thomas Dekker is 1:00 off the pace at the first time-check.

  60. 13:56 - Vladimir Gusev is underway now. The Discovery man could be another dark horse for today's stage.

  61. 13:54 - Jens Voigt powers away off the start ramp. He will be looking at a place in the top 20 today at the very least.

  62. 13:52 - No repeat of his heroics in the Giro for Marzio Bruseghin today. He clocks 1:12:36 , which puts him 12th at the moment.

  63. 13:51 - The riders are taking care to avoid cycling on the white road markings, which are excpetionally slippery when wet, to quote Bon Jovi.

  64. 13:48 - Yesterday's breakaway man, Amets Txurruka, is the next to go.

  65. 13:45 - Bradley Wiggins' time is looking better and better. Andreas Kloeden is obviously the big threat to the Londoner, though he will have to race in far worse conditions.

  66. 13:43 - Big George Hincapie rolls down off the start ramp and into the driving rain. He was second in the prologue. Can he sneak into the top five here?

  67. 13:41 - Former Swiss champion Martin Elmiger has just come in 5'39" back.

  68. 13:25 - A photographer's motorbike has just come down! That's a measure of just how slippery it is out here. He was tracking Dario Cioni.

  69. 13:23 - Poor time for Paolo Savoldelli over the first 18km. He's already 4:29 down on Wiggins.

  70. 13:17 - Excellent time for Andriy Grivko. He finishes in 1:10:50, good enough for fifth.

  71. 13:13 - Birthday boy Stefan Schumacher is 26 today. He has just crossed the line in 4:51.

  72. 13:12 - Quickstep's Cedric Vasseur is doing some stretching in the background as Cristian Moreni powers away off the start ramp.

  73. 13:10 - Paolo Savoldelli, winner of the final time-trial in the Giro d'Italia this year is powering his way along to the first time-check. He will be hoping for a top ten finish today.

  74. 13:05 - An excellent final few kilometres from David Millar see him come through third so far, 1:13 behind Wiggins. He actually made up some time over the Cofidis man over the latter stages.

  75. 12:59 - Millar still going well, 1:26 behind at the fourth split. Let's not forget Wiggins had a dry road for the first part of his race, whereas Millar is having to contend with the wet roads.

  76. 12:57 - Euskaltel's Inigo Landaluze is the next man to roll down off the start ramp.

  77. 12:55 - FdJ's Phillippe Gilbert rolls in 7:12 behind Wiggins.

  78. 12:51 - Big Marzio Bruseghin got his time-trial underway a few minutes ago. He prevailed in the first TT at the Giro this year. The course is suited to powerfully built riders like him. Could he work his way into the top three?

  79. 12:49 - 1:56 is Millar's deficit at the top of the Col de la Bauzié.

  80. 12:43 - David Millar is keeping the tempo high. He reaches the second split 1:50 in arrears, still good enough for fourth place.

  81. 12:36 - Ballan rolls across the finish line fourth-quickest in 01:12:05, just 3:17 behind the leading time.

  82. 12:30 - Alessandro Ballan is having a good run. He goes through th fourth split 3:15 behind Wiggins.

  83. 12:28 - The conditions here in Southern France remain absolutely rotten. There' no sign of any let up to the pouring rain.

  84. 12:27 - Britain's David Millar goes through the first split in 25:04, 1:45 behind his compatriot Wiggins.

  85. 12:26 - Cancellara's nightmare run is over. He clocks 1:15:19, a massive 6:31 behind Bradley Wiggins.

  86. 12:20 - Tom Boonen may be one of the world's best sprinters, but he's certainly no time-trial specialist. He has just gone through the third time check 8:17 down.

  87. 12:16 - Cancellara now reaches the final time-check at 49km 4:24 off the pace. A disastrous day for the Swiss.

  88. 12:06 - Cancellara hopes of victory are dashed, and indeed he's continuing to lose time on Wiggins. He has gone through the thrid time check 3:17 off the pace. That's only the ninth quickest time at that point so far, and the favourites are yet to go.

  89. 11:57 - Britain's David Millar has just gone down the start ramp. Can he spring a surprise and work his way into the top five?

  90. 11:57 - We can now see the impact that the crash has had on Cancellara's time! He is 2:06 behind Bradley Wiggins at the second time check! Disaster for the world champion.

  91. 11:53 - Fabian Cancellara has crashed between the first and second time checks!!! The big Swiss hit the deck in the pouring rain on a hairpin bend on a downhill section!

  92. 11:49 - Lampre's Alessandro Ballan goes through the first split 2:12 behind Wiggins as Juan Antonio Flecha prepares to start.

  93. 11:35 - Fabian Cancellara goes through the first time-check 29 seconds down on Bradley Wiggins.

  94. 11:29 - With the riders going off in reverse order of their position on the GC, the favourites for overall victory are all off last. Alexandre Vinokourov goes at 14:24, Christophe Moreau at 14:39, Andrey Kashechkin at 14:48, Levi Leipheimer at 14:57, Andreas Kloeden at 15:00, Alberto Contador at 15:06, Cadel Evans 15:09, Iban Mayo at 16:12, Alejandro Valverde at 16:15 and finally Michael Rasmussen at 15:18.

  95. 11:23 - It's a proud day for the parents of Bert and Ralf Grabsch. The two brothers race for different teams (Bert for T-Mobile, Ralf for Milram) but are 127th and 128th in the GC respectively. Bert is the German time-trial champion, and is currently out on the course following his brother.

  96. 11:18 - Bradley Wiggins sets the quickest time of the day!!! He clocks 1:08:48 as Cancellara attacks the first few kilometres!

  97. 11:09 - Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins has been quickest through each of the four time-checks so far. He will be finishing soon.

  98. 11:08 - World champion Fabian Cancellara is the next man to go. He is the hot favourite for victory today.

  99. 11:07 - Incidentally, Barloworld's Thomas Geraint set a very respectable time of 1:13:23 earlier today.

  100. 11:00 - Credit Agricole sprinter Thor Hushovd has just crossed the line in 1:16:52, over seven minutes off the pace.

  101. 10:40 - The riders scheduled to start between 11:00 and 12:00 are: Scheirlinckx, Isasi, Boonen, Cancellara, Righi, Willems, Jalabert, Fischer, Fédrigo, Efimkin, Ballan, Canada, Geslin, Ventoso, Bennati, Pozzato, Vaugrenard, Azanza, Gilbert, Rast, Bossoni, Sprick, Gerrans, Flecha, Vogondy, Albasini, Millar, R. Perez, Rinero, Schumacher.

  102. 10:30 - Discovery Channel's Leif Hoste has set the fastest time of the day so far. He clocked 1:09:30, well ahead of Cofidis Rik Verbrugghe, who currently lies second in 1:12:27.

  103. 10:20 - It has started to rain in Albi!! The riders will hate this. The average speed will drop dramatically. Could changeable weather have a say in who will wear the yellow jersey tonight?

  104. 10:15 - Britain's Bradley Wiggins has just gone through the first timecheck after 18 km quickest at 23'19"!

  105. 10:05 - The following rider are scheduled to go off between 10:00 and 11:00: Wiggins, Poitschke, Tschopp, Quinziato, Cortinovis, F. Rodriguez, Wrolich, Noval, De Jongh, Burghardt, Haussler, Weening, Sieberg, Corioni, Tosatto, Rosseler, Ladagnous, Delage, Eisel, Hunter, R. Grabsch, B. Grabsch, Longo Borghini, Bonnet, Bichot, Dean, Salmon, Cardenas, Garcia Acosta and Jégou.

  106. 10:05 - Belgium's Wim Vansevenant was the first man out on the course this morning. He began his time-trial at 10:24, and was followed out by Verbrugghe, Charteau, Nuyens, Kuschynski, Thomas, Krauss, De Groot, Hoste, Augé, Hushovd, Cheula, Steegmans, Förster, Hinault, Dessel, Séb. Chavanel and Navarro.

  107. 10:00 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text commentary of the first time-trial of the Tour de France.