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Tour de France - Pau- Castelsarrasin

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  1. 0km - That's all for today. Join us tomorrow for more live comments. Thanks for reading!

  2. 0km - The peloton are coming into the home straight now. The pretenders to the green jersey will contest the sprint. Sebastien Chavanel goes for the line...but Tom Boonen comes round him and leads them home ahead of Chavanel, Hunter Foerster and Zabel in that order.

  3. 0km - Manuel Quinziato and Daniele Righi are over three minutes off the pace.

  4. 0km - David Millar and Matteo Tossato are rolling in now, 2'41" back.

  5. 0km - Voigt and Elmiger are spent forces...Bennati goes for the line...and takes it easily!!!

  6. 0.5km - None of the rest seem to have the legs to do anything. Markus Foethen puts a huge burst in now on the outside, Bennati goes with him...

  7. 1km - Markus Foethen puts the hammer down....the rest wait...then Bennati hares off in pursuit.

  8. 1.4km - Jens Voigt is shaking his head. He's not happy about the way this is going.

  9. 2km - They go under the 2 kilometre mark with all four still together.

  10. 3km - Bennati is looking good as we go into the final 3 kilometres.

  11. 3.5km - Jens Voigt puts his foot down! But Bennati follows, as do the rest.

  12. 5km - We're into the final five kilometres. This is gonig Bennati's way. They other three need to do something to make sure they don't carry him all the way to a sprint.

  13. 7km - The Rabobank team are riding right at the back of the peloton. They are thoroughly fed up. And who can blame them?

  14. 8km - Meanhwhile, the lead four has extended their lead on Millar and Tossato to 1 minute and the lead on Quinziato and Righi to 1'50"

  15. 9km - 8'43" is now the gap from the lead four back to the peloton.

  16. 11km - The gap from the lead four back to Millar and Tossato has grown to 30 seconds.

  17. 12km - Voigt, Elmiger, Bennati and Foethen look set to fight it out between them for the win. All four are fine riders: Elmiger a former Swiss champion, Foethen was 15th in the final standings at the Tour last year, Voigt won a stage last year and Bennati is a fine sprinter.

  18. 15km - That final fourth-category climb has devastated the group!! Tossato and Miller are out the back door, as are Righi and Quinziato. A big burst from Jens Voigt has torn things apart.

  19. 19km - Jens Voigt attacks. Daniele Bennati is looking to close him down.

  20. 19km - With almost eight minutes to play with over the final 20 kilometres, no suprises that the cat and mouse games are beginning in the breakaway. David Millar knows he needs to attack from a slightly longer way out than the rest. The same is the case for Jens Voigt and Markus Foethen.

  21. 25km - Jens Voigt has a puncture in his rear wheel and has it changed in super-quick time by his mechanic.

  22. 30km - Vincent Lavenu (general manager of Ag2r): "He's a former Swiss champion. He's pretty quick in the sprints. Martin was brought in as a reinforcement for th early part of the season. You can never question his commitment. I think the breakaway will stay away."

  23. 35km - Alain Gallopin (CSC sporting director): "Jens is a specialist in breakaways. He has a lot of experience and he followed the right attack. In any case, we have nothing to defend in the GC."

  24. 39km - Christian Guiberteau (Bouygues Télécom sporting director): "From the start we attacked, then took up teh chase behind the breakaway. It's a shame it didn't happen for us at the start. We had targeted this stage today. Concerning the general atmosphere at the moment, we are trying to concentrate on our work and to please the public."

  25. 41km - Daniele Bennati is first across the line in the sprint at Solomiac and picks up the six points and six bonus seconds on offer.

  26. 45km - The gap has stabilised at the 7'50" mark.

  27. 50km - Statements from the Rabobank team seem to contradict those of Rasmussen, though. The Dutch outfit claim he admitted he did lie over his whereabouts in teh lead-up to the Tour de France, though have not revealed where he said he was.

  28. 51km - Meanwhile, Michael Rasmussen has hit out at his Rabobank team for sacking him. The Dane said: "This is the work of a man at the end of his nerves. My manager is mad. I was not in Italy, not at all. This is all the work of a man (Italian commentator Davide Cassani) who thinks he recognised me. But there is not the slightest proof."

  29. 55km - 7'30" is the gap now, with the peloton still not interested in chasing down the escape group.

  30. 61km - 6'27" the gap back to the pack now.

  31. 68km - Everything looks tailor-made for Daniele Bennati. Not only is he the best sprinter in the breakaway, he also has a team-mate with him.

  32. 69km - Here's how our escapees are placed in the General Classsification: Jens Voigt (35th at 1h17'40"), Martin Elmiger (85th at 2h46'00"), Daniele Bennati (84th at 2h44'17"), Daniele Righi (106e à 3h12'00"), Markus Fothen (46th at 1h39'10"), Manuel Quinziato (127th at 3h24'03"), Matteo Tosatto (128th at 3h24'07"), David Millar (76th at 2h34'24").

  33. 70km - It looks increasingly like our breakaway is going to stay out today. It's gone out to well over five minutes now, and the Disco boys who are leading the peloton couldn't give two hoots as to who wins this stage. On paper, Milram look like the only team who should be bothered about closing it down, but they evidently are not interested.

  34. 72km - The Caisse d'Epargne boys seem to have given up the chase and now Discovery have moved to the front of the peloton.

  35. 75km - Good news for our breakaway riders: The gap is growing again. It has just gone above the four-minute mark.

  36. 80km - One of the Lampre riders has stopped for a quick toilet break by the side of the road. Not too much more to report, to be honest.

  37. 82km - The peloton has put its foot down again and closed the gap to 2'54".

  38. 88km - Our eight leaders seem to be finally extending their lead. 4'49" is the latest split.

  39. 98km - 43.1km/h is the average speed over the second hour of racing.

  40. 100km - Denis Menchov has abandoned! He looks thoroughly cheesed off. To be fair, who can blame him? He has ridden himself into the ground over the last few days in support of Michael Rasmussen, only to see the Dane sacked from the team. Michael Boogerd was another member of the Rabobank team who didn't want to start.

  41. 105km - Caisse d'Epargne could be eyeing a stage win here today, their first of the Tour. It would be a huge disappointment for a team of their size and prestige to go through the whole tour making no impact on the podium, the jerseys or even the stages. Maybe that's why they're not allowing the escapees a free rein.

  42. 110km - A very hot day here in South Western France. The sun is blazing down on the backs of the riders.

  43. 118km - Fothen, Millar and co. may have picked up a few points here and there over these little climbs, but they are certainly no danger to the man in the polkadot jersey, Juan Mauricio Soler. The Barloworld rider has 206 points, 78 more than his nearest rival, race leader Alberto Contador.

  44. 122km - The Liquigas, Agritubel and Caisse d'Epargne teams are steadfastly refusing to allow the breakaway to gain any significant time. 1'30" is still the gap.

  45. 125km - Britain's David Millar is first across the next climb, the category 4 Côte de Sainte-Dode-Aux-Croix: Millar (3 pts); Righi (2 pts); Bennati (1 pt).

  46. 129km - Gerolsteiner's Markus Fothen again takes the three points on the Côte de Mielan (Category 4 - Km 59.5), followed by Tossato and Elmiger.

  47. 134km - Here's how they go over the top of the Côte de Villecomtal: 1. Fothen, 3pts; 2. Tosatto, 2pts; 3. Elmiger, 1 pt. The Discovery Channel and Caisse d'Epargne teams are leading the chase in the peloton, and the gap ahs fallen back down to 1'30".

  48. 147km - The average speed over the first hour of racing has been high: 47.3 Km/h.

  49. 149km - Results of the intermediate sprint at Rabastens-de-Bigorre: 1 Quinziato, 6pts / 6"; 2. Millar, 4pts / 4"; 3. Elmiger, 2pts / 2"

  50. 150km - It has been announced that Simon Gerrans, is to leave the Ag2r team to switch to Credit Agricole at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Patrice Halgand, Jimmy Engoulvent, Dmitriy Fofonov and Russia's Alexandre Botcharov have extended their contract with Credit Agricole.

  51. 155km - Our eight leaders are in the Bigorre valley and are approaching the first sprint of the day, at Rabastens-de-Bigorre (Km 44.5).

  52. 159km - 2'00" is the latest split. It looks like, despite the efforts of the Bouygues team, we may have our breakaway for the day.

  53. 164km - Jerome Pineau has been reeled back in and the Bouygues Telecom team are at the front of the peloton.

  54. 166km - Here's how the cross the first climb of the day, the category three Côte de Baleix: 1. Matteo Tosatto (Quickstep) 4 pts; 2 Jens Voigt (CSC) 3 pts; 3 Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) 2 pts; 4 Daniele Righi (Lampre) 1 pt. 1'10" is the latest split back to the peloton.

  55. 171km - Bouygues' Jerome Pineau is desperate to get himself into a breakaway. He attacks again. He's now 55" back from our eight leaders, while the peloton are 1'05" back.

  56. 175km - A counter-attack has come from a group of eleven riders. Nicolas Portal, Chris Horner, Simon Gerrans, Amets Txurruka, Bossoni, Stefan Schumacher, Jerome Pineau, THomas Voeckler, Lilian Jégou, Benoit Vaugrenard, and Carlos Barredo all put their foot down, but are rapidly hauled back in by the peloton.

  57. 175km - A breakaway! Martin Elmiger, Daniele Bennati, Daniele Righi, Markus Fothen, Manuel Quinziato, Matteo Tossato, Jens Voigt and David Millar attack and go 40 seconds clear of the peloton!

  58. 188km - Xavier Florencio attacks immediately following the start of the stage, and is folowed by Mickaël Delage (FdJ)...though the peloton reels them back in immediately.

  59. 12:00 - The official start for the stage is given at 12:00 BST. 142 riders are still in the race. The seven remaining members of the Cofidis team (Bradley Wiggins, Staf Schierlinkx, Sylvain Chavanel, Stephane Augé, Cristian Moreni, Nick Nuyens and Rik Verbrugghe) are not at the start, nor is Michael Rasmussen.

  60. 12:00 - There is no yellow jersey in the peloton today, though Alberto Contador is now at the head of the general classification, 1'53" ahead of Predictor-Lotto's Cadel Evans.

  61. 11:45 - The riders are underway on the artificial start to the race with a huge cloud hanging over the peloton after the news that Michael Rasmussen has been thrown out of the Rabobank team and the race.

  62. 11:30 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text commentary of stage 17 of the Tour de France.