0km - Here comes Stijn Devolder now! He has lost a massive 4'58". His hops of overall victory are in tatters. His golden jersey is taken by Denis Menchov.
0km - Efimkin and Evans come in now, 1'03" off the pace.
0km - Mosquera is third, Sastre fourth and Zaugg fifth.
0km - Piepoli leads them through the final hundred metres, and Menchov lets him take the win!
0.3km - Menchov invites Piepoli ahead with 300 to go.
0.6km - Menchov spurs Piepoli on. They have worked well together.
0.7km - It's a long, straight finish today as they enter the final kilometre.
1km - Stijn Devolder is being towed up the hill by Egoi martinez. He has lost a lot of time today.
2km - Menchov is beginning to look over his shoulder. Sastre and Mosquera are closing slowly!
2km - Evans group is now 46 seconds off the pace. Efimkin and Sanchez are in there too, as is Manuel Beltran!
2km - The lead duo pass under the 2-kilometre barrier.
3km - Zaug attacks from the Sastre group...and Efimkin goes with him!
3km - Menchov is looking ominously good in terms of claiming his second golden jersey in Madrid. He certainly has the legs on Sastre.
4km - Evans' group is now 21 seconds of the pace.
4km - There's always the possibility that Menchov will leave the stage victory to Piepoli in return for his help up the final part of the climb.
4km - Mosquera and Sastre are 12 seconds back from Piepoli and Menchov.
5km - The finish to the stage is slightly flatter today. That could favour Menchov.
5km - Menchov is 30 seconds down on the GC, though could well take the golden jersey tonight!! Piepoli is 6'36" off the pace overall.
5km - Piepoli and Menchov have gone clear!!! Sastre and Mosquera are strugglnig!
5km - Samuel Sanchez has fallen off the front too. He can't quite keep pace with the leaders.
6km - Piepoli continues to attack, Menchov is right on his wheel and is looking very strong.
6km - Cadel Evans is losing contact with the leaders, as is Efimkin! Leonardo Piepoli has put in a big dig and Moreno has been caught.
7km - Inigo Cuesta is blown. He has done a fine job for Carlos Sastre, though now has nothing left. He will now cruise his way up to the top.
7km - Daniel Moreno now puts in a big dig and takes over at the front. His lead is 18 seconds ahead of the pack.
7km - Devolder is really struggling. He's losing more and more ground. 36 seconds is his deficit to Castano at the moment.
7km - Castano's lead is 14 seconds over the elite pack including Menchov and Sastre.
8km - An elite group of 15-20 riders is now at the front. All the big names are in there, except Stijn Devolder.
8km - Carlos Castano takes over at the front for the Karpin-Galicia team.
9km - Stijn Devolder has been dropped already!!! The Discovery man is in trouble.
9km - The field has absolutely gone to pieces after this injection of pace from Cuesta.
9km - Inigo Cuesta is at the front, riding for Sastre. Piepoli is sitting in second at the moment.
10km - The gradient is now 10% on this section. It's not quite as steep toward the top, so Piepoli knows that he must take advantage of this section.
11km - The Saunier Dival team has now picked up the pace dramatically, and now Vanotti is caught! He goes straight out the back door.
12km - The breakaway has now been swallowed. Vanotti is the only man up the road. 26 seconds is his lead.
14km - Vanotti is 22'29" down on the overall standings. The pack will let him do what he wants.
16km - Today;s stage could well be one for Leonardo Piepoli. The little Italian is a mean climber, though his lack of ability in time-trials means he'll never really be a contender for a big tour win.
19km - The peloton have eased off a little ahead of the climb. 37 seconds is still the gap as Vanotti ploughs his lonely furrow.
24km - Alessandro Vanotti has put his foot down in the breakaway and gone for it again. Quite why is beyond me, as there's not a cat in hell's chance of him staying clear up the final climb to Cerler.
30km - Rabobank and Discovery continue to share the work in the main pack. Their co-operation has ensured the breakaway would never suceed.
35km - The gap is falling dramatically now! 1'10" the latest split. There's no way these guiys out in front will be able to maintain their lead up the big final climb.
38km - Rabobank have taken up the work at the front of the peloton from Discovery.
42km - The scenery in this ascent to Cerler is absolutely stunning!
44km - The gap drops to 1'00" and Gomez Marchante has had enough! He attacks, though the others manage to chase him down!
50km - 1'20" out breakaway seems to be feeling the heat after a long day in the saddle. Their gap has been cut to 1'20", and the long final climb is still to come.
57km - Saunier Duval's Iker Camano appears in some discomfort and has called the medical car.
60km - Martinez Acevedo again takes the mountain classification points at the top of the Puerto de Foradada ahead of Jose Angel Gomez Marchante and Davide Rebellin, while Kern has been caught by the peloton.
62km - Kern has now lost significant ground on the leaders and is 1'09" back. The peloton, who will soon catch him, are 2'45" back.
64km - Credit Agricole's Christophe Kern, who lies almost 15 minutes of the pace in the overall standings, is struggling. He is beginning to lose ground on his fellow escapees.
69km - The leaders are now making their way up the Puerto de Foradada, and have clearly upped their tempo. They are now 2'20" clear of the pack.
72km - Francesco Chicchi is out too! The former world under-23 champion has had enough, and stepped off his bike.
75km - Oscar Pereiro has withdrawn. The final beyond category climb was always likely to get the getter of him in his current state, and Arkaitz Duran has pulled out too.
80km - 1'20" is the latest gap between the leaders and the peloton.
82km - Wim van Huffel takes the bonus points on offer at the intermediate sprint at Boltana.
82km - The Discovery Channel team have picked the pace up in the peloton. The last thing they want is for Gomez Marchante to open up a big lead.
89km - Oscar Pereiro's race is in the balance. He is reallly struggling. He's now 10'15" behind the lead group after the Alto del Serrablo.
94km - Acevedo has crashed on the descent!! He seems okay though, and is back up on his bike. He will have his work cut out to make it back to the breakaway.
103km - Serafin Martinez Acevedo is the first man over the second climb of the day, the second-category Alto de Serrablo. He extends his lead in the mountains classification.
104km - One man having a day is Caisse d'Epargne leader Oscar Pereiro. He had a bout of gastro-enteritis yesterday, and doesn't seem to be faring any better today. He now lags 5'20" behind the peloton, which includes golden jersey Stijn Devolder.
106km - With 106 kilometres to go, the situation is as follows: 6 Stéphane Goubert, José Vicente Garcia Acosta, David Lopez Garcia, Christophe Kern, Igor Anton Hernandez, Davide Rebellin, Serafín Martinez Azevedo, Morris Possoni, Sylvester Szmyd, Alessandro Vanotti, Wim van Huffel, José Angel Gomez Marchante and Christian Vandevelde have broken away, and hold a lead of 2'10" over the main bunch.
13:28 - The news to report so far is that Bradley McGee has abandoned the race. He was uncharacteristically off colour in yesterday's time-trial, and has now thrown in the towel.
Live Comments
0km -
Here comes Stijn Devolder now! He has lost a massive 4'58". His hops of overall victory are in tatters. His golden jersey is taken by Denis Menchov.
0km - Efimkin and Evans come in now, 1'03" off the pace.
0km - Mosquera is third, Sastre fourth and Zaugg fifth.
0km -
Piepoli leads them through the final hundred metres, and Menchov lets him take the win!
0.3km - Menchov invites Piepoli ahead with 300 to go.
0.6km - Menchov spurs Piepoli on. They have worked well together.
0.7km - It's a long, straight finish today as they enter the final kilometre.
1km - Stijn Devolder is being towed up the hill by Egoi martinez. He has lost a lot of time today.
2km - Menchov is beginning to look over his shoulder. Sastre and Mosquera are closing slowly!
2km - Evans group is now 46 seconds off the pace. Efimkin and Sanchez are in there too, as is Manuel Beltran!
2km - The lead duo pass under the 2-kilometre barrier.
3km - Zaug attacks from the Sastre group...and Efimkin goes with him!
3km - Menchov is looking ominously good in terms of claiming his second golden jersey in Madrid. He certainly has the legs on Sastre.
4km - Evans' group is now 21 seconds of the pace.
4km - There's always the possibility that Menchov will leave the stage victory to Piepoli in return for his help up the final part of the climb.
4km - Mosquera and Sastre are 12 seconds back from Piepoli and Menchov.
5km - The finish to the stage is slightly flatter today. That could favour Menchov.
5km - Menchov is 30 seconds down on the GC, though could well take the golden jersey tonight!! Piepoli is 6'36" off the pace overall.
5km - Piepoli and Menchov have gone clear!!! Sastre and Mosquera are strugglnig!
5km - Samuel Sanchez has fallen off the front too. He can't quite keep pace with the leaders.
6km - Piepoli continues to attack, Menchov is right on his wheel and is looking very strong.
6km -
Cadel Evans is losing contact with the leaders, as is Efimkin! Leonardo Piepoli has put in a big dig and Moreno has been caught.
7km - Inigo Cuesta is blown. He has done a fine job for Carlos Sastre, though now has nothing left. He will now cruise his way up to the top.
7km - Daniel Moreno now puts in a big dig and takes over at the front. His lead is 18 seconds ahead of the pack.
7km - Devolder is really struggling. He's losing more and more ground. 36 seconds is his deficit to Castano at the moment.
7km - Castano's lead is 14 seconds over the elite pack including Menchov and Sastre.
8km - An elite group of 15-20 riders is now at the front. All the big names are in there, except Stijn Devolder.
8km - Carlos Castano takes over at the front for the Karpin-Galicia team.
9km -
Stijn Devolder has been dropped already!!! The Discovery man is in trouble.
9km - The field has absolutely gone to pieces after this injection of pace from Cuesta.
9km - Inigo Cuesta is at the front, riding for Sastre. Piepoli is sitting in second at the moment.
10km - The gradient is now 10% on this section. It's not quite as steep toward the top, so Piepoli knows that he must take advantage of this section.
11km -
The Saunier Dival team has now picked up the pace dramatically, and now Vanotti is caught! He goes straight out the back door.
12km - The breakaway has now been swallowed. Vanotti is the only man up the road. 26 seconds is his lead.
14km - Vanotti is 22'29" down on the overall standings. The pack will let him do what he wants.
16km -
Today;s stage could well be one for Leonardo Piepoli. The little Italian is a mean climber, though his lack of ability in time-trials means he'll never really be a contender for a big tour win.
19km - The peloton have eased off a little ahead of the climb. 37 seconds is still the gap as Vanotti ploughs his lonely furrow.
24km -
Alessandro Vanotti has put his foot down in the breakaway and gone for it again. Quite why is beyond me, as there's not a cat in hell's chance of him staying clear up the final climb to Cerler.
30km - Rabobank and Discovery continue to share the work in the main pack. Their co-operation has ensured the breakaway would never suceed.
35km -
The gap is falling dramatically now! 1'10" the latest split. There's no way these guiys out in front will be able to maintain their lead up the big final climb.
38km -
Rabobank have taken up the work at the front of the peloton from Discovery.
42km - The scenery in this ascent to Cerler is absolutely stunning!
44km - The gap drops to 1'00" and Gomez Marchante has had enough! He attacks, though the others manage to chase him down!
50km - 1'20" out breakaway seems to be feeling the heat after a long day in the saddle. Their gap has been cut to 1'20", and the long final climb is still to come.
57km -
Saunier Duval's Iker Camano appears in some discomfort and has called the medical car.
60km - Martinez Acevedo again takes the mountain classification points at the top of the Puerto de Foradada ahead of Jose Angel Gomez Marchante and Davide Rebellin, while Kern has been caught by the peloton.
62km - Kern has now lost significant ground on the leaders and is 1'09" back. The peloton, who will soon catch him, are 2'45" back.
64km - Credit Agricole's Christophe Kern, who lies almost 15 minutes of the pace in the overall standings, is struggling. He is beginning to lose ground on his fellow escapees.
69km - The leaders are now making their way up the Puerto de Foradada, and have clearly upped their tempo. They are now 2'20" clear of the pack.
72km - Francesco Chicchi is out too! The former world under-23 champion has had enough, and stepped off his bike.
75km -
Oscar Pereiro has withdrawn. The final beyond category climb was always likely to get the getter of him in his current state, and Arkaitz Duran has pulled out too.
80km -
1'20" is the latest gap between the leaders and the peloton.
82km -
Wim van Huffel takes the bonus points on offer at the intermediate sprint at Boltana.
82km - The Discovery Channel team have picked the pace up in the peloton. The last thing they want is for Gomez Marchante to open up a big lead.
89km - Oscar Pereiro's race is in the balance. He is reallly struggling. He's now 10'15" behind the lead group after the Alto del Serrablo.
94km - Acevedo has crashed on the descent!! He seems okay though, and is back up on his bike. He will have his work cut out to make it back to the breakaway.
103km - Serafin Martinez Acevedo is the first man over the second climb of the day, the second-category Alto de Serrablo. He extends his lead in the mountains classification.
104km - One man having a day is Caisse d'Epargne leader Oscar Pereiro. He had a bout of gastro-enteritis yesterday, and doesn't seem to be faring any better today. He now lags 5'20" behind the peloton, which includes golden jersey Stijn Devolder.
106km -
With 106 kilometres to go, the situation is as follows: 6 Stéphane Goubert, José Vicente Garcia Acosta, David Lopez Garcia, Christophe Kern, Igor Anton Hernandez, Davide Rebellin, Serafín Martinez Azevedo, Morris Possoni, Sylvester Szmyd, Alessandro Vanotti, Wim van Huffel, José Angel Gomez Marchante and Christian Vandevelde have broken away, and hold a lead of 2'10" over the main bunch.
13:28 - The news to report so far is that Bradley McGee has abandoned the race. He was uncharacteristically off colour in yesterday's time-trial, and has now thrown in the towel.