0km - No change in the top ten of the GC obviously, but you can find out how far Cunego slips down and how high Astarloza improves by clicking on our quick to update overall standings on the right.

0km - Barredo started that sprint, just way too late, in around the last 160 metres. A great win for Columbia though. For the placings, Le Mevel attacks early for that third place, and Feillu keeps on his wheel, with Astarloza well back.... Astarloza overtakes Le Mevel.... The pace slows back down, and Le Mevel tries again about 200 metres from the line... Feillu overtakes him..... It's Feillu, Le Mevel, and Astarloza in third fourth and fifth.

0.5km - Burghardt looks behind him, Barredo right on his wheel. The German looks like he's just playing with his rival now....

4km - Back on that final climb, the attacks from the peloton are actually coming now from a trio of riders. Dessel, Dumoulin, and Kreuziger, are trying to get a bit of extra time..... And Andy Schleck is chasing to try to keep his white jersey from falling into the hands of the Czech! Fun times.

6km - "Maja (yes, im a girl) from Serbia!" has written in that she will marry Denis Menchov if he wins this Tour. I'm not expecting wedded bliss for you and your would-be Russian beau this time around Maja.

8km - Barredo tries two more times, including a very cheeky attempt while the Columbia rider was trying to button up his shirt. Hehe, not quite Carlos. The two men now trading a few words as this last 8km is going to be fun.

10km - Under the 10km to go banner! Burghardt took the points at the Saint-Charmond intermediate sprint moments ago though, with Astarloza leading the second bunch. The Euskaltel man stands to move up between three and four places in the GC today up to as high as 14th. Remember, he can time trial decently as well, although improving that position any more seems like an incredible longshot.

19km - Barredo had tried an "attack" by the way, one that was quickly caught by Burghardt. The Spaniard then turned to the German and said something along the lines of 'hey, let's up the pace!' We can't read lips, but we think that's what he was saying.

22km - Statshot: The 55.7km/h average in the first hour of racing was the fastest hour of this year's TDF.

24km - The 25-year-old Marcus Burghardt was a surprise winner at the Gent-Wevelgem last year, and we think he would be a worthy winner out there today. Barredo, has been in several break-aways this year though, and he would be a deserving winner as well.....

31km - Astarloza is quite obviously leading the charge for the chasing trio on the Montvieux. It doesn't look like they're making up much time though, as they went over the top at 4'10" behind the two leaders. The peloton on the climb now.

35km - Some of the older winners at Saint-Etienne (2/2) : 1950 : Raphaël Géminiani (Fra), 1953 : Louison Bobet (Fra), 1956 : Stan Ockers (Bel), 1959 : Dino Bruni (Ita), 1961 : Jean Forestier (Fra), 1963 : Guy Ignolin (Fra), 1966 : Ferdinand Bracke (Bel), 1968 : JeanPierre Genet (Fra), 1971 : Walter Godefroot (Bel), 1977 : sans vainqueur, 1978 : Bernard Hinault (Fra).

36km - A man who claims to be "Cavs sprinting nemisis on the rock" has written in with his prediction/hope: "The Schleck brothers have nothing to lose, they should give it everything they have on the Croix de Montivoux and try and hold it to the end, if they blow and get dropped at !least they have given it their best. Sastra should sit on Evans and hope his legs recover for the TT! Lovin' this tour!" Thanks for the comment Max from the Isle of Man.

40km - Danielle Cox from Florida has come back to us: "Is Cunego struggling because he is seriously hurt or has he given up and just wants to make it to Paris so isn't chasing any harder?" He desperately wants to get back into the peloton Danielle, because right now, at more than 12 minutes behind, he stands to drop six places to 20th in the GC, which would be a further disaster to the former Giro victor's already disastrous Tour. He suffered cuts and abrasions in that crash, and we don't know quite how badly he's hurting. The peloton was going 60km/h when he crashed, thus explaining the gap.

43km - Danielle Cox says: "I understand an attack is unlikely to be successful, but shouldn't they try? Isn't completely giving up until the ITT a recipe for disaster? Are there any chances for "tricks" on the attack?" I cannot possibly imagine what Riis could have up his sleeve to get Sastre into a successful attack today. Even if one of the Schleck's tried to go, they would be marked very, very closely. I'm sorry folks, it's just not going to happen.

46km - Slobodan from Macedonia writes three emails to us in the span of 3 seconds so we feel obliged to publish his remarks: "not that i am fan of cungeo, but maybe we can find some understanding for him. yes, he was preparing for tis tour, but it is not that easy to compete with the other guys, who thinks oposite, there is the tour and go riding. everybody is welcome in this sport, everyone who is not doping. have a nice day." Oddly structured thought Slobodan, but we do like the sentiment and persistence.

50km - Sean Kelly has just thrown in his two cents saying this: "I think it's going to be majorly difficult to put pressure on. I cannot see [anyone] having any effect on the General Classification here."

60km - Average speed for the third hour is 43.7 km/hour, while the average total speed is down to 46.9 km/hour. And still, Cunego is more than 12 minutes back!

66km - Clare in Ireland having a bit of fun at poor Damiano Cunego's expense: "Imagine if Cunego finished out of time today!!! So much for the next best thing! Although I do feel a bit sorry for him, it must be soul destroying to be so far behind on a relatively easy-going stage."

72km - Our favourite brewer Jamie O'Sullivan has written in: "Evans, Menchov and Sastre. Those will be the podium finishers. I don't think Schleck can hold on. His first time trial was almost two minutes below Evans. This is a longer TT and that only favors the big guns. Sastre also finished about a minute below Evans, but the distance may beat him up again. This may be the first Australian victory." I think those would be the bookie's top-three picks after yesterday's L'Alpe D'Huez. We refuse to count out Carlos just yet though.

76km - The gap, which had been steady at 9'40", has gone back up to right around ten minutes.

83km - Sastre's CSC team-mate Frank Schleck told us this: "That's how it works, we showed we are a team, and we'll show here that we have as a team put our mark on the race. We showed great team spirit. My chances for a podium place are not bad at all, but I have to be realistic. I'm satisfied with my Tour, I have to say. The whole team was very satisfied with yesterday's stage."

84km - The average speed really dipped in the second hour, by the way, down to 41.5 km/h.

86km - Our praise for Riis, by the way, was for doing the fairly obvious thing and playing the card he had.

89km - The gap has already dipped to 9'40" for the peloton under the renewed compulsion of Caisse D'Epargne.

100km - Carl in West London also commented on CSC's tactics: "Only error I saw by CSC yesterday was Andy constantly chasing down attacks of some of the also-rans, which meant he kept dragging Cadel forward and eating into Sastre's lead. It was obvious he was feeling good, but shouldn't he have sat behind his brother and let Cadel close up the gaps? Why chase down Sanchez and the AG2R's?" I think he should have let the 'also-rans' go with an eye towards marking Evans, but CSC obviously wanted the stage win very badly as well yesterday.

110km - The bunch reached the summit with a 7'45" gap up to Barrado, who was joined by Burghardt shortly after that climb. Astarloza and Le Mevel, who launched a counter-attack at the base of the climb, caught Feillu and the trio are now 3'40" behind the two leaders.

119km - As for the second part of your question, the bookies don't seem to be giving him much chance, but I remember the final time trial in 2006 when Sastre finished just one minute and one second behind Evans to secure his place on the final podium (after Floyd Landis's removal). That was a 57km ITT and though he had more time on Evans going into the penultimate day two years ago (Sastre leads Evans by 1'34" now and finished the 2006 race a full 1'55" ahead of him), I think the Spaniard has a much more serious shot at this then a lot of people are giving him.

121km - Mark McElroy has written in with this question: "Just a question on CSC’s tactics, would this have been the plan all along to let Frank (or any of the team) take the yellow jersey and let Carlos Sastre stay a minute or so behind and then attack on a climb like Alpe d’Huez? If Frank had been a stronger in the Time Trial would he have been sent up the alp, was this the plan to keep Evans busy marking someone else and allow Carlos to sit quietly behind and make his attack at the right time? Do you think Sastre can win it?"

125km - Barredo's gap to Burghardt and Feillu is 15" and he leads the peloton by a minute.

130km - A bit of transfer news to report, the French national champion Sylvain Chavanel is moving from Cofidis to Quick Step on a two-year deal.

138km - Oh dear! Cunego, ranked 12th at 12'26" behind Sastre at the start of the day, is now a full 9'40" behind the peloton with three Lampre team-mates all working tirelessly to tow him back!

142km - Blazing pace at the start of this stage with the average speed at a whopping 55.7 km/hour.

146km - Apparently Cunego is finally back chasing after that early crash, but he is a full seven minutes behind the peloton!! That's big news, by the standards of today's stage. We'll follow his progress in trying to return to the main bunch, but we're wondering if Lampre are going to send some soldiers back to help bring their leader back into the pack.

148km - And the last of the three escapees are finally reeled in. Bouygues Tel, Credit Agricole, and Quick Step were the main protagonists in that chase, so we'll probably see a few Tommy Voecklers, Christophe Le Mevels, and Sebastien Rosselers, or the like, in the next attack. What do you reckon? Who is this clearly transitional stage designed for? Send your picks to jstahl@eurosport.com.

153km - Points at the Grenoble sprint: 1. Freddy Bichot 6pts 2. Bjorn Schroder 4pts 3. Stephane Auge 2pts This break-away is not long for this world, however.

164km - Oh dear! Some bad stuff going on at the start of today's stage, as Alexandre Botcharov and Damiano Cunego are tangled up in a crash! Quick step, Crédit Agricole and Bouygues Telecom continue to lead the chase.

168km - The gap is steady at 55 seconds. Maybe Monfort, 24th in the GC and fourth in the young rider's standings, is giving the peloton pause.

182km - Quick Step and Crédit Agricole lead the chase, but the gap continues to climb (0'50).

191km - The seven escapees: Marcus Burghardt (Columbia), Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel), Bjorn Schroder (Milram), Stephane Auge and Maxime Monfort (Cofidis). The peloton trying to close this down. Monfort could have been considered a white jersey threat at the start of the week, but he is know 24'33" behind Andy Schleck in the young rider's classifications.

196km - Real start given at 12:30 local time (11:30 BST). 150 riders at today's start.

----- - The high Alps are over, and the transition to flatter ground has begun with this 196-km 18th stage from Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne! Full coverage starts from 11:30 BST.