Tour de France 2009...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The gap is now 6:40 with 78km to go.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

With 70km remaining, the gap is now doen to 6:30.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

6:15 and 65km to go. We're seeing a lot more teams up there.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Astana is up front. No, they're not up lending a hand in the chase, but they could be priming to try something when the course hits the marsh. The wind is picking up and once out in the flats, there will be a brisk crosswind

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

More on the Astana fine ... and maybe why Pescheux was a little miffed this morning. Apparently the delay wasn't traffic related. The delay is reported to have been caused by Armstrong sharing a cup of coffee with actor Ben Stiller, who was visiting the Tour's VIP area here on Monday morning.

Armstrong had a cameo role in the 2004 movie "Dodgeball," a film I'm sure will rank right up there with "Casablanca" and "Citizen Kane" when future generations look back at the cinematic accomplishments of the first 100 years of film.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The men in the lead

 

Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis)

Maxime Bouet (Agritubel)

Koen de Kort (Skil-Shimano)

Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel - Euskadi)

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

the four leaders are nearing the exposed protion of the route. They are now 59.5km from the finish and 5:20 ahead of the peloton. The leaders are facing a cross wind, something the peloton is going to encounter soon. It's the Columbia team doing chase work right now.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

until those crosswinds kick in ... it's something of a sleeper.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

There has been a crash in the peloton.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

It looks like it happened fairly close to the front, there were a few Saxo riders and several Lampres involved. Bruseghin from Lampre is back at the team car, getting attended to. He's riding back on, though.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

It looks like no one is hurt enough to abandon, thankfully.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

With 51km remaining the gap is in the five-minute range, but it may bump up a little as the peloton has slowed a touch to allow the crash victims to catch back on.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Okay, with 48km to go, the gap is 4:58 as the peloton resumes its pace. Bruseghin appears to have been the worst hurt, with a bit of road rash on his knee.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The crash involved two Saxo Bank riders and quite a few Lampres. In the peloton, the Astana and Columbia teams avoided the carnage, as did most other teams.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The Columbia team is ramping it up. Cancellara is moving up, probably to avoid being caught out in a cross wind.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

52km - A fall in the middle of the peloton! Two Lampre riders are down, as is a Saxo Bank rider and an FdJ rider that looks like Sandy Casar. One of the Lampre riders is Marzio Bruseghin, and he appears to havecome off worst. He has a gash on his knee. He is now sidling up to the race doctor's car to get treatment on that knee. Somewhat surprisingly, Lampre haven't sent anyone back to pace him up to the peloton. He is, after all, their best hope for the GC.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The gap is now 4.46

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Columbia back on the front again now, withy Cavendish sat five riders back. So much for his claim that his team would do nothing. Perhaps a few mind games from the Manxman. Bert Grabsch is on the front, turning a typically outrageous gear that would probably leave me with muscle pain for years...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The gap is down to 3:33. The wind is still a factor, with 41.3km to go. I'm betting on a catch.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Looks like we're set for another sprint finish, so good news for fans of Mark Cavendish.