Tour de France 2009...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

With 37km to go, the gap is now 3:50.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Flat tire for Cancellara.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Cancellara is on is way back to the field, working his way through the back of the caravan. He's cool. He'll be back.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The pace is picking up in the peloton. The gap is now down to 3:28 with 31km to go.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

With 28km to go, the the gap has gone back out to 3:43.

 

The sprinters' teams are playing you-do-it-no-you-do-it.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

What's the latest on the Cricket anyone?

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At the front of the peloton, the Ag2r is doing the chase work, simply setting tempo to maintain a reasonable gap.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Nicki Sorensen (Team Saxo Bank) has taken a dig. He's been joined by Calzati.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

It looks like Sorensen and Calzati have a small 10-second gap, with 19km to go.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The back to the peloton is still 4:18, so we're probably not going to see a field sprint, unless the pace is really picked up.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Ag2r is doing the chase work in the peloton.

 

Sorensen is the best-placed rider in the break, but he's 10:36 out of 1st, so Ag2r has no major concerns.

 

Sorensen and Calzati have 12 seconds on the other five.

 

 

39. Nicki Sorensen Team Saxo Bank at 10:36

49. Franco Pellizotti Liquigas, at 16:44

47. Egoi Martinez Euskaltel - Euskadi, at 15:30

51. Laurent Lefevre Bbox Bouygues Telecom, at 16:52

61. R

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The peloton is at the 20km-to-go mark. The gap is nearly five minutes.

 

Ag2r is at the front.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Our two leaders are 15km from the finish.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The five chasers are 14 seconds back.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The time back to the peloton is now up to 5:19.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Our two leaders are now 12km from the finish. They have 15 seconds on the five chasers.

And 5:45 on the peloton.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

10km to go for our two leaders. The gap back to the peloton is now 6:06.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The two leaders are still holding on to a 16-second lead. The peloton has pretty much shut down.

 

All Ag2r needs to do is to is keep it under 10 minutes. They'll do that.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The five chasers are cutting into the two leaders' advantage. The gap is 10 seconds, with 7km to go.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The two leaders are now just nine seconds ahead of the other five.