Tour de France 2009...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

As the seven leaders begin the climb, their advantage has dropped to 35 seconds.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The gap continues to fall as our leaders work their way up the C

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Up and over, the leaders crested the summit just 17 seconds ahead of the main field.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Our leaders have re-extended their lead to 30 seconds.

 

David Millar (Garmin) is trying to join the group. He's chasing on his own out there and is only about 10 seconds ahead of the peloton.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

he's now 4 seconds ahead of the main field.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Millar's effort has failed. He's back in the peloton. The gap to the seven leaders is now 22 seconds at the 53km mark.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 58.5km, the gap is just 20 seconds.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

With the gap as small as it is, we keep seeing riders from the peloton trying to join the party. So far, no one has made bridge.

 

Now, up front, Haussler, Moreno and Chavanel have attacked the other four. They have a gap of 10 seconds. The four chasers are now just 15 seconds ahead of the peloton.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The four chasers have been caught.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Our surviving three leaders are now 45 seconds ahead of the peloton at the 63km mark.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Our three escapees have crossed the one-minute mark. At 67km, they lead the peloton by 1:03.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Up next is the Category 2 Col de la Schlucht, which begins at 96.1km and lasts for 8.9 km.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Apparently someone in that original break got folks nervous in the peloton.

 

Our three leaders are now a full 2:00 ahead of the peloton.... and making their way up the long gradual climb toward the Category 2 Col de la Schlucht

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

And the remaining escapees are now making significant progress.

 

They are at the 74km mark. There are 126km remaining. They have bumped their lead up to 3:50.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The latest time check puts our three leaders a full five minutes ahead of the peloton.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 80km, the three leaders' advantage has increased to 5:50. The rain is falling steadily again.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Just as a reminder, the three leaders' positions on GC:

45. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), at 12:00

102. Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel-Euskadi), at 52:49

105. Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo TestTeam), at 55:24

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

At 85km, the gap is now up to 7:10.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Our leaders are about 10km from the base of the day's second climb. The gap is holding steady at 7:30 - for now.

 

Ahead, is an intermediate sprint at Gerardmer (88.5km) and then the feedzone at 94.5. Then the climb begins just a little after that.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The latest time check puts the leading trio 8:10 ahead of the peloton. This lead is changing quickly enough that the chalkboard man has been unable to keep up with the changes. His board still says 7:20.