THE RACE LIVE

After 18 stages of the 2005 Tour de France, the top 10 in the general classification is:
1. Lance Armstrong (USA) DSC - 3,254.5km in 77h44’44" (41.664km/h)
2. Ivan Basso (Italy) CSC - at 2’46"
3. Mickael Rasmussen (Denmark) RAB - at 3’46"
4. Jan Ullrich (Germany) TMO - at 5’58"
5. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) IBA - at 7’08"
6. Levi Leipheimer (USA) GST - at 8’12"
7. Cadel Evans (Australia) DVL - at 9’49"
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakstahn) TMO at 10’11"
9. Floyd Landis (USA) PHO - at 10’42"
10. Christophe Moreau (France) C.A - at 13’15"

There will be some changes in the top 10 of the general classification after the 18th stage. Landis, Leipheimer and Rasmussen lost time to Armstrong, Basso, Ullrich and Evans.
The top 15 in the stage from Albi to Mende are:
1. Marcos Serrano - 189km in 4h37’36" (40.85km/h)
2. Cedric Vasseur at 27"
3. Axel Merckx - at 27"
4. Xabier Zandio at 1’08"
5. Franco Pellizotti at 1’08"
6. Thomas Voeckler - at 1’18"
7. Luke Roberts - at 1’28"
8. Matthias Kessler - at 1’444"
9. Egoi Martinez - at 2’03"
10. Carlos Da Cruz - 2’38"
11. Cadel Evans - at 11’18"
12. Lance Armstrong - at 11’18"
13. Ivan Basso - at 11’18"
14. Jan Ullrich - at 11’18"
15. Alexandre Vinokourov - at 11’55"
16. Mickael Rasmussen - at 11’55"
17. Levi Leipheimer - at 11’55"
18. Francisco Mancebo - at 11’55"
19. Leonardo Piepoli - at 12’01"
20. Floyd Landis - at 12’07"

Evans has claimed 11th place head of Armstrong, Basso and Ullrich. This quartet are about 35" ahead of Rasmussen’s group.

Armstrong is leading around the final turn. There are four riders now lining up for the sprint for 11th place.

Armstrong is now out of the saddle and driving the pace of the peloton over the final summit. He has Basso, Evans and Ullrich with him with 1.5km to go in the stage.

Ullrich is now coming back to the yellow jersey’s trio. There are now four riders together near the top of the final climb. Armstrong, Ullrich, Evans and Basso are 30" ahead of Rasmussen, Leipheimer and Vinokourov.

Basso, Armstrong and Evans are now 10" ahead of Ullrich with 2km to go in the stage.

Basso is now gritting his teeth and trying to get ride of Armstrong. It’s enough to get rid of Ullrich. Evans is still following the wheel fo the yellow jersey.

There are two other riders with Levi - Mickael Rasmussen and Alexandre Vinokourov.

Leipheimer’s group is now 40" behind the yellow jersey’s quartet.

Armstrong is now setting the pace on the final climb. He has been passed by Basso. Ullrich and Evans are still in touch with the yellow jersey.

There are just four riders in the yellow jersey’s group with 3km to go. Lance, Ivan, Jan and Cadel lead Alexandre on the final climb.

The yellow jersey is being attacked by Basso. Only Evans can follow but now Ullrich has caught up as well.

The riders in the yellow jersey’s group include: Armstrong, Hincapie, Popovych, Ullrich, Basso, Mancebo, Evans, Rasmussen, Landis, Leipheimer....

Hincapie and Popovych are now leading the peloton on the final climb of the stage. The main pack has caught and raced passed the attack by Kashechkin.

The peloton is being led by Sastre at the moment. Behind the CSC rider is Popovych, Armstrong, Basso, Ullrich, Evans, Rasmussen... these riders are 4km from the finish.

Merckx has been beaten by Vasseur for second place 30" behind the stage winner.

Serrano is now flying down towards the finish of stage 18. He is about to raise his hands to salute the win. It’s the first stage success in the Tour de France for the Liberty Seguros-Wurth team.

Marcos Serrano looks like he’ll give Liberty Seguros-Wurth its first stage win of the 2005 Tour. He is over the final summit and has a lead of 20" on Merckx and Vasseur.

Serrano has a lead in the stage of 15". He is on his own with just 300m to go to the top of the final climb - from there it’s 1.5km to the finish on the aerodrome...

The advantage of Kashechkin on the peloton has grown to 20". We’ll report on the action in the peloton after the stage has been decided.
Right now Serrano has a lead of about 20" on Merckx and Vassuer with 2km to go.

Serrano has a lead of 10" on Merckx and Vasseur with 1km to climb on the Cote la la Croix-Neuve.

Andrey Kashechkin has attacked the yellow jersey’s group on the penultimate climb.

Serrano has a lead of about 100m on Merckx and Vasseur with 1km to go on the final climb.

The peloton is now on the Cote de Chabrits. The bunch is being led by Julich... but now Popovych takes charge. We can expect to see some attacks in the peloton now but we’ll focus on the stage win first. At the moment Serrano is in the lead of the stage.

Serrano and Vasseur have put some time into Merckx on the final climb. There are now two riders in the front of the stage.

The three riders in the lead of the stage are Vasseur, Serrano and Merckx.

There are now just three riders in the lead of the stage. Vasseur and Voeckler have been dropped on the final climb.

Merckx has attacked the lead group. His surge got rid of Zandio. There are now five riders in the lead group.

Voeckler, Serrano, Zandio, Merckx, Pellizotti and Vasseur are in the lead of the stage. They are 2km from the final summit and 3.5km from the end of the stage. We don’t have a time check on the four others who are ahead of the peloton.

Voeckler tried to escape the five others in the lead group but he didn’t get far. With 4km to go in the stage, Merckx has taken charge.

There are now six riders at the front of the stage. They are on the Cote de la Croix-Neuve. The composition of the group is: Voeckler, Serrano, Zandio, Merckx, Pellizotti and Vasseur.

Vasseur, Merckx, Zandio, Voeckler and Serrano are now 3km from the top of the final climb. They have been joined by Pellizotti.

The five stage leaders are about to begin the ascent of the Montee Laurent Jalabert. This is a 3.1km climb with an average gradient of 10.1 per cent.

There are now five riders at the front of the stage. They are: Merckx (DVL), Zandio (IBA), Voeckler (BTL), Serrano (LSW) and Vasseur (COF). They are 5km from the finish of the stage.

The peloton is now being led by riders from the Lampre and CSC teams. This group is 15km from the finish with a deficit of 14’15" on the stage leaders.

The advantage of Merckx and Voeckler over Zandio, Serrano and Vasseur is 8". The rest of the escapees are 40" behind the leading pair.

Merckx and Voeckler are now about 100m ahead of Vasseur, Zandio and Serrano.

Merckx is going to claim the points at the top of the Cote de Chabrits. He has been caught by Voeckler with 9km to go in the stage.

On the Cote de Chabrits, Da Cruz has blown big time. He has been past by the other riders who have been on the attack since the 45km mark.

The nine escapees are now attacking each other on the penultimate climb. Zandio was the first to surge in pursuit of Da Cruz. Merckx is now second in the stage.

The leader of the stage has ridden under the 10km to go sign with a lead of 15" on Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler and Martinez.

With 20km to go for the peloton, the CSC team has come to the front. This group was 15’10" behind at the 20km to go sign.

The nine chasers are 20" behind Da Cruz on the penultimate climb of the 18th stage.

At the base of the Cote de Chabrits, Da Cruz leads the nine other escapees by 23".

There has been no reaction to Da Cruz’s attack in the lead-up to the penultimate climb. The FDJ rider now leads Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler and Martinez by 15".

Da Cruz is now 10" ahead of the nine other escapees. There appears to be no interest in chasing down the rider who instigated today’s big escape.

The peloton is now less than 25km from the finish with a deficit of 15’20" on the 10 stage leaders.

With 14km to go in the stage, Carlos Da Cruz has attacked his escape companions.

The 10 leaders are near the second last climb and there have been some signs of aggression at the front of the stage.

The 10 stage leaders are now less than 15km from the finish of the 18th stage. They are 15’20" ahead of the peloton.

The sixth stage of the 2003 Tour de L’Avenir concluded at the same site as today’s stage. The winner back them was Pierrick Fedrigo. In second place was Samuel Dumoulin and third place went to the man who eventually won the title of the race in September, Egoi Martinez.
The Euskaltel rider is part of the 10-man escape group which is now over 15 minutes ahead of the peloton.

The peloton is at the 155km mark with a deficit of 15’15" on the 10-man escape group.

Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez are now less than 20km from the finish. The last time check had this group of 10 ahead of the peloton by 15’10".

There are two climbs in the final 9km of today’s stage. The summit of the cat-3 Cote de Chabrits is with 9km to go and the cat-2 Cote de la Croix-Neuve is just 1.5km from the finish line.

The leaders are less than 25km from the finish of the stage. The riders in the lead group are:
Mattias Kessler (TMO), Luke Roberts (CSC), Xabier Zandio (IBA), Axel Merckx (DVL), Marcos Serrano (LSW), Franco Pellizotti (LIQ), Cedric Vasseur (COF), Thomas Voeckler (BTL) and Egoi Martinez (EUS).

Axel Merckx is the rider that Lance Armstrong has said will win today’s stage. The Davitamon-Lotto rider is one of the 10 riders who are 15 minutes ahead of the peloton. He is the only Belgian in the escape on "National Day" - the holiday in Belgium for the anniversary of King Leopold I’s ascendence to the throne in 1831.

There are eight riders from the Discovery Channel team at the head of the peloton. The shadow of the yellow jersey is the rider in 2nd place overall, Ivan Basso (CSC).

The peloton is now 15’00" behind the 10 escapees.

The rider in second place in the youth classification, Andrey Kashechkin (C.A) has called for the race doctor.

The lead of Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL) and Martinez (EUS) on the peloton has grown to 14’45" with the peloton at the 146km mark.

Armstrong has just offered a few comments about the stage. When asked how he was feeling today he replied "not bad for an old man".
And when questioned about the situation of the race he smiled and said, "I think Axel (Merckx) will win."

The peloton is at the 138km mark. It is 13’40" behind the 10 escapees.

The rider who instigated the 10-man escape today, Carlos Da Cruz, has been one of the main aggressors during the 2005 Tour. Before today, the FDJ rider had spent a total of 466km in escape groups. He’s never won a stage of the Tour although he was 2nd in the 18th stage of the 2003 Tour... when he was beaten by Pablo Lastras in the second-fastest road stage in the history of the race.

The last time check (13’15") was taken when the peloton was at the 135km mark.

The peloton is now 13’15" behind Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ), Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL) and Martinez (EUS).

The peloton has crossed the line at the top of the Cote de Boyne 13 minutes behind the 10-man escape group.

The peloton is in the final kilometer of the 9km Cote de Boyne climb. The Discovery Channel team is all over the front of the bunch. There has been no sign of any aggression on the first of two cat-2 ascents today.

The points for the sprint in Le Massegros (at 138km) were won by:
1. Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) 6pts
2. Xabier Zandio (IBA) 4pts
3. Thomas Voeckler (BTL) 2pts

The 10 escapees are now near the site of the 2nd intermediate sprint (in Le Massegros, at the 138km mark). The last announced advantage of Zandio’s group on the peloton was 12’45".

There have been no attacks in either the lead group of the peloton on the Cote de Boyne. The bunch continues to be led by five or six Discovery Channel riders and the main rivals are Armstrong are content to follow his lead... there is, however, a tough ascent at the end of today’s stage so perhaps the perpetual-attacker, Vinokourov, is saving his energy for the "Montee Laurent Jalabert".

The points at the top of the Cote de Boyne (at the 131.5km mark) were won by:
1. Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) 10pts
2. Matthias Kessler (TMO) 9pts
3. Xabier Zandio (IBA) 8pts
4. Marcos Serrano ((LSW) 7pts
5. Cedric Vasseur (COF) 6pts
6. Luke Roberts (CSC) 5pts

The 10 escapees have finished climbing the Cote de Boyne. We await confirmation of the results for the cat-2 rise but can tell you that the peloton has 5km to climb and is 12’45" behind the 10 escapees.

The average speed for the 3rd hour of racing today is 35.6km/h. The average for the first three hours is 42.6km/h.

The 10 escapees are now in the final kilometer of the Cote de Boyne. The peloton is at the 125km mark - 12’45" behind Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez.

The peloton continues to be led by Benjamin Noval. His pace is enough to drop several riders off the back. The latest casualty is Isasi of the Euskaltel team.

There are 57.5km between the top of the Cote de Boyne and the finish of the 18th stage which is on the aerodrome at the top of the Cote de la Croix-Neuve (aka. Montee Laurent Jalabert).

The peloton is now being led by four Discovery Channel riders. There are three Gerolsteiner riders tucked in behind the yellow jersey. All the riders at the top of the general classification are now making sure they’re in prime position to respond to any attacks on the Cote de Boyne.
If the tradition of the last few stages is anything to go by we can expect to see a surge from Alexandre Vinokourov any moment now...

The peloton has 9km to climb to the top of the Cote de Boyne. It is 12’30" behind the 10-man escape group at the base of the first cat-2 ascent of stage 18 (at 122km).

All 10 riders in the lead group are swapping off on the 3rd climb of the 18th stage. They are now 5km from the summit and we have not yet seen an attack on the Col de Boyne.

At the 119km mark the peloton is 12’15" behind Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez.

After having spent some of the stage at the back of the peloton, the yellow jersey is now making his way to the head of the bunch which is led by two Discovery Channel riders. Behind Noval and Padrnos is Posthuma (RAB), a Cofidis rider and then there’s a line of magenta jerseys from the T-Mobile team.

Thor Hushovd is at the back of the peloton, filling his green jersey with water bottles. The leader of the points classification has little hope of adding any points to his tally today because of a vicious climb at in the closing kilometers.

The 10 escapees are now on the cat-2 ascent of the Cote de Boyne. This is a 9.2km long climb that has an average gradient of 5.3 per cent. It’s summit is at the 131.5km mark.
Merckx is currently setting the tempo ahead of Serrano.

Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez are now at the 120.5km mark. Their advantage on the peloton is up to 12’00".

The peloton is at the 109km mark with a deficit of 11’40" on the 10 escapees. The isn’t a great need to chase down the break because the best-placed rider in the break today is Xabier Zandio of the Illes Balears-Caisse d’Epargne team. He is 25th in the general classification after 17 stages (39’40" behind Armstrong).

The bunch is now in the city of Millau (at the 104.5km mark). This has been the site of five stage finishes in the history of the Tour. The last rider to win in the city on the Tarn river was Marino Lejaretta in 1990.

The 10 riders who are now 11’30" ahead of the peloton are:
Matthias Kessler (Germany) TMO
Luke Roberts (Australia) CSC
Xabier Zandio (Spain) IBA
Axel Merckx (Belgium) DVL
Marcos Serrano (Spain) LSW
Oscar Pellizotti (Italy) LIQ
Cedric Vasseur (France) COF
Thomas Voeckler (France) BTL
Carlos Da Cruz (France) FDJ
Egoi Martinez (Spain) EUS

The 10-man escape group is now 11’20" ahead of the peloton that continues be led by Benjamin Noval and Pavel Padrnos of the Discovery Channel team.

Luke Roberts is the Australian representative in today’s escape group. The CSC rider was a member of the gold medal winning team pursuit formation at the Athens Olympics. This is his first Tour de France. He has just come to the rear of his group to get some instructions from one of the team’s directors, Kim Anderson.
Roberts was a friend of Amy Gillett, a member of the Australian road cycling team who was killed in an accident while training for the Thuringen Rundfahrt in Germany earlier this week.

At the top of the Cote de Raujolles (99km) the peloton was 10’55" behind the 10 escapees.

The peloton is currently led by two Discovery Channel riders, Benjamin Noval and Pavel Padrnos. This group is now 10’40" behind the 10 escapees.

The 10 escapees have pushed their advantage on the peloton up to 10’00".

To paraphrase Dave Byrne from the movie ’True Stories’, "Highways are the cathedrals of our time".
In case you doubted this statement from the cult ’mock-umentary’, it’s worth looking at the imposing structure which is now 240-odd meters above the 10-man escape group.
The Viaduc de Millau was a bridge that was completed at the start of 2005 at a cost of 310 million Euros.

The results at the top of the cat-3 Cote de Raujolles (at 99km) were won by:
1. Carlos Da Cruz (FDJ) 4pts
2. Axel Merckx (DVL) 3pts
3. Luke Roberts (CSC) 2pts
4. Cedric Vasseur (COF) 1pt

As the peloton reaches the feedzone (at the 91.5km mark) it is 9’10" behind the 10-man escape group. Lance Armstrong is at the back of the bunch having a chat to Joseba Beloki. There doesn’t appear to be much interest in chasing down the 10 fugitives who escapeed at the 45km mark.

The 10 escapees are now climbing the Cote de Raujolles, a 2.7km rise that peaks at the 99km mark.

The 10 escapees are now in Saint-Georges-de-Luzencon at the 95km mark.

The peloton is at the 88km mark with a deficit of 8’15" on the 10 escapees (Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez).

The average speed for the 2nd hour of racing in stage 18 is 46.0km/h. The average for the first two hours is 46.2km/h.

The peloton will pass under the recently completed Viaduc de Millau at the 100km mark of the 18th stage. This imposing bridge spans 2,460 meters and is supported by seven massive towers which are 343m high (22.25m taller than the Eiffel Tower). The structure is 270m above the Tarn river. The cost of construction was 310 million Euros.

At the 82nd kilometer of today’s 189km stage, the peloton was 6’30" behind the 10 escapees.

The sixth stage of the 2003 Tour de L’Avenir also concluded at the same site as today’s finish. The winner of the stage from Saint-Flour was the reigning French champion Pierrick Fedrigo (BTL). He beat Samuel Dumoulin and Egoi Martinez at the top of the ’Montee Laurent Jalabert’. All three of these riders are part of the 2005 Tour de France peloton.

The rider in 10th place overall at the start of the 18th stage, Christophe Moreau (C.A) won a stage of the Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon that concluded at the same site as today’s finish.
In second place in that 161km stage that began in Pont du Gard, was Vjatcheslav Ekimov. While third was earned by Iker Flores of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team. The Spaniard is currently in last place in the general classification.

The peloton is at the 78km mark and is now six minutes behind the 10-man escape group.

The peloton is at the 73km mark. It is being led by the Discovery Channel team. The deficit to the 10 escapees is 5’15".

The 10 escapees are now 4’40" ahead of the peloton.

The best placed rider in the general classification of today’s escape group (Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez) is Xabier Zandio of the Illes Balears team. He was 25th overall, 39’40" behind Armstrong after 17 stages.

Kessler, Roberts, Zandio, Merckx, Serrano, Pellizotti, Vasseur, Voeckler, Da Cruz and Martinez are in Vabres-l’Abbaye at the 69.5km mark of the 189km stage. They have a lead of 4’15" on the peloton that’s now being led by the Discovery Channel team.

Of the 10 riders in the lead of the 18th stage only Cedric Vasseur (COF) has previously won a stage of the Tour de France. That was back in the 1997 race when he escape the peloton en-route to La Chatre and inherited the yellow jersey at the end of the day.

The peloton is around the 68km mark with a deficit of 3’30" to the 10-man escape group.

The 10 escapees are now 2’35" ahead of the peloton. Alas, we haven’t been told what kilometer this time check was taken at.

Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL), Da Cruz (FDJ) and Martinez (EUS) are now 2’00" ahead of the peloton.

Moreau has given up his pursuit of the 10 escapees. The Credit Agricole team leader is now back with the peloton.

The riders who attacked the peloton at the 45km mark are:
Matthias Kessler (Germany) TMO
Luke Roberts (Australia) CSC
Xabier Zandio (Spain) IBA
Axel Merckx (Belgium) DVL
Marcos Serrano (Spain) LSW
Oscar Pellizotti (Italy) LIQ
Cedric Vasseur (France) COF
Thomas Voeckler (France) BTL
Carlos Da Cruz (France) FDJ
Egoi Martinez (Spain) EUS

The 10-man escape group is now 50" ahead of the peloton (at the 54km mark).

The points at the top of the Cote de la Bessede (at 53km) were won by:
1. Zandio (IBA) 3pts
2. Kessler (TMO) 2pts
3. Merckx (DVL) 1pt

Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL), Da Cruz (FDJ) and Martinez (EUS) are 20" ahead of Moreau (C.A) and 30" ahead of the peloton at the 52km mark.

The four-man chase group has been joined by Vicioso (LSW) and Moreau (C.A).

The Phonak team is now in charge of the peloton. This group is 23" behind the 10 escapees. The riders on the attack are:
Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL), Da Cruz (FDJ) and Martinez (EUS).
Rubiera (DSC), Moncoutie (COF), Moos (PHO) and Garate (SDV) are between the 10 leaders and the peloton.

The peloton is now at the 50km mark. The bunch has caught Canada. There are now just 10 riders with a lead of 20" on the peloton.

Kessler (TMO), Roberts (CSC), Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW), Pellizotti (LIQ), Vasseur (COF), Voeckler (BTL), Da Cruz (FDJ) and Martinez (EUS) are the riders who are now 15" ahead of Canada (SDV) and 25" ahead of the peloton.

While we await confirmation of the riders involved in the current escape, we can report that the average speed for the first hour in stage 18 is 46.4km/h.

Roberts (CSC), Pellizotti (LIQ) are amongst a group of five riders who are now at the front of the stage. They are being pursued by four: Zandio (IBA), Merckx (DVL), Serrano (LSW) and Martinez (EUS) - the peloton is at 12".

The peloton is being controlled by riders from the Liquigas-Bianchi team. Da Cruz is now 12" ahead of the peloton.

At the 43km mark, Da Cruz has pushed his advantage on the peloton up to 15".

The peloton is at the 41.5km mark. It is still in pursuit of Da Cruz who launched an attack at the 38km mark. The FDJ rider leads by just 100m.

The peloton is now at the 39.5km mark. It has just chased down the move by Pellizotti but Da Cruz in insisting with his attack. The FDJ rider has a small lead on the bunch.

The aggressive Frenchman with the FDJ team, Carlos Da Cruz is currently trying to establish an escape. He is being chased by Franco Pellizotti (LIQ).

The attack by Sebastian Joly lasted just 1km before he was chased down by the peloton.

Joly (C.A) has attacked the peloton which is now at the 35km mark.

The 25 riders were caught by the peloton at the 32km mark.

All of the 25 riders who had a maximum gain of 25" have been caught by the peloton.

Flecha, White, Fedrigo and Casar have attacked the lead group.

The best-placed of the 25 riders who are now 15" ahead of the peloton before the start of today’s stage is Bobby Julich (CSC). He was 18th overall after 17 stages - 20’55" behind Armstrong.

Heras and Contador (LSW), Flecha (FAS), Azevedo (DSC), Guerini (TMO), Julich (CSC), Arroyo (IBA), Bernucci (FAS), Horner (SDV), Garzelli (LIQ), Fedrigo (BTL), Voeckler (BTL), Ludewig (DOM), Isasi (EUS), Goubert (A2R), Krivtsov (A2R), Menchov (RAB), Moncoutie (COF), White (COF), Moos (PHO), Wegmann (GST), Tankink (QST), Hushovd (C.A), Sinkewitz (QST) and Casar (FDJ) are the riders who are still just 25" ahead of the peloton which is being led by the Discovery Channel team.

The escape group is now 25" ahead of the peloton which is at the 25.5km mark.

Hushovd is the latest rider to join the escape group. We will post the complete list of riders who are now 14" ahead of the peloton as soon as it’s confirmed by Race Radio.

Moos is now also in pursuit of the leaders which are 10" ahead of the peloton at the 24km mark.

Tankink and Wegmann are now also trying to bridge the gap to the escape group.

At the 20km mark, the following riders attacked the peloton: Azevedo, Guerini, Julich, Arroyo, Bernucci, Horner, Contador, Garzelli, Fedrigo, Voeckler, Casar, Ludewig, Isasi, Goubert and Krivtsov.
Menchov, Moncoutie and White are now in pursuit of the big move.

There are two riders trying to escape the peloton which is now at the 20km mark. Heras (LSW) and Flecha (FAS) have a slight lead.

The Phonak team is at the head of the peloton after about 25 minutes of racing.

At the 18.5km mark, McGee has returned to the peloton. The pace is extremely rapid early today and right now there are now riders on the attack.

At the 17km mark, the peloton is still 8" behind one of the Australian FDJ riders, Brad McGee.

Moreau is now also back in the peloton and McGee has attacked again. The FDJ rider leads the stage by 8". The Discovery Channel team is at the head of the peloton.

Vinokourov, Van Summeren and Albasini have given up their effort in the escape group and returned to the peloton. Moreau is now alone at the front of the 18th stage.

The move by McGee has been chased down by the peloton. He was caught at the 14.5km mark.

The points for the intermediate sprint in Villefranche-d’Albigeois (at the 13km mark) were won by:
1. Johan Van Summeren (DVL) 6pts
2. Alexandre Vinokourov (TMO) 4pts
3. Christophe Moreau (C.A) 2pts

At the 14km mark, McGee has attacked the peloton. He is now in pursuit of Moreau, Vinokourov, Albasini and Van Summeren.

Moreau, Van Summeren, Albasini and Vinokourov are now 10" ahead of the peloton. They are about to contest the sprint in Villefranche-d’Albigeois.

Vinokourov has escaped the peloton and caught the three stage leaders at the 12km mark. The first intermediate sprint of the 18th stage is at the 13km mark.

Moreau, Van Summeren and Albasini are just ahead of the peloton which is now at the 11.5km mark.

Van Summeren (DVL) and Albasini (LIQ) have caught up with the lone attacker. There are now three riders in the lead of stage 18.

Casar has returned to the peloton. Moreau now has only a slight lead.

The winner of the stage to Mende in the 2004 edition of the Tour du Languedoc-Rousillon, Christophe Moreau (C.A) attacked at the 8.5km mark. He has been joined by Sandy Casar (FDJ).

At the 6.5km mark, the escape was reeled in by the peloton.

Garzelli isn’t content with the pace of the escape. He has gone on the attack and Botero is now in pursuit of the Liquigas-Bianchi team leader. So far six kilometers have been raced.

There has been another attack at the head of the peloton. Jose Luis Arrieta is now in pursuit of the seven stage leaders.

Nardello (TMO), Botero (PHO), Bernucci (FAS), Garzelli (LIQ), Bessy (COF), Commesso (LAM) and Martinez (EUS) are now 12" ahead of the peloton at the 4.5km mark.

There are now two riders 18" ahead of the peloton. Santiago Botero (PHO) and Salvatore Commesso (LAM); there are five riders between these two and the peloton. We await confirmation of the riders involved in the escape.

Another rider who is trying to escape the peloton is Santiago Botero.

There are three riders now between Bessy and the peloton. The counter-attack has come from Stefano Garzelli (LIQ), Lorenzo Bernucci (FAS) and Egoi Martinez (EUS).

Frederic Bessy of the Cofidis team is the first rider to try and escape the peloton. At the 1km mark, he has a lead of 15".

The official start of the 18th stage of the 2005 Tour de France was given at 12.17pm. There are 155 riders still in the race with no overnight retirements.

There are some technical difficulties which have limited the range of Radio Tour at the start of the 18th stage. The plane which hovers above the race and relays the signal over the course is still grounded. We expect the problem to be solved in the next 45 minutes. In the meantime, however, the distribution of information about the race is limited.

The 18th stage will be raced in hot conditions. The temperature at the start in Albi is 25 degrees Celsius in the air and 33 degrees at road level. There is a light breeze blowing but there’s barely a cloud in the sky and the temperature is bound to rise significantly during the 189km to stage to Mende.

The peloton is currently riding through the 6.3km neutral zone. The official start is expected to be at around 12.15pm. Live coverage of the 18th stage will commence as soon as the flag drops to signal the beginning of racing from Albi to Mende.

Yaroslav Popovych (DSC) wears the white jersey as the leader of the youth classification. The Ukranian leads Andrey Kashechkin (C.A) by 6’28” and Alberto Contador (LSW) by 38’24”.

Mickael Rasmussen (RAB) wears the polka-dot jersey as the leader of the climbing classification. The Danish rider who won the stage to Mulhouse has 185pts, 50 more than the winner of stage 16 Oscar Pereiro Sio (PHO) and 93 more than Lance Armstrong (DSC).

Thor Hushovd (C.A) wears the green jersey as leader of the points classification. The Norwegian has 164 points, 14 more than Stuart O’Grady (COF) and 22 more than Robbie McEwen (DVL). Another Australian, Allan Davis (LSW), moved from seventh in the ‘sprint classification’ to fourth thanks to his efforts in yesterday’s big escape.

After 17 stages of the Tour de France the following riders lead the four jersey classifications:
Lance Armstrong (DSC) wears the yellow jersey as the leader of the general classification. The American is 2’46” ahead of Ivan Basso (CSC) and 3’09” ahead of Mickael Rasmussen (RAB). There was a change to the top 10 after yesterday’s stage to Revel; Alexandre Vinokourov (TMO) moved from ninth overall to seventh thanks to an attack in the closing kilometers of stage 17 which gained 20” on a group containing Cadel Evans (DVL) and Floyd Landis (PHO).

There are two intermediate sprints in the 18th stage, the first in Villefranche-d’Albigeois (at 13km) and the second in Le Massegros (at 138km).
Thor Hushovd is still in the lead of the points classification. The Norwegian Credit Agricole rider first claimed the green jersey in stage 12. He has 164pts, 14 more than Stuart O’Grady (COF) and 22 more than last year’s winner Robbie McEwen (DVL).

The 18th stage of the 92nd Tour features five categorized climbs:
The cat-4 Cote de la Bessede (at 53km)
The cat-3 Cote de Raujolles (at 99km)
The cat-2 Cote de Boyne (at 131.5km)
The cat-3 Cote de Chabrits (at 180.5km)
And the tough cat-2 ascent of the Cote de la Croix-Neuve (affectionately known as the ‘Montee Laurent Jalabert’) at the 187.5km mark.

The 189km stage from Albi to Mende is schedule to get underway at midday. There is a 6.3km neutral zone before racing officially begins in the 18th stage of the 92nd Tour de France.
The day begins in the Tarn department, goes into Aveyron and concludes in Lozere. At the 100km mark, the peloton will pass underneath the imposing Viaduc de Millau, the highest bridge in the world which was opened earlier this year.