THE RACE LIVE
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A very late throw on the line by McEwen saw him almost pass Freire, but the Spaniard held off the Australian by about 5cm.

All the sprint specialists were present in the finale but Oscar Freire (RAB) has won again.

It looks as though Freire has held off Boonen and McEwen in the final meters to win his second stage this year...!

The peloton is now controlled by Liquigas and Quickstep... there is less than 1,000m to go in the ninth stage.

Quickstep is now in charge of the peloton which has just caught O’Grady.

The peloton is strung out in one long line thanks to the pace being set by the Liquigas rider at the front of the pack. There are just 2km to go and it’s a long straight road to the finish.
O’Grady has attacked with about 1,800m to go...

There is a rider from the Liquigas team leading three CSC riders in the final 2km of stage nine.

The peloton is all together again. The escape of Auge, Beneteau and Knees was over with 3.5km to go.

The three leaders are attacking and chasing but their antics aren’t going to change the result because the peloton is right on them...

Beneteau is now chasing the TV camera bikes. He attacked his two escape companions 4km from the finish but has been caught again...

After catching Knees, Beneteau has tried his luck with an attack. The leaders are just 5km from the finish.

Knees has attacked the front group for a third time. He’s never been able to shake Beneteau or Auge and the peloton is now just 25" behind.

The peloton is less than 7.5km from the finish and is 30" behind the leading trio.

Auge, Beneteau and Knees are still working together to try and hold off the peloton which is now just 40" behind. The pace of the chase is being set by riders from the Quickstep team... but Discovery riders are also moving up near the front of the main pack.

As the bunch passed under the 10km to go banner, it was 50" behind Auge, Beneteau and Knees.
Casar has been dropped from the peloton while Dumoulin - who crashed not long ago - has rejoined the bunch.

The peloton is at the 158km mark, the leaders are 10km from the finish... the difference between the two groups is just 1’00".

The latest time check has the peloton 1’10" behind Auge, Beneteau and Knees.

None of the riders involved in the crash appeared to be too badly hurt. They are back on their bikes and chasing the peloton.

There has been a crash involving Dumoulin, Lopez Garcia, Righi and Wegmann...

Beneteau and Auge chased down Knees attack and the three are back together again 1’35" ahead of the peloton... the leading trio have 15km to go.

With the advantage of the leading trio down to 1’50", Knees has attacked up front with 19km to go.

The peloton appears destined to catch the escapees. With 20km to go, the main pack was 2’00" behind Auge, Beneteau and Knees.
France Television has just reported that the speed of the peloton is up around 65km/h...!

Auge, Beneteau and Knees are less than 20km from the finish. They continue to share the workload with turns of about 30 seconds each before the next rider comes through...

The peloton is taking about 5-seconds off the advantage of the leading trio for every minute of racing. The latest time check had the bunch at 2’20"...

The peloton has just passed under the 25km to go banner. It is 2’30" behind the leading trio.

Quickstep, Rabobank, Credit Agricole and Lampre riders continue to set the pace of the peloton’s chase. The main pack is currently 2’35" behind Auge, Beneteau and Knees.

The leaders are 25km from the finish of stage nine. We have seen only one attack from the three; it came from Knees with 32km to go. He was quickly chased down by Beneteau and Auge.

With the advantage of the leading trio down to 2’45", Walter Beneteau is sitting at the back of the lead group, shaking his legs and looking like he’s getting ready to attack his escape companions.

With the peloton at the 139km mark, it is 2’55" behind Auge, Beneteau and Knees.

Stephane Auge (COF) is shaking his head and tut-tuting Knees (MRM) for his attack. The leading trio had been cooperating well since coming together at the 17km mark.
The peloton is now three minutes behind the leading trio who have 30km to go.

The leaders are beginning to attack each other. The first to surge was Christian Knees. He has been chased down by Beneteau and Auge.

There is now also one rider from the Davitamon-Lotto team helping set the pace at the head of the peloton. Wim Vansevenant is that man.
The main pack was led by T-Mobile until the 65km mark but then the teams of sprinters - ie. Quickstep, Credit Agricole and Quickstep - took control of the pursuit.
The deficit to the leading trio is now 3’20".

Quickstep, Credit Agricole, Lampre and a few FDJ riders have set the pace of the peloton’s pursuit of the leading trio. Just recently a number of Rabobank riders have also come forward. The deficit of the peloton at the 128km mark is 3’50".

The points for the sprint in Saint-Girons (128km) were won by:
1. Walter Beneteau (BTL) 6pts/6"
2. Christian Knees (MRM) 4pts/4"
3. Stephane Auge (COF) 2pts/2"

The leading trio are about to contest the third intermediate sprint of the ninth stage. Beneteau has won the first two primes today...

When the Tour visited Dax in 1958, the rider who led the peloton home was Andre Darrigade. The Frenchman won five stages that year and wore the yellow jersey after the day to the site of today’s finish. When asked who he believed the winner would be, Darrigade’s response was short and simple: "It’ll be McEwen."

Auge, Beneteau and Knees are less than 45km from the end of the stage. Their lead on the peloton is 4’45".

There is less than 50km to race in the ninth stage. The advantage of the escapees has dropped to just five minutes...
The maximum gain of Auge, Beneteau and Knees was 7’50" at the 59km mark.

The peloton has raced 111km today. It is 5’40" behind Beneteau, Auge and Knees... meaning the German representative in the escape is still the virtual leader.
Knees began the stage in 45th overall, 5’19" behind Serhiy Honchar (TMO).

After eight stages of the 2006 Tour de France, the six teams which have won stages lead in the prize money stakes. So far 295,100 Euro has been awarded to the 20 teams. At the top of the list is Davitamon-Lotto, thanks largely to the efforts of Robbie McEwen who has already won three stages.
The top money earners are:
Davitamon-Lotto – 36,700 Euros
T-Mobile Team – 33,620 Euros
AG2R Preyovance – 23,950 Euros
Credit Agricole – 20,780 Euros
Cofidis – 17,930 Euros
Quickstep – 16,550 Euros
Rabobank – 15,810 Euros…

The trio who joined forces at the front of the stage at the 17km mark are now in Saint-Julien-en-Born, 57km from the end of the stage. They have a lead of 5’50" on the peloton.

The manager of the Cofidis team, Eric Boyer, has visited LeTour.fr in the ’Zone Technique’ in Dax to offer his thoughts on the stage. "We discussed the stage this morning and agreed that we would try to get a rider in an early escape," said Boyer. "Coyot tried an attack himself in the first kilometer but without any luck.
"When Knees attacked, Stephane (Auge) opted to chase and, along with Beneteau, it could have been a good move. I’m not convinced, however, that the trio will have the energy to stay ahead of the peloton..."

One of the German commentators for Eurosport, Jens Heppner - a Tour stage winner in Lorent in the 1998 race - spoke with Christian Knees before the start of the stage.
There’s a feeling at Team Milram that the race for the green jersey is over for Erik Zabel. This, Heppner believes, is one of the reasons that the Italo/German team attempted to get one of its riders into The Escape of the day...

The advantae of the leading trio has dropped to 5’30". Knees is currently calling for is team car, he is the best-placed on GC of the escape group.

The peloton is 5’50" behind at the 89km mark. The pace of the chase group is being set by one rider from Francaise des Jeux along with a group from the Quickstep, Lampre and Credit Agricole teams.

The escapees covered 44.7km in the second hour of racing today. The average for the first two hours is 45.5km/h.

During the centenary Tour in 2003, the 17th stage was between Dax and Bordeaux, effectively a reverse of today’s stage. The winner that day was Servais Knaven who attacked nine other escapees in the dying kilometers and held on to claim his only stage victory in the Tour de France with an advantage of 17" over second place, Paolo Bossoni.
On that day in 2003, Robbie McEwen led the peloton home 8’06" behind Knaven, beating Erik Zabel and Baden Cooke for 11th place.

Today will be the fourth time that a stage of the Tour de France has concluded in Dax. The last winner in this town that’s famous for its ’Thermes’ was Paolo Bettini. The reigning Italian champion (who is not at the race this year) won his only Tour stage after being part of a four-man escape group along with Didier Rous, Geert Verheyen and Jose Angel Vidal in stage nine of the 2000 Tour.
The peloton was led home by Erik Zabel who claimed the same time as the winner but missed his chance of adding another victory to his resume because of a last-minute effort by Bettini.

The efforts of the sprinters’ teams is having an effect on the advantage of the leading trio. The latest check has Beneteau, Auge and Knees in the lead by 6’25".

Beneteau, Auge and Knees are now 6’45" ahead of the peloton which continues to be led by T-Mobile, Quickstep, Lampre and Credit Agricole riders.

The peloton has just reached the site of the 2nd intermediate sprint at the 72km mark. It is 7’05" behind Beneteau, Auge and Knees.

The manager of the Phonak team has explained some of the issues relating to a hip complaint for Floyd Landis. The American is going to have surgery in August to correct a niggling injury that’s the result of a bad crash in 2002. “We explained that the surgery was necessary yesterday because we’d prefer to be honest with the journalists rather than allowing rumours to circulate,” John Lelangue told France Television recently. “We wanted to announce this news in Strasbourg but the media was focussed on other issues at the ‘Grand Depart’.
“It’s a significant operation but Landis insists that he’s able to cope with the pain. The time is right, however, to correct the complaint that causes bone to rub against bone… it’s been this way for three years,” continued Lelangue, “and it hasn’t hindered Floyd too much.”

The peloton is slowly closing in on the three escapees who reached a maximum gain of 7’50" (when the bunch was at the 59km mark). The latest check has Beneteau, Auge and Knees 7’15" ahead with the peloton at the 70km mark.

The points at the 2nd intermediate sprint of the day - at the 72km mark - were won by:
1. Walter Beneteau (BTL) 6pts/6"
2. Christian Knees (MRM) 4pts/4"
3. Stephane Auge (COF) 2pts/2"

The leading trio are about to contest the 2nd intermediate sprint of the ninth stage. Beneteau is leading Knees to the line...

The advantage of the escapees has dropped to 7’40" when the peloton passed the 62km mark. It’s the first time check to indicate that the pace of the peloton is faster than that of the leading trio who joined forces at the 17km mark.

The T-Mobile team has been at the head of the peloton for most fo the stage. This team has recently been joined by a number of riders from Credit Agricole, Quickstep and Lampre.

The peloton is at the 59km mark with a deficit of 7’50" to Beneteau, Knees and Auge.

Michael Rogers has just dropped behind the peloton to collect bottles from his T-Mobile team car. The Australian began the ninth stage in third place in general classification but his role today is ’domestique’ for his team-mate Serhiy Honchar who has worn the yellow jersey since the time trial on Saturday.

Walter Beneteau is the Bouygues representative in today’s escape group. The Frenchman was involved in The Escape of the first stage this year. He’s a constant aggressor in the first week of the Tour but he’s never yielded a victory from his efforts.
Beneteau’s escape group on the first Sunday was: Vaugrenard, Portal, Sprick, Auge, Wegmann and Etxebarria... the 33-year-old from Les Essarts attacked with 15km to go in the stage but could not hold off the peloton which set up a bunch sprint in Strasbourg (won by Jimmy Casper).

The bunch is still being led by the T-Mobile team. Its deficit to the three escapees is 7’45" after 50km of racing.

Tomorrow’s stage concludes in the hometown of one of today’s escapees. Stephane Auge is not expected to perform too well on the day that concludes in Pau because it’s considered the first day in the high mountains.
He has been aggressive in the first week of the 2006 Tour and currently leads the peloton - along with Christian Knees and Walter Beneteau - by 7’30".

The peloton is now 7’30" behind Knees, Auge and Beneteau.

The leading trio covered 46.3km in the first hour of racing in stage nine. The peloton is not too interested in chasing Knees’ group which is now 7’20" ahead.

This is the first year that the 25-year-old Christian Knees has been with a team that’s eligible to start the Tour de France. He was with Team Wiesenhof in 2004 and 2005.
The German is currently the virtual leader of the Tour de France. He is from Koln and won the Rund um Koln in April this year, beating Gerolsteiner’s David Kopp by five seconds in the 202km race.
Other results include third in last year’s Sachsen Tour, when he finished just three seconds behind Mat Hayman (who crashed and broke his collarbone in the final 200m of the stage race).

The peloton is now at the 39km mark and is 7’00" behind Knees, Beneteau and Auge.

The escapees - Knees, Beneteau and Auge - are now 6’30" ahead of the peloton. This means that the virtual leader of the 2006 Tour de France is Christian Knees who started the attack at the 7km mark.

At the 33.5km mark the peloton was 5’35" behind Auge (COF), Beneteau (BTL) and Knees (MRM).

The manager of the Francaise des Jeux team was particularly annoyed in stage eight when no riders from his squad were part of the escape group. He ordered his boys to the front of the peloton to assist others in the chasing duties on Sunday. LeTour.fr contacted Marc Madiot to get his thoughts on today’s stage.
“It was out intention to have a rider in an escape in today’s stage but ideally we wanted five or six riders to be involved. Sebastian Joly tried early but his attack was quickly reeled in by the peloton.
“The escape has now gone and it’s time for me to kick back in the car and read the newspapers. The best we can hope for now is for the stage to end in a bunch sprint. If that happens, I hope Bernhard Eisel can achieved a good result.”

Auge (COF), Knees (MRM) and Beneteau (BTL) now lead the peloton by 4’35".

At the site of the first intermediate sprint in Le Barp (25.5km), the deficit of the peloton to the three escapees is 4’05".
The bunch is being led by riders from the T-Mobile team.

Christian Knees was the rider who instigated today’s escape. He went on the attack at the 7km mark. The German Milram rider is the best-placed on general classification of the leading trio. He began the ninth stage in 45th place, 5’19" behind Serhiy Honchar (TMO).

Walter Beneteau accelerated from third place into first to claim the six points at Le Barp. The results of the intermediate sprint are:
1. Walter Beneteau (BTL) 6pts/6"
2. Stephane Auge (COF) 4pts/4"
3. Christian Knees (MRM) 2pts/2"

Auge (COF), Knees (MRM) and Beneteau (BTL) are less than 1,000m from the site of the first intermediate sprint.

The three escapees are likely to share the points at the first intermediate sprint which is in Le Barp at the 25.5km mark. Their advantage over the peloton is almost three minutes.

Walter Beneteau (BTL) and Stephane Auge (COF) are just about to catch up with Christian Knees (MRM) who is 2’30" ahead of the peloton which is at the 18km mark.

There are a number of riders now answering the call of nature in the peloton which is at the 17km mark.
Knees had a lead of 1’30" on the peloton at that kilometer. He is now easing off the pace and waiting for the two counter-attacking riders, Auge and Beneteau.

Auge (COF) and Beneteau (BTL) have now attacked the peloton and are in pursuit of Knees. The situation after 10km of racing has Knees in the lead by 20" over the two chasers and 28" over the peloton.

Christian Knees has not been joined by anyone in his escape bid. The current advantage of the German Milram rider is 20".

The latest attack has come from a Milram rider, Christan Knees. At the 8km he has a lead of 12".

The latest escape attempt has been chased down by the peloton.

The peloton is at the 5.5km mark. There is a little group of riders with a slight advantage on the bunch. We’ll report the names of those involved if the attempt gains more than a 10" advantage.

Sebastian Joly (FDJ) is the latest rider to try and establish an escape. No one else was interested in joining him on the attack and the peloton is all together again. (It’s barely worth mentioning, but please note that Coyot’s attack amounted to nothing. Again...)

The first attack in stage nine has come from Arnaud Coyot of the Cofidis team. He began his move in the first kilometer, a tactic employed by the same rider in several stage this year. He’s never been able to gain an advantage of more than 200 meters before being caught by the peloton.

The flag has been dropped to signal the official start of stage nine. Racing from Bordeaux to Dax began at 1.36pm.

The peloton is still rolling in the neutral zone. The start of stage nine is expected to be at around 1.35pm.

There were 170 riders at the sign on this morning with no one retiring during the first rest day. The retirements so far are:
Danilo Di Luca (LIQ) - did not start stage two because of a urinary tract infection.
Erik Dekker (RAB) - abandoned during stage three after crashing heavily, breaking a number of teeth and sustaining severe facial injuries.
Fred Rodriguez (DVL0 - also abandoned after being involved in the same crash as Dekker in stage three.
Alejandro Valverde (CEI) - abandoned with a fractured collarbone which he sustained in a crash near the end of stage three.
Fabio Sacchi (MRM) - did not start stage six because of bronchitis.
Bobby Julich (CSC) - abandoned after crashing at the 1.5km mark of the time trial for stage seven.

There is a relatively long neutral zone at the beginning of stage nine. Riders are currently rolling along in the 9.7km zone, on their way to the site of the official start.

The weather bureau has reported that the temperature at the start of stage nine in Bordeaux is 27 degrees Celsius in the air and a scorching 44 degrees at road level. Summer has returned to the Tour after a couple of days in more mild conditions.
There are some high clouds hovering above the Gironde department but there’s little chance of any rain to cool the riders down as they aim in a southerly direction to Dax.

The ninth stage boasts three intermediate sprints; they are in Le Barp (at 25.5km), Parentis-en-Born (72.0km) and Saint-Girons (128.0km). Six, four and two points will be awarded to the first three over the line at each prime.
The points count towards the race for the green jersey. This classification is currently led by the winner of three stages this year, Robbie McEwen. The Australian Davitamon-Lotto rider said yesterday that the focus of his team will now shift to working for his compatriot Cadel Evans who has hopes in the general classification. In the meantime, however, McEwen is in charge of the green jersey with 181 points, 17 more than Tom Boonen (QSI). In third place is Oscar Freire (RAB) with 146pts.

The 169.5km ninth stage from Bordeaux to Dax is scheduled to start at 1.15pm. The road that hugs the coastline is pancake flat; there’s no hill to be found on the route that begins in the Girone department and concludes in Landes.
The conditions are warm and, at the start of the stage, relatively still.
Live coverage will commence shortly.