Radio 5Live's Simon Brotherton watched Ullrich hold onto the yellow jersey

The 10th stage of the Tour de France heading into the Pyrenees was a difficult ride in constant drizzle and heavy fog.

Italian Rodolfo Massi won the race, beating his compatriot Marco Pantani in the first mountain stage of the Tour from Pau to Luchon.

Ullrich regains yellow jersey after losing it two days ago

Germany's Ullrich, who finished eighth and looked strong, was only 59 seconds behind the race winner.

Ullrich, 24, looking the likely winner of the Tour for the second year in a row, leads American Bobby Julich in the overall standings by 1m 17secs with Dane Bo Hamburger third, 2m 17 secs behind.

Perilous descent

Top Italian rider Francesco Casagrande was forced out after he was injured in a fall on the way down from the Col De L'Aubisque.

The 27-year-old climbing specialist fell twice as riders tackled the perilous descent in wet and foggy conditions.

Casagrande, who finished sixth overall last year, appeared to have injured his right leg in the second fall.

Another 16 riders dropped out of the race on Tuesday.

Drugs scandal

Festina riders, excluded from the Tour de France after a major doping scandal, could be called before an investigating judge before the end of the week, police said on Tuesday.

The French team was thrown out of the event last week after banned drugs were found in the car of the physiotherapist of Festina's top rider Richard Virenque.

Festina manager Bruno Roussel is being held by police

Director Bruno Roussel, confessed that doping substances were made available to his team.

On Tuesday he announced that he assumed responsibility for his team's behaviour and called for clearer laws on banned substances.

Roussel, now being held for questioning in Lille, asked in a statement whether "we have the right to demand athletes give performances that go beyond the limits of a cyclist's capacities".

The President of the International Union of Cycling (UCI), Hein Verbruggen, has admitted the sport's officials are struggling to discover how many cyclists are using illegal substances.

"I don't know how many, is it 5%, 10%, is it 20% or 40%?" he said. "I don't know, nobody knows."

On Wednesday, the riders tackle a tough 170-km stage from Luchon to Le Plateau de Beille.