Tour de France 2008

Stage seven: Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand (197.5 km)

By Paul Fletcher

ALL THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENED (ALL TIMES BST)

1608: The remains of the peloton, which contains most of the riders fancied to win the Tour, cross the line approximately three-and-a-half minutes behind the stage winner. Injury concerns Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloeden came through the stage without obvious worry. With another difficult stage on Sunday the favourites have kept their powder dry.

1606: David de la Fuente crosses the line in third place, one minute, 38 seconds behind Gerdemann.

1603: Linus Gerdemann takes the stage and with it claims the yellow jersey - a fantastic achievement for the 24-year-old T-Mobile rider. Fabian Cancellara's time in maillot jaune has come to an end. Gerdemann also takes the lead in the white jersey competition, awarded to the best young rider in the race. It is the greatest win of his career. Fantastic. Seconds later Inigo Landaluze of the Euskadi team crosses the line.

1554: Linus Gerdemann has a lead of 20 seconds over Inigo Landaluze with eight kilometres left. It won't take long to reach the finish given the speed he is descending. As things stand he is heading for yellow.

606: DEBATE How will the riders fare on stage seven?

1551: The peloton reaches the summit three minutes, 20 seconds behind Linus Gerdemann. A steep, technical descent follows.

1547: Linus Gerdemann is in big trouble. First he almost hits a motorbike, just swerving out of the way, and then manfully drags himself up to the summit of the Col de la Colombiere, reaching it 18 seconds ahead of Inigo Landaluze.

1545: Inigo Landaluze continues to pursue Linus Gerdemann up the Col de la Colombiere. Gerdemann has a lead of more than four minutes from the chasing pack and could well end the day in yellow. All the big hitters - though in with a realistic chance of winning the Tour - appeared to be in the peloton.

1543: An update on Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloeden - the injured Astana duo are in the peloton and look to be in good shape.

1538: Linus Gerdemann remains in front but Inigo Landaluze is now in second after chasing him down with David de la Fuente before dropping the Saunier Duval rider.

1536: Rabobank continue to drive the peloton. It is a hot, hot day in France and some of the field are really suffering. The sprinters gave up the ghost some time ago and formed their own 'bus' at the back.

1528: Linus Gerdemann decides the time has come to take matters into his own hands and drops Dmitriy Fofonov. He does so with 20 km left or, to put it another way, five kilometres to the top of the Col de la Colombiere. The pursuing peloton has upped the pace and are shedding riders in a big way.

1521: Dmitriy Fofonov and Linus Gerdemann have a lead of four minutes on the main field. They look comfortable, relatively speaking. Rabobank are driving the peloton. Perhaps Denis Menchov fancies his chances. The lead two are eight kilometres from the top of the climb.

1514: Dmitriy Fofonov and Linus Gerdemann lead. The breakaway group of 15 is effectively no more, spread as they are on the mountain. Likewise, the peloton has thinned out but the climbers within it are hardly travelling at top speed. It will be fascinating to see who is where when they go over the top.

1510: Of the 15 in the breakaway group, Jose Ivan Gutierrez takes off and is soon joined by David de la Fuente. Paolo Savoldelli disappears out the back. joins the two at the front of the breakaway group.
One thing is for sure - Fabian Cancellara will not be in yellow tonight.

1506: There are 30 points for the first man to climb the Col de la Colombiere, which has an elevation of 3,000 feet. It is 16 km long and by the end of today's stage we will know a lot more about who is in the sort of shape to challenge for the overall classification - or perhaps more pertinently who is not!

1502: The business end of the day. The breakaway group of 15 have started to climb the Col de la Colombiere. Expect the entire field to be spread all the way up the mountain. The sprinters are already amassing at the rear of the peloton.

1452: Of the breakaway group Caisse D'Epargne rider Jose Ivan Gutierrez is the highest placed in the overall standings, 53 seconds behind Fabian Cancellara. Linus Gerdemann is 52 seconds adrift and Juan Antonio Flecha one minute.

1445: OK, so the miles are ticking down to the Col de la Colombiere and the breakaway group of 15 have a lead of six minutes, 19 seconds.

The group of 15 are:
Martin Elmiger
Juan Antonio Flecha
Dmitriy Fofonov
David de la Fuente
Jose Ivan Gutierrez
Linus Gerdemann
Inigo Landaluze
Laurent Lefevre
Egoi Martinez
Ruben Perez
Jerome Pineau
Paolo Savoldelli
Bram Tankink
Fabian Wegmann
Benoit Vaugrenard

"Savoldelli will win this stage. Gerdemann will take the yellow jersey."
De Guzman on 606

1435: Several sprinters, including Robbie McEwen, who is having a difficult old day after slipping off the back earlier in the stage, rejoin the main peloton. Several CSC riders continue to drive the peloton.

1430: David de la Fuente hoovers up more points, crossing over the top of the category four cote de Peguin in first place with Laurent Lefevre second and Dmitriy Fofonov third.

1426: There are 60 km left in the stage and the breakaway group have a lead of 5 minutes, 40 seconds. The sun is beating down and the time until the riders reach the Col de la Colombiere is coming down all the time.

1409: Several CSC riders are pulling along the peloton as they attempt to close the gap on the breakaway group. Their jerseys are unzipped and they are working hard. It is hot, hot, hot on Bastille Day.

1405: David del la Fuente bursts off the top of the breakaway group of 15 to reach the summit of the third category Cote de Cruseilles first.

Lets face it, what we are all waiting for is to see what happens on the category one Col de la Colombiere. Then we'll find out for real just what sort of shape Astana's injured duo of Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloeden are in.

1350: The peloton has reduced the lead of the breakaway group of 15 to 5 minutes, 32 seconds. There are 80km remaining and the food station has been and gone.

1335: The breakaway 15 are now 7 minutes 32 seconds ahead of the peloton. The riders have covered more than half the stage, but the category one climb over the Col de la Colombiere lies ahead.

1314: It has been reported that Enrico Degano, who crashed on stage six, has abandoned. According to reallywheelie on 606, this leaves Isle of Man rider Mark Cavendish as the Lanterne Rouge. That's last place to those of us not too familiar with French.

1305: T-Mobile's Linus Gerdemann sprints off the front of the breakaway group to take six points at the second intermediate sprint. The breakaway group of 15 riders are still eight minutes clear of the peloton. Rest assured though, there will be many more twists and turns before the end of this stage.

1255: The breakaway group now comprises 15 riders, with a lead of more than eight minutes over the peloton. There are 120km left in the stage and the field are closing in on the second and final sprint of the day. The first was won by Tom Boonen, with Erik Zabel second and Daniele Bennati third.

1245: The breakaway group of 12 now have a lead of more than five minutes over the peloton, while another three are attempting to cross the divide.

1235: Lots of talk on the 606 board about Christophe Moreau's chances of sending France into raptures with a Bastille Day victory - but can he deliver? Surely he is over the hill (pardon the pun).

1230: The group including race leader Fabian Cancellara has caught the main peloton, which includes all the pre-race favourites. Moving forward to the tete de course, three riders have bridged the gap and joined the breakaway group.

1225: It is a very, very hot Bastille Day and if the first climb of the day is an indicator of what lies ahead the field will be blown to pieces. The breakaway group of nine riders, including Saunier Duval's David de la Fuente, have a lead of 36 seconds over the peloton.

1205: Drama. The first climb of the day and the field has split into two main groups with a smaller breakaway group out in front. Race leader Fabian Cancellara and green jersey leader Tom Boonen are adrift of the main group, as are Robbie McEwen and Mark Cavendish.

Dane Michael Rasmussen was first over the Cote de Corlier, the opening climb of the day, before falling back into the peloton, with Euskaltel-Euskadi's Gorka Verdugo second.

1200: A group of riders pulled off the front of the peloton at the 24km mark but by time they reached the first climb of the stage, the 6.4km Cote de Corlier, they had been swallowed up by the peloton. Don't forget today is Bastille Day - expect lots of attacks from the French riders as they go in search of glory.

1130: The stage has started and the riders are through the first 15km. Andriy Grivko launched an early break but was soon reeled in by the peloton. Speaking earlier on Saturday morning Danish climber Michael Rasmussen highlighted the importance of the stage.

"Today is the first big stage," said Rabobank rider Rasmussen. "It will give an idea of who will be on the podium in Paris."

"The beer is in the fridge, the satellite dish aligned to Eurosport and Le Tour starts Today. Allez, Allez, Allez!"
Lowlandbrit on 606

1100: Rabobank rider Oscar Freire pulls out of the Tour with a sore backside. The Spaniard was fifth in the overall standings but third in the sprinters' standings behind Tom Boonen and Erik Babel.

1055 BST: It is the first big mountain stage of the Tour, which includes the race's first category one climb, over the Col de la Colombiere.

Sylvain Chavanel starts the stage wearing the King of the Mountains jersey, with 40 points to Phillipe Gilbert's 23.

Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC is still the overall leader, with Briton David Millar in fourth.