The riders face their last day in the mountains on the 218.5km stage 16, with speculation ongoing about the doping scandal

Some teams refuse to move from the starting line in protest at a perceived lack of unity in confronting doping in the sport

Other riders start to pick their way through as the protestors refuse to budge but eventually stage 16 gets under way

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme handles the fallout of Astana's withdrawal as the riders roll out of Orthez

Stephane Auge, Vincente Garcia-Acosta, Gorka Verdugo and Christophe Rinero break away as attention returns to racing

Michael Rasmussen lurks in the pack but Juan Mauricio Soler, Carlos Sastre and Iban Mayo try to chase down the leaders

Sastre catches the break and works on building a lead but the peloton respond and Rasmussen is back level by the final climb

Rasmussen produces a massive push on the closing stretch of the Col d'Aubisque and crosses the line for the stage win

All Levi Leipheimer can do is grit his teeth in Rasmussen's wake and take second place just ahead of Alberto Contador

Australian Cadel Evans finishes in fourth as the day's final climb proves too much for Sastre, who slides back to eighth

Rasmussen's lead stretches to three minutes, but news of Cristian Moreni's failed dope test provides more scandal