1606: Cardenas holds on to record the stage win, but Lance Armstrong sprints to the line to finish just behind Laiseka in third place.

Armstrong's great rival Jan Ullrich is a further 20 seconds back in fourth place.

1604: Armstrong powers past Ullrich, giving him his trademark backwards glance, to cement his hold over the German rider.

1603: With less than 2km to go, Cardenas is 40 seconds clear of Ullrich and Armstrong.

1600: Euskaltel rider Laiseka sprints away from Ullrich and Armstrong in a bid to catch Cardenas. Behind them Joseba Beloki and Oscar Sevilla attempt to bridge the gap to the Tour favourites.

1555: Ullrich and Armstrong continue their relentless climb to the finish and sweep past long-time leader Bettini and Laiseka, who both try desperately to stay with them.

Cardenas is a further 56 seconds up the road with only 4km to go.

1549: Kivilev is unable to stay with Ullrich and Armstrong's incredible pace, and the big two soon pass the three-man chasing group led by Bartoli.

A minute up the road, Bettini is caught and passed by Roberto Laiseka, who replaced team-mate Etxebarria at the front, and Cardenas.

1547: Jan Ullrich finally attacks Armstrong and immediately splits the peloton. Armstrong and Kivilev, who has a chance of taking the yellow jersey from Simon, go with Ullrich.

1545: Bettini starts the 9.4km climb a minute clear of Etxebarria and Cardenas.

1540: Bettini sets a fantastic pace on the descent into the town of Ariege, and is now only 11km from the finish line. The first category climb to Ax-les-Thermes awaits.

1530: Cardenas and Etxebarria are only 40 seconds behind Bettini over the top of the third category Col du Chioula, but a three-man group, including experienced Mapei rider Michele Bartoli, is now only 2:02 behind the leader. The peloton is almost two minutes further back.

1520: Bettini is maintaining the gap to Etxebarria and Cardenas, but the peloton, still paced by US Postal, is gaining fast with only 25km to go.

The result of the climb to the Col des 7 Freres:

• Bettini - 10pts
• Cardenas - 7pts at 1:25
• Etxebarria - 5pts
• Demarbaix - 3pts at 3:30
• Bartoli - 1pt

1510: O'Grady drops back from the chasing group to rejoin the peloton. Etxebarria and Cardenas continue to chase Bettini, who is 1:22 clear at the top of the third category Col des 7 Freres. There are less than 30kms left to the finish.

1500: The second intermediate sprint is won by Bettini, but O'Grady picks up the four points available for second place to strengthen his hold on the green jersey.

1450: Better news arrives of Bram de Groot, the second rider injured on the descent from the Col du Jau. The Rabobank rider suffered facial and shoulder fractures, but the injuries are not as serious as first feared and he has now been moved to hospital.

1445: The six-man chasing group is swallowed up by the peloton, which is now 1:45 behind O'Grady's group, and 4:00 back on Bettini.

1433: Bettini continues to push hard to build a lead, but the chase is very much on behind him.

O'Grady has been joined by Euskaltel's David Etxebarria and Kelme's Felix Cardenas, while there is six-man group - which contains Bobby Julich and Telekom's Alexandre Vinokourov - between them and the peloton.

Lance Armstrong is currently sitting behind five US Postal team-mates at the front of the peloton. Race leader Francois Simon is right on his tail.

1415: Bettini is now out on his own, having dropped O'Grady, but riders are continually breaking off the front of the peloton in a bid to bridge the gap.

1410: The first news of De Groot and Ivanov filters through, and it is not good. Ivanov, who won the ninth stage, has been taken to hospital with a fractured collar bone. But De Groot has still not been moved from the crash site and is reported to be "seriously injured".

1355: Mapei's Bettini and O'Grady of Credit Agricole, the leaders on the road, are now only two minutes 40 seconds clear of the peloton as they approach the feeding zone at 100km.

1340: Reports emerge that Sergei Ivanov and Bram de Groot crashed over the side of the road on the descent.

1327: Most of Roux's 13-strong breakaway group is caught by the US Postal-led peloton on the descent from the Col de Jau. Green jersey holder O'Grady and Bettini are still clear.

1323: Laurent Roux, the current holder of the King of the Mountains jersey, is first over the first category Col de Jau to take the 30 points on offer. The leading group, now 13 riders, is 12 minutes clear of the chasing pack.

1312: A leading group of eight riders - Bettini, Halgand, O'Grady, D Extebarria, Roux, Brozyna, Atienza and Van de Wouwer - is now 22 minutes clear of the US Postal-led peloton.

1302: Festina's Christophe Moreau, currently fourth in the overall classification, climbs off his bike. The French favourite cuts a dejected figure in the team car.