Spain's Marcos Serrano pulled clear of a 10-man breakaway on a brutal final climb to win stage 18 of the Tour.

Serrano had been part of a group including Axel Merckx and Thomas Voeckler to go clear after just an hour of racing.

But when Serrano upped the tempo on the final second-category climb, he pulled clear for a solo win.

Armstrong, Cadel Evans, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso then led home the leading protagonists to gain time on rivals.

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1607: Rasmussen, Mancebo, Vinokourov and Leipheimer end up about 35/40 seconds off Armstrong's group. Floyd Landis and Christophe Moreau follow a little after that.

1606: Evans leads Armstrong, then Basso, then Ullrich over the line more than 11 minutes behind Serrano.

1604: Basso, Armstrong, Evans and Ullrich go over the summit and prepare to pin their ears back for the finish line.

1603: Basso leads the quartet with gritted teeth; Armstrong is out of his saddle but cool as you like; Evans is just staying with them and battling all the way; Ullrich is just slipping back... but only momentarily.

1602: Mickael Rasmussen and Levi Leipheimer try to claw way back some time, with Vinokourov just on their tale. They're still some way down the road - there reportedly 40 seconds back.

1601: Evans' bike is all over the shop as he tries to keep up with Basso, Armstrong and Ullrich. It's an impressive effort by the Australian.

1600: Of the leaders, it's just Basso, Armstrong, Ullrich and EVans who are keeping pace. Vinokourov has slipped well out while the other contenders are almost already out of sight. A blistering burst of pace.

1558: Predictably Discovery are flying up the final sumit. But when they run out of steam, Basso pounces. Armstrong manages to go with him as does Evans, with Ullrich and Vinokourov just behind.

1555: Vasseur passes Merckx on the line for second, much to the Belgian's annoyance. He gesticulates at his rival over the line.

1553: Serrano goes over the top with a clear gap over Vasseur and Merckx. But will his 20-second descent be enough for him to keep the lead?

1551: Monstrous crowds, with a cacophony of noise appear from nowhere. The roars look to have given Serrano fresh zest as he edges to the summit. It's a horrific ascent.

1549: Merckx's legs look spent on the 11% gradient as the horror of the climb takes its toll. But he gets back with Serrano and Vasseur before Serrano, arguably the best of the three climbers, pulls clear once more. There's 1km left to go.

1548: Voeckler is the latest of the sextet dropped by the leaders. It now looks like a three-way tussle between Merckx, Serrano and Vasseur.

1546: Merckx turns the screw once more on the Cote de la Croix-Neuve. His rivals hang in with him this time but he looks the strongest rider at the minute.

1544: Merckx and Voeckler have been caught out front by Zandio, Serrano, Pellizotti and Vasseur. They are half-a-minute clear of the rest of their earlier 10-man breakaway, and a total of 14 minutes clear of Armstrong et al.

1538: Merckx has decided to throw the gauntlet down. He is blistering his way up now, with Da Cruz well and truly down the road now. Voeckler lifts the tempo to close in on Merckx which he does just after the summit.

1537: The Cote de Chabrits is taking its toll on Da Cruz, who is 16 seconds clear with 1km left of it, and his pursuers.

1530: Da Cruz breaks clear on his own with 13km left. No one goes with him for the time being, but he's not renowned as a particularly good climber so should get caught.

1526: The momentum among the front-runners is very slick. They're snaking and weaving their way through the street corners and none of the riders are shirking their duties keeping the pace up at the front.

1516: There's 22km left for the leaders and they're going to start putting their attack plans into place with two climbs left to go - Cote de Chabrits and Cote de la Croix-Neuve.

1507: According to Tour de France officials, Armstrong has tipped Merckx as the man to win from the group, the Texan taking time out of his riding for a bit of on-saddle punditry. The break will certainly stay away now - the 10 have a 15-minute lead.

1459: One of the leaders of the stage, Kessler, is number 13 in the race. Interestingly the superstitious rider wears his number upside down.

1454: Armstrong is happily ensconced in conversation with team-mates, rivals and even camera crews. He's clearly happy to let the 10 leaders to round off the stage. For him, Thursday's stage is all about damage limitation and keeping out of any possible crashes.

1444: Three of the riders in the lead group are French, which might give the host country something to celebrate by the end of the stage.

1433: The pace of the Cote de Boyne is taking its toll. Erik Dekker, Fred Rodriguez and Inaki Isasi have all been dropped. The results for that climb:
1. Carlos Da Cruz 10pts
2. Matthias Kessler 9pts
3. Xabier Zandio 8pts
4. Marcos Serrano 7pts
5. Cedric Vasseur 6pts
6. Luke Roberts 5pts

1425: Armstrong is flanked by a trio of Discovery riders, with Basso and Leipheimer just off his shoulder. The Texan looks as chilled out as ever... but focused.

1413: The heat is clearly taking its toll. As the leaders head up the somewhat unpleasant second-category Cote de Boyne, the majority have their tops zipped up in order to cool them down.

1404: Gerolsteiner, Discovery, T-Mobile and Rabobank are the main teams leading the chase but there doesn't seem to be any great urgency at the moment. They've still got some 12 minutes to make up.

1353: There's one crucial aspect to the break and that's in the team competition. T-Mobile are just 37 second behind Discovery Channel in the standings. T-Mobile have a rider, in Kessler, in the break, while Discovery do not.

1347: It's another glorious Gallic day. The sun is shining and the roads are, as always, lined with very vocal fans.

1337: With more than a 10-minute advantage, the leaders soar over the summit of the category-three Cote du Raujolles. The results are:
1. Carlos Da Cruz 4pts
2. Axel Merckx 3pts
3. Luke Roberts 2pts
4. Cedric Vasseur 1pt

1332: It's lunchtime. After 92km, the riders dig into their feedbags as they continue to claw in the leaders.

1324: The peloton will have to buck up their ideas if they want to avoid the leaders getting away from them. Kessler, Voeckler et al are nearing a 10-minute lead now.

1313: To give an idea of the pace of the stage, the riders are clocking 46.2km/h so far for the first two hours of racing.

1258: It remains to be seen how far the 10 breakaway riders are allowed to get ahead. Their lead is at five minutes but, at the 73km mark, is Discovery time. Lance Armstrong's team head up the chase.

1245: The best-placed rider in the breakaway group is Zandio, 40 minutes off the race lead so no great threat. As a result, they've already been given the freedom to pull 3m 30s.

1234: The leading 10 are now 50 seconds clear. There's not exactly a major contest for the first climb of the day - the category-four Cote de la Bessede. The results are:
1. Zandio 3pts
2. Kessler 2pts
3. Merckx 1pt

1225: Thursday's stage is something like a very frenetic game of chess. Tactics are coming to the fore from teams left, right and centre. This time 10 riders from 10 different teams find themselves 20 seconds out front. They are Matthias Kessler, Axel Merckx, Egoi Martinez, Thomas Voeckler, Cedric Vasseur, Franco Pellizotti, Luke Roberts, Marcos Serrano, Xabier Zandio and Carlos da Cruz.

1212: Sebastian Joly then Franco Pellizotti has a go. Both their histrionics fail but it doesn't deter others. Carlos de la Cruz dives off on his own. It looks likely to be shortlived though.

1203: The breakaway has been devoured by the peloton but there are some nervous faces out there. The pace is frenetic as riders desperately try to jockey for position at the front.

1155: A group of 25 riders has now broken off the shackles of the other 135 riders in the race. It includes some talented riders: green jersey wearer Thor Hushovd, Jose Azevedo, Denis Menchov, Alberto Contador, Bobby Julich and Thomas Voeckler. They have a lead of about 25 seconds now.

1147: The riding's at prolific pace now - it's virtually impossible to keep up with all the breaks. The latest duo of note out front are Roberto Heras, a former team-mate of Armstrong, and Juan Antonio Flecha.

1143: The likes of Moreau and Vinokourov give up their efforts... for now. But Bradley McGee, after a disappointing Tour, has two stabs at pulling clear. At the second attempt, he moves eight seconds ahead... but Discovery are on the case at the front of the peloton.

1136: Christophe Moreau is the latest on the loose, springing off just before the 9km mark. He's unlikely to be given too much leeway as he's 10th overall in the race. Johan van Summeren and Michael Albasini first join him, then more crucially Alexandre Vinokourov, who just can't get enough of attacking.

1129: The peloton are reunited after the early breaks as the sprinters' teams peg them back ahead of the day's first intermediate sprint

1119: The racing is under way and the attacks are coming thick and fast. Among those on the break are Stefano Garzelli, Santiago Botero and Egoi Martinez.

1111: The 155 riders left in the race are now weaving their way through the neutral zone before the real action gets going.

1107: The big mountain stages are over but there are still some nasty climbs on Thursday, including a category-two finish up to Mende.