The trio took control of the stage with 17km left after bursting clear from a group of 15.

Levi Leipheimer and Inaki Isasi had led but were caught by the 13 other escapees with 20 of the 197km from Morzine to Macon remaining.

Yellow jersey holder Oscar Pereiro and Floyd Landis finished in the peloton.

1613: The peloton come home, eight minutes behind the leaders. There is no movement from Pereiro and Landis and the overall classification stays the same.
Stage 18 result:
1. Matteo Tosatto (ITA - QSI) 4h16'15"
2. Cristian Moreni (ITA - COF) at same time
3. Ronny Scholz (GER - GST) at same time
4. Manuel Quinziato (ITA - LIQ) at 47"
5. Sebastian Hinault (FRA - C.A) at 1'03"
6. Jerome Pineau (FRA - BTL) at 1'03"
7. Sylvain Calzati (FRA - A2R) at 1'03"
8. Benoit Vaugrenard (FRA - FDJ) at 1'03"
9. Inaki Isasi (ESP - EUS) at 1'03"
10. Egoi Martinez (ESP - DSC) at 1'03"

1605: After a frantic sprint finish, Quickstep's Matteo Tosatto takes the stage in blazing heat with Cristian Moreni second.

1604: The trio are playing cat and mouse and there is just 1km to go. It's anyone's stage.

1559: The leaders, now 40 seconds ahead of the pursuing Quinziato, come over a bridge and take a sharp 90 degree left-hand turn. There is 4km to go. Quinziato is 12 seconds ahead of the chasing pack while the peloton is still over seven minutes off the lead.

1553: Sinkewitz, Leipheimer, Juan Antonio Flecha, Manuel Quinziato and Jerome Pineau try to catch the leaders but with eight km to go, they are caught to make the chasing group 12 strong again. The leading trio are over 30 seconds ahead and the winner of this stage looks to be coming from here.

1546: The bunch seem to be coasting along nicely but Ronny Scholz storms into the lead with 17km left. Cristian Moreni and Matteo Tosatto leave the chasing pack and catch him. The race is well and truly on.

1539: Leipheimer and Isasi are caught by the rest of the 13 breakaway riders with 20km left, so there are 15 now competing for the stage victory. The peloton is seven minutes back.

1532: Result of second intermediate sprint:
1. Levi Leipheimer (GST) 6pts
2. Inaki Isasi (EUS) 4pts
3. Sebastian Hinault (C.A) 2pts

1526: Leipheimer and Isasi are 25 seconds ahead as they approach the second intermediate sprint after 169.5km in Polliat.

1522: The leading pair are co-operating together but their advantage drops to 20 seconds over the rest of the breakaway riders with 35km left.

1518: With 40km left, Leipheimer and Isasi are 30 seconds ahead of the other escapees as they pass through Bourg en Bresse, and 4:30 ahead of the peloton.

1515: Robbie McEwen, favourite for the stage win at the start of the day, races past the Saunier Duval team at the head of the peloton.

1511: Leipheimer and Isasi are now just 15 seconds ahead of the 13 other riders in the breakaway group.

1506: The stage win is almost certain to come from the leading group with the peloton now four minutes behind.

1506: Frenchman Jerome Pineau of Bouygues Telecom tries to bridge the gap to the two leaders.

1505: Levi Leipheimer catches Isasi and the two lead the other 13 escapees by around 100m.

1503: Spaniard Inaki Isasi is the latest rider to have a dig off the front, quickly opening up a gap of 80m.

1501: Spaniard Egoi Martinez of the Discovery Channel team is the first to catch Calzati, swiftly followed by the rest. The lead group is now playing a cagey game of cat and mouse with each other.

1459: Sylvain Calzati, perhaps scenting another French stage victory, attacks the lead group, who are in hot pursuit.

1456: The peloton is 3:10 behind as it reaches the top of the climb.

1453: The leading group have wasted no time getting up the 6.4% gradient of the Cote de Chambod.
Result of the third climb:
1. Levi Leipheimer (GST) 3pts
2. Ronny Scholz (GST) 8pts
3. Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ) 1pt

1449: The riders have another eight kilometres before the next climb, the 1.9km-long category-four Cote de Chambod.

1445: It appears the peloton is happy to let the breakaway group stay in front, with the gap growing to 3:45 with 60km left.

1443:
Result of the second climb:
1. Sylvain Calzati (A2R) 10pts
2. Matteo Tossato (QSI) 9pts
3. Ronny Scholz (GST) 8pts
4. 4. Manuel Quinziato (LIQ) 7pts
5. Egoi Martinez (DSC) 6pts
6. Inaki Isasi (EUS) 5pts

1439: Frenchman Sylvain Calzati (A2R) leads the escape group as they approach the summit of the second climb.

1433: The leaders have begun the final category-two climb of this year's race. Levi Leipheimer is at the head of the 15-man escape group on the Col du Berthiand, which peaks after 130.5km of the stage. The gap to the peloton has remained constant at around 3:15 for a while now.

1428: It is exceptionally hot and humid today and the lycra is sticking tight to the riders as they enter Beaujolais country ahead of the Col du Berthiand climb.

1412: With 85km to go, the leaders are still 3:15 ahead of the main bunch. Decision time for the peloton will probably come when they ascend the category-two Col du Berthiand in around 20km.

1407: Erik Zabel punctures his front tyre and is forced into a change before attempting to rejoin the back of the peloton.

1405: The Saunier Duval team continues to work hard at the front of the peloton but the gap is still 3:25 with around 90km of the stage left.

1401: Floyd Landis looks positively serene compared to the adrenaline-fuelled individual who took the race by storm on Thursday as he tracks yellow jersey holder Oscar Pereiro in the middle of the peloton.

1356: The peloton reaches the summit around 3:35 adrift of the lead group.

1353: Belgian Mario Verts of the Davitamon-Lotto team takes four points for reaching the top of the Cote de Chatillon-en-Michaille first.
Result of the first climb:
1. Mario Aerts (DVL) 4pts
2. Dave Zabriskie (CSC) 3pts
3. Sebastian Hinault (C.A) 2pts
4. Sylvain Calzati (A2R) 1pts

1350: The riders are passing through rolling countryside as they head west away from the Alps and into Beaujolais country on the way to Macon.

1347: The Saunier Duval-Prodir team, among them Britain's David Millar, are driving along the peloton in pursuit of the 15 fugitives, closing the gap to 3:30 as they pass through Bellegarde.

1344: The leaders are about to begin the first of three climbs in the stage, the first one after 98km a 5.1km category-three ascent.

1337: The peloton passes through the 85km feed zone still four minutes behind Levi Leipheimer's escape group.

1327: Another rider decides that enough is enough. David Lopez Garcia of the Euskaltel team jumps off his bike to signal the end of his Tour de France.

1323: The leaders are closing in on the 85km feed zone which will come as a welcome relief as the weather is hot - around 43C at road level. The leading group are now 4:30 ahead and the category three climb is looming.

1302: With 64km of the 197km-long stage gone, the lead is now 3:30. Just as an aside, the riders did 52km in the first hour of racing.

1252: Finally a large breakaway forms at 53km and this could be a lasting one. Patrik Sinkewitz, Levi Leipheimer, Calzati and Vaugrenard are included in the 15-man group that is now over a minute ahead. Floyd Landis and yellow jersey holder Oscar Pereiro, just 30 seconds apart in the overall classification, remain in the peloton.

1240: With peloton setting a quick pace, it has been very difficult for any rider to go it alone. Sylvain Calzati of the AG2R team is the latest to give it a blast but he is soon taken back into the safety of the peloton.

1227: Well it was fun while it lasted. Millar and Popovych have had enough and the break is finished at 32km.

1224: Result of first intermediate sprint:
1. Popovych (DSC) 6pts
2. Millar (SDV) 4pts
3. McEwen (DVL) 2pts - at 18"

1220: Millar, making his return to cycling after a two-year ban for doping, and Popovych are only just holding their own out front and the gap is now 15 seconds. There are attempts by some riders to leave the chasing group but the breaks come to nothing.

1206: The leading duo are working well together and at one point carve out a lead of over a minute. However, the Liquigas team have come to the front of the peloton and have reduced the gap to 50 seconds.

1204: And then there were two. Vaugrenard is swallowed up by the peloton, which is now 35 seconds behind Millar and Popovych.

1253: The first break comes on the 1.5km mark as Yaroslav Popovych, David Millar and Benoit Vaugrenard leave the peloton and establish a 15 second lead.

1148: We are off. The riders begin the 18th stage but Spaniard Oscar Freire, who claimed the fifth and ninth stages, has pulled out overnight. The Rabobank rider became a father for the first time on Sunday.

1143: The riders are coasting through the 2.7km neutral zone and soon the flag will drop to signal the start.

1137: The race is still wide open and we are no closer to finding out who will succeed Lance Armstrong despite the best efforts of the Alps and the Pyrenees. Expect the leaders to keep close together as they recover from their exertions over the last few days.

1131: After three days of gruelling climbs in the French Alps, the riders will be looking forward to the calm, transitional stage 18. The 197km journey has two sprints and three climbs but nothing greater than the category two Col du Berthiand.