1710: I'll be back in the saddle for Saturday's shorter, but tougher stage seven. The 165.5km ride from Tournus to Station des Rousses, on the French/Swiss border, takes in three category two climbs, two category three and a category four. There's also two intermediate sprints to look out for before the first climb. Could Cavendish look to sneak a few points? Join me for the mid-day start and we'll find out together. Thanks for all the texts and 606 gems. I'm off to dip the fingers in an ice bath.

1707: Could we dare to dream of a British man in yellow at the end of tomorrow's stage? Geraint Thomas took three seconds out of yellow jersey wearer Cancellara today and lies just 20 seconds back. Cancellara is not a climber and will not be relishing tomorrow's ride in the hills. It's not a full-on mountain stage, but the hills are big enough for him to lose the lead. Cadel Evans is expected to have a dig, but if Thomas, who can climb a bit, can go with him...

1658: Cavendish's win secured him 35 points and has lifted him up to fifth, on 85 points in the green jersey classification. Thor Hushovd leads the way, but he only picked up 16 points for finishing 10th today and he is 33 points ahead on 118. Alessandro Petacchi closed up the gap to fourth with his third-place finish.

1653: Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara retains the yellow jersey and remains 20 seconds ahead of Britain's Geraint Thomas who finished well and Australia's Cadel Evans. More interesting is the race for green.

From Nigel and Rob in Gueugnon, via text: "Saw that stood on the finish line, absolutely stunning seeing Mark sprint to the front, crowd went crazy!"

From Esquain on 606: "I like the new HTC tactic, get Renshaw into the last two k, sit on either Garmin or Lampre, then smoke them."

1645: Here's the thoughts of winner Cavendish: "The guys rode perfect. It was a really hard day. It was up and down and there were a lot of miserable faces but we kept it together. It was a perfect lead-out we had to use other teams and Renshaw led me out off the back of Lampre and Garmin."

1642: Another perfect lead-out by Renshaw left Cavendish the simplest of finishes and he sped over the line in five hours, 37 minutes, 42 seconds, ahead of Tyler Farrar and Alessandro Petacchi.

1640: Garmin leading the way and look well set but Renshaw emerges from behind Tyler Farrar and he's got Cavendish in his wheel. And there goes the Manxman. And CAVENDISH WINS STAGE SIX.

1639: This is an arrow straight road at the moment. Cav's lead-out man Mark Renshaw shouting the orders to the team. Bernard Eisel pushing on for HTC. Boasson Hagen up there with Geraint Thomas for Sky. Lampre taking it up - big wobble round a tricky right hander as they go under 1km barrier.

1637: The tailwind has turned into a bit more of a crosswind. Michael Rogers and Tony Martin leading it out for HTC Columbia. A few riders tailing off the back of the peloton. After 225km of racing, can you blame them? Cancellara safely just off the front. 3km to go.

1635: There's a tight section with around 600m to go which could make things interesting as this is lining up for the mother of all sprints. Thor Hushovd up in about sixth, but he has Alessandro Petacchi, who has won two sprints this year, for company. 5km left.

1632: Lots of jostling for position in the peloton. The HTC Columbia train has been derailed and Astana are taking a turn on the front with Contador in second. BMC's Big George Hincapie also up there, bringing Cadel Evans through. 7km left.

From Steven in Edinburgh, via text: "Bealach na Ba is probably a cat 2 (it rises to 626m) maybe cat 1 because of the surface. Definitely Hors if you go the wrong way!"

1630: We're into the final 10km and the leaders are hanging on out there but here comes the peloton swooping down on them as they go under the banner. A brave 216km escape comes to nought.

From Roy in Edinburgh, via text: "The Mound (see 1548) can be done on a single speed commuter with a coffee one hand!"

1625: Agonising wait for the quintet at the tete de la course. The lead is 13 seconds and there's 13km to go. Looks like they've given up because as I type, the seconds are being swallowed up. Although Champion has suddenly leapt out of the saddle and had another dig. His four fellow escapees follow his lead.

From manxmanse, via text: "Tony the manx cat has predicted that Cav will win today's stage, we didn't have an octopus to hand!"

From Typhoon in Glentress, via text: "I think the road into Applecross is 2,050ft of climb over 6 miles, which is c. 6.5% average. Category 2, maybe?"

1621: All five back together at the front but with 17km to go and on a bit of road so straight a Roman would be proud of it, the peloton have them in their sights at 30 seconds adrift.

1620: Just to clarify the points over the final climb of the day. Perget picked up three to take his tally for the day to a maximum 12. Lang was second and Champion took the point on offer for third.

1615: We've got Perget out front on his own. The other four are chasing him down with 20km to go. But expect the peloton to sweep them up in no time as they are only 20 seconds back.

1612: And here we go. France's Dimitri Champion of AG2R has leapt off the front and bridged the gap. Bbox's Anthony Charteau has also had a dig and made it across. Perget is having none of it though and ups his pace to make sure he summits first to take his fourth climb of the day and move into second in the King of the Mountains classification.

1607: Going up the final climb of the day. It's 2.3km to the top of Côte de la Croix de l'Arbre. Lead chopped to under one minute. Could we see an attack or two?

From anon, via text: "British climbs (see 1548) would be lucky to get a cat 3 max. They are either steep but too short or only a few km long and not that steep."

BBC 5 live's Phil Sheehan on Twitter: "This morning I rode this part that they're on now. It's pretty up and down. Not my favourite kind of road as it's rhythm-breaking."

1558: There is a big tailwind all the way to the finish this afternoon so expect a speedy final 30km. Ruben Perez over the line first for six uncontested sprint points. Lang followed with Perget in third. Back in the field a bit of a minor skirmish just shy of the sprint line. Everyone bunched in on a narrow straight with a sharp left-hander at the end. Nobody hurt though and all are back up and away.

1555: Leaders approaching the final intermediate sprint in Luzy and they are 80 seconds clear of the peloton. Seven HTC Columbia riders on the front.

From Chris in Edinburgh, via text: "To put the climbs into context anyone know what category British roads such as Hardknotts, Bealach na Ba (Applecross) and the Mound in Edinburgh would be?"

From Dave, via text: "Peter, while Britain is still looking for Wiggo and Cav to get their hands on a category jersey, G Thomas' white jersey is being matched by Emma Pooley for the women - she was holding the lead in the mountains classification and was sixth in the GC last night in the Giro Donne (maybe the toughest women's tour). Giro Donne concludes this Sunday in Monza. A big shout out to the girls in the Australia team at the Giro - ride happy! I have heard that Pooley moved up to second in GC today

1548: Green jersey wearer Thor Hushovd back at his Cervelo car getting his rear brake tinkered with. He certainly doesn't want anything interfering with his sprint hopes. A quick pat on the backside and he's back on his way to the peloton.

From Esquain on 606: "Cav and the Columbia train look very tired as they scale this small categorised climb. Judging by his face, I'm counting him out of this finish and sticking it on Boasson Hagen if he gets his positioning right.

From Jon in Nottingham, via text: "Did we ever find out why Cav gave up the sprint on Wednesday? It doesn't make sense. He's clearly the fastest - the Manx cryer will be welling up on the podium by the time your Boasson chap crosses the line."

1540: HTC Columbia continuing to lead the peloton with four riders, including Cav on the front. A rare glimpse of Bradley Wiggins, who is tucked in behind Cavendish as they go over the top. Fellow Brit David Millar has to drop back to his Garmin team car and have a puncture sorted.

1536: Perget continues his good form over the summits, taking his third climb of the day and another three points. Lang second over this time with Ruben Perez last. Their lead has dropped below two minutes though. One final intermediate sprint coming up in about 14km before the final hill of the day and a 23km downhill jaunt into Gueugnon (pronounced Gunyon).

1528: BMC have been spotted moving up through the peloton. They have Cadel Evans in third place in the general classification. Leaders are two minutes up the road with 50km to go. They appear to be toiling a bit up the third climb of the day - it's a 3.6km haul up the category four Côte des Montarons. For those of you new to the sport - hors category are the steepest and hardest climbs with cat one, two etc...slightly easier - so this one is more of a slight incline for the riders.

From Andy in Leeds, via text: "What chance the peloton catching the breakaway before the next sprint point and Cav getting some extra points!"

1520: Live commentary just starting up via the console above. Perhaps a good time to pick a stage winner? The breakaway is not staying away, so who's going to win the sprint? Or are we going to see attacks off the front if the leading trio are caught too early? I went for Boasson Hagen on 606 earlier and I've no reason to change.

1515: Cancellara doing the work of a domestique, dropping back to the car for water for his Saxo Bank team-mates. Lead continuing to drop, steadily rather than dramatically. It's now 2'51" with 58.5km to go.

From Nick (from England, living in Hong Kong, following this from a bar in Thailand): "Thank god for the live text updates - am watching the tour on a big screen in a Bangkok bar where the sound is turned off and the Boomtown Rats and U2 seem to be the preferred music instead. The texts bring a lot more sense to the silent movie on the screen."

1510: A little manual refresh of this page will give you access to live commentary from 5 live's Peter Slater - the link will be embedded above and is available for UK users only. The commentary start time has been brought forward a wee bit and is scheduled to start at 1520 BST.

1505: Leaders plough through the intermediate sprint with Lang first, Perget second and Ruben Perez third. Lead has dropped to 3'20".

1500: Will anyone help HTC Columbia at the front of the peloton? Grabsch and Monfort seem to be doing all the chasing. Lead coming down bit by bit and is now 3'35".

From Rick in France, via text: "Have just finished TT stage to Pauillac, having cycled replica of TdF 2 weeks ahead of pro riders with the William Wates Memorial Trust. We remember stage 6 as a very long day in the saddle with expectations building for the Alpine stages...looking forward to finish in Paris tomorrow."

1453: Just over 70km remaining on the road and the lead dips under four minutes. These three have been out in front since Perget decided to go for broke in the opening kilo and Lang and Ruben Perez opted to follow.

From Matt in Manchester, via text: "What a month of soft sport! Four weeks of footballers diving in the same class as Tom Daley. Then Cav with the tears last night! Mama Mia I'm off for a drowning later with a man's sport of water polo."

From Paul, via text: "Looking 4ward to my ride home from work in an hour, there's one 4th cat climb near the end, i won't be shedding any cav-like tears but i'll be sweating so much it'll look like i am! Where's that pie....?"

1448: The trio out front, Lang, Perget and Ruben Perez are now just over four minutes clear. The second of the day's intermediate sprints is a little over 12km away.

From Kate in Surrey, via text: "Good to see that they are have very sensibly unzipped their tops to keep cool."

From Iain, soon to be in Morzine, via text: "Can anyone recommend any good vantage points near Morzine for Tuesday morning?"

From Vaughan in Worcester, via text: "Couldn't help noticing the excellent performance of Vinokourov in the opening time trial, and over the cobbles. He's leading all the big names except Schleck but no one's talking about him."

1439: There will be live commentary from 5 live on 5 live sports extra today as well as the website from 1530 BST. I'll post the links a bit nearer the time.

1435: 144km done, 83.5km to go. The lead has been cut to 4'20". It's going to be another slow, painful death for the escapees.

From Azabache on 606: "Re the comments about goats, has anyone had the experience of being ambushed by them at the top of a climb? They love to lick your legs, presumably to extract the salt."

From Mike Wallis in London, via text: "Been to Morzine many a time, killer climbs around there. We take the bikes up the ski lift and free wheel down. Maybe against tour rules. Incidentally if anyone is in Morzine can they say hi to my uncle Phil. He'll be slaving at the stove in his restaurant númer o Dix (other restaurants available!). My guess at this week's special is pasta!" My mother-in-law's bloke broke his collarbone mountain-biking in Morzine-Avoriaz

1425: Bit from Cavendish, talking pre-stage, obviously: "We'll try for another sprint today and try our best. Everyone rode out their skins yesterday so we had a good celebration last night." The pack, still led by Cav's HTC Columbia team are 4'38" back.

From Paul in London, via text: "In 1959 Britain's Brian Robinson won the stage between Annecy and Chalon-sur-Saone by over 20 mins. If nothing else that must be a British record!"

From Vic, via text: "Re 1404 If anyone nearby could rescue those energy bars that Cancellera lobbed into the ditch and post them to me in the UK I'd be much obliged. I spend a fortune on those things."

1419: Lead is under five minutes. Lang, Perget and Ruben Perez tapping out a steady pace at the front, cheered on by the usual enormous crowds as they pass through another of the numerous small towns and villages.

From Dan in London, via text: "Inspired by a Cavendish win yesterday I cycled 14 miles across London in the rush hour to a desk very near yours flapjack Peter (see 1325). And I managed to hold back the tears when I arrived!"

1411: The HTC Columbia riders controlling the pace at the front of the peloton are Maxime Monfort and Bert Grabsch. Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara sitting comfortably in behind. The escapees are 5'20" down the road and we have exactly 100km remaining.

1404: Everyone through the feedzone. Cancallera examines a couple of energy bars and lobs them into a ditch before settling on what I assume is his favourite. A little wheelie for the cameras and he's back off to the peloton.

From tgsgirl on 606: "re: Colin in Edinburgh (see 1325) Ain't going to happen. But I think all of Paris is a free viewing area, expect for the official sponsor tribunes."

From Chris in Morzine, via text: "I can confirm TDF officials have penned in all mountain goats/cows for the run up to Avoriaz! Fingers crossed for Cav today."

1358: Another hour almost done and the work of the HTC Columbia and Saxo Bank teams starting to pay off. Lead dips under six minutes. How much help are Saxo Bank prepared to give though? Their man in yellow, Fabian Cancellara, is unlikely to be the race leader after tomorrow's hillier stage so they may not want to save some energy for the Alps.

From omgidbi on 606: Brailsford is under no illusions (see 1130). G is under no illusions. Sky has a stated aim, and as long as Wiggins is a GC candidate then that will be their priority."

From Owain in Somerset, via text: "I just cycled from London to Paris for charity, it took 3 days with a longest of 110 miles. What these guys are doing is absolutely heroic! I was "King of the Mountains" in my group, tempted to buy myself a red spotted jersey!"

1348: The front of the peloton is being bossed by HTC Columbia with Saxo Bank's Stuart O'Grady helping out. Great shots of the cyclist's tan, which puts a farmer's tan into the shade. One of our leaders, Sebastian Lang just changed his shirt to reveal a neapolitan ice cream mix of white torso and upper arm, reddish bicep and chocolate brown forearm.

From Robbo in Leeds, via text: "Not the longest (see 1258) but most memorable was Claudio Chiappucci riding to Sestriere, holding off Indurain et al."

From Conor in Dublin, via text: "As an Irishman, great to see Nicolas Roche making such a solid start to the tour (11th in gc). If he's half the rider his dad was we could be in for some real Irish interest in the tour in the years to come. He's also been even busier on twitter than Lance it would seem!"

1338: I had a week in Les Gets a couple of years ago which is a (lengthy) stone's throw from Morzine and I can confirm it is a monster of a climb. Was trying to work out which way up they are going to go because we took a lovely back route which started at a lake. Seem to remember stopping in a tiny village which had numerous animals of the goat-type roaming freely in the streets. Hope they shift them on before Sunday. Lead staying out there at 6'30"

From Chris in Morzine, via text: "Greetings from Morzine went up to Avoriaz today to check out the finish for Sunday (by car) that is some climb took us 40 mins - RVs already parked up waiting for the riders - and it hot too 35 degrees ! Come on Lance !"

1334: 100km ridden by the leaders who are 6'45" clear of the peloton. I don't expect a lot will change for the next 63km or so until they reach the next intermediate sprint.

From Luke, via text: "Re Nigel (see 1258) - wikipedia says post-war Bourlon stayed away for 253km, one of 7 at 200km+. Beat peleton by 16:30."

From (an optimistic) Colin in Edinburgh, via text: "Are there free viewing areas at the finish in Paris? I want to be there to see Cav, Geraint and Bradley get green, white and yellow."

From John in Cambridge, via text: "Following on with the cipo references, I raced ironman France two weekends ago on the limited edition zebra stripe cipo frame - great pictures. Should note - no sprinting involved - collapsed with heat stroke."

1325: Perget has won his second climb of the day to accumulate another three points in the King of the Mountains classification. Ruben Perez next over and Lang third. And a 10-mile cycle across London, in rush hour, is not my idea of fun Tony (see below)

From Tony, via text: "Flapjack Peter, shame on u, u havent even pedalled 2 ur lofty commentary position I bet."

1320: If you see a Zebra on a bike around Sheffield (see 1258) Mike's his name. Leaders on the 2.1km climb up Côte de La Chapelle-Saint-André and 6'25" in front of the main bunch.

From tgsgirl on 606: "Poor Robbie Mac. After his crash in Spa he got a tetanus shot...turns out he's allergic to tetanus shots."

1312: Average speed over the first two hours, a touch over 40km/h. There's 140km to go. So by my reckoning that's another three-and-a-half hours left.

From Barry in Liverpool, via text: "I think it is possible for the break to make the finish today because of the two little climbs towards the finish. If they can make it over the last one still ahead it's not far to the red kite."

From Craig, via text: "I was accused of being sad by my 15 year old son for having my text about Provins posted yesterday - can I embarrass him again today by having this posted? And Cav to win again today."

1304: The leading trio are midway between the first and second category four climbs. The lead is 6'30" and I can stand it no longer, the musette is open. One ham wrap, a fruit salad of pineapple, melon, cherries and grapes, a bag of Seabrooks crisps (sea salted, other crisps are available, these just happen to be my favourite) and a black cherry yoghurt have to see me through to the end. Not a flapjack in sight.

From Nigel in purgatory (office aircon broken), via text: "What is the longest solo breakaway to succeed?"

From anon via text: "At the mention of Cipollini (see 1125) I feel obliged to confess that I still cycle to work in my Cipollini zebra kit!" But not brave enough to put a name to that text?!

1258: Those landmarks keep coming. Just 150km to go for the three out front. The lead is down to 6'35".

BBC 5 live's Phil Sheehan on Twitter: "Peloton riding on wet roads and temperature of 22.5C. What a contrast to the finish! It's bone dry and blazing hot, must be at least 35C."

1250: The first climb has been contested. Mathieu Perget was first over for three points. Sebastian Lang followed him to take two while Ruben Perez Moreno ended up with the point for third. Lead at seven minutes.

From Michiel in The Hague, via text: "That was Pieter Weening beating Kloden in the sprint (see 1228). Mountain stage though."

From Dave in Loughboro, via text: "Interesting the way the sprinters teams try to psyche each other out in terms of chasing. JV claiming that Farrar's still not on it so they won't be chasing but i think we can expect to see Millar leading Garmin to the front with 2k to go if the break comes back up."

1237: Here we go up Cote de Bouhy then. It's a mere 2.9km climb and the summit is around 70km into the stage. Lead is a steady eight minutes.

From SeanF81 on 606: "I know Sprint stages like today can be very dull, but I have to admit I love the last 10km or so!"

From Pies in London, via text: "Re 1130. Why a down British arrow? Bradley is British too! Nothing wrong with prioritising an overall win above the young riders journey. I think a horizontal British arrow is required."

1228: Interesting aside. Apparently it's exactly five years since a Dutchman won a Tour stage. So, a little quiz question for you - who beat Andreas Kloden by 0.0002 seconds on 9 July, 2005? I'm guessing it was a sprint stage?! Lead is eight minutes and the roads are a little damp following overnight rain, although there is no precipitation at present as they approach the first climb up Cote de Bouhy.

From RecStudent on 606: "I can see Siutsou and Grabsch doing a lot of work on the front today and then Eisel having to drag Cav back to the front of the peloton when he struggles on the final climb. With all the HTC guys used up Renshaw and Cav will just tag onto the back of Millar with 2km to go and hope he can take them close enough to the line."

From Hugh in France, via text: "It is pronounced gunyon (see 1147)."

1220: A bit more from Dave Brailsford (talking to Le Tour website) on his Sky rider Edvald Boassen Hagen who has been causing a bit of a stir with some excellent finishes so far. "Edvald is a super talent. He's 23, it's his first tour and the guy is a phenomenon. He can sprint, ride off on his own, he can finish off attacks, he can climb, he can time trial, this guy is amazing. God only knows what the future holds." Lead approaching eight minutes.

From Kate in Surrey, via text: "Tut, tut, Neil in Weymouth! If you're going to be a pedant (see 1155) then surely that "i'm" in your message should be capitalised?" I'm staying out of this.

From Simon in Bristol, via text: "Watching the highlights on TV last night was a roller coaster of emotion. I knew Cav had won from the live text but I was screaming at the TV for him to win. Then to see him sob on the podium, made me shed a tear. This passion is what makes cycling! Now let's all get behind him for the green jersey! GO CAV!!!"

1212: Omega's Lang was first over the line and picked up six well-earned points. Perez Moreno took second and four points leaving new-boy Perget to settle for two.

1210: Of the three up front, Perget is making his Tour debut, although he has finished the Giro d'Italia three times. Perez Moreno is on his fourth Tour while Lang has completed all five Tours he has ridden in. They are currently 7'45" ahead having gone through the first sprint.

1205: Lead hovering around the 7'30" mark. And with one hour completed, the average speed has just been calculated at 42.3km/h.

From Neil in Weymouth, via text: "Hello Peter, as a second year English Literature student at Worcester university, i'm appalled to find incorrect grammar RE 10:57 and 11:00. It should be 'their', not 'there' !!!

From David in Liverpool, via text: "On the subject of the futility of breakaways, has there been any talk of banning team radios for a couple of stages again this year? They are the sole reason that the breakaways are constantly reeled in with such precision. I can't help that thinking the TdF would be a better more exciting place without them."

From Gary in Stafford, via text: "What is the biggest time gap a peloton has ever reeled in?

1155: Leaders have either put a bit of a spurt on, or the peloton has slackened off a bit because the gap has suddenly shot up to 7'25". They are approaching the first of today's three intermediate sprints in Saint-Fargeau. Cavendish won stage 11 of last year's race in the town. He's not going to be picking up any points there today though.

From tgsgirl on 606: "To Wayne Mar via text (see 1130) Not that much publicity? QST calculated that Wynants being in a break for most of stage 1 got them an add value of €2m. Granted, that's for a Belgian in a Belgian team riding through Belgium (in a stage with 2.2 million people lining the roads), but still. Not half bad!

From Paul, among others, via text: (see Wayne 1130) "The long breakaway is like doing the lottery, not much chance of winning but if you get lucky the reward is big! Publicity for the sponsor is a bonus too."

1147: How big is that gap going to be allowed to get? Looks like seven minutes was its peak. And the good news for you Cav fans is that it is his HTC Columbia team on the front of the peloton, a sure sign that they want their man to cross the line first in Gueugnon (and no I'm not sure how to pronounce the finish town either). The gap has reduced by half-a-minute or so at the 30km mark.

1142: We've broken the 200km to go barrier (or approx 124.274 miles if you prefer your distances in imperial). That is almost cause to break into my musette. Is it too early for sustenance?

From Farmer Joe in north Wales, via text: "I was loving Cav's tears yesterday, and the way he spoke of the team, what a man, think I have a bit of a man crush on him again."

1137: Little spill in the peloton. Euskaltel's Inaki Isasi came off, but he's back up and pedalling again. Let's hope it wasn't as bad as his team-mate Amets Txurukka who did his collarbone a couple of days ago and has had to pull out. Leaders are almost seven minutes clear. How much bigger will the peloton let the gap grow to?

Wayne Mar via text: "Why do the riders bother to go for a long breakaway, so much effort, very little chance of winning and not that much publicity for the team. A bit like trying to serve and volley against Nadal 'cause you think it might work."

1130: Approaching 20km done and the peloton has let the leaders drift out to 5'45". Some quotes from Team Sky leader Dave Brailsford on his British rider Geraint Thomas who is currently second overall and wearer of the white jersey as best young rider. "I'm not surprised by what Geraint is doing. We're here to help Bradley Wiggins and if that results in the white jersey as a bi-product then that's fine but it's not a goal for us."

From Paul in Ludlow, via text: "I could be wrong but I see Cav as more of a Cipollini type sprinter than a Zabel. To get green he'll need a lot more stage wins as Hushovd can cope better with the mountain stages, it's all about consistency." Please remember to put your name on your text and also helpful if you start your message with 'cycling' to stop them getting mixed in with F1. Ta.

1125: Perget, Lang and Perez Moreno are 4'30" out in front. Peloton happy to let them have their bit of glory...for now.

From Matzov on 606: "Well, for me, that confirms it. Bunch sprint today... unless 4 or 5 guys bridge. Which they won't."

1122: Here's a quick reminder of the overall top 10:
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank) 22h 59m 45s
2. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) +23"
3. Cadel Evans (Aus/BMC Racing) +39"
4. Ryder Hesjedal (Can/Garmin) +46"
5. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra/Quick Step) +1:01"
6. Andy Schleck (Lux/Saxo Bank) +1:09"
7. Thor Hushovd (Nor/Cervelo) +1:19"
8. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/Astana) +1:31"
9. Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) +1:40"
10. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel/Omega Pharma-Lotto) +1:42"

1120: 10km down, only another 217.5km to go then. Our brave trio of leaders have opened up a three-minute lead on the peloton. None of them are threatening in the general classification. Spaniard Perez Moreno is the best placed and he is more than eight minutes down on race leader Fabian Cancellara.

1117: Germany's Lang has a bit of Tour history - he held the King of the Mountains jersey for three stages back in 2008 and won the combative rider award for stage nine two years ago.

1111: Caisse d'Epargne rider Perget made the initial dash and he was joined by Lang, who rides for Omega and Perez Moreno of Euskaltel. They are pushing out to a lead of 90 seconds.

1108: Three riders have gone for an early stretch of the legs in the opening 3km. They are Sebastian Lang, Mathieu Perget and Ruben Perez Moreno. They've shot out to a lead of more than one minute.

1105: It's going to be a long hot day in the saddle and I'm going to need your help to get me through the next five and a bit hours. There are three ways you can get in touch: Twitter,606 or text me your views & comments on 81111 (UK) or +44 7786200666 (worldwide). (Not all contributions can be used. Messages will be charged at your standard operator rate)

From Esquain on 606: "It depends how many get in a group. If it's large, they'll make it, but if it's small, in this heat, the distance may play into the sprinters hands, they'll tire, and it will come back quite quickly."

1100: Riders making there way through the neutral zone in Montargis, apparently it's 7km long - any ideas why? There's an early intermediate sprint, before a couple of the category four climbs. Would Cav be cheeky enough to try and nick it?

1057: So, what does today's stage, the sixth of this year's Tour de France have in store? The 227.5km ride from Montargis to Gueugnon is the longest of the race and is predominantly flat with four category four climbs to help keep things interesting. There is only 23km from the summit of the final cat four to the finish, so anyone on a breakaway may fancy there chances of staying away if they have managed to eke out more than a couple of minutes lead at that stage.

Wooley7 on 606: "If it does go to a sprint I would expect the stronger sprinters like EBH (Team Sky's Edvald Boassen Hagen) and Hushovd to fair a little better than the speed merchants like Cav and Ali-Jet (Alessandro Petacchi)."

1054: If Cav wants to close the gap on Hushovd any further, he's got today's stage left to do it before he has to tackle the energy-sapping Alps for the next week or so.

The_Usual_Suspect on 606: "The sprinters will want their day, it's their last chance for a while. I'll go for Cav now that he's back in the groove."

1048: Morning all. After a disappointing start to the Tour, Cavendish showed he is still up for the fight with Thursday's trademark sprint win in Montargis after being expertly led out by HTC Columbia team-mate Mark Renshaw. The victory took Cav to 50 points in the race for the green jersey and you could see how much it meant to him as he sobbed his little heart out on the podium. He's still 52 behind leader Thor Hushovd who, of course, pipped the Manx Missile to the jersey last year.

1045: Do you think Mark Cavendish answered his critics yesterday then?