1648: That's me done for the day too. We've got a rest day tomorrow, but Thursday - the Tour's last day in the Pyrenees - is going to be massive. It will be Andy Schleck's last chance to challenge maillot jaune Alberto Contador before Saturday's time-trial, and there should be plenty of drama on the slopes of Col du Tourmalet as the stage builds up to one of those mountain-top finishes that are what Le Tour is all about. I can't wait... thanks for your banter today and look forward to seeing you then.
1644: Just time to bring you an update on the King of the Mountains category too. Anthony Charteau, the man wearing the polka-dot jersey, took 28 points on the first two climbs of the day but still saw his overall lead reduced to just 15 points by Christophe Moreau, who picked up 60 points on Tourmalet and Aubisque. All to play for on Thursday, and the return to Tourmalet, for that duo too.
From Im_partial on 606: "Too bad about the rest day tomorrow, but Thursday should be brilliant, with a high chance of General Classification shakeup. Clear your diaries, that stage is a must-see-follow-listen"
1636: Here's the top three for today's stage too. No fairytale finish for Lance Armstrong... well, not today anyhow. He actually finished sixth in the end:
1. Pierrick Fedrigo Fra/Bbox (5hrs 31mins 43s)
2. Sandy Casar Fra/FDJ (same time)
3. Ruben Plaza Sp/Caisse d Epargne (same time)
4. Damiano Cunego Ita/Lampre (same time)
5. Chris Horner US/RadioShack (same time)
6. Lance Armstrong US/RadioShack (same time)
1629: There is no change to the top 10 of the General Classification after today's stage... which obviously means the top three stays like this:
1. Alberto Contador
2. Andy Schleck @ 8 sec
3. Sam Sanchez @ 2 min
1623: Yep, Thor Hushovd brings home the main bunch, and without too much of a fight. The Norwegian finishes 10th and picks up five points, enough to see him leapfrog Alessandro Petacchi and take the green jersey off the Italian tonight. Hushovd is on 190 points, ahead of Petacchi on 187 and Mark Cavendish, who is third on 162.
1621: Ah. Here come the Cervelo Test Team, bringing Thor Hushovd to the front. Nicholas Roche is up there too - I haven't seen much of him today.
1619: The maillot jaune group are within 4km of the finish... no sign of Thor Hushovd yet, but I am keeping em peeled.
1617: Pierrick Fedrigo timed his attack perfectly, overhauling Lance Armstrong in the final metres and winning comfortably in the end. Armstrong eased up when he knew he was going to miss out on victory, and Sandy Casar passed him on the line to take second place.
1615: Pierrick Fedrigo wins stage 16 of the Tour de France. 1615: Moreau leads them out... and here comes Lance Armstrong.
1614: Barredo is caught, with 1km to go. The race for the line starts here...
1613: Moreau and Horner are chasing hard, and Barredo looks as though he has run out of gas...
1612: Chris Horner takes up the chase. Lance Armstrong is hanging back. With 2km to go, Barredo is now 11 seconds clear.
1610: Carlos Barredo is giving everything he has got to stay out there, out of his seat and fighting hard. He still has a 20 second lead, with 3km to go.
1609: Christophe Moreau is leading the chase... but Barredo is still 20 seconds clear with 3.5km to go.
1607: Less than 5km to go. Can Barredo stay clear? Nobody is making a move in the chase-group and he could benefit, that gap is not coming down.
1605: Just 6.5km to go, and Carlos Barredo is still 18 seconds clear.
From Al in Birmingham: "Got to respect Thor Hushovd for staying up front on the lookout for points while Mark Cavendish toils in the 'autobus' thinking (again) what might have been."
From DeGuzman on 606: "It will be about poker abilities now too. One would expect the Texan to be good at it, or is he too impatient?"
1602: Chris Horner will be doing his best to get his Radio Shack team-mate Lance Armstrong over the line first. All of the eight men chasing Carlos Barredo are working hard at the moment, apart from Quickstep's Jurgen van de Walle - who is a team-mate of Barredo. Just 10km to go now, and the gap is back up to 20 seconds - this is cat and mouse stuff and someone might make their move very soon.
From Corrupted Mind on 606: "I'm going all in on Lance to win today. My sensible head says don't do it, but the nostalgic fool in me sees him Time-Trialling it in from 10km."
1555: Those eight riders, including Lance Armstrong, are about 15 seconds behind Carlos Barredo with 15km to go, and are closing fast now. The main bunch is still eight minutes back.
1554: The likes of Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck and the other General Classification contenders have kept very quiet today, especially since Jurgen van den Broek (who is fifth overall), tried and failed to join that first breakaway at the start of the stage. They are all safely back in the main group of riders... and Thor Hushovd's battle for points is probably the most interesting thing about the peloton as it approaches the finish line.
1548: Right then, we are fast reaching the business end of today' stage. Carlos Barredo is now about 30 seconds clear, with 21km left. The eight riders behind him are slowly closing in on the Spaniard, and contemplating their own strategy for being the first man over the line.
1540: Thor Hushovd is still in the main bunch with Contador and co, and could be in green tonight if he can pick up some points in the sprint to the finish in Pau. Alessandro Petacchi, who was dropped early, currently leads the points classification with 187 points, two ahead of the Norwegian... but he can still realistically finish 10th today, and will pick up five points if he does so. Britain's Mark Cavendish is also back in the 'autobus' by the way.
From Jonny in Derry: "Re 1519. I rode Stage 17 on Sunday as part of L'Etape du Tour and I can assure you it will be the most testing stage of this or any other year's Tour! It was brutal!"
1534: Carlos Barredo has a lead of around 46 seconds on the breakaway bunch, with about 33km to go.
1531: Thursday's return to Tourmalet will be a huge day in terms of the General Classification, not just the King of the Mountains. Putting all the controversy of yesterday's stage behind us (if we can!), Andy Schleck needs to take an awful lot of time out of Alberto Contador - not to regain the yellow jersey (he is eight seconds behind the Spaniard) but to have any chance of keeping it after Saturday's time trial.
From Ben in New Cross: "Although I wouldn't begrudge Lance a stage win on his farewell Tour, Damiano Cunego has been there or thereabouts a few times this year with no success, so I'd like to see him win today. Come on Andy Schleck as well!"
1522: Carlos Barredo, who did most of the attacking on the way up the Aubisque, is first to try to go off the breakaway bunch on the way down. He still has 42km to go, and has built up a lead of 19 seconds so far...
1519: Er, when I said '10' riders at 1509 (now changed!), I meant eight... although Sandy Casar has just caught up with them anyway. That makes nine at the front. Sorry for making that far more complicated than it should have been... but remember this is the most testing stage of this year's Tour, and not just for the riders!
From Paul in Ludlow: "Re. The Count's comment on the 'mental attacks' - if Lance could shake off his current companions he's very capable of going solo for the last 20 miles."
1509: Here's the eight riders who are out in front with 54km to go: Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner, Carlos Barredo, Jurgen van de Walle, Pierrick Fedrigo, Christophe Moreau, Ruben Plaza Molina and Damiano Cunego. Who is your money on?
1507: The front eight riders are on the long descent of Aubisque, and have a healthy lead of nine minutes and 22 seconds over the maillot jaune group... who still have a bit of climbing to do.
1505: The King of the Mountains title will be decided when the race returns to Tourmalet on Thursday.
1502: Christophe Moreau escapes Pierrick Fedrigo and is first over the line at the top of Col d'Aubisque, giving him those vital 40 King of the Mountain points.
1500: Less than 1km to go until the summit of Aubisque. Pierrick Fedrigo, a team-mate of King of the Mountains leader Anthony Charteau, will be trying to be first over the top - to stop Christophe Moreau from picking up 40 points.
1457: If you give this page a manual refresh, you will see the link (in the top-right corner of this page) that allows you to listen to our commentary on
BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra. It begins at 1500 BST.
1455: With 63km to go, the gap from the front eight to Contador and co is up to nine minutes and 12 seconds. Not long to go for them until the top of Aubisque, either.
1449: Interesting news on Christophe Moreau. Along with Chris Horner and Jurgen van de Walle, he is now back in touch with the lead group, which now numbers eight riders... and those 40 King of the Mountain points are within reach.
From Darren in Hamilton: "Andy Schleck surely must be feeling the effects from his solo fightback yesterday, think he'll be quite happy to leave his do-or-die attack until the Tourmalet return leg!"
From The Count on 606: "Why are this front group fighting each other already? Are they mental? You don't want to be doing 30km of flat on your own."
1444: A bit of a brief respite from climbing for the leaders, who have reached the 'shoulder' of Col du Soulor and are about eight minutes and 40 seconds clear of the maillot jaune bunch. By the way, one of the upshots of these attacks at the front of the race is that Christophe Moreau is unlikely to claim the maximum 40 climbing points available to the first man over the top of Col d'Aubisque.
1439: Yep, Carlos Barredo goes again, but is quickly reeled in. Armstrong is back at the head of this breakaway bunch, and out of his saddle to up the pace - pumping those pedals like the good old days.
1438: Those five riders are together again, for now anyway. We are going to see more attacks any minute now, I reckon...
1435: Here's Lance Armstrong, attacking again and reducing that leading pack of 10 riders to five. Carlos Barredo, Pierrick Fedrigo, Ruben Plaza Molina and Damiano Cunego stayed with him - and Barredo and Fedrigo have just attacked again themselves.
1432: Like Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas is in the maillot jaune group, but I'm not sure where Mark Cavendish is. One of Cav's rivals for the green jersey, Alessandro Petacchi, was dropped right at the start of the stage, but another, Thor Hushovd is in the main pack, or at least he was until men started falling off it on the way up Aubisque...
1425: The leading group of 10 riders are still sweating it out on their way up Aubisque, and keep extending their lead too. The gap is now up to seven minutes and 26 seconds, with 76km to go.
From Andrew B via text: "The descent of Aubisque is quite technical and, if Andy Schleck does attack today, he will need to bridge the gap to the leading group and take riders with him on the run in to Pau if he has any hope of gaining time on Alberto Contador in the General Classification.
Quite a big ask, all in all. You can kind of understand why Schleck might wait until Thursday...
1413: By the way, Britain's Bradley Wiggins was in the first breakaway of the day but is now in the main pack with Contador et al. Up the road, the leaders have around 81km to go until the finish line.
1411: The fight for the stage win is going to be a lot more interesting. Can these 10 riders stay out in front, and which of them has the strongest finish if they do? A few of you on 606 are going for Pierrick Fedrigo, although there is a lot of support for Lance Armstrong too.
1406: Well, there are Astana riders at the front of the maillot jaune group but they are not exactly working hard to close the gap on the leading pack. Still no sign of any move by Andy Schleck either... is he going to keep his powder dry until the return to Tourmalet on Thursday? It looks that way. As a few of you have already said, the flat run-in today does not exactly encourage an attack up Aubisque now.
From anon via text: "Cycling on the right-hand side on the way up to the Aubisque there is a vertical drop of over 500 metres which scares the life out of me whether I am on my bike or driving. Someone went over it in the Tour years ago but landed on a ledge and they were rescued with inner tubes tied together!"
1354: Oops. My mistake (see 1338), there are 40 points up for grabs on Aubisque because it is the last climb of the day. Should he be first over, Christophe Moreau will be on 128 points, not 108.
1352: Not long to go until the riders start up Col d'Aubisque... here are the 10 riders who are out in front at the moment: Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner, Sandy Casar, Ignatas Konovalovas, Carlos Barredo, Jurgen van de Walle, Pierrick Fedrigo, Christophe Moreau, Ruben Plaza Molina and Damiano Cunego. They now have a gap of six minutes and 25 seconds on a 60-strong group containing, among others, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck.
From super_pig on 606: "I reckon Lance Armstrong for today's stage if he has the legs... it is the 'queen' stage.. I'm sure he'll give it a go."
1341: While I was (slowly) working out the King of the Mountains standings (and, yes, I have just spotted somebody had already done exactly that on 606!), the gap from the lead group of 10 riders to the maillot jaune group has increased to five minutes and 10 seconds. Just the 97km to go until the finish line then, but 29.2km of that will be uphill.
1338: The man in the polka-dot jersey, Anthony Charteau, is still out on his own and trying to catch the lead group, mainly because it contains Christophe Moreau who picked up 20 climbing points on Tourmalet today, and could get another 20 if he goes over the top of Aubisque first. That's a big ask but, if he does, Moreau will be on 108 points, closing the gap slightly on Charteau, who has picked up 28 points himself on Peyresourde and d'Aspin earlier on today and is now on 143.
1322: The riders are spread out now on the descent of Tourmalet, and they will be reaching for their mussettes as soon as they get to the bottom. This is very much recovery time for all of them because there is still a lot of work to do. They have 115km of today's 199.5km stage to go, including another difficult climb up Col du Solor and over the top of Col d'Aubisque.
From tradebooker on 606: "Can't really see much in this stage for the Grand Classification contenders... with 60km flat to the end there's little chance to get away. Saying that, Andy Schleck's wheel might 'mysteriously' fall off.."
1312: Ski-lifts dangle overhead as the leaders begin the long descent down to Soulom, led by Lance Armstrong. Meanwhile, Anthony Charteau is getting a great reception at the top of Tourmalet - there is barely room for him to squeeze through the throng of fans on the road.
1306: The leaders have just gone through La Mongie (and past Ben from Surrey - see 1147). Thor Hushovd is struggling to stay with the maillot jaune group, despite Carlos Sastre waiting for him, but the good news for him (and the rest of the men in his group or up the road) is that the agony of Tourmalet is almost over. I'm tired just looking at that incline!
From Jon in London: "Lance Armstrong should win this stage. It has been his goal since his General Classification hopes went in one unlucky day. He is the joint third strongest rider alongside Alexandre Vinokourov in the Tour!!"
1259: Things have settled down a bit as we continue the climb up to the top of Tourmalet. Thor Hushovd (and Aleksandr Kuchynski) have just been caught by the maillot jaune group and, up the road, Anthony Charteau is suffering a bit too. None of the big players (Contador, Schleck, Sam Sanchez, Menchov) have tried anything yet, which either means they are waiting for Col d'Aubisque or, alternatively, for Thursday's return to Tourmalet... we shall see.
1253: This breakaway group does not contain any contenders in the general classification, which is why their lead has been allowed to increase to three minutes and 45 seconds. Back in the maillot jaune group, there is no sign of an attack by Andy Schleck at the moment.
1250: Anthony Charteau, the current leader of the King of the Mountains category is another man trying to bridge the gap to the lead group, which now numbers nine riders. He's getting a lot of support too.
1248: There are also riders strung out on the road between the leading riders and the maillot jaune group. Thor Hushovd is one of them, after riding off the front of the peloton, and he will be after some of the sprint points up for grabs later in the stage. A lot of work ahead for him before then though.
1239: Make that a front six (Sandy Casar is the latest to join them). They have a lead of just over three minutes on the maillot jaune group.
1235: Er, three is about to become five. Jurgen Van de Walle and Christophe Moreau join Armstrong, Fedrigo and Cunego at the front. The riders are still making their way up Tourmalet, and have about 135km of today's stage left.
1231: One becomes three at the front. Lance Armstrong is accelerating away from the yellow jersey group but is still being caught by Pierrick Fedrigo and Damiano Cunego. Cunego has done all the work in reeling Armstrong in, and let's Fedrigo know his feelings about that in no uncertain terms.
From Mol_Daze_Etty, via text: "When this route was run in 1969, a 24-year-old debutant already in the yellow jersey attacked at the top of the Tourmalet, then on the descent oft he Tourmalet and climb of the Aubisque took eight minutes out of every other rider and held that lead to the finish. Would be nice to see Contador do the same but I don't think he is quite in the class of Eddy Merckx."
1225: Lance Armstrong and Sandy Casar, who are both more than 40 minutes down in the general classification, have opened up a gap of 1min 14secs on Contador and co.... and, as I write, Armstrong launches an attack.
1222: The maillot jaune group has just caught the breakaway bunch. Only Lance Armstrong has managed to stay away - and is just in the process of reeling in Sandy Casar as they begin going up Tourmalet.
1218: It's still all happening. The Sam Sanchez group has caught the Alberto Contador group, but has dropped Robert Gesink, after a mechanical (I think). Gesink, who is sixth overall, is on his own at the moment and trying to bridge the gap.
1211: As the riders continue to descend, Matthew Lloyd and Jurgen van den Broek of Omega Pharma-Lotto are working hard to get the Contador-Schleck group in touch with the lead group containing Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins. The gap is still around 20 seconds but, up the road, Sandy Casar is another 20 seconds clear on his own.
1205: Sandy Casar is off the front as the breakaway bunch (now of nine riders) descend, with Anthony Charteau trying to stick with him, but failing so far. The riders will go downhill for 12km or so before they start the ascent of Tourmalet.
1200: The leaders have less than 1km to go to the top of Col d'Aspin, but they still have a lot of climbing ahead of them even after that - the Col du Tourmalet then Col d'Aubisque await. They have only covered around 40km of today's 199.5km route too.
1156: The lead group is down to 10 riders now, with 2008 Le Tour winner Carlos Sastre trying to keep the pace ticking over at the front. The first chase group of 17 riders, containing Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, is about 20 seconds back. Sam Sanchez, third overall, is in the second chase group and another 35 seconds behind.
Ben, from Surrey, via text: "Sat by the roadside in La Mongie. Drove up here last night past literally a thousand or more camper vans and cars, the whole mountain is completely packed. Hoping Schleck puts the boot in on Contador today - he deserves to lose yellow after his disgraceful attack yesterday. Quite how he can claim not to have known what happened to Schleck is beyond me, he knew perfectly well. And to say 'the Tour won't be won or lost by a 30 second difference at this stage' is ridiculous, and he knows it."
1147: Hmmm. It's not looking good for the breakaway riders, who have lost Sylvester Szmyd and Chris Horner in the last couple of minutes. The maillot jaune group is also shedding more and more riders too - Cadel Evans among them. Basically, there are men strung out all over Col d'Aspin at the moment.
1143: There are quite a few riders off the back of the peloton too. Ivan Basso is among them - he was dropped very early on - and has a very long day ahead of him.
1140: The 14 riders in the breakaway are still working hard, with the gap hovering around the 25 second mark now. Rabobank and Astana are still leading the chase.
From David in Dublin, via text: "I have a notion that Wiggo and Nick Roche will go on an attack today to get top 10. Also hope Andy Schleck regains yellow and puts 2-3 minutes into Alberto Contador."
1132: Yep, Jurgen van den Broek is back in the peloton while, off the front, the breakaway riders are about to start the ascent of the Col d'Aspin. Chris Horner, Lance Armstrong's Radio Shack team-mate, has been pushing the pace but the maillot jaune group are now just 27 seconds back.
1127: Ah. That's the end of that attack for Jurgen van den Broek. He sat up just now on the descent and is about to be caught by the peloton. The gap to the breakaway has come down significantly as well, to 40 seconds, but Astana have had to work very hard already and things are not going to get any easier for them.
1123: As the riders descend Col de Peyresourde, that breakaway group of 14 riders (including Bradley Wiggins, Alexandre Vinokourov and Lance Armstrong) have a lead of around 1min 05sec on the yellow jersey. Jurgen van den Broek is still trying to bridge the gap and is about 30 seconds adrift of the leaders.
From phildange on 606: "It's not necessarily a good thing for Alberto Contador to be wearing the maillot jaune today. It promises to be a very tough stage. Astana riders are not that strong, and if they have to fight from the first of those climbs, they may collapse for the Aubisque. Today is THE day of pain. There's a smell of dramatic action today."
1114: Interesting. Jurgen van den Broek, fifth overall and 3 minutes 39 seconds down on Alberto Contador, goes off the front of the yellow jersey group and tries to join the breakaway. No reaction from Contador or the rest of his Astana team. Not yet anyway.
1110: By the looks of things, this is going to be a difficult stage for Astana and Alberto Contador. They need to keep an eye on what is going on up the road, but keep something in the tank in case of attacks from riders closer to Contador in the general classification. If that wasn't enough to contend with, it's a hot old day in the Pyrenees too.
1106: The Astana team of maillot jaune Alberto Contador are leading the chase at the front of the peloton, but another pack of riders are ahead of them trying to bridge the gap to the lead group.
1100: These breakaway riders are setting a pretty hot pace up the slopes of Col de Peyresourde and the gap is now up to 35 seconds.
From Recstudent on 606: "A shame there is such a long flat section after the Aubisque today. After what happened yesterday it could have been an awesome stage if the finish was at the bottom of the descent or at the top."
1055: Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins are among a group of 13 riders who have opened up a lead of around 10 seconds on the peloton.
1052: Thursday's second ascent of the Tourmalet is likely to decide whether Contador or Schleck ride into Paris on Sunday in yellow but, with a rest day tomorrow, we are likely to see some aggressive riding today. From Schleck? Who knows. Whatever happens over the course of the four climbs, the field could well come together on the descent from the Col d'Aubisque anyhow. Still, the next few hours are unlikely to be dull...
1046: The riders have just rolled out of the neutral zone, and a few riders are already trying to escape as they start the ascent of Peyresourde. But we start the day with an apology.
Alberto Contador has responded to criticism that he broke race etiquette yesterday by taking advantage of Andy Scleck's mechanical failure to take the leader's yellow jersey. Contador said: "The race was in full gear and, well, maybe I made a mistake. I'm sorry."
1044: Yes, welcome to what could be a pivotal day in the destiny of this year's Tour de France. Four testing climbs await the peloton, starting with the Col de Peyresourde and Col d'Aspin and finishing with Col du Tourmalet and Col d'Aubisque.
1040 BST: Morning all. If you like mountain stages, you are in for a treat today.
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