1624 The sprinters get into position and it is Australian Baden Cooke who gets to the line first to win the stage just ahead of local rider Jean-Patrick Nazon.

1622 After 185km, the breakaway leader Frederic Finot is caught within the final 4km.

1619 Several attacks are launched on the final climb, which is not a fourth category climb but is still pretty tough. This is not good news for the sprinters.

1618 As Finot approaches the town of Sedan, his lead is being whittled away.

1613 The crash seems to have slowed the pack down. Leader Frederic Finot goes under the 10km to go banner.

1606 There is a crash back in the field which brings down several riders. Marco Milesi suffers a nasty gash on his knee but eventually gets back on his bike. Fabio Baldato, who came down yesterday, is also caught up in the crash.

1559 The gap between Frederic Finot and the peleton is coming down as the chasing pack step up their pursuit.

1552: Lilian Jegou, who went clear after five kilometres, is swallowed up by the peloton in full cry.

1548: Finot remains clear and extends his lead over the struggling Jegou.

But the sprinters' teams are massing at the front of the peloton and are beginning to crank it up.

1534: ONCE rider Jose Azevedo goes down in a big crash in the peloton.

1529: Frederick Finot drops Lilian Jegou on the fourth category climb of the Cote de Longwe with about 40km left to race.

1518: The peloton are winding up the chase and have narrowed their deficit to the leading two to five minutes 27 seconds.

At the front of the pack, Alessandro Petacchi snatches third place in the day's final intermediate sprint, while off the back, Santiago Botero punctures.

Results of Amagne sprint
1 Frederic Finot (Jean Delatour)
2 Lilian Jegou (C.A)
3 Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa-Bortolo)

1451: The peloton are whittling away at the lead of Finot and Jegou and have brought the gap down to about six minutes.

Results of Avancon sprint
1 Frederic Finot (Jean Delatour)
2 Lilian Jegou (C.A)
3 Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo)

1420: The Lotto team of Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen take their turn at the front of the peloton. The lead of Jegou and Finot is narrowed slightly to nine minutes 50 seconds.

1355: Jegou switches bikes for the second time following his fall.

1340: Lilian Jegou of the leading pair takes a tumble after clashing with a camera motorbike and is lucky not be run over by breakaway partner Frederick Finot and a following team car.

The Credit Agricole rider is quickly back up and rejoins Finot as the Lotto team drive the peloton just under 10 minutes behind.

1309: The gap stretches to over 10 minutes before the Fassa Bortolo team of stage one winner Alessandro Petacchi pick up the pace at the front of the chasing peloton.

1253: As the road goes uphill on the fourth category climb of the Cote de la Charmel at 46km, the peloton wind up the pace, reducing the deficit to the two-man breakaway to seven minutes 40 seconds.

Result of Cote de la Charmel climb
1 Lilian Jegou (CA)
2 Frederic Finot (Jean Delatour)
3 Christophe Mengin (FDJ)

1237: Frederic Finot leads Lilian Jegou over the first intermediate sprint mark at 43km with the peloton over nine minutes behind.

Result of Jaulgonne sprint

1 Frederic Finot (Jean Delatour)
2 Lilian Jegou (CA)
3 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Jean Delatour)

1232: Finot and Jegou stretch their lead to nine minutes 20 seconds over the main bunch.

1207: The main peloton passes through Chateau-Thierry at 28km over seven minutes adrift of the leaders.

1149: Finot and Jegou are now over four minutes ahead of the peloton.

1138: The breakaway pair stretch their lead to one minute 40 seconds.

1132: An early attack comes from Lilian Jegou (Credit Agricole) and Frederic Finot (Jean Delatour) at the five kilometre mark.

1117: The riders officially roll out for the second day on the road, faced with the prospect of a flat, 204.5km-trip to Sedan, likely to be dominated at the end by the sprinters.

There will be three intermediate sprints along the way in Jaulgonne (43km), Avancon (128.5km) and Amagne (149.5km).

1110: The second stage is set to start in warm, calm conditions with no hint of any rain. The temperature is 22C at the start.