Live text - Tour de France

Stage 10 - Limoges to Issoudun, 194.5km

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606: DEBATE Your thoughts on the action

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By Chris Bevan

1250: The next three stages are all fairly flat and should be ideal for Cav, who is second in the points category, 11 points behind Norway's Thor Hushovd. Hopefully, getting over the Pyrenees did not take a lot out of the Manx Missile - we might find out what shape he is in later on...

1244: RicksWords on 606: "If Cavendish wants this stage the peloton will have to watch these breakaways, surely all the teams have worked on alternative communications today?

1237: Mark Cavendish's Team Columbia team-mates have been doing plenty of work at the front of the peloton - they don't want any breakaways to succeed here. The gap is coming down too - just three minutes now. Just a reminder that we have three Frenchmen - Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ), Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and a Russian - Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) - out in front.

1227: From James in the Peak District (the UK capital of road cycling!), via text on 81111: "Let's hope George Hincapie and the Columbia crew can help rein in the break for Cav - was very unimpressed by George's intermediate sprint efforts to protect his team mate's Green Jersey the other day. Maybe they can deliver better today! Am heading out to the Tour next week and hope the General Classification is still open by then."
Poor old George was always going to struggle against Thor Hushovd in those sprints - I fear the only way he could have stopped him was if he was on a motorbike...

1227: Er, you might have to give this page a manual refresh if you want to comment on 606 - I've just been told the link above has been directing people to my profile page, which I'm sure is an entertaining read. Not sure I can pin the blame for that mistake on anyone else, but I will try! The gap to the front four is up to three minutes and 50 seconds now, with 160km to go.

1222: Mikhail Ignatiev has just taken the points from the second climb of the day - the Cote de Saint-Laurent-les-Eglises (at the 27.5km mark). The Russian rider won the first climb (Cote de Salvanet, 12.5km) too. None of these front four riders are in contention in the King of the Mountains category though.

1216: From Adam in Bollington, via text on 81111: "How is it possible that AG2R are ahead of Astana in the team standings? I thought it went on the first three riders. Surely Contador, Armstrong, and Leipheimer are ahead of Nocentini, Efimkin, and Goubert?"
This is because the team standings are calculated by adding the times of the best three riders of each team in each stage rather than just using each rider's time in the General Classification. It means teams are rewarded for good performances in individual stages.

1214: Just a reminder that you will be able to listen to the climax of today's stage via our live stream from 5 Live which starts at 1445 BST. Oh, and if you are outside the UK then worry not, you can listen too.

1211: From Jamie (with sore legs) working in Camberley, lives in Reading, via text on 81111: "Chris, as a biking novice with a pretty good road bike, is a 32-mile round-trip commute to work a touch over the top? Bearing in mind that I am not in the best of shape. Oh and Cavendish for the win after a breakaway is reeled in."
A 32-mile round trip is certainly a good way of getting in shape Jamie! My advice is to stick at it. Got to be more fun than the train!?

1207: That gap is still growing you know. With 18km gone, the front four are now three minutes and 10 seconds clear.

1203: Another rider to face the gentlemen of the press was Silence-Lotto's Australian (1/8th Welsh) rider Cadel Evans, the runner-up in Le Tour on 2007 and 2008. Poor old Cadel is almost three minutes down on maillot jaune Rinaldo Nocentini this year and his failed attack on stage eight - an attempt to make up some of that time - was described as the 'last cigarette of a condemned man' by veteran sporting director Cyrille Guimard.

Cadel's take on this year's Tour? "Attacking my real challengers for the race is easier said than done," he said.
"But as soon as an opportunity presents itself, I'm going to try and benefit. I will need a lot of good luck, a lot of good legs, and the stars to align."

1202: So, what do riders get up to on their day off? A lie-in and a chance to update your Twitter feed before a couple of massages with the team soigneur? Not if you're Alberto Contador. The 2007 Tour winner had to face more questions about his relationship with Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong yesterday. Do you get the feeling he'd rather talk about pretty much anything else?

1200: From Jack in London, via text on 81111: "A breakaway group will win today. Would be great if Bradley Wiggins could repeat earlier aggressive riding, but I am going against Lance's shout - a Frenchman will triumph."

1158: Dumoulin is up with the front three now, so make that a front four. Believe it or not, they have just had to wait at a level crossing (do Astana control the trains in France too?), but are now more than a minute-and-a-half clear of the peloton.

1154: From Chris in Stafford, via text on 81111: "I hope the lack of radio will give Lance the freedom for a trademark break away, less tactics means more excitement for us!"

1152: Ignatiev is the only one of these four breakaway riders who isn't French - the other three are clearly going for a Bastille Day win already. With just over 10km of today's 194.5km stage done, the front three are now more than 50 seconds clear off the bunch and 25 seconds clear of Dumoulin.

1150: Phew! They're not hanging around today. A couple of early attacks from the Skil-Shimano team failed to come off but three riders have now got around 30 seconds clear - Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ), Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) and Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano). Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis is off the front of the peloton and trying to bridge the gap.

1147: SeanF81 on 606: "Must be frustrating for Cav to have one of his targeted stages become an experiment. Can't help but feel its no co-incidence it comes on Bastille day in the hope a (French) breakaway will succeed."

1146: GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE NINE:

1. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita/AG2R) 34hrs 24mins 31secs
2. Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) + 6secs
3. Lance Armstrong (USA/Astana) + 8
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA/Astana) +39
5. Bradley Wiggins (GB/Garmin) + 46

1145: TOUR DE FRANCE 2009 AFTER STAGE NINE:

Yellow jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita/AG2R)
Green jersey: Thor Hushovd (Nor/Cervelo Test Team)
Polka dot jersey: Egoi Martinez (Spa/Euskaltel)
White jersey: Tony Martin (Ger/Team Columbia)

1143: The peloton has just rolled out of the neutral zone and stage 10 is officially under way.

1141: What can we expect today then? Well, more drama for a start - breakaways are more likely to succeed. Expect a few French riders to try their luck. But the other radio-free stage this year (on Friday) is likely to have more of a bearing on the overall race because the riders will have mountains to negotiate. This stage is a 'transitional' one to take Le Tour towards the Vosges...it's fairly flat, and could bring us another mass sprint finish...keep an eye out for Mark Cavendish!

1138: Without radios, riders have no way of monitoring what is happening in the race apart from with the 'old skool' 'blackboard man' - a man on a motorbike ahead of the peloton who scrawls down some of the information they would get above and shows it to the riders. The teams aren't happy - 14 of them lodged an official protest about the ruling - they think it will make things more dangerous as riders will have to take more risks.

1135: "How will the lack of radio contact affect today's stage," I hear you ask (at least, I hope you ask!). Well, radios play a big part in the tactical battle that goes on in a stage - the team managers following the race watch the live broadcast on TVs in their team cars and can contact their riders to tell them about breakaway groups, time gaps, and offer advice over whether to attack or defend.

Lance Armstrong, about two hours ago, on Twitter: "Driving to the start. Slight drizzle. Bastille Day. A Brit will win though."

1132: Yep, not only is it Bastille Day, meaning every French rider in the race will be desperate for victory, but there is an extra twist to today's 194.5km trek from Limoges to Issoudun. It's the first of two stages in this year's Tour where riders are without radio contact with their team managers.

1130 BST: Feeling refreshed after yesterday's Tour de France rest day? I hope so, we've got quite a day ahead of us...

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