THE RACE LIVE
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Floyd Landis finished in 29th position in the stage, 29’57" behind Voigt and Pereiro. The American will lose his yellow jersey and slip into second place overall, 1’29" behind Pereiro.

The runner-up in stage 13 will claim the yellow jersey. He is the seventh man to wear the leader’s colours in this year’s Tour... he began the stage in 46th place, 28’50" behind former team-mate Landis who finished with the peloton 29’57" behind Voigt.

The peloton has cross the finishline 29’57" behind the stage winner...!

Oscar Pereiro will be the seventh rider to wear the yellow jersey in the 2006 Tour de France. The peloton is over 29 minutes behind Voigt and Pereiro.

The Lampre team is in charge of the peloton with 2km to go. We are not sure just how far the pack is behind the winner of the stage but it seems likely that Pereiro will inherit the yellow jersey after finishing second in the sprint for stage honours.

The elimination time is calculated on a percentage of the winner’s time. At the moment, the peloton is yet to finish... it is 3km from the finish. Lampre is setting up the sprint for Bennati but the deficit of the peloton was reported to be 29 minutes after Voigt claimed his victory. Could it be that the entire peloton finishes after the time limit...?

Unless the peloton picks up the pace soon, we will see a new stage leader at the end of the day. The last time check has the bunch 29 minutes behind, that means that Pereiro is the virtual leader of the Tour... with a 10" advantage over Landis.

The top four in stage 13 of the 2006 Tour de France is:
1. Jens Voigt (Germany - Team CSC)
2. Oscar Pereiro (Spain - Caisse d’Epargne) at same time
3. Sylvain Chavanel (France - Cofidis) at 40"
4. Manuel Quinziato (Italy - Liquigas) at 40"

Jens Voigt has won his second Tour de France stage. He outsprinted Pereiro in the final 200m.

Voigt put in a mighty attack with 1km to go but he’s now been caught by Pereiro with just 200m to go...

Jens Voigt or Oscar Pereiro will win the stage. With a little over 1km to go, they had a lead of over 20" on Chavanel and Quinziato.

There are 14" behind the leading pair and the chasing duo.

Oh, Sylvain! He stalled and has now surged again but it appears too late to catch up with Voigt and Pereiro.

Chavanel has stopped his effort in the chase. Once again he’s prepared to race for the minor places.

Voigt and Pereiro lead Chavanel and Quinziato by abou 50m with 3km to go.

Voigt and Pereiro are now less than 4km from the finish. They have opened up a good gap on Chavanel and Quinziato... but the chasing pair are closing in on the two leaders.

Voigt has attacked with 4.5km to go. The others have reeled him in and it’s time for a counter attack but, of course, Chavanel hesitates...

Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel are still working together but the attacks are likely to start again. They are just 5km from the finish.

Grivko will be fifth in the stage. He is 3’00" behind Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel with 10km to go.

The peloton is at the 200km mark. It is 27’50" behind Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel.

The four stage leaders are still swapping relatively even turns. Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel are going to contest the stage win... we no longer have a check for Grivko, so he must be completely out of contention after his brief attack at the top of the final climb.

Quinziato has chased down the first two attacks of the lead group. The Liquigas rider is now at the rear of the leading quartet and appears to be shaping up for an attack.

Chavanel and Quinziato are now in the lead of the stage. Voigt and Pereiro are just about to catch the attacking riders....

Chavanel has attacked the lead group. Quinziato is off after him in a flash... then there’s a gap of about 70 meters to Voigt and Pereiro.

Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel lead Grivko by 40" at the 15km to go banner.
The peloton has just reached the 34.5km to go mark, 27’35" behind the stage leaders.

Grivko’s hopes of being in contention for the stage appear to be over. He is now 35" behind Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel... and once Voigt gets a whiff of the win, he shifts into overdrive. That’s exactly what’s happening now and although the Phonak squad has picked up the pace at the head of the peloton, it is still over 27 minutes behind the escapees.

Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel are 20km from Montelimar. They are 20" ahead of Grivko.

Grivko is now 17" behind Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel.

Grivko has lost 20" to his former escape companions after being dropped near the top of the final climb.

The points at the top of the Cote de Villeneuve de Berg (at 205km) were won by:
1. Jens Voigt (CSC) 3pts
2. Sylvain Chavanel (COF) 2pts
3. Oscar Pereiro (CEI) 1pt

With 25km to go, Grivko is 30" behind the four stage leaders.

Grivko is paying for his attack. He has been caught and passed by the four others in the lead of the stage at the top of the final climb.

The first attack of the lead group has come from Andriy Grivko. He is being chased down by Quinziato just before the top of the fifth climb.

Pereiro, Voigt, Grivko, Chavanel and Quinziato are 1km away from the summit of the Cote de Villeneuve de Berg (at the 205.0km mark).

The advantage of the escapees has (finally) started to fall. Pereiro, Voigt, Grivko, Chavanel and Quinziato are now 27’50" ahead of the peloton which has just reached the 187km mark.

The ecapees have an advantage of 28 minutes, 28km from the end of the stage. The maximum gain was 28’20"... but it appears as though the Phonak boys at the head of the peloton have picked up the pace now that Pereiro is within spitting distance of the yellow jersey...

One of the riders in the escape group has stopped to change his bike. Andriy Grivko (MRM) had a problem with his rear derailleur and he’s now on a replacement Colnago and racing to rejoin his escape companions.

The advantage of the escape has blown out to 28’20". This means that, Oscar Pereiro is just 30" behind the overall lead of Floyd Landis.

The points at the top of the Cote de Saint-Maurice d’Ibie (at the 195.5km mark) were won by:
1. Andriy Grivko (MRM) 3pts
2. Sylvan Chavanel (COF) 2pts
3. Oscar Pereiro (PHO) 1pt

The first day that Jens Voigt wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France was exactly six years ago. That was on the day of the eighth stage of the 2001 Tour de France. He wore the leader’s jersey for the 222.5km stage from Colmar to Pontarlier. It was a long wet day in cool conditions...
Voigt is one of the five riders in the lead today and although he stands no chance of inheritting the overall lead, he has the chance to gain over half an hour on the peloton. The last time that an escape group finished over half an hour ahead of the peloton was in Pontarlier.
Erik Dekker won the stage, Stuart O’Grady finished fifth and claimed the yellow jersey and the peloton came in 35’45" behind the winner.
Right now, the deficit of the peloton to Voigt’s group is 27’45".

The peloton is 27’10" behind as it passes the 172.5km mark. It’s clear that the stage win will be contested by the escapees. France Television recently asked Bjarne Riis, the owner of the CSC team, who he believes will be the most likely to succeed.
"The most dangerous is Chavanel," said Riis when asked who he thought Voigt should pay the most attention to.

The peloton is now 26’58" behind Pereiro, Grivko, Chavanel, Voigt and Quinziato.

LeTour.fr recently contacted the directeur sportif of the Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears team to get his thoughts on today’s escape. Eusebio Unzue believes that Oscar Pereiro may stand a chance of beating his escape companions at the end of a long, hot stage.
“The escape should succeed today," said Unzue. "It’s too late for the sprinters’ teams to instigate a chase. With regard to the strategy for the stage win, it’s a little to difficult to anticipate what will happen. There will be a hint of luck in who is able to beat the others from the lead group. It’s hard to determine what the physical state of the other riders in the escape is like after 200km of racing in the lead on such a hot day. In that case, the body commands the tactics not the mind.
“I’m convinced that one man will reach the finish on his own.
“There is a climb with 25km to go in the stage and this could be the launch pad for the selection.
“Oscar is the worst sprinter in the group but I won’t say that he’s slow. Maybe he has interest to test his companions on the final climb.”

The intermediate sprint points at the 177.5km mark were won by:
1. Oscar Pereiro (CEI) 6pts/6"
2. Sylvain Chavanel (COF) 4pts/4"
3. Andriy Grivko (MRM) 2pts/2"

The leading quintet is in Salavas at the 175.5km mark. There are less than 55km to go in the stage. Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro have lead the stage for 154.5km... and are about to contest the second intermediate sprint of the stage. They are 26 minutes ahead of the peloton.

The leaders have covered 40.2km in the fourth hour of racing. The average speed for the first four hours of stage 13 is 42.3km/h.

The peloton is still losing time to Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro. The latest time check has the quintet 25’35" ahead...!

The escapees should now know that the stage will be won by one of them... the peloton is now 25 minutes behind.
Place your bets on the stage winner: Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel or Pereiro...?

The bunch is 24’45" behind Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro at the 146.5km mark. (The leaders are in Barjac at the 164.5km mark.)
Oscar Pereiro (CEI) has ridden his way into the top 10 of the general classification after starting the day 28’50" behind Floyd Landis (PHO).

France Television is counting the amount of time that each rider in the escape group is spending at the front of the paceline. In the last 10 minutes, Grivko (MRM) has been in the lead of the escape 25 per cent of the time... then came Voigt who had been in the wind for 23 per cent of the time.

The peloton is 22’40" behind the leading quintet; this is easily the biggest advantage of an escape this year. Until today, Dumoulin and Schroder’s 12’50" lead in stage five was maximum gain of any escape.

The five leaders have been on the attack since the 21st kilometer. Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro currently have a lead of 21’25"... and there’s no hint that the peloton is remotely interested in chasing down the escape. The Phonak squad has been in charge of the peloton all day and they aren’t concerned about any of the riders in the escape group threatening Landis’ overall lead.
Pereiro Sio (CEI) is the best-placed of the leading quintet after 12 stages. He began the day in 46th place, 28’50" behind Landis in the general classification.

One of the transitional stages of last year’s Tour ended in a bunch sprint with McEwen leading O’Grady and team-mate Rodriguez across the finish line.
It was the first time since Tom Steels won the 12th stage of the 1998 race that one of the stages between the two mountain ranges (Pyrenees and Alps) concluded in a mass sprint.

All nine riders from the Phonak team are at the front of the peloton which is now in Ales at the 128.5km mark. They have 101.5km to go in the 13th stage and have a deficit of 19’50" to Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro.

Jens Voigt is one of the five riders who have been in the lead of stage 13 since the 21km mark. He has worn the yellow jersey twice at the Tour de France - for one day in 2001, and two days (including a ’repos’) last year.
When the German won his only Tour stage it was a very hot day in 2001. The finish was in Sarran and the conditions were akin to today’s, ie. super hot!
Voigt beat his escape companion Brad McGee in Sarran. The Australian remembers the stage with only vague detail... "At the end," said McGee, "I was so fatigued and hot that I could barely see. I remember my vision blacking out and I only followed the wheel in front because I could hear ’Jensie’ breathing. I needed noise to know where to go..."

The peloton is 19’50" behind Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro Sio at it exits the feedzone.

At the top of the cote de la l’Arbousset, the peloton is 19’35" behind Voigt’s group.

The bunch has just reached the site of the first intermediate sprint. It is 19’40" behind Voigt’s quintet.

The leaders covered 39.8km in the first hour. The average speed for the first three hours is 43.0km/h.

Botcharov is back in the peloton. The five leaders continue to share the work but, as often happens when Voigt is in an escape, he is doing longer turns than the other four.
His quintet is 100km from the finish.

Alexandre Botcharov has punctured his front tire. It’s not exactly rivetting news, but it’s one of the few things to report from today’s long, hot stage.

The last time that Pereiro Sio was in an escape that gained over 18 minutes on the peloton, he finished second in the stage. That was to Pla d’Adet last year when he was beaten by George Hincapie at the summit.
The Spaniard is in today’s escape group of five that is now 19 minutes ahead of the peloton which continues to be led by riders from the Phonak team.

Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Pereiro and Chavanel have arrived in the feedzone at the 122.0km mark. The peloton is 12km away, 18’50" behind.

The points at the top of the third climb of the day were won by:
1. Sylvain Chavanel (COF) 3pts
2. Oscar Pereiro Sio (CEI) 2pts
3. Manuel Quinziato (LIQ) 1pt

The five escapees are climbing the 3rd ascent of the day, the Cote de L’Arbousset. They have a lead of 18’50”…!

The points for the first intermediate sprint, in Anduze (at the 117.5km mark) were won by:
1. Manuel Quinziato (LIQ) 6pts
2. Oscar Pereiro Sio (CEI) 4pts
3. Jens Voigt (CSC) 2pts

LeTour.fr contacted one of the directeurs of the Cofidis team, Francis Van Londersele to get his thoughts on today’s stage. The team has Sylvain Chavanel in the lead group that’s now 17’00" ahead of the peloton which is at the 101.5km mark.
“We’ve tried everyday to put someone in the break. Today it worked," said Van Londersele. "It’s been really difficult to establish the perfect group. Unfortunately we were obliged to ask Coyot to come back to the peloton for today’s escape to be allowed to go. I don’t know why he was targeted as the rider who shouldn’t be there but as soon as he returned to the peloton, FDJ stopped chasing.
“In theory there is no team interested in setting the pace of a concerted chase so I’m confident that Sylvain’s group will stay away. Sure, there’ll be a lot of attacks in the finale and it will be hard in the last 20km before all of the riders in the lead group are strong.”

Voigt, Grivko, Quinziato, Chavanel and Pereiro are now 16’12" ahead of the peloton which continues to be led by the Phonak team.

LeTour.fr contacted one of the directeur sportifs of the CSC to find out his thoughts on today’s stage. Alain Gallopin is confident of Jens Voigt’s chances in today’s escape and believes that his squad also has a potential winner of the Tour in its midst.
“I believe that everyone in the peloton is tired so the escape has a good chance of succeeding today," said Gallopin. "But the stage is still very long and a reaction could yet come. Jens is always prepared to be part of an attack like the one we saw this morning: this is his specialty.
“With regard to the team, the first week was really difficult because of the falls of O’Grady and Schleck and the retirement of Julich in the time trial. But now things are a little better and we have shown what we’re able to do in the Pyrenees. Schleck was really good and Sastre has demonstrated that he can fight with the best climbers – he is now one of the favourites of this year’s Tour. Carlos is an experienced rider who is able to be a leader of the team. He has been the captain of CSC in the Vuelta in the past and he handled the duties with style. Now Carlos doesn’t know what had can do, but the objective could be the top five or even the podium… or why not the win. It all depends on the approach of the others.
“If he wants the win, he has to attack in the Alps.”

Voigt, Pereiro, Chavanel, Quinziato and Grivko are now 14’15" ahead of the peloton!

The closest that Sylvain Chavanel has come to winning a stage of the Tour de France was in Montpellier in stage 13 last year. He bridged a gap to an escape group in the closing kilometers and arrived at the ’flamme rouge’ along with Chris Horner. With 1km to go, the pair had an advantage of eight seconds... but a few moments of hesitation cost them the victory.
Chavanel followed Horner until the final 300m when they were swallowed up by the peloton and McEwen claimed his third victory of the 92nd Tour.
"It was so close," said Horner of the day. "All Chavanel had to do was one or two turns and we would have contested the sprint for stage honours. As it was, we earned nothing... I kept sprinting because I could see the line when the bunch passed us but no one remembers 10th place."

The stage leaders covered 38.8km in the 2nd hour of racing in stage 13. The average speed for the first two hours is 44.6km/h.

The bunch is still led by the Phonak team. It is 12’50" behind at the top of the col de la Cardonille (at the 77.5km mark).

The leading quintet is now 13’00" ahead of the peloton. This is biggest gain of any escape in this year’s race.

Voigt, Pereiro, Chavanel, Quinziato and Grivko are currently 12’50" ahead of the peloton. This is the same time as the biggest advantage of an escape in this year’s Tour.
The last time a break was given this amount of breathing was was in stage five to Caen when Samuel Dumoulin (A2R) and Bjorn Schroder (MRM) were the leading pair.

The leaders have contested the second climb of the day at the 77.5km mark. The points at the top of the Col de la Cardonille were won by:
1. Andriy Grivko (MRM) 3pts
2. Manuel Quinziato (LIQ) 2pts
3. Jens Voigt (CSC) 1pt

The bunch is completely uninterested in chasing the five escapees who have a lead of 12’50" with the peloton at the 68.5km mark.

The Italian representative in today’s escape is Manuel Quinziato of the Liquigas team. He has been a professional since 2002 (first with Lampre for three years, then a season at Saunier Duval). He hasn’t yet won a pro race but he was the European time trial champion in 2001 when he beat Russian Alexandre Bespalov and Germany’s Sebastian Lang.
Quinziato was a member of the junior Italian pursuit squad that finished third in the team pursuit at the world championsips in 2000. The winning formation that year was Australia (with Graeme Brown, Scott Davis, Brett Lancaster and Michael Rogers).

The escapees are now 11’05" ahead of the peloton which has just reached the 61.5km mark.

Voigt, Pereiro, Chavanel, Quinziato and Grivko have pushed their advantage over the peloton up to 10’05". They began their attack at the 21km mark.

Sebastian Piquet, the man who is the voice of Radio Tour, has just called LeTour.fr to explain that the temperature at the top of the first climb is 42 degrees Celsius.

Andriy Grivko is the only Ukrainian not to have won a stage in this year’s Tour de France. His compatriots Serhiy Honchar and Yaroslav Popovych won stages seven and 12, respectively.
The Milram recruit who is part of today’s five-man escape group has won the Ukrainian time trial championships in both 2005 and 2006. These are his only victories since turning pro with Domina Vacanze at the start of last year.

The five escapees are now 9’05" ahead of the peloton which is at the 54.5km mark. Of the men in the lead, two have previous won a stage of the Tour de France.
Jens Voigt (CSC) won in Sarran in 2001 - the same year he wore the yellow jersey for the first time as well as being a member of the Credit Agricole squad that won the team time trial - and Oscar Pereiro won in Pau last year.

The points at the top of the first climb were won by:
1. Sylvain Chavanel (COF) 3pts
2. Oscar Pereiro (CEI) 2pts
3. Andriy Grivko (MRM) 1pt

The five escapees are now 8’10" ahead of the peloton. They are on the ascent of the cote de Puechabon which peaks at the 57.5km mark.

The escapees today represent five teams and five countries. They are 7’20" ahead of the peloton. The riders in the break are:
Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spain - Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears) - 46t in GC, at 28’50"
Sylvain Chavanel (France - Cofidis) - 64th in GC, at 37’06"
Andriy Grivko (Ukraine - Team Milram) - 99th in GC, at 57’07"
Jens Voigt (Germany - Team CSC) - 112th in GC, at 1h01’28"
Manuel Quinziato (Italy - Liquigas) - 114th in GC, at 1h03’54".

The peloton is still led by the Phonak team. This pack is at the 47.5km, 6’20" behind Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM).

The leaders have covered 50.4km in the first hour of racing in stage 13...!

LeTour.fr recently contacted Jean-Francois Pescheux, the director of competition at the Tour de France. He follows the peloton each day along with the race ’commissaire’ and Sebastian Piquet, The Voice of Radio Tour.
We asked Mr Pescheux for his thoughts on today’s escape... "Now that the escape has been established, the leaders have stopped (to answer the call of nature) it’s is a sign that there will be no concerted chase for a while.
"On such a long stage, we can expect to see big gaps, especially because there is no one who is a threat to the overall rankings involved in the escape. The other teams will watch each other closely but the five escapees have every chance of succeeding.
"Of the men in the lead, there is pure quality but none of them is particularly strong in a sprint so it should be a close contest if they stay away to contest the stage honours.
"Voigt is always a strong attacker, Pereiro wants to be better than he was in the Pyrenees and the stage could suit Chavanel... it’s a difficult group to try and select a winner from."

The five escapees are in Gignac at the 44.5km mark of today’s 230km stage. The first climb of the day is the category-four Cote de Puechabon at 57.5km.

Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM) are now 4’25" ahead of the peloton.

The five leaders are working well together since joining forces at the 21km mark. They have been on the attack for 17km and have an advantage of 3’00" when the peloton was at 38km.

At the 35.5km mark Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM) have a lead of 2’10".

It appears as though Voigt et al have established The Escape of stage 13. They are now 1’10" ahead of the peloton that is being led by the Phonak team.
The best-placed of the leading quintet in the general classification after 12 stages is Oscar Pereiro Sio (CEI). He began the day in 46th overall, 28’50" behind Landis.

The bunch is 50" behind Voigt, Pereiro, Chavanel, Quinziato and Grivko at the 31.5km mark.

A Francaise des Jeux rider is at the head of the peloton that’s covered 29km so far today. The main pack is 45" behind Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM).

The first escapees are: Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM). At the 27km mark, they are 30" ahead of the peloton.

Arnaud Coyot (COF) has dropped out of the six-man escape group. The stage leaders are at the 26.5km mark with an advantage of 12".

At the 25.5km mark, Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Coyot (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM) have a lead of 10".

The Credit Agricole team is now in charge of the peloton at the 23.5km mark. The current advantage is just eight seconds.

The six leaders are still 10" ahead of the peloton at the 23km mark. Francaise des Jeux lead the peloton as the team does not have a rider represented in the escape that began at the 21km mark.

Voigt (CSC), Pereiro (CEI), Chavanel (COF), Coyot (COF), Quinziato (LIQ) and Grivko (MRM) are now 10" ahead of the peloton.

Voigt (CSC) is part of a six-man escape group that is now 10" ahead of the peloton.

Marcus Fothen (GST) continues to lead the best young rider competition. He has worn the white jersey for most of the 2006 Tour and is currently in 11th place in the general classification. Damiano Cunego (LAM) is in second place in the youth classification, 12’15" behind Fothen. In third is Matthieu Sprick (BTL), 27’16" behind Fothen.

After 13 days of racing in the 2006 Tour, a total of 16 riders have abandoned the race. The 160 remaining riders represent 26 countries with the host nation boasting the most with 35 still present.
Here is a summary of which countries are still represented in the 93rd Tour de France:
France: 35 – 3 less than the start because Engoulvent (COF) abandoned in stage 10, Brochard (A2R) didn’t start stage 10 and Plouhinec (AGR) abandoned yesterday.
Spain: 30 – 5 less than the start… Valverde (CEI) abandoned in stage three, Mayo (CEI) abandoned in stage 11, Noval (DSC), Galvez (CEI) and Martinez (AGR) abandoned in stage 12.
Italy: 20 – 4 less than the start… Di Luca (LIQ) didn’t start stage two, Sacchi (MRM) didn’t start stage six, Lombardi (CSC) abandoned in stage 11, Savoldelli (DSC) abandoned in stage 12.
Germany: 14
Belgium: 10
USA: 7 – 1 less than the start… Rodriguez (DVL) abandoned in stage three
Netherlands: 7 – 1 less than the start… Dekker (RAB) abandoned in stage three
Australia: 5
Russia: 4
Switzerland: 4
Austria: 3
Sweden: 3
Ukraine: 3
Colombia: 2
Great Britain: 2
Slovenia: 2
Venezuela: 2
South Africa: 1
Denmark: 1
Finland: 1
Kazakhstan: 1
Luxembourg: 1
Norway: 1
New Zealand: 1
Portugal: 1
Czech Republic: 1

No escapes have been able to succeed early today. The bunch is spinning along at a rapid tempo and is currently at the 17km mark.

The escape attempt by Martinez (DSC) amounted to nothing. He has been caught at the 13km mark.

The 15 men who attacked in Valros have been caught. Martinez (DSC) then tried his luck. He is six seconds ahead of the peloton.

At the 10.5km mark, a group of 15 riders has escaped the peloton. We await confirmation of the riders involved.

The bunch is near the town of Valros. It has covered 9.5km in the first 10 minutes of racing in stage 13.

The peloton is still together and we can report that Juan Antonio Flecha - a riders suited to trying an escape in a stage such as today’s - has just punctured his rear tire.

The escape has been caught by the peloton at the 5.5km mark.

The pace at the start of the longest stage is extremely fast. We don’t have a time check for the five escapees yet but can report that the peloton is not kicking back and allowing Commesso’s escape to gain much momentum... he is expected to be caught soon.

Garcia Acosta (CEI) and Verbrugge (COF) are trying to bridge the gap to the early attackers.

The official start time of stage 13 was 11.45am. There is a rider already on the attack: Salvatore Commesso (LAM). He is being pursuit by Voigt and O’Grady (CSC), Grivko (MRM) and Kopp (GST). They are at the 3.5km mark.

There are two sites where riders can earn time bonuses and points for the green jersey. The intermediate sprints for stage 13 are in Aduze (at 117.5km) and Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (177.5km).
The green jersey is worn by Robbie McEwen (DVL). The Australian who has already won stages two, four and six, finished sixth in stage 12 and has a tally of 232 points, 25 more than Oscar Freire (RAB). Third place in the points classification is held by the former race leader Tom Boonen (QSI) who has 204 points.

The mountains classification is currently led by David De la Fuente of the Saunier Duval-Prodir team. He has 80 points, 18 more than the former race leader Cyril Dessel (A2R) and 19 more than the perpetually aggressive German rider Fabian Wegmann (GST).

The 13th stage has a relatively flat profile but there are five locations where points for the climbing classification can be earned.
All the hills of this longest stage of the 93rd edition are the lowest-ranked, category-four - with points of three, two and one awarded to the first three across the line. They ascents are: the Cote de Peuchabon (at 57.5km), the Cote de la Cardonille (77.5km), the Cote de l’Arbousset (119.5km), the Cote de Saint-Maurice d’Ibie (195.5km) and the Cote de Villeneuve de Berg (category-four, 205.5km).

Five riders abandoned the Tour during the 12th stage. They were Benjamin Noval (DSC), Paolo Savoldelli (DSC), Isaac Galvez (CEI), Jose Alberto Martinez (AGR) and Samuel Plouhinec (AGR). There are 160 riders still in the race on this third Saturday of the 93rd edition.

The weather bureau has reported that the temperatures at the start of the stage in Beziers are 30 degrees Celsius in the air and 38 degrees at road level. The sun is shining early today but storms are forecast, perhaps even before the end of the stage unlike yesterday when the heavens opened and rain poured down only moments after Yaroslav Popovych crossed the finish line to win the stage in Carcassonne.

The peloton is currently in the 6.7km neutral zone and on its way to the start of the 13th stage. The official start is expected to be at 11.45am.

The longest stage of the 2006 Tour de France - a 230.0km trek from Beziers to Montelimar - is scheduled to begin at 11.30am. The route takes the riders from the Herault department on the coast to the Drome department.
The conditions are hot for this 13th stage of the 93rd Tour. Live coverage will begin shortly.