Field has been shattered

Peloton of favorties shows up at the finish of Stage 7 almost four minutes back.

In a post-ride interview, Levi Leipheimer said that today went as expected and "Tomorrow's a hard day."

Stage 8 comes up in less than 24 hours.

Gerdemann is in the lead by 00:01:24.

Kloden is back 00:03:39.

Leipheimer is back 00:04:06

Hincapie is back (after being dropped on the final climb) 00:07:15

WOW.

Stage 7 Winner

SPOILER

LINUS Gerdemann wins!!

Takes Stage 7 in a commanding way and takes over YELLOW! The first change of the Yellow Jersey in the 2007 Tour de France.

Gerdemann rides for T-Mobile. More to come later.

180 Riders Left in the Tour

I know the theme today has been riders remaining. But Stage 7 will certainly shake out the pack and I bet that no fewer than three more riders will abandon by the end of today.

Here's the overnight info from Versus (minus the abandon/non-abandon and re-abandon of Enrico Degano).

26 Nations Represented In 94th Tour

The 180 riders remaining in the 2007 Tour de France represent 26 countries.
The breakdown is:
37 – Spain. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (AGR) abandoned during stage one after a crash; Xabier Zandio (GCE) abandoned during stage four because of injuries sustained in a crash in stage one. Oscar Freire (RAB) and Rubens Lobato (SDV) didn’t start stage seven.
34 – France. Remy Di Gregorio (FDJ) didn’t start stage five after fracturing his elbow in a fall early in stage four. Geoffroy Lequartre (COF) didn’t start stage six after being caught up in a crash in stage five.
19 – Germany
17 – Italy. Enrico Degano (BAR) abandoned during stage seven.
13 – Belgium
7 – The Netherlands
6 – USA and Russia
5 – Great Britain, Switzerland and Australia. Brett Lancaster (MRM) abandoned during the fifth stage.
4 – Kazakhstan
3 – Austria and Colombia
2 – Belarus, Luxembourg, Norway and Ukraine
1 – South Africa, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden
Lithuania had one reprentative but Toomas Vaitkus didn’t start stage three because of a broken thumb sustained in a crash at the end of stage two.

AND Now for some news

About an hour into the race, Enrico Degano has abandoned the 2007 Tour de France. I confirmed this with a number of sources just to be sure.

ERROR

Here's the apology from Versus Network. They rushed to report that a rider had abandoned yesterday, but they were wrong. Seems to me that the event is televised on Eurosport too, so couldn't they just look at the tape and see if a rider gets into a team car or an ambulance? I shake my head at shoddy reporting.

Correction: Enrico Degano Still In The Race

One of the Barloworld riders, Enrico Degano crashed in the feedzone of the sixth stage. It was announced during the live coverage on LeTour.fr (and in the stage summary) that the Italian sprinter – who currently holds the position of ‘Lanterne Rouge’ in the 2007 Tour de France – had, in fact, abandoned the race. This is incorrect and we offer our sincere apologies for any confusion caused by this error.
His team manager, Claudio Corti was contacted this morning by LeTour.fr and he explained that Degano did sustain some injuries in the crash but he still found the energy to finished 16th in the stage to Bourg-en-Bresse. “It will be difficult for him in the mountains today,” said Corti, “but hopefully we’ll have other riders who can perform in the mountains like the Colombians Felix Cardenas and Juan Soler.”
Once again, apologies for the error in yesterday’s report and best wishes to Mr Degano today.

Stage 7

The photos below are from Stage 7 of the Tour de France with about 60KM left to ride.

I mention that because some readers (Tim McGuire for instance) are out in California and are probably still in bed as I write this. And he's certainly still in bed when the Tour begins each day.

Dear Tim - and others who don't want spoilers: Going forward each post will have SPOILER in the title if it gives away a 'critical' part of that stage's info. That would include the stage winner, an abandonment of someone notable, and a clear change of leadership in Yellow.

Keep reading and be assured that we've got your best interests at heart.

Top 25 Riders After 6 Stages

Here are the top 25 riders in the 2007 Tour de France, through six stages.

CANCELLARA, Fabian
KLÖDEN, Andréas
POZZATO, Filippo
MILLAR, David
FREIRE, Oscar
HINCAPIE, George
GUSEV, Vladimir
KARPETS, Vladimir
ZABEL, Erik
ASTARLOZA, Mikel
DEKKER, Thomas
VAUGRENARD, Benoît
GUTIERREZ, José Ivan
CONTADOR, Alberto
KASHECHKIN, Andrey
EVANS, Cadel
PEREZ, Ruben
ROGERS, Michael
PEREIRO SIO, Oscar
GERDEMANN, Linus
FLECHA, Juan Antonio
LEIPHEIMER, Levi
MENCHOV, Denis
FOTHEN, Markus
VALVERDE, Alejandro

WOWSA, Cadel Evans has snuck quietly into the mix at 16th overall. Hincapie is still in there and Levi Leipheimer is sitting nicely at 22nd.

Poor Wiggins is now nine minutes and four seconds back of the leader and the last-place rider is a full 25 minutes and 19 seconds back.

Happy Bastille Day tomorrow.

Results of Stage 6

The top 10 finishers for the 6th stage of the 2007 Tour de France are...

1. Tom Boonen
2. Oscar Freire
3. Erik Zabel
4. Sebastian Chavanel
5. Thor Hushovd
6. Daniele Bennati
7. Robert Forster
8. Robert Hunter
9. Romain Feillu
10. Murilo Fischer

Overall standings coming up.

By the way, Wiggins, who jumped off the front at the 2KM mark stayed away until there were just 7KM left in the race. Looking now to see where he finished as he got dropped off the back of the peloton with a mere 5KM to go in the stage.

HUGE Escape

The Wiggins escape has now reached 15 minutes at the 50KM mark.

There are 199.5KM in today's stage 6.

According to Versus Television, Wiggins is currently 15'40" ahead of the peloton.

Only 183 Riders remaining

Here's the newsflash from Versus...

The 183 riders remaining in the 2007 Tour de France represent 26 countries.
The breakdown is:
39 – Spain. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (AGR) abandoned during stage one after a crash; Xabier Zandio abandoned during stage four because of injuries sustained in a crash in stage one.
34 – France. Remy Di Gregorio (FDJ) didn’t start stage five after fracturing his elbow in a fall early in stage four. Geoffroy Lequartre (COF) didn’t start stage six after being caught up in a crash in stage five.
19 – Germany
18 – Italy
13 – Belgium
7 – The Netherlands
6 – USA and Russia
5 – Great Britain, Switzerland and Australia. Brett Lancaster (MRM) abandoned during the fifth stage.
4 – Kazakhstan
3 – Austria and Colombia
2 – Belarus, Luxembourg, Norway and Ukraine
1 – South Africa, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden
Lithuania had one reprentative but Toomas Vaitkus didn’t start stage three because of a broken thumb sustained in a crash at the end of stage two.

Stage 6 Underway

Erik Zabel is in Green and Stage 6 of the 2007 Tour de France is underway.

An early attack by Wiggins, nice weather and the glory of the French countryside. Sweet!

COMPLETE standings of the Tour de France

Here is the whole group, all 184 riders, listed in their current position after Stage 5. You will notice, that the time gaps are starting to rise. The amount of time from first to worst is now 48 minutes and change.

This will continue to rise as more people crash, more climbs appear, and more time passes.

Cancellara still wears YELLOW.

1 033 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI CSC 24:28:56.000 00:00:00.000
2 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 24:29:29.000 00:00:33.000
3 151 POZZATO, Filippo ITA LIQ 24:29:31.000 00:00:35.000
4 201 MILLAR, David GBR SDV 24:29:37.000 00:00:41.000
5 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 24:29:39.000 00:00:43.000
6 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 24:29:41.000 00:00:45.000
7 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 24:29:42.000 00:00:46.000
8 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 24:29:45.000 00:00:49.000
9 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 24:29:47.000 00:00:51.000
10 169 VAUGRENARD, Benoît FRA FDJ 24:29:48.000 00:00:52.000
11 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 24:29:49.000 00:00:53.000
12 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 24:29:51.000 00:00:55.000
13 056 FREIRE, Oscar ESP RAB 24:29:51.000 00:00:55.000
14 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 24:29:51.000 00:00:55.000
15 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 24:29:52.000 00:00:56.000
16 077 PEREZ, Ruben ESP EUS 24:29:52.000 00:00:56.000
17 021 ROGERS, Michael AUS TMO 24:29:53.000 00:00:57.000
18 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 24:29:53.000 00:00:57.000
19 181 ZABEL, Erik GER MRM 24:29:54.000 00:00:58.000
20 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 24:29:54.000 00:00:58.000
21 055 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP RAB 24:29:56.000 00:01:00.000
22 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 24:29:56.000 00:01:00.000
23 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 24:29:56.000 00:01:00.000
24 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 24:29:59.000 00:01:03.000
25 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 24:29:59.000 00:01:03.000
26 095 KOHL, Bernhard AUT GST 24:30:00.000 00:01:04.000
27 091 SCHUMACHER, Stefan GER GST 24:30:01.000 00:01:05.000
28 144 MORENI, Cristian ITA COF 24:30:01.000 00:01:05.000
29 125 LEFEVRE, Laurent FRA BTL 24:30:02.000 00:01:06.000
30 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 24:30:03.000 00:01:07.000
31 115 MARTINEZ, Egoi ESP DSC 24:30:03.000 00:01:07.000
32 118 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 24:30:04.000 00:01:08.000
33 168 LÖVKVIST, Thomas SWE FDJ 24:30:04.000 00:01:08.000
34 027 KIRCHEN, Kim LUX TMO 24:30:04.000 00:01:08.000
35 038 VOIGT, Jens GER CSC 24:30:04.000 00:01:08.000
36 061 MOREAU, Christophe FRA A2R 24:30:05.000 00:01:09.000
37 174 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP QSI 24:30:05.000 00:01:09.000
38 161 CASAR, Sandy FRA FDJ 24:30:07.000 00:01:11.000
39 084 BRUSEGHIN, Marzio ITA LAM 24:30:07.000 00:01:11.000
40 129 VOECKLER, Thomas FRA BTL 24:30:08.000 00:01:12.000
41 044 HORNER, Christopher USA PRL 24:30:09.000 00:01:13.000
42 065 ELMIGER, Martin SUI A2R 24:30:09.000 00:01:13.000
43 029 SINKEWITZ, Patrik GER TMO 24:30:10.000 00:01:14.000
44 088 VALJAVEC, Tadej SLO LAM 24:30:10.000 00:01:14.000
45 028 MERCKX, Axel BEL TMO 24:30:10.000 00:01:14.000
46 081 BALLAN, Alessandro ITA LAM 24:30:11.000 00:01:15.000
47 031 SASTRE, Carlos ESP CSC 24:30:12.000 00:01:16.000
48 036 SCHLECK, Frank LUX CSC 24:30:13.000 00:01:17.000
49 071 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP EUS 24:30:13.000 00:01:17.000
50 043 CIONI, Dario ITA PRL 24:30:13.000 00:01:17.000
51 123 FLORENCIO, Xavier ESP BTL 24:30:13.000 00:01:17.000
52 177 TANKINK, Bram NED QSI 24:30:14.000 00:01:18.000
53 207 MAYO, Iban ESP SDV 24:30:16.000 00:01:20.000
54 062 ARRIETA, Jose Luis ESP A2R 24:30:17.000 00:01:21.000
55 106 FOFONOV, Dmitriy KAZ C.A 24:30:17.000 00:01:21.000
56 052 BOOGERD, Michael NED RAB 24:30:18.000 00:01:22.000
57 153 BELTRAN, Manuel ESP LIQ 24:30:18.000 00:01:22.000
58 219 SOLER HERNANDEZ, Juan Mauricio COL BAR 24:30:19.000 00:01:23.000
59 083 BOSSONI, Paolo ITA LAM 24:30:20.000 00:01:24.000
60 063 CALZATI, Sylvain FRA A2R 24:30:22.000 00:01:26.000
61 042 AERTS, Mario BEL PRL 24:30:22.000 00:01:26.000
62 126 PINEAU, Jérôme FRA BTL 24:30:22.000 00:01:26.000
63 131 MERCADO, Juan Miguel ESP AGR 24:30:22.000 00:01:26.000
64 103 BOTCHAROV, Alexandre RUS C.A 24:30:22.000 00:01:26.000
65 109 LE MEVEL, Christophe FRA C.A 24:30:23.000 00:01:27.000
66 076 LANDALUZE, Inigo ESP EUS 24:30:24.000 00:01:28.000
67 089 VILA ERRANDONEA, Patxi ESP LAM 24:30:28.000 00:01:32.000
68 058 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 24:30:32.000 00:01:36.000
69 066 GADRET, John FRA A2R 24:30:34.000 00:01:38.000
70 069 TURPIN, Ludovic FRA A2R 24:30:34.000 00:01:38.000
71 012 ARROYO, David ESP GCE 24:30:34.000 00:01:38.000
72 107 HALGAND, Patrice FRA C.A 24:30:39.000 00:01:43.000
73 205 DE LA FUENTE, David ESP SDV 24:30:42.000 00:01:46.000
74 218 SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin BLR BAR 24:30:43.000 00:01:47.000
75 146 PARRA, Ivan Ramiro COL COF 24:30:44.000 00:01:48.000
76 068 GOUBERT, Stephane FRA A2R 24:30:46.000 00:01:50.000
77 121 FEDRIGO, Pierrick FRA BTL 24:30:47.000 00:01:51.000
78 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 24:30:52.000 00:01:56.000
79 082 BENNATI, Daniele ITA LAM 24:31:01.000 00:02:05.000
80 171 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSI 24:31:02.000 00:02:06.000
81 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 24:31:06.000 00:02:10.000
82 184 GRIVKO, Andriy UKR MRM 24:31:09.000 00:02:13.000
83 128 TSCHOPP, Johann SUI BTL 24:31:21.000 00:02:25.000
84 138 SALMON, Benoit FRA AGR 24:31:21.000 00:02:25.000
85 137 JALABERT, Nicolas FRA AGR 24:31:25.000 00:02:29.000
86 016 PEREZ SANCHEZ, Francisco ESP GCE 24:31:28.000 00:02:32.000
87 179 VASSEUR, Cédric FRA QSI 24:31:29.000 00:02:33.000
88 072 ANTON, Igor ESP EUS 24:31:29.000 00:02:33.000
89 098 WEGMANN, Fabian GER GST 24:31:29.000 00:02:33.000
90 024 EISEL, Bernhard AUT TMO 24:31:31.000 00:02:35.000
91 202 CAMANO, Iker ESP SDV 24:31:31.000 00:02:35.000
92 185 KNEES, Christian GER MRM 24:31:34.000 00:02:38.000
93 133 DUENAS NEVADO, Moises ESP AGR 24:31:36.000 00:02:40.000
94 166 JEGOU, Lilian FRA FDJ 24:31:39.000 00:02:43.000
95 078 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP EUS 24:31:44.000 00:02:48.000
96 124 GESLIN, Anthony FRA BTL 24:31:46.000 00:02:50.000
97 178 TOSATTO, Matteo ITA QSI 24:31:48.000 00:02:52.000
98 075 ISASI, Inaki ESP EUS 24:31:52.000 00:02:56.000
99 074 AZANZA, Jorge ESP EUS 24:31:52.000 00:02:56.000
100 208 RINERO, Christophe FRA SDV 24:31:57.000 00:03:01.000
101 203 CANADA, David ESP SDV 24:32:32.000 00:03:36.000
102 165 GILBERT, Philippe BEL FDJ 24:34:17.000 00:05:21.000
103 097 SCHOLZ, Ronny GER GST 24:34:30.000 00:05:34.000
104 122 CLEMENT, Stef NED BTL 24:34:32.000 00:05:36.000
105 149 WIGGINS, Bradley GBR COF 24:34:36.000 00:05:40.000
106 105 DEAN, Julian NZL C.A 24:34:46.000 00:05:50.000
107 139 VOGONDY, Nicolas FRA AGR 24:34:51.000 00:05:55.000
108 175 ROSSELER, Sébastien BEL QSI 24:34:52.000 00:05:56.000
109 017 PORTAL, Nicolas FRA GCE 24:34:57.000 00:06:01.000
110 163 DELAGE, Mickaël FRA FDJ 24:34:58.000 00:06:02.000
111 193 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST 24:35:01.000 00:06:05.000
112 204 COBO ACEBO, Juan Jose ESP SDV 24:35:04.000 00:06:08.000
113 167 LADAGNOUS, Matthieu FRA FDJ 24:35:04.000 00:06:08.000
114 194 IVANOV, Serguei RUS AST 24:35:08.000 00:06:12.000
115 094 HAUSSLER, Heinrich GER GST 24:35:13.000 00:06:17.000
116 022 BURGHARDT, Marcus GER TMO 24:35:17.000 00:06:21.000
117 067 GERRANS, Simon AUS A2R 24:35:19.000 00:06:23.000
118 059 WEENING, Pieter NED RAB 24:35:23.000 00:06:27.000
119 188 POITSCHKE, Enrico GER MRM 24:35:23.000 00:06:27.000
120 147 SCHEIRLINCKX, Staf BEL COF 24:35:26.000 00:06:30.000
121 085 CORIONI, Claudio ITA LAM 24:35:32.000 00:06:36.000
122 217 LONGO BORGHINI, Paolo ITA BAR 24:35:39.000 00:06:43.000
123 102 BONNET, William FRA C.A 24:36:44.000 00:07:48.000
124 216 HUNTER, Robert RSA BAR 24:36:57.000 00:08:01.000
125 199 SAVOLDELLI, Paolo ITA AST 24:36:58.000 00:08:02.000
126 155 FISCHER, Murilo Antoniobil BRA LIQ 24:36:59.000 00:08:03.000
127 192 COLOM, Antonio ESP AST 24:37:03.000 00:08:07.000
128 117 PAULINHO, Sergio POR DSC 24:37:04.000 00:08:08.000
129 209 VENTOSO, Francisco ESP SDV 24:37:11.000 00:08:15.000
130 026 GRABSCH, Bert GER TMO 24:37:13.000 00:08:17.000
131 189 SIEBERG, Marcel GER MRM 24:37:15.000 00:08:19.000
132 211 EFIMKIN, Alexander RUS BAR 24:37:21.000 00:08:25.000
133 057 NIERMANN, Grischa GER RAB 24:37:21.000 00:08:25.000
134 162 CHAVANEL, Sébastien FRA FDJ 24:37:23.000 00:08:27.000
135 047 RODRIGUEZ, Fred USA PRL 24:37:25.000 00:08:29.000
136 183 GRABSCH, Ralf GER MRM 24:37:26.000 00:08:30.000
137 182 CORTINOVIS, Alessandro ITA MRM 24:37:29.000 00:08:33.000
138 173 DE JONGH, Steven NED QSI 24:37:30.000 00:08:34.000
139 127 SPRICK, Matthieu FRA BTL 24:37:39.000 00:08:43.000
140 079 VERDUGO, Gorka ESP EUS 24:37:43.000 00:08:47.000
141 099 WROLICH, Peter AUT GST 24:37:45.000 00:08:49.000
142 136 HERVE, Cédric FRA AGR 24:37:46.000 00:08:50.000
143 034 CUESTA, Inigo ESP CSC 24:37:53.000 00:08:57.000
144 212 CARDENAS, Félix COL BAR 24:38:12.000 00:09:16.000
145 092 FÖRSTER, Robert GER GST 24:39:09.000 00:10:13.000
146 116 NOVAL GONZALEZ, Benjamin ESP DSC 24:39:13.000 00:10:17.000
147 087 RIGHI, Daniele ITA LAM 24:39:45.000 00:10:49.000
148 013 GARCIA ACOSTA, Vicente ESP GCE 24:39:47.000 00:10:51.000
149 197 NAVARRO, Daniel ESP AST 24:39:49.000 00:10:53.000
150 032 ARVESEN, Kurt-Asle NOR CSC 24:40:27.000 00:11:31.000
151 157 QUINZIATO, Manuel ITA LIQ 24:41:03.000 00:12:07.000
152 148 VERBRUGGHE, Rik BEL COF 24:41:10.000 00:12:14.000
153 176 STEEGMANS, Gert BEL QSI 24:41:15.000 00:12:19.000
154 215 GERAINT, Thomas GBR BAR 24:41:18.000 00:12:22.000
155 046 MC EWEN, Robbie AUS PRL 24:41:20.000 00:12:24.000
156 096 KRAUSS, Sven GER GST 24:41:21.000 00:12:25.000
157 048 VAN SUMMEREN, Johan BEL PRL 24:41:23.000 00:12:27.000
158 159 WILLEMS, Frederik BEL LIQ 24:41:26.000 00:12:30.000
159 158 WEGELIUS, Charles GBR LIQ 24:41:27.000 00:12:31.000
160 152 ALBASINI, Michael SUI LIQ 24:41:27.000 00:12:31.000
161 154 CARLSTRÖM, Kjell FIN LIQ 24:41:32.000 00:12:36.000
162 132 BICHOT, Freddy FRA AGR 24:41:35.000 00:12:39.000
163 198 RAST, Gregory SUI AST 24:41:37.000 00:12:41.000
164 064 DESSEL, Cyril FRA A2R 24:41:39.000 00:12:43.000
165 145 NUYENS, Nick BEL COF 24:42:12.000 00:13:16.000
166 206 LOBATO, Ruben ESP SDV 24:42:22.000 00:13:26.000
167 213 CHEULA, Gianpaolo ITA BAR 24:42:50.000 00:13:54.000
168 035 O’GRADY, Stuart AUS CSC 24:42:51.000 00:13:55.000
169 187 ONGARATO, Alberto ITA MRM 24:42:55.000 00:13:59.000
170 101 HUSHOVD, Thor NOR C.A 24:43:31.000 00:14:35.000
171 037 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 24:44:05.000 00:15:09.000
172 045 HOSTE, Leif BEL PRL 24:44:13.000 00:15:17.000
173 142 AUGE, Stéphane FRA COF 24:44:25.000 00:15:29.000
174 134 FEILLU, Romain FRA AGR 24:44:34.000 00:15:38.000
175 053 DE GROOT, Bram NED RAB 24:44:58.000 00:16:02.000
176 108 HINAULT, Sébastien FRA C.A 24:45:23.000 00:16:27.000
177 104 CHARTEAU, Anthony FRA C.A 24:45:33.000 00:16:37.000
178 039 ZABRISKIE, David USA CSC 24:47:20.000 00:18:24.000
179 049 VANSEVENANT, Wim BEL PRL 24:47:41.000 00:18:45.000
180 156 KUSCHYNSKI, Aleksandr BLR LIQ 24:49:12.000 00:20:16.000
181 086 NAPOLITANO, Danilo ITA LAM 24:49:29.000 00:20:33.000
182 023 CAVENDISH, Mark GBR TMO 24:51:25.000 00:22:29.000
183 214 DEGANO, Enrico ITA BAR 24:54:15.000 00:25:19.000
184 143 LEQUATRE, Geoffroy FRA COF 25:14:34.000 00:45:38.000

Results of Stage 5 - SPOILER!!

I may have to reevaluate my choice for the Tour overall champion. Please notice that George Hincapie is again in the top 10 at the finish line. He's hanging tight and doesn't look like he's even suffering at all.

I'll let you know if I swap Levi for George.

Here are the top 10 finishers today...

1. Filippo Pozzato (LIQ) 182.5km in 4h39'01" (39.244km/h)
2. Oscar Freire (RAB)
3. Daniel Bennati (LAM)
4. Kim Kirchen (TMO)
5. Erik Zabel (MRM)
6. George Hincapie (DSC)
7. Cristian Moreni (COF)
8. Stefan Schumacher (GST)
9. Bram Tankink (QSI)
10. Jerome Pineau (BTL)

Only 184 remain

Here's the update on how many riders from individual nations are left in the 2007 Tour de France.

Again, thanks to Versus for this information.

15:06:40 - 26 Nations Represented In 94th Tour

The 184 riders remaining in the 2007 Tour de France represent 26 countries.
The breakdown is:
39 – Spain. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (AGR) abandoned during stage one after a crash; Xabier Zandio abandoned during stage four because of injuries sustained in a crash in stage one.
35 – France. Remy Di Gregorio (FDJ) didn’t start stage five after fracturing his elbow in a fall early in stage four.
19 – Germany
18 – Italy
13 – Belgium
7 – The Netherlands
6 – USA and Russia
5 – Great Britain, Switzerland and Australia. Brett Lancaster (MRM) abandoned during the fifth stage.
4 – Kazakhstan
3 – Austria and Colombia
2 – Belarus, Luxembourg, Norway and Ukraine
1 – South Africa, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden
Lithuania had one reprentative but Toomas Vaitkus didn’t start stage three because of a broken thumb sustained in a crash at the end of stage two.

Update as of 2:28PM France Time

At around the 50KM mark of today's 190+KM Stage 5, the three men who attacked the peloton are 14:28:04 ahead.

This is a huge lead that has been made easier because the CSC team has decided not to exhaust itself trying to maintain possession of the yellow jersey.

They seem to realize that with the mountains coming up soon, that Cancellara won't be able to hang on to the lead for much longer so they are conserving energy and preparing as a team for the next 14 stages.

Jerseys still in the same spot

Yellow, Green, Polka-dot and White are all still on the backs of the same riders as yesterday.

Stage 5 is underway! Updates coming up (hmmm, redundant).

00:09:31

That's the amount of time that separates the top rider in the Tour de France from the last guy at 186th after four stages ridden.

Here are the standings after today's Stage 4...

1 033 CANCELLARA, Fabian SUI CSC 19:49:55.000 00:00:00.000
2 101 HUSHOVD, Thor NOR C.A 19:50:24.000 00:00:29.000
3 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 19:50:28.000 00:00:33.000
4 201 MILLAR, David GBR SDV 19:50:36.000 00:00:41.000
5 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 19:50:38.000 00:00:43.000
6 149 WIGGINS, Bradley GBR COF 19:50:38.000 00:00:43.000
7 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 19:50:39.000 00:00:44.000
8 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 19:50:40.000 00:00:45.000
9 171 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSI 19:50:41.000 00:00:46.000
10 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 19:50:41.000 00:00:46.000
11 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 19:50:44.000 00:00:49.000
12 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 19:50:45.000 00:00:50.000
13 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 19:50:46.000 00:00:51.000
14 157 QUINZIATO, Manuel ITA LIQ 19:50:47.000 00:00:52.000
15 169 VAUGRENARD, Benoît FRA FDJ 19:50:47.000 00:00:52.000
16 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 19:50:48.000 00:00:53.000
17 184 GRIVKO, Andriy UKR MRM 19:50:48.000 00:00:53.000
18 151 POZZATO, Filippo ITA LIQ 19:50:50.000 00:00:55.000
19 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 19:50:50.000 00:00:55.000
20 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 19:50:50.000 00:00:55.000
21 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 19:50:51.000 00:00:56.000
22 102 BONNET, William FRA C.A 19:50:51.000 00:00:56.000
23 077 PEREZ, Ruben ESP EUS 19:50:51.000 00:00:56.000
24 021 ROGERS, Michael AUS TMO 19:50:52.000 00:00:57.000
25 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 19:50:52.000 00:00:57.000
26 181 ZABEL, Erik GER MRM 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
27 139 VOGONDY, Nicolas FRA AGR 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
28 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
29 199 SAVOLDELLI, Paolo ITA AST 19:50:53.000 00:00:58.000
30 216 HUNTER, Robert RSA BAR 19:50:54.000 00:00:59.000
31 175 ROSSELER, Sébastien BEL QSI 19:50:54.000 00:00:59.000
32 148 VERBRUGGHE, Rik BEL COF 19:50:54.000 00:00:59.000
33 055 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP RAB 19:50:55.000 00:01:00.000
34 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 19:50:55.000 00:01:00.000
35 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 19:50:55.000 00:01:00.000
36 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 19:50:58.000 00:01:03.000
37 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 19:50:58.000 00:01:03.000
38 192 COLOM, Antonio ESP AST 19:50:58.000 00:01:03.000
39 095 KOHL, Bernhard AUT GST 19:50:59.000 00:01:04.000
40 176 STEEGMANS, Gert BEL QSI 19:50:59.000 00:01:04.000
41 117 PAULINHO, Sergio POR DSC 19:50:59.000 00:01:04.000
42 091 SCHUMACHER, Stefan GER GST 19:51:00.000 00:01:05.000
43 144 MORENI, Cristian ITA COF 19:51:00.000 00:01:05.000
44 097 SCHOLZ, Ronny GER GST 19:51:00.000 00:01:05.000
45 165 GILBERT, Philippe BEL FDJ 19:51:01.000 00:01:06.000
46 125 LEFEVRE, Laurent FRA BTL 19:51:01.000 00:01:06.000
47 215 GERAINT, Thomas GBR BAR 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000
48 122 CLEMENT, Stef NED BTL 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000
49 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000
50 056 FREIRE, Oscar ESP RAB 19:51:02.000 00:01:07.000