11:48 - 174 Riders Still In The TourThere were 174 riders at the sign on this morning. Below is a summary of the riders who have abandoned the Tour.
Constantino Zaballa (SDV) quit during stage five.
Claudio Corioni (FAS) quit during stage six.
Steve Zampieri (PHO) and Alessandro Spezialetti (LAM) quit during stage seven.
Isaac Galvez (IBA), Sylvain Calzati (A2R) and Leon van Bon (DVL) quit during stage eight. Christophe Mengin (FDJ) and Serhiy Honchar (DOM) didn’t take the start for stage eight. Dave Zabriskie (CSC), Jose Angel Gomez (SDV), Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (LSW), Jaan Kirsipuu (C.A) and Luciano Pagliarini (LIQ) quit during the ninth stage.
Evgeny Petrov (LAM) was declared unfit to contest the 10th stage after blood controls earlier today.
15:02 - Kloden & Rubiera Lead Peloton
The peloton is now 5’12" behind the stage leaders. At the front of the main pack are Andreas Kloden and Jose Luis Rubiera.
15:01 - Mayo Dropped
Iban Mayo has been dropped by the peloton which has now just caught up with the Garzelli group.
Leaders have about 5 1/2 km to go on first climb. The pace is just shredding the peloton.
Looks like the sprinters have been dropped from the peloton on the first climb (23 riders dropped, including Boonen [Green jersey]). Leaders 5km from the peak of the first climb.