12:16 - No News About The Stage StartThe 10th stage was expected to begin at around midday. There was meant to be a 9.7km neutral zone but that was extended by 11.5km because protests were planned to disrupt the racing at the start of the stage.
The peloton is currently at a standstill in Brignoud, the new site of the official start.
We can expect the stage to begin any minute now.
11:21 - Welcome To The Live Coverage Of Stage 10
The 192.5km 10th stage of the 2005 Tour de France was meant to begin at 11.40am but it will start 10 minutes early because of a protest in Grenoble. The itinerary has changed slightly for the stage from Grenoble to Courchevel. The official start will now be in Brignoud (which was meant to be the 11.5km mark of the stage).
The amendment has been made by the organizers at the last minute to ensure there are no interruptions to the racing because of the planned protest.
I wonder what the protest was about? Insufficient dairy price supports? 34 hour work week? Lousy summer weather? Guess we'll never know...
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.