Weather: Sunny but cooler in morning, brewing clouds and cooler temperatures at finish, highs in the low 70s, brisk headwinds.

Stage winner: Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) won after a textbook perfect lead-out from his train ahead of Erik Zabel (Milram) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld). A two-man breakaway was caught with just over 1km to go to set up the sprint in the final sprint-friendly stage until next Thursday.

Race leader: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) retained the yellow jersey after finishing 47th with the front pack. There were no major changes in the GC as the peloton seemed content to cool its jets ahead of Saturday’s decisive time trial.

Green jersey: Boonen bolstered his green jersey lead going into the Pyrénées, moving 20 points ahead of Hunter at 195-175. Zabel remained in third with 174 points. The day’s main breakaway sucked up the points in the two hot sprints along the way.

King of the Mountains: Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) pulled closer to Rasmussen after grabbing 10 points over the day’s main hurdle at the Cat. 2 at 130.5km. The break ate up the points in the day’s three Cat. 4 climbs in the opening 75km. Rasmussen saw his lead to Soler reduced to 98-89 with Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) slotting in at third with 86 points.

Best Young Rider: No major shakeups as Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) retained the white jersey with Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) remaining in second at 3:37 back.

Best team: Team CSC retained its 5:02 lead on Caisse d’Epargne with Discovery Channel in third at 5:08.

Most aggressive rider: Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the day’s prize, with the eight-man panel lauding him “because the Euskaltel jerseys are usually present in the Pyrénées to assure the spectacle. He attacked early and it was a David vs. Goliath struggle until they were caught in the last kilometer.”

Lanterne Rouge: Wim Vansevenant (Predictor-Lotto) remained last in the GC at 1h57:10 back.

Top American: George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) finished 27th with the main group while Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) moved up to eighth at 3:53 back.

The peloton: Alberto Ongarato (Milram) abandoned; Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom) missed time cut. The peloton numbers 166 riders.

Medical report:Aerts (Predictor-Lotto) crash before start, cuts on backOngarato (Milram) crash at 6km, traumatism to right shoulder, cuts to right elbow, transferred to hospital in Montpellier, X-rays revealed fracture. Longo Borghini (Barloworld) crash at 10km, cuts to right elbow. Clement (Bouygues Telecom) crash at 35km, cuts and scrapes to right shoulder, hip and ribs. Mercado (Agritubel) crash at 130km, superficial scrapes. Charteau (Credit Agricole) digestive problems. Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) allergic problem. Flecha (Rabobank) insect bite

Jury decisions:Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) fined 50 CHF, penalized 5 points and 10 for illegal pull. Beltran (Liquigas) fined 50 CHF for illegal feed. Liquigas sport director fined 200 CHF for Beltran feed. Sprick (Bouygues Telecom) fined 30 CHF for drafting. Clement (Bouygues Telecom) eliminated for missing time cut.

Forecast: Partly cloudy at start with 5 to 10kph northeasterly winds, highs in mid 70s, chance for showers in afternoon for late starters