to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the ninth stage of the 95th edition of the Tour de France, a 224-kilometer race from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre.

This is the first major mountain stage of the 2008 Tour, but it won't necessarily be decisive like those that have mountaintop finishes. It is a long, six-hour stage, featuring seven categorized climbs, though the first five are all Cat. 4s and 3s with long, flat valley roads in between them. The serious stuff begins with 70 of the 224km still to go. Leaving the city of Luchon, the peloton heads west into the high Pyrenees, crossing the Col de Peyresourde (5,147 feet) and Col d’Aspin (4,885 feet), both Cat. 1s with more than 12km of uphill work and 7-percent average grades. With 26km of downhill and flat roads from the last summit to the finish in Bagneres-de-Bigorre (population 9,000), expect the leader to regroup before the finish on the Allee Jean Jaures.

The seven climbs in today's stage include:
The Category 4 Cote de Saint Pey (which summits at 324 meters at the 42km mark)
The Cat. 4 Cote de Sainte Quitterie (325m, at 46km)
The Cat. 4 Cote de Mane (418m, at 91km)
The Cat. 4 Col de Buret (599m, at113.5km)
The Cat. 3 Col des Ares (792m, at 123.5km)
The Cat. 1 Col de Peyresourde (1569m, at 166.5km)
Cat. 1 Col d'Aspin (1489m, at 198km)

The peloton (with 170 riders) hit the official start about 90 minutes ago and the attacks started almost from the gun. After a couple of unsuccessful digs, a group of three riders left the main field at the 23km mark.

The riders in the break - and their positions on the overall standings - are as follows:
79. Sebastian Lang (GER), Gerolsteiner at 22:21
140. Nicolas Jalabert (FRA), Agritubel at 44:40
166. Aliaksandr Kuschynski (BLR), Liquigas at 52:11

The three escapees have covered the first two climbs of the day:
The results at the Cote de Saint-Pey
1. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) 3 points
2. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas) 2pts
3. Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel) 1pt

The results at the Cote de Saint Quitterie
1. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) 3 points
2. Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel) 2pts
3. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas) 1pt

At the 70km mark, the leaders are now 13:40 ahead of the field.

in this trio, so the Columbia team of Kim Kirchen is content to let these fellas go. Lang is the highest placed, so Columbia has nearly 22-and-a-half minutes to play with. Instead, the Euskaltel-Euskadi team is doing the chase work. They have just recently stepped up the pace and the lead is beginning to fall from a peak of 15 minutes.

Now at 75km, the gap is down to 12:00. There are 149km remaining.

Although five stages have started in Bagneres-de-Bigorre in the past 40 years, the last of the four stages to have finished here was in 1965. That year (as in 1963), the stage arrived after crossing the mighty Aubisque and Tourmalet passes. In '65, Spanish climber Julio Jimenez concluded a long solo breakaway to win by three minutes over the race favorites, while two years earlier Jacques Anquetil took a five-man sprint win that launched him toward his fifth Tour title.

And that's a safe guess, since the Peyresourde-Aspin combo is hard enough to cause an early breakaway to be absorbed but not tough enough to be decisive. We can expect some 20 riders to come together to contest the flat finish in Bagneres-de-Bigorre. It could be an opportunity for fast finishers Damiano Cunego (Lampre) or Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) to take the win, while riders like George Hincapie (Columbia), Cyril Dessel (AG2R) or maybe a Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) will be hoping to spring a breakaway surprise.

At the start of the finish, the climbers' contest remains wide open, with today offering quite a number of points:
Overall King of Mountains
1. David De la Fuente (ESP), Saunier Duval at 34pts
2. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA), Cofidis at 27
3. Thomas Voeckler (FRA), Bouygues Telecom 27
4. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne at 24
5. Riccardo Ricco (ITA), Saunier Duval at 20
6. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne at 18
7. Josep Jufre (ESP), Saunier Duval 18
8. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 16
9. Frank Schleck (LUX), CSC at 14
10. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), Liquigas 14

If you have a question, a comment or a complaint, feel free to hit the "Contact our editors" link below the Live Update Window. We will try to answer questions, address concerns and even post a few during today's coverage.

the Euskaltel-led chase is having an effect. Our three leaders are now 11:20 ahead of the peloton and there are some seriously tough roads ahead.

This could be an interesting day for those fighting for the green points jersey:
Overall Points
1. Oscar Freire (ESP), Rabobank at 119pts
2. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Team Columbia at 119
3. Thor Hushovd (NOR), Credit Agricole at 105
4. Erik Zabel (GER), Milram at 92
5. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne at 87
6. Mark Cavendish (IDM), Team Columbia at 86
7. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld at 82
8. Romain Feillu (FRA), Agritubel at 64
9. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 62
10. Robbie McEwen (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 60

Of those in the Top-10 in the points race, Kirchen looks to be the most likely to finish well today, so he may regain that jersey. How he'll do with the GC race, remains to be seen.
Overall standings, after Stage 8
1. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Team Columbia at 32:26:34
2. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 0:06
3. Stefan Schumacher (GER), Gerolsteiner at 0:16
4. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle at 0:44
5. Denis Menchov (RUS), Rabobank at 1:03
6. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne at 1:12
7. David Millar (GBR), Garmin-Chipotle at 1:14
8. Stijn Devolder (BEL), Quick Step at 1:21
9. Oscar Pereiro (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne 1:21
10. Thomas Lovkvist (SWE), Team Columbia 1:21

the peloton has pulled back another chunk of time, with our leaders now 10:40 ahead of the field.

The pace has been pretty high today, especiall considering the terrain. The escapees have averaged 43.3kph for the last two hours. Not bad.

Our leaders have a 10:20 advantage over the peloton.

1. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) 4 points
2. Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel) 3points
3. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas) 2 points

now 10:30 behind the escapees. The leaders have just left the village of Leoudary and are now at 97km.

Ricardo Ricco is a rider to watch today. This morning at the start, he said he may be working hard to pay back Leonardo Piepoli for his help in setting him up for his win on stage 6.

"I'd love to help him win a stage," said Ricco, who started the ninth stage from Toulouse to here with scrapes on his backside and knee following a crash on Saturday which prompted fears of an early departure.

He said he wants to do well on Monday's stage and on the climb to l'Alpe d'Huez on stage 17.

Our leaders past the feed zone. The peloton is still under the control of the Euskaltel team, which appears intent upon reeling the break back in and setting up one of its riders for a stage win today. At 107km, the gap isn't coming down, though. The leaders are now 10:59 ahead of the field.

the three leaders are at 112km and heading on to the Cat. 4 Col de Buret. There are 112km remaining and the gap remains around 10:45.

There has been a tumble in the peloton on the way down the Cote de Mane. Evans (Silence-Lotto) is back riding. His teammate, Christophe Brandt, had to wait for a new bike, but he's up and riding, too.

Evans is back in the peloton and his teammate is about to reconnect. Meanwhile the gap is still near 10:45.

John in Canada writes in to ask

Could you update me on the names of the 10 riders eliminated so far?

Sure thing, John

Of course, the first rider to leave the Tour was Herve Duclos Lassalle, who crashed in the feed zone on stage one.

In stage 3, Angel Gomez (Saunier Duval) also crashed out.

In stage 5, Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) left after struggling for days with a broken wrist.

Aurelien Passeron (Saunier Duval) did not start stage 6.

Stage 7 saw four riders - Mauro Facci (Quick Step), John Gadret (Ag2r), Christophe Moreau (Agritubel) and Lilian Jegou (Francaise des Jeux) - drop out along the stage. Garmin's Magnus Backstedt was eliminated for missing the time cut that day, having ridden the final 70km on his own.

Yesterday, the Tour listed Liquigas' Manuel Beltran as a "non-starter." And we all know why that happened and it doesn't warrant further discussion.

is still driving the chase, but making little headway. The gap remains at 10:50 as the leaders near the top of the Cat. 3 Col des Ares (792m, at 123.5km).

Stu in St. Louis writes to ask:

Thank you for another successful year of keeping us informed and letting us "ride along" with you for tour updates.

How was media coverage and rider/manager strategy performed during tours prior to radio, internet, GPS, helicopters and the Internet?

You're welcome, Stu. We enjoy it. As for riders and managers in the old days, they generally relied on time checks and you still see the "Chalkboard man" on the back of a motorcycle offering that information to riders and team cars.

As for media? Well, we began "Live Updates" on Velo in 1994. In the old days, we offered daily telephone updates - a 900 number, by the way. But long before that, back in the dark olden days when we were racing, we would often wait for days for snippets of news to filter across the Atlantic for stage reports. Fortnately, CBS began broadcasting Tour coverage and we all found out about the 1989 Tour, for example, within hours of the finish.

Meanwhile our leaders have crested the summit of the Col des Ares:
1. Lang (Gerolsteiner) 4 points
2. Kuschynski (Liquigas) 3 points
3. Jalabert (Agritubel) 2 points

There is one point remaining, but that won't be contested for another 10 or 11 minutes, when the peloton comes through.

a couple of familiar names out there.

Roman Feillu (Agritubel) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) - remember, they were on the attack with Will Frischkorn the other day. Well, they have slipped off the front of the peloton and are chasing the break. They have a long way to go, but they are giving it a go.

We don't have a precise gap to the two chasers - Feillu and Dumoulin - but the Euskaltel effort is showing signs of paying off. They have narrowed the gap to 10:00 for the first time in a while.

are about to be reeled in. Oh well.

Our three leaders are on the long, grinding approach to the Peyresourde. As a reminder, the three leaders - and their positions on GC - are as follows:
79. Sebastian Lang (GER), Gerolsteiner at 22:21
140. Nicolas Jalabert (FRA), Agritubel at 44:40
166. Aliaksandr Kuschynski (BLR), Liquigas at 52:11

The man with the No. 1 dossard is back at the race doctor's car having his road rash attended to. His left side is a bit buggered and he has rips on the back of his jersey too.

This is an interesting a delicate operation. With the doctor working on his scrapes, while he is hanging on to the car and five or six photo motos are hovering around trying to get a shot of the drama. That's cool as long as they don't add to the drama, eh?

Euskaltel is still driving the chase at the front of the peloton. The gap - with 80km remaining - is 9:56.

is also back with the doc, now. He's getting his injuries from a few days ago looked at. Evans, meanwhile, is back in the peloton. He looks pretty good for a guy who hit the deck at high speeds.

Our leaders are now nearing the base of the day's biggest climb: The Category 1 Col de Peyresourde (1569m, at 166.5km). The gap is now 9:53 and the chase work is still being handled by Euskaltel-Euskadi.

Our three leaders are on the lower slopes of the Col de Peyresourde and their gap has been cut to 9:47. There are 70km remaining in today's stage... and these 70km are a doozy.

Many of you have pointed out that our map (in the window to the right) is incorrect. We are aware of the problem and are working to fix it. Fortunately, the profile is correct.

and Francaise des Jeux are now lending a hand in the chase. The gap has dropped to 9:20. The Euskaltel boys are still in the mix at the front of the peloton, but at least they have some help now.

These riders are tackling a 13.5km climb with an average grade of 7.1 percent.

The gap is now down to 8:19.

The Rabobank, Euskaltel and Caisse d'Epargne teams are driving the peloton on the slopes of the climb. The peloton is stretched out in single file with several riders - whose talents are more along the lines of sprinting - are being spit off the back.

Meanwhile, the gap is down to 7:30. The chase is on.

The doctors' report on Cadel Evans' injuries today.

"It was quite a heavy crash, and from what I can tell he's got scrapes on his elbow, leg and back and it's sure to be hurting," said Silence-Lotto director Hendrik Redant.

Race doctor Gerard Porte added, “He's got numerous scrapes on his elbow, thigh and hip but they're mostly superficial. He's a bit worried about being able to climb properly. But medically his injuries, for us at least, are not too worrying."

Lang and Kuschynski are moving ahead of Jalabert.

The climb has taken its toll on the man whose brother Laurent is a past polka-dot jersey winner.

The two leaders are now 7:15 ahead of the peloton, with Jalabert trailing them by about 20 seconds.

from Barloworld is taking a dig out of the peloton.

Up ahead, Lang is now moving ahead of Kuschynski.

It's a tough climb and it's really sapping these guys.

continue to fall. Lang, the lone leader, is now 6:11 ahead of the peloton. He's about 20 seconds up the road from Kuschynski and nearly a minute up on Jalabert.

Cardenas is still about 25 bike lengths ahead of the peloton.

still has some tough, switchbacks ahead of him. He's about 30 seconds ahead of Kuschynski and 1:05 ahead of Jalabert. The peloton - or what's left of it - is 5:49 back. Evans is holding his own, as are the other big players in the Tour.

until Lang reaches the summit of the Peyresourde.

on this climb.

Back in the peloton - now 5:25 behind Lang - Cofidis's Maxime Monfort and Saunier Duval's David de la Fuente (the man in the polka dot jersey) are taking a dig. Cardenas has been pulled back.

Lang is over the top of the Peyresourde. He gets 15 KOM points. Kuschynski, follows at 40 seconds, for 13 points and Jalabert at 3:40, for 11 points.

Lang has scored a total of 31 points, meaning he now trails De la Fuente by three points and the Saunier Duval rider is about to score a few more.

Christian Vande Velde told Andrew Hood this morning that he thought the day would shape up pretty much the way it has so far:

"A break will go today, but it won't go the distance. Today we'll see the first big attacks in the mountains. I'm feeling good."

Meanwhile de La Fuente crosses the summit trailing Lang by 4:50 and the rest of the peloton hits at 5:28.

Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargen) has scampered out of the field. He may try to gain an advantage on the descent.

It's a long, fast finish off the Col d'Aspin into Bagneres-de-Bigorre, an ideal stage for downhill specialist Samuel 'Samu' Sanchez (Euskaltel) to drop like a rock and win the stage. VeloNews' Andrew Hood has tipped him for the winner today. The way Euskaltel-Euskadi is riding, they must think the same thing.

Once the route his the valley, there are two potentially dangerous corners in the final kilometers. The first is a sharp right and then left-handers with 3km to go as the course crosses a bridge at the L'Adour river. It's straight for nearly another 2km before a sweeping left-hander just after the 1km to go banner. After another straight, there's the final left hand turn with 150m.

We spoke with Columbia's Kim Kirchen before the start today.

"Maybe I can keep the jersey today," he said. "It's going to be an explosive finale. A long downhill like that, it can be decisive. The main goal is to not lose too much time. If we lose the jersey, well, that's it - it's very tight right now on GC. There are a lot of riders who are close and who want it. Of course, I want to keep it."

1. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner) 15pts
2. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas) 13pts
3. Nicolas Jalabert (Agritubel) 11pts
4. David De La Fuente (Saunier Duval) 9pts
5. Maxime Montfort (Cofidis) 8pts
6. Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) 7pts
7. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) 6pts
8. Matteo Carrara (Quick Step) 5pts

is heading into the town of Arreau, site of an old leper colony back in the days when that disease was seen as a threat and untreatable.

He is 36 seconds ahead of Aleksandr Kuschynski.

Sanchez has passed Jalabert. The peloton is 5:44 behind our leader.

at least on the descent. He is 2:00 minutes ahead of Kuschynski.

Sanchez, Jalabert, Montfort and De La Fuente are now together as a group and at 4:50. The rest of the peloton is at 5:46.

growing in size as riders catch back on. None of the top-10 on GC were dropped on the climb or on the ensuing descent.

Lang is now climbing the Col d'Aspin. It's an easy climb ... at first. It gets tougher and tougher.

is coming on to the lower slopes of the Col d'Aspin. We see that they have swept up Jalabert. He looks tired. The other pursuers must be just uo the road.

Lang, meanwhile, is heading through big, big crowds.

is feeling pretty good. He's trying a dig at the front of the field. Kinda weird with a teammate off the front, eh?

He's caught, and now Ricco and Piepolli are pushing the pace.

We see Caisse d'Epargne's Oscar Pereiro is now pushing it. Piepolli and Ricco are chasing. The pressure is really shredding the field.

Apparently Oscar Pereiro's pace was a little too high for Valverde. He seems to have responded to orders and eased off.

The attacks are coming fast now.

now takes a dig. The young Tour de Suisse is putting pressure on the field.

Sadly, after all of that early effort, the Euskaltel team seems to have disappeared off the front.

is less than 5km from the top. His advantage over the peloton has been cut to 3:50.

are still hanging in the yellow jersey group with Kirchen. Evans is in the group, he's holding his own despite today's crash.

is pulling in the De La Fuente/Sanchez chase... and Ricco attacks hard!

may have time this one well. He's got Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) on his wheel, but it's doubtful that the Frenchman can stay with him.

is now just 2:20 ahead of the hard-charging Ricco.

is trimming the lead of Lang. He's already a minute up on the peloton and only 1:25 behind Lang.

This guy is a helluva climber.

moves to the front of the yellow jersey group. They have at least five riders up there. They are still losing time on Ricco. Ricco is closing in on Lang. He's less than a minute behind the Gerolsteiner rider.

looks over his shoulder and has one of those "WTF?!?!?" moments. He caught a glimpse of Ricco just flying up the climb. 28 seconds.

Ricco is within a few meters of catching Lang. The peloton is 1:30 back.

Ricco catches and passes Lang near the 1km to go sign. He's now on his own.

Ricco has 1:25 on the yellow jersey group

Lang has already lost 33 seconds to Ricco as he crests the summit.

crests the climb at 1:20.

Meanwhile it looks like Lang has the KOM jersey. De La Fuente missed out on the big points on this climb.

Ricco is focused on holding his lead on this long drop to the finish.

spoke with Andy Hood this morning and said 'I've had a good first week. I lost some time when I was caught behind the crash with Schumacher (to Super-Besse), otherwise I would be fifth or sixth right now. We have our strategy for the mountains, but it's a secret. I will tell you after the stage.'

We doubt that secret plan included letting the brash young Riccardo Ricco fly off the front on the climb, but we'll see.

to go, Ricco is holding a lead of 1:10 on the yellow jersey group.

It looks like De la Fuente does keep his KOM lead. He scored fourth on that climb.

Ricco is being chased by two riders - Lang and a Liquigas rider Nibali. The peloton is now at 1:14.

have been pulled back by the peloton, which trails Ricco by 1:17. 16km to go.

is driving the chase. Ricco is 15km from the finish and he leads by 1:15.

Kirchen is in the group, but he seems to be on his own. We have not seen Vande Velde. We do know that Schumacher has been dropped. Evans is in there.

Ricco is holding on to his advantage. He's now 1:30 ahead of the peloton.

does have Vande Velde in there. There are about 35 riders in the mix.

With 11km to go, the gap is 1:20.

Ricco is driving on. We'll get a good time check.

hits the 10km to go mark 1:25 behind Ricco. There is an effort from a Euskaltel rider.

rider is Mikel Astarloza and he is joined by Sandy Casar (FDJ) and an Ag2r rider... Vladimir Efimkin

is still about 1:20 ahead of the field, with 5.5km to go.

Vladimir Efimkin has gone past the two chasers, but all of them are about to be swept up

to go. The peloton is at 1:20, with Vladimir Efimkin hanging a few seconds ahead of the field.

and Ricco looks like he has it in the bag. He's 1:20 ahead of the peloton. Vladimir Efimkin is still about 10 seconds ahead of the field.

and he is 1:04 ahead of Vladimir Efimkin and 1:13 ahead of the peloton.

to go and Ricco is 1:00 ahead of Vladimir Efimkin and 1:09 ahead of the yellow jersey group.

Ricco's heading home.

Ricco crosses the line, pointing to his chest in a "I'm bad" gesture. Can't argue.

finishes 1:02 back for second and the peloton comes in at 1:18.

leads in a group in at 1:56.

Kim Kirchen keeps his jersey for another day. Good ride. It will be interesting to see how this all changes the GC picture.

it looks like Garmin's Christian Vande Velde has moved up to third on GC.

1. KIRCHEN Kim, TEAM COLUMBIA 38h 07' 19"

2. EVANS Cadel, SILENCE - LOTTO, + 00' 06"

3. VANDEVELDE Christian, GARMIN CHIPOTLE, + 00' 44"

4. SCHUMACHER Stefan, GEROLSTEINER, 00' 56"

5. MENCHOV Denis, RABOBANK, 01:03"

6. VALVERDE Alejandro, CAISSE D’EPARGNE, 01:12"

7. DEVOLDER Stijn, QUICK STEP, 01:21"

8. PEREIRO Oscar, CAISSE D’EPARGNE, 01:21"

9. SANCHEZ Samuel, EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI, 01:27"

10. SASTRE Carlos, TEAM CSC SAXO BANK, 01:34"

that's a wrap. Heck of a stage today and this is only the beginning of the mountains. Tomorrow, with a summit finish will be even more exciting. We'll be here for that, too. Meanwhile, keep checking back with VeloNews.com throughout the day. We already have a stage report posted, we'll have full results, photos, features, stats, videos and more.

See you tomorrow.