To VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the 15th stage of the 95th edition of the Tour de France, a 185-kilometer race from Embrun to the mountain-top finish of Prato Nevoso, in Italy.

This is not the route that organizers had in mind, when they announced the Tour route last fall, but within a few months it became obvious the announced route would not work. Because of the risk of rockfalls on 4km of the original route over the Col de Larche from Digne-les-Bains, the start of stage 15 was moved 100km north to Embrun (population 6,700). This has shortened the stage and given it a much tougher beginning. After 25km, the course climbs out of Guillestre and soon enters a narrow canyon and gradually climbs to the village of Chateau-Queyras, and the early slopes of the mighty Col Agnel (Agnello in Italian). This mountain soars to 9,000 feet on a 20.5km-long climb that averages 6.6 percent, with pitches as steep as 12.3 percent in the difficult final 5km. The 30km descent is followed by a mostly flat 75km trek across the plains of Piedmont to the 16km finishing climb to the Italian ski resort of Prato Nevoso (population 2,400), which averages 8 percent for the final 8km.

This is the first Tour stage to finish at Prato Nevoso, which was last climbed in a major event at the 2000 Giro d’Italia. In what was the third to last stage, race leader Francesco Casagrande was out-sprinted by Stefano Garzelli (who went on the win that Giro) and Gilberto Simoni, while seven others finished within a minute of stage winner Garzelli. The last time a Tour stage ended in Italy was in 1999, when Lance Armstrong took his first-ever mountain stage win at Sestriere.

The peloton is at the starting village, riders should be called to the line soon. Riders are slated to leave Embrun at 12:45 and the official start should come around 12:55 or so, after the daily jaunt through the neutral zone.

is Columbia's Mark Cavendish. As expected Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France prior to the 15th stage, the first of three days in the Alps here Sunday, leaving the Tour with 156 riders, down from the 180 who started a couple of weeks back in Brest.

Cavendish has been one of the stars of the Tour so far, winning four bunch sprints to set a new British record for stage wins in a single edition. He was victorious on stages five, eight, 12 and 13. But the 23-year-old from the Isle of Man admitted he was suffering fatigue following two tough weeks of racing.

"I've done enough here with four stages," said Cavendish. "I'm a bit tired now. I've rode one grand tour at the Giro. Here I rode hard through the Pyrenees and was able to get a couple more results.

"Maybe if the green jersey was still in contention I'd carry on, but I'm 60 points behind now. I think the green jersey is out of contention now so it's better to go home and try and recover. I'll take a week's rest in the Isle of Man, then I'll start to concentrate on the Olympics."

Cavendish missed out on disputing a sprint for the first time in the race when he was dropped on the small climb 10km from the finish line of yesterday's stage, which Oscar Freire took in style, wearing the green jersey.

Cavendish will now set his sights on the Olympic Games, where he will compete for Britain in the Madison - an event in which he is reigning world champion with Bradley Wiggins.

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We will read all of them, answer as many as we can and even post a few during today's coverage.

is rolling, working its way through the neutral zone, with the official start at the edge of town expected in about 10 minutes.

So far, so good. There have been no new announcements from drug testers at the national doping laboratory. Let's hope that the positives will have stopped at three.

there is a little rain today. There is rain at the start this afternoon and the finish line in Italy is covered in clouds. There is a light 15kph cross-tailwind from the southwest, not strong enough to really affect the race.

The flag has been dropped and the peloton is now officially racing.

there is a points sprint at the 14.5km mark in Guillestre and then another 100km in Rossana, Italy.

The road takes a decidedly upward direction after that first sprint, with the hors categorie Col Agnel. The 20.5km climb summits at 58km and the drops into Italy, taking the Tour out of France for the first time this year.

We have an early dig from Francaise des Jeux's Yann Le Boulanger.

But he doesn't get too far before getting a response from the field.

at 2km and there are bound to be more attacks.

We are seeing several attacks, but no one is getting much room. The peloton - stretched out in single file - is at 7km.

on the day's sprint mark at 14.5km, the peloton is at the 12km mark. We may not see a real break form until the sprint is finshed.

the peloton has kept a series of attacks under control.

We have three riders trying to reach the sprint mark ahead of the rest of the field.

Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r) and Danny Pate (Garmin) are taking a dig. Let's see if they can get a jump onto the day's climb. Neither man is a points contender and so we don't expect Rabobank to give chase, since they don't pose a threat to Oscar Freire's hold on that jersey.

1. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel), Six Points
2. Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r), Four Points
3. Danny Pate (Garmin), Two Points.

Our three leaders now have 45 seconds on the field as they reach the 15km mark.

Has bridged up to the other three. The foursome is now at the 18km mark with 2:00 on the field.

None of the men in the break poses much of a threat on GC, so they may be allowed to gain time... at least for a while.

64. Egoi Martinez (ESP), Euskaltel-Euskadi at 53:16
76. Simon Gerrans (AUS), Credit Agricole at 1:06:53
98. Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP), Ag2r at 1:22:08
110. Danny Pate (USA), Garmin-Chipotle at 1:34:29

the four leaders have an advantage of 2:16.

Our four leaders are at 21km and have a lead of 2:49. The rain is falling on the route.

The weather at the finish is better, with clouds covering the route, but there is no rain up there yet.

While the official part of the climb is only 20.5km, the approach is on a steady rise to the base. From here - at 24km - to the top of the climb it's all uphill.

Our leaders are now nearly 4:00 ahead of the field.

The peloton is not giving chase and the four escapees are taking full advantage. At 26km, the four already have 5:33 on the main field.

Cadel Evans' team is setting tempo at the front of the peloton. They are spread acriss the road and there appears to be an agreement to ride pianao on the way up.

Barloworld's Robbie Hunter has just made a wheel change.

our leading four have extended their advantage to 6:27.

The peloton is clearly not worried about giving chase as the day's big hors categorie climb will do some sorting out.

is easing off. The peloton is now trailing the four leaders by 6:30.

The peloton is spread all across the road, with Silence-Lotto, Liquigas and CSC up front. Riders in the main field are chatting and no one is putting on the gas.

the men up front are sharing the work pretty evenly and approaching the base of the climb. They are at the 31km mark. The climb officialy starts at 38km. The gap is now 7:50.

the four men up front have bumped their lead to 8:15. That's a nice gap, but just look at the profile... it is bound to shrink.

the gap continues to grow. Our four leaders are now 9:36 ahead of the peloton. We told they weren't chasing.

are just reaching the base of the climb. They have a 10-minute lead as they hit a 20.5km climb, that averages 6.6 percent.

The peloton is passing through the village of Chateau-Queyras, with the citadel on top of the mountain that is jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Marta R. writes in to ask:

Back in the days of Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault, I seem to remember there was an odd jersey awarded with patches of red, green, yellow and even polka-dots. It almost resembled the old La Vie Claire jersey, but it wasn't. What was it? Is it still around?

Hello Marta,

What you're remembering is the old Tour de France combination jersey. It wasn't around for very long, being abolished in 1989. What it represented was the award for the rider with the highest combined standing in the yellow, green and polka-dot jersey contests. It was pretty cool, but it was often the guy in the yellow jersey that held it and it added to the confusion more than anything. We do kind of miss that one.

Another jersey they got rid of in '89, was the red sprinters jersey, awarded to the guy who gathered the most sprint points out on the road, and one that does not count the points awarded at the finish. That contest, too, has been eliminated.

and they have upped their lead to 12:12.

The peloton is now just reaching the base of the climb. Silence-Lotto will be interested in keeping things mellow on this climb. Given that it's too far from the finish to shake things up on the GC front, we may not even see some of the big contenders do much other than keep tempo on the climb.

our leaders have upped their advantage to 12:40.

is still riding piano on the climb. Lampre is setting a mellow tempo at the front.

The leaders are at 45km and they now enjoy a 13:00 advantage.

we mentioned the other day? It turns out that they were all part of the commercial caravan - that big parade of advertisers that cover the day's route a couple of hours ahead of the field. The six cars were on a single truck, advertising Skoda autos. The truck caught fire and what we spotted was the clean-up. That must have been a pricey little blaze. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Meanwhile the peloton is now 13:04 behind the leaders who are at the 47km mark. Lampre is picking up the pace just a little.

Rock Racing's Tyler Hamilton has won the final overall at the 2008 Tour of Qinghai Lake in Xining, China. It's the first win for the 37-year-old Hamilton since his suspension for homolgous blood doping at the 2004 Vuelta a Espana, where he had apparently won the eighth stage of that race, before that result was negated because of the doping offense.

hasn't resulted in any big attacks in the main field. This climb, tough as it is, is way to far from the finish.

Credit Agricole's Mark Renshaw has pulled out of the peloton. He's been sick for the past couple of days.

Meanwhile our four leaders are riding into sunshine as the work their way to the top of the climb. At 50km, they have 13:30 on the main field, which is riding along very calmly.

with the leaders now about seven kilometers from the top of the Col Agnel. This is a long, long climb.

is looking comfy in the break. He's a former world U23 time trial champion, so he adds a bit of power to the break for that long, long haul over the flats to the day's final climb.

Our four leaders are riding back into the clouds, but there is no rain. They still have a big advantage over the main field, now 13:48.

Pate - who did about a third of the work on the way to the climb - is beginning to look a little uncomfortable in the break. Fortunately for him, there is a long 50km descent, which will offer plenty of time for recovery. Right now he's at the back of the four... pedaling squares.

Talk about pedaling squares... Silence Lotto's Christophe Brandt has been dropped by the peloton, which is not climbing fast. He's having a tough time and already trails the peloton by about 45 seconds.

on this mega-climb the four leaders are still 13:30 ahead of the main field.

Devolder, once touted as an outside fav' for the overall, has been dropped by the peloton.

Our leaders are 1km from the top of the climb. They have a 13:17 advantage. It's a long descent, but the roads are now nice and dry.

Who did a lot of work out on the flats, did very little of the pace setting on the climb. Of the four, Martinezx looks to be the most comfortable.

1. Egoi Martinez (ESP), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 20 points
2.Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP), Ag2r, 18 points
Simon Gerrans (AUS), Credit Agricole, 16 points
4. Danny Pate (USA), Garmin-Chipotle, at 4 seconds - 14 points

has pulled out of the Tour.

is nearing the top of the climb. The gap is now down to about 12:10, We see Vande Velde up front and he's looking quite comfortable.

are 114km from the finish of today's stage. They are rocketing down the back side of the climb.

Back up top, Bernard Kohl - fourth on GC and second on KOM - jumps to grab the 12 points that are awarded to the fifth rider over an hors categorie climb. The gap is just under 12 minutes.

The ever-feisty Thomas Voeckler beat Kohl to the line.

Meanwhile the weather is improving at the finish. The sun is coming out.

a bit. The four leaders - Pate, Gerrans, Arrieta and Martinez - are 11:44 ahead of the field.

There is a single rider who has arracked out of the main field on the descent - our man Voeckler - but he doesn't have a lot of distance.

are at the 83km mark. They hold advantage of 11:34

The leaders are 11:40 ahead of Voeckler, but the yellow jersey group is at 12:42.

The roads are wet near the bottom of the climb.

its way down the back side of the climb. The gap is still 12:37, with Voeckler about a minute up the road.

There has been a bit of a tumble in the field, but we don't have IDs.

is one of the ones who crashed. He's usually a pretty good descender.

Well... at least the call of nature. Several riders are over on the side of the road relieving some of the pressure.

As for Peirero... he took a bad tumble. He went over the barrier on a switchback and went down to the road below. Ouch. He's up, but, man that's gotta hurt.

has slowed, with some riders waiting to see if Peirero is okay. The 2006 Tour winner had a bad crash. We hope he can continue.

Meanwhile, the leaders are 14:50 ahead of the peloton, with 14:30 to Voeckler.

is moving to the front of the field and setting a very moderate tempo at the front of the peloton. We still have no news on Peirero's status.

Meanwhile, our leaders are a full 15:45 ahead of Voeckler and more than 16 minutes on the peloton, with 82km remaining.

We'd have to put Martinez as the favorite out of the group up front.

the preliminary word is that Peirero has suffered a broken collarbone... sad, but dang, considering how far he fell, that's not a bad result. That was a fugly fall.

The peloton is still riding slowly and the gap is now 16:16.

Race Radio says Peirero is being transported to the hospital with a suspected fractured shoulder and femur.

Folks, he fell about 30 feet when he crashed over the barrier and then landed on the road below. He's lucky that he didn't suffer a head injury, but this is an awful way to leave the Tour.

still shaken by the sight of the 2006 Tour champ falling like that, the pace in the peloton is still quite slow. The leaders are now at the 108km mark and they have a lead of 16:40. There will be no chase. We may see a GC fight on the climb, but the stage win is on its way down the road.

is now at the front of the peloton. We're seeing a lot of riders who were dropped on the climb regaining the field, including the KOM, Lang.

The pace is picking up, but the gap is still quite large, at 16:49. No way Lampre is going to shut that down. They need to calculate their effort if they're hoping to put Cunego into a good position on the climb. It would be silly to waste that in a futile chase.

Our four leaders are on dry roads again and have just crossed the second sprint mark.

The gap is now 17:10.

Colle del Morte, which tops out at km 157 , is surprisingly steep and we might see someone try an attack on that climb as a launch for the big climb that follows.

is now 16:58. There is no real chase effort underway, but Lampre is still setting tempo at the front, with Silence-Lotto right behind them.

riders have been hanging at the back of the field, reassessing their situation. Word is that Peirero did break both his shoulder and femur. His teammates are shaken, but they are now working their way back up the peloton.

The gap, meanwhile, is dropping again. Our four leaders are 62km from the finish and they lead the peloton by 16:19.

is improving. The rain coats are coming off and both groups - the four leaders and the peloton - are on dry roads again.

the second spint mark 15:45 behind the leaders.

Pereiro suffered a broken collarbone, shoulder and leg, according to the medical team who helped evacuate the rider.

The Caisse d'Epargne rider toppled over a security barrier on his way down Col Agnel in the French Alps, falling several meters onto the road below.

Pereiro was in 15th position, at 6:01.

It was an ugly crash. Our only hope is that he recovers and doesn't have a long road back, like Joseba Beloki did after that awful accident he had.

Well, we also hope that the video wasn't of high enough quality so that we'll be seeing it in the advertising on a certain television network, interspersed with shots of bull riding and bald tattooed guys beating the crap out of each other.

The peloton has come through a round-about and several riders have hit the deck.

is one of the riders involved in that crash.

The crash happened near the front of the peloton. It looks like there was water on the road. Cunego also crashed.

We also see Millar and several riders from Garmin.

Everyone is back on their bikes.

The weird thing was that riders on both sides of the roundabout went down at almost the same instant.

is back in the field. Cunego is back, too. Millar and the others are working their way back into the front of the peloton.

With 43km to go, the leaders are 14:22 ahead of the peloton.

the man in the KOM jersey looks like he was a victim of the crash, too. He's looking uncomfortable and working his way back.

Barloword's Robbie Hunter, too, looks banged up, but that may have been because of the earlier crash. He apparently went down on the descent and Peirero hit him, launching over the barrier.

from that last crash. It was slick and that means riders slid across the road. The weird thing is, the roads turned dry right away.

with 36km to go, our four leaders - Gerrans, Martinez, Arrieta and Pate - are now 14:50 ahead of the field.

are at km 152, five kilometers from the Cat. 3 Colle del Morte.

With CSC and Silence setting tempo at the front, the gap is holding at 14:42.

Our four leaders hit the Cat. 3 Colle del Morte, a short, but steep, kicker before the day's final climb starts.

Colle del Morte is only 1.7km in length, but it averages 7.9 percent.

the four leaders are still together, but you can tell which of them looks most comfortable, Martinez looks like the one climbing most smoothly. Pate looks like the one who is suffering the most on the steep parts.

All four cross over at the same time. Up next is the Cat. 1 climb to the finish.

1. Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r) 4 points
2. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) 3points
3. Simon Gerrans (Credit Agricole) 2points
4. Danny Pate (Garmin) 1point

Word from the hospital is that Oscar Peirero does not have a broken leg. That's a bright spot.

According to a first official diagnosis Pereiro has a sprained shoulder but has not injured his leg or his back, as previously believed.

"He is not complaining of pain in his legs or his back," said a doctor accompanying Pereiro to hospital.

Stuart O'Grady is driving at the front of the peloton. The gap is 14:02. Is CSC going to push it on the Colle del Morte?

are pushing the pace. The gap has dropped by a minute. The leaders are heading to the final climb. They are 20km from the finish and the gap is 13:20.

We just spoke with Garmin team owner Jonathan Vaughters. He says everyone who hit the deck at the roundabout "is just fine."

"Obviously, it's not good to have the whole team crash, but no one was hurt. They were there doing what they were supposed to - riding right at the front - but that crash happened only one or two riders back. Christian is doing well and he's back up front on the climb."

Speaking of that climb, CSC is setting a strong tempo at the front. We're seeing some of the Silence boys slipping off the back.

the CSC team leads over the top of the Colle del Morte. They have six riders up there. Evans, meanwhile, is left with just one teammate.

are under the 15km-to-go mark. They have an advantage of 12:36.

is driving the pace at the front of the peloton.

We see Vande Velde near the front, as is Evans, with Popovych by his side. CSC, though has Voigt, two Schlecks, Sastre...

Martinez is setting the tempo in the break. The climb officially starts at 11.5km to go.

Meanwhile the peloton is at 20km to go, under the full throttle of the CSC team. The gap is dropping.

There is a thunderstorm at the finish. Lightening, too.

are on the climb.

Remember who they are? 1. Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r)
2. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel)
3. Simon Gerrans (Credit Agricole)
4. Danny Pate (Garmin)

Martinez continues to look smooth as he ticks on the climb. They are now 10km from the finish.

Behind, the CSC team is driving the pace on the roads leading to the climb. The gap is down to 10:58. They are not chasing, though. The winner will be one of our four leaders, but CSC is certainly putting the pressure on in the GC race.

is still pushing the pace up front.

Pate is looking a bit nervous. Is he tired? Is he faking? We'll find out soon.

The road is tipping up, but Cancellara is still powering at the front of the peloton. The gap is 10:13 and the entire field is strung-out in single file.

is pushing at the front, as Cancellara as put in his long pull of the day.

five riders driving up front, with Popovych covering for Cadel Evans. Evans and Vande Velde are still near the front.

Voigt is still pushing the pace.

The leaders are on the steep part. These last 8.5km are 8 percent.

Martinez moves ahead. Pate manages to hang on, but the other two - Arrieta and Gerrans - have been gapped.

The peloton has been trimmed. Andy Schleck and Sastre are at the front. Cadel Evans is right on their wheel.

Sastre Attacks!

is followed by Kohl... Evans is forced to respond Then Menchov and Vande Velde.

includes both Schlecks, Sastre, Menchov, Valverde, Kohl...

Euskaltel's Samuel Sanchez has jumped out of the group.

Up front Gerrans has fought back to Martinez and Pate.

Has been pulled back by the Evans group. The Schleck brothers are up front setting tempo again.

ups the tempo at the front of the yellow jersey group. Vande Velde is in there as they ride past our man Casey Gibson.

Arrieta is now 33 seconds behind the other men in the original break. They are 4km from the finish.

Those include three from CSC - the Schlecks and Sastre - and isolated riders, including Evans, Menchov, Vande Velde, Valverde, Kohl and Kreuziger.

No luck. Martinez and Gerrans catch on and then Martinez counters. They are still together, though.

Menchov has attacked out of the group and then crashes on a hairpin...

He's up and chasing. Wow. He's back on.

are now 2.5km from the top.

is ramping it up. His brother and Sastre are still there. Kreuziger is right on Andy Schleck's wheel.

for the three leaders.

Schleck is ramping it up... but he's pulled in. Then Kohl attacks. Cadel Evans is suffering as Menchov ramps it up.

is pushing the pace... but Evans and Vande Velde are hanging on... Now Andy Schleck attacks again.

moving up, too, but Evans is on his wheel.

Now Sastre goes and he has a big gap!

Up ahead, our three leaders are in the final kilometer.

are on now up with Sastre... and now Vande Velde attacks Evans. He's caught, but Valverde is now bridging up.

It looks like Gerrans!

Martinez is second and Pate third.

have a gap on the Evans, Vande Velde group. Frank Schleck and Andy Schleck are in there, too.

The Menchov group is now at 1km to go.

The Sastre group is about 25 seconds ahead of the Evans group.

He's gotten rid of Menchov.

have gotten rid of Valverde.

Kohl fourth and Sastre fifth.

Vande Velde attack in the final kilometer... Evans is gapped.

like Evans may have lost the jersey to Kohl... and if not, Frank Schleck.

who started the day 46 seconds out of the lead, finished 48 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans, but it looks like Frank Schleck will be in the jersey... barely... by maybe five seconds.

1. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC
2. Bernard Kohl (A) Gerolsteiner, at 0:07
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), Silence-Lotto, at 0:08.

Who would have thought Bernard Kohl of all people would still be in the yellow jersey race? Wow.

1. Simon Gerrans (C.A)
2. Egoi Martinez (EUS) at 0:03
3. Danny Pate (Garmin) at 0:10
4. Jose Luis Arrieta (ALM) at 0:55
5. Bernhard Kohl (GST) at 4:03
6. Carlos Sastre (CSC) at 4:03
7. Alejandro Valverde (GCE) at 4:12
8. Denis Menchov (RAB) at 4:23
9. Frank Schleck (CSC) at 4:41
10. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin) at 4:43

Evans was 13th at 4:50

The GC:1. Frank Schleck (CSC)
2. Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) at 0:07
3. Cadel Evans (Silence) at 0:08
4. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at 0:38
5. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin) at 0:39
6. Carlos Sastre (CSC), at 0:49
7. Kim Kirchen (Columbia), at 2:48

Well that was an interesting day...

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Meanwhile, tomorrow is a rest day, so we'll be back on Tuesday, with a full report on Stage 16... another biggie.