Cycling: Tour De France Stage Four - Live!

3.21pm "As for an alternative to ITV4, I found some great commentary on French radio stations bleeding over into Kent at the weekend," claims Hywel. "Maybe it was freak atmospherics or pure coincidence, but the medium and longwave coverage was excellent. Even the ads give it an authentic feel. Maybe internet radio would be more suited to the office slackers, I'll try and dig out some links." Get busy, Hywel.
3.19pm The leading group is slowly approaching the final two category four climbs of the day, each less than four kilometers apart. First up is the Côté de Galbaux (173m high) and then it's the Côté de Bel-Air (170m). After that it's downhill towards a final 20km flat sprint to the finish, where the peloton will surely fancy its chances of sweeping up the breakaway. The lead has slipped another 30 seconds to 2½ min.

3.15pm Just 60km to go and the lead is now down to 2min 55sec as the breakaway reach rising ground. "Concerning the British/English debate, in the Netherlands we are just as bad," admits Raymond Starke. "An example: the great Alex Zulle, who finished runner-up in the Tour and won the Vuelta, has a Swiss father, but a Dutch mother. After a won time-trial or heroic diplay in the mountains, the commentators always talked about the half-Dutchman Zulle, who speaks such good fluent Dutch. But whenever he smacked to the asphalt (because of his bad eye-sight) or after the Festina-debacle, you can guess ... it was a huge blow for Swiss cycling!"

3.11pm "If this year's average race speed is currently languishing, is that perhaps evidence that drug usage amongst the riders is falling?" deadpans Rob Boon. According to Eurosport, yesterday's stage "had the slowest average speed of any stage in the Tour since 1947 at 36kph". That seems an incredible statistic, especially given all the punishing mountain stages ridden through the years. However, our people in the know reckon that yesterday's farce was due to the fact that once the breakaway had pulled clear, the peloton decided that they would reel them in and that would be that: no more breakaways. However, as the leaders slowed in the headwind, so the peloton had to slow in order that they would sweep the group up before the end and prevent anyone else escaping. Not that it worked, as the cheeky Cancellara proved with his shock late burst to glory. Finally some reaction from the peloton, where the lead is slashed to 3min 08sec, 52 seconds less than it was barely 19 minutes ago.

3.05pm Vital information for Alex Kontofrios: ITV4 on Freeview is broadcasting daily highlights of the race at 7pm each weekday, with bonus live coverage at weekends. "When they aren't repeating all that homely programming stuff," sniffs Paul Prowse.

3.02pm Flecha leads the breakaway through the second intermediate sprint of the day at Soligny-les-Etangs, beating Chavanel into second and Knees into third. A useful extra bonus for Chavanel in the overall standings.

3pm "Other than Eurosport, is the Tour on any other channel?" inquires a rather desperate Alex Kontofrios. "I'm thinking of getting Freeview and it does not have Eurosport." Anyone?

2.56pm The breakaway group is now exactly four minutes clear as the peloton's pace dips suddenly, and for no apparent reason. Perhaps they're taking in the scenic countryside. Lazy blighters.

2.52pm Some fancy Eurosport graphics have just shown that this year's average race speed is currently languishing at 40.49kph, slower than any race since 2002. In comparison, although it was team-time-trial-assisted, the 2005 race had an average pace of 48kph at this stage. The lead has held firm at 3min 49sec with just 71km left to ride. "In response to Michael Crooks, re English or British, I suppose our riders are described as British because they compete in UCI events as part of the British team," notes the half-Turkish Emil Levendoglu. "But perhaps more pertinently, Millar's a Scot (born in Hong Kong), Cavendish is from the Isle of Man, Thomas is Welsh and Wegelius is half Finnish, or something." They'll be British should they win anything, Emil.

2.48pm As the peloton riders slow down to pick up their individual goodie-laden team musettes (apparently packed with electrolytes, gels, etc, but I think they could do with some far more interesting contents), so does the lead of the breakaway increase to 3min 49sec. "Re. Gary Naylor 2.24pm: how about the tremendous psychological cost on the fans of both sports?" responds Lynsey Nicoll. "I find the trials of the Tour as stressful to follow as England ODIs, which is compounded by being forced to follow them via Guardian text updates while at work rather than the joy of cable from my sofa as God intended."

2.40pm Exploding the David Millar myth department: "Like Kathi Hall, I too find it hard to like Millar because he nearly always seems arrogant," says Scott Beveridge. "Having said that, I saw him outside the team van on Sunday morning on the Mall and he made a point of responding to a young lad's request for an autograph; maybe he's not all that bad." More evidence, you say? "Millar looked very relaxed yesterday and not like someone who'd fallen out with his team," adds Ian Leach. "I reckon he was still tired from Sunday's exertions and will now try and get the polka dot back. Plus, he drinks in my local The Canny Manns in Edinburgh when he's back 'home' which means he is pretty cool."

2.36pm "Is cycling, with Cavendish and Millar, going to become the new Davis Cup, where all the English people suddenly call themselves British?" muses Michael Crooks, who omits to mention Britain's Geraint Thomas and Britain's Charles Wegelius, currently 45th and 88th, respectively. Up goes the lead to 3min 45sec.

2.32pm Ah, here's my man Hushovd. Oh. He's just drifted off the back of the peloton for a chin-wag with his Credit Agricole team car. Call me a traditionalist (or just incredibly sad), but I don't like the fact that he's riding along, one hand on his boss's Mercedes and one on the handlebars. Isn't this an unfair advantage? Anyhow, moments later and he's back in the main group. The lead is now 3min 40sec with just under 89km to go.

2.26pm "I can't believe that I'm sitting here pressing F5 every few minutes - to be disappointed most times, but rewarded every now and then with another tidbit," declares Sue Holden. "Any chance of a 'bleep' everytime you update - then I might get some work done in between gems? But then again, it's a good excuse to slack off ..." You're very kind/naive/want something, Sue, but it's a marathon, not a sprint. For now. Bleep!

2.24pm Chavanel is pushing the leading group along and with good reason: he currently lies 24th in the overall classification, just 56sec adrift of Cancellara, and is what us cycling experts could call "a bit tasty". It's no surprise, then that CSC are spearheading the peloton in a bid to keep their man Cancellara in yellow. The lead is down to 3min 25sec. "Only Test cricket can rival Le Tour in terms of its intensity, its duration and its complexity in combining individual responsibility within a team context." Yes, it's Gary Naylor's thought for the day. "Both events inspire great deeds, great writing and great spectacle. Can it be coincidence that both sports also exact a tremendous psychological cost on their competitors as shown by the number of ex-cricketers-riders wrestling with the black dog of depression or tragically dead at an early age? Surely no sports stars give more to their sport than pro-cyclists?"

2.17pm Ninety-nine kilometers remaining and the leading group is now 3min 36sec clear. "I think that David Millar has some problems with his team," claims Kathi Hall. "I too thought his excuse for giving up the polka-dot jersey was pretty lame. You don't gift jerseys away in the Tour de France. I think he can't organize his team or they don't want to be organized by him or the team management have other things on their mind. Weren't there strong words between Millar and the team car during stage one?" Yep. "That said, I don't like Millar so I'm glad to see him out of the jersey."

2.12pm "I can't believe you're doing live updates for the Tour de France. Good thing I wore my yellow jersey to work!" smiles Colin Greer, who suggests he may be a motorway workman. "Do you have any tips on who's going to win today's stage? Say the word and I'll send my temp out to place a bet at the bookies." Well, the Racing Post haven't really gone out on a limb in tipping up Tom Boonen at 100-30, but they have noted Lampre's Danilo Napolitano as a value 16-1 shot. He won a stage in the Giro d'Italia and his team were "sighted more than any other at the head of the pack". Robbie McEwen is the 5-2 favorite, while Cancellara is 50s, but I fancy a bit of the 12s available on Thor Hushovd.

2.02pm Xabier Zandio has become the third abandoment of the race following a crash earlier today. The leading quintet, comprising two Frenchmen, two Spaniards and a German, are now 3min 14sec clear.

2pm "Looking at today's stage I see there's just four category four climbs on mostly long straight roads and only 193km," notes Gary Hensey. "Am I the only one getting annoyed with David Millar for throwing away the polka dot jersey? And his reasons for doing so were weak - 'I didn't want my team to work for it' - what on earth would he prefer them to do then? Was it such a hard task to keep it for just one more day?" He did give it up pretty easily, Gary, but Millar has been working a bit harder today to hit back at current King of the Mountains leader, Stéphane Augé; Aliaksandr Kuschinski cleared the first climb of the day ahead of Millar with Augé in third. With the breakaway group claiming all the points at the second climb, Millar now trails Augé by just two points in the classifications.

1.57pm While today's race pace isn't as poor as yesterday's particularly pedestrian efforts, the windy conditions are continuing to keep speeds down. With 115km remaining, the leading group now has an advantage of 2min 35sec over the main peloton, which is seriously fluctuating in pace. In the meantime, be sure to check out our excellent interactive guide to Le Tour, including a fascinating explanation of peloton tactics, including the intriguing 'Indian file'.

1.49pm The leaders have just cleared the second category four climb of the day, but their lead has been slashed to a touch below two minutes as the CSC team lead the peloton's charge. "Is Mark Cavendish safely in the peloton today?" wonders Stephen Harris. "In his column in this morning's Metro newspaper he says that today's route passes through Luxemburg and the Netherlands, so I wondered if he has perhaps gone off on a little race of his own." Fear not, Stephen: Cavendish was probably dreaming of Paris Hilton at the time of the interview but, to the best of my knowledge, he's happily ensconced in the peloton today.

1.41pm Good news: organizers have revealed that, of the 53 riders who submitted blood tests yesterday morning, there were no abnormalities. Even better news: according to reports, the Belgian cyclist Nick Nuyens is now 550lb of butter the better off this morning. Officials in Diksmuide, Belgium, where the race passed through yesterday, decided to offer the buttery prize to the last Belgian rider to go through the town. Perhaps Nuyens can use it to tamper with Cancellara's ride today, given that nothing race-related has been able to stop him so far.

The story so far ... While Eurosport's coverage lurches from a review of yesterday's race - in German - to classic stage finishes from down the years, let me update you with what's been happening today. Five riders are currently 3min 45sec clear of the peloton after launching an attack 33km into today's stage. Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues), Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) and Christian Knees (Milram) made the break and they lead with around 145km to go. The maillot jaune, currently in the possession of the stunningly in-form Fabian Cancellara, is safely sitting in the middle of the pack, surrounded by his CSC team-mates.

Preamble Bonjour la classe. Ça va? Je voudrais une glace, s'il vous plaît. Bah, who am I kidding? A-level French will only get you so far. Welcome to our live coverage of stage four of Le Tour, "the first really lumpy one of the race", according to the race competition director Jean-Francois Pescheux. It's 193km (120 miles) from Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny, the twin town of Godalming in Surrey and "the Gateway to Burgundy, an attractive town 80 miles south east of Paris, lying on the River Yonne". Apparently, the Godalming Joigny Friendship Association exists "to foster ties between the two communities and to promote international understanding". They've clearly never been to the Slug and Lettuce in Godalming, have they?