4:55 p.m. Zabel!

It came down to a three-up sprint between Zabel, Oscar Friere and McEwen. Zabel beat Friere to the line, but more importantly outscores the Aussie in the points race and has kept the green points jersey as a result. It's Tour stage win number 12 for Zabel.

4:54 p.m. Telekom is leading out Zabel.

4:53 p.m. We are in the final kilometer. Lampre's Dierckxens is at the front and charging.

4:52 p.m. 2.5km to go... there is still a big scramble at the front. Telekom is still up there.

McEwen is hanging in a good spot near the front.

4:51 p.m. Rolf Aldag is at the front for Telekom.

The Ag2R team is up front trying to put their man Kirsipuu in position.

4:49 p.m. The race is in its final 4km. Lotto, Mapei, Credit Agricole and Telekom are at the front.

4:39 p.m. Our man Jacky is back in the fold... we are 9.5km from the finish and it looks like we will see a field sprint.

4:39 p.m. The six leaders were about to be brought in, but our man Jacky attacked and is now off on his own.

He now has 10 seconds on the field and is 11.5km from the finish.

4:36 p.m. The six men in front continue to hold a 30 second lead. They are now 17km from the finish.

The six leaders: Steffen Wesemann (G) Telekom, Paul van Hyfte (B) CSC-Tiscali, Constantino Zaballa (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca, Jacky Durand (F) FDJeux.com, Emmanuel Magnien (F) Bonjour and Massimo Apollonio (I) Tacconi Sport.

4:33 p.m. The leaders are under thirty seconds up on the field.

The Lotto team is working hard to bring the escapees back before they reach the finish in just 19km.

Zabel and the Telekoms are playing their cards close to the chest. They are not working the chase and may have an advantage going into the sprint and the Lottos may be expending a great deal of energy in this chase.

4:25 p.m. The leaders are still 40 seconds ahead of the feild. There has been a crash at the rear of the main field.

Alessio's Alexandr Shefer was injured in the crash. He will be transported by ambulance to the hospital. The Tour is down to 185 riders.

4:17 p.m. The Lottos are still working to bring that break back. The Telekom team of Erik Zabel are up there, but not really lending a hand in the chase.

The day's big contest of the day will be between Zabel and Robbie McEwen as they come into the finsih. The break is still 40 seconds ahead of the field.

4:10 p.m. The six leaders have passed through the intermediate sprint. They contested it, with Massimo Apollonio (I) Tacconi Sport beating Emmanuel Magnien (F) Bonjour and Paul van Hyfte (B) CSC-Tiscali to the line.

The peloton passed through at 50 seconds. The contest for points will next be fought out in 35km at the finish in Alençon.

4:06 p.m. It looks as though the Durand group of six will stay away through the day's third sprint, coming up in just 3km.

4:02 p.m. The six leaders are 45 seconds ahead of the field. They are 6km from the third intermediate sprint.

3:55 p.m. Credit Agricole has eased off on the chase, as Sébastien Hinault has flatted and is chasing back on to the main field.

Lotto and Mapei are driving the chase. The leaders' advantage is down to 55 seconds.

3:55 p.m. There are several more teams -- including ONCE and Credit Agricole -- have joined the chase. The leaders are 1:05 up on the field.

3:52 p.m. The day's third intermediate sprint at Courtomer (164.5km) is coming up in 15km. The Lotto team is driving the chase and may just catch the leaders who have 1:11 over the field.

3:49 p.m. With 52km remaining, the six leaders are still at 1:25.

ONCE and Lotto are leading the chase.

3:43 p.m. The six leaders -- Steffen Wesemann (G) Telekom, Paul van Hyfte (B) CSC-Tiscali, Constantino Zaballa (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca, Jacky Durand (F) FDJeux.com, Emmanuel Magnien (F) Bonjour and Massimo Apollonio (I) Tacconi Sport -- are about 1:20 up on the field.

McEwen's Lotto squad is leading the chase. The team is clearly in the hunt for more points and McEwen feels he can win another field sprint to the finish. Given the points contest, it's unlikely this break will stay away all the way to Alençon.

3:41 p.m. The leaders are already seeing their advantage being cut back. Their lead is down to 1:26.

3:40 p.m. Jacky Durand was the first across the line at the day's second sprint. He bettered Van Hyfte and Apollino, though none of the six riders was seriously contesting the sprint. They are busy trying to build their lead. Right now, they remain 1:40 ahead of the peloton.

Race radio reports that the last hour, with all of its attacks, was a fast 46.9kph.

3:35 p.m. The six leaders are coming up on the day's second intermediate sprint.

3:30 p.m. American cable viewers can now see the remaining two hours live on Outdoor Life.

The lead group of six has an advantage of 1:44. There are 70km remaining.

3:17 p.m. The leaders now have built thier advantage to 1:10. See? All you needed for a break to form with a little success is to have our man Jacky Durand in the mix.

3:17 p.m. The six men off the front now have an advantage approaching a minute... the biggest lead of the day.

We are at km 124.

3:12 p.m. The lead group now has an advantage of 20 seconds. Not much. The six leaders are:

It has started to rain.

3:07 p.m. They do keep trying...

Another group of six riders has moved off the front. They now have an advantage of 10 seconds.

3:06 p.m. The peloton remains intact. The ONCE and Telekom teams are not letting anything go. Zabel is bound to be aching to earn some points back after losing the points jersey to Lotto's McEwen at that last sprint. The next sprint comes up at km 133.5.

We are now at 112 kilometers.

2:56 p.m. Even with the ever-vigilant ONCE and Telekom teams up front, the escapes keep coming. Karsten Kroon tried yet again to get away, as did another earlier escapee, Stephane Auge. Both efforts failed.

We are now at km 104

2:51 p.m. The peloton is through the feedzone. The Telekom and ONCE teams are sharing patrol duties at the front. It loks as though neither team is willing to risk another escape.

2:47 p.m. The six leaders are back in the fold. Telekom is patrolling the front of the peloton. The Telekoms may be a bit more active today, after taking a back seat yesterday and seeing a seemingly innocent break, fend off the chase and surviving into the finish.

2:45 p.m. The leaders advantage is being trimmed down quickly. The Telekom team is leading the chase... seemingly intent upon at least putting Zabel back in the points jersey (he lost the lead in that contest at the last intermediate sprint).

2:40 p.m. The leaders are now 30 seconds up on the field.

Glancing at the GC's it seems none of the men in the break poses a serious threat on the overall standings.(The number on the left is the rider's spot in the overall standings)

71. Laurent Brochard (Fra), DEL, at 03:4089. Jean-Cyril Robin (Fra), FDJ, at 04:05.97. Serge Baguet (Bel), LOT, at 04:20. 133. Karsten Kroon (Ned), RAB, at 07:12. 152. Leon Van Bon (Ned), DFF, at 11:05.172. Samuel Sanchez (Spa), EUS, at 17:102:36 p.m. There has been another attack off the front of the field.

The riders in the break are:78. Leon van Bon (Nl) Domo-Farm Frites99. Jean-Cyril Robin (F) FDJeux.com106. Karsten Kroon (Nl) Rabobank143. Serge Baguet (B) Lotto-Adecco 168. Samuel Sanchez (Sp) Euskaltel-Euskadi 204. Laurent Brochard (F) Jean Delatour

They have an advantage of 20 seconds on the field.

2:32 p.m. Never able to build much of a lead over the 14 or so km the four escapees stayed away, the break is now over. The peloton is back together. The feedzone is coming up at km 96 in Conches en-Ouche.

After that, the next intermediate sprint is at km 133.5 in Sulpice sur Risle .

2:26 p.m. The four men off the front now have an advantage of just 15 seconds.

We are at km 84 and still have 115km to go before reaching the finish in Alençon.

2:15 p.m. Four riders -- Robbie Hunter, Guennadi Mikalov, Christian Moreni and Stephane Auge -- are off the front with a slight advantage over the field.

2:15 p.m. By taking both climbs today, Christophe Mengin has a lock on the climber's jersey for another day.

2:13 p.m. The results of the climb up the Cote de Saint Vigor:

FdJeux's Christophe Mengin beat Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour) to the line for first and Tomas Konecny (Domo-Farm Frites) took third.

2:05p.m. The peloton is approaching the base of the day's second Cat. 4 climb, the Cote de Saint Vigor. Despite the fact that it, too, is a Cat. 4 climb, this one is much more difficult than that last one. The roads are narrow and winding. They are also lined with huge crowds.

Back soon with a report on the results of this climb.

1:59 p.m.

The peloton has crested the day's first of two Cat. 4 climbs.

FdJeux's Christophe Mengin retains his grip on the climber's jersey by taking the first spot. He was followed by CSC's Michael Sandstod and Stephane Goubert (Jean Delatour)1:50 p.m. Things have calmed down since the sprint. The peloton is all together. There was a short stretch of rain, but that has now cleared off as well.

We are at km 55.

1:39 p.m. A bit more on the sprint. McEwen, beat Jan Svorada (Cz) Lampre Daikin to the line. Erik Zabel was second. Going into today's stage Zabel had a two point lead over the Aussie. He now trails him by two points.

Remember back in 1999 when the points race came down to the last stage and a contest between Zabel and Stuart O'Grady?

1:39 p.m. Robbie McEwen takes the sprint. He is no the points leader on the road.

1:35 p.m. The tallest rider in the peloton, Andy Flickenger (Ag2R) has attacked.

But he has been reeled in and the peloton is all together, now 1km from the sprint.

1:31 p.m. We are at 41km and the peloton really is all together again. The next item on today's mapis the sprint at 47km.

1:27 p.m. It seems we spoke too soon. That group off the front is still out there....hovering just a hundred meters or so ahead of the peloton. If this group manages to build up a lead, we'll get you names and GCs.

By the way, to see yesterday's results and the overall standings belowthat,click here. That will give you a chance to take a quick peek to seeif any of today's breaks pose a threat and stand a chance of success.

1:23 p.m. The five riders in pursuit were joined by another group of eight. They then caught Brochard and Turpin, but then so did the peloton. The whole thing is back together.... until the counter attacks begin.

1:21 p.m. Our guy on the scene, John Wilcockson, gives the two leaders an advantage of about 25 seconds. They are being chased by a small group of five, about 12 seconds off of the front of the peloton. We are at km 33.

1:16 p.m. At 28km we have an attack from Jean Delatour leader Laurent Brochard and Ag2R's Ludovic Turpin. The have 10 seconds on the field.

1:14 p.m. The attacks and counter-attacks are keeping the speed high. We are now at the 27km mark.

Ahead, we have three sprints coming up. The first is at Les Andelys (47km), St. Sulpice sur Risle (133.5km) and Courtomer (164.5km). There are two Cat. 4 climbs at Val d'Any (61km) and St. Vigor (71.5km) fairly early in today's stage.

1:10 p.m. The escapees are back in the fold, but now a flurry of counter-attacks as picked up the pace. Still no one is able to establish a clear lead.

1:08 p.m. Casar no has company. He has been joined by Stephane Augé (Jean Delatour), Nico Mattan and Domo's Servais Knaven -- winner of the 2001 edition of Paris Roubaix.

1:03 p.m. At kilometer 11 Karsten Kroon (Rabobank) attacked. Two kilometers later, he was joined by four riders, including his teammate Bram de Groot and Sandy Casar (F) FDJeux.com.

They were all caught within 3km and now Casar has gone off on his own. He has a 10 seconf lead over the peloton.

There was a crash at km 15. It involved about 20 riders, including David Millar (GB), Cofidis and Kevin Livingston of Telekom. Everyone is up and riding.

12:50 p.m. Good morning to our U.S. readers. Sorry for the brief delay in our updates today... some of our U.S. crew actually wanted to sleep today.

The race kicked off at the intersection D.921 and La Ruche in Forges-les-Eaux - the location of one of yesterday's sprints -- at 12:31.

186 riders started. Rik Verbrughhe -- who struggled in 13:00 down yesterday -- had actually siffered a broken collarbone in that crash late in the stage, so he went back to Belgium this morning.

12:59 p.m. The weather is good, though not in keeping with the forecast. There is a thick cover of clouds and it rained last night. The temperatures are cooler today and the weather seems quite refreshing.

The opening fivekm today took 10 minutes.... a pace of 30kph. A nice and easy start.