Grischa Niermann has a secret radio antenna to fool the Tour de France officials today...

All smiles - Juan Antonio Flecha takes time out with Japanese cyclists, Beppu and Arashiro...

Pour Le France - Sylvain Chavanel and Jerome Pineau show off their new Specialized bikes on Bastille Day...

It looks as if Jens Voigt and his mates are going to open the racing with a big attack...

Mikhail Ignatiev leads a trio of escapers away from the peloton...they are being chased only by Samuel Dumoulin...

Zut alors - the escape has been stopped by a closed railroad crossing..!

The two-minute halt has allowed Dumoulin to catch the escape - cheeky little Frenchman!

With no radios in their ears, the escapees receive their first time-check the old fashioned way...

Reflecting on a quiet day ahead, the peloton is already five minutes down...

Rinaldo Nocentini and Fabian Cancellara chat about their lives as race-leaders of the Tour de France...

The peloton crosses the famous bridge of Dognon in gentle pursuit of the escape...

There's an unofficial protest in the peloton, nobody is even trying to chase or to race...

Benoit Vaugrenard is the fast man in the escape, he's kept their lead above two minutes for over two hours now...

Astana has put Muravyev on the front of the peloton, signaling that a chase might even start soon...

Lance Armstrong only knows how to enjoy his Tours de France...

Alberto Contador is a study of concentration on the opposite side of the peloton...

Dorey Holt has arrived back in France to cheer the Tour, and Astana...

The peloton is chasing with 20-kilometres to go - but the escape will be only be caught with just two-kilometres left...

Mark Cavendish wins stage ten into Issoudun ahead of Thor Hushovd and Tyler Farrar...