Saturday, July 12: Live updates from Stage 7
BORDEAUX, France

194km

Five riders weren't part of the start at 12:30 p.m. Tom Steels (Mapei) and D. Abdoujaparov (Lotto) were booted out yesterday, Steels for throwing his water bottle in the final sprint and Abdoujaparov for failing his anti-doping test. Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Gotti (Saeco), Batik's Evgeny Berzin and Rabobank's Leon Van Bon didn't start after injuries in a spill late in Friday's fifth stage.

1:11 p.m. (local time):
At the 25km mark sprinter Mario Cipollini has just pulled out. The Saeco rider won two stages, but also went down in a spill Friday.

1:40 p.m. (local time):
At 48 kms, three riders pull out. U.S. Postal's Adriano Baffi, FDJ'S Flavio Vanzella, and Casino's Marco Saligari build up a small gap.

1:44 p.m. (local time):
The gap is up to 2'24".

2:15 p.m. (local time):
The peloton seems content to let them go, for the time being, with the gap up to 5'10".

2:51 p.m. (local time):
Overall leader Cedric Vasseur (Gan) flatted, but is now back with the pack. Gan and Batik are working on the break, and have narrowed it to 3'30".

2:58 p.m. (local time):
At the 99km mark, the peloton just went through the day's feed zone and has trimmed the lead to 3'35".

3:12 p.m. (local time):
The peloton is motoring up on the break, continuing to trim it down. Now it's 2'53".

3:23 p.m. (local time):
Torsten Schmidt (Roslotto) has peeled off the front, trying to gap the break.

3:33 p.m. (local time):
At the day's sprint at 134 kms, Vanzella, Baffi, and Saligari cross 1-2-3, with Schmidt two minutes back. The peloton is now at 2'15" behind with 60 kms to go.

3:46 p.m. (local time):
Another crash. This time Telekom's Jens Heppner goes down, lies there a few minutes, gets back up and is rejoining the peloton.

3:52 p.m. (local time):
Hepper is still behind the peloton. At 148 kms, Gan is working the front of the peloton and the break's lead is down to 1'58". Baffi is the top rider in the break, starting the day in 43rd at 5'27" back.

4:01 p.m. (local time):
With 40 kms to go, the lead is down to 1'25", with Batik working the front of the chase.

4:13 p.m. (local time):
The peloton is hungry for another sprint, with Roslotto upping the pace, trimming the break's lead to one minute with 35 kms to go.

4:25 p.m. (local time):
With 25 kms to go, the break is 50 seconds ahead of the peloton, with Mapei’s Johan Museeuw pulling off the front.

4:31 p.m. (local time):
The break's lead is down to 28 seconds. Correction: Museeuw actually feel back from the peloton with a mechanical problem. He's now back with the lead group.

4:38 p.m. (local time):
The peloton just reeled in the Baffi/Vanzella/Saligari break at the 179km mark. It’s a flat 15 kms to the finish, with the peloton together.

4:49 p.m. (local time):
With 7 km to go, another crash, with several riders down.

4:50 p.m. (local time):
With 3 km to go Gan, Telekom, and Rabobank are setting up a sprint.

4:56 p.m. (local time):
Telekom's Erik Zabel easily won the Tour's seventh stage, pulling ahead and not looking back. Casino's Jaan Kirsipuu was second and TVM's Jeroen Blijlevens crossed the line third.

A second group of riders, which unofficially included Festina's Richard Virenque and Laurent Dufaux and Polti's Luc Leblanc, crossed the line 50 seconds back following a crash in the final 10 kms.

Gan's Cedric Vasseur retains the overall lead.