Coverage of the seventh stage of the 2008 Tour de Suisse, a 170.6-kilometer race from Gruyeres to Lyss.

Today's stage covers mostly rolling terrain, that ends with three trips around a finishing circuit in Lyss. That portion of the route is marked with a Category 4 climb up the Lobsigen. Riders will hit that climb three times at kilometers 108, 134.5 and 161km. After that third trip up the Lobsigen, the race ends with a downhill charge to the line.

Today's stage begins at 2:10 p.m., with a 2.8-kilometer trip through the day's neutral zone on the Rue du Bourg and the expected official start at 2:20.

141 starters are riding through the neutral zone and we'll see the official start in a couple of minutes.

The peloton is through the official start.

marks another day with sunny conditions, quite unlike the rains that punctuated stages just a couple of days ago.

At the four km mark, we have an early break developing. Six riders have slipped off the front. We see BMC's Jeff Louder on the attack... wait, make that eight.

The gap is small, maybe 10 seconds, so things may take a bit to sort out. There are no GC threats in the bunch, with Geroldetiner's Markus Zberg (47th overall) the top GC rider in the bunch.

We have eight riders trying to make time on the main field. They include Ivan Santaromita (Liquigas), Gabriel Rasch (Credit Agricole), Anthony Roux (FDJ), Markus Zberg (Gerolsteiner), Hector Gonzalez (Saunier Duval), Marcus Burghardt (High Road), Jeff Louder (BMC) and Daniel Musiol (Volksbank).

The eight only have 15 seconds at the seven-kilometer mark.

the leading eight are still trying to work a gap. The escapees are barely ahead of the peloton. Will they be allowed to go? There are no major threats there, but maybe an unrepresented team or two might want to get someone in the bunch.... and here comes Quick Step's Matteo Tosatto.

the peloton has pulled all of the escapees back into the fold.

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the peloton is still together. We're likely to see more attacks, though.

the peloton is still riding together. There have been a few small digs at the front, but nothing has stuck.

It's a beautiful day out there, with the pelotin coursing through beautiful Swiss farmland. We might see Heidi out here at some point.

the population of the small town has turned out to cheer the peloton as it courses through town.

We have 18 riders off the front. They are about 10 seconds up the road on the little descent at the 23km mark.

The top rider in the bunch is High Road's Thomas Lovkvist (5th on GC), so the race leader's team isn't going to chase.

have about 25 seconds at 26km.

In the break, we have Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne), Murilo Fisher (Liquigas), Pietro Caucchioli (Liquigas), Lief Hoste (Silence Lotto), Vim Vansevenat (Silence-Lotto), Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), Paolo Tiralongo (Lampre), Gert Steegmans), Gregory Rast (Astana), Thomas Dekker (Rabobank), Bram Tankink (Rabobank), Philippe Gilbert (FDJ), Stuart O'Grady (CSC), Stephan Schreck (Gerolsteiner), Thomas Lokvist (High Road-Columbia), Darren Lill (BMC) and Andre Korff (Volksbank)

With the highest GC threat in the group a member of the race leader's team and most other squad's represented, these guys might be able to pull it off... at least for a while.

the original HTFU rider, Stuart O'Grady, is riding away from the rest of the group. He has 12 seconds on the rest of the group and the peloton is another 34 seconds behind at the 30km mark.

Do you really want to spend the day on your own, Stuey?

and most of the break are back in the field.

Right now, we have four riders off the front at the 35km mark. Liquigas's Roman Kreuziger (2nd on GC) is in there, so we can expect a big chase.

Also in the little group are, Johan Van Summeren (Silence-Lotto), Sebastien Rosseller (Quick Step) and Ronny Scholz of Gerolsteiner.

Gerard writes in to say

Hey Live Update guys,
Just want to say first off, great coverage as usual. Keeps my mind active while at work j/k. I was wondering what happened with the situation about Ivan Basso. I knew a few teams were making a big stink when he signed that contract to race in 2009, I was just wondering if that issue was ever resolved?

You're right. Basso's deal with Liquigas did raise a stink, but as far as we know, there hasn't been any change in the situation.

have about a minute-and-a-half on the field. With Kreuziger up there, we can imagine that the High Road crew will be ramping it up.

The Kreuziger group has 2:25 on the field at 39km.

is being dropped by the other three in the escape on the long descent. They have reason to drop him.

The three leaders have 3:04 on the main field, but we don't have a gap on Kreuziger.

still have a gap on Kreuziger, although we don't have a current time check. They are 3:13 ahead of the main field, with Kreuziger somewhere in between.

is drifting back to the peloton. It has to be considered to be a favor to the other three up front. With him in the break, its chances would have been doomed. High Road would have chased, but so, too, would Anton's Euskaltel team, Devolder's Quick Step squad and Kloden's Astana boys.

Without a big GC threat, these three might get some time on the field. Indeed, at 55km, they now have 3:25 on the peloton.

the leaders are now 3:47 ahead of the main field, which now includes Kreuziger.

is nearing the 65km mark. The peloton is 3:21 behind the break.

have bumped their advantage to more than four minutes at the 68km mark.

Are at 70km, and have an advantage of 4:23.

the leaders are now 4:46 ahead of the peloton... nope, check that. The latest split puts them at 5:00.

the three leaders are holding a 5:15 advantage over the peloton.

I know I've said it before, but it is one beautiful day out here today. There are high puffy clouds, but the sun is bright and the area is beautiful.

is at the 96.5km mark at the edge of the village of Bellmund. The leaders will be there soon. The peloton is about 4:50 back, so lunch will be coming up for them soon, too.

the leaders are in the feedzone and grabbing a bit of a mid-day gnosh.

are nearing the start of the day's finishing circuit. The race will take three trips around a 26.9km circuit today. As we said, that includes three trips up-and-over the Cat. 4 Lobsigen climb.

They have 4:38 on the peloton.

the peloton is now in Bellmund and heading into the feedzone.

is dropping a bit. The leaders are at 104km and are 4:29 ahead of the field.

are approaching the base of the Cat. 4 Lobigen climb. It will be the first of three trips.

As a reminder, our escapees are Johan Van Summeren (Silence-Lotto), Sebastien Rosseller (Quick Step) and Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner). They have an advantage of 5:37, suggesting that there was a lull in the chase as the peloton loaded up for lunch.

Alexandra writes to ask:

Dear Live Update Guys,
This may be a silly question, but has UEFA Euro 2008 tournament affected the Tour de Suisse in any way?

Not a dumb question at all Alexandra. We have seen cycling fans on the side of the road, switching their TV coverage back-and-forth between coverage when there is a conflict. It's a wealth of sporting events. We've seen that before. Remember the 1998 Tour? France was already on a big high because of the World Cup (won by team bleu), but then - for other reasons - the Tour took center stage.

the leading three are over the top. It should be about 5:00 before the peloton reaches the summit.

the road drops for 8km and hits the finish line on Bielstrasse in Lyss. Riders will get two trips down that route before it counts, so they'll get a feel for what the finish is like today.

the leaders are in Lyss and now have two laps of this 26.9 circuit.

is down to 3:50. We can expect to see the teams of potential stage winners to ramp it up over the closing 50km today.

the pace has picked up int he main field and the gap has been trimmed to 2:38.

remaining in today's stage our three leaders are 2:30 ahead of the field

Scholz has just flatted.

Scholz gets a quick wheel change but he has trouble with the bike. This time he changes the whole rig. He's now chasing and about to reconnect with his companions. They are 44km from the finish and the gap is still 2:30.

and Rabobank are sharing the duties at the front of the field. The chase is seriously underway.

the gap has been trimmed by 30 seconds over the course of three kilometers. The leaders are now just 2:00 ahead of the main field. The pace is high back there.

to go, our leaders are 2:05 ahead of the peloton. The three up front know what's behind them.

We see a lot of the sprinters moving up to the front. With two trips over the climb remaining, they want to stay close to the head of the field. There are plenty of good sprinters in the bunch. We've just spotted Robbie McEwen, spokesman for the Swiss tourism agency, working his way up there.

The climb is not so serious as to shed the fast twitch crowd. We might see a lot of these guys at the finish.

to go, the three leaders are 2:10 ahead of the peloton, still led by High Road, Rabobank and Astana.

With 35km remaining, the gap has dropped again. The peloton has crested the climb for the second time. While the KOM has passed, there is a little bump ahead before the descent.

It's still Astana, High Road and Rabobank up front. At 34km to go, the gap is now 1:45.

to go, the gap is 1:42. The leaders will be hitting the finish line soon, hearing the bell for one lap to go.

are not giving up. They are working a near perfect pace line, but they are slowly losing time. With 30km to go, the gap is 1:29.

the bulk of the work is still being handled by Rabobank, High Road and Astana.

the leaders are through the finish area. They have 27km to go and the gap is 1:28

comes through the finish line at 1:07

the gap is now 1:03.

the gap is down to 55 seconds.

the gap is 48 seconds.

glance over the shoulder. Van Summeren is sensing the inevitable.

is now 40 seconds behind the three leaders. There are 20km remaining.

Rabobank is leading the chase, with the help of Astana and High Road. Each team has about two or three riders up there with race leader Kim Kirchen tucked in around the eighth or ninth spot.

to go and the gap is down to 10 seconds... and heeeeeere comes the catch.

the peloton is keeping the pace high as they all head to the last trip up the climb. That should begin in about five km. We'll see if any team can keep the pressure high enough to drop some of the sprinters.

is still setting tempo at the front. Freire is staying close, sitting in about fourth position.

McEwen is close to the front. He is looking to win his third stage in this edition of the Swiss tour.

the pace remains high as the Rabobank team drives the peloton into the climb. These guys are bound to pop soon.

and Rabobank has peeled off. We now see Credit Agricole at the front.

team has sent riders up front to push the pace on the climb. It look like McEwen is up there. He has to be considered a favorite if he stays with the peloton over the hill.

10km to go.

Aside from a couple of riders who scampered off the front, the peloton has crested the climb intact. 9km to go... and then a big sprint.

We see Lief Hoste off the front. Fabian Cancellara is chasing with Markus Fothen on his wheel 10 seconds back.

to go, Hoste, Fothen and Cancellara are together and have 10 seconds on the field, led by High Road.

Up front and they are hitting that little hump before the descent.

Philippe Gilbert has jumped out of the field and here is Kirchen.

Hoste looks to have been dropped.

is charging out of the break. He's the world TT champ and with 5km to go he's flying to the finish.

Cancellara is now 4km from the finish. The peloton has pulled in the rest of the break... and they get Gilbert, too.

Cancellara is 3km from the finish and driving hard. We don't see much organization in the peloton.

is chasing at the front of the field. Cancellara is 2km from the finish and he's 8 seconds ahead of the field.

He's heading into the final kilometer.

he has five seconds.

to go Cancellara is on his way

wins it with a gap of about three seconds on the hard-charging peloton, with Zabel leading in the bunch.

Cancellara wins by 20 meters. Looking back at the chase, there was a moment when Cancellara's teammate worked his way into the chase and allowed a little gap to develop... that split disrupted the chase and it took a few hundred meters to reorganize things. It was a subtle, but quite effective move.

Cancellara showed why he's a two-time world TT champion. That was a brilliant effort.

Kim Kirchen didn't lose any time today. He also didn't gain any, despite that effort he made to join the break.

speaking to the press, says that it was a "tough, tough final kilometer."

"I thought I would give (the attack) a try, and once I committed I gave it my best."

"I was alone out there, but the team really did its part to help me hold the gap."

that's a wrap. Be sure to check in with us tomorrow for a 25km individual time trial from Altdorf, up the Klausenpass, a 1500 meter climb that will test the climbers and let us see if Kim Kirchen can defend his lead in this race.