< < < 11/07/2006 - Tour de France, stage 9: Oscar Freire just ahead of Robbie Tomorrow, the Tour de France will be in the Pyrenees, however today's stage was perfectly flat, between Bordeaux and Dax, over 170 kilometres. Today's early attack came after 10 kilometres, when Christian Knees (Milram), Stéphane Augé (Cofidis) and Walter Beneteau (Bouygues) left the peloton behind them. After 60 kilometres, the gap had reached 8'. The peloton started it daily reaction, and the gap dwindled kilometre after kilometre, until the trio was caught. No other breakaway was possible, and the decision came after a pack sprint. The winner was Spain's Oscar Freire (Rabobank), short ahead of Robbie, who made a terrific effort in the mast kilometre. Third was Erik Zabel (Team Milram). Honchar (T-Mobile) remains in yellow, and Robbie has somewhat increased his lead at the points classification.