to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the first stage of the 2008 Tour de Suisse, a 146-kiloometer circuit around Langnau im Emmental, a small town in the Bern Canton in Switzerland.

features three trips around a large circuit and, as you can see, features several trips up the Schallenberg and the Chuderhusi, the last of each offering Category 2 KOM points. While this is a tough stage - not your usual prologue time trial on flat ground, for example - it's not the sort of stage that would solely favor the mountain goats in the peloton, with terrain that probably favors a strong all-arounder.

With about 85km remaining in today's stage, the current situation on the road is that we have three riders - David Loosli, Inigo Landaluze and Steve Zampieri - off the front on a break, holding a substantial lead, now bumping up to about 9:00.

While the Swiss Tour has often played second fiddle to the other big pre-Tour warm-up on the calendar, the Dauphine Libere in France, there are some pretty heavy hitters here for the race in the Swiss mountains. CSC has brought its two Tour fav's to this event, with both Frank and Andy Schleck lining up at the start this morning. That squad also includes Bobby Julich, sprinter JJ Haedo and the always-attacking Jens Voigt.

Lampre has built its Tour prep around Damiano Cunego, who opted to ride here as opposed to the Dauphine, too. Astana is here with Andreas Kloden, Rabobank is led by Thomas Dekker and the 160-rider field is full of other riders trying to make a mark here, in hopes of being selected for their respective Tour teams. For a complete start list, just click over to www.velonews.com/article/77569

This should be a good edition of the race which began in 1933.

time... the peloton has begun to nip away at the trio's lead. The three men off the front are now 8:12 ahead of the peloton, with about 72km remaining in today's stage.

The escapees have crested the Schallenberg for the first time today. Ahead, their second trip up the Chuderhusi awaits. The route will then take them over both climbs before a quick downhill run to the finish.

The escapees are all familiar names. David Loosli (Lampre), Steve Zampieri (Cofidis) and Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

Landaluze, you may recall, is one of the few riders who successfully fought off a positive doping test for testosterone by challenging his suspension tot he International Court of Arbitration for Sport a few years ago.

For you lawyers in the crowd, his case proved to be interesting, in that he successfully challenged his case by pointing out that the testing lab had violated its own procedures in conducting its test of his sample. That then placed the burden of proof on the "prosecution" in the case (the UCI) to show that the errors did not have an affect on the outcome of the test. Remarkably, aside from simply saying that the errors didn't matter, the UCI essentially dropped its side of the case and the Court ruled that Landaluze could not be suspended. A lot of you might recall that was the same issue in the Landis case, but there the hearing panel found that the additional evidence provided by USADA did meet the burden... but that case is pending at CAS. Interestingly, in what many (including the Live Update Guy) see as a response to the Landaluze case, WADA has since changed its rules and now leaves the burden of proof on the defendant, who now has to show both that an error occured and that the error was prejudicial. I guess that's what happens when you can both prosecute and legislate.

The peloton really isn't pulling back much time. The gap remains at 8:12 and someone may need to organize a chase or one of these three may have a shot at winning the stage today.

It could be that tomorrow's nearly 200km ride to the Category 1 mountain-top finish at Flumserberg has people hedging their bets.

If you have comments, questions or complaints, go ahead and hit the "Contact our Editors" link below the Live Update window and we'll try to answer your questions or concerns and we may even post a comment or two during today's coverage.

is nearing the top of the Schallenberg, while our three leaders are scooting down the descent. The last time check we received gives the leaders an advantage of 8:05.

The leading trio are now 50km from the finish. Their lead is still quite substantial, with the gap at 7:50.

The Quick Step and High Road teams are driving the chase at the front of the peloton. High Road has brought its young German sprinter Gerald Ciolek and appears to be motivated by that.

and the peloton are on the stretch of flats between Chuderhusi and the Schallenberg.

The sprinters' teams will have to ramp it up here, if they hope to reel in the break.

Tomorrow's stage is going to be a toughy, with a steep, 10-kilometer climb to the finish at the end of the 197-kilometer stage. Still, we see a lot of sprinters in the field, including Robbie McEwen and Oscar Freire. That may be because of stages 3 and 4, which are both relatively easy sprinters' stages.

is ramping up. The Quick Step and High Road teams are pushing the pace and the gap is now down to 6:40, with 45km to go.

will count for KOM points. While the Chuderhusi has been covered twice and the Schallenberg once, those have not offered KOM points, but each trip now will count for Cat. 2 points.

Meanwhile, the gap is now at 6:35.

We've received several notes from folks who noticed that when you hit the “View most recent updates at the top” option, it takes you to the final time trial of the Giro. We apologize for that, but will try to take care of that flaw as quickly as possible.

the three leaders are on the slopes of the Schallenberg, and are holding an advantage of 4:40 on the peloton.

The Tour de Suisse has been won three times by American riders. Andy Hampsten won in it in 1986 and 1987 and some guy named Armstrong in 2001.

Other notables include Eddy Merckx (1974) Sean Kelly (1983 and 1990), Phil Anderson (1985), Jan Ullrich (2004 and 2006).

Last year's winner, Vladimir Karpets is out with an injury he sustained at the Giro, by the way.

is coming down. With the High Road, Rabobank and Quick Step teams driving the chase the gap is now down to 3:30.

the leaders are now 30km from the finish. The peloton is coming in and the gap is at 3:20.

is pushing hard out of the peloton. He has made his move out of the peloton on the descent of the Schallenberg. A talent like Cancellara may have to be a favorite today, assuming our escapees are pulled in.

the gap is really coming down fast. The leaders are now 1:45 ahead of the peloton. Cancellara is in the peloton, after he really pushed the pace on the descent.

and the gap is now 1:35. David Loosli (Lampre), Steve Zampieri (Cofidis) und Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) may be caught as they work their way down the day's final climb

has fixed the bug we had today. Thanks for letting us know about that one, folks.

atop the Chuderhusi:

1. David Loosli (Lampre)

2. Steve Zampieri (Cofidis)

3. Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel).

the peloton has hit the day's second sprint mark, just 45 seconds behind our escapees. The chase is on. We're likely to see a catch. 11km to go.

the gap is holding as the three escapees race to the finish. 50 seconds, 8km to go.

and the Milram and Silence teams are chasing. We see Zabel and McEwen working their way into position.

to go, the gap is down to 30 seconds. Did the sprinters wait too long? We're still betting on a catch.

to go and the gap is down to 20 seconds. Cancellara is in a good position, too.

and the unity in the lead group is beginning to fracture.

The three escapees have been swept up by the hard-charging peloton. It's time for a field sprint. We're int he final kilometer now. CHARGE!!!!!!!

with all the sprinters' teams fighting it out and... it looks like Milram is ramping it up....

.... but no! Oscar Freire (Rabobank) charges across the line. Nice sprint!

1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank

2. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Ag2r

3 . Kim Kirchen(G), High Road

Heartbreaker that it must be for the guys in the break, at least one of them gets something in return for the effort. It looks like David Loosli, having captured bonus time along the way, is second on GC. Freire, however, is donning the leaders' jersey as we "speak."

We'll be back tomorrow, but check back soon on VeloNews.com. It's a busy day with our crews in Switzerland for this race, at the Dauphine in France, at the Tour de Beuace in Canada and the Nature Valley GP back in the U.S.

Take care and we'll see you tomorrow.