Cippo

Kristoff also needed a wheel from a teammate and is at the back of the peloton.

It's Gregory Rast. He seems to know his race is over.

A trek rider has stopped on the side of the cobbles, with a mechanical problem.

Björn Leukemans (Wanty - Groupe Gobert) is leading the peloton.

The peloton is flying on the early part of the cobbles.

Riders are trying to take the centre of the cobbles to avoid the mossy parts between the cobbles.

13:17:12 CEST The peloton is flying on the early part of the cobbles.

Several riders from the break have punctured, leaving just four riders up front.

The Forest is a 5-star sector, meaning it one of the hardest.

The sector is 2.4km long and dead straight. Today i it packed with fans, packed on one side of the cobbled road.

The metal tower of the Arenberg mine is the sign that the Forest is approaching.

Team Sky has taken control of the peloton. With all the big favourites tucked in behind them.

The Trek, Katusha and Belkin teams are also near the front as the speed rises in the peloton.

The Omega Pharma-QuickStep team is at the front of the peloton. While Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) continues to ride at the back.

Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) finished second in 2013, beaten by Fabian Cancellara in a sprint in the velodrome. He is looking to take revenge on that defeat. "I dream of a similar scenario to last year but this time finishing ahead of Fabian Cancellara," he said. "I should have done a track stand to avoid doing the sprint from the front. I’ve learned a lot from my error and I’ve taken advice from my teammate Theo Bos to give me a better chance. I’m 25, which is young for a race like this but I’ve already done it four times and I think I have enough experience to finally win it."

Démare spoke briefly before the race. "My goal is to gain experience and stay in contact as best I can with the strongest riders for as long as possible, people like Cancellara and Boonen. I’ll fight to stay in front for as long as I can." he said.

There is only 25km to go until the Forest of Arenberg.

120km remaining from 257km The peloton hits sector 22. The cobbles are very rough and covered in dry mud.

Demare gets back on to the peloton yet again. Now he needs to move up to the front.

The dry weather means there are hundreds of thousands of spectators along the race route. It also means the race throws up a dust storm as the riders and team cars blast past.

Demare seems to be having a tough day. He has been caught up in a crash at the rear of the peloton.

127km remaining from 257km It is time for sector 22 from Verchain-Maugré à Quérénaing. It has 3 stars.

Tom Boonen is also back at the front of the peloton.

Jimmy Engoulvent was the Europcar rider who swapped bikes. He is now back onto the peloton.

This morning at the start in Compiègne there were a lot of people gathering around the Trek Factory Racing team to catch a glimpse of top favourite Fabian Cancellara. The team's DS Dirk Demol looked back one more time at the late loss of Stijn Devolder from his team. "He was very downhearted when he left the team hotel on Friday. He did so much for it. During the day of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne he trained for seven hours, not just riding along the canal but full on training. You know he didn't even touch one single bit of chocolat since New Year's Day? He lived one hundred percent for it and was more ready than ever to do well in Flanders and Roubaix," Demol told Cyclingnews.