Tour de France 2011

Fantastic Netherlands Archive set on Flickr

Renners worden bevoorraad / Cyclists being provisioned,
originally uploaded by Nationaal Archief.

The National Archive of the Netherlands has posted 28 images of past Tours de France.

There's inaugural winner Maurice Garin, Eddy Merckx with Joop Zoetemelk in 1973, Anquetil in '63, a podium girl with winner, circa 1928, and 20-something more.

These are just 10 kinds of awesome. Take some time, and browse through them slowly.

The Tour in high resolution

The Big Picture - Boston.com | 2008 Tour de France

When I worked for CNN.com, we had an AP photo feed, which had a web interface into its OS/2 heart.

I used to love to browse the feed during cycling season, because it offered full-resolution versions of the photos you (rarely) see in your local newspaper. The Big Picture is a new weblog that gives web viewers a look at these images in medium resolution, but still much larger than you typically get on the web or in your daily fishwrap.

The Tour is their featured topic for Monday, with images ranging from Didi Senft to Riccardo Ricco to the rainy Stage 8 final sprint. Definitely worth a look.

ESPN offers excellent Tour slideshow

ESPN.com | ZOOM Gallery - 94th Tour de France

ESPN.com has an awesome, full-screen slideshow of some of their best photos from the 2007 Tour. I don't think the captions were written by cycling fans, though - one of the featured photos shows Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans' “stage-ending duel.”

Stage 20 photo galleries

Merckx w/Armstrong, Bennati, final podium

GrahamWatson.com | Tour de France Stage 20 photo gallery

Soler, Evans, final jerseys

CyclingNews.com | Stage 20 photo gallery

Graham Watson exhibiting in London

County Hall Gallery | Eyes on the Tour de France

Graham Watson is the creator of many of the iconic images of the Tour during the last 25 years. His photography often transcends the competition of the Tour, bringing in the landscape and the surroundings that make the Tour such a great race.

With the Tour coming to his hometown, Watson has a showing in London, at the County Hall Gallery just 50 yards from the London Eye. The exhibit runs through July 9th, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closing at 5 on July 5th) and is FREE.

More than 200 of Watson's best Tour photos are on exhibit, with many available for purchase. If you plan on visiting London for the Prologue, don't miss this exhibit.

Simoni takes stage win, Di Luca holds jersey at Giro

Yahoo! eurosport | Simoni conquers the Zoncolan

Saunier Duval's Gilberto Simoni dominated the last mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia, but couldn't kill the Killer.

Simoni, who won atop Monte Zoncolan in 2003, repeated the success, finishing with teammate Leonardo Piepoli 7 seconds ahead of CSC's Andy Schleck. Race leader Danilo (Killer) Di Luca, dropped 6 kilometers from the finish, scratched his way to the line 31 seconds behind Simoni in 4th, leaving him a healthy 2:24 gap in the overall standings to Schleck in 2nd and 2:28 to Simoni in 3rd.

It was the first race up the climb's difficult western side, but Di Luca didn't crack, and it looks like the Saturday time trial will be decisive. It's unlikely but possible that Di Luca could lose 2:24 to Andy Schleck in a TT, but Simoni's grip on 3rd looks especially tenuous. And who is nipping at Simoni's heels? Former teammate and archrival Damiano Cunego, who sits 1:01 behind Simoni's final podium spot.

CSC's David Zabriskie, who was 5th in the 2004 TT world championships (run on Saturday's course), told CyclingNews:

“You know, I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence. I'm just a big hairy American winnin' machine.”

More seriously, Zabriskie said he's been working for Schleck, but hopes to do well in Saturday's TT. He was 4th in Stage 13's uphill time trial.

Also:

CyclingNews.com | Giro Stage 17 - Simoni: King of Zoncolan | Stage 17 photos

GrahamWatson.com | Giro d'Italia Stage 17 Photo Gallery

California Stage 2 photo galleries

GrahamWatson.com | Tour of California Stage 2 photo gallery

CyclingNews.com | Tour of California Stage 2 photo gallery

PezCyclingNews | JJ Stomps to #3: Photo essay

Scott Lee's Sacramento gallery

Flickr'ing the ToC prologue

So far, there are two sets of photos worth checking out at Flickr on today's Tour of California prologue: Leslie Veen's and David Schloss's.

My faves:

Paolo Bettini warms up, by Leslie Veen

and

CSC climb the hill, by David Schloss

Also:

Basso up close and personal

The Specialized Angel

Ken Conley checks in, with my favorites, I think, being this shot of Leipheimer passing a shreiking bright banner. and this one of Stuart O'Grady, suffering up Telegraph Hill.

Update Monday a.m.:

Graham Watson's prologue gallery

Casey Gibson checks in at VeloNews, and I would say he's got one shot where he outdoes the master.

CyclingNews.com | Prologue photo gallery

The Paceline (free subscription req.) | Three Sets of CA Prologue Pics

More from Flickr: Great shot of Hincapie showing the colors by 1115; Saul Raisin working the crowd, by on2wheelz (who has dozens of good shots); and just look at all of Ken Conley's pics (warmup set/race set): I especially love Jason Donald with the big burrito, the Angel, and this shot of Chris Baldwin.

Update to the update: Competitor.com has a nice gallery up, as does ProCyclingPress, a site I've never seen before.

Photographing a bike race

Ken over at kwc.org wrote a terrific how-to on shooting bike races, and there's no arguing with results: He got some awesome shots from last year's Tour of California, and from the Sea Otter Classic. With the Tour of California underway, I thought I would expand on Ken's guide.

Ken nails down a lot of the technical questions you've got to address, many of which are similar to any high-speed sports shooting: Use the fastest glass (lens with a low numerical f-stop) you can afford, use manual focus when the camera's autofocus can't keep up, and mind your depth of field.

I've also been trying to figure this out. The pictures I got at the 2005 Tour de Georgia were, as a group, a big disappointment. At that point, I was using two point-and-shoots, a Casio Exilim EX-Z30 and a Nikon Coolpix 880. The worst thing of all was the shutter lag. I got into what I thought were great positions for a lot of shots, but I only got a handful of good shots, and plenty like this.

That was enough to drive me into the arms of the Nikon D70 (since replaced by the Nikon D80, and very similar to the less expensive Nikon D40). The DSLR has made a huge difference in the technical quality of my photos, and I know, given more money, what I can do to improve that quality even more. A big advantage of the digital SLRs over most of the point-and-shoots is their ability to shoot continuously at 2, 3 or up to 8 shots per second. If you're using this mode, keep in mind that you'll get faster repeats if you're using “JPEG Fine” than if you're shooting in RAW mode, since the camera can write the smaller JPEG files faster. If you're stuck using a point and shoot, try to shoot pictures of the riders before and after the race, or shoot to limit the speed of the action (from in front of the field instead of beside, for instance).

Beside the technical consideration, there are a lot of logistical issues to consider about shooting a bike race.

For instance, there's only one point in the whole length of a bike race where you're guaranteed to get a good picture that tells a story, and that's the finish line. The quintessential cycling shot awaits, of the triumphant rider, arms raised, with a buzzing, colorful peloton just behind. The downside: dozens of other people will get that same shot, including pros set up with tripods just past the finish line. You, on the other hand, will probably have to hand-hold or use a monopod in the heavy crowds around the finish. Pedco's UltraPod is another option, providing a Velcro strap that can be cinched around crowd barriers or street signs to provide a steady mount.

So it's key to think about where you want to set up. One thing that's awesome about bike racing is the accessibility of riders. Rider warmups before time trial stages are typically wide open to the public, with riders set up next to the team RV, and riders will often work an autograph line on the way to or from the rider sign-in before each day's stage. After the stage, the day's winners and the race overall leaders have to hang around for the award presentation, and you can frequently shoot portraits and shots of riders with the fans. Typically, organizers will set up a cordoned-off area for the pros at the actual presentation, but with a 200mm zoom you usually can shoot the podium from outside the velvet rope.

Time trials are fabulous, since each rider will come by in turn. One tip I've used a couple of times: Riders start out from an elevated start house, ride down a ramp into a fenced-off chute, then usually turn as they exit the fenced-off area. It's often hard to get a good spot around the starthouse and storm fencing, but usually a lot more open as the riders exit the chute. That's where I got this shot of Lance Armstrong at the 2005 Tour de Georgia (still with the point-and-shoot). You'll have a couple of hours of riders coming through every 2 minutes or so, which gives you a great chance to get your settings dialed in. Since the race is on public roads, you can usually get there early, with a load of gear, and set up a tripod and a cooler. It can become almost mechanical, but there are still surprises. At the 2006 Tour de Georgia time trial over Lookout Mountain, I got a good spot on one of the day's toughest hills, and was set up on the left side of the road as riders came through. For some reason, though, the strongest riders -- Zabriskie, Danielson, and Landis -- were among a small minority of riders riding in the center or right-hand side of the road, so my shots of those three key riders were neither as tight nor as sharp as of riders before and after them.

Frequently, road races finish with a loop around a downtown area, so you get multiple cracks at the action. Corners are nice, since the riders are leaned over and you can get a lot of different angles by positioning yourself inside or outside the corner.

A stage takes as much as 6 or 7 hours to ride, so you can often get more than one look at the riders, bumping up your chance of catching an important breakaway, an interesting backdrop, or a great fan shot. Make sure you've got maps of the area, and plan out how you will get from shooting location A to shooting location B. Generally, stage races provide a “race log” that estimates when the riders will reach each intersection at different average speeds. These also help you estimate what's going on in the peloton: If they come in behind schedule, the group is taking it easy. On the other hand, you can easily find your way from Point A to Point B blocked by a breakaway that closes the road, keeping you from making a planned rendezvous with the riders.

If you find yourself chasing the racing on a regular basis, you might consider a portable radio scanner. With one, you can listen in to race radio as race organizers track breakaway riders, road closures, and unexpected problems.

I've only gone to one mountaintop finish, when Floyd Landis shadowed Tom Danielson to the top of Brasstown Bald last year. My wife and I went to the top with hours to spare, picked out a spot right along the course, and by the time the leaders showed up, the crowd was so thick that I couldn't get a shot of the showdown, and had to settle for action shots of lower-placed riders and the leaders at the presentation. And keep your eyes and ears open: That woman with the umbrellas and the shawl could be your race leader's mother.

A bike race is a great opportunity to try out a new lens (or body). In most cities, there are companies that rent out pro-level photography equipment by the day, week, or month. Day rates typically range from 2 to 5 percent of the purchase price, or $10-$100 per day, with discounts for weekly or monthly rental typically available. Here in Atlanta, for instance, we've got Professional Photo Resources. The reason the pros use multiple bodies is to keep from having to change lenses under fire; they can have a supertelezoom on one body and a wide angle on another.

The cool kids at Flickr say “closer is better”, preferring stuff like this and this, but follow your bliss. I like this shot from last year's Stage 6 better than its tack-sharp equivalent, and this pedestrian peloton shot because it may be the last time I ever see Floyd Landis race competitively.

Other resources:

Flickr bicycle racing group | Sports action group

SportsShooter website

Graham Watson to kick off Boulder photo exhibit with visit next week

VeloNews | Graham Watson to Visit Boulder for Exhibit Opening

Cycling's best-known photographer, Graham Watson, will kick off an exhibit of his work in Boulder, Colorado next week.

Watson, who has been photographing the Tour de France for almost 30 years, will sign books and posters at Boulder Cycle Sport Thursday, Feb. 15th from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., in advance of the exhibit opening next door at Amante Coffee at 7:30.

The exhibit will run for three weeks, through March 9th, and feature more than 30 of Watson's best photos of European road racing.

The event is free and open to the public.

Taking the DeLorean back to 1998

Peleton 3,
originally uploaded by conibonjovi.

Somebody posted photos from the Tour's 1998 visit to Ireland today. That was, of course, the Tour made infamous by the Festina affair, and eventually won by Marco Pantani.

I see a few recognizable faces here, and in shots of the body of the peloton here and here. It would be very cool if you could tag the photo with notes of riders you recognize.

Also, does anyone know which stage this is? I think that's Chris Boardman in yellow, which means it's Stage 1 or the beginning of Stage 2, when he crashed out. The pictures are marked as “March 2004”, which is obviously wrong.

Some help: the 1998 review from letour.fr, including team rosters.

I promise no more games like this once there's some actual racing...

Minneapolis hosts Tour photo exhibit

If you're in Minneapolis, near Minneapolis, or visiting Minneapolis between now and February, do yourself a favor and visit the One on One Bicycle Studio for Caroline Yang's “Jaune+Rouge,” an exhibit of her 2006 Tour de France photos. Yang does a great job; here are a few of my favorite '06 Tour shots that she captured:

The exhibit runs from this Saturday, December 9th, through February 17th, 2007. Be there.

Classic Tours slideshow now in English

Magnum Photos | Tour de France

I linked this awesome slideshow back before the Tour started, but the version I found was in Danish. Here's the version in English, still narrated by Danish filmmaker and Tour commentator Jørgen Leth.

It's photos from the Magnum photo library of Tours from the '30s through about 1990.

A nice respite from the doping news.

Stage 19 ITT photo galleries

Honchar strikes, Cunego surprises, Pereiro survives, Landis speaks, from Stage 19 photo gallery, by Caroline Yang.

Ekimov rocks the TT, Klöden claws back to the podium, and Landis is back in yellow, from Stage 19 photo gallery by Graham Watson.

Also:

CyclingNews.com | Stage 19 photo gallery

Crazy Jane, back with a vengeance

George Hincapie, All Hopped-Up on Charm Enhancers in Le Creusot,
originally uploaded by crazyjaneski.

Some of the most literate and passionate weblogging on the Tour has come from “Crazy Jane,” who often contributes to Daily Peloton's Tour coverage (anywhere you see “Updated and Delicieux”), and whose weblog, Le Tour Delicieux, remains in my blogroll, despite being silent for two years (2! years!), in the hope that she'll turn her considerable talents back to the Tour. She's also (along with Velogal and Marianne's Twenty-One Stages, others?) one of the few women writing about the Tour.

Jane is in Paris for the Tour finale, and has posted a number of terrific pictures of riders before yesterday's La Creusot TT, including Hincapie (above), Viatcheslav Ekimov, Gilberto Simoni, Thomas Voeckler, Jens Voigt, Chris Horner, Axel Merckx (times two), Vladimir Karpets, Stefano Garzelli, Stuart O'Grady, and Didi “Tour devil” Senft, plus some fan shots.

Stage 17 photo galleries

Landis, Sastre, Cunego, by Caroline Yang.

See ya, more water, and Sastre, by Graham Watson.

Also:

BBC Sport | Stage 17 photo gallery

CyclingNews.com | Stage 17 photo gallery

BikeZen.com | Stage 17 photo gallery

“Tour Fever” photoset

Free Internet and Phone in the Ville Depart,
originally uploaded by tourfeverlife.

There's a great photoset from last year's Tour on Flickr. It was posted to support a new book, J.P. Partland's Tour Fever, about the Tour.

The photoset is “A Day on the Tour,” and features pictures of riders, fans, and the caravan.

At left, Michael Albasini stands by the internet kiosk, while Jose Enrique Gutierrez is the Phonak rider with his back to the camera, and big Magnus Backstedt looks toward the camera at right center.

There's also a website and a MySpace weblog to support the book.

Stage 13 photo gallery roundup

Voigt on the podium, by Caroline Yang.

Lavender+bikes+sunflowers=perfect Tour shot? , Backstedt fights the heat, and Voigt leads Pereiro over line, by Graham Watson.

Hincapie at rest, McEwen and Landis chat, Pereiro's big day from CyclingNews.com Stage 13 photo gallery.

The winning break, Voigt victorious, Pereiro in amarillo, by Mark Shimahara at BikeZen.

Also:

BBC Sport | Tour de France 2006 Stage 13 photo gallery

Stage 7 photo galleries

Zabriskie, Honchar, Tour Devil Didi Senft, by Caroline Yang.

Graham Watson actually came up behind Landis and caught him during the bike change here; here's Watson's full TT gallery.

BikeZen's Mark Shimahara's TT gallery.

CyclingNews.com TT photo gallery.

BBC Sport Stage 7 photo gallery.

Prologue photo roundup

There's a wealth of great photos available from the prologue.

I thought the quality of shots on Flickr had taken a quantum leap forward, but it turns out some joker just uploaded Graham Watson's pictures to his own account. Still, Francois Schnell has a nice group of Tour snaps from yesterday; I love the composition of this one.

Speaking of Watson:

(l-r) Leipheimer, Landis, Hincapie from GrahamWatson.com prologue gallery.

Also, Apple offers a nice profile of Graham Watson, who touts the company's Aperture workflow software.

Sammarye's recommendations were spot on:

Mark Shimahara at BikeZen:

(l-r) Moreau, Valverde, Hushovd, one for the ladies from BikeZen's Prologue Gallery.

The revelation of the Tour for me so far is Caroline Yang. Here's the entry page for her prologue pictures, and she also shot the Tour in 2005 and in 2004.

And, of course, CyclingNews.com has the most extensive Prologue photo gallery. Looking for Sebastian Joly, Marzio Bruseghin, and Magnus Backstedt:

(l-r) Joly, Bruseghin, and Backstedt from cyclingnews.com Prologue photo gallery.

Also, the saddest car in Strasbourg.

Photos from Tours gone by

There's an absolutely gorgeous slideshow of Tour images from the '30s to about 1990 available here. It's a collection of mostly black-and-white images from the Magnum photo gallery. There are a few shots of racers, but more of the fans, announcers, and setting of the race.

I can't make out head or tail of the commentary, but it appears to be provided by Danish director and Tour commentator Jorgen Leth.

I'm pleased and very honored that TdFblog gets a link at the end.

Coincidentally, the Magnum in Motion podcast series (RSS/XML subscription link | direct movie link) is currently featuring a similar presentation by Larry Towell on Mennonites, which may be of interest if you would like to learn more about the culture in which Floyd Landis grew up.

Images from Strasbourg

Velogal's Cycling Race Blog

Sammarye “Velogal” Lewis is stuck stateside for the Tour this year, but she's got pictures so fresh they smell funny up at her weblog.

They're by Mark Shimahara, whose BikeZen site will be featuring his pictures from the Tour this year. She's also linked to CarolineYang.com, where we can expect Tour pics.

Landis has lost quite a few kgs since the Tour de Georgia; he looks as thin as I can remember seeing him.

Flickr'ing the Giro

The Rose Jersey,
originally uploaded by Sergio Maistrello.

I had hoped this year's Giro would be heavily posted on Flickr, but so far, it's been pretty disappointing. Finally, today, Sergio Maistrello posted 18 photos from the start in Pordenone.

There are a few from yesterday's stage, too -- I'm partial to this shot (which two minutes later got a few more cameras), and AllessioAllessio's set from Livorno.

Frescafresca,
originally uploaded by kreeno.

Also, this one shot by Giovanni Lentini.

Here's a composite from the prologue that's a nice idea, and a great panning shot of Bobby Julich (at right) in the ITT.

So is there any other shared gold out there on the other photo sharing sites? Feel free to link good Giro photography in the comments. Here are Flickr collections for Giro d'Italia and Giro.

Armstrong loses race up l'Alpe d'Huez: See Graham Watson photos

Triple Crankset | Elementary My Dear Watson, Elementary

Armstrong gaps the field,
Graham Watson

Cycling photographer Graham Watson was AWOL from stage 6 through 8 of the Giro d'Italia last week. It's not unusual for him to shoot partial coverage of a longer stage race during the early season, when a spring classic might overlap with a stage or two, but it's pretty unusual in a Grand Tour.

Turns out, Watson was shooting a rolling birthday party on l'Alpe d'Huez, featuring 7-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong and honoring Livestrong Foundation board member and Austin venture capitalist Joe Aragona.

Watson's photo gallery is here: it's fascinating to see the mountain covered in spring flowers instead of screaming fans. If you've ever wondered what Jim Ochowicz rides, you may be surprised: He's on a Team Phonak BMC, while Aragona is on a Specialized, probably hoping to meet the Angel at the mountaintop.

Giro TTT photo galleries from around the web

Graham Watson:

(l-r) Disco slowdown, T-Mo gogo, Honchar trades magenta for pink

(Click through to GrahamWatson.com for full-size images)

cyclingnews.com:

Armstrong hitchin' a ride; Basso, CSC on the top step

Click through to cyclingnews.com for full-size images)

AP/ESPN:

New pink jersey leading T-Mobile, old pink jersey w/Gerolsteiner squad.

Click for AP cycling photo wire. Unlike the others, this will be current when you click through.

Giro Stage 2 photo galleries

Aaron Olson w/Simoni, Missaglia, McEwen outfoxes Petacchi

Click through to GrahamWatson.com

Savoldelli, McEwen (click through to CyclingNews.com)

Giro Stage 1 photo galleries posted

Graham Watson:

(l-r) Simoni, Cunego, Basso, Savoldelli

(Click through to GrahamWatson.com for full-size images)

cyclingnews.com:

José Enrique Gutierrez, Danilo Di Luca

Click through to cyclingnews.com for full-size images)

AP/ESPN:

Ullrich looks big.

Click for AP cycling photo wire. Unlike the others, this will be current when you click through.

How I spent my Wednesday

Popovych works the crowd
Frank Steele/tdgblog.com

Flickr.com | Tour de Georgia 2006 Stage 2

My father and I spent the day chasing the racing, and caught up with the peloton 3 (almost 4) times. We missed the race finish, but caught Popovych at the bottom of the Rome finishing straight, and made our way up to the finish line to see the race interviews and presentations.

Alejandro Acton deservedly took the “most aggressive rider” jersey, and came right by us, when I got this shot. Look how totally wiped he was after that breakaway; he put everything into his nearly 100-mile escape effort.

I got three portraits I was especially happy with: Ekimov with “certified badass” shades, Landis goofing with the crowd, and Juan José Haedo at the post-race ceremonies.

Cross-posted from TdGblog.com, where I find out “will the Specialized Angel be in Georgia?” and link to other Tour de Georgia content from around the web.

Lepheimer sits in at Copperopolis

Google Groups - rec.bicycles.racing | Saw Levi Leipheimer yesterday

Leipheimer @ Copperopolis
Dan Merrick/SmugMug

Dan Merrick posted some photos of Levi Leipheimer, whose next scheduled race (according to LeviLeipheimer.net) is the Tour de France. I think he may throw another race in there somewhere.

He's in the US training now, and Merrick caught him at the Copperopolis Road Race on Saturday, the “Paris-Roubaix of Northern California.”

The pro photographing the race caught Leipheimer, as well.

The rec.bicycles.racing thread the pics spawned is actually worth reading, to boot.

Amstel Gold photo galleries

GrahamWatson.com | Amstel Gold Race

Wesemann, Bettini, Schleck
Graham Watson

Also:

cyclingnews.com | 41st Amstel Gold Race photo gallery

Graham Watson Milan-San Remo photo gallery

GrahamWatson.com | Milan-San Remo

Pozzato in a late break; Boonen celebrates Pippo's placing
Graham Watson

If you check out the left-hand image above at GrahamWatson.com (just click through), you can see that Sanchez at right isn't too happy with Pozzato disrupting the break's rhythm.

Also:

cyclingnews.com | Milan-San Remo photo gallery

BBC Stage 10 photo gallery

BBC SPORT | Tour de France stage 10 photos

Those damn Cutters: photo from BBC Sport

Armstrong and Bruyneel, July 1996

Bruyneel tails Armstrong, July 1996; photo by Christy Steele

I'm scanning in a bunch of photos from the 1996 Olympic road race, with an eye toward posting them on Monday for the rest day.

I couldn't resist posting this one tonight, even though it got pretty blurry when I blew it up to a useful size.

In front, Lance Armstrong, 2.5 months from learning he has testicular cancer, is trying to break free of the first pro peloton in the Olympics, but his every move was covered. Here, the man shadowing Armstrong is Belgium's Johan Bruyneel, who would help convince Armstrong he could win the Tour de France, and serve as directeur sportif for all six Tour wins so far.

Update: I've swapped out the first picture for a better shot my wife took.

Also:

1996 Olympic time trial gallery

2005 Tour de Georgia time trial gallery

Final fall photos

VeloNews.com | Casey Gibson Stage 7 photo gallery

Casey Gibson of VeloNews got a couple of good shots of that finish-line crash today. The first has Galvez down and Furlan just off the deck, and the second is 1-2 seconds later -- you can make out the riders who survived the unusual selection.

Graham Watson Stage 6 photo gallery

GrahamWatson.com | Tour de France Stage 6 Photo Gallery

Armstrong & Julich, Mengin's breakaway group, and Bernucci takes
the sprint from grahamwatson.com

Also:

ThePaceline.com (free registration required) | Graham Watson: Stage 6 Report

Watson reports that Bobby Julich and George Hincapie took a short at gapping the field. Watson thinks that may be the end of the idea, which Lance Armstrong discussed after the TTT, of making an effort to get Hincapie into the yellow jersey.

CyclingNews Stage 6 photo gallery

cyclingnews.com | Tour de France Stage 6 Photo Gallery

Landis awaits the stage start, Bernucci salutes,
and big fun in yellow from cyclingnews.com

Graham Watson Stage 5 gallery and comments

GrahamWatson.com | Tour de France Stage 5 Photo Gallery

Ex-Telekom mates Riis, Ullrich; most aggressive rider Flecha;
McEwen over Boonen in the sprint from grahamwatson.com

Watson had a front-row seat when Armstrong switched jerseys; turns out he wasn't wearing the yellow over his Discovery jersey -- he just has really convincing arm warmers.

Also:

ThePaceline.com (free registration required) | Graham Watson: Stage 5 Report

Watson also speculates that tomorrow's stage might see the first breakaway of the Tour for Jens Voigt, who spent more time in front than a sled dog last year. Voigt is a friend of Armstrong's, Friday's stage ends in Germany, and he's not much of a climber, so Discovery could afford to see him in the yellow jersey for a few days if he can make the break stick.

Stage 1 recaps coming in

BBC SPORT | American duo dominate Tour opener

Some other thoughts on Stage 1:
• I haven't heard OLN mention it, but Zabriskie rode for US Postal through last season, and the team apparently didn't make a big effort to keep him. VeloNews interviewed Bobby Julich in late February:
  

  The first thing was total disbelief ... that Postal Service wouldn't sign David Zabriskie. I was blown away and I had to ask (Riis), are you sure that he's available? Absolutely, 100 percent this is the guy you want because by far he is the top American talent under the age of 25.

  Update: VeloNews asked about the switch:

  Zabriskie, who switched to CSC after riding for U.S. Postal until last year, credited his former squad, saying his years there were "good" and that they "were development years that helped me progress as a rider. They gave me a start and a lot of experience."

  I heard Bob Roll say Zabriskie would wear the white jersey, but he was born in 1979, so he's a few months too old for that competition.

• Picture of the day:

  
  

  
  See ya: Armstrong reels in Ullrich
  from BBC Sport's Stage 1 photo gallery
• Jersey roundup: Zabriskie does hold yellow and green, there were no climbing points awarded, CSC leads Discovery in team rankings (by 4 seconds!), and Fabian Cancellara of Fassa Bortolo takes the white jersey. Your first lanterne rouge is Saunier Duval-Prodir's Leonardo Piepoli, who won't hold that distinction once we hit the mountains. Somehow, he finished 4:40 back of Zabriskie; the next slowest rider, Domina Vacanze's Rafael Nuritdinov, was at 3:50 on the day.
• Iban Mayo, whose form was considered something of a mystery, cleared everything up today, finishing 175th of 189. He's already 3:14 back of Zabriskie.

Also:

cyclingnews.com | Zabriskie surprises for stage win and maillot jaune

letour.fr | Stage 1 standings

To the double-truck web press, Batman!

NewsDesigner.com | Le Graphique de Lance

One of my year-round daily reads is Mark Friesen's NewsDesigner.com. Mark is a news designer with The Oregonian in Portland, which yesterday published a Tour round-up featuring the amazing infographic above.

Byron (of TexturaDesign, Clip-n-Seal, and the Blog Business Summit) IM'ed me this afternoon raving about this “illustrated wonder graphic” in his morning paper, so I checked in with Mark.

He has graciously arranged to make it available in all its glory: graphic and design by Michael Mode and Steve Cowden, text by Bonnie DeSimone and James Yu.

I initially got a “negative” effect when I opened the PDF in Safari or Preview, but opening it in Photoshop straightened it out, and Mark says he's never seen that issue in Acrobat. Now I just have to find somewhere that can print full-color 22" x 25".

cyclingnews.com Stage 9 photo gallery

Ullrich, Gonzalez on attack and taking the win from cyclingnews.com

cyclingnews.com TdS Stage 6 photo gallery

Ullrich's toolbox, two views of Horner from cyclingnews.com

cyclingnews.com TdS TT photo gallery

Rogers, McGee, Ullrich from cyclingnews.com

Dauphiné wrap-up photo gallery

Grenoble Cycling Pages - Home Page

Russell Standring has been shooting pictures at every stage of the Dauphiné, and has a nice mix of rider portraits and racing shots. He hasn't posted a page for today yet, but he's named his pages predictably, so I'm adding a link to the gallery he's likely to post sometime today. I've got direct links to some of my favorites, but there must be 150 or more total photos.

Prologue

Stage 1 (great portrait of Hincapie)

Stage 2 (Armstrong portrait, breakaway games)

Stage 3 (Rik Verbrugghe during the TT, Leipheimer in yellow

Stage 4 (Vinokourov drops Gomez)

Stage 5 (Landaluze on the Grimone)

Stage 6 (Klöden at the start, Botero takes the stage)

Stage 7 (coming soon)

GrahamWatson.com Dauphiné Stage 6 photo gallery

Botero's big break; Levi, Landis, Lance; Landaluze limits losses from GrahamWatson.com

Dauphiné Mont Ventoux photo galleries up

Armstrong suffering, Levi+Vino, Vino king of the hill from GrahamWatson.com

Armstrong chasing, Gomez the goat @ cyclingnews.com

Graham Watson TT galleries up, now offering more prints

Floyd “Obree” Landis, Botero, Leipheimer in yellow from GrahamWatson.com

I love Graham Watson's work, and have a variety of books, calendars, etc., in which it's featured. I had always wondered why, with the technology seemingly available for it, his website didn't offer on-demand prints.

He has always sold prints of insanely popular pictures, like the flag cowboy at last year's Tour. If, on the other hand, you're Fabian Cancellara's mom, and you want a picture of him in the yellow jersey after last year's prologue, you've been out of luck.

But no more. Now, the great one is offering custom prints of most (all?) the images in his daily race update. Prices range from $82 for an 8 x 12" print to $120 for 12 x 18".

Dauphiné Stage 2 photo galleries

Armstrong, Bessy, Dumoulin; more @ GrahamWatson.com

Armstrong with Crow, there goes the break from cyclingnews.com

Dauphiné prologue photo galleries

Armstrong, Lepheimer, Hincapie; more @ GrahamWatson.com

Backstedt (50th on the day) and Landis from cyclingnews.com

Giro Stage 20 photo galleries

More Stage 20 photos @ GrahamWatson.com

Petacchi and Bettini from cyclingnews.com

Stage 14 photo galleries

More Stage 14 photos @ GrahamWatson.com

Cunego & Bye, bye, Basso from cyclingnews.com