Tour de France 2011

Stage 2: Cavendish strikes first for green

Mark Cavendish delivered the goods Sunday, easily outsprinting the field in Brignoles.

Cavendish won four stages in last year's Tour, but didn't win the overall green jersey because he dropped out to concentrate on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. That didn't work out so well. Cavendish has said his goals for the Tour are just to win a stage and make it to Paris, but wearing the green jersey tonight, he's got to be thinking bigger.

The victory was Cav's 15th this season, and continues the Columbia team's amazing run -- they won 6 stages of the Tour de Suisse (with 5 different riders) in June.

Garmin-Slipstream's Tyler Farrar played the sprint just right, finding and holding Cavendish's wheel, but just couldn't find the terminal velocity to stay with the Manx Express. Romain Feillu was 3rd, Thor Hushovd 4th, and Bbox's Yukiya Arashiro, one of two Japanese riders making the start this year, was 5th.

No sign of Tom Boonen, who may have been caught by a crash in the final kilometer, and was 174th on the stage.

For much of the day, four riders: Jussi Veikkanen of FdJeux; Stef Clement of Rabobank; Stéphane Auge of Cofidis; and Cyril Dessel of AG2R, rode alone, and Veikkanen collected enough King of the Mountain points to take over the lead in that competition. That makes him the first Finn ever to wear the polka-dots in the Tour.

Stage 2 Top Ten:
1) Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia-HTC, 4:30:02
2) Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Slipstream, same time
3) Romain Feillu, Agritubel, s.t.
4) Thor Hushovd, Cervelo Test Team, s.t.
5) Yukiya Arashiro, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
6) Gerald Ciolek, Team Milram, s.t.
7) William Bonnet, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
8) Nicolas Roche, AG2R La Mondiale, s.t.
9) Koen de Kort, Skil-Shimano, s.t.
10) Lloyd Mondory, AG2R La Mondiale, s.t.

General Classification, after Stage 2:
1) Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank, 4:49:34
2) Alberto Contador, Astana, at :18
3) Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream, at :19
4) Andreas Klöden, Astana, at :22
5) Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, at :23
6) Levi Leipheimer, Astana, at :30
7) Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas, at :32
8) Tony Martin, Team Columbia-HTC, at :33
9) Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas, at :37
10) Lance Armstrong, Astana, at :40

Also:

VeloNews | Cavendish wins second stage; Cancellara keeps lead

Ricco shows his strength

Riccardo Ricco of Saunier Duval took a dominant stage win as the Tour finally reached the high mountains on Stage 9.

On the steepest part of the Col d'Aspin, Ricco launched from the field through a chase group, then right past Sebastian Lang, who had been in a lead group all day long.

Ricco managed to hold off the entire field on a 28-kilometer descent to the finish, for his 2nd win of the Tour. Ricco is seen by Italian fans as a successor to Marco Pantani, the great Italian climber.

Ricco's teammate David de la Fuente holds onto the King of the Mountains jersey, but it looks like that's Ricco's jersey to lose between now and Paris at this point. Next year, he's got to be a Tour favorite.

Stage 9 Results:
1) Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval 5:39:28
2) Vladimir Efimkin, AG2R @ 1:04
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R @1:17
4) Dmitri Fofonov, Credit Agricole, same time
5) Christian Knees, Milram, s.t.
6) Maxime Monfort, Cofidis, s.t.
7) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
8) Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas, s.t.
9) Damiano Cunego, Lampre, s.t.
10) Yaroslav Popovych, Silence-Lotto, s.t.

In the GC, Stefan Schumacher lost time to the overall leaders, as did David Millar and Thomas Lövkvist. That moves Garmin-Chipotle's Christian Vande Velde up into 3rd overall, 44 seconds behind Columbia's Kim Kirchen.

General Classification after Stage 9:
1) Kim Kirchen, Team Columbia, 38:07:19
2) Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, @ :06
3) Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle, @ :44
4) Stefan Schumacher, Gerolsteiner, @ :56
5) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, @ 1:03
6) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, @ 1:12 7) Stijn Devolder, Quick Step, @ 1:21 8) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, @ 1:21 9) Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, @ 1:27 10) Carlos Sastre, CSC-Saxo Bank, @ 1:34

Kim Kirchen keeps the yellow jersey and retakes the lead in the green jersey competition. Lövkvist loses the white jersey to Andy Schleck.

Hushovd bags Stage 2

Another select sprint, and a 6th career stage win for the God of Thunder, Thor Hushovd.

With 1 kilometer to go, Fabian Cancellara attacked strongly, and was countered by Filippo Pozzatto, who won here on Stage 7 in 2004. But the two opportunists couldn't hold off the sprint specialists, and were caught up by a strong group that included Alejandro Valverde, Kim Kirchen, Jerome Pineau, and Thor Hushovd.

When Hushovd launched, Team Columbia tried to follow, but Kim Kirchen couldn't quite match Hushovd.

Stage 2:
1) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole
2) Kim Kirchen, Team Columbia, same time
3) Gerald Ciolek, Team Columbia, s.t.
4) Robbie Hunter, Barloworld, s.t.
5) Erik Zabel, Milram, s.t.
6) Yury Trofimov, AG2R, s.t.
7) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
8) Jimmy Casper, Agritubel, s.t.
9) Martin Elminger, AG2R, s.t.
10) Leonardo Duque, Cofidis, s.t.

Kirchen moves up into the green jersey lead, the first jersey for Team Columbia, while Thomas Voeckler takes undisputed lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

Valverde makes a statement in Stage 1

Spanish champion Alejandro Valverde showed tremendous power in closing down late attacks by Kim Kirchen and Stefan Schumacher and smoking to the first stage victory and overall leadership.

Stage 1 Results and Overall Classification (updated)
1) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne
2) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, @ :01
3) Jerome Pineau, Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
4) Kim Kirchen, Team Columbia, s.t.
5) Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval-Scott, s.t.
6) Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, s.t.
7) Fränk Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, s.t.
8) Filippo Pozzato, Liquigas, s.t.
9) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
10) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.

It's the first day in yellow for Valverde, in his 4th Tour. He also leads the green jersey competition, which Philippe Gilbert will wear tomorrow. Valverde made time on all the contenders, from 1 second on Evans, 7 on Sastre and Menchov, up to 3:04 on Mauricio Soler, who crashed late in the stage.

Thomas Voeckler takes the first King of the Mountains jersey, by finishing ahead of Bjorn Schroeder, with whom he's tied on points.

Riccardo Ricco is the first leader of the white jersey competition.

Lillian Jegou was awarded the red most combative race numbers for tomorrow.

First lanterne rouge is Aleksandr Kuschynski of Liquigas, 4:56 back.

Hushovd adds Paris to Strasbourg; Landis triumphs

A late escape attempt by Discovery Channel may have overcooked Robbie McEwen, as Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd easily outsprinted Davitamon-Lotto's sprint king to take the final stage of the 2006 Tour de France. CSC's Stuart O'Grady, recovering from a fractured spine suffered early in the race, took 3rd on the day.

Hushovd completed an unusual set of bookends, winning the Prologue time trial 3 weeks ago yesterday and now taking the final stage into Paris.

Floyd Landis stayed near the front early and stayed out of the dicey sprint at the end to nail down his first-ever Tour de France victory, finishing 69th on the day, 8 seconds behind Hushovd. It's the 8th straight US win of the race, after Lance Armstrong's 7 consecutive wins.

McEwen can take some solace from his 3rd green jersey win, resulting from his 3 stage wins.

Michael Rasmussen's tremendous breakaway win to La Toussuire, overshadowed by Landis's attack the following day, shot him to the lead, and the overall win, in the climber's polka-dot jersey competition.

Damiano Cunego, already a winner of the Giro d'Italia, takes the best young rider's white jersey, just 38 seconds ahead of Marcus Fothen of Gerolsteiner. The pair were about 90 minutes ahead of the next competitor in the under-25 competition.

Saunier Duval's David de la Fuente, the climbing jersey leader until Rasmussen's big day out front, takes the overall “most combative rider” prize.

Landis took his final yellow jersey of the Tour with his daughter Ryan on the podium.

Post-race interview with Frankie Andreu: Landis says, “Right now, I have no intention of switching teams.” Leaves a little wiggle room, but sounds like the iShares team (as Phonak will be called next year) has its Tour captain for 2007.

Top 10:
1) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, Norway, in 3:56:52
2) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, same time
3) Stuart O'Grady, CSC, Australia, s.t.
4) Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, s.t.
5) Luca Paolini, Liquigas, Italy, s.t.
6) Samuel Dumoulin, AG2R, France, s.t.
7) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, Austria, s.t.
8) Anthony Geslin, Bouyges Telecom, France, s.t.
9) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, Italy, s.t.
10) Peter Wrolich, Gerolsteiner, Austria, s.t.
Stage results

Overall:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 89:39:30
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at :57
3) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 1:29
4) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:13
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 5:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 7:06
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 8:41
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 9:37
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 12:05
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 15:07
Final overall standings

Honchar takes ITT, Landis takes the Tour

I'm hesitant to predict anything in this unpredictable Tour, but Floyd Landis will win the 2006 Tour de France.

Ukraine's Sergei Honchar took his 2nd time trial stage win of the Tour, ahead of teammate Andreas Klöden, while overnight 2nd-place rider Carlos Sastre couldn't hang, and dropped to 4th overall.

Overnight yellow jersey Oscar Pereiro did the fleece proud, finishing 4th on the day, ahead of scads of time-trial specialists, to keep 2nd place, only 59 seconds behind Landis, and 30 seconds ahead of Klöden.

But the big story was Landis, who rode his own race, setting the fastest time at the first time check and taking 3rd on the day. He'll be the 3rd American to win the Tour, following 3 by Greg Lemond, and the last 7 by Lance Armstrong.

Damiano Cunego solidified his hold on the white jersey, now 36 seconds ahead of Gerolsteiner's Marcus Fothen, with a 10th-place finish on the day.

T-Mobile, with the top 2 finishers and world time trial champion Michael Rogers in 19th, moves 17:20 ahead of CSC in the team competition, which they'll most likely win for the 3rd straight year.

Top 10:
1) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, Ukraine, in 1:07:45
2) Andreas Klödën, T-Mobile, Germany, at :41
3) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 1:11
4) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, at 2:40
5) Sebastian Lang, Gerolsteiner, Germany, at 3:18
6) David Zabriskie, CSC, USA, at 3:35
7) Viatcheslav Ekimov, Discovery Channel, Russia, at 3:41
8) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 3:41
9) Bert Grabsch, Phonak, Germany, at 3:43
10) Damiano Cunego, Lampre, Italy, at 3:44
Full results

Overall:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 85:42:30
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at :59
3) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 1:29
4) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:13
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 5:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 7:06
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 8:41
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 9:37
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 12:05
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 15:07
Overall standings

Tosatto scores Stage 18 win

A lot of firsts in today's stage: it was Matteo Tosatto's first-ever Tour stage win, the first win of the Tour for an Italian, and the first win for QuickStep, which brought world champion Tom Boonen to the Tour to win some stages and compete for the green jersey. Instead, it was Boonen's lead-out who finally brought the team a stage victory.

Tosatto was part of a 15-man breakaway that included Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie, and Sylvain Calzati, and which saw its lead on a quiet peloton extend to 8:00 at the finish line. Gerolsteiner's Ronny Scholz and Cofidis's Cristian Moreni escaped to form a trio to the last kilometer. Scholz had nothing left in the finishing sprint, and Tosatto had to attack from the front, but still he held off Moreni to the line.

The stage had very little impact on the yellow jersey race; Leipheimer moves up from 18th to 13th, but still sits 15:01 back of Oscar Pereiro.

Top 10:
1) Matteo Tosatto, QuickStep, Italy, in 4:16:15
2) Cristian Moreni, Cofidis, Italy, same time
3) Ronny Scholz, Gerolsteiner, Germany, s.t.
4) Manuel Quinziato, Liquigas, Italy, at :47
5) Sebastian Hinault, Credit Agricole, France, at 1:03
6) Jerome Pineau, Bouyges Telecom, France, same time
7) Sylvain Calzati, AG2R, France, s.t.
8) Benoit Vaugrenard, Française des Jeux, France, s.t.
9) Inaki Isasi, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, s.t.
10) Egoi Martinez, Discovery Channel, Spain, s.t.
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, in 84:33:04
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at :12
3) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at :30
4) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 3:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 4:14
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 4:24
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:45
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 8:16
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 12:13
Complete standings

Stage 17: the other competitions

No question who today's “Most competitive rider” was: Landis rides with red race numbers tomorrow.

The white jersey for best young rider goes over to Damiano Cunego, but by only 5 seconds! Fothen was about 4:40 better than Cunego in the first time trial, so I expect Fothen to retake the lead.

T-Mobile's passive day may have ridden Klöden out of the Tour, but they've moved clearly into the lead of the team competition, 8:41 ahead of CSC. Turns out CSC foolishly burned its riders out getting Sastre up the road to contest the overall race win.

Landis probably sewed up the King of the Mountains for Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen today. Flying Floyd took max points over most of the day's climbs, including double points on Joux-Plane, and moved up into 2nd in the competition. There are very few points left to contest.

Similarly, McEwen has pretty much sewed up the green jersey, leading by 45 points with 2 flattish road stages to go.

That leaves yellow, and it's hard to see any other way to cut it than that Floyd Landis is again the favorite to win the Tour de France on Sunday. He's certainly a 30-second better time trial rider than Pereiro, 18 seconds better than Sastre, and has a 2-minute cushion on everybody else.

Epic! Landis rides their wheels off; takes Stage 17!

Today was the most amazing day of an amazing Tour de France.

Floyd Landis splintered the field on the day's first climb. Phonak went to the front and pushed the pace, and then Landis attacked. The GC riders initially countered, but Landis lifted the pace and rode away, with about 130 kilometers and five climbs to go. Landis hunted down an 11-man break then time-trialed alone to the finish line, holding a punishing pace to his first career Tour stage win.

Oscar Pereiro's Caisse d'Epargne team couldn't bring the gap down, and finally, as it reached more than 9 minutes, dropped back, and CSC took over. The gap was slowly reduced until on the day's last and hardest climb, CSC's Carlos Sastre launched a withering assault on the remnants of the peloton.

It was too late to catch Landis, but Sastre hoped to stay ahead of Landis on GC, and to crack Pereiro and possibly take the race lead. Pereiro kept his head, and limited his losses enough to maintain his yellow jersey. For now.

Despite huge gaps between riders on the road, the Tour only gets closer: Pereiro now leads Sastre by 12 seconds, Landis by 30 seconds, and Klöden by 2:29. Landis is the best time trialist of the group, and Saturday's time trial looks decisive.

Landis is the 9th American to win a Tour stage: Landis, Hincapie, Armstrong, Zabriskie, Hamilton, Lemond, Hampsten, Phinney, Pierce.

Top 10:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 5:23:36
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 5:42
3) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:58
4) Damiano Cunego, Lampre, Italy, at 6:40
5) Michael Boogerd, Rabobank, Netherlands, at 7:08
6) Frank Schleck, CSC, Luxembourg, at 7:08
7) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 7:08
8) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 7:08
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 7:08
10) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 7:20
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, in 80:08:49
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at :12
3) Floyd Landis, Phonak, CSC, at :30
4) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 3:08
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 4:14
7) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 4:24
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:45
9) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 8:16
10) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 12:13
Complete standings

Rasmussen takes Stage 16; disaster for Landis

Rabobank's monster climber Michael Rasmussen went on a day-long breakaway, reminiscent of his Stage 9 breakaway last year. He led the field over four climbs, to take a commanding lead in the King of the Mountains competition, which he won last year.

Yellow jersey Floyd Landis had a nightmare day, when he couldn't match an attack by Carlos Sastre on the day's last climb, and just went backward out of the race lead. Meanwhile, Oscar Pereiro dropped Denis Menchov and Cyril Dessel, finishing with Andreas Klöden and Cadel Evans to retake the overall race lead.

Landis was initially helped out when T-Mobile chased down their own Michael Rogers, covering a break by Denis Menchov, Cadel Evans, and Oscar Pereiro, where Landis just sat in. But when Sastre launched, the pace rose, and Landis just vanished. He eventually recovered some energy, but was paced to the line by Axel Merckx 10:04 behind Rasmussen, and more than 8 minutes behind Pereiro.

July 19th is a very happy day in the Pereiro household; last year, he won Stage 16 on July 19th, and this year, he takes back the yellow jersey.

Top 10:
1) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, Denmark, in 5:36:04
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 1:41
3) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 1:54
4) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 1:56
5) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 1:56
6) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 2:37
7) Pietro Caucchioli, Credit Agricole, Italy, at 2:37
8) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 2:37
9) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, USA, at 3:24
10) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 3:42
Also:
11) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 3:42
12) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 3:42
23) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 10:04
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, in 74:38:05
2) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 1:50
3) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
4) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 2:43
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 2:56
6) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 3:58
7) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 6:47
8) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 7:03
9) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, USA, at 7:46
10) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 8:06
11) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 8:08
Overall standings

Schleck conquers l'Alpe d'Huez

CSC's Amstel Gold winner Frank Schleck rode away from 2004 Giro champion Damiano Cunego near the top of the legendary Alpe d'Huez to take his first Tour de France stage win.

The 26-year-old Schleck got into a big break with teammates Jens Voigt and David Zabriskie, and each helped thin the herd by setting a wicked pace on the early slopes of the climb. Voigt chased back onto the break after a late crash, went right to the front, and still had the power to pace Sastre back into contention, cracking Cadel Evans, later on the climb.

Meanwhile, a few minutes behind them, the longed-for battle for the yellow jersey commenced, with Floyd Landis and Andreas Klöden riding more than a minute ahead of Denis Menchov, Cadel Evans, and reigning race leader Oscar Pereiro, and putting a few seconds into CSC's Carlos Sastre and Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer.

Klöden and Landis each matched the other's moves, slowly whittling their group down, until they were the only GC contenders left, riding with three survivors of the early break. Each was helped by a teammate who got up the road in the break; Landis by Merckx, who paced the small group for more than a kilometer, and Klöden by Mazzoleni, who did likewise near the top of the mountain. When OLN's team questioned Phonak's performance, saying Landis was alone on the mountain, they apparently blotted Merckx completely out, despite a very strong performance by Merckx, who recently extended his contract through next year.

Top 10:
1) Frank Schleck, CSC, Luxembourg, in 4:52:22
2) Damiano Cunego, Lampre, Italy, at :11
3) Stefano Garzelli, Liquigas, Italy, at 1:10
4) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, same time
5) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, same time
6) Ruben Lobato, Saunier Duval, Spain, at 1:14
7) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, France, at 1:18
8) Eddy Mazzoleni, T-Mobile, Italy, at 1:28
9) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 1:35
10) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, USA, at 1:49
Also:
11) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 2:21
14) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, at 2:49
15) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, same time
16) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, same time
Full results

Overall:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, in 69:00:05
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, at :10
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 2:02
4) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 2:12
5) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 2:17
6) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 2:56
8) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 5:01
9) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, USA, at 6:18
10) Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 6:20
Standings

Fedrigo fires for Stage 14

Bouyges Telecom's Pierrick Fedrigo survived a long and hazardous breakaway, then outsprinted Salvatore Commesso and a charging Christian Vande Velde to give France its 3rd stage win of the 2006 Tour.

Rik Verbrugghe and David Canada were taken to a local hospital after crashing in a right-hand corner. Verbrugghe went over a guardrail, while Canada slid into it. T-Mobile's Matthias Kessler, who was trailing Canada, also went over the guardrail, but got back into the pack and finished the day's stage.

The Col de la Sentinelle was an anvil pounding the chasing peloton into a small thin pack of 34 that included all the Tour's contenders. In the final kilometer, CSC's Christian Vande Velde tried to launch across for the stage victory, but couldn't quite reel in Fedrigo and Commesso, finishing third on the day 3 seconds back.

Caisse d'Epargne holds the yellow jersey. There's very little change in the leaderboard, but there are lots of changes farther down, as almost 120 riders lost significant time over the final col.

Top 10:
1) Pierrick Fedrigo, Bouyges Telecom, France, in 4:14:23
2) Salvatore Commesso, Lampre, Italy, same time
3) Christian Vande Velde, CSC, USA, at :03
4) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at :07
5) Georg Totschnig, Gerolsteiner, German, same time
6) Stefano Garzelli, Liquigas, Italy, s.t.
7) Cristian Moreni, Cofidis, Italy, s.t.
8) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, USA, s.t.
9) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, s.t.
10) Alexandre Botcharov, Credit Agricole, Russia, s.t.
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, in 64:05:04
2) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 1:29
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 1:37
4) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 2:30
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Austrlia, at 2:46
6) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:21
7) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 3:58
8) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 4:51
9) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, at 5:02
10) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:13
Full standings

Voigt wins Stage 13; Landis hands Pereiro yellow jersey

Floyd Landis gave his current Phonak teammates an easy day and former teammate Oscar Pereiro some time in the race leader's yellow jersey.

The move by Phonak is at once an expression of confidence in Landis and of concern at the team's strength, as Landis can now look to Pereiro's Caisse d'Epargne team to help pacing the peloton for the next few days.

Jens Voigt, who gave away a stage at the Giro in May, took his second career Tour stage win after a very long break on the Tour's longest day, 230 kilometers. Pereiro was 2nd, followed by Sylvain Chavanel and Manuel Quinziato.

Voigt also pulled off a minor miracle, being named the day's “Most Agressive Rider” after being in a break with a Frenchman, Chavanel. That's a consolation prize that usually goes to the home team, but Voigt has been agressive all week, and deserves those red bib numbers.

Robbie McEwen led in the field sprint ahead of Bernhard Eisel and Tom Boonen. He's got a 30-point lead in the green jersey competition, 252 to Boonen's 222 to Freire's 207.

The stage also catapulted CSC into the lead in the team category, 15:53 ahead of Caisse d'Epargne, and 22:05 up on previous leader T-Mobile.

Reaction around the web varied; my favorite was probably Strange days in Montélimar from Men (in tights), who suggested 4 lessons from Saturday's stage:

1. Don't play poker with ex-mennenite cyclists.
2. Don't let Oscar in a break when he's wearing his angry red socks.
3. Don't ever pick a break with Jens.
4. Don't look directly at Boogards teeth.

As for me, I'm down with it, but I was also touting Savoldelli as Discovery's GC threat after the Stage 7 time trial.

Top 10:
1) Jens Voigt, CSC, Germany
2) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain, same time
3) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, France, at :40
4) Manuel Quinziato, Liquigas, Italy, same time
5) Andriy Grivko, Milram, Ukraine, at 6:24
6) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, at 29:57
7) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, same time
8) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, Belgium, s.t.
9) Carlos da Cruz, Française des Jeux, France, s.t.
10) Arnaud Coyot, Cofidis, France, s.t.
Full results

Overall:
1) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, Spain
2) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 1:29
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at 1:37
4) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 2:30
5) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 2:46
6) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 3:21
7) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 3:58
8) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 4:51
9) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, at 5:02
10) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 5:13
Full standings

Popovych outsmarts the sprinters

When Johan Bruyneel threw in the towel for Discovery Channel's overall hopes yesterday, he said the team would concentrate on stage wins.

That's exactly what they did today, getting George Hincapie and then Yaroslav Popovych into breaks, and Popovych cracked two top-rank sprinters to take the stage.

Riding along with Lampre's Allesandro Ballan and Rabobank's Oscar Freire, Popovych attacked 4 times, dropping Credit Agricole's Christophe Le Mevel but not the two danger men. Ballan and Freire reeled him in every time, but more slowly after each attack, and when Popovych launched a 5th attack, the two sprinters watched him go.

Popovych moves back up into the top 10 overall.

Top 10:
1) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, Ukraine
2) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, Italy, at :27
3) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, Spain, at :29
4) Christophe Le Mevel, Credit Agricole, France, at :35
5) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, Belgium, at 4:25
6) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 4:25
7) Francisco Ventoso, Saunier Duval, at 4:25
8) Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, at 4:25
9) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, Italy, at 4:25
10) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at 4:25

Overall:
1) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA,
2) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, at :08
3) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, at 1:01
4) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, Australia, at 1:17
5) Carlos Sastre, CSC, Spain, at 1:52
6) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 2:29
7) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 3:22
8) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, at 3:33
9) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, France, at 3:44
10) Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel, Ukraine, at 4:15

Mercado takes Stage 10; Cyril Dessel the new yellow jersey

Nothing says “wide-open Tour” better than lightly regarded Cyril Dessel of AG2R, who leads the world's biggest bike race halfway through. Wildcard Agritubel's team leader, Juan Miguel Mercado, sat in for the last part of the stage, and just barely nipped Dessel after a very long breakaway.

T-Mobile spent almost the whole day at the front of the chase, but their yellow jersey, Sergei Honchar, fell off the pace at both the day's big climbs. He finished in the main group, as did Landis, Hincapie, Moreau, Evans, and, after struggling on the Marie Blanque, Leipheimer, Fothen and Simoni. One surprise was Iban Mayo; he came in with the grupetto 24:24 back.

Top 10:
1) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, 4:49:10
2) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, same time
3) Inigo Landaluze, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at :56
4) Cristian Moreni, Cofidis, Italy, at 2:24
5) Christophe Rinero, Saunier Duval, France, at 2:25
6) Inaki Isasi, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 5:03
7) Cedric Vasseur, QuickStep, France, at 5:35
8) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, Italy, at 7:23
9) Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, same time
10) Stefano Garzelli, Liquigas, Italy, same time
Full stage results

Overall:
1) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, 43:07:05
2) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, at 2:34
3) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, Ukraine, at 3:45
4) Cristian Moreni, Cofidis, Italy, at 3:51
5) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 4:45
6) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 4:53
7) Inigo Landaluze, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 5:22
8) Patrik Sinkewitz, T-Mobile, Germany, at 5:30
9) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 5:35
10) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, Russia, at 5:37
Full general classification

Honchar dominates TT, takes yellow jersey

T-Mobile's Sergei Honchar totally obliterated the field in the Tour's first long time trial, leading all riders by more than a minute at the finish in Rennes. Honchar led at all the intermediate time checks, and becomes the first Ukrainian to wear the Tour leader's yellow jersey.

The expected American juggernaut was represented by only a single heavy cruiser, Floyd Landis, who took second on the day, 1:01 behind Honchar. The other US podium contenders finished well down the stage standings, with George Hincapie 24th, Levi Leipheimer 96th (!) at 6:06, and Bobby Julich out of the Tour after a hard crash early in his race that sent him off in an ambulance.

OLN said Floyd Landis was forced to lower his handlebar position at the last minute by the UCI, which may have led to a bike change when the clamp slipped.

Levi Leipheimer's troubles are still not explained.

Top 10:
1) Honchar
2) Landis, at 1:01
3) Sebastian Lang, Gerolsteiner, at 1:04
4) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at 1:24
5) Gustav Larsson, Française des Jeux, at 1:34
6) Patrik Sinkewitz, T-Mobile, at 1:39
7) Marcus Fothen, Gerolsteiner, at 1:42
8) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, at 1:43
9) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, at 1:44
10) Joost Posthuma, Rabobank, at 1:45
Others:
13) Dave Zabriski, CSC, at 1:57
24) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at 2:42
30) Christian Vande Velde, CSC, at 3:14
48) Chris Horner, Davitamon-Lotto, at 4:14
96) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 6:06

New overall:
1) Honchar
2) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 1:00
3) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at 1:08
4) Patrik Sinkewitz, T-Mobile, at 1:45
5) Marcus Fothen, Gerolsteiner, at 1:50
6) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, at 1:50
7) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at 1:52
8) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 1:52
9) Denis Menchov, Rabobank, at 2:00
10) Dave Zabriskie, CSC, at 2:03
Others:
12) Christophe Moreau, AG2R, at 2:07
13) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at 2:10
16) Carlos Sastre, CSC, at 2:27
17) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at 2:30

T-Mobile, dominating the overall standings, moves into the clear lead in the team competition, 3:09 ahead of Phonak, with former leader Discovery Channel falling to 5th, 4:29 back.

Gerolsteiner's Fothen moves back into the lead in the young rider's white jersey competition, ahead of Thomas Lövkvist of Française des Jeux.

Also:

T-Mobile Team: Honcar scorches time trial and takes yellow

McEwen launched to third stage win

Tom Boonen was denied again, as Gert Steegmans launched Robbie McEwen like a booster rocket today straight up to his 3rd stage.

Boonen was in perfect position for the sprint, trailing a couple of leading teammates coming up the left side of the road, with the field stretching out behind him. But the field sprint launched before he did, swamping Boonen and holding him against the rail, so that by the time he kicked hard, he had to work through traffic to finish 3rd.

Boonen retains the yellow jersey, but honestly might just as soon be rid of it, and he will be tomorrow night. Tomorrow is the first long time trial of the Tour, where we'll finally separate the pretenders and contenders. I think that will make for better organized sprints on Sunday and Tuesday (rest day Monday), as it's likely one team will be defending the yellow jersey, and others trying to set up the sprint, instead of QuickStep doing both, as we've had the last couple of days.

Wednesday, the race hits the mountains.

Top 10:
1) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
2) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, same time
3) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, s.t.
4) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, s.t.
5) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, s.t.
6) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
7) Erik Zabel, Milram, s.t.
8) Luca Paolini, Liquigas, s.t.
9) Gert Steegmans, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
10) Inaki Isasi, Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
Full Stage 6 results

Overall:
1) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, in 29:21:00
2) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, at :12
3) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :21
4) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, at :25
5) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :25
6) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at :27
7) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :35
8) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :36
9) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at :37
10) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, at :37
Full GC standings

Freire fastest on 5; Boonen holds yellow

Rabobank's former world champion Oscar Freire launched a perfect sprint to win the Tour's Stage 5. Freire uncoiled from about 12th place in the field at about 250 meters to go, put on an incredible burst of speed up the right side of the road, then just kept his head down to the line, as current world champion Tom Boonen couldn't close him down.

Euskaltel-Euskadi's Inaki Isasi takes 3rd, for what must be Euskaltel's earliest stage podium in a recent Tour. Usually, you only see them pacing crashes and flats back into the field until the mountains start.

Boonen pads his lead, by virtue of the 12 bonus seconds for 2nd. A few other GC changes, as misfortune claims Egoi Martinez, and Freire powered to the podium, sitting 3rd, for now.

Dollars to donuts Dumoulin will be the most combative rider, by virtue of being a Frenchman in a suicide break.

Top 10:
1) Oscar Freire, Rabobank
2) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, same time
3) Inaki Isasi, Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
4) David Kopp, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
5) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
6) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, s.t.
7) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, s.t.
8) Francisco Ventoso, Saunier Duval, s.t.
9) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, s.t.

GC
1) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, in 25:10:51
2) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :13
3) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, at :17
4) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :17
5) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at :19
6) Robbie Mcewen, Davitamon-Lotto, at :24
7) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :27
8) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :28
9) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at :29
10) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, at :29

McEwen masters Stage 4

Robbie McEwen showed his incredible dive-and-dash skills again today to take his 2nd stage win of the 2006 Tour. McEwen takes back the green jersey, his overall goal for the Tour.

Credit Agricole's Julian Dean of New Zealand fell just short of the line, bumping a QuickStep rider who in turn may have bumped yellow jersey Tom Boonen. Boonen is the first leader of this Tour to hold the jersey for consecutive days.

Egoi Martinez of Discovery Channel moves into 5th on the GC, picking up 18 seconds in intermediate sprint bonus points.

Top 10:
1) McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
2) Isaac Galvez, Caisse d'Epargne
3) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
4) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, s.t. (relegated to 148th - irregular sprinting)
4) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, s.t.
5) David Kopp, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
6) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, s.t.
7) Franisco Ventoso, Saunier Duval, s.t.
8) Michael Albasini, Liquigas, s.t.
9) Bernard Eisel, Française des Jeux, s.t.
10) Jimmy Casper, Cofidis, s.t.

Current GC:
1) Tom Boonen, QuickStep
2) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :01
3) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :05
4) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at :07
5) Egoi Martinez, Discovery Channel, at :10
6) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, at :12
7) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :15
8) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, at :15
9) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :16
10) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at :17

Kessler gets his stage, Boonen gets his yellow jersey

Matthias Kessler attacked over the Cauberg and kept his lead to the line, avenging his last second loss yesterday, earning T-Mobile probably its first bright spot of the 2006 Tour.

Just 5 seconds behind, world time trial champion Michael Rogers led in a group of strongman sprinters and GC candidates. In 3rd on the day was Lampre's Daniele Bennati, ahead of world champion Tom Boonen, who had made no secret of his intent to take today's stage.

He can take solace in the yellow jersey, the first ever for the 25-year-old world road champion, as Thor Hushovd came in 62nd, at 17 seconds back. He'll wear it in Belgium tomorrow, where he's a huge celebrity. Boonen also takes the lead in the green jersey competition as Robbie McEwen came in 34 seconds back in 89th. Lampre's Daniele Bennati, 4th on the day moves into 2nd in the points competition: Boonen 67, Bennati 66, McEwen 65, Hushovd 62, Zabel 59.

This was a “declare your intentions” day for the GC; if you're not riding for the overall, why break your legs on the Cauberg? Floyd Landis, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Bobby Julich, Christian Vande Velde, Carlos Sastre, Paolo Savoldelli, Yarolav Popovych, Jose Azevedeo, Denis Menchov, Andreas Klöden, David Millar, Sergei Honchar, Cadel Evans, and even Gilberto Simoni all made the break to come in 5 seconds behind Kessler.

Bookie favorite Alejandro Valverde crashed and broke his collarbone with about 20 kilometers to ride in an overlap of wheels -- a wide-open Tour de France is even more so this evening. Also out are Freddie Rodriguez and Erik Dekker, who went down together and were taken to a local hospital.

Chris Horner came in 159th on the day, at 8:05. Stuart O'Grady rode in alone after an accident, 11:35 back, and Magnus Backstedt and Filippo Pozzato, 18:36 back, were the day's final finishers.

Top 10:
1) Matthias Kessler, T-Mobile, in 4:57:54
2) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :05
3) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, same time
4) Tom Boonen, QuickStep, s.t.
5) Erik Zabel, Milram, s.t.
6) Luca Paolini, Liquigas, s.t.
7) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
8) Eddy Mazzoleni, T-Mobile, s.t.
9) Georg Totschnig, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
10) Fabian Wegmann, Gerolsteiner, s.t.

General Classification:
1) Tom Boonen, QuickStep
2) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :01
3) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :05
4) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at :07
5) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :15
6) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, at :15
7) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :16
8) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at :15
9) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, at :17
10) Matthias Kessler, T-Mobile, at :17

McEwen takes Stage 2

It looked like the sprinters would be denied today, as T-Mobile's Matthias Kessler put 14 seconds into the field over the day's final uncategorized climb. But the field wound it up, and caught Kessler within coasting distance of the line. Like a cobra, Robbie McEwen struck to take his first Tour victory of the year.

Tom Boonen was 2nd on the day, off camera (bad OLN), ahead of Thor Hushovd and Rabobank's Oscar Freire.

McEwen, who avoided the intermediate sprint warfare by Boonen and Hushovd, takes over the green jersey. Eurosport reports McEwen says he wants to keep it:

"The most important is to win a stage, then it's about winning a second. Then it's the fight for the green jersey. I have lost the green jersey twice in my career. This year I want to take it. Another stage is the priority, but I'm determined to take the green home."

Thor Hushovd takes back the yellow jersey, as the sprinters move up the GC as a result of sprint bonus seconds.

David de la Fuente, away for 200-odd kilometers, takes over the King of the Mountains jersey and was named the stage's most combative rider, which means he'll ride with red race numbers tomorrow.

There was a late crash that involved a large fraction of the field, right at 2 kilometers to go, reportedly including Floyd Landis, but no one seems to know if he went down, or was just caught behind it (Yahoo! Sport has a picture of Lampre's Patxi Vila being treated afterward). All those riders will get the same time at the finish as the leaders.

Top 10:
1) McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
2) Tom Boonen, QuickStep
3) Hushovd
4) Oscar Freire, Rabobank
5) Daniele Bennati, Lampre
6) Luca Paolini, Liquigas
7) Stuart O'Grady, CSC
8) Bernard Eisel, Française des Jeux
9) Erik Zabel, Milram
10) Peter Wrolich, Gerolsteiner

General classification:
1) Hushovd
2) Boonen, at :05
3) McEwen, at :08
4) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :10
5) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, at :16
6) Stuart O'Grady, CSC, at :16
7) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :18
8) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :20
9) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :21
10) Manuel Quinziato, Liquigas, at :24

Hushovd takes 2006 Tour prologue

Thor Hushovd will wear yellow for at least a couple of days, after an astounding ride at the Tour prologue in Strasbourg.

Hushovd is an annual combatant in the sprinter's jersey competition, which he won last year, but is more a pure power rider than some of the other sprinters (Robbie McEwen, I'm looking at you). He should be able to stay close enough to the sprinters over the next few stages to hold the overall race lead.

He edged out Discovery Channel's George Hincapie and CSC's Dave Zabriskie, with Sebastian Lang 4th and Spain's Alejandro Valverde 5th.

Phonak's Floyd Landis missed his start time, and lost nearly 10 seconds before his Tour even started. His 9th place at 8:26.26 would certainly have bettered Zabriskie, and would have rivalled Hincapie and Hushovd if he had ridden the same ride with an on-time start. OLN reports Landis had a flat tire as he came to the start.

David Millar, returning from a 2-year suspension for EPO, could manage only 17th, in 8:31.65.

Top 10:
1. Hushovd, Credit Agricole, in 8:17.00
2. George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at :01
3. Dave Zabriskie, CSC, at :04
4. Sebastian Lang, Gerolsteiner, at :05
5. Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne, at :05
6. Stuart O'Grady, CSC, at :05
7. Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, at :06
8. Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, at :08
9. Floyd Landis, Phonak, at :09
10. Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, at :10

Other Americans:
19) Chris Horner, Davitamon-Lotto, at :16

29) Bobby Julich, CSC, at :19

35) Christian Vande Velde, CSC, at :21

36) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at :22

112) Fred Rodriguez, Davitamon-Lotto, at :38

Also:

This story doesn't really seem to capture the whole moment.

Vinokourov!

Vino takes Champs victory
AP/ESPN

T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov put on an awesome show of force on Sunday, outriding half the field to take the Tour's final stage in Paris.

Breaking away on the last lap of the day, Vinokourov managed to gap and hold a gap to the teams trying to set up their sprinters: Cofidis, Davitamon-Lotto, Liberty Seguros, and FdJeux.

Joined by Fabian Cancellara, then by Française des Jeux's Bradley McGee, Vinokourov put his head down, and countered an attack by McGee to take the stage.

Lance Armstrong, of course, nails down his 7th overall victory in the Tour, and took the podium flanked by his 3 children. He also spoke to the crowd (and TV audience) from the podium, an unprecedented act for the Tour winner.

After some debate, judges awarded bonus time to Vinokourov for the stage victory, which lifted him into 5th overall on the Tour and dropped Levi Leipheimer down to 6th.

Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd of Norway nailed down the green jersey competition.

Oscar Pereiro was named the most combative rider of the Tour.

T-Mobile took the team competition, along with 3 stage wins.

Stage Top 10:
1) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, in 3:40:57
2) Brad McGee, Française des Jeux, same time
3) Fabian Cancellara, Fassa Bortolo, s.t.
4) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
5) Stuart O’Grady, Cofidis, s.t.
6) Allan Davis, Liberty Seguros, s.t.
7) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, s.t.
8) Baden Cooke, Française des Jeux, s.t.
9) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux, s.t.
10) Robert Forster, Gerolsteiner, s.t.

Aussies in 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th on the day.

Overall Top 10 ("GC"):
1) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, in 86:15:02
2) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 4:40
3) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 6:21
4) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 9:59
5) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 11:01
6) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 11:21
7) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 11:33
8) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 11:55
9) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 12:44
10) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at 16:14

Compared to last year's final GC, Pereiro is 10th again, Leipheimer climbs from 9th to 6th, Mancebo improves from 6th to 4th, Ullrich goes from 4th to 3rd, and Basso improves from 3rd to 2nd. New names in the Top 10 this year are Vinokourov, who will certainly keep things interesting wherever he winds up next year; Rasmussen, who owned the big mountains; Evans, who had an excellent 1st Tour at 8th; and Landis, who I felt rode a very defensive Tour, and was never really able to take the attack to the leaders.

Final Jerseys:

Lance Armstrong

Thor Hushovd

Michael Rasmussen

Yaroslav Popovych

Also:

letour.fr | Stage 21 standings | Overall standings

Armstrong gets his stage, nails down 7th Tour victory

Armstrong's last win
AP/ESPN

Lance Armstrong let it all hang out today, storming to a victory in the 2005 Tour's long time trial in St. Etienne.

T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich came to play, but couldn't quite hang with Armstrong, finishing 2nd on the day, 23 seconds slower than Armstrong.

The top 10 is a good demonstrator of US power in the sport: Besides Armstrong atop the heap, CSC's Bobby Julich was 4th at 1:33, Phonak's Floyd Landis was 6th at 2:02, Discovery's George Hincapie was 8th at 2:25. A little farther down the standings was Levi Leipheimer, 14th at 3:13, which catapults Leipheimer into 5th overall. Leipheimer will have to watch his back tomorrow, because Vinokourov is only 2 seconds behind him, easily overcome with an intermediate bonus sprint.

CSC's Ivan Basso was 4th on the day after going out too hard and leading the race at the 1st time check.

Michael Rasmussen, the king of the mountains, was the joker against the clock, switching bikes 4 times, and crashing twice, while losing 7:47 against Armstrong, and 7:24 to Ullrich, who moved into 3rd overall.

Armstrong rolled through the finish and straight over to his children, who arrived yesterday to watch Daddy work.

Top 10:
1) Armstrong, in 1:11:46
2) Ullrich, at :23
3) Vinokourov, at 1:16
4) Julich, at 1:22
5) Basso, at 1:54
6) Landis, at 2:02
7) Evans, at 2:06
8) Hincapie, at 2:25
9) Mancebo, at 2:51 (!)
10) Karpets, at 3:05

GC:
1) Armstrong
2) Basso, at 4:40
3) Ullrich, at 6:21
4) Mancebo, at 9:59
5) Leipheimer, at 11:25
6) Vinokourov, at 11:27
7) Rasmussen, at 11:33
8) Evans, at 11:55
9) Landis, at 12:44
10) Pereiro, at 16:04

Guerini takes the day, but Pereiro's not done yet

Guerini
AP/ESPN

Oscar Pereiro has been on the attack as much as anybody in this year's Tour. He's like Vinokourov, if Vinokourov could keep his eyes on the prize.

He found another break today, alongside Giuseppe Guerini of T-Mobile, Sandy Casar of Française des Jeux, Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas, and a few other strong men, and rode it into the overall top 10.

In the day's last 2 kilometers, Guerini launched a blistering assault that none of the others could answer or counter, and rode to T-Mobile's second stage win of the Tour (Vinokourov took Stage 11).

The sprinters didn't sleep all day, as Robbie McEwen, Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady led in the field for 14th, 15th and 16th on the stage. McEwen picks up 12 points for the sprint, Hushovd 11, and O'Grady 10. McEwen could take the lead with a win in Paris.

Stage Top 10:
1) Giuseppe Guerini, T-Mobile, in 3:33:04
2) Sandy Casar, Française des Jeux, at :10
3) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas-Bianchi, same time
4) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at :12
5) Salvatore Commesso, Lampre-Caffita, at 2:43
6) Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC, at 2:48
7) Nicolas Portal, AG2R, same time
8) Bert Grabsch, Phonak, same time
9) Sylvain Chavanel, Cofidis, same time
10) Pieter Weening, Rabobank, at 3:50

General Classification:
1) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, in 81:22:19
2) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 2:46
3) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 3:46
4) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 5:58
5) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 7:08
6) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 8:12
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 9:49
8) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 10:11
9) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 10:42
10) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at 12:39

Hello, Pereiro; bonjour, Moreau in the overall top 10.

Serrano takes the stage; more GC jumble

Serrano smiles
AP/ESPN

Liberty Seguros finally has something to smile about in this Tour. Marcos Serrano rode a smart race, and outrode Axel Merckx and Cedric Vasseur for a stage win.

Back in the field, there was another late stage split that will again shake up the GC. The selection winnowed the field down to just Armstrong, Basso, Ullrich (no surprise), and Cadel Evans, who took the line sprint at 11:18, and moves into 7th at 9:49.

Top 20:
1) Marcos Serrano, Liberty Seguros, in 4:37:36
2) Cedric Vasseur, Cofidis, at :27
3) Axel Merckx, Davitamon-Lotto, at :27
4) Xabier Zandio, Illes Balears, at 1:08
5) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas, at 1:08
6) Thomas Voeckler, Bouyges Telecom, at 1:28
7) Luke Roberts, CSC, at 1:28
8) Matthias Kessler, T-Mobile, at 1:44
9) Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 1:44
10) Carlos Da Cruz, Française des Jeux, at 2:38
11) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 11:18
12) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, same time
13) Ivan Basso, CSC, same time
14) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, same time
15) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 11:55
16) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, same time
17) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, same time
18) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, same time
19) Leonardo Piepoli, Saunier Duval-Prodier, at 12:01
20) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 12:07

New overall classification:
1) Armstrong
2) Basso, at 2:46
3) Rasmussen, at 3:46
4) Ullrich, at 5:58
5) Mancebo, at 7:08
6) Leipheimer, at 8:12
7) Evans, at 9:49
8) Vinokourov, at 10:11
9) Landis, at 10:42
10) Christophe Moreau, at 13:15

Rasmussen has locked in the climber's jersey: There aren't enough points left for him to lose it.

Savoldelli takes longest stage

Savoldelli passes
Arvesen at the line
AP/ESPN

After George Hincapie won the Tour's hardest stage, Discovery Channel went out and took the longest stage, as well.

Giro champion Paolo Savoldelli spent the day in a big breakaway, then held the pace as it dropped to 8, then 4 riders. When CSC's Kurt-Asle Arvesen made his move, just outside of the 1k to ride marker, it looked like the winning move, but Savoldelli came back, catching Arvesen and passing him in the final 50 meters of the stage, for his first career Tour stage win.

Back in the field, Alexandre Vinokourov decided he's not content with his GC placing, and blew the field in two at the day's final climb. Only 10 men were able to stay with Vinokourov, dropping Floyd Landis, Cadel Evans, and Christophe Moreau 20 seconds farther down the GC.

Surprisingly, today's stage had no effect whatsoever on the green jersey competition, where Thor Hushovd continues to lead Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen.

Top 10:
1) Paolo Savoldelli, Discovery Channel, in 5:41:19
2) Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC, same time
3) Simon Gerrans, AG2R, at :08
4) Sébastien Hinault, Credit Agricole, at :11
5) Andriy Grivko, Domina Vacanze, at :24
6) Oscar Sevilla, T-Mobile, at :51
7) Bram Tankink, QuickStep, at :51
8) Daniele Righi, Lampre-Caffita, at :53
9) Samuel Dumoulin, AG2R, at 3:14
10) Allan Davis, Liberty Seguros, at 3:14

Team competition update: Savoldelli's gap over Sevilla gives Discovery Channel the overall lead in the team classification: They're up by 37 seconds over T-Mobile, with CSC at 22:04 in 3rd.

Popovych picked up 20 seconds in the white jersey competition by hanging on Vinokourov's late break. Sébastien Hinault takes the red race numbers of the day's most combative rider.

Pereiro gets Stage 16, Evans moves up the GC

Pereiro pays off
AP/ESPN

Oscar Pereiro was angry about Sunday's stage, where he felt George Hincapie took an unethical win. He took all that anger, clamped it down way inside him, and today, he released all that pressure with a stage win, outsprinting three other breakaway survivors to win in Pau, as the Tour exits the Pyrenees.

Ironically, Pereiro could partly credit a long tow from Cadel Evans, hunting a higher overall placing, giving Pereiro, Zandio, and Mazzoleni a chance to recover a bit ahead of the sprint finish.

Evans moved up to 7th overall, 4 seconds up on Floyd Landis and 9 seconds ahead of Alexandre Vinokourov. Mazzoleni moves up to 12th, and Pereiro to 15th.

Stage results:
1) Pereiro in 4:38:40
2) Xabier Zandio, Illes Balears, same time
3) Eddy Mazzoleni, Lampre-Caffita, s.t.
4) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
5) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, at 2:25
6) Anthony Geslin, Bouyges Telecom, same time
7) Jorg Ludewig, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
8) Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo, s.t.
9) Ludovic Turpin, AG2R, s.t.
10) Cedric Vasseur, Cofidis, s.t.

The leaders' group was at 3:24, followed by a group at 10:05, then at 20:16, and the autobus at 21:33.

Interestingly, none of the leaders got any points toward the green jersey competition, so it's still Hushovd at 164, O'Grady at 150, and McEwen at 142. That may have been part of the original impetus for Davitamon-Lotto to send Evans, a teammate of McEwen's, up the road today.

GC Top 10:
1) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel
2) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 2:46
3) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 3:09
4) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 5:58
5) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 6:31
6) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 7:35
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 9:29
8) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 9:33
9) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 9:38
10) Christophe Moreau, Credit Agricole, at 11:47

Big George! Hincapie takes Tour queen stage

Hink's stage win
AP/ESPN

George Hincapie took a brilliant stage win on the hardest day of the 2005 Tour de France, climbing away on the ascent of Pla d'Adet.

Hincapie, who has ridden with Lance Armstrong in each of his 6 consecutive Tour victories, got his first career stage win in 10 years riding the Tour. He got into a 14-man breakaway with an eye toward being up the road late in the stage to provide Armstrong with some help, and was able to take it easy in the break.

When the time came, and the climbers launched attacks to eliminate the break's remnants, Hincapie covered them all, and was left shadowing only Phonak's Oscar Pereiro with the finish line in sight. When Hink wound it up, Pereiro couldn't match the big man's finishing sprint.

Hincapie became the 8th American with a stage win, joining Greg Lemond, Davis Phinney, Jeff Pierce, Andy Hampsten, Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, and Dave Zabriskie.

Armstrong held position, finishing with Ivan Basso, and gaining time on every other GC threat.

Jan Ullrich lost 1:25 on Basso and Armstrong.

Top 10:

1) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, in 6:06:38
2) Oscar Pereiro, Phonak, at :07
3) Pietro Caucchioli, Credit Agricole, at :37
4) Michael Boogerd, Rabobank, at :57
5) Laurent Brochard, Bouygues Telecom, at 2:19
6) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 5:03
7) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, same time
8) Oscar Sevilla, T-Mobile, at 6:28
9) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, same time
10) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 6:31

Totschnig takes Stage 14; Armstrong gains time in lead

Totschnig left it all on the hill
AP/ESPN

Georg Totschnig survived a blistering chase from the Tour's big names to take his biggest career win atop Ax-3 Domaines. Totschnig spent more than 200 kilometers in front, as part of a 10-man breakaway that was slowly reeled in as the GC contenders pushed the pace.

Lance Armstrong, isolated without teammates on the previous climb and briefly dropped by Basso, Ullrich, and Klöden (among others), regained the leaders, and eventually found himself in a familiar position: on the last climb of the day with Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich. He marked the two challengers, and in the last kilometer, bumped the pace a little, and found Ullrich off the back.

Basso was able to hold Armstrong's wheel, but couldn't attack, so Armstrong gapped him as well, to gain a couple of seconds at the finish and a 12-second time bonus.

Alexandre Vinokourov, who finished 11th at 3:06 today, only knows one speed: as hard as possible. He was the engine that broke up the field on the Pailhères, then fought back to the leaders, where he was trapped about 50 meters off the back for perhaps 5 kilometers. As soon as he got back with them, he attacked again, and found his T-Mobile teammates Klöden and Ullrich pulling him back.

Some big questions were answered: Jan Ullrich is clearly T-Mobile's GC man; Michael Rasmussen is not unbeatable on any uphill surface; Ivan Basso was biding his time.

Some other big questions were raised: How did Armstrong find himself alone -- again -- so early in the action? Why does T-Mobile keep chasing down Vinokourov? Should he revert to the pink jersey so they recognize he's on their team? How many times can Armstrong finish 2nd in a single Tour?

General Classification after Stage 14:

1) Armstrong, Discovery Channel
2) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 1:41
3) Basso, CSC, at 2:46
4) Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 4:34
5) Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 4:45
6) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 5:03
7) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 5:03
8) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, at 5:38
9) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 7:09
10) Christophe Moreau, Credit Agricole, at 8:37

Also:

letour.fr | Stage results | Overall standings after Stage 14

McEwen takes Stage 13

Robbie McEwen is right back in the thick of the green jersey race with his 3rd stage win of the 2005 Tour.

Chris Horner spent 156 kilometers (almost 95 miles) out in front, first with a 5 man breakaway, then with Sylvain Chavanel, with the pair only getting caught in the last 200 meters. Horner still didn't give up, winding up his sprint and finishing 10th on the day.

McEwen's leadout man, Freddie Rodriguez, didn't let up when McEwen came around, and took 3rd on the day, denying precious sprint points to Thor Hushovd, who was 5th on the day.

Stuart O'Grady was 2nd on the day. Guido Trenti, an Italian with a US racing license, was 4th on the day.

Top 10:
1) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto, 3:43:14
2) Stuart O'Grady, Cofidis, same time
3) Fred Rodriguez, Davitamon-Lotto, same time
4) Guido Trenti, Quick Step, same time
5) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, s.t.
6) Anthony Geslin, Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
7) Robert Förster, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
8) Magnus Backstedt, Liquigas-Bianchi, s.t.
9) Gianluca Bortolami, Lampre-Caffita, s.t.
10) Chris Horner, Saunier Duval-Prodir, s.t.

Your new green jersey standings:
1) Hushovd 164
2) O'Grady 150
3) McEwen 142

The only major change to the overall standings is the departure of 5th place rider Alejandro Valverde, which also puts Discovery Channel's Yaroslav Popovych back in the white jersey for best young rider.

Moncoutié takes Stage 12

David Moncoutié took Stage 12 of the Tour with a brilliant breakaway.

Moncoutié found a strong break group that included both Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady, Axel Mercx, Juan Manuel Garate, and Sandy Casar. Moncoutié used the 2nd Category Col du Corobin to gap that group, and then just cranked it all the way to the finish, holding about 30 seconds all the way.

It's two years in a row for France on Bastille Day, after Richard Virenque, who is presenting today's climber's jersey on the podium, took last year's July 14th stage.

For Moncoutié, this is becoming an annual deal, as he took a stage last year.

Not so lucky was Discovery Channel, which lost climbing specialist Manuel "Triki" Beltran, who injured his knee in an early-stage crash and withdrew from the race a few days in advance of the race hitting the Pyrenees.

Top 10:
1) David Moncoutie, Cofidis, 4:20:06
2) Sandy Casar, Française des Jeux, at :57
3) Angel Vicioso, Liberty Seguros, same time
4) Patrice Halgand, Credit Agricole, s.t.
5) Jose Luis Arrieta, Illes Balears, s.t.
6) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas-Bianchi, s.t.
7) Axel Merckx, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
8) Juan Manuel Garate, Saunier Duval-Prodir, s.t.
9) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, at 3:15
10) Stuart O’Grady, Cofidis, at 3:15

Hushovd pulls on the green jersey, becoming the first Norwegian to wear it.

All the overall contenders, including white jersey Alejandro Valverde, polka-dot jersey Michael Rasmussen, and yellow jersey Lance Armstrong, finished in a bunch 10:33 behind Moncoutie.

Robbie McEwen showed he hasn't given up on the green jersey, taking the field sprint for 14th.

Vinokourov battles back for stage win

T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov takes Stage 11 with a tremendous day-long breakaway. Spending much of the break with former teammate Santiago Botero, Vinokourov repaired some of the damage done to his GC hopes in Tuesday's Stage 10.

The stage victory is the first for T-Mobile, whose director said Tuesday night that the team "are just not any good."

Christophe Moreau moved up into 3rd place in the overall with a sprint for the finish line bonus points. Bobby Julich finished 4th on the day.

Botero moves up into 6th for his day-long efforts, and Vinokourov moves into 12th, at 4:47.

Overall race leader Lance Armstrong lost a little more than a minute to Botero and Vinokourov, but further roasted a number of former GC hopefuls.

The autobus topped the Galibier just after the leading group finished the stage.

Stage Top 10:
1) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, 4:47:38
2) Santiago Botero, Phonak, at :01
3) Christophe Moreau, Credit Agricole, at 1:15
4) Bobby Julich, CSC, same time
5) Eddy Mazzoleni, Lampre-Caffita, s.t.
6) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, s.t.
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
8) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner
9) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank
10) Georg Totschnig, Gerolsteiner

Valverde takes Stage 10; Armstrong smokes the field!

It may have been a look at the past, present and future of the Tour on Stage 10. Alejandro Valverde, the next big thing in Spanish cycling, was one of only 3 men who could stay with Lance Armstrong's acceleration after the Discovery team thinned the herd with a wicked tempo. Yaroslav Popovych showed why Discovery sees him as Armstrong's successor: He was the last support rider for Armstrong, and lifted the team's pace high enough to spit out all but about 15 riders. When Armstrong moved to the front, he instantly dumped 10 more, including T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich and Andreas Klöden. Ivan Basso was able to ride with Armstrong for a while, but Armstrong lifted the tempo in the last few miles of the climb, and found himself with Rabobank's revelation Michael Rasmussen and two Illes Balears riders, Francisco Mancebo and Alejandro Valverde. In the last kilometer, Rasmussen tried a few probing attacks, easily countered, and then Armstrong went hard along the right barricades. Valverde was the only rider who could hold him, and he rode Armstrong's wheel right to his first career Tour de France stage win. 1) Valverde 2) Armstrong, s.t. 3) Rasmussen, at :09 4) Mancebo, same time 5) Basso, at 1:02 6) Levi Leipheimer, at 1:15 7) Eddy Mazzoleni, at 2:14 8) Cadel Evans, same time 9) Andreas Klöden, same time 10) Andrey Kaschechkin, same time 11) Floyd Landis, s.t. 12) Leonardo Piepoli, s.t. 13) Ullrich, s.t. 14) Jorg Jaksch, at 2:19 Rasmussen is sitting 2nd with lots of mountains still to climb. He's got to be considered a real GC threat. Valverde will probably move into the top 5. Roberto Heras lost more than 10 minutes on the day. Mark him done.

Weening nips Klöden for stage win; Armstrong isolated

Rabobank's Pieter Weening took a terrific win as the Tour de France finally hits some real climbs.

Weening was the last survivor of a long breakaway. His lead dropped to as little as 10 seconds on the chasing group of Tour contenders, but he was reinvigorated when Andreas Klöden of T-Mobile came across the gap and took most of the pulls into Gérardme.

As the line approached, Klöden and Weening wound it up, and it took race judges to determine the winner: from the photo finish, it looked like a dead heat. Liggett says it was estimated he won by 2 millimeters!

Armstrong was isolated -- Hincapie, Savoldelli, Popovych: All these guys fell off the group that mattered on a 2nd Category climb. That's a big surprise.

Armstrong: "For whatever reason, I was left alone -- we didn't have a great day as a team."

Vladimir Karpets takes the white jersey from Yaroslav Popovych; Michael Rasmussen took the polka-dots from Fabian Wegmann.

T-Mobile has got to smell blood in the water with Ullrich, Klöden and Vinokourov all surviving to the end against a lone Armstrong.

Top 10:
1) Pieter Weening, Rabobank
2) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, same time
3) Alejandro Valverde, Illes Balears, at :27
4) Kim Kirchen, Fassa Bortolo, same time
5) Jens Voigt, CSC, same time
6) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, same time
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
8) Christophe Moreaus, Credit Agricole, s.t.
9) Chris Horner, Saunier Duval-Prodier, s.t.
10) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, s.t.
...
17) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
...
19) Michael Rogers, Quick Step, s.t.
20) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel, same time

Azevedo and Hincapie were back at 1:25, while Savoldelli, Padrnos, Rubiera and Beltran were at 2:57.

This shakes up the GC, as well:

1) Armstrong
2) Voigt, at 1:00
3) Vinokourov, at 1:02
4) Julich, at 1:07
5) Basso, at 1:26
6) Ullrich, at 1:36 (his first appearance in the top 10 this year)
7) Carlos Sastre, CSC, at 1:36
8) Hincapie, at 1:47
9) Klöden, at 1:50
10) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 1:50

Dave Zabriskie came in 179th on the day, at 1:01:13, but survived elimination for another day.

McEwen sneaks by for Stage 7 win

Magnus comes up short
from BBC Sport

Things were dicey in the finishing sprint today, as some of the big-name sprinters found themselves slowed by another crash, this one 200 meters shy of the line, involving Angelo Furlan of Domina Vacanze and Isaac Galvez of Illes Balears.

Robbie McEwen, who has terrific positional awareness on the bike, once again picked the right place to be, and sprinted for the 7th Tour stage win of his career.

TdFblog favorite Magnus Backstedt, trailing McEwen up the right side of the field, couldn't match the Aussie champion's finishing kick, and took 2nd on the day. Backstedt, winner at Paris-Roubaix in 2004, was the first Swede to win a Tour stage back in 1998.

McEwen moves up to third in the green-jersey race, but says he's already out of the overall points competition after race judges relegated him for rough riding in Stage 3. On the road today, points leader Tom Boonen mixed it up with Thor Hushovd, sitting in 2nd in the competition, and beat Hushovd over 2 intermediate sprint lines and the finish line, to increase his lead in the competition to 11 points, 133 to 122, with McEwen at 96.

Fabian Wegmann's long breakaway earns him the polka-dot jersey -- the last cheap climber's jersey of the race. Tomorrow, there are four 3rd category climbs and a 2nd category climb in a 231.5-km stage from Pforzheim to Gérardmer.

Bernucci takes demolition derby; Vinokourov grabs some time

Hometown boy Christophe Mengin, the final survivor of a long breakaway, slid out of the stage's last turn, taking all the race's A-list sprinters with him. Looked like he hit the crosswalk paint, which was wet and slick. One by one, Jaan Kirsipuu, Allan Davis, Tom Boonen, Robbie McEwen, and Stuart O'Grady all stacked up against the barricades.

The late stage crash gave the win to Fassa Bortolo's Lorenzo Bernucci, who had followed T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov on an attack out of the field. Bernucci and Vinokourov, riding immediately behind Mengin, were able to correct their line, avoid the pavement paint, and stay upright, with Vinokourov pulling his inside foot off the pedal just in case.

UPDATE 12:08 pm Eastern Race officials initially posted wrong standings for the day; there are a few wire stories going out with the wrong results. Here are the new standings, posted around noon Eastern:

official Tour site:

1) Lorenzo Bernucci, Fassa Bortolo, 4:12:52
2) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, same time
3) Robert Forster, Gerolsteiner, at :07
4) Angelo Furlan, Domina Vacanze, same time
5) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole, same time
6) Kim Kirchen, Fassa Bortolo, same time
7) Gianluca Bortolami, Lampre-Caffita, same time
8) Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, same time
9) Gerrit Glomser, Lampre-Caffita, same time
10) Kurt-Asle Arvesen, CSC, same time
...
16) Bobby Julich, CSC, same time
...
19) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, same time
...
25) Santiago Botero, Phonak, same time
30) Michael Rogers, Quick Step, same time
31) George Hincapie, Discovery, same time
32) Lance Armstrong, Discovery, same time
...
36) Chris Horner, Saunier Duval-Prodir, same time
...
42) Floyd Landis, Phonak, same time
43) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, same time
...
50) Iban Mayo, Euskaltel-Euskadi, same time

GC:
1) Armstrong
2) Hincapie, at :55
3) Vinokourov, at 1:02
4) Jens Voigt, CSC, at 1:04
5) Julich, at 1:07
...
9) Ullrich, at 1:24

McEwen gets a stage win

McEwen takes the stage
AP Photo/ESPN

Robbie McEwen found the right wheel today, shadowing Quick Step's Tom Boonen almost to the line, then outpowering Boonen to a stage win.

McEwen's victory salute may not go down with Juan Antonio Flecha's archer, as he repeatedly pointed with both hands at his chest. Yes, we get it, Robbie, you won a stage, even after the mean judges said you didn't work and play well with others.

Boonen was 2nd and Thor Hushovd of Credit Agricole 3rd on the stage. Stuart O'Grady continues to be near but not quite in on the action, taking 4th on the day.

Flecha himself, now riding for Fassa Bortolo, was in the day's longest breakaway, along with Lampre's Salvatore Commesso, Credit Agricole's Laszlo Bodrogi, and Liquigas-Bianchi's Kjell Carlstrom.

McEwen, twice the Tour's green jersey overall winner, said earlier this week that he thinks he's out of that competition after being relegated to the back of the field when he interfered with Stuart O'Grady at the end of Stage 3. He sits 4th in the points competition with today's win, 45 points behind Boonen.

Top 10 (all in 3:46:00):
1) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
2) Tom Boonen, Quick Step
3) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole
4) Stuart O'Grady, Cofidis
5) Angelo Furlan, Domina Vacanze
6) Allan Davis, Liberty Seguros
7) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux
8) Baden Cooke, Française des Jeux
9) Jens Voigt, CSC
10) Robert Förster, Gerolsteiner

I still don't get what's going on with FdJ: You don't get bonus points for having extra guys near the front of the sprint.

Saunier Duval-Prodir's Constantino Zaballa withdrew today, the first rider out of the 2005 Tour.

No significant changes in the GC, but we have a new lanterne rouge, the imaginary competition for the last-placed rider: After Janeck Tomback of Cofidis rode into the hay bales with 4 kilometers to ride, he lost 2:21 on the stage, and took over last place, 13:13 behind Lance Armstrong.

Zabriskie falls out of yellow jersey, Armstrong takes the lead

Zabriskie checks
his bike after fall
AP Photo/ESPN

David Zabriskie's yellow jersey reign came to a sudden end this morning, as Zabriskie crashed hard with a little more than 1 kilometer to ride in the team time trial.

Discovery Channel turned in a strong performance, perhaps not as dominant as in recent years, but enough for the stage win, and to put Armstrong in yellow, as the TTT has the last couple of years. Their average speed of 57.31 km/hour smashes the old record held by Gewiss-Ballan from 1995, which was 54.93 km/hour. They finished with all 9 riders, underlining the top-to-bottom strength of their squad.

Organizers had added a rule after Gilberto Simoni slid into the barriers right at the end of last year's TTT, and finished 6 seconds behind his Saeco teammates. He was timed at 2:42 behind US Postal vs. 1:30 artificially capped for the rest of Saeco, so the new rule gives riders who fall in the last kilometer the same time as the group they were riding with. Unfortunately, Zabriskie's fall came outside of the last kilometer, so Zabriskie falls to 9th overall, 1:26 behind Armstrong.

T-Mobile rode a surprising strong ride, to take third on the day, and limit Jan Ullrich and Alexandre Vinokourov to 30 seconds lost on the stage. Vino is the most highly placed GC threat to Armstrong, at 1:21, but Ivan Basso is now at 1:26, and Ullrich at 1:36. T-Mobile came in with 6 riders together.

Phonak was (correction) 5th, capped at 50 seconds, so Floyd Landis drops to 1:50 back; Phonak finished with the minimum 5 riders.

Gerolsteiner must be glad for the cap: without it, Levi Leipheimer would have lost 45 seconds more than the 80 seconds their 8th place gives them. He's now 2:31 off Armstrong's pace.

Also:

letour.fr | Intermediate timing | Overall standings after Stage 4

Boonen again! Takes Stage 3 into Tours

Tom Boonen confirmed he's the favorite for the green jersey this year, exploding out of a catfight to take the stage win.

Boonen actually used McEwen as his leadout man, while Credit Agricole was trying to build a train for Hushovd, trailing Jaan Kirsipuu with 100 meters to ride.

McEwen really leaned hard into Stuart O'Grady, and race officials "relegated" McEwen to the back of the field for his frustration-driven maneuvering.

Top 10:
1) Tom Boonen, Quick Step
2) Wrolich, Gerolsteiner
3) Stuart O'Grady, Cofidis
4) Bernhard Eisel, Française des Jeux
5) Allan Davis, Liberty Seguros
6) Robert Forster, Gerolsteiner
7) Magnus Backstedt, Liquigas-Bianchi
8) Anthony Geslin, Bouyges Telecom
9) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole
10) Angelo Furlan, Domina Vacanze

Credit Agricole needs some new moves: Looked like they were executing exactly to plan, but Hushovd couldn't bring either the funk or the noise.

And I didn't see Baden Cooke: Are FdJeux switching off their sprinters, with Eisel one day, Cooke another, or is it every FDJ sprinter for himself?

Zabriskie will hold the yellow jersey into tomorrow's team time trial showdown, likely to be between Phonak, CSC, and Discovery. CSC will start last, and have intermediate splits for every other team, since the lead the team competition.

Erik Dekker takes over the King of the Mountains jersey, while Boonen holds the green sprinters' jersey and Fabian Cancellara hangs on to the white jersey for riders under 25. Boonen is sneaking up on Cancellara: He's now 3rd, 7 seconds behind Cancellara. Dekker also wins the red race numbers for most aggressive rider for the tremendous heart he showed trying to keep his break away to the finish.

Also:

cyclingnews.com | Full stage results

Boonen takes Stage 2, green jersey

Quick Step's Tom Boonen outsprinted the field to take the first sprint finish of the 2005 Tour.

The 25-year-old has had a terrific season, winning Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, two stages at Paris-Nice, and the Tour of Belgium. He took Stage 7 and Stage 21 of last year's Tour, as well.

One of the very interesting subplots this year is the battle for the green jersey: Boonen, Hushovd, and McEwen are the favorites, and Boonen takes the early lead in that competition.

Top 10 (all same time):

1) Tom Boonen, Quick Step, 3:51:31
2) Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole
3) Robbie McEwen, Davitamon-Lotto
4) Stuart O'Grady, Cofidis
5) Luciano Pagliarini, Liquigas-Bianchi
6) Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo
7) Peter Wrolich, Gerolsteiner
8) Jerome Pineau, Bouygues Telecom
9) Baden Cooke, Française Des Jeux
10) Allan Davis, Liberty Seguros

I was discounting O'Grady this year, but that's a pretty competitive placing.

There was a late crash featuring Samuel Dumoulin; I guess this is as good a time as any to note that the “last 1 km” rule is now a “last 3 km” rule, where riders who crash in the peloton in the last 3 kilometers get the same time as the main field.

Armstrong post-race quote:

“I figure the faster I pedal, the faster I can retire.”

Bodrogi moves up into 3rd on the GC, based on an intermediate sprint bonus.

Also:

Yahoo! Sport | Boonen scares Belgium by almost quitting

Zabriskie takes Stage 1, Armstrong passes Ullrich!

CSC's Dave Zabriskie took Stage 1 of the Tour de France, but his amazing performance will be somewhat overshadowed by Lance Armstrong's ride.

Zabriskie joins the elite fraternity of American yellow jersey wearers (I think only Armstrong, Lemond, Zabriskie), nipping Armstrong by 2 seconds in the 19 kilometer time trial, the fastest (non-prologue) in Tour history. He also becomes the first American to win a stage in the Vuelta, the Giro, and the Tour.

Armstrong showed that any concerns about his fitness are ill-founded, finishing 2nd on the day, and actually passing Jan Ullrich, who started one minute ahead, on the road. That means Armstrong is already 1:06 up on T-Mobile's team leader, and :51 on Vinokourov.

Four Americans in the top 6 riders. T-Mobile will be talking about whether they should switch horses to Vinokourov tonight.

Top 10 plus interesting riders:

1) Dave Zabriskie, CSC 20:51
2) Lance Armstrong, Discovery, at :02
3) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at :53
4) George Hincapie, Discovery, at :56
5) Laszlo Bodrogi, Credit Agricole, at :59
6) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 1:01
7) Fabian Cancellara, Fassa Bortolo, at 1:01
8) Jens Voigt, CSC, at 1:04
9) Vladimir Karpets, Illes Balears, at 1:05
10) Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, Liberty Seguros, at 1:06
11) Bobby Julich, CSC, at 1:06
12) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 1:08
...
14) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 1:13
...
20) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 1:26

Stage 20: Boonen tops the sprinters, Armstrong wraps 6th Tour

Tom Boonen of Quick Step took his 2nd stage win of the 2004 Tour, beating the surviving sprinters over the line on the Champs-Elysees.

Boonen got a great lead-out from teammate Stefano Zanini after teammate Paolo Bettini spent several laps animating a 10-man breakaway that gained 40 seconds on the Champs-Elysees.

Lotto-Domo's Robbie McEwen will take the green jersey with a 4th place finish on the day.

Stage 20 Top 10:
1) Tom Boonen (QuickStep)
2) Jean-Patrick Nazon (AG2R)
3) Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner)
4) McEwen (Lotto-Domo)
5) Zabel (T-Mobile)
6) Casper (Cofidis)
7) Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis)
8) Baden Cooke (fdjeux.com)
9) Massimiliano Mori (Domina Vacanze)
10) De Groot (Rabobank)

In the GC, Lance Armstrong has closed out his unprecedented win number 6. His mother is on hand to see it in a beautiful yellow dress, Robin Williams and Sheryl Crow are there, and a big enthusiastic crowd is there to see it. Also on hand are Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Richard Virenque has also set an all-time record, with his 7th King of the Mountains title.

Awarded the overall combativity prize for the entire Tour is also Virenque, so Quick Step has quite a day going. Filippo Simeoni doesn't finish empty-handed, as he was named the most aggressive rider of the final stage.

The white jersey goes to Russia's 13th-placed Vladimir Karpets of Illes Balears-Banesto, who won this contest last year with Denis Menchov.

The overall Top 10:
1) Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2) Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) at 6:19
3) Ivan Basso (CSC) at 6:40
4) Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) at 8:50
5) Jose Azevedo (US Postal) at 14:30
6) Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears-Banesto) at 18:01
7) Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) at 18:27
8) Carlos Sastre (CSC) at 19:51
9) Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) at 20:12
10) Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) 22:54

Complete overall standings are available over at RoadCycling.com.

T-Mobile goes home without a stage win, but did win the team standings, ahead of US Postal, then CSC.

Armstrong's 5th win nails down 6th Tour

Eurosport | Armstrong safe in yellow

Armstrong stomped his name all over this Tour today, taking his 5th individual stage win and nailing down an all-time record 6th consecutive Tour win.

In the words of the local sportscasters, it wasn't even that close. Armstrong missed two other stage wins by less than a second, coming second to Fabian Cancellara in the prologue, and finishing less than a bike length behind CSC's Ivan Basso at La Mongie. His US Postal team also took the team time trial.

As for Basso, he was unable to hold off Andreas Klöden of T-Mobile, who looks certain to continue T-Mobile's string of 2nd place Tour finishes. Basso trails Klöden by 21 seconds, but didn't lose enough time to fall from the podium, and will finish 3rd overall.

Jan Ullrich, locked in 4th, will finally learn what it's like to finish off the podium; in 6 prior appearances, Ullrich has a win and 5 2nd-place finishes.

French hero Thomas Voeckler will have to content himself with a closet full of white and yellow jerseys earned during the Tour. Illes Balears-Banesto's Vladimir Karpets beat him by 6+ minutes in the time trial to take over the white jersey for best rider 25 or under.

US Postal looks ready to ride another week, as 5 Postal riders were in the top 11 on the day: Armstrong 1st, Floyd Landis 4th, Jose Rubiera 9th, Jose Azevedo 10th, and George Hincapie 11th. Only Rabobank and US Postal still have all 9 riders in the race.

Armstrong still hasn't completely put to bed the rumor that he won't be back for next year's race:

After Stage 19 Saturday, Armstrong admitted that next year's calendar had yet to be determined.

But he also said this: "The Tour de France is the race that matters the most. And it's the one that I love the most."

"I can't imagine not being here."

And how about Bobby Julich, 5th on the day?

Mercado takes Stage 18

Juan Miguel Mercado of Quick Step launched from a 6-man breakaway with a few kilometers to go, then sprinted by Vincente Garcia-Acosta for the stage win. Garcia-Acosta was second, while Cofidis rider Dmitry Fofonov led in 4 chasers.

Sandy Casar made an attack late in the stage to try to move up in the white jersey, but Illes Balear-Banesto shut it down in support of Vladimir Karpets.

An incredible field sprint today goes to Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd, then green jersey Robbie McEwen.

Stage results:

1) Juan Miguel Mercado (Quick Step)
2) Vincente Garcia-Acosta (Illes Balears-Banesto)
3) Dmitri Fofonov (Cofidis) at :11
4) Sebastian Joly (Credit Agricole) same time
5) Marc Lotz (Rabobank) s.t.
6) Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) s.t.
7) Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) at 11:29
8) Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) same time
9) Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) s.t.
10) Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) s.t.

McEwen hasn't quite locked up the maillot vert, but only Hushovd moved any closer.

Points:
1) McEwen 238
2) Hushovd 227
3) Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) 221
4) O'Grady 215
5) Hondo 201

The only points still available are on Sunday at 2 intermediate sprints and the finish line.

Complete results are available over at RoadCycling.com.

Armstrong his 4th win; mark this one over

An incredible finish, as the hard climbs eliminated all but the contenders, and they had to shoot it out on the run-in to the finish.

Landis was the 1st to go, but the T-Mobiles saw a chance to gain on Basso, and pounced with 1 km to go. At 500 meters, Klöden sprinted for the line, but Armstrong was too strong, as he has been for the entire field, and took him at the line.

1) Armstrong
2) Klöden
3) Ullrich
4) Basso at :01
5) Landis at :13
6) Merckx at 1:01
7) Leipheimer at 1:01
8) Sastre at 1:02
9) Rasmussen at 1:02
10) Totschnig at 1:02
11) Azevedo at 1:02

GC
1) Armstrong
2) Basso at 4:09
3) Kloden at 5:11
4) Ullrich at 8:08
5) Azevedo at 10:41

Thomas Voeckler, at 21:12 back, has 45 seconds on Vladimir Karpets in the white jersey competition.

Based on the strong finish by Azevedo, Landis, and Armstrong, US Postal is now 2nd in the team competition to T-Mobile, who took over the lead from CSC, now 3rd, after yesterday's time trial.

There's also a new lanterne rouge, as Jimmy Casper of Cofidis now trails Armstrong by 3:43:48, slipping behind Credit Agricole's Sébastian Joly, who is 3:42:24 back. That's a closer race than for the race lead...

Armstrong takes Stage 16, concerned about fans

Yahoo! Sport - Armstrong wins crucial time trial to extend lead

Armstrong reiterated the danger he sees in having a TT on Alpe d'Huez, even though riders have escort cars that provide some shielding.

I had to listen to the stage instead of watching OLN, but one person commented that there were a lot of anti-Armstrong messages painted on the roads.

Hundreds of thousands of cycling fans and partygoers had lined the 15.5km route, making it hard for most of the riders to push their way through the flags and fans, some of whom insisted on running alongside the riders.

At one point Ullrich was even given a gentle push, however it simply served to destabilise the 30-year-old German rider and he had to correct himself in order not to fall.

However despite enjoying the win, Armstrong did not have kind words for some of the fans on the road.

"I don't think it's a good idea to have a time trial on the Alpe. It was scary. There were too many people, a lot of Germans, a lot of Belgians who weren't being too nice," he told French television.

"There were a lot of Americans as well."

Armstrong wins Alpe d'Huez TT; 3rd stage win of the Tour

Lance Armstrong absolutely scorched the climb to L'Alpe d'Huez, putting time into every rival with a 39:41 ride up the 15.5 km course. It was Armstrong's 19th individual career Tour win (21 with team time trials), and 3rd of this Tour.

The records for the climb of L'Alpe d'Huez actually cover just 13.9km of the climb, and Armstrong's time over that section was a 37:36, 1 second slower than the late Marco Pantani's record from 1997, and about 30 seconds faster than Armstrong's previous best time (both on road stages).

Post-stage, Armstrong said he thinks it's a bad idea to run the time trial on Alpe d'Huez, because of the number of campers and drinkers who could be dangerous.

Jan Ullrich, who couldn't know what Armstrong's time would be, led the way at every intermediate check, but Armstrong smoked those numbers, and Ullrich lost more than a minute on the stage, with a 2nd-best 40:42.

Armstrong actually passed Ivan Basso, who started 2 minutes ahead of him and clocked a 42:04.

T-Mobile's Andreas Klöden made up 42 seconds on Basso, and still might knock him out of 2nd.

Stage Top 10:
1) Lance Armstrong (US Postal) 39:41
2) Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) at 1:01
3) Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) at 1:41
4) José Azevedo (US Postal) at 1:45
5) Santos Gonzalez (Phonak) at 2:10
6) Giuseppe Guerini (T-Mobile) at 2:11
7) Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears-Banesto) at 2:14
8) Ivan Basso (CSC) at 2:22
9) David Moncoutié (Cofidis) at 2:22
10) Carlos Sastre (CSC) at 2:27

Two riders finished outside the time limit for the stage: Quick Step's Davide Bramati and Lotto-Domo's Aart Vierhouten, leaving 155 riders in the Tour.

Also under attack is Thomas Voeckler's white jersey. Voeckler now leads Vladimir Karpets of Illes Balears-Banesto by 3:33, and judging by their respective time-trial performances today, I doubt that will be enough in the long time-trial of Stage 19. Sandy Casar is also lurking, 4:24 back of Voeckler.

The new overall Top 10:
1) Armstrong
2) Basso at 3:48
3) Klöden at 5:03
4) Ullrich at 7:55
5) Azevedo at 9:19
6) Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears-Banesto) at 9:20
7) Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) at 11:34
8) Sastre at 13:52
9) Pietro Caucchioli at 14:08
10) Levi Leipheimer at 15:04

Armstrong takes 2nd stage win, moves into yellow

10 men with a chance:

Armstrong and Azevedo of Postal, Basso, Sastre, and Voigt for CSC, Kloden and Ullrich of T-Mobile, Rasmussen and Leipheimer of Rabobank, Richard Virenque of Quick Step.

Sastre, Voigt, Azevedo, Rasmussen, and Virenque have fallen off the back.

Down to Kloden, Ullrich, Basso, Armstrong, and Leipheimer.

500 meters to go; Leipheimer is off the back. The T-Mobile's are pushing the pace, now Basso has sprinted away, and Armstrong turns on full steam. Basso can't hold him off; Armstrong has his 2nd stage win of the 2004 Tour.

Stage 15:
1) Armstrong (US Postal)
2) Basso (CSC)
3) Ullrich (T-Mobile) at :03
4) Klöden (T-Mobile) at :06
5) Leiphimer (Rabobank) at :13
6) Virenque (Quick Step) at :48
7) Rasmussen (Rabobank) at :49
8) Azevedo (US Postal) at :53
9) Voigt (CSC) at 1:04
10) Sastre (CSC) at 1:24

It's Armstrong's 20th career stage win. Voeckler finished down 9:29, so Armstrong will take the 61st yellow jersey of his career, and start last in tomorrow's individual time trial up l'Alpe d'Huez.

Armstrong gains a little time on Ivan Basso based on the time bonus for the stage win.

GC Top 10:
1) Armstrong (US Postal)
2) Basso (CSC) at 1:25
3) Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) at 3:22
4) Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears-Banesto) at 5:39
5) Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) at 6:54
6) José Azevedo (US Postal) at 7:34
7) Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) at 8:19
8) Thomas Voeckler (Brioches la Boulangere) at 9:28
9) Pietro Caucchioli (Alessio-Bianchi) at 10:10
10) Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) at 10:58

Aitor Gonzalez takes Stage 14

Spain took its first win of the 2004 Tour de France, as Aitor Gonzalez of Fassa Bortolo timed an attack perfectly and time-trialed away from 9 other riders who had been on a long breakaway.

His break companions could only look at each other, waiting for someone else to reel Gonzalez in, while he rode through the streets of Nîmes to the finish. Nicolas Jalabert of Phonak bridged to Christophe Mengin of fdjeux.com when Mengin launched his attack, and Jalabert and Mengin finished 2nd and 3rd on the day.

1) Gonzalez
2) Jalabert
3) Mengin
4) Fedrigo
5) Wrolich
6) Lotz
7) G de G
8) Botero
9) Landaluze
10) Egoi Martinez
11) McEwen
12) Hushovd
13) Hondo
14) O'Grady
15) Zabel

Euskaltel squandered their numerical advantage in the breakaway, and their riders finished 9th and 10th on the day.

The field finished 14:12 back of the 10 man breakaway. As usual, Robbie McEwen came out of nowhere to take the field sprint, ahead of Thor Hushovd, then Danilo Hondo, Stuart O'Grady and Erik Zabel. McEwen picks up sprint points on all the major green jersey contenders.

No effect on the overall GC, the climber's jersey, or the white jersey today.