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As the Tour of Colorado approaches the fourth race of the seven race series, several Tour of Colorado leaders are solidifying their hold on Overall Points. Joey Thompson of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory/Specializes leads Scott Tietsel, Jelly Belly and Dan Porter of the Rio Grande Racing Team in the Senior Men’s Pro, 1, 2 field. Defined Fitness Training rider Megan Hottman leads the Senior Women’s class and Nico Toutenhoofed of Excel Sports leads the Senior Men’s 35+ class.

Today was the first stage in this year's race where we hit some hills. After traversing Brittany we're now down into the heart of France and the mountains of the Massif Centrale.

Bob,
We have a little ride in Iowa called RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). A few years ago a cyclist hit a centerline crack and died. The widow sued the county, and a settlement out of court resulted in $300k to the widow.

There were two accidents that morning at the same location. A deputy was dispatched to the scene to warn riders, and put up cones. After some time at the scene, the deputy left and took the cones. Very soon after he did that, the tragic accident occurred.

The US Women's Cycling Development Program announces the latest recipient of scholarship bikes to Alicia Pastore of Durango, Colorado.  Besides all of Alicia's accomplishments on the road and mountain bike competing in the junior expert division as a 14 year old she was also the the top J2 girl in Nordic skiing in the Rocky Mountain Division and is a two time All - American at the Junior Olympics.  Alicia is also a 3.8 Honor Roll student at Durango High School.

Christian Meier (Symmetrics) made one of a professional cyclist's key transitions this week, swapping his U23 national title for the Elite men's road title. However, despite the support of the powerful Symmetrics squad, it was not an easy victory, with Bruno Langlois (VW-Specialized) surging back on the final climb to finish less than a bike length behind Meier. Meier's teammate Jacob Erker took the bronze medal, while David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast) finished seventh to win the U23 title on Sunday.

With 10km to go in stage 5 of the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish’s Team Columbia teammates drilled it at the front of the chaotic peloton, burying themselves to set up their British sprint star. With 150 meters to go — and early breakaway rider Nicolas Vogondy of Agritubel still barely clear of the chase — Cavendish lit it up and repaid his teammates with a dominant win ahead of Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Erik Zabel (Milram). Race leader Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) finished in the bunch to retain the yellow jersey.

Thomas Rohregger (Elk) took the yellow jersey as Ruslan Pidgornyy (LPR Brakes) won the third stage of the 60th Tour of Austria on Wednesday. Rohregger took third in the 183.7km stage from Kitzbuehel to Prägraten behind Pidgornyy and Robert Gesink (Rabobank), but it was just enough to replace Anker Chris Sorensen (CSC) as the overall leader. The CSC man slipped to third overall behind Rohregger and Pidgornyy.

CSC is not a Shimano-sponsored team. Instead, it buys the Shimano components it uses. You might be surprised that a team like CSC pays for its drivetrain components, but there are multiple reasons why it pays. The primary reason is because of other sponsor obligations, namely to FSA. But it has always been the team’s practice to pick and choose the parts its director Bjarne Riis feels are the best. A byproduct of not being tied to a certain manufacturer’s parts is the ability to experiment.

There’s no arguing that this year’s Cascade Cycling Classic is filled with world-class talent. Two world champion time trialists took the men’s and women’s wins in Wednesday’s stage 1 Prineville Road Race in Bend, Oregon: Colombian Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo Lifeforce). Both part of large breaks in their respective races – Botero in a group of 12 and Armstrong in a group of 7 – they each left their competition behind on the final climb to the finish on Pilot Butte.

The French fans finally saw a real sprint finish Wednesday — resulting in a superbly confident first Tour stage win for Team Columbia’s young Manxman Mark Cavendish — but his well-placed GC teammates, along with the other race favorites, are already looking ahead to the next three stages through the low mountains of the Massif Central. Besides heading into the hills Thursday, the riders will be racing into summer temperatures as the Tour now heads south before arriving in the Pyrenees on Sunday.

Sun and a screaming tailwind made for what was one of the easiest days on a bike this year. We'd all prepared mentally for a hour-plus head smashing today before the break would go clear, especially after the relatively quick launches the past few, but people once again seemed content to relax. Twenty minutes of flying down wide open roads and when a few guys got a small gap the field was quick to sit up, yells to chill all around. A few minutes slow, a huge "nature break" as they call it on the radio here, and we settled in for a long one.

Wednesday’s 232km stage from Cholet to Chatearoux might have been the fifth stage of this 2008 Tour de France, but in many respects it was a day of firsts. It was the first hot, sunny day of a Tour that began in the rain and cold winds of Brittany — weather that seemed to follow the peloton wherever it traveled. Stage 5 was the first day spent in the malliot jaune for Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher, an unlikely hero who seems as surprised as everyone else to find himself leading the world’s biggest bike race.