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Moreni leaves the Tour in the company of the gendarmes

Rasmussen extends his lead with a stage win

Leipheimer and Contador took second and third on what the former said may have been the hardest Tour stage he's ever seen

The race leader with four days to go

The first break

Rinero and the boys at work

The Sastre quartet

. . . which became a trio

Contador attacks . . .

. . . and attacks again, to no avail

And there's your winner

Riders from eight teams staged a sit-down protest against doping before the start of the 16th stage of the Tour de France here Wednesday. The protest, organized by six French and two German teams, was triggered by the news 24 hours earlier that pre-Tour favourite Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive for blood doping. When the stage got underway the riders carrying out the demonstration waited for the rest of the peloton to move off before getting on their own bikes to tackle the last of three days climbing in the Pyrenees. AG2R's French cyclist Christophe Moreau described the

Despite tepid support from fans, race organizers, fellow riders and even his own team, Michael Rasmussen is just one steady time trial away from winning the 2007 Tour de France. The beleaguered Dane, who's been dogged by doping allegations since taking the yellow jersey on stage 8, strengthened his grip on the race lead Wednesday after his convincing win of stage 16's 218.5km ride from Gourette to the top of the hors categorie Col d'Aubisque.

COURSE: Only four days from the Tour finish, this final stage with a summit finish could see a spectacular showdown. It includes the extremely steep climb over the Col de Larrau (14km at 8 percent) into Spain, the return to France over the Pierre St.Martin (14km at 5.2 percent) and the short, sharp Marie-Blanque (9km at 8 percent) before heading up the longest, steepest side of the mythic Col d’Aubisque (16km at 7 percent). Only the strongest will be left to contest the stage — and the Tour. HISTORY: Although a stage has never finished on this (longer) western side of the Col d’Aubisque, a

Results - Stage 16 (Orthez Gourette - Col D’aubisque)1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 6:23:212. Levi Leipheimer (Usa), Discovery Channel , at 00:26 3. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 00:35 4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor - Lotto, at 00:43 5. Mauricio Soler Hernandez Juan (Col), Barloworld, at 01:25 6. Haimar Zubeldia (Esp), Euskaltel - Euskadi, at 01:52 7. Jose Cobo Acebo Juan (Sp), Saunier Duval - Prodir, at 01:54 8. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 02:12 9. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 02:27 10. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 02:27 11. Yaroslav

Weather: Much warmer, highs in upper 80s in lower valleys, cooler on summits, almost no clouds, moderate tailwinds on both sides of the Pyrénées Stage winner: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) imposed his will on the peloton on more time. His Rabobank team rode expertly to keep a short leash on a five-man breakaway featuring podium challenger Carlos Sastre (CSC), who was reeled in with 10km to go. Rasmussen calmly countered one-two punches from Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador with his own lethal attack with under 1km to go. The victory is his second of this Tour and the

Michael Rasmussen was celebrating his victory in Wednesday’s epic climbing stage that all but secured the yellow jersey, but no one else was. The Tour de France race leader was repeatedly booed during the 218.5km march across the Pyrénées by angry cycling fans frustrated by a string of credibility-killing doping scandals that threaten to overwhelm the Tour. The Rabobank captain admitted he heard the taunts as he attacked to victory atop the Col d’Aubisque to take a commanding 3:10 lead over Alberto Contador with just four days left in the 2007 Tour. “It did happen during the stage. I

Italian rider Cristian Moreni woke up Wednesday just five days away from finishing the Tour de France as a member of the French Cofidis team — one of seven teams that had just announced a new rider’s organization geared towards cleaning up the sport, and kicked off its existence with an anti-doping protest at the start of stage 16. Moreni ended his day in the back of a police car at the top of the Col d’Aubisque, charged with using testosterone and breaking France’s tough laws against using and trafficking in doping products. The 35-year-old former Italian champion admitted to administering

It looks like there won’t be a miracle finish for Alberto Contador in the 2007 Tour de France. The 24-year-old Spanish phenom’ was the only rider within shot of race leader Michael Rasmussen, but Contador’s legs faltered on the beyond-category steeps of the Col d’Aubisque as the Dane darted away in the final kilometer to win his second stage and further tighten his grip on the yellow jersey. Contador coasted across the line in third, 35 seconds back and quickly tipped his hat to the superior Rabobank rider. “I started today’s stage to try to win the Tour but now I end it seeing that my

It looks like there won’t be a miracle finish for Alberto Contador in the 2007 Tour de France. The 24-year-old Spanish phenom’ was the only rider within shot of race leader Michael Rasmussen, but Contador’s legs faltered on the beyond-category steeps of the Col d’Aubisque as the Dane darted away in the final kilometer to win his second stage and further tighten his grip on the yellow jersey. Contador coasted across the line in third, 35 seconds back and quickly tipped his hat to the superior Rabobank rider. “I started today’s stage to try to win the Tour but now I end it seeing that my

Levi Leipheimer said today's stage may have been the hardest one he's ever seen in a Tour de France, and it may have been the one that determined the podium in Paris. Casey Gibson was there — here's what he saw.

UCI chief Pat McQuaid has applauded the Rabobank team's decision to pull race leader Michael Rasmussen out of the Tour de France on Wednesday. However, McQuaid said he wondered why the Dutch outfit had waited so long before acting on information about the Dane having missed four random doping controls, which they knew about prior to the race. "I wonder why they did not make the decision in June when they had the information (about the missed tests)," said McQuaid. "However, it shows a zero-tolerance policy, and I can only applaud it." Despite having no positive tests so far, the

Organizers of the Amgen Tour of California, scheduled for February 17-24,unveiled the names of cities slated to host stages for the 2008 editionof the event on Wednesday. For its third year, the eight-day tour will include 700 miles of racing(up from 650 in 2007) and be hosted by 12 official stage start and finishcities, including three new locales – Modesto, Palo Alto and Pasadena –that will join Sacramento, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, SantaClarita, Santa Rosa, Sausalito, Seaside and Solvang as host communitiesalong the route."We are committed to making the Amgen Tour of

Stage 16- Orthez to Gourette (218.5km)

Stage 16- Orthez to Gourette (218.5km)

No respect: Rasmussen is not getting the cheers he had hoped for.

This is not the way Moreni - or his teammates - expected his day to end.

Contador fought hard, but knows he will not overhaul Rasmussen

The young Spaniard had plenty of fans on the climb today

When you're really tired, even an asphalt mattress will do

Hmm . . . y'think these folks are Aussies?

Burghardt discussing Sunday's T-Mobile decision with the home folks

Chavanel getting a bottle pull on the climb, his last at this year's Tour

Horner on a rather steep pitch

Hoste hosing down his legs on the final climb

Patrick Lefevre was one of many interviews at the start this morning

Leipheimer leads Rasmussen and Contrador up the Aubisque

Leipheimer takes a pull for Contador, and almost takes down Rasmussen

Denis Menchov is blown after his work for Rasmussen

Barloworld's Juan Soler, claiming the undisputed KOM jersey

These little fans don't care about the doping

Fleeting glory? Rasmussen celebrates a win just hours before the illusion vanished.

Rabobank's Bergsma meets the press

The Tour of California is rapidly becoming an early season favorite.

The Dutch Rabobank team has declared its support for its captain Michael Rasmussen, who is only days away from what could be a controversial victory in the Tour de France. Rasmussen has been under suspicion of doping since the Danish Cycling Union(DCU) revealed he had been given formal warnings for missing two random controls run by the Danish anti-doping agency earlier this year.

Despite the extensive gap in his 2007 racing calendar, Ivan Dominguez left no doubt during this year’s Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho, that the 31-year-old Cuban has returned to form. Dominguez flew out of the final corner of the course, lined with 25,000 spectators, after a textbook leadout from Toyota-United teammate Caleb Manion. It was his second NRC-level victory and his first win in this year’s USA CRITS Series after having been sidelined from racing following a crash during May’s Tri-Peaks Challenge. Dominguez says he’s finally feeling like his old self again. “I was

Jesus. I was having a great rest day that came on the heels of a successful race for myself and for our team. We went for a nice ride through the countryside, had a team press conference that ended without one negative question. Then we had a good lunch. Heck, I didn't even mind the out-of-competition blood and urine tests that our team conducted. Around 2:00 or so I took a nap and after about 30 minutes, I heard all this ruckus in the hall and my phone started to burp, gargle and ring. What the hell is going on? I finally answered a call from the States of all places, and my friend

French customs stopped and searched a car from the Astana cycling team at a tollgate near Toulouse on Tuesday. Astana, which is financed by the Kazakh government, had withdrawn from the Tour de France earlier on Tuesday after the revelation that their lead rider, Alexander Vinokourov, had been found to be blood doping. Police later turned up at their hotel and raided their premises and team bus, leaving with several black bags. Vinokourov had already left by the back door of the hotel. Toulouse general prosecutor Paul Michel told AFP that a team car had been stopped just before 2100 GMT

Perhaps Alberto Contador is just too young and too green to realize precisely what he is on the cusp of achieving if he can drop Michael Rasmussen for good on the slopes of the Aubisque. At just 24, he’s already being hailed as cycling’s next Lance Armstrong (or Miguel Indurain, in the Spanish press). Contador hopes to live up to the pedigree in Wednesday’s decisive climbing stage culminating on the HC steeps of the Aubisque. “I have nothing to lose,” Contador said during Tuesday’s rest day, the Tour’s second. “I will risk all to attack Rasmussen and try to win the Tour,” he

The following story first appeared on VeloNews.com in connection withthe Tyler Hamilton blood doping case in September of 2004. On Tuesday,Astana's Alexander Vinokourov joined Hamilton and Santiago Perez as theonly riders ever to test positive for homolgous blood doping using a testdeveloped by Australian researchers at Scienceand Industry Against Blood-doping. - Editor How times change. Just last week, EPO was the talk of the town. Now you can’t open the sports page without reading something about transfusion blood doping. Sport doping is going old school. Out with the new, in with the

French police officers departed the team hotel of the disgraced Astana team in Pau late Tuesday carrying a number of bags and cases, but refused to make any comment. More than a dozen police officers had arrived at the hotel following the news of Alexander Vinokourov's positive test for blood doping, which has led to the team bowing out of the race at the organizers' request. The Astana team, the team's bus, and several team vehicles were still at the hotel. Some of the riders and team staff were also present. Police had initially arrived carrying a number of sports bags. It is

Police collect trash from Astana's hotel in Pau.

Klöden watches the press. The press watches Klöden.

On my way to the press room in Pau today I decided to take a quiet country road rather than the highway. I stopped to fill up with diesel. It’s cheaper than unleaded gas but a tank still cost $68. After paying I noticed a small local newspaper in the gas station’s rack. The front page headline read: “Le Tour en péril?” That question was going through my head on reaching this rest-day press room, which is set up in the Palais Beaumont, an elegant pastel-painted palace with a terrace looking out toward the high peaks of the Pyrenées. The moment I arrived, a press conference that featured race

Levi Leipheimer is closer than ever to realizing his lifetime goal of reaching the Tour de France podium, but the Discovery Channel captain said Tuesday he’s prepared to sacrifice those dreams to help Spanish climbing sensation Alberto Contador win the maillot jaune. With Contador and race leader Michael Rasmussen expected to duke it out for the yellow jersey in Wednesday’s decisive climbing stage across the Pyrénées, Leipheimer said he will put the team’s interests ahead of his own. “If there’s a chance to win the Tour with Alberto, we have to make some sacrifices,” Leipheimer said during

Astana team manager Marc Biver said he had confidence in the blood doping test which has snared his star rider Alexander Vinokourov and caused a scandal at the Tour de France. Biver was speaking only hours after being told that 33-year-old team leader Vinokorov, the winner of two stages on this year's race, had tested positive for homologous blood doping. If a test on his 'B' sample also tests positive, it means that Vinokourov has injected red blood cells from a compatible donor to enhance his performance. "We can't condemn Alexandre until we know there has been a clear

The German T-Mobile team will learn on Sunday if the cellular phone company will withdraw its sponsorship, a spokesman announced on Tuesday. "We will consider things and make a decision at the end of this year's Tour de France," said T-Mobile communications director Christian Frommert, whose company has a contract to sponsor the team until 2010. It has been a difficult year for T-Mobile which terminated the contract of 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in July 2006 after he was linked to the Spanish Operación Puerto doping investigation. That firing led to a complete overhaul of

The Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) on Tuesday cleared Alessandro Petacchi of doping at this year's Giro d'Italia. The 33-year-old Italian sprinter escaped punishment despite being charged with the offense by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on July 4. CONI had recommended to the FCI that Petacchi be banned from cycling for 12 months. "It's one of the most beautiful victories of my life," said a jubilant Petacchi, who earned the points jersey and five stage victories in this year's Giro. "I wouldn't wish for anyone to suffer in the way I have because it was the

Double stage victor Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana)learned Tuesday that he had tested positive for homologous blood doping following his victory in last Saturday's stage 13 individual time trial. Vinokourov and his Astana team have reportedly withdrawn from the Tour. The 33-year-old had lost all chance of winning the Tour with a dismal performance in Sunday's 14th stage but then bounced back to take Monday's 15th stage in the Pyrenees. Vinokourov, whose performance in Monday's stage was feted in the French press with headlines such as the 'Courage of 'Vino'',

For the past four years, Californian Kathy Pruitt has traveled to the USA Cycling national mountain-bike championships as the odds-on favorite to bring home the jersey in the women’s downhill. And from 2004-06, the 2000 junior world champion saw her chances crash and burn —literally. In both 2004 and ’05, Pruitt flew off her bike and landed on her head while speeding down the rocky, dry course at Mammoth Mountain, California. Marla Streb and then Melissa Buhl were the primary benefactors — Pruitt finished second both years.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme and Amaury Sports Organisation president Patrice Clerc held a hastily assembled press conference in Pau Tuesday in reaction to the news that Astana’s Alexander Vinokourov had tested positive for homologous blood doping. Clerc began the press conference by explaining that he had spoken with Astana general manager Marc Biver by phone earlier Tuesday, and requested that Biver and the Astana team leave the race. Biver accepted the request without hesitation, Clerc said. Clerc was asked if the news of Vinokourov’s positive, combined with the cloud of

Rasmussen waves off reporters' question on Tuesday

Vinokourov tested positive for homologous blood doping after his time trial win on Saturday

Pruitt finally has her title

The women's DH podium

The pros hit the slalom course at twilight

Men's dual slalom champion Chris Herndon

Prudhomme and Clerc discussing a problem they'd thought they'd put behind them.

Barring catastrophe on the bike or unforeseen events off it, the 2007 Tour de France has become a two-man race with five stages to go. The combatants are yellow-jersey holder Michael Rasmussen and rising star Alberto Contador, who for the second day in a row waged an epic battle on the steep slopes of the Pyrénées.

Saunier Duval's David Millar has hit out at Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen, claiming in Monday's edition of L'Equipe that he had ruined the race. Scotland's time trial specialist, who came 20th in Saturday's race against the clock, said Rasmussen's failure to give notice to cycling authorities of his whereabouts for out-of-competition testing had spoiled things for the whole peloton. During the last week it emerged that the Danish Cycling Union (DCU) decided in June not to select Rasmussen for September's world cycling championships and the Olympic

French custom agents searched at least four team buses Monday in surprise inspections as the Tour de France wobbles into its final week with yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen dogged by doping allegations. Uniformed French officials waved over team buses as they rolled through a toll station along the A-64 highway, southwest of Toulouse. The team vehicles were driving an off-race route to the finish of stage 15. VeloNews saw buses from Team CSC, Astana, Rabobank and Discovery Channel being searched by French authorities. Bus drivers were told to open compartments, panel doors and other storage

Results - Stage 15 (Foix Loudenvielle - Le Louron)1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kz), ASTANA, 5:34:282. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-MOBILE TEAM, 0:513. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, 0:514. Cobo Acebo Juan Jose (Sp), SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR, 0:585. Manuel Juan Manuel (Sp), QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC, 2:146. David Arroyo (Sp), CAISSE D’EPARGNE, 3:237. Bernhard Kohl (A), GEROLSTEINER, 4:258. Christian Vandevelde (USA), TEAM CSC, 4:259. Ludovic Turpin (F), AG2R PREVOYANCE, 5:1610. Alberto Contador (Sp), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 5:31 11. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), RABOBANK, 5:3112. George Hincapie

Switzerland's supreme court on Monday gave authorities the green light to hand over details of Jan Ullrich's Swiss bank accounts to German magistrates examining doping-related offenses. The Federal Tribunal rejected an appeal by the 1997 Tour de France winner against the judicial assistance from Switzerland, where Ullrich was resident and licensed with the Swiss cycling federation. Ullrich retired in February having been sacked by Team T-Mobile last year when he was linked to the Spanish Operación Puerto doping investigation, which has also engulfed several other riders since May

Saunier Duval rider David Millar has hit out at Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen, claiming in Monday's L'Equipe newspaper that the Dane had ruined the race. Scotland's time-trial specialist, who came 20th in Saturday's race against the clock, said Rasmussen's failure to give notice to cycling authorities of his whereabouts for out-of-competition testing had spoiled things for the whole peloton. During the last week it emerged that the Danish Cycling Union (DCU) decided in June not to select Rasmussen for September's world cycling championships and the Olympic

Michael Rasmussen is fending off tremendous pressure both on and off the bike as the Tour de France leader pushed one day closer to overall victory after surviving Monday’s five-climb march across the Pyrénées. The Dane fought off searing attacks from Spanish climbing sensation Alberto Contador over the Col de Peyresourde to maintain his lead of 2:23 on the maillot jaune going into Tuesday’s rest day. That was the easy part of his day that also saw the Rabobank team bus searched at a toll station by French customs officials. Dogged by allegations and innuendo, Rasmussen is trying to stay

Weather: Unsettled weather, overcast, with gusting winds and heavy fog on the summits, sunny in valleys, brisk winds Stage winner: How many times can Alexander Vinokourov come back in one Tour de France? Vino crashed on stage 5, and lost time in the Alps only to win the stage 13 time trial. The Kazakh appeared to be reborn, then faltered mightily on stage 14, losing almost 30 minutes and suffering a second crash due to an errant spectator. Looking to again salvage his Tour, Vinokourov initiated the day’s main breakaway, and whittled it down through repeated attacks until he cracked his

Though Predictor-Lotto’s Cadel Evans still sits third on the general classification heading into Tuesday’s rest day, the Aussie lost another 56 seconds to race leaders Michael Rasmussen and Alberto Contador on Monday’s stage 15 and is beginning to show signs of cracking. For Evans, the emotional strain of watching his hope to win the Tour slide into a desperate attempt to preserve a podium position landed him in tears following Sunday’s stage and left him expressing doubt after Rasmussen and Contador again rode away from him on Monday’s climb over the Col de Peyresourde.

Another big day in the mountains and race leader Michael Rasmussen and his nearest rival, Alberto Contador, put more time on their challengers. Still the big story of the day was the resurgence of the man who was nearly left for dead on the roads of stage 14. Once again, Alexander Vinokourov came back from a bad day and took a big victory in Loudenville. Our man Casey Gibson was there to record it all.

Vino' claims his second stage of the 2007 Tour