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The white dot ensures proper positioning.

Someone else’s bar is under there.

While Italian heartthrob Filippo Pozzato earned a hard-fought sprint win in stage 5 of the Tour de France, Thursday's big news developed at the back of the pack, where pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov lost 1:20 to his fellow GC contenders after crashing hard with 26km to go in the testing 182.2km run from Chablis to Autun.

COURSE: Despite some early hills through the Burgundy and Côte d’Or wine country, this transitional stage closes with45km of long, flat roads into the center of Bourg-en-Bresse — where a mass sprint seems certain. Bourg is a city of 40,000 people that’s the capital of the Ain department. HISTORY: There has been just one stage finish in Bourgen-Bresse. That was in 2002, when stage 18 ended in a three-man sprint taken by Norway’s Hushovd from Frenchman Christophe Mengin and Denmark’s Jakob Piil. FAVORITES: Crosswinds may be a factor in splitting the peloton over the final hour of racing and

Stage 51. Filippo Pozzato (I), Liquigas 193km in 4:39:01 (39:67kph),2. Oscar Freire Gomez (Sp), Rabobank, at 0:003. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 0:004. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, at 0:005. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, at 0:006. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:007. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, at 0:008. Stefan Schumacher (G), Gerolsteiner, at 0:009. Bram Tankink (Nl), Quickstep-Innergetic, at 0:0010. Jerôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 0:00 11. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 0:0012. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, at 0:0013. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Sp),

Will there be a Spanish civil war between Alejandro Valverde and Oscar Pereiro to see who takes control of the Caisse d’Epargne team? The Spanish team starts this year’s Tour in what could be a delicate issue if the protagonists involved weren’t such carefree characters. The pair says there’s no tension between them and, from the ease at which they smile and joke when they’re together, you have to believe them. “The road will decide who we will ride for,” Pereiro told VeloNews before the start of Thursday’s stage. “If Alejandro is flying, then I will work for him. That’s not to say I’ve

>Weather: Mostly sunny, highs in the mid 70s, brisk crosswindsearlyStage winner: Italian glamboy Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) wonhis second career Tour stage in a spectacular finish to a wild rollercoasteracross rural eastern France. Only 74 riders finished in the front groupin a rough day for Astana as team leaders Alexandre Vinokourov and AndreasKlöden both crashed. Pozzato darted ahead of Oscar Freire (Rabobank)and Daniele Bennati (Lampre).Race leader: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) enjoyed his fifth day inyellow after making it over the day’s final climb with the leaders. A dangerousthree-man

Alexander Vinokourov knew he was going to have some tough days at this year’s Tour de France. The Astana leader just didn’t expect his first to come so early, or in the abrupt manner that it came. The tough Kazakh hit the pavement hard with 26km and the Cat. 3 Côte de la Croix de la Liberation remaining on Thursday’s stage 5. Though he was paced by six teammates, Vinokourov could not regain contact with the peloton and lost 1:20 to the race’s GC contenders. It was the second disaster for an Astana team leader on the stage, following Andreas Klöden’s crash into a ditch 75km from the end of

The Tour de France had exciting day, covering 182.2km from Chablis to Autun, with Fabian Cancellara (CSC) protected his jersey with a surprisingly strong ride. Our man Casey Gibson was there to capture some of the action.

Should the peloton have waited for Alexandre Vinokourov when he crashed in the heat of the battle with about 25km to go in Thursday’s fifth stage? There was some suggestion that the group should have eased up to allow the peloton’s top rider to rejoin the group, just as the peloton did in previous Tours such when Lance Armstrong crashed after tangling his handlebars on a fan’s musette in the 2003 Tour. “I remember back in the old days when a big champion like that would crash, the peloton might wait, like what happened with Armstrong in other Tours,” said stage winner Filippo Pozzato. “I

Which came first the chicken or the egg? What is better? Being physically or mentally exhausted? This is a serious question. Is it better to have tired legs from riding at the front all day for a week or because you haven't slept in a week, sitting bolt upright every time you dream that you are riding into the back of the guy ahead and your brakes aren't working? Personally I like the situation we are currently in, dictating the race, rather than having its terms handed to us by other teams. Really, it sucks having no impact on the race whatsoever and suffering from behind

The year is barely half over, but it's already been a busy one from a technical perspective. Campagnolo finally dropped the square taper for Ultra Torque, one of the smartest outboard-bearing, two-piece, bottom-bracket-and-crank combinations in the industry. And SRAM has sent its Force group to its first Tour de France while unveiling a premium performance group called Red. What about Shimano, you ask? Well, they’ve been busy, too. The company’s updated carbon wheels blossomed in spring, and an electric group and a prototype carbon crank appeared at the Dauphiné Libéré. All of these

Dear Readers,In mylast Legally Speaking column, we had a question from R.H. about ridingtwo abreast while pacelining in Pennsylvania. In this column, we have afew more questions about pacelining. First up is a question from readerG.F., who writes from Wisconsin to ask:Dear Bob,Thanks for your recent article on riding two abreast in Pennsylvaniaand New Jersey. I ride with a club in Wisconsin and we have had severaldiscussions on what is both safe and legal, in terms of riding etiquette. From your article about Pennsylvania and New Jersey I am projecting toour situation here in Wisconsin that

One year ago, how could I possibly have dreamed where my life would be taking me? I’m living in the shadows of Utah’s beautiful Wasatch Mountains beside the love of my life, Aleeza. This area is a bicyclist’s paradise. There are lots of great climbs through the mountains, bike paths and bike lanes throughout the city, and a big population of fellow cyclists. I love meeting people while I ride. It’s amazing what a “hello” can lead to. The other day, for instance, I got into a conversation with a guy I happened to ride past. He mentioned that he was a cinematographer and I told him a bit about

As a child I loved watching the videos of the champions in the wake of their teammates as they shredded the peloton while setting a violent tempo. To me, there was something unique about the complete physical sacrifice as they selflessly emptied their energy on the road for their teammates until they could no longer pedal fluidly. Lance Armstrong had eight riders who did this to the utmost every year for him, never questioning his leadership while totally devoting themselves to the goal of victory in Paris. In many ways they were the reason he won seven Tours with barely a hiccup. Riding on

For Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell), patience was truly a virtue on Thursday, as he jumped at just the right moment to pass a string of GC hopefuls and take the second stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Classic. He didn’t put enough time on Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), however, to keep him from slipping on the leader’s jersey when he came across the line just three seconds later.

Stage 6 - Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse - (199.5km)

Stage 6 - Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse - (199.5km)

Pozzato wins

Vino' stacked it at speed and crossed the line nearly 90 seconds down

Cancellara in yellow once again

Chavanel was a busy lad today, breaking away solo . . .

. . . and with company

With CSC declining to chase, pursuit was left to other teams, such as Caisse d'Epargne . . .

. . . and Rabobank

Leipheimer said the Tour's first hilly stage was a tough day in the saddle

Hincapie's still sporting some scabs from his earlier misfortunes

Zabel, meanwhile, is sporting the green jersey

Cheula chases his way up to the break

Klöden went down, and may be going out of this year's Tour

Pereiro expects no gifts this year.

Discovery's young phenom, Alberto Contador, poses for the photogs.

The War memorial in Chablis

The best idea yet for this doping mess.

After sign-in, Leipheimer heads back to the bus.

Hincapie talks to Andrew Hood.

Aussie fans in Chablis

Its Christmas in July when the Tour comes to your town.

Zabriskie leads the peloton through Nitry.

Chavanel leads Gilbert on the day's last descent.

Cancellara rode impressively to protect his jersey.

Shimano’s prototype carbon crank

It relies on the same system as the 2007 XTR crank, and has a tapered Octalink spline

A close up of the bottom bracket spindle, it uses the same bottom bracket as this year’s Dura-Ace crank

The non-drive arm is tapered and has a threaded adjustment knob

The outside of the non drive arm is threaded so a tool can be mounted for its removal

6. It looks sharp mounted up

You can see the aluminum spider between the rings

The non-drive arm, mounted and adjusted

Ronny Schulz’s rig with the electronic group

The right lever’s indicator window

The right lever

The left lever

The left indicator window

14. The battery pack

The front derailleur

16. The rear derailleur

Shimano’s new WH-7805 wheel with black double butted spokes

Shimano’s new WH-7805 wheel with silver bladed spokes

Two days after being caught behind the mass pileup on the run into Ghent, Thor Hushovd had a much better view of the finish line on Wednesday. Bolstered by a blistering leadout from Crédit Agricole teammate Julian Dean, Norway's No. 1 cycling star was first across the line in Joigny on stage 4 of the Tour de France.

COURSE: This should be the most decisivestage of the opening week on a course that traverses the Chablis wine regionand Morvan hills on its way through Burgundy. It resembles a race likeLiège-Bastogne-Liège and features one Cat.2, three Cat. 3and four Cat. 4 climbs. The narrow back roads, with their short steep climbs and twisting descents,continue all day, with a twisting 6km descent preceding the finish in Autun.This town of 18,000 has a Roman amphitheatre and a medieval cathedral amongits tourist attractions. HISTORY: Only one Tour stage hascome to Autun. That was in 1998, on the

After experiencing problems getting service to riders in need within the peloton, Bruno Gormand had an idea — why not devise an means of offering immediate neutral assistance to race leaders and serving as a liaison between the caravan vehicles and racers? And so he created Service Course, Mavic’s neutral race-support system. The first race handled by Mavic Service Course was the 1973 Paris-Nice, and since it has become one of the company’s most revered legacies. This year Mavic has three of its Service Course cars in the Tour de France peloton. VeloNews caught up with Nate Field, four-year

Stage Results1. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, 193km in 4:37:47 (41.687kph)2. Robert Hunter (Rsa), Barloworld, at 00:003. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, at 00:004. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, at 00:005. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 00:006. Gert Steegmans (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 00:007. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, at 00:008. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 00:009. Sébastien Chavanel (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 00:0010. Mark Cavendish (GB), T-Mobile, at 00:00 11. Marcus Burghardt (G), T-Mobile, at 00:0012. Ruben Perez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:0013.

Maybe it’s the long winter nights in his native Norway or perhaps he’s the peloton’s only practicing Buddhist. Thor HushovdBorn:January 18, 1978, in Arendal, NorwayHeight: 183cmWeight: 81kgTour de France Record:5 stage wins (1 in 2002, 1 in 2004, 2 in 2006, 1 in 2007)Points Jersey - 2005Vuelta a España2 stage wins (1 in 2005, 1 in 2006)Other Notable VictoriesGhent-Wevelgem (2006)Tour of Vendee (2004)GP of Denain (2004)Haribo Classic (2004)Paris-Correze (2001)Tour of Sweden (2001)Tour of Normandy (2001)Norwegian time trial Championships (2002, 2004, 2005) Norwegian road race Championships

Weather: Partly cloudy all day, but no showers, brisk southwesterly winds, highs in upper 60s Stage winner: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) came off an excellent lead-out from Julian Dean to win ahead of a fast-charging Robert Hunter (Barloworld) in the fourth-straight sprint finish. The victory is the Norwegian’s first since winning a stage in last year’s Vuelta a España. “The victory means a lot. I’ve been sick and had crashes all spring,” he said. Race leader: Cancellara enjoyed his fourth day in yellow but saw Hushovd claw within 29 seconds. Team CSC kept a five-man break on a short

After a brisk ride through the Brie and Champagne regions of France, Norwegian Thor Hushovd uncorked a ferocious sprint to win stage 4 of the Tour, and our man Casey Gibson was there to catch every drop. Prosit!

Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com-ParkPre) crossed the line alone on Wednesday to take the 92-mile first stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic atop Pilot Butte, just outside Bend, Oregon.

Stage 5 - Chablis to Autun (182.5km)

Stage 5 - Chablis to Autun (182.5km)

Hushovd wins

Mavic's Skoda

Field clocking in for the day's work

We have yellow Cannondale Caad 9 spare bikes equipped with SRAM Force

Because of all of the different clipless pedal options, spare bikes come equipped with toeclips and straps

The new Cosmic Carbone Ultimate is available should it be needed

As is the new R-SYS

The Chavenal escape

The break ticks along

The yellow jersey is unconcerned

And Xandio becomes the latest casualty of this year's Tour