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... as his team monitored the gap.

Closing the gap, however, fell to other teams.

And the chase almost succeeded.

Stage Stats: Stage 14 by the numbers

Stage Stats: Stage 14 by the numbers

Course: At 230km, this is the longest stage of the race, and together with the likely fast pace and baking hot weather, it could be one of the most grueling, too. It starts at Béziers on the Mediterranean seaboard before cutting across the southeast corner of the Massif Central on winding back roads that are constantly dipping and climbing through the foothills. The critical part of the stage comes with 60km to go, from where the race twists through the spectacular canyons of the Ardèche and Ibie rivers and crests two Cat. 4 climbs before emerging onto the N.102 highway with 25km to go.

The Tour de France saw two more teams, CSC and Caisse d’Épargne-Illes Balers join Discovery Channel in turning around their problem-stricken 2006 campaigns into face-saving celebrations on Saturday’s stage 13. The 230km stage from Béziers to Montélimar, the longest of the race, was won in a two-up sprint by evergreen German Jens Voigt (CSC) while breakaway companion Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Épargne) profited from their half-hour winning margin to take the yellow jersey from American Floyd Landis (Phonak). The outcome, was an incredibly fitting one, coming as it did 24 hours after the

Ryan Trebon has made a name for himself as one of the fastest starters on the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series circuit — the 6-foot, 7-inch rider likes to fire his afterburners early, and then try to hold on. Sometimes the tactic pays off — Trebon took the NMBS No. 3 short track at Mount Snow, Vermont, by soloing off the front early. However, more often than not, Trebon’s early suicide attacks have fizzled out long before the finish line. So when Trebon took a flyer on the first of four 7.9-mile laps during Friday’s national mountain-bike championships at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,

Good friends, albeit from different teams, took the spoils on Friday in the 87-mile men’s Cascade Lakes Road Race. Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) won stage 3 of Oregon’s Cascade Cycling Classic while Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis), his Salt Lake City friend and training partner, moved into the overall lead. In the 75-mile women’s race, which was staged at the base of Mount Bachelor, 12 miles down the road from the men’s start, Kristen Armstrong (Lipton) won a sprint finish from Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Cooking Light) and Mara Abbot (Rio Grande). MenThe action in the men’s race started

1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 230km in 5:24:36 (42.513kph)2. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 00:003. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 00:404. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:405. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Milram, 06:246. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 29:577. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 29:578. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 29:579. Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux, 29:5710. Arnaud Coyot (F), Cofidis, 29:57 11. Marco Velo (I), Milram, 29:5712. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 29:5713. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 29:5714. Luca

Victor Hugo Peña had a front-row seat to three of Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories and now he believes he’s about to witness another with his old U.S. Postal teammate Floyd Landis. Peña rode in support of Armstrong in 2001-03 at U.S. Postal Service and now he’s working to push Landis to his first Tour win. “I believe that Floyd can win this Tour,” Peña told VeloNews before Saturday’s start. “We have to take it day by day and see how things unfold, but the team is motivated to help him win. We believe he can win.” Peña, racing in his fourth Tour, became the first Colombian

What a difference a day made for Discovery Channel. The glum faces following Thursday’s setback in the Pyrenees were replaced with smiles following the victory in Stage 12 by Yaroslav Popovych. VeloNews caught up with Discovery Channel assistant sports director Sean Yates to get the lowdown on the aftermath of Thursday’s Pyrenean meltdown. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews.com: What happened Thursday? The team couldn’t put its top riders into the front group, how much of a surprise was that? Sean Yates:We were hoping we’d have two guys in the selection. We were hoping George,

While you've been enjoying the weekend, firing up the BBQ and maybe downing a brew or three, Casey Gibson was galloping through France alongside le Tour, chronicling the day's action. Here's what he sent back across the pond.

If you believe Phonak team director John Lelangue, then the events of Saturday’s 230km stage 13 run from Beziers to Montelimar were all part of the master plan. Lelangue brushed off the notion that letting the yellow jersey go was a gamble, reverting to his now-familiar mantra that the only thing that matters is the final outcome. Lelangue claimed that even before the peloton rolled out for another scalding day in the saddle, his team’s hold on the overall GC was not the No. 1 priority. “It was the strategy already in the morning on the bus,” explained the Phonak boss after team captain

WeatherMostly sunny, very hot again, high 35C Stage winnerJens Voigt (CSC), 5h24:36, 42.514kph – The German won his second career Tour stage in trademark panache, attacking in the Tour’s longest stage to win in a breakaway. The five-man breakaway started to dissolve under searing temperatures and counter-attacks late in the stage. Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) chased a long sprint from Voigt, but the German out-muscled him for the win. Race leaderPereiro, 2,498.6km, 59h50:34 – Spain’s Pereiro becomes the seventh rider to hold the yellow jersey, just one man short of the record eight

In the Tour of California, there was a guy with a sign on the side of the road that read “Jens for president.” After today, I would vote for him. He got the job done. Jens’s campaign would consist of free Play Stations for everyone no matter what age and probably a bit of communism, just because its easier. If you haven't guessed by now, Jens won today 30 minutes in front of the peloton. He pummeled himself into a break away, like he does almost every day and then rode 200km with four other guys on the hottest day of the Tour. He deserved the win today like no other. Jens is a bit

Saturday’s long, hot and laborious stage 13 across the deep south of France was debilitating for everyone at the Tour de France. And it was no surprise that a small group of riders deep in the general classification successfully conducted a breakaway of more than 200km — even though few expected Floyd Landis and his Phonak team to let the break gain half an hour and hand their former teammate, Oscar Pereiro, the yellow jersey. While Pereiro, stage winner Jens Voigt and their companions averaged a solid 42.5 kph on the rolling course between the Mediterranean and Rhône Valley, the peloton,

Stage 13: Béziers to Montélimar - 230km

Stage 13: Béziers to Montélimar - 230km

Voigt edges Pereiro to take his second-ever Tour stage.

Trebon on his own

Gould's visualization pays off

The new leader of the Tour

Meet The Press: Phonak director John Lelangue explains why losing the jersey is no biggie

Phonak at the team introduction on Saturday morning.

Floyd looks serious... and a little bored.

Axel had his fans there.

Leipheimer on his way to the sign-in

Once the break formed, these guys put on some serious time.

A sky-box at le Tour.

Gibson makes a point of not repeating the typical TdF sunflower photo and opts for lavender, instead

Landis may have to store the yellow one for a day or so

Landis wants to wear this into Paris. Who has it before that, doesn't really matter.

Lelange meets reporters after Phonak handed off the jersey

Stage Stats: Stage 13 by the numbers

Stage Stats: Stage 13 by the numbers

Voigt gets the stage; Pereiro gets the jersey

Jens gets in the break...

... and delivers when it counts.

Hincapie - like everyone else in the peloton - had a slow day in the saddle.

Phonak took it slow and easy.

Gontchar doing something many in the peloton did Saturday.

Hot and scenic

Scenic and hot

Landis took a gamble, expecting to take the jersey back in the Alps.

A look ahead: GC battle likely in stormy weather on Sunday

A look ahead: GC battle likely in stormy weather on Sunday

Course: There are no major climbs on this first of three transitional stages between the Pyrénées and Alps, but that doesn’t mean it will be an easy day. Stages like this often give rise to long breakaways that succeed, especially when the weather in this southern part of France is hot and sticky. Any break that develops in the hilly opening two-thirds of the stage will need to get at least a 10-minute lead if it has any chance of holding off the pack on the straighter roads and flatter terrain of the final 70km. History: An almost identical stage from Luchon to Carcassonne in 1962 was won

Discovery Channel earned back some pride Friday with a timely stage win from Yaroslav Popovych just 24 hours after the team’s overall chances for an eighth consecutive Tour de France victory melted in Thursday’s rugged five-climb stage across the Pyrénées. With the odds of a Discovery rider winning in Paris in the realm of fantasy rather than reality, the team pow-wowed before the start of the torrid 211.5km stage 12 from Luchon to Carcassonne to formulate a new strategy for the second half of the Tour. The plan: Get into breakaways and attack for stage wins. The tactic worked superbly,

Jean Marie Leblanc, former journalist and long-time director of the Tour de France is gradually letting go of the race that he loves. Sharing director duties with his eventual successor, Christian Prudhomme, Leblanc says this is his last Tour - at least in an official capacity. VeloNews contributor Sebastian Moll had a chance to speak with Leblanc on Thursday and asked about the current state of the Tour de France and the legacy he hopes to leave. VeloNews: Jean Marie Leblanc, you experienced the 1998 drug scandal as a Tour director and the 2006 scandal as the Tour’s co-director. What were

1. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel, 211km in 4:34:58 (46.151kph)2. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 00:273. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:294. Christophe Le Mevel (F), Credit Agricole, 00:355. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 04:256. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 04:257. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 04:258. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 04:259. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 04:2510. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 04:25 11. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 04:2512. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, 04:2513. Axel Merckx (B), Phonak, 04:2514. Jimmy Casper (F),

Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung charged Friday that Jan Ullrich had been working with the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes for much longer than was originally revealed in the recent Operación Puerto investigation in Spain. In it’s Friday edition the German newspaper published additional documents from the investigation of the Spanish authorities, suggesting that Ullrich used an assortment of doping products leading up to and during the 2005 Tour de France. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung claims to have secured a so-called “road book” from the office of Fuentes in which the dosage and duration of

Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) won Thursday’s 81-mile McKenzie Pass Road Race in dramatic fashion. Within a mile of the mountaintop finish, Zirbel launched an attack from a group of 12 riders, narrowly holding off second- and third-place finishers Sergey Lagutin (Navigators) and Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) at the line to claim victory in Stage 2 of the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon. On the first day of competition for the women’s field, Kristen LaSasso (Lipton) rode solo across the line to take the victory by nearly two-minutes over breakaway partner Kirsten Robbins (Victory

Following their blank-out on the big Pyrenean climbing stage on Thursday, Discovery Channel team boss Johan Bruyneel sat down his riders Friday morning to tell them "another Tour is beginning for us." Then just before the stage 12 start in Luchon, Bruyneel told Yaroslav Popovych to "go out and win the stage." And that’s just what he did. It wasn’t all joy for Discovery, though, because two of its nine riders left the race. Paolo Savoldelli, injured after colliding with a spectator while returning to his hotel from the Pla-de-Beret finish Thursday evening, was too dizzy to follow the pack on

In the end, it was just good TV. There will be no replacement for Lance Armstrong. The "Race 2 Replace" is over and no winner has emerged. Maybe it was simply too big a burden to place on the shoulders of Armstrong’s former Discovery Channel teammates. Maybe it was just a good way to sell advertising. Whatever the case, there were no regrets following the 2006 Tour de France’s brutal stage 11. In their hearts, members of America’s lone ProTour team knew they were just role players in a drama whose star had long ago ridden into the sunset. "Whether it’s good or not so good, as long as the

Happy Bastille Day! Our man in France, Casey Gibson, celebrated the holiday by shooting a few jillion more photos of Le Tour ... here they are.

WeatherMostly sunny, very hot once out of Luchon valley, high 41C Stage winnerYaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel), 4h34:58, 46.151 kph – The Ukraine shot away from the day’s winning four-man breakaway with 3km to go to win his first Tour stage of his career to ruin France’s Bastille Day. Race leaderFloyd Landis (Phonak), 2,268.6km, 42.042kph – Landis retained his eight-second lead to Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) to enjoy his first full day in yellow. There were no major shakeups in the overall standings beyond Popovych moving up from 23rd to 10th at 4:15 back. Green jerseyRobbie McEwen

The day after taking over the top spot at the Tour de France, American Floyd Landis got a surprise present Friday morning at the stage 12 start in Luchon when team owner Andy Rihs presented his star rider with a brand new yellow accented BMC SLC 01. The new ride includes yellow bar tape, yellow Speedplay pedals, yellow Powertap computer and yellow DT Swiss 240s front hub. Outside of the color changes, BMC head product manager Andrew James said it was the same bike that Landis has been riding in the Tour this far. It was James who actually got the bike to the race, driving 10 hours from

Stage 12: Luchon to Carcassonne - 211.5km

Stage 12: Luchon to Carcassonne - 211.5km

Popovych moves into the top-ten on GC, too.

Landis and Phonak didn't seem too worried about the break, as long as the gap stayed reasonable.

Popo' in the break

Phonak on the front

Landis in yellow

Oh, come on, like we weren't gonna whip one of these on you this year

Discovery rode smart in Stage 12, and will have to ride even smarter in the days ahead

Popo's win revived Discovery's hopes after its collapse in the Pyrenees

Hincapie in the first break

Landis leads the bunch past St. Vizier

Fans and photographers battle the crowds to get to the finish line

Popovych wins, just in front of his video image

Popo' is pooped, just past the line

But he came back to life on the podium

Millar, meanwhile, couldn't wait to pull that helmet off

Vande Velde sails across the line