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And Ullrich in effigy, we think (our German translator has the day off)

Andy Rihs works his way through the crowd to make a delivery Friday morning

The view from the cockpit

New pedals, of course

The bike

Course: Any Pyrenean stage that goes over the mighty mountain passes of Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde and Portillon merits the greatest attention from the race favorites — even though this one then continues into Spain for another 40km to finish on the long, but gently graded climb to the Pla-de-Beret summit. If this Tour is going to be a free-for-all, then climbers who want to shoot for the polkadot jersey or a high GC placing must attack on this challenging day. So look for likely KOM candidates to infiltrate the breaks that are bound to form on the narrow, winding roads that precede the

Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer found the best way to save what could have been a disastrous day for American cycling in the Tour de France Thursday . Phonak team leader Landis took the yellow leader’s jersey, while Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) finished second to Russia’s Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at the end of this Tour’s most grueling and decisive stage yet. Landis began the day in third overall but stage 11 from Tarbes to Val d’Aran (Pla-de-Beret) in Spain saw the peloton split so decisively that just three men remained in the lead group that conquered the brutal 206.5km stage featuring five

When previewing Thursday’s stage 11, most riders and writers have said that the closing climb of 13km to Pla-de-Beret in Spain won’t cause major changes in the GC because it averages only 5.5 percent. For sure, it’s not as steep as other summit finishes in the Pyrénées, like Hautacam, Luz-Ardiden and Plateau de Beille, but when combined with the four climbs that precede it — the Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde and Portillon — the stage might cause more damage than expected. “This will be the most difficult stage ahead of the Alps,” said Floyd Landis, who’s now in fifth overall, 4:45 behind new

1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 206.5km in 6:06:25 (33.813kph)2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 00:003. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:004. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:175. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 00:176. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 01:047. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 01:318. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, 01:319. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:3110. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 02:29 11. Georg Totschnig (A), Gerolsteiner, 03:0612. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 03:0613. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 03:0614. Ramiro Ivan Ramiro (Col), Cofidis,

Savoldelli crashes on evacuationTwo-time Giro d’Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli crashed Thursday coming off the Pla-de-Beret climb following Thursday’s 11th stage and received 15 stitches to his right eyebrow. According to Discovery Channel team officials, it appeared a spectator struck the Italian in the eyebrow as he rode down off the narrow, twisting road after the end of Thursday’s climbing stage. He then crashed as a result of the contact. Savoldelli rode up to the team hotel holding a napkin to stop the bleeding to the cut above his eye. Blood was visible above the cut and the

With the high peaks of the Pyrénées behind them, the Tour’s remaining 165 riders set out Friday on three arduous stages across the south of France that will be made more grueling by temperatures in the 80s and 90s. The first of the trio is stage 12 from Luchon to Carcassonne. This hilly 211km stage looks made for breakaways — especially after Thursday’s savage race through the Pyrénées created huge time differences in the GC. Besides the certainty of attacks from riders now buried in the overall standings — and that unexpectedly includes the whole of the Discovery Channel team — the other

Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) took the first stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic on Wednesday. Emerging from an 18-man group made up almost entirely of Toyota-United, Navigators and Health Net Maxxis riders, Wherry rode steadily up a steep, mile-long climb to the summit of Pilot Butte, a scenic overlook just outside downtown Bend. Sergey Lagutin (Navigators) and Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis) finished second and third respectively, only seconds behind. The 91-mile Ironhorse-Brooks Resources Prineville road race started out calmly with only one escapee, Gordon McCauley (Successful Living),

Weather Partly cloudy in morning to sunny and partly sunny in afternoon, highs in mid-20sC Stage winnerDenis Menchov (Rabobank), 6h06:25, 33.814kph – Russian Menchov timed his downhill sprint perfectly to finish ahead of Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and Floyd Landis (Phonak). The 2005 Vuelta a Espana winner claims his first career Tour stage win in Race leader Landis, 2,057.1km, 41.723kph – Landis became the fifth American to wear the maillot jaune thanks to time bonuses. By finishing third in the stage, Landis picked up eight seconds in bonuses, the difference now between him and overnight

While no one was questioning the abilities of new Tour de France yellow jersey holder Floyd Landis, doubts about his team were a hot topic in the aftermath of stage 11’s dramatic trip to the summit of Spain’s Pla de Beret, Thursday. With 2006’s La Grande Boucle past the halfway point, Phonak has just one rider in the top 20. And outside a solid ride by Axel Merckx (22nd at 4:45), none of Landis’ teammates were anywhere near the finish line when the American received an emotional embrace from coach Robbie Ventura. No doubt the pair relished in the moment, but defending the GC lead through

It's not the peloton trudging up those mountain roads – our man Casey Gibson is out there, too, lugging around a few thousand pounds of cameras, cell phones and computers, so you can see Le Tour in action.

Trek-Volkwagen’s endurance duo of Travis Brown and Chris Eatough dominated Thursday’s sweaty marathon national championships race, held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. After disposing of Jay Henry (3D-Hillenbrand) on the third of eight laps, the two Trek riders spent the rest of the day riding together at the front. Brown was able to separate himself from cramping 24-hour champion Eatough midway through the final lap, and held his narrow 13-second advantage to the finish line. "The race was pretty conservative, but I felt totally dehydrated during the race, I drank 12 bottles

Ouch! Now, that was rude. 5200 meters (17,060 feet)of climbing over 207km. To add insult to injury, it was hotter than Hell out there today. Climbs, heat or whatever, the race was shaken up today big time and, truthfully, I am so dead right now I can't even think straight, so this will have to be brief. Here’s my quick and dirty stage wrap:Comeback of the day: Levi.Contender of the day: Floyd.Sure, Denis Menchov won, but I still think that Floyd will now be the man for this Tour. Carlos rode like we hoped that he would today and I think that he can ride to a podium place in this

Stage 11: Tarbes to Val d’Aran/Pla-de-Beret - 206.5km

Stage 11: Tarbes to Val d’Aran/Pla-de-Beret - 206.5km

Menchov wins a three-up sprint to the finish

Landis becomes the second American in this Tour to pull on the leader's yellow jersey

The fifth U.S. rider to wear a yellow jersey. Two have worn them to Paris. Will Landis be No.3?

GC hopes gone, Hincapie will hunt for a stage win

A look ahead: Back to the plains — and the heat

A look ahead: Back to the plains — and the heat

The work load falls to Phonak now

Menchov wins

Stage Stats: Stage 11 by the numbers

Stage Stats: Stage 11 by the numbers

Ag2r did great work defending Dessel's jersey

T-Mobile on the Col du Portillon: Too much for Klöden?

Boogerd set a brutal tempo

Leipheimer overcomes the problems of the past few days.

The early break on the Tourmalet

Tourmalet

Menchov wins the sprint... Landis gets those eight seconds.

Teammate Mayo has already abandoned, and Camano needs a push on the Portillon

De la Fuente shows the strain of leading on the Portillon

It would not be Hincapie's day

Landis, on the other hand, climbed right into the yellow jersey

Leipheimer recovered from his terrible time trial to finish second on the day

Stragglers climb through the pines in the Pyrenees

Popovych struggles to catch the leaders

No struggle here as a fan awaits the peloton on the Tourmalet

The Pyrenees wait ...

... and so does this spectator on the Tourmalet

Course: This is a much easier introduction to the mountains than in recent years. Instead of a mountaintop finish, the last of three climbs on this 190.5km stage across the Basque part of the Pyrénées is 42.5km from the finish in Pau. That means that riders dropped on the Col de Marie-Blanque will have a chance to chase back to the peloton. Breakaways will inevitably go clear on the rolling roads that precede the day’s major obstacle, the Col de Soudet, that climbs for almost 15km at over 7 percent, with some much steeper pitches on the upper reaches of the bumpy, narrow road that leads to

The first major climbs of the 93rd Tour de France served up some significant changes atop the leader board Wednesday; but the main contenders were content to keep a wary eye on each other — even when an early breakaway gained more than 10 minutes and fought for all the spoils of the three-climb, 190.5km 10th stage 10. From the original break of 15 riders, just two were left upon reaching the finishing straight in Pau after the demanding journey through the Basque part of the Pyrénées. Spanish rider Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) and Frenchman Cyril Dessel (AG2R) fought out a hard sprint in

1. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Agritubel2. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:003. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:564. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 02:245. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 02:256. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 05:037. Vasseur Cédric (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 05:358. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 07:239. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 07:2310. Stefano Garzelli (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 07:23 11. Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux, 07:2312. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, 07:2313. Riccardo Ricco (I), Saunier Duval, 07:2314. Mirko Celestino (I),

José Rujano - the diminutive Venezuelan who almost won last year’s Giro d’Italia in his grand-tour debut, placing third overall - is quietly waiting to uncork one in his Tour de France. The 24-year-old has endured the rough-and-tumble first week with his motivation and ambition firmly intact. Despite a slight fever late last week, Rujano says he’s anxiously awaiting the steep mountain roads of the Pyrenees and Alps, (he finished with the bunch including the favorites on Wednesday’s first day in the Pyrenees) At just 162cm and 50kg, “Joselito” is confident he can pull a surprise just like he

There’s never any shortage of technological intrigue at the Tour de France. With the race’s place atop the cycling world hierarchy, manufactures are eager to show off their latest and greatest. Take Hed, longtime supplier of the U.S. Postal and now the Discovery Channel team. At this year’s Tour, the American wheel maker added further depth to their TT wheel offerings, giving the Discovery team one more option. If there’s no wind, the deeper wheel is the choice. But if it’s windy or the course is hilly, the higher profile acts like the sale on a yacht, making the shallow profile the

The Tour de France continued to produce surprises Wednesday when Cyril Dessel became the first Frenchman to wear the yellow jersey in two years. Dessel’s moment in the sun comes just 10 days after his former Ag2r team leader, Francisco Mancebo, was thrown off the race following his implication in an ongoing doping scandal. Dessel is riding only his second Tour with Ag2r despite his seven-year professional career, which has been blighted by injury. Having been pulled out of the Tour squad 10 days before the start in 2005, when he was struck by appendicitis, the 31-year-old knows he has

Retired superstar Mario Cipollini may be full of praise for Robbie McEwen’s stage-winning speed at the Tour de France. But the Italian still believes he was a better sprinter than the Australian is today. Twenty-four hours after lauding the Australian, who now has 11 Tour stage wins to Cipollini’s career tally of 12, Il Magnifico said on Wednesday morning that he believes he remains the real master blaster. Cipollini spoke to VeloNews as riders were preparing for the start of stage 10 in Cambo–les-Bains just after he chatted with Belgium’s world champion Tom Boonen of Quick

From the morning sign-in at the start to the podium at the finish, Casey Gibson covers it all. Here's what he saw between the lines today.

WeatherCloudy to partly cloudy all day, fog on Soudet summit, temperatures in mid-20sC Stage winnerJuan Manuel Mercado (Agritubel), 4h49:10, 39.527kph – Spanish mountain goat Mercado outsprinted Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) after the pair snuck away in the day’s winning breakaway. Mercado won a Tour stage in 2004, but was otherwise unproductive in two years with Quick Step. The victory gives his wild-card team a big boost. Race leaderDessel, 1,850.6km in 43h07:05, 42.916kph – Dessel started the stage 28th at 3:50 back and now leads Mercado by 2:34. Ukraine Sergei Gontchar (T-Mobile) saw his

For the first time in 21 years, the top professional road cyclists from the United States, many of whom are currently racing in the Tour de France, will compete for the coveted stars-and-stripes jersey in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains over Labor Day weekend. The dual championship for road racing and individual time trial will be held in Greenville, South Carolina, and top Americans expected to compete are George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Dave Zabriskie (Team CSC) and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner). In coordination with USA Cycling Inc., Medalist Sports unveiled today a

Landis's drivetrain doesn't look standardDear Lennard,What's up with the crank used by Floyd Landis? And What about Landis's rear derailleur? It didn't look like a normal Record model.Chris Dear Chris,According to Francesco Zenere at Campagnolo, Landis's rear derailleur and Ergo Power levers are 2006 series Record models. And BMC made a special cover for Landis's Campy cranks for improved aerodynamic efficiency in time trials.Lennard What about Hincapie’s steerer in Paris-Roubaix?Dear Lennard,George Hincapie's bike had a blasted and black-anodized aluminum

The 2006 U.S. National Mountain Bike Championships kicks off today at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, with the 56-mile marathon cross-country. Always a favorite of endurance freaks, pain gluttons and adventure-style riders, Thursday’s race spins seven laps around the same 7.9-mile loop that will be used for Friday’s cross-country races. Race organizers admit that using the cross-country course for the marathon is not ideal. However, it is one of the many alternative plans that have arisen in the wake of the national championships being moved from Mammoth, California. Record snow

Stage 10: Cambo-les-Bains to Pau - 190.5km

Stage 10: Cambo-les-Bains to Pau - 190.5km

Mercado nipped Dessel at the line

Cofidis

A smaller profile Triple from Hed

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

David Millar's TT rig

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Thor Hushovd's Look

...with a well solid front end for sprinting

T-Mobile's Giant

It came down to these two.

T-Mobile on the Col de Soudet

A French leader of the Tour

The pride of France: Dessel becomes the first yellow jersey in two years... and he has the climber's jersey, too.

Sage Advice: Cipo' offers words of encouragement to Boonen

Rujano in his new team kit

Narrow road to the Soudet

Basque food at the start

Riding into the mist of the Pyrenees