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Oh so close: Hincapie finishes 0.73 seconds behind Hushovd

Zabriskie rounds out the top three.

Millar marks his return to the peloton

Savoldelli rides to an 8th place finish at 8:25

The turn out is as big as ever...

... with an occasional reminder of other things now and then.

What riders see at the start...

... and what they hope to see at the finish.

Chris Horner warms up...

... and on the course.

Christian Vande Velde

Levi Leipheimer

Landis trying to make up for that late start

Hincapie came so close.

Discovery's Jose Azevedo

Julich may have an unexpected role on CSC this Tour.

Zabriskie says he loves timed events more than any others.

The devil you say

Even the clock comes with advertising

Name that car

Weigh that bike

Here comes the caravan

Horner's seen it all before

Warming up

Really warming up

A few final adjustments

Same here

Evans heads out on a scouting mission

Meet the press

That's a lot of Bianchis

Phonak's time machines

Hincapie's TT bike

And the new Trek Madone

Michael Rogers's TT bike

Rujano in his new kit

The remaining CSC boys prepare for the day's work

Ready to roll

The Tour de France was thrown into its biggest crisis since the 1998 Festina scandal Friday following the suspensions of the men most favored to take the yellow jersey in this year’s edition. A day before the start of the race, the first since seven-time winner Lance Armstrong retired, organizers said even more riders could follow Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla in being suspended from the race by their teams. Earlier in the day, T-Mobile suspended 1997 winner Ullrich and his Spanish teammate Sevilla when fresh evidence from the ongoing Operación Puerto doping probe in Spain -

The following riders were named in the ongoing Opera?ion Puerto doping case by Spanish investigators on Thursday:

Astaná-Würth
Michele Scarponi (I)
Marcos Antonio Serrano (Sp)
David Etxebarria (Sp)
Joseba Beloki (Sp)
Angel Vicioso (Sp)
Isidro Nozal (Sp)
Unai Osa (Sp)
Jörg Jaksche (G)
Giampaolo Caruso (I)

CSC
Ivan Basso (I)

Caisse D'Epargne-Iles Baleares
Constantino Zaballa (Sp)

Saunier Duval
Carlos Zarate (Sp)

Ag2r
Francisco Mancebo (Sp)

"Sports could go down the road of the performance principle, where all that matters is success, by whatever means, at what cost. If we continue on that track, sports will become spectacle; and some people like that. But I think most of us who love sports will lose interest in it."— Thomas Murray, a bioethicist at the Hastings Center think tank and chairman of WADA's Ethical Issues Review Panel, in a story on ESPN.com Wave bye-bye, Thomas old boy. Sport — our sport, anyway — has already raced down that long and winding road, driven by a superhuman pair of legs powered by a godlike

On Thursday, before the Spanish authorities sent the black list of riders from Operación Puerto to the Tour de France organizers and the UCI, I started this column with the words, “Let the racing begin! Please.” Now that four top riders who appeared on that list — Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Francisco Mancebo and Oscar Sevilla — have been suspended by their teams and will not start the Tour, those words have taken on even more significance for everyone who loves cycling, and the Tour de France in particular. When La Grand Boucle’s 93rd edition finally gets under way Saturday, it will be with

Francisco Mancebo has reportedly decided to retire from cycling following his exclusion from the Tour de France by his Ag2r team Friday. A day before the start of the 93rd edition the 30-year-old Spaniard was suspended by his French outfit after he was named on a list of riders suspected of being involved in a blood doping network in Spain. The Tour will also be missing Germany's 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, his teammate at T-Mobile Oscar Sevilla, and recent Tour of Italy winner Ivan Basso, of CSC - all of whom are also implicated in what is being dubbed the biggest doping scandal to

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Embrace Tour, despite sport’s flawsEditor:The Tour de France is bigger than the riders who compete in it, but I'm concerned that the latest scandal will further tarnish an event that has struggled to come back from both the publicized scandals (such as Festina) and the persistent

Internet odds makers quickly reacted to Friday’s news that top riders Ivan Basso (CSC), Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) and Francisco Mancebo (Ag2r) have been excluded from the Tour de France by their respective teams after being named as suspects in the ongoing Spanish doping investigation, known as Operación Puerto. Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner, Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Épargne-Illes Balears) and Astaná-Würth’s Alexandre Vinokourov emerged as the two favorites, given odds of seven-to-two to wear the yellow jersey into Paris on July 23, while Amercans Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and

Lance Armstrong settled his libel case against a British newspaper over doping allegations Friday after winning a preliminary court ruling. The seven-time Tour de France champion sued The Sunday Times over a June 2004 article that referred to a book, "LA Confidential — The Secrets of Lance Armstrong." The High Court in London ruled in favor of Armstrong in a pretrial motion, saying the article "meant accusation of guilt and not simply reasonable grounds to suspect." Later, both sides announced that a settlement had been reached. Terms were not disclosed, but it means the case will not go

Statement from Johan Bruyneel-Team manager, Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team "On the eve of the 2006 Tour de France all of the Team Director's meetto decide on the current situation regarding the riders named in the Spanishdoping scandal. The directors unanimously decided to uphold the codeof ethics that was signed by all teams on January 1, 2005 which statedthat no team would allow a rider to compete while under investigation inany doping affair. This is certainly an unfortunate situation forall of professional cycling, not just those teams and riders involved.And even though the top

Spain’s ongoing doping investigation turned into an executioner Friday at the Tour de France, essentially decapitating the peloton’s hierarchy just 24 hours ahead of Saturday’s prologue start in Strasbourg. Pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) and Ivan Basso (CSC) were among nine riders from five teams who were ruled out of the 93rd Tour in what brought back bad memories of the 1998 Festina scandal. Others not being allowed to start are Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), Francisco Mancebo (Ag2r) and five members of Astana-Wurth: Sergio Paulinho, Isidro Nozal, Allan Davis, Alberto Contador and

The Astaná-Würth cycling team of Alexandre Vinokourov will not take part in the Tour de France due to the fact that five of the team’s nine Tour riders have been implicated in the ongoing doping probe in Spain. While Tour officials have not yet made an official statement, a revised race roster was issued late Friday evening and the Astaná-Würth team was not included. The team’s management firm later issued a statement saying it decided to pull the entire team after learning that the bulk of the squad was implicated in the scandal. That means the 93rd edition of the Tour will start with 20

30/06/2006: Press release : Puerto Operation : The UCI's StandpointHaving examined the EGB n°116 report which the Guardia Civil sent to the examining magistrate in the file "Operaciòn Puerto" on June 27th, 2006, the UCI considered that it results from this report that the following riders, registered to participate in the 2006 Tour de France, are questioned in this case:Sergio PAULINHOIsidro NOZALAllan DAVISAlberto CONTADORJoseba BELOKIFrancisco MANCEBOIvan BASSOJan ULLRICHOscar SEVILLAThe UCI underlines that the questioning does not mean that it is established that the above

Perhaps it’s premature to look ahead to the afternoon of July 23, 2006, when a new champion of the Tour de France will be crowned on the Champs-Élysées. Perhaps it’s naïve to look past the latest doping scandal to bring professional cycling to its knees. But for the continued popularity of our sport — which has never been at a higher point in the United States — we have to move on. It takes months, sometimes years before the judiciary resolves complicated cases like Operación Puerto; for instance the Cofidis team scandal of January 2004 is only going to court a few weeks from now, 30 months

The T-Mobile team, with its captain Jan Ullrich, had just turned on to the driveway of the Golf Hotel Plobsheim, when team director Olaf Ludwig's cell phone rang. On the other end of the line was team spokesman Christian Frommert, calling from the veranda of the posh resort, where the German media had assembled to await the presentation of the team’s Tour squad. Ludwig was told in no uncertain terms to make the bus driver turn around and leave ... immediately. It was a symbolic drive for Ullrich, who so often in his career had come so close to his goals but failed to reach them. This

Riis walks to a press conference after reaching his decision...

... but didn't make it to the podium.

Looks like this cartoon won't be out of date for a while

State of shock: Ullrich was devastated by the news

Vinokourov won't get to start on Saturday

Ullrich meets the press outside his hotel

Britain's David Miller admitted he will be harboring feelings of shame when he saddles up as a favorite in what could be a spectacular return to the Tour de France here Saturday. Millar's two-year ban for admitting to using the banned endurance enhancer EPO (erythropoietin) ended last week, giving him a chance to bid for victory in the 7.1km prologue which would hand him the race's famous yellow jersey. And while primed for a battle with the CSC team's time trial specialist David Zabriskie, an emotional Millar said the buzz of excitement he will feel will be tempered by

A cycling team at the Tour de France is a small autonomous universe thatserves as a lifeline to its nine riders. Its rigorous structure enablesthe riders to race worry-free. Each team’s amenities, however, dependson the budget. AG2R Prévoyance is a typical UCI ProTour team. Here,AG2R manager Vincent Lavenu lays out the organizational structure of hissquad’s operation.PERSONNELTour de France organizers handle hotel arrangements for 23 individualsper participating team. Other than that, each manager is free to put togethera staff that will ensure everything runs well for the team (for

Team Manager: Theo de Rooy51. Denis Menchov (Rus)52. Michael Boogerd (Nl)53. Bram De Groot (Nl)54. Erik Dekker (Nl)55. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp)56. Oscar Freire (Sp)57. Joost Posthuma (Nl)58. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk)59. Pieter Weening (Nl) Sponsor: Dutch bank2006 budget: $12.5 millionYear current sponsor started: 1996Former title sponsors: WordPerfect (1993-95), Buckler (1990-92),Super-Confex (1987-89), Kwantum (1984-86)Past Tours (as Rabobank): 11th participation, 14 stagewins, 1 King of the Mountains (Rasmussen, 2005)Trivia: Michael Rasmussen, last year’s King of the Mountains,finished

Team Manager: Marc Sergeant61. Cadel Evans (Aus)062. Mario Aerts (B)063. Christophe Brandt (B)64. Christopher Horner (USA)65. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus)66. Fred Rodriguez (USA)67. Gert Steegmans (B)68. Wim Vansevenant (B)69. Johan Vansummeren (B) Sponsors: Pharmaceutical group and Belgian national lottery2006 budget: $7.5 millionYear current sponsor started: 2005Former title sponsor: Lotto (1985-2004)Past Tours (as Davitamon-Lotto): Second participation,3 stage winsTrivia: Robbie McEwen leads the team with career victories,having topped the 90-win mark this year. But his veteran teammates areno

Team Manager: John Lelangue71. Floyd Landis (USA)72. Bert Grabsch (G)73. Robert Hunter (RSA)74. Nicolas Jalabert (F)75. Martin Perdiguero M.angel (Sp)76. Axel Merckx (B)77. Koos Moerenhout (Nl)78. Alexandre Moos (Swi)79. Hugo Victor Hugo (Col) Sponsor: Hearing systems manufacturer2006 budget: $10 millionYear current sponsor started: 2000Former title sponsors: NonePast Tours: Third participation, 1 stage winTrivia: The Swiss team riders have scored six stages wins inpast Tours, three by Santiago Botero and two by Floyd Landis (both in teamtime trials), who finished ninth last

Strasbourg, France (AFP) - Ag2r manager Vincent Lavenu said he will ban his team leader Francisco Mancebo from racing the Tour de France if the Spaniard's name appears on any official list of alleged blood dopers. The fallout from recent raids by Spanish police investigating a reported blood doping network led Thursday to publication in Madrid media of a 58-strong list which contains the names of some of cycling's biggest stars including Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso. All the riders on the list are alleged to be clients of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who after the recent raids is being

Strasbourg, France (AFP) - Ag2r manager Vincent Lavenu said he will ban his team leader Francisco Mancebo from racing the Tour de France if the Spaniard's name appears on any official list of alleged blood dopers. The fallout from recent raids by Spanish police investigating a reported blood doping network led Thursday to publication in Madrid media of a 58-strong list which contains the names of some of cycling's biggest stars including Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso. All the riders on the list are alleged to be clients of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who after the recent raids is being

Strasbourg, France (AFP) - Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso have been named in Spain's judicial investigation into blood doping, Cadena Ser radio station reported on Thursday. Both T-Mobile rider Ullrich of Germany and Italian Basso of CSC are hot, pre-race favorites for the July 1 to 23 Tour de France. Other riders named include Spaniards Joseba Beloki, Roberto Heras, and Francisco Mancebo, American TylerHamilton and Colombian Santiago Botero, according to Cadena Ser. The news was revealed after the judge in charge of the investigation lifted reporting restrictions on Thursday at the

Let the racing begin! Please.Everyone who loves cycling, and the Tour de France in particular, is praying that La Grand Boucle’s 93rd edition can get under way Saturday with no more distractions. But even before the ghastly tentacles of Operación Puerto reached out from Madrid to create a doping frenzy in Strasbourg, the Tour’s usual composure was already compromised. The glitzy, eve-of-the-race presentation of the 21 teams was moved forward to Thursday night to avoid a television clash with Friday’s first two quarter-finals of soccer’s World Cup in nearby Germany. And the prologue itself,

The Spanish cycling team of Kazakh star Alexandre Vinokourov, Astaná-Würth, will be on the start line at the Tour de France after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling on Thursday rejected an effort to ban the team from the race. The court decided to reject a request from the Tour's organizers to exclude Astaná-Würth from the race, which begins on July 1, after their former team manager Manolo Sáiz was linked with the Spanish blood-doping investigation currently engulfing the sport. CAS Judge Guido de Croock applauded the organizers’ commitment to ethics, but said there was no real

Click here to watch the video.

Millar says he will be 100 percent clean

When a team packs its bags

When a team packs its bags

Rabobank

Rabobank

Davitamon-Lotto

Davitamon-Lotto

Phonak

Phonak

Zabriskie has to be among the favorites to win Saturday's prologue

One victory - Vinokourov meets the press