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As the mountains of the Tour de France appear on the horizon, Italy's Ivan Basso is emerging as one of the dark horses of this year's race behind favorites Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich. Basso, who is 28th overall, just 1:17 behind the sixth-placed Armstrong after Tuesday's ninth stage, finished seventh last year, won the best young rider competition in 2002 and has the consistency needed to do well in the grueling three-week race. He has often been criticized for riding conservatively, but after moving to CSC this year he has promised he will go on the attack in search of a stage win

After a week and a half of relatively flat and smooth roads, the 2004 Tour de France is about to change significantly. By the end of tomorrow’s ninth stage, the general classification should have a whole new look, and though we may not know much more than we know right now about the relative strengths of the pre-race favorites, they will know. At 237 kilometers, Stage 10 is the longest of the 2004 Tour. While the climbs may not be the most difficult ones the riders will tackle this year, they will have to go over nine categorized climbs tomorrow, including the first one ranked as a category

Man, this was a tough day. Like I’ve said here for a few days, I am feeling a whole lot better on the bike, and I sure needed to be, because this was tough! I have to say I’ve never suffered as much on the bike as I did today for the first 40km of this stage. I just cannot remember ever doing a stage this fast on terrain like that. It was unbelievable today … absolutely unbelievable. Everyone in the peloton was just sprinting flat-out for the first 40km. Every attack drew some kind of response from the field, and people just kept attacking and attacking … and the terrain made it absolutely

The Mail Bag is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday feature on VeloNews.com, but will appear daily during the Tour. 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.What’s in a name?Editor:I wish all of the television commentators would learn to correctly pronounce Jose Azevedo's name. Portuguese does not have a silent “j.” It is pronounced as in French – not "Ho-say," but more like "Zhose"

STAGE 9 July 13 Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Guéret (99.424mi/160km)

STAGE 9 July 13 Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Guéret (99.424mi/160km)

STAGE 9 July 13 Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Guéret (99.424mi/160km)

McEwen is concerned about the climbing to come with a bum knee

Tour de Tech: Specialized's Full-on Carbon

Tour de Tech: Specialized's Full-on Carbon

Cipo's bike featured a bit of extra carbon

McEwen wins a mad dash to the line

Simeoni and Landaluze worked it to the bitter end

Voeckler's team masses at the front

Lance and the Posties just followed the wheels today

Voeckler hopes to stay in yellow

Before the start: Little did I know what the day had in store for me.

This one stuck: We were happy to see them go... for a while.

The missing rainbow

Australia's former world sprint champion Sean Eadie, nominated to race in Athens, faces a two-year ban after being accused Monday of drug trafficking in the latest doping scandal to rock the country's Olympic preparations. Cycling Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has issued Eadie with an infraction notice after customs officers reported intercepting a package addressed to him of banned and as yet undetectable drugs sent through the mail five years ago from the United States. Australian law at the time did not permit customs to inform cycling officials of its find, but it

Lance Armstrong enjoyed a relatively quiet rest day Monday, going on a morning ride and otherwise relaxing around the team hotel on the outskirts of Limoges. Tuesday opens three potentially explosive days in the Massif Central and Armstrong said he’s read for the fireworks to begin. Belgian television caught up with Armstrong as he returned from his training ride. VeloNews listened in: Question: You seem very relaxed after the difficult first week? Lance Armstrong: “More relaxed because it’s over, not because I’m more relaxed in general, just glad it’s over, I’m glad we didn’t have any

Two more riders were kicked out of the Tour de France Monday after race organizers received confirmation from Italy that the two men are under formal investigation for alleged drug infractions. Race director Jean-Marie Leblanc announced that Italian Stefano Casagranda (Seaco) and Slovenian Martin Hvastija (Alessio-Bianchi) had both been told not to start Tuesday's 160km ninth stage Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Guéret. Italian police are investigating charges that Casagranda bought EPO four years ago at Marostica, near Venice. Whereas authorities say they have a tape of Hvastija in his room

German cycling great Jan Ullrich threw down the gauntlet to five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on Monday, declaring that while the American might hold a 55-second advantage over him after the first week, it was nothing because the real Tour was about to start. The 30-year-old 1997 Tour de France winner took advantage of the rest day to lay down his challenge to end the American's bid for a sixth successive victory in the world's greatest cycling race. "The real Tour de France effectively begins now with its real stages," said the East German-born T-Mobile rider, referring to

Genevìeve Jeanson has been left off the Canadian Olympic team bound for Athens, according to The Toronto Star. The 22-year-old from Lachine, Québec, was dropped from the squad in favor of Manon Jutras, of Drummondville, Québec. Both riders have struggled this season, but Jeanson also has been dogged by doping suspicions, the perception that she is not a team player and recent allegations that her coach spat at another rider during June’s Canadian national road championships. Jeanson won the Montréal GP World Cup race on May 29, but raced poorly a month later at the Canadian championships

Top Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi has a cracked rib and is still suffering from a badly bruised shoulder, according to his Fassa Bortolo team doctor, and may miss out on next month's Olympics. Petacchi sustained the injuries when he crashed in last Thursday's fifth stage of the Tour de France. He and fellow ace Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) retired from the race on Friday. An X-ray in Italy on Monday revealed the damaged rib, though the doctor said he was more concerned by the 30-year-old rider's shoulder. "It will require around 30 days for it to heal," said Dr

American Tyler Hamilton has shaken off his freakish first week on the Tour de France to insist he can give former boss Lance Armstrong a run for his money in the battle for the yellow jersey. Hamilton, who rides for Phonak, is in a great position on the race's general classification - just behind Armstrong - after a week of mainly flat but troublesome stages, once of which sent him flying over the handlebars of his bike onto his back and head. Phonak’s time trial was also blighted by punctures, falls, and injuries that trimmed the squad to the bare minimum of five men, but it still claimed

Weight has always played an important role in cycling. Whether it’s bike parts or body weight, cyclists seem to be on a never-ending quest to lighten the total load they have to carry uphill. Yet, before cutting calories you should be aware that the relationship between body weight and performance is not as simple as it seems. Using power meters, it quickly becomes clear that reducing a rider’s weight, while retaining or improving his ability to produce power, leads to better performance in the mountains. However, being lighter isn’t always better. At a certain point, riders begin to lose

Hvastija at this year's Tour presentation

COURSE: Shorter and hillier than the previous day’s stage, but still on the winding roads of Brittany, this one is made for breakaways. Expect to see huge crowds in all the granite-built towns and villages. FAVORITES: With the riders taking a plane after the stage to the rest-day town of Limoges, expect them to race very fast. That could result in a tight sprint finish in the streets of Quimper. With a short finishing straight and bends before that, this one looks ideal for McEwen, Cooke or Nazon. HISTORY: There has been only one stage finish in Quimper. That was in 1991, when Aussie Phil

Dear Lennard,This isn't a technical question per se, but it's still got me scratching my head: why doesn't Lance have rainbow stripes on his sleeves like all the other former World Champions? Chris Dear Chris,He has had them on his jersey in the past. I expected him not to have them on the time trial suit and on the yellow jersey, but sure enough, he does not have it on his road jersey. I figured that since Nike prepared all kinds of special clothes for the Tour, including new versions of the Swift skinsuit for time trials and the HC jersey for mountain stages, maybe in the rush to produce

Crédit Agricole’s Thor Hushovd found himself celebrating for the second time in a week after winning Sunday's eighth stage of the Tour de France. After claiming the yellow jersey for a day on stage 2, the Norwegian road champion won Sunday’s 168km stage from Lamballe to Quimper with a strong, uphill sprint. Under a torrent of cold Breton rain, Hushovd defeated Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) and Germany's Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) in that order. Taking fourth place, but reclaiming the sprinters' green jersey from Australian Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis), was his compatriot Robbie McEwen

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS1. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, 3:54:222. Kim Kirchen (Lux), Fassa Bortolo, 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 00:004. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Lotto-Domo, 00:005. KlÖden Andréas (G), T-Mobile, 00:006. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:007. Laurent Brochard (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 00:008. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 00:009. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Phonak, 00:0010. Danilo Hondo (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00 11. David Etxebarria (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:0012. Allan Davis (Aus), Liberty-Seguras, 00:0013. Michele Scarponi (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:0014. Sergio

The Tour de France isn’t the only race going on in the world, and it’s not the only one suffering through a bout of evil weather, either. Just ask Italy’s Massimo de Bertolis and Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle, who fought through mud, ruts and bone-chilling rain to win the 2004 Mountain Bike World Marathon Championships Sunday in Bad Goisern, Upper Austria. In the men’s race, Dutchman Bart Brentjens took a solo flyer just 17km into the 106km race, building a lead of more than a minute over a five-man, Italian-driven chase group that finally caught the 1996 Olympic gold medalist just past the 50km

Tyler Hamilton, suffering from back pains after a crash on Friday, says he is relieved to be taking a day's rest before the Tour de France battle starts in earnest this week. The American, who finished fourth last year behind five-time champion Lance Armstrong, despite breaking his collarbone, said on Sunday he was not afraid of suffering. The many crashes during the wet and windy conditions of the first week had made him nervous, however. "Considered all the problems we had in the last couple of days, I'm happy we finished today," the Phonak team leader said at the end of the 168km

The first part of the Tour de France was “close to perfect” for five-time champion Lance Armstrong. The American, seeking an unprecedented sixth title, finished second in the prologue and won Wednesday's team time trial with his U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor team. And with the exception of the sixth stage, when he suffered cuts and bruises after coming off his bike, Armstrong managed to steer clear of the crashes that marked the first week. "I can't complain," Armstrong said on Sunday before traveling by plane to Limoges in central France. “We're in a good position. We don't have a

Green Bay Packer fans smile broadly whenever the snow starts falling during home football games. Their team thrives in those conditions because it’s the environment in which they live and train, but they suffer in the heat during away games in Phoenix, Arizona. Likewise, individual cyclists thrive in different conditions, and the weather can significantly influence their chances of winning. Thus far in the 2004 Tour de France, the weather has been unseasonably cold and rainy. Perhaps not coincidentally, we’ve seen riders from the colder regions of Europe winning stages. Norwegian Thor

The Mail Bag is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday feature on VeloNews.com, but will appear daily during the Tour. 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.Could Voeckler pull off an upset?Editor:I haven't heard of any real digging into the background of Thomas Voeckler, just that he is a decent all-around rider with some climbing ability. Could this be a Tour reminiscent of the Claudio

When Mike Creed won Thursday's road race to gain a nine-second overall lead at Bend's Cascade Cycling Classic, most teams didn't think that his U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor team could defend it with just four riders. But, even with Lance Armstrong and the other guys in France, Postal and Creed pulled out the overall win, making it official after Sunday's criterium in Bend's Old Mill District. Creed crossed the finish line with the first pack of riders, and his 30-second lead was never seriously challenged during the race, a 1.2km loop. "I'm sure all the other teams thought that we would

So what is it with these early breakaways that build up many minutes only to get reeled in before the finish? Why do the riders take off like that? Why does the pack let them go? In Sunday’s 168km stage from Lamballe to Quimpier, three riders – Matteo Tosatto (Fassa Bortolo), Ronny Scholtz (Gerolsteiner) and Jakob Piil (CSC) – got away and built a lead of nearly six minutes with 80km to go. It would not be their day, however; the peloton chipped away at that gap and eventually caught them with 10km remaining. In a stage race like the Tour, the riders in the peloton usually want a small

Italian Filippo Simeoni, who is a key witness in the trial of Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari, has confirmed his intention to take Lance Armstrong to court for defamation here at the Tour de France. Simeoni hopes to take the five-time Tour de France winner to court over comments made in Le Monde in July of 2003, when the American called the current Domina Vacanze rider a "liar" in the French newspaper article. The Le Monde article quoted Armstrong as saying that Simeoni had "lied" when he told investigators it was Ferrari who showed him (Simeoni) how to use the banned blood booster

STAGE 8 July 11 Lamballe - Quimper (106.881mi/172km)

STAGE 8 July 11 Lamballe - Quimper (106.881mi/172km)

STAGE 8 July 11 Lamballe - Quimper (106.881mi/172km)

Why no rainbow?

Hilfiker

It starts with an SRM

Thor hammers 'em again

Armstrong and his colleagues are ready for a rest

C.A. did much of the chase work. This time, it paid

The usual escape with - as usual - Jakob Piil in the mix.

Ullrich: Watching and waiting

COURSE: A year ago, stage 7 was the first day in the Alps,meaning that the sprinters’ chances of stage wins had already been puton hold. This year, the sprinters have at least three more bites of thecherry, including this rolling stage to the northern coast of Brittany. FAVORITES: A breakaway could well succeed, as one did on a similarstage into Brittany two years ago won by Rabobank’s Karsten Kroon. Maybe his teammate Erik Dekker will come though this time or perhaps a Frenchman like AG2R’s Laurent Brochard or La Boulangère’s Didier Rous. HISTORY: There have been eight stage finishes in

Filippo Pozzato did for his Fassa Bortolo teammates Saturday what their celebrated-yet-absent leader Alessandro Petacchi could not: Win a stage at this year’s Tour de France. With Petacchi back at home nursing injuries from a crash in the fifth stage to Chartres, Pozzato's stage 7 victory gave the Fassas much cause for needed cheer going into week two of the Tour "I didn't think it would be my day, but I was hoping to win the stage. After Alessandro left the race yesterday it kind of gave us the freedom to go out there and do our own thing," explained Pozzato, who joins prologue winner

A pair of North American criterium specialists — Gord Fraser of Health Net-Maxxis and Nicole Freedman of Team Basis — showed their stuff Friday night at the Cascade Classic twilight criterium in downtown Bend, Oregon, taking field sprints in front of a festive downtown crowd. The respective races shared a few similarities: Neither had significant breakaways; both were won in field sprints; and both were won by former winners at the USPRO criterium championships in Downer’s Grove, Illinois (Freedman in 2001, Fraser in 1999). While there were time bonuses on the line in the women’s race —

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS1. Filippo Pozzato (I), Fassa Bortolo, 4:31:342. Iker Flores (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:003. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears-Banesto, 00:004. Laurent Brochard (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 00:105. Hinault Sébastien (F), Crédit Agricole, 00:106. Michele Scarponi (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:107. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:108. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, 00:109. Scott Sunderland (Aus), Alessio-Bianchi, 00:1010. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 00:10 11. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 00:1012. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:1013. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus),

The young Italian Filippo Pozzato (Fassa Bortolo) scored a great win in the 204.5km stage 7 from Chateaubriant to St-Brieuc. He rode hard, but more importantly, he rode smart, applying his energy just when it was necessary. The race was thrown into a bit of disarray when the peloton was split in two with 45km to go. While all of the general-classification leaders were at the front when the split happened, it probably had an unsettling effect on the riders left behind. The group finally came back together on the outskirts of St-Brieuc. That was a perfect setup for the final attacks,

After a major fall in the final kilometer of yesterday’s stage, the peloton may have finally worked out their nervousness. In place of the crashes, speed and organization were the order of the day. Even a period of rain and heavy crosswinds didn’t wreak havoc with the field, despite the CSC team’s best efforts. Bjarne Riis’ CSC team suffered a few setbacks in the first week of the 2004 Tour de France, including flat tires and several crashes in the Stage 4 team time trial, so it’s not surprising they took the race into their hands when the rain started falling and the peloton turned into a

Greetings from the rain-drenched Tour de France. I don’t think we saw a single drop of water throughout all of last year’s Tour, but 2004 is shaping up to be a battle against Mother Nature, among other things. Well, so much for that old theory that the first half of the Tour is always boring. The first week has been full of all kinds of action. Unfortunately, all of the excitement has been more about things outside of the riders' control than the race itself, although one could argue weather is a major part of the Tour every year. Last year’s heat wave was no treat. So far this year, it’s

Lance Armstrong believes Tour de France organizers could do more to calm nervous riders and avoid spills that could ruin his bid for a record sixth straight victory. For a second straight day, the five-time defending champion offered unsolicited pointers for Tour officials, suggesting that a time trial be held in the often-tense first week to thin the number of race favorites. Sending riders out one by one against the clock would leave just the fastest with a realistic chance of winning the three-week Tour. Laggards would fall by the wayside, reducing the field of contenders. That, in

The Mail Bag is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday feature on VeloNews.com, but will appear daily during the Tour. 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.What goes around, comes aroundEditor:Recent letter writers have expressed confusion and/or disapproval regarding Iban Mayo and company finding themselves left behind in Tuesday's stage following a crash, while on Thursday U.S. Postal

Simoni eager for rest daySaeco’s Gilberto Simoni says Monday’s first rest day of the Tour de France cannot come quick enough for him. The 32-year-old Italian, a two-time winner of the Giro d’Italia, was hanging on by a thread on Saturday as the seventh stage raced over 204.5km from Chateaubriant to Saint Brieuc. At one point, Simoni was close to calling it quits as he held onto his team manager's car, complaining that his head was spinning and he felt terrible. Radio Tour even reported that he had abandoned. However, after persuasion by team manager Giuseppe Martinelli, Simoni continued

Mike Creed got by with a little help from his friends on Saturday. And they weren't all on his team. With just three U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor teammates, Creed got some assistance from TIAA-CREF riders during the stage 5 circuit race to hang on to the overall lead at the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon. The two teams struck a deal to help keep Creed in first place and TIAA-CREF's Dan Bowman in eighth place. The plan worked, as the stage ended in a sprint finish that had little effect on GC – Charles Dionne (Webcor) outsprinted Ben Brooks (Jelly Belly-Aramark) in 2:58:48 with

Nestled away in the rugged mountain valleys of central Switzerland, the posh Euro town of St. Moritz is better known for its fur-covered, jet-setting ski bunnies than for high-tech carbon fiber. But for three days in July, carbon was en vogue as Scott showed the press its 2005 product line. The media event July 6-8 showcased the company’s impressive investment into the ever-developing world of carbon-fiber frame construction. Unlike frame manufacturers that simply day-trip over to Taiwan, pick a stock carbon configuration from a major producer, alter a few shapes and call it their own

It really does pay to pay attention. That’s easy to say, but over the course of a five, six- or seven-hour stage you can let your attention lapse and miss something important. Fortunately, I was keeping an eye on things as we headed toward the coast of the English Channel today.

NEW YORK, NY. - The Junior PCT Grand Prix, the second race on the Jr. PCT Grand Prix series will be kicking off the day’s festivities at the 2004 BMC Software New York City CyclingChampionship on August 1,in Lower Manhattan.  Approximately 50 juniorcyclists will compete in the 20-mile race for a cash prize on the challenging,Lower Manhattan course.The juniors will have to maneuver the tight 1.2 mile dog bone-shapedcourse beginning and ending at the intersection of Wall and Water Streets.For registration information please contact Ron Ruggiero, AncillaryEvent Coordinator, 215-546-3273 or email

STAGE 7 July 10 Châteaubriant - Saint-Brieuc (129.251mi/208km)

STAGE 7 July 10 Châteaubriant - Saint-Brieuc (129.251mi/208km)

STAGE 7 July 10 Châteaubriant - Saint-Brieuc (129.251mi/208km)

Pozzato takes the stage

The women's field lines up for the evening crit

The men prepare for their chance on the course

Pozzatto pulls off a last-minute win in his debut at the Tour

CSC split the peloton with a vigorous pursuit

Voeckler finished 10 seconds back in the pack with the overall contenders

Dekker and Marichal off the front

Postal joined in the fun, too