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If Joan Rivers was a bike racer, would she give Lance's black socks a big thumb's down?

Magnus Opus: A big split, an interesting finish and a looming sense of dread

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COURSE: This is a flat course that uses some of the roadsof Paris-Tours, with a run along the Loire Valley at the end. If there’sno wind, this stage could see a 50 kph average speed. FAVORITES: With this stage marking the end of the first week of racing, the teammates of the top sprinters will be starting to get tired, while others will have dropped out because of crashes. In other words, some of the “other” sprinters like Olaf Pollack or Jean-Patrick Nazon might get their chance in Angers. HISTORY: Angers has seen 14 stage finishes, but none since 1979.That year, Dutchman Jan Raas

Top Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini have both pulled out of the Tour de France with injuries. Petacchi, the world’s No. 1, injured his shoulder when he crashed in Thursday's fifth stage. The Fassa Bortolo team leader, who won four stages in the flat sections in last year's Tour, had a disappointing start and failed to challenge in the first three big sprints. He won nine stages in the Giro d'Italia in May but was lying 83rd, 13 minutes off the pace, when he called it a day. The 37-year-old Cipollini had been struggling with a leg infection from a crash in the

Quick Step’s Tom Boonen avoided a dramatic last-minute pile-up in the peloton before going on to claim a deserved victory on the sixth stage of the Tour de France Angers on Friday. Thomas Voeckler, of the La Boulangere team, retained the race leader's yellow jersey after the 196km ride Bonneval and here. Boonen, 23, claimed his first ever stage win on the race on the back of a blistering season so far which has seen him win a number of prestigious one-day victories and stages. But it was the frightening realities of the high-speeds at the world’s biggest bicycle race that took center stage

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Davitamon, 4:33:412. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 00:004. Danilo Hondo (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:005. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com, 00:006. Sergio Marinangeli (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:007. Pineau Jérôme (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 00:008. Julian Dean (NZl), Crédit Agricole, 00:009. Janeck Tombak (Est), Cofidis, 00:0010. Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 00:00 11. Filippo Pozzato (I), Fassa Bortolo, 00:0012. Karsten Kroon (Nl), Rabobank, 00:0013. Massimiliano Mori (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:0014. Massimo Giunti

Looking at the weather as Stage 5 was about to begin this afternoon, I almost felt sorry for the small group of riders I knew would inevitably strike out on their own for the day’s long breakaway. Working in a break for the majority of a stage is hard enough, but doing it in driving rain and a terrible headwind is absolutely miserable. Of course, a Tour stage win and the prospect of taking Lance Armstrong’s yellow jersey, which he was more than happy to put up for grabs, are strong motivators. Sure enough, a five-man breakaway left the field behind before the 20th kilometer and never looked

There are thousands of tactical opportunities that present themselves over the course of a single stage at the Tour. Most of them never result in any major advantage and for the most part we simply forget about them. Every once in a while, though, someone takes advantage of a turn of events and almost changes the outcome of a stage. For that, I have to commend the Fassa Bortolo rider Jaun Antonio Flecha for his great attempt in the closing kilometers of stage six, the 196km race from Bonneval to Angers on Wednesday. Early in the stage, six riders moved to establish a lead and built it up

I wish I didn’t know as much as I do about road rash. I wish I didn’t still have scars on my hips, knees, arms, and back from the innumerable falls that came with being a professional cyclist. Unfortunately, I know all too well what it’s like to leave a lot of skin on the roads of France, Italy, Belgium, the United States, etc. If you choose to be a cyclist, at any level of the sport, you have to be prepared to sacrifice some skin, and you have to know how to care for your wounds. There were already a lot of riders sporting bandages at the start of Stage 6 this afternoon, and many more will

The overall classification underwent a minor reshuffling Friday at the Columbia River Bank Cascade Cycling Classic, after a rolling 6.6-mile time trial showed who the strongest players at the race truly are. In the women’s race it was recently-crowned national time trial champion Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders) again disproving the on-paper dominance of the heavily favored T-Mobile squad, winning by two seconds over soon-to-be Olympic teammate Kristin Armstrong of T-Mobile. In third place was defending Cascade champion Lyne Bessette (Quark), nine seconds down. T-Mobile’s Lynn Gaggioli,

One step at a time. One day at a time. I know that my “legs” and whether I have them or not has been a recurring theme here this Tour. I tell ya, it’s a big deal coming to the Tour de France feeling like death warmed over and it’s an even bigger deal when you start feeling good. And I feel pretty good all of a sudden. Yesterday’s long break certainly gave me a confidence boost, but today I felt ready to do it again and did my best to get in an early break. As it turned out there were a lot of attacks and the one that finally stuck included my teammate Alessandro Bertolini. Actually, we

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.Who needs cable with Live Updates?Editor:Aha! I knew I was on to something when I canceled my cable two months ago! (see Thursday's mailbag, "Enough about OLN, already.") I'm saving $55 per month and loving every new bike-bit minute

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STAGE 6 July 09 Bonneval - Angers (118.066mi/190km)

STAGE 6 July 09 Bonneval - Angers (118.066mi/190km)

STAGE 6 July 09 Bonneval - Angers (118.066mi/190km)

Boonen survives the carnage to win

Armstrong took an early digger

Hamilton, meanwhile, got caught up in the final spill

Boonen stays ahead of the carnage to claim his first Tour stage win

An early break that did not stay away

Voeckler looks as though he feels the weight of that jersey

The thrill of victory

Voeckler chats with 'the voice of the Tour,' Daniel Mangeas

Armstrong finishes after the last crash.

Bruckner and Bessette in the start house

COURSE: There’s only one official climb on this 200km stage, but the roads to the west of Paris pass through a series of small towns with short hills and lots of turns. With crosswinds expected in the final 50km, there could be some splits that catch out a few sprinters. FAVORITES: The winds will make it tough for a breakaway to succeed, so expect Petacchi to get another chance of winning — especially as the finishing straight is a kilometer long. HISTORY: The Tour has never ended a stage in Chartres, but when the race passed through here in the 1950s, Italian campionissimo Fausto Coppi was

A new yellow jersey in French champion Thomas Voeckler and a thrilling stage win by Australian Stuart O'Grady gave the fifth stage of the Tour de France plenty for fans to talk about even as the overall contenders, like overnight leader Lance Armstrong, happily took a back seat for the day. Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangere) and O'Grady (Cofidis) were in Thursday's delightfully successful five-man breakaway, which formed at the 12km mark after a flurry of early attacks. The quintet then spent the next 188km racing into a bitingly cold cross/head wind and through often-torrential rain. The

INDIVIDUAL1. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 5:05:582. Jakob Piil (Dk), CSC, 00:003. Sandy Casar (F), FDJeux.com, 00:004. Thomas Voeckler (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 00:005. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Alessio-Bianchi, 00:006. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Lotto-Domo, 12:337. Janeck Tombak (Est), Cofidis, 12:338. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, 12:339. Rene Haselbacher (A), Gerolsteiner, 12:3310. Nazon Jean-Patrick (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 12:33 11. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 12:3312. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Ag2R Prevoyance, 12:3313. Danilo Hondo (G), Gerolsteiner, 12:3314. Allan Davis (Aus),

Saeco team leader Gilberto Simoni, a two-time winner of the Giro d’Italia, is so fed up with the Tour de France that he wants to go home. The Tour has yet to reach the tough mountain stages, where Simoni last year had a tough time trying to challenge eventual winner Lance Armstrong for honors. But it’s not the upcoming climbs that worry Simoni – it’s the team time trial that went so wrong for him on Wednesday. Saeco's TTT performance would not have been so bad for Simoni, had he not finished behind the leading five riders in his team. The time for Wednesday's event was taken on the fifth

I told you I was feeling better. I had a good day today. I knew I was feeling okay after yesterday’s time trial and this morning circumstance had it so that I managed to take advantage of that and get into one of those rare little breaks that actually manages to stay away. Sure, I am disappointed I didn’t win today, but at the same time, I am really happy that my legs are feeling good. There were attacks from the gun. We all knew there would be, especially after we saw Armstrong speaking last night about how he and the team really had no reason to defend the jersey at this stage of the

Five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has bowed out of this year’s Olympics in Athens according to a team spokesman. The announcement comes just two days after the 2000 bronze medalist was named to the five-rider team that will compete in Greece. Armstrong, who is currently racing at the Tour, said he wanted to spend the month of August with his three children. Meanwhile, USA Cycling athletics director Steve Johnson said his organization has a short list of possible replacements that includes Floyd Landis, Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer and Freddy Rodriguez, and that a decision

Sorry for the delay in getting this update to you. Last night was pretty emotional for our team. In fact, the last couple of days have really put everyone to the test. And I don't just mean us, I mean everybody in the race. Tuesday's stage from Waterloo to Wasquehal didn't make any liars out of those who predicted carnage by the conclusion of the day. I don't know if I've ever ridden in a peloton as aggro’ as the one that headed into the first section of pavé. The fight for position started 40km in advance of the cobblestones, which meant we were going all out for nearly an hour before we

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.Noval’s doing a fine jobEditor:I was sorry to read Holly Whitney's note about Ben Noval not being the right man for the job. Did she notice his work today? I wish people would stop second-guessing the wisdom and experience of both

Getting a rider ready for the Tour de France, and the six- and seven-hour days in the saddle that come with it, requires a great deal of attention to detail. One detail that gets constant attention before and during the Tour involves the proper set up of new shoes and other equipment. These are often critical issues, because if a new shoe cleat is in even a slightly different position from where the old one was or a seat is a bit higher or lower or more forward or back from what the rider is used to, or the bar is positioned differently than before, it can be a big problem. Riding so hard

It’s been a tough month of racing for the T-Mobile women’s squad, which saw Webcor’s Christine Thorburn get the better of their strong U.S. national team at the Columbia River Bank Cascade Cycling Classic after she took the elite national time trial championship and nearly repeated the feat several days later, taking second in the national-championship road race. On Thursday, Thorburn, a Bay Area physician specializing in rheumatology, showed why she’s gone from a virtual unknown to Olympic team member in the span of a season, dropping the entire women’s field on the final climb into Three

As in Thursday’s Tour de France stage, which saw an early break succeed, the second stage of the Columbia River Bank Cascade Cycling Classic men’s stage race was won by a member of a break that escaped in the first 15km and stayed away. But unlike the outcome at the Tour, the Oregon win went to a U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor rider – 23-year-old Michael Creed of Colorado Springs, who assumed the overall race leadership with just his second professional win. An on-form Creed, who took fourth last weekend at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic stage race, was clearly the strongest out of a group

STAGE 5 July 08 Amiens - Chartres (121.173mi/195km)

STAGE 5 July 08 Amiens - Chartres (121.173mi/195km)

André Leducq wins in 1932.

The break drives along well ahead of the peloton...

O'Grady plays it smart and scores a stage

'Aber wo sind die Ami's?'

In case you're wondering, I'm the big guy in the middle of the picture.

Voeckler in yellow: A promising career ahead for the 24-year-old French Champion?

This mishap took down four Posties

Postal moved to the front and kept the pace under control

Aldag in an early crash

It seemed like everyone crashed at one time or another

... while the peloton battled wind, rain and crashes

Rabobank and other teams use a variation of the same tool to measure fit

Tour de Tech: It's all about fit

Muñoz, sets up cleats

Thorburn sticks it to the women's peloton again

Creed drives the break of four riders, including Louder (left), towards the top of McKenzie Pass

Vogels drove the break for the better part of an hour

Wherry called the race 'probably the most negative bike race he’d ever been in'

Creed makes a move – and got penalized for yellow-line violations

KOM Louder and race leader Elken drive the breakaway toward the climb of Three Creeks Road

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COURSE: This team time trial course is 5km shorter and less rolling than last year’s between Joinville and St. Dizier. Also, the straighter, more open roads this year mean that the prevailing southwest winds are likely to be the main difficulty, with likely crosswinds in the final 20km. FAVORITES: Look for a great battle between Ivan Basso’s CSC team, Armstrong’s U.S. Postal-Berry Floor squad and Jan Ullrich’s T-Mobile formation. Tyler Hamilton’s Phonak team could also be in the mix. HISTORY: The last time there was a team time trial in this region was in 1984, when the finish at

The smiles of Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team said it all and then some on a day that was bleak, stormy and awfully miserable for most. By blazing a trail through the shadows of a wet day in northern France to win today's 64.5km stage 4 team time trial from Cambrai to Arras, they told every rival that Armstrong was the right stuff, and so was the entire line-up. Armstrong said as much after his team finished with eight of nine riders, at an average speed of 53.71kmh, following a winning ride that saw them fight back from fifth place at the first time check of 19km. “We

Tour stuff

The 25th anniversary of the Columbia River Bank Cascade Cycling Classic — a five-day, six-stage NRC event — commences Wednesday, in Bend, Oregon. The race was swept last year by Saturn’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette, and also boasts defending Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong as a former winner. Armstrong won the race in 1998, a season spent returning to the sport after battling with cancer. Other notable past Cascade competitors include Olympic gold medalists Alexi Grewal and Eric Heiden; OLN commentator Bob Roll, former NORBA national cross-country champion Steve Larsen; Bend

I’m starting to feel a little sweaty, maybe even a little feverish. And no, I’m not talking about Tour fever here. I’m talking about a severe case of hypochondria. Let me digress. For those who haven’t yet picked up the latest issue of VeloNews, you’ll be in for a bit of surprise: I was given artistic license to pen the “What We’re Riding” section. Okay, so expounding about cycling products isn’t exactly artistic, but given my technical prowess, it was a bit of a stretch. While Andrew Juskaitis is our go-to tech writer, I tend to stick to the race coverage and features. But I gave it a

Italian sprint king Alessandro Petacchi, the postwar record holder for the number of stage wins on a single edition of the Giro d'Italia, is patiently awaiting his chance to grab a stage victory on this year's Tour de France. And the 30-year-old Fassa Bortolo rider could decide to finally get his act together on Thursday's 200.5km fifth stage. The largely flat outlay of the course is exactly to Petacchi's liking, although the soft-spoken Italian and the rest of the sprinters will have to be wary of influential cross winds that could lead to breaks in the peloton and end their chances of

TEAM RESULTS - STAGE1. U.S. Postal Service, 1:12:032. Phonak, 01:073. Illes Balears-Banesto, 01:154. T-Mobile, 01:195. CSC, 01:466. Rabobank, 01:537. Liberty-Seguras, 02:258. Euskaltel-Euskadi, 02:359. Saeco, 02:3610. Alessio-Bianchi, 02:57 11. Quick Step-Davitamon, 03:2912. Crédit Agricole, 03:3213. Ag2R Prevoyance, 04:0514. Brioches La Boulangere, 04:1715. Domina Vacanze, 04:2216. Gerolsteiner, 04:3617. Fassa Bortolo, 04:5218. Lotto-Domo, 05:1919. Cofidis, 05:3420. R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 05:3721. FDJeux.com, 07:33 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - STAGE 41. Rubiera José Luis (Sp), U.S. Postal

I think I was in my element today. I sure do feel a lot better than I have these past few days of the Tour de France and there’s nothing like a team time trial to get a big motor like me feeling back in sorts. No, it isn’t a complete turnaround. I’m clearly not in top form, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Team time trials are really what the early part of my racing career was all about. Being taller and stronger on the flats I offer up a pretty good draft, eh? When you see teams like CSC and Phonak running into the troubles they had today, you really begin to see how

Today, for the team time trial, I caught a ride in the second of Saeco’s team followcars. It was very interesting from a technical standpoint, even thoughthe team had no mechanical problems until the very last moment. Saeco wasamong the first teams to start, so I watched the remainder of the teamsfrom the finish. In the end, I think that the cycling gods smiled on TylerHamilton for the second day in a row, and they did not Gilberto Simoni,both of which I will explain. The director sportif, Giuseppe Martinelli, is in the first vehicle andcommunicates with the riders over their radio

Few events in cycling offer a team the opportunity to equally share in the pain and the triumph of a victory the way a team time trial does. Wednesday’s stage at the Tour de France required the complete effort of the U.S. Postal Service team, and the exhilaration of winning was clearly evident on the riders’ faces as they crossed the finish line. Lance Armstrong’s team showed today itself to be the strongest squad of the 21 teams in the race, and perhaps the most skilled as well. The team rode the length of the 64.5-kilometer course in nearly-perfect formation, close together, taking full

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 up with attacking after Mayo’s crash?Editor:I'd be interested in the views of the distinguished VeloNews editors (if you can find any), as well as the highly opinionated band of Mailbag contributors, on the sportsmanship of

As the entire field of 130 racers descended upon the finish line of the opening 93-mile stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon, a handful of names came to mind as the likely eminent stage winner. Would it be Health Net-Maxxis sprinter Gord “Flash Gordon” Fraser, the newly crowned Canadian national champion? Or perhaps Jelly Belly-Aramark’s strongman Alex Candelario would benefit from the long downhill finish. Surely it couldn’t be Webcor’s fast man Charles Dionne, who had spent much of the day in various breakaways. Based on the numbers, a safe bet would be on a Navigators

McEwen loses yellow, but keeps greenLotto’s Robbie McEwen handed the yellow jersey over to Lance Armstrong after Wednesday’s team time trial, but he probably didn’t mind too much - on Thursday, he will be wearing the green points jersey and hunting another stage win. McEwen's short stint in the maillot jaune was a tough one for the 32-year-old from Brisbane, who suffered mightily as his team posted a time that was more than five minutes behind U.S. Postal. Still, he enjoyed his day in yellow. "It was very difficult for me today,” McEwen said. “Wearing the yellow jersey is now over. I only

STAGE 4 July 07 Cambrai - Arras (TTT) (40.39mi/65km)

STAGE 4 July 07 Cambrai - Arras (TTT) (40.39mi/65km)

Postal pounded to the win despite horrific conditions

Don't bug me, man

Phonak took second despite shelling three riders

Ullrich and T-Mobile could do no better than fourth