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The 2003 Tour de France is barreling down to a dramatic showdown between Big Jan and Big Tex in Saturday' decisive time trial, but the Tour's two strongmen had one more surprise in store during Friday's 203.5km stage 18 from Bordeaux to St. Maixent-l’École. Jan Ullrich grabbed back two seconds on a bonus sprint to trim his margin to Lance Armstrong to 1:05 going into Saturday's duel, and gave notice to the world that the 1997 Tour winner will fight to the very end. Spain’s Pablo Lastras of ibanesto.com won an emotional stage victory that he dedicated to his recently deceased mother after

I am excited to be competing again, as I have not raced since early June. I was having some tendonitis problems that began in late June and as a result did not start the Giro d’Italia with my team. I rested my leg and took my time in allowing it to heal. It is hard to take time off the bike mid-season, as everyone is racing and it is easy to start worrying about falling behind with your fitness. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason, though, and perhaps the rest was needed. In any case, I am happy to be racing my bike again and feeling fresh. Thuringen Rundfahrt is a race I

Bradley McGee will not be defending his individual pursuit title at next week's world track championships after suffering from suspected hypoglycemia in the Tour de France. The Australian, who wore the yellow jersey for the first three stages of the Tour after winning the prologue, is to have tests immediately after Sunday's finish to establish the reasons behind the attacks, which drain him of all energy. "I do not feel in good enough shape to go straight from the Tour de France to the world championships on Monday," said the 27-year-old McGee. "I prefer not to go because I am certain

The domination of American Lance Armstrong and Spaniard Miguel Induráin on the Tour de France in the past decade had made the last time trial of the race a mere lap of honor for the yellow jersey. But on Saturday, the second timed test in the race, over 49km between Pornic and Nantes, should decide the final outcome and crown either Armstrong or Jan Ullrich champion. Four-time champion Armstrong leads 1997 winner Ullrich by 65 seconds, but the German beat him by one-and-a-half minutes in last week's time trial between Gaillac and Cap Decouverte, and an overhaul on the penultimate day

Individual Stage Results - Stage 181. Pablo Lastras (Sp), iBanesto.com, 4:03:182. Carlos Da Cruz (F), FDJeux.com, 00:003. Daniele Nardello (I), Telekom, 00:004. David Canada (Sp), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:045. Massimiliano Lelli (I), Cofidis, 00:196. Andy Flickinger (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 00:197. Thomas Voeckler (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 00:198. Paolo Fornaciari (I), Saeco, 00:199. Fabrizio Guidi (I), Bianchi, 00:3510. Vladimir Miholjevic (CRO), Alessio, 00:3511. Davide Bramati (I), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:3512. Javier Pascual Llorente (Sp), Kelme - Costa Blanca, 00:3513. Christophe Brandt

To see how Stage 17 of the Tour unfolded live, just go to our Live Update window and follow the action all the way to the finish.

The battle to win this year's Tour de France is one of the closest in more than a decade. Indeed, this year is only the sixth time in the post-war era that the yellow jersey could possibly be decided on the final days of the three-week Tour de France. Germany's 1997 winner Jan Ullrich is currently trailing American four-time winner Lance Armstrong by just 1:05 ahead of Saturday's 49-kilometer race against the clock where the time gaps could again change. The 29-year-old Bianchi rider, whose return to the race has given Armstrong a real run for his money, beat the American in the 12th

We’re 18 stages down and still racing at break-neck speed. After near on three weeks and there’s no let up. I couldn’t believe it today when I looked at my computer after the first hour of racing in the third last stage to see we had flown over nearly 53kph. You’d reckon that riders who were not there at the Tour start in Paris were joining the race fresh, sneaking into the bunch rather than dropping like flies as the result sheets shows. You can imagine my shock when a little over four hours later when we sped into the finish the stage average was 49.938kmh – the second-fastest stage in

By now, most of you know the way this column works. Something comes acrossmy desk, and I write about it. Well, the latest tidbit to come in acrossthe vast Internet was a press release from Threshold Sports, trumpetingthe availability of VIP tickets for the upcoming New York City CyclingChampionship for the low, low price of, take a deep breath now … $125.U.S. Now, if you’re like me, this sort of item raises all sorts of questions:Are people actually buying these tickets? What do you get for you $125?Who’s buying these tickets? A quick read of the press release answers a few questions.

In a move that will bring much rejoicing on the gravity-racing circuit, the UCI has tabbed Fort William four-cross designer Phil Saxena as its new four-cross co-coordinator for the remainder of the 2003 season. Saxena will be charged with designing and building the 4X tracks at the world championships in Lugano, Switzerland and the World Cup finals in Kaprun, Austria. “I'm really happy to have been given this opportunity,” said Saxena in a press release issued by Rare Management, organizers of the Fort William World Cup. “I love the sport of mountain biking and I want to take four-cross to

Maybe a little home cooking was all John Waddell needed. Just days after leaving a Quebec City hospital and returning to his native Australia, the 22-year-old downhiller has come out of his coma. According to an update from ITS-Santa Cruz team director Derin Stockton, Waddell and his mother made the trip back to Australia where he was checked in to a hospital. His mom went home after the first day to spend a night at home. When she came back the next morning she was surprised to find her son awake, sitting up in bed and feeding himself soup. “While he was pretty groggy after being out for

The Tour de France nearly passed without one finish line exploding into mayhem. But then along came Friday’s finish to stage 18 with a violent clash between police and media. The chaos really started moments before Spaniard Pablo Lastras led home the first three riders into St. Maixent-l’École, just as the traditional jockeying for positions began between officials, media, team soigneurs in the finishing area. To be fair, the local police are unaccustomed to Tour finishes — especially ones in such a tight areas as Friday’s. But experienced or not, they were not going to be compromised.

The Tour is up for grabs. And to add to the drama, a storm is blowing in off of the Atlantic. Just in time for the battle between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich in their stage 19 duel on Saturday. It will take place in conditions that Méteo France is predicting will be wet and windy. At the 4 p.m. start times of the American and German (they will be separated on the road by three minutes), the forecast calls for heavy rain, tail winds averaging 15 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. The only good news is that the rain might let up before they finish. If there’s ever going to be a course that

Losing a minute and a half to Jan Ullrich over the 47km between Gaillac and Cap’Decouverte in the Tour’s first long time trial was probably not what Lance Armstrong had in mind when he worked with Nike to develop the Swift Spin skinsuit that he, his teammates and the category leaders wear in the Tour time trials. The suit should "give about 30 seconds to a minute advantage in a 58km Tour de France individual time trial depending upon what version of the suit is worn," according to Dr. Chester Kyle, the cycling aerodynamicist heading up the Swift skinsuit project. Armstrong also did not

Ooo-la-la, I am feeling lactic acid in my legs at the moment. Racing in Thuringen involves traveling up and down short, steep climbs all day. They are the type that make one feel maxed out over the top, but since they are not too long, one has time to recover on the descent before the next ascent. I like the terrain here, but it certainly produces painful sensations in the legs. The hills are worse than the famous Manayunk “Wall” in Philadelphia and seem to come more frequently. The past two stages have been fast and challenging. Yesterday, right from the starter’s pistol there was a

Fourteen stages down and three to go here in Superweek 2003. Pain reigns at Holy Hill In the infamous Holy Hill Road Race, all the big players schlammed from the gun. A large break containing all the toughest riders rode away from the field on the first lap. They proceeded to inflict pain on each other until Gordon McCauley took his second stage of Superweek. Holy Hill Road Race:1. Gordon McCauley (NZ), Schroeder Iron2. Aaron Olson, Schroeder Iron3. Tim Johnson, Saturn>4. Adam Bergman, Jelly Belly5. Harm Jansen (Ned), Team Rectal Thermometer Our man off the front The Lakefront Road

For mom

Jean Robic

Jacques Anquetil

Jan Janssen

Stephen Roche

Greg LeMond

Aussie' reporter Rupert Guinness and me at yesterday's start

Bid now or miss your chance!

Strawberries and Cream in the village

A little French bread and cheese in the village

A family of mannequins made by a local artist

New wheels for Lance's bike?

Lance's new bike at sign in?

Lance and his security prepare to meet the crush of media

These girls have discoed their way across France

Its a digital world; our hotel room in the morning

Ohhhhhh Cañada.... caught just before the line.

How do you like them... oranges?

Police finally arrive to snare horned-helmet guy... but it may be too late. He's reproducing.

It all comes down to these two.

Our three German runway queens had an easier time of it on the road to Luz Ardiden

Not in the yellow jersey, Ullrich has to ride in his team kit. Of course, it worked last time.

Nike customized the cut to suit Armstrong's position

Nike reports that dehydration was not caused by the suit.

An unshaven rider with Cytomax dried onto his Pinarello makes a break for it in the Lakefront Road Race

Bergman drives the break through the feed zone

The break descends the fabled Watertower Hill

This is wine country, with the early kilometers through the Bordeaux vineyards, followed by the brandy town of Cognac halfway though the stage, and a finish not too far from the muscadet-producing areas of the Loire. The stage is mainly over rolling terrain on small roads, which could favor small breakaway groups. The finish town of St. Maixent-l’École is the smallest of this Tour, with just 8600 residents. 7/25/2003 Start Time: 12:15:00pm7/25/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:20:00pm HISTORYThe Tour has often passed through the Deux-Sèvres department, but only once before did it have a stage

Servais Knaven (Quick Step) and nine other riders derailed the sprinters’ chances of snagging another stage win at the Tour de France Thursday as they scampered off in a break just meters from the start of a pancake-flat 180.5km race from Dax to Bordeaux. This city is typically the domain of the fast-twitch men and the last time the Tour came here in 1999, Tom Steels of Belgium took the mass gallop. But this year a 10-man move scooted up the road moments after the start in Dax, and with Austrian Peter Lüttenberger (CSC) the highest-ranked rider (18th, 26:52 back), no one in the main bunch

North American Riders in boldNorth American Teams in ItalicsIndividual Results from Stage 171. Servais Knaven (Nl), Quick Step-Davitamon, 3:54:232. Paolo Bossoni (I), Caldirola, 00:173. Christophe Mengin (F), FDJeux.com, 00:174. Leon Van Bon (Nl), Lotto-Domo, 00:175. Salvatore Commesso (I), Saeco, 00:176. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Sp), iBanesto.com, 00:177. LÜttenberger Peter (A), CSC, 00:178. Clain Médéric (F), Cofidis, 00:179. Bram De Groot (Nl), Rabobank, 00:1710. Ivan Parra (Col), Kelme - Costa Blanca, 01:5511. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Lotto-Domo, 08:0612. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, 08:0613.

Told you a little bit about pro freerider Dave Watson’s road-gap jump overthe Tour de France while I was up in Whistler, but on Wednesday I got thisofficial press release from the guys at Freeride Entertainment who supplieda little more detail on exactly how things went down. Here are the highlights.“Freeride Entertainment was recently on location at the Tour de Francewhere Kona Clump rider Dave Watson jumped the tour peloton during the Alpd’Huez stage of the tour,” read the release. “The jump took place justbefore the summit of the Col de Galibier. The set-up and preparation hadto be done in

Dear Bob;I don’t know if you can help me, but I am an employee at a large independentbicycle shop in the northwest. I love my job and most of the other employees.But, there is a manager who, after I turned down his offer to go out ona date, has been very vindictive and unfair towards me.What can I do to stop his harassment and what are my rights?L- SeattleDear L,I assume that by large, the shop has more than 15 full-time employees,which qualifies you for protection under both federal and state law againstthis type of sexual harassment. I am not sure exactly what kind of treatmentyou are being

To see how Stage 17 of the Tour unfolded live, just go to our Live Update window and follow the action all the way to the finish.

Stages 17 and 18 of the 2003 Tour de France have been destined to be battles between the sprinters and the opportunists. The point jersey competition is now extremely close, and the opportunists are running out of days to get a stage win, so today’s attack from the start line made sense. Over 180 kilometers later, the opportunists triumphed over the sprinters and Servais Knaven won his first Tour stage in much the same fashion he won Paris Roubaix a few years ago. Tomorrow is another flat stage, and the sprinters’ teams are not likely to be outfoxed again. With the Tour de France as close

Giro d’Italia winner Gilberto Simoni has signed a two-year extension to his contract with Saeco until 2005, his team announced in Bordeaux on Thursday. The 31-year-old Italian has twice won the Giro (2001 and 2003) but has encountered a somewhat more challenging Tour de France campaign this year. Simoni, after struggling through the Alps and Pyrenean stages, finally got his act together to win the 14th stage to Loudenvielle on Sunday. His teammate Dario Pieri, who finished second in this year's Paris-Roubaix one-day classic, also signed a new two-year deal.Copyright AFP2003

Dear VeloNews;What I want to know is, was Team Telekom really hurting that bad, whenthey tried for more than sixty kilometers to reel Tyler Hamilton in, orwas this just another German/American ploy to garner more publicity forTyler Hamilton's 'bogus' injury?Jerry Jensen,Ogden, Utah Quitters never win…Editors;Irony: Ivan Basso losing his sixth place on GC because he has no teammatesto chase down Tyler Hamilton.Any chance anyof the Fasso Bartollo guys who bailed were suffering HALFas much as Tyler was during that first week? Of course, Tyler toughed itout to "help his team".UnbelievableNeil

With just three days remaining in the centennial Tour de France, Lance Armstrong has covered the 3023km to date at the highest average speed in race history. The current 40.478 kph (25.151 mph) is significantly faster than the record 40.273 kph set by Armstrong in 1999. And with two flat stages and a time trial to come, all of which will be raced at closer to 50 kph than 40 kph, the record is certain to be broken. One reason for the ultra-fast Tour has been the willingness of riders to attack from the start virtually every day — even in the mountain stages. On Thursday, for instance the

Bordeaux. Vintage wine. Vintage cycling. Vintage memories. They all came flooding back in the Tour de France press center Thursday after stage 17 — but not in that order. In fact, while the vintage wine was a close second, the memories were first to return as we arrived and unpacked our laptops, as we have been doing for near-on three weeks now. Driving alongside the Garonne River, it was easy to recall the fond memories of American Davis Phinney, the man, the rider and his hallmark Tour stage win at Bordeaux in the 1987 Tour. It is easy to remember how he blasted away Dutchman Jean-Paul

TIME TRIAL TIME BREAKDOWNS FOR TOP 5 TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS TEAM TIME TRIAL - STAGE 4 WASSY (Passage à niveau n° 32) - 18.0km1- TEAM TELEKOM 00:21:252- CREDIT AGRICOLE at 01"3- CALDIROLA - SO.DI at 07"4- IBANESTO.COM at 07"5- ONCE - EROSKI at 08" MONTIER-EN-DER - 44.5km 1- ONCE - EROSKI 00:51:002- US POSTAL - BERRY FLOOR at 06"3- IBANESTO.COM at 11"4- TEAM BIANCHI at 18"5- TEAM TELEKOM at 25" Eclaron (ECLARON-BRAUCOURT-SAINTE-LIVIERE) - 59.0km 1- US POSTAL - BERRY FLOOR 01:07:272- ONCE - EROSKI at 17"3- TEAM BIANCHI at 32"4- IBANESTO.COM at 35"5- QUICK STEP - DAVITAMON at 01'

Just too darn slick

'It's memorable,' said Knaven

David Millar