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They may speak of the phenomenon that is the Tour de France organization; of how well-oiled an engine the operation is; of how smoothly and coordinated every action is. What they don’t usually talk about are the times on the Tour when one person - given his or her authority for a day (if that) - can throw the whole thing into total disarray. Fortunately, it is usually further down the 3400km road that the frustration of these hiccups test the patience of a Tour suiveur (follower). Unfortunately, that was not the case today, on stage No. 1 to Meaux. The 168km stage had not even officially

While the racing action at the Tour has deservedly taken the headlines, we’ve been keeping one eye peeled for glimpses of the latest in team equipment and what manufacturers hope you'll be riding in the not-too-distant future. Campy confidentialWhile it's certainly not the official unveiling, make sure to keep your eye on Campagnolo-sponsored riders at the Tour this year. Look closely enough, and you might catch a glimpse of Campagnolo's secretive 2004 product line. First off is Campagnolo's new-and-improved carbon Record crankset (a Chorus version will also be available in 2004).

David Millar has blamed his Cofidis team and its manager, Alain Bondue, for the mechanical incident that cost him victory in the Tour de France prologue. Millar, who won the Tour prologue in 2000, looked set to win the Tour's 6.5km opener in Paris on Saturday when his chain came off before the last curve. He reached down and replaced the chain, but the delay cost him - he finished second, just 0.8 second behind Australian Bradley McGee. Team sources said Cofidis riders were using new aerodynamic chain rings that had caused problems in the Tour of Catalunya. Other Cofidis riders, like Luis

Zinaida Stahurskaia (Chirio Forno D’asolo) outsprinted the major contenders on the final climb to San Marco dei Cavoti to win the second stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Sunday. Lithuanian Rasa Polikieviciute (Team 2002 Aurora Rsm) remains in the pink jersey despite having given up nine seconds to her closest rival, countrywoman Edita Pucinskaite (Michele Fanini). American Amber Neben (T-Mobile) holds 10th place overall. The attacks were continuous on the 85km stage. All were in vain, though, and the stage concluded with Stahurskaia just barely beating Pucinskaite to the line. "I am

Not the way Hamilton wanted to finish the Tour

George and Lance out on the road

Lance Armstrong of the USA arrives

Lance and Ekimov

Cafe 'Le Reveil Matin' in Montgeron

Passing the Paris's Place de la Republique

Olaf Pollack of Germany carries his bike as he crosses the finish line after the crash

A special tile for every TDF winner around the monument in front of the Le Reveil Martin

Hamilton emerges from medical

Hamilton and concerned Riis leave for hospital

Marc Lotz crosses the finish line after the crash

Riis and Hamilton on their way to the hospital

Petacchi wins, but was not happy about the finish

Commemorating the 1903 Tour with a bike that was old even back then.

The first break of this Tour.

Rabobank's Mark Lotz

McGee still in yellow

Armstrong and Hincapie avoided the worst

On the road to Meaux

Tech talk: Manufacturers love Tour time

Tech talk: Manufacturers love Tour time

Tech talk: Manufacturers love Tour time

Tech talk: Manufacturers love Tour time

Millar looked really good until his chain popped off ...

... was it the chainring, or the lack of a front derailleur?

Riders woke up to absolutely perfect weather for Saturday’s opening prologue. After a few days of unseasonably cool weather and showers, temperatures eased back into summer-like numbers with highs in the upper 70s. There were already fans lining the course early Saturday morning, some five hours before the first rider was scheduled to go off. Big crowds are expected throughout the Tour, more so even in Paris. The prologue course drives right the heart of Paris, starting at the base of the Eiffel Tower, crossing the River Seine, passing the Place du Trocadero, hitting the Place de la

So much for all of those pre-scripted prognostications about the 2003 Tour de France. If Saturday’s surprising and exciting opening prologue is any indication, maybe Lance Armstrong’s comment that “anybody can win the Tour” might prove true. Australian Brad McGee (Fdjeux.com) survived a late-race puncture to take the 2003 Tour’s first yellow jersey by less than a tenth of a second ahead of hard-luck rider David Millar (Cofidis).Full Results Posted Tens of thousands of fans lined the 6.5km course as it started under the Eiffel Tower, hit a short, steep climb after crossing the River Seine

Bold=U.S. RiderItalics=U.S. team1. Bradley Mc Gee (Aus), FDJeux.com, 07:262. David Millar (GB), Cofidis, 00:003. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:024. Jan Ullrich (G), Bianchi, 00:025. Pena Victor Hugo (Col), U.S. Postal Service, 00:066. Tyler Hamilton (USA), CSC, 00:067. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal Service, 00:078. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONCE - Eroski, 00:099. Santiago Botero (Col), Telekom, 00:0910. Vjatceslav Ekimov (Rus), U.S. Postal Service, 00:1111. Michael Rich (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:1112. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Rabobank, 00:1113. George Hincapie (USA), U.S. Postal

While following the sporting phenomenon that is the Tour, make sure to keep one thing in mind: It's all one big advertisement. Sure, there's plenty of heated racing drama to be had, but remember, the reason the race exists is to promote the goods and services of a countless number of businesses. And while the majority of us aren't particularly interested in European cement products (Fassa Bortolo) or the French national lottery (fdjeux.com), we can't wait to see the torrent of new bicycle technology unveiled throughout the race. Most manufacturers get awfully tight-lipped about exactly

Only 6.5km long, the course for this time trial through the heart of Paris is in the shape of a squashed question mark. It starts at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, crosses the Seine River to make a short climb around the Chaillot Palace and then drops back to the river at the Place de l’Alma, just across the street from the Crazy Horse nightclub. The course then parallels the river to the Place de la Concorde, crosses the bridge and heads back on the Left Bank before heading south to the finish on the Avenue de la Motte- Picquet — across the Champ de Mars Park from the Eiffel Tower. 7/5/2003

Medical officials at the 90th edition of the Tour de France have declared that all 198 cyclists in the race are “fit to ride,” following hematocrit tests earlier this week, but some experts in the field of doping are not so sure that the results mean much. Since the infamous “Festina scandal” almost brought the Tour to its knees in 1998, cycling has been at the forefront of the fight against doping and tests extensively for the banned endurance-booster erythropoietin (EPO). Officially, the entire Tour peloton started the race clean Saturday after their hematocrit levels, or the volume of

PARIS -- After a long week of getting ready and all of the pre-race hype, the Centennial Tour de France got under way today. There usually comes a point when I'm anxious to get rolling, because, believe it or not, things almost always calm down after the race begins. This will be my seventh Tour de France, which is no small detail with my wife. Seven is her favorite number. She also likes that my race number is 71, which is the year I was born. I wouldn’t be surprised if she high-fived herself when she heard my start time for the prologue was 7 p.m. sharp. I’m waiting for her to remind me

The trouble with a short prologue is that there is no room for error. After the 2003 Tour de France prologue, the top 20 riders are within 13 seconds of the leader, Bradley McGee, and 96 are within 30 seconds. For Lance Armstrong, his tendency to start time trials slowly proved to be his undoing, as he conceded more time in the first half of the prologue than he could retake in the second half. Lance is sitting in seventh place, five seconds behind principal rival Jan Ullrich and one second behind CSC team leader Tyler Hamilton. It is his lowest placing in a Tour de France prologue since

Although this opening stage of 168km around the Paris suburbs will likely be run at lightning speed, it will be a long day. Things begin at 11:40 a.m. outside the Stade de France (where France won soccer’s World Cup in 1998). There follows a formal 20km procession across the city center to Montgeron, where the actual stage will start at 1:15 p.m. outside the Auberge au Réveil- Matin, a small inn from which the original Tour began in 1903. The actual race loops south through the Forest of Fontainebleau, then north and east to the finish in Meaux. Three Cat. 4 climbs punctuate the middle part

This 204.5km route across rolling terrain northeast of Paris ends on similar roads as those raced every March on the opening stage of the Critérium International — which usually ends in a field sprint. After a flat opening alongside the Marne River, most of the action will take place at the time-bonus sprints in Jaulgonne (43km), Avançon (128km) and Amagne (149km), and the Cat. 4 hills at La Charmel (46km) and Longwé (169.5km). 7/7/2003 Start Time: 12:15:00PM7/7/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:24:00PM HISTORYThis is the first time a Tour stage has ended in Sedan, but neighboring Charleville

At 167.5km, this is the shortest stage of the opening week. The rolling terrain may encourage attacks, but with a fast, straight run in to St. Dizier, it will almost certainly end in a mass sprint— and perhaps in a Tour road stage record speed to top the 50.355 kph (31.289 mph) set by Mario Cipollini at Blois in 1999. 7/8/2003 Start Time: 1:17:00pm7/8/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:22:00pm HISTORYThis is the first time that St. Dizier, a town of 35,000, has been included on the Tour route. Besides the novelty of seeing the world’s biggest bike race, the crowds will be rooting for one of the

The course for this 69km team time trial is similar to last year’s between Épernay and Château-Thierry, with an early climb followed by undulating roads and a fast, flat finish. 7/9/2003 Start Time: 2:00:00pm7/9/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:08:00pm HISTORYTeam time trials were first seen at the Tour 76 years ago, but they were far different from today’s specialized affairs. In fact, all of the flat stages at the 1927 Tour were team time trials, some as long as 360km. The reason was that race organizer Henri Desgrange was unhappy with the slow pace and predictable finishes of the flatter

The race is only 48 hours away from the Alps, and this stage and the following one to Lyon see increasingly hilly terrain. Only a couple of the climbs on this 196km stage have categories, but this is by no means a simple “flat” stage. 7/10/2003 Start Time: 12:35:00pm7/10/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:30:00pm HISTORYWhile the Tour men of 2003 will have raced 811.5km (the prologue and five stages) to reach Nevers, the 60 pioneers of the first Tour came through Nevers only halfway through their opening stage of 467km from Paris to Lyon. In 1903, Nevers was one of the race control points where

At 230km, this is the longest stage yet, and with the first Cat. 3 climb of the race (71km from the finish) it is also the hilliest of the opening week. Students of the Tour will note that halfway through the stage, the riders will pass through the village of Le Guidon (the French word for handlebar), the birthplace of two-time Tour winner Bernard Thévenet. 7/11/2003 Start Time: 11:45:00am7/11/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:30:00pm HISTORYIn memorializing the Tour of a century ago, the race organizers based the course around the original six stage towns, but only this stage into Lyon bears

At 230.5km, this is the longest stage of the 2003 Tour, and includes four climbs that have never been used. The toughest is the Col de la Ramaz, which tops out at 1619 meters (5311 feet), 22km from the finish in Morzine. More than 14km long and averaging almost 7 percent, the Ramaz is a significant obstacle. By coming so late in the long day, and being followed by a steep descent, a 4km climb to Les Gets and another downhill, it will give a first indication of who will be challenging for the yellow jersey. 7/12/2003 Start Time: 11:10:00am7/12/2003 Estimated Finish Time:

This long stage across the plains and hills of Provence should have a spectacular conclusion. After racing downhill into the sprawling port city of Marseille, the race heads to the Vieux Port, the old dockside quarter, and then makes a 13km circuit around the city streets. 7/15/2003 Start Time: 11:46:00am7/15/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:16:00pm HISTORYLooking at the mostly downhill profile of this stage, one is reminded of the dramatic 1971 stage from the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette (just above Gap) to Marseille. Two-time defending champion Eddy Merckx had suffered one of his worst

Judging by the results of Saturday’s prologue time trial, this centennial Tour de France is going to be full of surprises. And a race of surprises is a race of excitement. That should be the case on Sunday, when half-a-dozen sprinters have a great chance of taking over the yellow jersey from prologue winner Brad McGee. With time bonuses of 20, 12 and eight seconds at the Stage 1 finish in Meaux, and six, four and two seconds on offer at the day’s three intermediate sprints, the stage winner could pick up a minimum of 20 seconds and a maximum of 38 seconds. The chief candidates to take the

There is nothing like a media scrum on the first day of the Tour de France, especially when you find yourself at the epicenter and face-to-face interviewing the day’s winner. But after waiting for the best of the day for the prologue to start, that’s where I was within a minute of Australian Brad McGee taking out the 6.5km “race of truth” in Paris. As soon as McGee dismounted, he lay on the cobblestones. He then sat up to find himself surrounded by a phalanx of probing microphones and television cameras. The first push’n shove, press of the flesh and huff’n puff of the centenary had been

The Tour de France is the biggest race in the world. Everyone knows that. But today, as it celebrated the start of its centenary edition, I really found out first-hand how big it is. First off, there’s organization and the number of people. Although when you’re racing, you can’t really hear them. I saw them, but inside myself I was in a zone. The number of media here is another thing altogether. In the days leading up to the start there are so many interviews, so many questions. It all takes a bit out of you. It is clear to anyone who races the Tour how winning a stage can change your

The prologue to a major stage race always seems to be watched with more interest than all but the most difficult mountain stages. No one knows who will be riding well until this first little test gives its hints. But how accurate are these hints as to the form of a rider when it comes to pursuing the overall title? And how can we use the prologue as a crytstal ball to see what's to come? Well, despite all the talk of a prologue just being a little warm-up, and not really meaning much for a three-week tour, I think it's an excellent indicator of overall form. No, I don't think Brad McGee will

Trek's Madone is named for a steep French climb

CicloSport's limited-edition USPS HAC 4

The Orbea team edition ...

... and the one you can buy.

Still the favorite

Millar: So close and yet....

Hincapie really is feeling better.

Hamilton was top American

Zubeldia set an early standard

Ullrich showed he's back

Can you think of a better place to start a Tour de France?

Leipheimer took 12th, at 11 seconds

Jan is back... and riding green

Cervelo went all out for the Tour

Jean Delatour... ready to ride

CSC is sporting new Zipps for the occasion

Hubba, hubba, hubba: Gold and carbon... bike jewelry at its best

Postal's cockpit

2004 Dura-Ace

There are 10

Speed is of the essence