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Many of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph of our daily updates, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:15 p.m. (local time) Stuart O'Grady retains the yellow jersey and Telekom's Erik Zabel continues in his quest for his sixth green jersey. 5:05 p.m. (local time) Kirsipuu! Telekom's Erik Zabel, was looking strong, but ran into traffic. Kirsipuu had a clear shot, while Zabel

On Friday, many of the riders at the Tour de France may have been breathing a sigh of relief, comforted in the fact that they had survived a very difficult opening week. For Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R Prevoyance), it was not only physically taxing, but also a mental challenge as well. However, he bounced back on Stage 6 and scored the second Tour de France stage win of his career, on the 211.5km stage from Commercy to Strasbourg. It won’t get any easier for the riders from here on out, but at least now, the Tour may settle down into a more recognizable rhythm. Week one of the Tour was

Stage Winner: Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Ag2r 4:50:39----------------------------------Overall Lead: Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit AgricoleSprinter: Erik Zabel (G) Deutsche TelekomClimber: Patrice Halgand (F), Jean Delatour Under 25: Jorg Jaksche (G), O.N.C.E. Click below for full results

While many of us watch the Tour on TV, photographer Casey B. Gibson is at the Tour, looking for things you'll rarely see on the tube.

The wheels are arguably the most important part on a bicycle and are thus the source of constant efforts for improvement, and, for a team, to find an edge over, or at least parity with, the other teams. There are a number of physical properties of a wheel that teams have to consider. A gram of rotating weight out at the rim is worth about two grams on the frame, so weight reduction is obviously critical. Wheels are big egg beaters of the air, and any reduction in their aerodynamic friction can pay off, especially when the rider is not sheltered in the peloton. In order that the rider can

It was an emotional day in Fruili at the start and finish of the 11th stage of the Giro d’Italia Femminile. Before the start of the stage Rosalisa La Pomarda -who was third overall and best placed Italian rider - was ejected from the race after UCI blood tests showed she was unfit to race. The other 35 riders tested were all within the limits. The stage finished with yet another head to head battle between the two leaders of the overall classification and a second win for Swiss rider Nicole Brandli. The Edilsavino rider took advantage of mechanical problems which stopped race leader Zinaida

The Columbia River Bank Cascade Cycling Classic kicked off in Bend, Oregon, Wednesday, with Mercury-Viatel’s Chris Wherry netting the win on the 110-mile stage. Wherry’s teammate Mike Sayers finished second, followed by Colorado Cyclist rider Clark Sheehan. Friday’s stage — an uphill time trial — was expected to shake up the G.C., and the race wraps up on Sunday, finishing where things began at the newly renovated Old Mill District in Bend.

It's Friday the 13th at the Tour de France. Kind of a scary thought actually. This is after all, the race where grown men curse bad luck and pray that good karma is on their side. I don't know if the date was on most rider's minds today. Historically, I've always been kind of fond of the number 13. It's never frightened me too much. In fact, after finishing 13th in the Tour in '99 it kind of became a lucky number of sorts. Well, as of today, I'm going to have to scrap all this 13 worship and join the ranks of the leery. I officially dislike Friday the 13th - because today, as they

While Zabel was caught in traffic, Kirsipuu had a clear shot

O'Grady spends another day in yellow.

With Merckx, Verbrugghe, Bartoli and Brochard, the break had horsepower. Bessy was there to keep guard.

Axel Merckx as you see him on TV, in the break on Col du Donon...

Casey B. Gibson

Photographing the Tour is long hours of waiting, then frenzied bursts of energy, and very long days. Taylor Johnson, photographe

This poor girl has to dance her way across France as a croissant in the publicity caravan, all 2100 miles of it.

George Hincapie confers with Freddie Viaene at the finish line.

The peloton rolls through a scenic village near Commercy, early in the stage.

Paris may not have gotten the Olympics, but France leads the world in haystack art at Tour time.

Moreau's new Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL wheels. Winning a stage doesn't hurt your swag status.

When Bonjour does a team chase to set up its sprinter, Damien Nazon, the yellow ovals on a long line of these Spinergys looks spectacular.

Rabobank uses gray pads on the front brakes with its Fir Santara carbon braking surfaces.

Mapei uses Ambrosio XCarbo deep-section rims on road stages, and, like Telekom, uses Corima orange brake pads to stop them.

Telekom, like Mapei, uses Corima orange (cork) brake pads with two-piece bolt-together brake shoes for the carbon braking surfaces on the team's road wheels (and on Ullrich's time trial bike as well).

Laced to Campy straight-pull hubs to look like Campy Bora wheels, but they have carbon braking surfaces and look different from Boras in other ways as well. They appear to be Ambrosio XCarbo rims without decals.

AG2R uses Trek-made Bontrager paired-spoke wheels. These are the same design as Rolfs, but now with Bontrager hubs and different different name, after Rolf left the company.

This thing really drives with that giant wheel--it is churning around the rider!

Bonjour's Simon retains the jersey...but Armstrong is now third overall.

Verdun -- Jan Ullrich’s Deutsche Telekom squad has played things very smart so far in this year’s Tour de France. With the minimum of effort, it has kept Ullrich nicely placed in the top 10 on GC and has taken two of the first four stages with Erik Zabel. And on Wednesday’s stressful stage from Huy to Verdun, Telekom placed Alex Vinokourov in two early breaks, and then Udo Bölts in the day’s main nine-man move that blew the race apart. So while Lance Armstrong ’s Postal troops and Joseba Beloki’s ONCE riders were leading a long 50-kph chase, Telekom was able to follow wheels until it was in

5:37 p.m. local timeSo a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:37 p.m.(local time) Here are the preliminary results of the top five teams. 1. CREDIT AGRICOLE 67km in 1:21;32; (49.3kph)2. ONCE, at 31 seconds;3. FESTINA, at 54 seconds;4. U.S. POSTAL, at 1:26;5. KELME, at 1:38; And we have some major changes in the overall

Stage Winner: Credit Agricole (F), 1:21:32----------------------------------Overall Lead: Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit AgricoleSprinter: Erik Zabel (G) Deutsche TelekomClimber: Patrice Halgand (F)Jean DelatourUnder 25: Jor Jaksche (G) ONCE Click below for full results

Thursday’s team time trial stage at the Tour de France ended with a very happy American who moved up into third place. But it wasn’t two-time defending champion Lance Armstrong. No, instead it was a rider who has known nothing but difficulties at the Tour during Armstrong’s two-year reign. On Thursday, though, Crédit Agricole’s Bobby Julich could finally break into a broad smile again at the Tour de France. His Crédit Agricole team posted the best time of the day on a wet, windy day that was filled with tension and danger. The ride not only kept Australian Stuart O’Grady in the yellow jersey,

The rain. The pain of a team time trial. And men and women simply doing their jobs at the Tour.

An analysis of the time splits at Thursday’s team time trial show that the U.S. Postal Service squad was on target to place second before Christian Vande Velde skidded on the slick, white-painted center line and fell, bringing down the team’s No. 2 rider Roberto Heras. The crash happened just inside 15km to go. If the other seven Postal riders hadn’t have waited, not only would Heras have lost a couple of minutes but he would also have felt abandoned. And that’s not how a team wants to go into the mountains, where the Spanish climber needs to be at his best to help Lance Armstrong win the

Even a brief visit to one of the women’s grand tours in Europe will leave even the most casual observer asking questions about equal treatment. The hotels are cheaper, the press coverage infrequent and the transfers often border on the ridiculous, sometimes up to 200km. But at least one front, this year’s edition of the Giro d’Italia femminile – the “Girodonne” – has achieved a degree of equity: the Italian drug police raided the hotels on Wednesday night. In a move reminiscent of this year’s men’s Giro d’Italia, the Italian anti-drug police, swooped in and searched the rooms and processions

The USCF Masters National Road Championships got underway July 7 in Spokane, Washington. Nearly 600 men and more than 100 women are expected to compete during the six-day event, which includes age-group road races, criteriums and timer trials. For all the latest results click here.

Look time trial bikes, which took a black eye a few years ago with some weak forks, pulled off the ultimate Tour victory – an entire team winning a stage on them. This, the day after Laurent Jalabert notched a win with a Look road bike, and two days after Stuart O’Grady took over the yellow jersey riding yet another. There are more Look bikes in this Tour than any other make, as four teams (Credit Agricole, Kelme, Big MAT and CSC) are riding them. That puts Look ahead of Pinarello, which has three teams (Telekom, iBanesto and Fassa Bortolo), and Colnago, which has two (Rabobank and Mapei).

Whew, today was tough. After yesterday's fiasco, I was really hurting. It was not very sportsmanlike what ONCE and U.S. Postal did yesterday. ONCE attacked as a full team at the feed zone on a windy day. Feed zones are already dangerous enough, and it's just an unwritten not to attack in them. Sometimes it might happen that a single guy might try to get away in one. But not for an entire world class team to do it. It's like attacking when the yellow jersey gets a flat. It caught our team and other teams by surprise, and the fact that Postal and Telekom followed suit, well, we weren't happy

Remembering Verdun's 600,000 war dead along the La Voie Sacrée (the Sacred Way)

SHINY, HAPPY PEOPLE Crédit Agricole now has the top three spots on GC

But for a single mishap, the Posties had a near perfect ride.

The ONCE team did a stellar job keeping Beloki in the race for GC

Moreau is still in the mix on the strength of a great TTT

Credit Agricole's goal was to only lose a minute on the day. Surprise.

O'Grady hangs on to the jersey one more day

Cofidis

Ready for the pre-race warm-up

Bobke doing a stand-up for OLN's U.S. broadcast

Sentinals marked each kilometer along the Voie Sacree today -- the supply route in WWI to the Verdun front

Ah, a steaming cup to start the day

The monocoque Pinarellos of iBanesto, Fassa Bortolo and Telekom always look cool -- though Ullrich may have wanted a motor

Thor Hushovd's Look KG396 CLM matched the rest of the team's.

Axel Merckx and the rest of his team rode Daddy's time trial frames to a 14th-place finish.

Laurent Jalabert and the CSC team downed packs of High5 gel on the start line and stuffed more up sleeves and shorts legs for la

Kelme's cool hinged Catlike helmets let air in at the head where the hinge opens. But not all Kelme riders get the cool frames.

Look KG 396 CLM fork detail on a CSC team bike.

Maybe spiked hair tests out better in a wind tunnel than an aero' helmet?

Zipp wheels and GT frames brought American technology to Lotto.

US Postal got concerned about the wind and exchanged its HED3 front wheels for Mavic Cosmics.

Freddy's new ride

There aren't too many flat roads on Wednesday's 215km stage 4 from Huy to Verdun that traverses the Ardennes range from north to south. And the stage won't be made any easier by a predicted three-quarter head wind gusting up to 25 mph and possible rain showers. The good news is that most of the day's climbing is in the first half of the stage, when the unfavorable wind should keep the peloton together.Despite that likelihood, there are bound to be early attacks. Half the field is now more than five minutes off the pace, and 40 of them are more than 10 minutes behind race leader Stuart

5:30 p.m. local timeSo a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:12 p.m. (local time) Jalabert earns his fourth Tour de France stage win, but he will not make it into the yellow jersey. Stuart O'Grady managed to finish close enough to keep the overall lead. Dierckxsens earned second and Nazon edged out Fast Freddie Rodriguez for

Stage Winner: Laurent Jalabert (F) CSC-Tiscali, 215km in 5:17:49----------------------------------Overall Lead: Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit AgricoleSprinter: Erik Zabel (G) Deutsche TelekomClimber: Patrice Halgand (F) Jean DelatourUnder 25: Florent Brard (F) Festina Click below for full results.

On Wednesday, the Tour de France made its way back into France, after racing through Belgium for three days in the opening week of the race. Along the route from Huy, Belgium, to Verdun, France, was the war memorial in Douaumont, commemorating the two-and-a-half-year battle in World War I, where more than 150,000 French and German soldiers lost their lives. But looking back on Stage 4 of the Tour, it’s the 150km of roads before that monument that will be remembered most after an epic chase and a surprising show of force by the teams of the top contenders for this year’s overall title. On

Defending Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal team remained tight-lipped as he arrived in Verdun, France after the fourth stage of the Tour de France, a 215km haul from Huy in Belgium on Wednesday. However the 29-year-old Texan, who has refused requests for interviews ever since he told an Italian newspaper of his links to Italian doping guru Michele Ferrari, had a few words for French television. Armstrong, who came in with a 75-man bunch seven seconds behind stage winner Laurent Jalabert of France, told TV reporters that this was the first time he'd been tested on

The pursuit of the Yellow is the hot topic of the month, but today's stage rolled past reminders of bigger matters and sadder times. On the approach to Verdun, there were numerous memorials and thousands of crosses in honor of the hundreds of thousands soldiers who died in this region of northern France in World War 1. The first photo on this page is of a memorial along today's route, and contains the remains of 150,000 unknown soldiers killed in the Battle of Verdun in WWI.

First Steve Peat went down with a shoulder injury. Now Chris Kovarik is out with … visa problems. Word out of the Intense camp is that the American INS boys up in Vancouver wouldn’t let the young Aussie downhiller back into the States after he’d finished up competing at the World Cup race at Grouse Mountain because he had the wrong kind of visa. "He’s got a five-year visitation visa, but what he needs is a work visa or an athlete’s visa," said Intense owner Jeff Steber, Kovarik’s primary sponsor. "We’ve got all the right paper work going now, but at minimum it’s going to take two

The television coverage of today's 210km stage from Huy to Verdun probably didn't do justice to the level of racing going on. It doesn't get much more difficult than a day like we had. Any way you slice it, working at the front all day at full speed is a hard day at the office. An attack went at the 15 kilometer mark that included Vinokourov from Telekom so we made a point of chasing it down. If we let him get some time on the field he would have become one more rider we'd be forced to keep track of. And we don't want to have to worry about him when the roads start slanting up. When the

After 215km, this was a pleasant sight

Vande Velde: 'If we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it right.”

Heras, Armstrong and Beloki: That kind of firepower made everyone suffer.

Ossuaire Memorial for the unknown soldiers

Nardello after a spill

O'Grady

The Tour barbers are part of the traveling village that moves each day

Heras (with his soigneur)

Postie bikes ready to roll

5:16 p.m.(local time) Here is the unofficial top 20 list from stage 3 of the 2001 Tour de France. Stuart O'Grady is now officially the overall race leader with a 17-second advantage over Festina's Christophe Moreau, the man who first wore the jersey in Dunkirk. 1. ZABEL Erik GER TEL 198.5km in 4:5:7; 2. MAGNIEN Emmanuel FRA, FDJ; 3. GARZELLI Stefano ITA, MAP; 4. BALDATO Fabio ITA, FAS; 5. SIMON François FRA, BJR; 6. MIKHAILOV Guennadi RUS, LOT; 7. CAPELLE Christophe FRA, BIG; 8. BOUYER Franck FRA, BJR; 9. BAGUET Serge BEL, LOT; 10. ARMSTRONG Lance USA, USP; 11. MOREAU Christophe FRA, FES;