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If things went according to plan, I would have ridden the first half of today's (Montluçom--St. Amand-Montrond) time trial hard to set splits for Lance. But it was apparent by about 5.2 seconds into the race that my body was still crying Uncle. Knowing that I wouldn't be setting any land speed records this afternoon, I opted for plan B, which was to ride steady while conserving a few matches for the next two days. This race won't be finished until Lance crosses the line in Paris. And we'll be on guard until that very moment. So I, along with my teammates, still need some strength. It's

Armstrong: 'It’s important for the maillot jaune to race the final time trial with 100 percent effort, and prove that he’s the best rider in the race.'

ONCE's Gonzalez de Galdeano

Ullrich: Third for the day, still second overall.

Beloki's ride today -- finishing sixth -- could be the lift he needs to secure a podium spot in Paris.

The first section of today's 60.5km time trial.

Directions for Lance, and little bit of yellow on the flag. Courtesy of Pedro and Peter Azzolini, father and son who realized a life long dream to see the Tour together.

George Hincapie rides past some American fans on the road to St. Amand-Montrond

The start is a mass of TV cables. Some compare it to running the TV operation for a Super Bowl, in a different town every day.

Note Armstrong’s front Hed3 wheel, rear Mavic disc and Vision aero bar with little Dia-Compe-style plug-in brake levers.

This is Heras's 52-cm frame; to get his bars low enough, his Vision bar clamp was cut down so that there is only one bolt, not two, holding it to the steerer.

Note the curved shape of Ullrich’s carbon aero’ bar.

Ullrich tweaked the adjustment on both front and rear brakes before the start.

The logo-less hub on Ullrich's bike has tall flanges to prevent hole deformation and cracking under high spoke tension

Andrei Kivilev (who lost his podium spot in the time trial) was so nervous on the starting ramp that it looked like if you said 'boo,' he would fall off of the starting ramp. The Cofidis rider packed a little gel up his shorts leg for the ride.

Like Armstrong, ONCE's Gonzalez de Galdeano also used a Hed3 front wheel. He didn’t get such a cool Giro helmet as Lance, though. He probably didn’t want one that said 'Lance' down it.

Best Young Rider Oscar Sevilla pulled out the 177.5mm crankarms for the time trial.

Stefano Garzelli is left trying to restore Italian pride at the Tour.

The 2001 Tour de France is over. American Lance Armstrong has made it three-in-a-row, Lampre's Jan Svorada earned one of the Tour's most prestigious stage wins and Erik Zabel took his sixth consecutive points jersey. Read the full story on the VeloNews Tour de France page. We also have complete results, a post stage wrap-up by Bryan Jew, analysis by John Wilcockson, race images from Graham Watson and Casey Gibson and a look at the technology used in this race by Lennard Zinn.

The Tour has bad memories of Brive-la-Gaillarde, where Thursday’s stage 17 begins. It was here in 1998 that the Festina team was excluded from the Tour de France in a late-night announcement by race director Jean-Marie Leblanc. The decision was made after firm evidence came through that the Festina team –- then ranked No. 1 in the world –- had used an organized system of doping, and that the team had intended using the cache of drugs seized from a Festina team car the previous week. This year, there have been no drug scandals, and only one rider has tested positive since the race began. That

4:59 p.m. Here are the preliminary top-ten: 1. BAGUET Serge BEL LOT in 4:13:36; 2. PIIL Jakob DEN CST at 00:00; 3. LELLI Massimiliano ITA COF at 00:05; 4. SVORADA Jan SLO LAM at 00:13; 5. NAZON Damien FRA BJR at 00:13; 6. ZABEL Erik GER TEL at 00:13; 7. O'GRADY Stuart AUS C.A at 00:13; 8. VAINSTEINS Romans LAT DFF at 00:13; 9. PETACCHI Alessandro ITA FAS at 00:13; 10. CAPELLE Christophe FRA BIG at 00:13; Stay tuned for a complete post stage wrap-up and results, including details on the ever-tightening green jersey race between Stuart O'Grady and Erik Zabel.4:54 p.m. They MADE IT! With the

The Tour de France loves to give out second chances. And this year, it seems like they’re everywhere. Of course, there’s Lance Armstrong, who’s living out his second life after his recovery from cancer. But after that, there are plenty of other less monumental examples. Laurent Jalabert, for example, has transformed himself from a perennial July disappointment into a new, aggressive, attacking Tour rider who’s taken two Tour stage wins and the polka dot jersey this year. And on Thursday, the Tour was introduced to Serge Baguet, who really is living out a second career. The Belgian

Saturn dominated the first day of the 2001 Canadian National Road Championships, with Eric Wohlberg and Lyne Bessette winning their respective time trials. The national championships are being held in the town of Dieppe, New Brunswick, on the east coast of Canada. The elite men covered 2 circuits of the 20 kilometer road race course, while the women and espoir men did two loops of a shortened 13 kilometer circuit. Both were rolling, with no major climbs. Conditions were perfect, except for a very strong wind that was in the face of riders as they finished. Bessette's main rival was

Rolf Sorensen clearly must have planned on going for it on the hilly road to Sarran, since he had pulled out his ADA wheels for the task. But the CSC-Tiscali Sorensen who was in the breakaway and ended up fourth was Nicki Sorensen. Rolf’s ADAs look very similar to the Lightweight wheels that Armstrong used in the uphill time trial to Chamrousse and that Jalabert used on some mountain stages, but there are important differences. While both brands have carbon hub shells, the carbon-Kevlar spokes on Lightweights are flat, while those of ADAs are round and made of carbon wrapped in Kevlar

There is no shortage of great stories in cycling. Today's victor, Serge Baguet from Belgium is one example. He was a professional cyclist for about 7 years when he decided to hang up his bike and head back to Belgium to be a roofer. After three years of that he perhaps realized he left the sport of cycling too soon. Last year he returned to racing and today, he won a stage in the Tour de France. Any of you out there saying, woulda-shoulda-coulda should follow his lead and get back out there. You never know where your passion can take you. The U.S. Postal Service has transformed from

A rolling route on a hot day. A long day on the road.

World No.1 ranked Australian road cyclist Anna Millward has tested positive for a banned local anaesthetic, national women's coach James Victor said in Sydney on July 26 in . Victor said the drug, believed to be found in an insect bite cream, had been detected in the 29-year-old's A sample taken in France two months ago. He would not name the drug but said it was permitted under the Australian Sports Drug Agency and IOC guidelines "but the regulations are worded differently with the (world cycling head body) UCI. We are now awaiting the results of the B sample, we can't say

After the first 20km loop, it appeared Wohlberg was on a winning ride.

Quits cycling. Drinks beer. Puts on weight. Returns to sport -- wins Tour stage. There's hope for us all!

Piil and Baguet stayed away from some 180km...though the margin was 13 seconds at the end.

Postal stayed veeeery attentive to keeping the break within reach.

Ullrich and Livingston did the same for Telekom.

CSC-Tiscali's Rolf Sorensen broke out the superlight ADA wheels for the race to Sarran. The wheels weigh under one kilogram for the pair, so they should have reduced the Dane's effort to get over the innumerable climbs on the stage.

Sorensen's rear ADA wheel has a superlight alloy freehub body that fits Shimano cogs but engages Campagnolo-style teeth in the end of the hub shell. The engagement system in an ADA freehub is identical to and interchangeable with Campagnolo.

Note the round, Kevlar-wrapped spokes on Sorensen's super-light ADA front wheel.

Crédit Agricole broke out Shimano carbon wheels for the hilly ride to Sarran.

MichaÎl Boogerd and the rest of his Rabobank teammates used Fir carbon wheels to climb the hills to Sarran.

Roberto Heras used his standard road bike for the stage.

Heras does not toe the U.S. Postal line when it comes to seatposts. He uses a Selcof CNC instead of a Shimano post.

U.S. Postal's Victor Hugo Peña also does not use the team's standard Shimano seatpost. His is a Tandem Titanium Project (TTP).

And you thought all riders used padded tape! Euskaltel-Euskadi uses that plastic tape with criss-crossing ribs on it like you used to find on Huffy 10-speeds.

Now that the mountains are over, riders are more relaxed and start to visit the village before the start. Today's second place finisher Jacob Piil (right) enjoys a coffee.

Julich with the OLN crew.

Shameless commercial plug: That's VeloNews Editorial Director John Wilcockson chatting with OLN. He's covering his 33rd Tours de France.

The cafe de Paris does it up right with jerseys.

Photographers line up at the finish line for the last image of the day. The gray buildings on the right house communication and timing equipment, and are moved every day.

Roadside fans.

5:33 p.m. [local time] After a final breakaway attempt by Francois Simon -- the man who had been in the yellow jersey -- Erik Zabel won the field sprint as the peloton finished more than 25 minutes behind stage winner Jens Voigt. Zabel, however, only gained a point in the race for the green jersey, since Stuart O'Grady finished right on Zabel's wheel. The Australian still leads Zabel by 12 points in the green points jersey competition. Stay tuned for complete results and a post-stage wrap up story later this morning. 5:08 p.m. [local time] Alexandre Bocharov (Ag2R-Prevoyance) has edged out

In late July in France, there are plenty of pleasant ways to spend a sunny summer afternoon during vacation season. Riding a bicycle for nearly six hours in 90-degree weather is not one of them. But after two-and-a-half weeks, and more than 1600 miles covered, that’s what the riders in the Tour de France face for most of the final week. These are the dog days of the Tour, when many of the weary riders are just looking forward to getting to Paris. Still, even during the dog days, every day presents another chance for glory or disappointment, and Wednesday’s Stage 16 from Castelsarrasin to

A funny thing happens on your way through the Tour de France. You get tired of eating. I'm thinking this is the ultimate sign of fatigue. Because, generally, I like to eat. And considering the team has it's own chef -- it's not about the quality of our daily cuisine. It's the mass quantities of calories we have to put down each day that gets tiring. It's ironic actually, because throughout the season we have to be so maniacal about what we put into our bodies. And here, by the third week, it's kind of an anything-goes atmosphere. We spent the day in the cockpit of the peloton, as we raced

Jan Ullrich has done everything he can to lose weight off of his body. He and his mechanics have also gone to extraordinary lengths to take a full kilogram off of the bike he uses in the mountains. The big German also has some particular preferences about his components, and his mechanics and suppliers clearly bend over backward to accommodate them. Ullrich’s climbing frame is a lighter version of his Pinarello Prince. It appears to have standard Prince carbon fork and seatstay wishbone, but the aluminum main tubes have thinner walls, and the down tube is smaller diameter. As his climbing

In today's opening session of the 2001 World Junior Track Championships, USA's Tyler Farrar qualified for the quarterfinal round of the men's 3km individual pursuit. Farrar -- in only his fourth pursuit ride of his career -- clocked a 3:29.701 on the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. Competition runs from July 25 to 29. The morning's fastest time, in hot, muggy conditions, went to defending world junior champion Volodymyr Dyudiya (Ukraine) in 3:27.090. Germany's Christopher Meschenmoser was second (3:27.350) and Dyudiya's countryman, Vitaliy Kondrut next

Both Tuesday (stage 15, Pau-Lavaur, 232.5km) and Wednesday (stage 16, Castelsarrasin-Sarran, 227.5km) were really hard from the start because they were both just up and down the whole way. Yesterday, there were only 2 or 3 climbs that were categorized (ed. note, there were four), but there were at least 10 or 12 climbs that should have been. I got away in one group, but Botero was in there, so ONCE chased it down. Another we were in, Gonzalez Galdeano was also there, and it got chased right down, too. You have to watch out with those breaks, because guys high on GC. try to slip in unnoticed.

McGee (front) and Voight (wearing hat, obscured by McGee) were the only riders to survive an early seven-up break.

Zabel (l) and O'Grady going at it for the final sprinters points of the stage.

Postal cowboys: Riding herd on the peloton.

A shot of Hamilton earlier in the week, with his family in the Pyrénées.

Ullrich's frame has smaller-diameter, thinner-walled tubing than his normal bike. The whole thing is claimed to be a kilogram lighter than his normal bike.

Campagnolo's new angled-bolt seat binder. This unit is intended to stop carbon-fiber seatposts from sliding down in aluminum frames as they are prone to do.

Ullrich uses a superlight bottom bracket and crank bolt on his climbing bike, along with 177.5mm Campagnolo cranks.

Ullrich's -- or his mechanic's! -- front climbing wheel with a Tune hub and all-carbon rim.

Ullrich prefers the shape of the 8-speed Campy Record ErgoPower lever bodies and the light weight of the 10-speed carbon lever blades so he gets both. The left lever body has no shifter guts or cable; The down tube shifter saves 100 grams.

Contrast the cockpit of this Telekom team spare bike with Ullrich's. Note the rounded shape of the ErgoPower 10-speed Record levers compared with Ullrich's.

The leather cover-wrapping job on Ullrich's Lightness carbon saddle is a little crude.

The base of his 'Lightness Handmade' climbing saddle is solid carbon fiber with carbon-fiber rails reinforced with aluminum.

4:48 p.m.(local time) The main peloton has finish 15:04 behind stage winner Rik Verbrugghe. Stay tuned for a look at the Tour's overall standings and stage results. 4:31 p.m.(local time) Verbrugghe held on to Pinotti's wheel until the 300meter mark and sprinted in for the win. The chasing 23 finished in sight of and just a few seconds behind the two leaders. 4:30 p.m.(local time) With 1km to go the two have less than 10 seconds -- Verbrugghe is behind Pinotti. 4:29 p.m.(local time) With less than 3km to go, Verbrugghe and Pinotti are on the gradual descent to Lavour. The have 15 seconds on

The Tour de France resumed on Tuesday, following the mountains and Monday’s rest day, and with Lance Armstrong having all but wrapped up the yellow jersey, the race was once again turned over to the opportunists in the peloton. Headbangers. Donkeys. Call them what you want. The breakaway artists were at it again on Stage 15, and Lotto’s Rik Verbrugghe grabbed the stage win after an escape of more than 100 miles. The longest day of the Tour, a 232.5km west-to-east journey from Pau to Lavaur, began on a sour note, as American Jonathan Vaughters (Crédit Agricole) abandoned the race. Vaughters

Three Tours. Two crashes. One wasp sting. No finishes. That is Jonathan Vaughters’s depressing Tour de France track record after withdrew from the 2001 Tour de France on Tuesday. But even more depressing, or frustrating to Vaughters, was that his dream of finishing was ended as much by an arbitrary UCI regulation as it was by his allergic reaction to that wasp sting. Vaughters was stung just above the right eye during a team training ride on Monday. When he got back to the Crédit Agricole hotel in Pau, the team took him to a local hospital for treatment. There, just to be perfectly clear on

Stage Winner: Rik Verbrugghe (B) Lotto, 232.5km iin 5:15:21---------------------------------- Overall Lead: Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service Sprinter: Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole Climber: Laurent Jalabert (F) CSC-Tiscali Under 25: Oscar Sevilla (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca Click below for full results

Images from July 15. Working, riding and watching the Tour.

If anyone thought that this last week of the tour was going to be a gentle promenade toward Paris, think again. Tuesday’s stage from Pau to Lavaur gave a hint of what to expect on Wednesday, with a 25-man break averaging more than 44 kph on a marathon 232.5km stage littered with short, back-breaking hills. And the first, hillier half of the stage was conducted in almost perfect conditions: no wind, overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. By the finish in the little town of Lavaur, the clouds had gone and the temperatures risen to the low 80s. On Wednesday, there will be hot

The sunflowers are out and signal the switch to warm weather

With no big GC threats in the break, the big guns could relax

If this guy didn't have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. Jonathan Vaughters suffered a wasp sting on the rest day. This is after the swelling had gone down a little.

Lance's bodyguard-assistant Thierry tries to keep up as Lance rides back to the team bus.

Former race leader Francois Simon is still very popular with the fans.

The Pyrenees/TDF sculpture, found off Autoroute A64, is an unbelievable 50 feet tall.