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Lance's biggest fan, who despite his paralysis, still makes it to several stages each year to cheer him on.

Bobke and Chris Carmicheal check the morning papers for the latest accusations

Missionaries for Lance. These Later Day Saints missionaries took time off to watch the start.

Former Postie Steve Vermaut enjoys a little time with the family beforetoday's start.

Scenes from the slopes near Luz Ardiden. And why it's time for a well-earned rest day.

Lance Armstrong defended his relationship with Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari, who suspected of doping, during a press conference in Pau, France, during the July 23 rest day at the Tour. Armstrong also called for testing on growth hormones to become a priority of scientists working in the anti-doping field. The Texan was adamant that if Ferrari -- who is set to stand trial in Italy in September for sports fraud and administering dangerous substances -- was not convicted, he would continue working with him. "Absolutely," Armstrong told AFP. Ferrari was investigated by Italian

Selected images from the mountains of France.

On Monday’s rest day at the Tour de France, race leader Lance Armstrong held a mid-race press conference at the press room at the Palais Beaumont in Pau, France. While the standard questions regarding the Tour thus far and Armstrong’s plans for the future were put forward, the one-hour meeting with the press eventually turned to the issue of doping, and also to Armstrong’s relationship with the controversial Italian trainer, Michele Ferrari. Despite the aggressive line of questioning, Armstrong maintained a cool exterior in defending his association with Ferrari, and vigorously reminded the

Well this is the first rest day I can remember in a long time where we actually got to rest. Our team has been at the same hotel for the past two nights and the start is right down town from us tomorrow. Believe me when I say a few nights stay in one spot is a rarity at the Tour. I practically feel like I live here in Pau. We went for a training ride at about 10:30 this morning to preview a bit of tomorrow's course. The profile is pretty grim. Don't believe people when they say the hardest stages are behind us -- because the next two days are going to be tough. There are no mountain top

You have to transport those funky vehicles in the publicity caravan somehow! Who would want drive them on those long transfers?

The faithful have to come up a day in advance to get a camping spot at a mountaintop finish in the Tour.

Another view down from Luz Ardiden on a perfect, cloudless day for a bike race.

Roberto Laiseka may have gotten up 13km of these switchbacks in only 37 minutes, but don't kid yourself. There are a lot of them, and they are tough!

The view from Luz Ardiden is not lost on the fans.

Oh, those Telekom fans. They are everywhere, especially on the tops of the mountains where Jan Ullrich almost reigns supreme.

The drivers of the TV trucks have had to get their rigs up tortuous roads for five stages in a row -- plus a long day of driving during the first 'rest day.' They are tired and can be found sleeping anywhere these days.

This jack-knifed water truck stopped early traffic on all of the final switchbacks to Luz Ardiden. At the parking lot a car was in the way, so a five of us lifted and moved the car. The driver displayed impressive skill by not crushing it.

The Team Mapei's dinner table awaits in Pau. And then the riders get to kick back on a rest day without a long transfer.

Tyler Hamilton greets his family at the start in Tarbes.

The swarm of photographers descends on the three jerseys at the start line.

You've never seen a traffic jam until you have seen a Tour traffic jam. Leaving the finish of stage 13, it took 2-1/2 hours to creep 10 kilometers.

One of the seven helicopters associated with the Tour lands at the St-Lary-Soulan ski area. The helicopter coordinator crouches in the dust.

Hamilton's wife and family (from Sunday's stage).

Roland Green probably won’t ever forget his back-to-back World Cup flats that likely cost him a pair of cross-country wins, but after the weekend he’s had at Mammoth Mountain in California, the pain has certainly been eased. A day after winning the cross country at NORBA NCS No. 4, Green added to his haul by running away with Saturday’s short track. It’s the second time this year the Canadian Trek-Volkswagen rider has doubled up at an NCS stop, a feat he also accomplished at NORBA No. 2 in Snowshoe, West Virginia. In the women’s race Alison Dunlap was fastest in a hard-fought affair,

Eric Carter and Tai-Lee Muxlo took down all comers on their way to wins in the dual slalom at NORBA NCS No. 4 at Mammoth Mountain in California. It was the 11th slalom victory of Carter’s career. For Muxlo it was her first. Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai) had about as difficult trip to victory as one could have. He barley got by Michael Ronning (Intense) in the first round, then had to take out Fabien Barel (GT), Mick Hannah (Global Racing) and Wade Bootes (Trek-Volkswagen), before facing Brian Lopes (GT-Fox) in the finals. In the finals, though, Carter got a break when Lopes’s front tire washed

6:37 p.m. local timeQuite 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 ... 5:25 p.m. (local time) Kivilev, the man who began the day in second overall, has finished at 2:27. This might be a good time to glance at the results and standings as of the end of yesterday’s stage. 5:22 p.m. (local time) Laiseka -- the only remaining member of the

By taking the yellow jersey with another superlative stage win on Saturday, Lance Armstrong has done the hardest part of winning a third consecutive Tour de France. As expected, his only true opposition is Jan Ullrich, now 5:13 behind the American. When asked last night what is still possible, Ullrich threw up his arms and said, "I will try stuff, and my team will try stuff, but Lance is even stronger than he's been the past two years. I don't know what we can do." Then, referring to Sunday's stage 14, the last day in the mountains, Ullrich said, "Tomorrow is another very tough stage and

Tour de France chief Jean-Marie Leblanc on Sunday scotched American hopes of a race stage being held in the United States, saying the Tour had more pressing priorities. Speaking prior to the 14th stage of this year's 88th Tour, Leblanc told AFP: "It's a project that's been talked about for about 10 years, though not recently, so it's always been lingering in the background. "But I think that now is not the perfect time. Since we're in the period following the Festina (doping) affair (1998) our aim is to re-establish the sporting credibility of the Tour and to continue our battle against

Stage Winner: Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) – 4:24:30 ---------------------------------- Overall Lead: Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service Sprinter: Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole Climber: Laurent Jalabert (F) CSC Under 25: Oscar Sevilla (Sp), Kelme

At last, the massive mountains of the Alps and Pyrénées are behind the riders of the Tour de France. After a brutal six-day stretch of racing, the riders will have one more rest day on Monday, followed by the final six stages which will take them to the finish in Paris. With 14 stages in the books, American Lance Armstrong leaves the mountains with an almost insurmountable lead in the overall race. Armstrong was the dominant force in the mountains, but on Sunday, the weekend in the Pyrénées concluded with a hugely popular win for Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Roberto Laiseka. Of the three Pyrénéan

After Lance Armstrong found on L’Alpe d’Huez that he wanted a 22 and did not have it, he did something about it for the beyond-category climbs of the Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden today. He once again used a 12-23, but it was not a standard cog distribution. He had an extra two-tooth gap lower down and used one-tooth gaps at the top. The smallest two cogs were titanium on his cassette, while the last seven of his nine cogs were blue aluminum Specialities T.A. on his Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL wheel. The top three cogs were 21-22-23 (so the entire set went 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-22-23). The front inner

The press gauntlet, the front-row presentation, and the winding road to the finish (and Jumbotron) at Luz-Ardiden.

SAINT-LARY-SOULAN: (Sorry about the delay with yesterday's journal folks, I couldn't get online!) I don't know that I've ridden a lot of stages more difficult than today. When we came to preview the course in May we realized this day was probably going to be one of the most critical of the Tour de France. There was no mercy - just up and down and back up again. Good bike karma has not been on my side much at this edition of the Tour de France. For the third time in this year's race my bike had mechanical issues. For the second time, the derailer on my climbing broke. There's nothing

Fabien Barel’s breakout season rolled on at NORBA National No. 4 at Mammoth Mountain in California. The 20-year-old Frenchman bombed his way down the loose dirt of the new 1.7-mile "Bullet" downhill, just nipping Global Racing’s Mick Hannah by .92 seconds. Barel (GT) was the only rider to post a sub four-minute time, stopping the clock in 3:59.24. Greg Minnaar (Global Racing), Mickael Pascal (Be One), and John Kirkaldie (Maxxis) completed the podium places. "I tried to go easy at the top because it’s flatter at the bottom and I knew I’d need maximum energy," said Barel, who is leading the

Green simply powered away from the field.

Dunlap got her second short track win of 2001.

Hesjedal took the front at the start, but soon crashed out.

Green gets his second win of the weekend.

Muxlo finally got her first win.

Carter took out all of the game's heavy hitters.

A Basque racing in the Pyrenees. That's cycling's equivalent to the home-court advantage for Laiseka.

Armstrong's aluminum T.A. cogset had a 21-22-23 on top. Even with a sparking clean chain and cogs in the morning, they still pick up this much grime during a seven-hour stage in perfect weather conditions.

Lance's climbing bike is tuned everywhere to eliminate excess weight. The large cylindrical-head titanium caliper pivot bolt replaced the standard domed-head pivot bolt. Bolts everywhere on the bike have been changed to minimize weight.

Roberto Heras was awesome today on this bike. Better yet, he, like his teammates, has eyelets on his dropouts and could have mounted a rack and packed a lunch!

Photogs stake out the start line, waiting for Lance to show up in his new yellow jersey.

On the start line today. From left: Oscar Sevilla, best under 25 rider; Jalabert in climber's jersey; Lance in Yellow; and O'Grady in the sprinter's green jersey.

The Coca Cola break dancers performing in front of the city fountain at the village. A little cultural juxtaposition.

The labarynth of switchbacks that make up the finish at Luz-Ardiden.

Hamilton in the big mountains.

A view of the climb to Luz-Ardiden, with the giant TV screen and fans on the point, framed by the Pyrenees.

Julich's group had 3:20 on the peloton as they started up Col d’Aspin.

Telekom led the chase, while Armstrong rode shotgun on Ullrich.

The epic 'dangerous stages' are done, Armstrong said after the day.

Barel on his was to the win.

Giove won her third straight NORBA downhill.

The women's podium: Streb, Repo, Giove, Donovan and Connolly

4:18 p.m. Simon has finished at 13:20 behind Armstrong. He has lost the yellow jersey to the American. 4:14 p.m. Simon is still on the road and the clock has just passed the nine-minute mark. Armstrong has the yellow jersey. 4:12 p.m. We have now passed the 7:00 mark and Simon has more than 2km to go. The yellow jersey will move from Simon to Armstrong today. 4:08 p.m. Beloki and Heras have finished at 1:46 for third and fourth. Garzelli has taken fifth. Jalabert has finished in seventh at 3:06. Cofidis's Kivilev has finished 4:02 behind Armstrong. Simon is stll way down on the

Lance Armstrong has beaten down all of his opponents at the Tour de France in the past five days, and when he finally took over the yellow jersey of race leader on Saturday, the signs were everywhere. He rode away from Jan Ullrich, the grit on the German’s face and the dirt streaking his jersey a fitting symbol of the psychological beating he has taken at Armstrong’s hands. Joseba Beloki rolled across the finish line in utter exhaustion, a string of drool hanging from his chin, after trying to stay with Armstrong on the most difficult day of the race. Santiago Botero bowed his head and buried

Stage Winner: Lance Armstrong - 5:44:22 ---------------------------------- Overall Lead: Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service Sprinter: Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole Climber: Laurent Jalabert (F) CSC Under 25: Oscar Sevilla (Sp), Kelme

It was a photographer's dream: A beautiful sunny day at the Tour and lots and lots of scenics. But for the guys in the peloton the theme wasn't quite sunshine and scenic vistas. It was pretty much climb, climb, climb and then climb some more.

CSC-Tiscali's Laurent Jalabert said after the stage finish in Ax les Thermes yesterday that he was going to get the polka-dot climber's jersey today on St. Lary Soulan. That seemed not to be such a slam dunk as he intimated, as he would start the day with 106 points to the 127 points of Laurent Roux (Jean Delatour). When Roux picked up 20 more points on the Col du Portet d'Aspet to Jalabert's goose egg, even devoted Jalabert fans might have begun to doubt. But then JaJa went on an impressive solo breakaway and got the first-place KOM points on the Col de Menté, Col du Portillon, Col de

Following its incredible opening week, the Crédit Agricole team came down from its high once the race hit the Alps. G.C. hopeful Bobby Julich struggled on the stage to Alpe d’Huez and the time trial to Chamrousse. Then, after two solid rides in the Alpes, Jonathan Vaughters had problems of his own in the Pyrénées. Following Friday’s stage to Ax-Les-Thermes, Julich said that the first week had definitely taken it’s toll. "I did use a lot of energy the first week, as did the rest of the team," he said, "but you know, we won the team time trial, we had seven days in yellow, which was amazing

A castle overlooking the start in Foix.

One of the day's two biggies looked serious at the start

Frederick Guesdon leads two teammates through a turn on the first climb.

Euskaltel fans took over one entire climb of today's race. One entire mountain of crazy ... er enthusiastic Basques!

The incredible climb to the summit of Col de Val-Louron-Azet.

The village of Saint-Lary-Soulet below, and the day’s final climb to the Pla d'Adet ski area at the upper left.

Armstrong powering his way up a climb by himself is becoming a familiar sight at this Tour

Jalabert led the charge and then stayed out on his own almost until the end.

And again, it came down to a two-man battle

5:19 p.m. – (local time) Felix Cardenas (Kelme) won the 12th stage of the Tour de France, a tough 166.5km mountain stage from Perpignan to Aix les Therme on Friday. It was the first Tour de France victory for 28-year-old Cardenas and the tenth ever for a Colombian rider France's Francois Simon of the Bonjour team holds the overall leader's yellow jersey for the second day. Cardenas came in some 15 seconds ahead of Spaniard Roberto Laiseka and defending Tour champion Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal team who left Telekom's Jan Ullrich in the final 2km. At the finishing line Armstrong

Stop No. 4 of the NORBA National Championship Series kicks off Friday at Mammoth Mountain. It will mark the 13th time — every year of its existence — that the NORBA series has come to this growing four-season resort town, which sits high up in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada range. Friday’s action will feature cross-country racing with the pro women slated to get going at 11 a.m. local time, followed by the men at 2 p.m. The biggest challenge for all the competitors will be the thin air, as much of the cross-country course rises above 8000 feet.

On Friday, the Tour de France entered the Pyrénées, for the start of a weekend in the mountains that will most likely decide the final outcome of the Tour de France. After a day to fly from the Alps to the mountains that separate France from Spain, and to recover a little from the two mountain stages in the Alps, the Tour resumed with Kelme-Costa Blanca’s Felix Cardenas scoring the stage victory, but it also saw Lance Armstrong show off a little more of his arsenal as he again took time out of all his rivals. On the course profile, Stage 12 from Perpignan to Ax-Les-Thermes looked like the

Dutch cyclist Bram de Groot suffered severe concussion after a horrific crash during the 12th stage of the Tour de France from Perpignan to Ax-les-Thermes Friday. A medical source said that the 26-year-old Rabobank rider, who failed to negotiate a bend during the descent from Jau and crashed into a rock before colliding with a security barrier, was in a coma in hospital in Perpignan. Gerard Porte, the Tour de France's chief doctor, said: "Initial scanner and radiograph tests carried out have come back negative. The rider is currently undergoing further examination." "At 1800 (10:00

Stage Winner: Félix Cardenas (Col) Kelme, 166.5km in 5:03:34 (B) 4:35:47----------------------------------Overall Lead: François Simon (F) BonjourSprinter: Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit AgricoleClimber: Laurent Roux (F) Jean DelatourUnder 25: Oscar Sevilla (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca Click below for full results

From the start in Perpignan and on the road to Ax-les-Thermes.

For the second straight year Australian Mary Grigson (Subaru-Gary Fisher) blew away the field in the NORBA NCS cross country at Mammoth Mountain in California. Grigson finished the four-lap, 23.3-mile race around a windy, dusty track in 2:10:43, 1:42 ahead of second-place finisher and teammate, Chrissy Redden. GT’s Alison Dunlap was next across the line, 4:01 behind Grigson. Jimena Florit (RLX Polo Sport) and Ruthie Matthes (Trek-Volkswagen) rounded out the podium places. Friday’s win at the fourth of five NCS stops almost assures Grigson of her second straight NORBA series title because

After two very tough weeks, Roland Green’s string of bad luck came to an end Friday at NORBA National No. 4 at Mammoth Mountain in California. The Canadian Trek-Volkswagen rider took the front during the third of five laps, then pulled away from his pursuers to win the 29.3-mile race in 2:18:05. Countryman Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) was next across the line, 1:16 back of Green. New Zealand’s Kashi Leuchs (Volvo-Cannondale) was third, another :36 back. As Green crossed the finish line he pumped his fist emphatically, then told a gathering of reporters, "The curse is over!" Green’s