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Tour de France hopeful Andreas Klöden said Wednesday that he was weary of trying to clear his name as other members of his Astana team are suspected of doping. "I have nothing to confess," Klöden told German daily Die Welt. "You have to believe me when I say that I have never done anything illegal." On Wednesday, Klöden signed the UCI’s anti-doping pledge, but admitted that he wasn’t happpy about it. "I didn't have a choice in order to compete in the Tour de France ... but I felt violated by this procedure. I no longer enjoy competing in the Tour de France. It's like a suspended

And now, how the other half lives: Hestler and his VW van

Alessandro Petacchi lost his spot on Milram’s Tour de France team on Wednesday after being charged with doping by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), according to Agence France Presse. CONI's anti-doping prosecutor, Ettore Torri, asked the Italian cycling federation (FCI) to ban the 33-year-old sprinter for one year following a "non-negative" doping test after the third of his five stage wins at the Giro d'Italia. The urine sample Petacchi gave at Pinerolo on May 23 showed an unusually high level of salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma. “We signed the ProTour

The parade start is really part of the local 4th of July parade.

Prudhomme continues the tradition of former journalists running the world's biggest bike race.

Henry celebrates his national title.

Petacchi, shown winning his second of five stages in this year's Giro

Mr. and Mrs Henry

Petacchi, shown winning his second of five stages in this year's Giro

Vanlandingham has her eye on the Olympics... and a few other challenges

Drying out from Stage 3

Schalk limbers up aboard the ferry

La Ruta's Manuel Prado

Heading for the docks

Off the boat and onto the bikes

It was one of those days for some.

Taking in the view

Schalk and Eatough still tops in B.C.

Michelle Newton, one half of top women's team.

Rabobank will see a passing of the baton as Michael Boogerd, the major Dutch rider of his generation, starts his final Tour de France while emerging star Thomas Dekker makes his Tour debut. Boogerd will be starting his 12th consecutive Tour that will also be his last. The 36-year-old will retire at the end of the 2007 season. A winner of two Tour stages and twice in the top 10, Boogerd dreams of one more glory ride before hanging up the cleats this year. “In other years, I started strongly and felt weaker while nearing the end of the race. Right now, I am not feeling that well because of a

Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) and Astana’s Eddy Mazzoleni, who were due to be interviewed by anti-doping investgators this week, had their hearings postponed on Tuesday. The two cyclists are to be quizzed by Ettore Torri, the anti-doping prosecutor of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), over their alleged relationship with a doctor suspected of supplying them with doping products. Doctor Carlo Santuccione is under investigation for allegedly trafficking banned substances to several top Italian sportsmen, including former world champion pole vaulter Giuseppe

Boogered starts his final Tour de France on Saturday

Tour de France 2007: Boogerd’s last, Dekker debuts; Barloworld feeling aggressive

Tour de France 2007: Boogerd’s last, Dekker debuts; Barloworld feeling aggressive

Boogered starts his final Tour de France on Saturday

Tour de France 2007: Boogerd’s last, Dekker debuts; Barloworld feeling aggressive

Tour de France 2007: Boogerd’s last, Dekker debuts; Barloworld feeling aggressive

Lachance and Gestev president Patrice Drouin

At the start

A day with many logging roads on the menu

The long climb

What was your commute like this morning?

Heading for home...

... and Trek wins again

French team Ag2r will be hoping it can repeat its successful 2006 Tour de France, when it pushed Cyril Dessel and recently crowned French champion Christophe Moreau into the top 10 overall. The team’s dream run through the 2006 Tour – which also included a one-day run in yellow by Dessel and a stage victory by Sylvain Calzati into Lorient in stage eight – helped take the sting out of losing the services of team leader Francisco Mancebo, who was implicated in the pre-Tour Operación Puerto purge. While many of the other French teams are on a youth movement, the 36-year-old Moreau seems to

Eatough cleans up.

Alessandro Petacchi, who produced a suspicious urine sample when tested for doping at the Giro d'Italia in May, attended a hearing at the headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome on Monday. The 33-year-old Milram sprinter was quizzed by CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri for two hours as he attempted to clear his name by explaining how his use of the asthma drug Salbutamol was purely therapeutic. Petacchi hopes to prove his innocence so that he can take his place at the Tour de France, which starts next Saturday. The team has named Petacchi to its team,

Tour No. 1 bib missingThere won’t be a No. 1 bib in this year’s Tour de France typically handed out to the previous year’s winner. With the legal status of last year’s Tour winner Floyd Landis still in limbo, the 2007 Tour will start without having an official winner. With runner-up Oscar Pereiro waiting in the wings, the Tour has decided to skip the prestigious No. 1 bib. “We wanted to make a symbolic gesture,” Jean-Francois Pescheux told AFP. It’s the first time in Tour history there won’t be a No. 1 bib in the race, Pescheux said. Instead, Tour officials have decided to remove numbers

Former Telekom director Walter Godefroot has stepped aside from his role as consultant to the Astana team following doping allegations by one of his former riders. Godefroot was accused of complicity in systematic doping by former Telekom rider Jörg Jaksche, who gave a no-holds barred interview with Der Spiegel over the weekend. Astana team boss Marc Biver announced the news of Godefroot's absence from the Tour, starting this weekend, while also ruling out an internal inquiry within the Swiss-based Kazakh team amid doping allegations against two of their riders. "Walter has a contract

It's all in the details. Below you'll find links to each stage of the 2007 Tour de France. Each page contains maps and details of the course. STAGE - DATESTAGE DETAILS Prologue - July 7London (7.9 km) Stage 1 - July 8London > Canterbury (203 km) Stage 2 - July 9Dunkirk > Ghent (168.5 km) Stage 3 - July 10Waregem > Compiègne (236.5 km) Stage 4 - July 11Villers-Cotterêts > Joigny (193 km) Stage 5 - July 12Chablis > Autun (182.5 km) Stage 6 - July 13Semur-en-Auxois > Bourg-en-Bresse (199.5 km) Stage 7

Moreau wore yellow at the Dauphiné. Can he dream of the same color in July?

Tour de France 2007: French teams dreaming big

Tour de France 2007: French teams dreaming big

Tour de France 2007: French teams dreaming big

Tour de France 2007: French teams dreaming big

Tour de France 2007: French teams dreaming big

Pereiro will probably have the lowest number at the Tour, but it won't be No. 1.

Another day at the office kicks off

1903 - Maurice Garin, (F) 1904 - Henri Cornet, (F)* 1905 - Louis Trousselier, (F) 1906 - Rene Pottier, (F) 1907 - Lucien Petit-Breton, (F) 1908 - Lucien Petit-Breton, (F) 1909 - Francois Faber, (Lux) 1910 - Octave Lapize, (F) 1911 - Gustave Garrigou, (F) 1912 - Odile Defraye, (B) 1913 - Philippe Thys, (B) 1914 - Philippe Thys, (B)Suspended due to war 1919 - Firmin Lambot, (B) 1920 - Philippe Thys, (B) 1921 - Leon Scieur, (B) 1922 - Firmin Lambot, (B) 1923 - Henri Pelissier, (F) 1924 - Ottavio Bottechia, (I) 1925 - Ottavio Bottechia, (I) 1926 - Lucien Buysse, (B) 1927 - Nicolas Frantz, (Lux)

Premont said she was making little mistakes on the descents

One week before the Tour de France begins without Floyd Landis defendinghis title, the U.S. cyclist who tested positive for exogenous testosteronecan only wait to learn his fate.Landis, who could become only the second winner in the 104-year historyof the famed French race to be stripped of his title, made several appearancesin suburban Philadelphia last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.A three-member arbitration panel heard Landis' appeal of his dopingban in May. The panel is expected to issue a ruling sometime in the nextweek or so and the result could be appealed to the Court

Absalon collects win No. 4 and locks up the series

Saunier Duval-Prodir riders will carry a bit less weight over the big climbs than other teams, since their innovative Castelli Superleggera jerseys weigh a mere 70 grams (in size L), less than half the weight of a traditional cycling jersey when dry. And a soaked Superleggera jersey (due to perspiration or rain) weighs only 140 grams, compared to 400 grams for a standard team jersey. Castelli claims that a Superleggera jersey would provide a one-minute advantage over the course of a five-hour mountain stage. Keep an eye on those jerseys in coming weeks.

A late mechanical ended Hermida's chances

If history is any indication, the 2007 Tour de France will be full of surprises. Whenever there are no former winners on the start line — as will be the case this year — anything can happen. That was certainly the case with last year’s race, which had the largest number of surprises since Lance Armstrong took the first of his seven victories in 1999 — the only other time in the past 30 years when there were no previous winners in the field. While uncertainty is a given, there are still favorites for the overall. The Astana team is led by two former podium finishers, German Andreas Klöden

Landis won't be wearing No. 1 in London on July 7

Times have changed in 104 years. Maurice Garin celebrates his Tour win with a smoke

No one - especially Landis - knows who will eventually be listed as winner of the 2006 Tour de France.

Moreau collects his first French road crown

TourTech: The advantage of lightweight jerseys?

The mountains may play an even bigger role than usual

Eatough and Schalk

Hestler and Eatough chat before the start

Home sweet home: The tent city in Lake Cowichan

Did we mention it was Canada Day?

It’s no surprise that cycling analysts proclaim the 2007 Tour de Franceto be a wide-open contest.No former winner will be on the start line, and only three men in thisyear’s race — Alexander Vinokourov (third in 2003), Andreas Klöden(second in ’04 and third in ’06) and Oscar Pereiro (second in ’06) — haveever reached the podium. While he may still be young enough to win cycling’sgreatest race, 35-year-old Lance Armstrong hasn’t entertained any rumorsof a comeback since retiring after taking his seventh Tour title two yearsago. And 1998 Tour winner Marco Pantani died of a cocaine overdose in

Kalentyeva takes her third win

Jaksche won Paris-Nice in 2004.

Chris Eatough prepares for his 'taxi' ride . . .

. . . to Vancouver Island

Victoria

German Jörg Jaksche, one of dozens of cyclists implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal which erupted last year, is set to make a series of stunning revelations about current doping practices. Jaksche's lawyer Michael Lehner said on Friday the German, who has protested his innocence but been suspended from all competition due to his alleged links to the affair, will reveal all in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel on Monday. The Tour de France begins in London on July 7, and organizers and the sport's world ruling body have taken serious steps in a bid to finally bring an

Vinokourov has a lot riding on this team

Petacchi may be celebrating in July.

The Tarmac SL2

Every little bit counts. The Transition tucks its rear brake where it produces the least drag.

S-Works Ruby

Specialized unveils ’08 goods, plus a peek at SRAM Red

The S-Works Road Shoe, just 250 grams