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A beautiful village high in the Pyrenees.

The venue

Retired superstar Mario Cipollini may be full of praise for Robbie McEwen’s stage-winning speed at the Tour de France. But the Italian still believes he was a better sprinter than the Australian is today. Twenty-four hours after lauding the Australian, who now has 11 Tour stage wins to Cipollini’s career tally of 12, Il Magnifico said on Wednesday morning that he believes he remains the real master blaster. Cipollini spoke to VeloNews as riders were preparing for the start of stage 10 in Cambo–les-Bains just after he chatted with Belgium’s world champion Tom Boonen of Quick

T-Mobile's Giant

Riders disappear into the chaos of the final chute.

From the morning sign-in at the start to the podium at the finish, Casey Gibson covers it all. Here's what he saw between the lines today.

It came down to these two.

France's first yellow jersey in two years

WeatherCloudy to partly cloudy all day, fog on Soudet summit, temperatures in mid-20sC Stage winnerJuan Manuel Mercado (Agritubel), 4h49:10, 39.527kph – Spanish mountain goat Mercado outsprinted Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) after the pair snuck away in the day’s winning breakaway. Mercado won a Tour stage in 2004, but was otherwise unproductive in two years with Quick Step. The victory gives his wild-card team a big boost. Race leaderDessel, 1,850.6km in 43h07:05, 42.916kph – Dessel started the stage 28th at 3:50 back and now leads Mercado by 2:34. Ukraine Sergei Gontchar (T-Mobile) saw his

T-Mobile on the Col de Soudet

Madame fan at the finish.

For the first time in 21 years, the top professional road cyclists from the United States, many of whom are currently racing in the Tour de France, will compete for the coveted stars-and-stripes jersey in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains over Labor Day weekend. The dual championship for road racing and individual time trial will be held in Greenville, South Carolina, and top Americans expected to compete are George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Dave Zabriskie (Team CSC) and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner). In coordination with USA Cycling Inc., Medalist Sports unveiled today a

A French leader of the Tour

Stage Stats: Stage 10 by the numbers

Stage 10: Cambo-les-Bains to Pau - 190.5km

The pride of France: Dessel becomes the first yellow jersey in two years... and he has the climber's jersey, too.

Stage Stats: Stage 10 by the numbers

Stage 10: Cambo-les-Bains to Pau - 190.5km

Sage Advice: Cipo' offers words of encouragement to Boonen

Mercado rates most aggressive

Mercado nipped Dessel at the line

Rujano in his new team kit

Gontchar struggled on the climbs, but fought his way back to the peloton

Cofidis

Narrow road to the Soudet

Leipheimer stayed with the favorites on the Soudet, but struggled on the Marie Blanc

A smaller profile Triple from Hed

Basque food at the start

Hincapie looked relaxed and smooth all day.

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Riding into the mist of the Pyrenees

Popovych

Course: This is a much easier introduction to the mountains than in recent years. Instead of a mountaintop finish, the last of three climbs on this 190.5km stage across the Basque part of the Pyrénées is 42.5km from the finish in Pau. That means that riders dropped on the Col de Marie-Blanque will have a chance to chase back to the peloton. Breakaways will inevitably go clear on the rolling roads that precede the day’s major obstacle, the Col de Soudet, that climbs for almost 15km at over 7 percent, with some much steeper pitches on the upper reaches of the bumpy, narrow road that leads to

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Gontchar looking a bit fatigued on the Soudet

T-Mobile leads the charge on the Marie Blanc

The first major climbs of the 93rd Tour de France served up some significant changes atop the leader board Wednesday; but the main contenders were content to keep a wary eye on each other — even when an early breakaway gained more than 10 minutes and fought for all the spoils of the three-climb, 190.5km 10th stage 10. From the original break of 15 riders, just two were left upon reaching the finishing straight in Pau after the demanding journey through the Basque part of the Pyrénées. Spanish rider Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) and Frenchman Cyril Dessel (AG2R) fought out a hard sprint in

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Horner in the fog on the climb.

Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) almost bridges up to the leaders

1. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Agritubel2. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:003. Inigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:564. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 02:245. Christophe Rinero (F), Saunier Duval, 02:256. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 05:037. Vasseur Cédric (F), Quick Step-Innergetic, 05:358. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 07:239. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 07:2310. Stefano Garzelli (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 07:23 11. Carlos Da Cruz (F), Francaise des Jeux, 07:2312. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, 07:2313. Riccardo Ricco (I), Saunier Duval, 07:2314. Mirko Celestino (I),

David Millar's TT rig

Landis stayed with T-Mobile

Dessel and Mercado crest the Marie Blanc with a nice lead

José Rujano - the diminutive Venezuelan who almost won last year’s Giro d’Italia in his grand-tour debut, placing third overall - is quietly waiting to uncork one in his Tour de France. The 24-year-old has endured the rough-and-tumble first week with his motivation and ambition firmly intact. Despite a slight fever late last week, Rujano says he’s anxiously awaiting the steep mountain roads of the Pyrenees and Alps, (he finished with the bunch including the favorites on Wednesday’s first day in the Pyrenees) At just 162cm and 50kg, “Joselito” is confident he can pull a surprise just like he

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

The team of the yellow jersey had to do the bulk of the work

Mercado gets it!

Copper Triangle Alpine Classic Partners with the Davis Phinney FoundationDenver, CO, July 6, 2006 — This year’s Colorado Cyclist CopperTriangle Alpine Classic bike ride will benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation.The ride organization recently announced the partnership with the Foundationas part of the re-launch of the Copper Triangle ride. By donating a percentageof the registration revenue, organizers hope to raise $20,000 for the Foundation,which supports research aimed at understanding and treating Parkinson’sdisease and improving the lives of people challenged by the disease.

The peloton's work resulted in another well-timed catch

A real break. Yesterday's rest day, followed by a nice flat day like today, is bonus. It means that the rest day could be treated like a true rest day, one in which we only ride for 90 minutes or so, eat, get a little sleep and have no cars, planes or trains involved in our day. We took advantage of it, had a nice stroll through the vineyards yesterday and even stopped for a coffee. It was most likely to be the last day of this Tour in which we can actually “rest.” Tomorrow we head into the Pyrénées, and our next rest day on Monday is going to be followed by a brutally difficult

TV hounds Boonen, Why aren't you on the podium again today?

Stage 9: Bordeaux to Dax - 169.5km

Bordeaux start. Nice place to spend the morning.

Stage 9: Bordeaux to Dax - 169.5km

TV films the break

Freire wins a mad dash to the line

Hincapie at sign-in

Ten Years After: Who'da thunk it?

Could I get a close up or 20?

Landis and Phonak at the start.

Course: After a long transfer and rest day in Bordeaux, the race continues with the last stage likely to have a mass finish until the Tour is two days out from Paris. The sprinters won’t waste the opportunity, especially on a completely flat stage like this one. It barrels southwest through the pine forest of the Landes almost to the Atlantic coast before turning south. Any breakaways are likely to be swept up after the route turns southeast for the final 35km — where winds off the ocean could split the peloton into echelons (perhaps CSC will make one of its trademark surges) and possibly

T'Mobile leads the chase

Oscar Freire (Rabobank) won the battle of the sprinters in Tuesday’s turbo-charged prelude to the Pyrénées, stabbing his wheel ahead of Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) to win stage 9 in a heart-stopping charge to the line. It was the Spanish sprinter’s second stage win of this year’s Tour de France, while Erik Zabel (Milram) snuck past a frustrated Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) to grab third place on the 169.5km stage from Bordeaux to Dax. “I’ve good and bad memories from finishes like that,” said Freire, referring to other photo finishes in his career. “I had good luck at Milan-San

The charge to the line

1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:004. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:005. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 00:006. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 00:007. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 00:008. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:009. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:0010. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:00 11. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:0012. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis, 00:0013. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:0014. Martin Perdiguero M.angel (Sp), Phonak,

Gontchar heads into the mountains wearing yellow

The press of the press at the podium

Scrounging through our warehouse the other day, one of our staff ran across an old copy of a Made in USA special supplement to VeloNews. In late 1996, then VeloNews technical editor, Charles Pelkey, and photographer Robert Oliver made a quick visit to Southern California to tour the facilities of several local manufacturers, including one that operated under the label of TWP - Two Wheeled Performance - Products. A small company, the firm's owners decided that one of the best ways to promote their product line would be to sponsor a bike team. Well, that team was largely built around a

Three escapees

A look ahead: What’s going to happen in the Pyrenees?

You take good news whenever it comes, especially on the Tour de France when the timing of it can help a lot. I can vouch for that, having finally gotten on top of the bronchial illness I had coming into the Tour, just as the race is about to hit the first mountain stage in the Pyrénées. I had been suffering and felt it going into the time trial, but now I feel ready to do what I came here to do and help Christophe Moreau as much as I can for the next big days. The team is looking forward to what’s ahead, and the stage win by Sylvain Calzati on stage eight at Lorient has given us the boost

As the leading three were about to be caught, Knees wanted to try for a solo

A look ahead: What’s going to happen in the Pyrenees?

Weather Sunny in morning, partly cloudy in afternoon, temperatures in high 70s, very humid Stage winner Oscar Freire (Rabobank), 3h35:24, 47.214kph – The three-time world champion won his second stage of this year’s Tour in a wild, wide-open sprint into Dax. Freire won in a bike stab against Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto), with Erik Zabel (Milram) taking third in the fastest road stage of the race so far. Race leader Sergei Gontchar, 1,660.1km in 38h14:17, 43.415kph – The Ukraine with an oft-misspelled name had another easy day in the saddle, finishing 32nd safely tucked in the main

Stage Stats: Stage 9 by the numbers

While you relaxed in the cube farm, occasionally sneaking a glance at our Live Update, Casey Gibson was galloping through France alongside le Tour, chronicling the day's action. Here's what he sent back across the pond.