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Eki' finishes 22nd on the day. Not bad for his 15th Tour

These are old?

Landis switched bikes and still managed a runner-up finish

Mixed bag for the world TT champ. He didn't win, but his teammate did.

Another old item.

The new man in yellow

Saunier Duval's David Canada

Lelangue and Landis confirm compliance

GC says it all: 62. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 06:17

Hincapie was hoping for better.

Despite the bike switch, the Phonak leader kept his cool

Big day for T-Mobile, but Rogers wanted a win.

Course: With a week of racing in their legs, the GC contenders finally get their day in the sun with this critical 52km time trial. The counterclockwise circuit has two distinct halves: narrow, hilly back roads at first and long, straight flat highways at the end. The final 15km are likely to be very fast with a tail wind. History: A total of 13 Tour stages have finished in Rennes, the unofficial capital of the Brittany region, the most recent in 1994 when a massive 270km stage from Cherbourg was taken by Italian Gianluca Bortolami from a seven-man break that contained Motorola’s Sean Yates

Julich was the day's only non-finisher

13th was not what most expected from Zabriskie

If any greater upset were possible in the stage 7 time trial of the Tour de France, then anyone who witnessed today’s race of truth would have been pressed to think of one. The 52km St. Grégoire to Rennes time trial in Brittany was decisive, mainly because of the way it seriously compromised the Tour-winning hopes of so many pre-race favorites. No rider really emerged as a standout contender to win the first post-Lance Armstrong Tour — but there was a major a shift in the balance of power, from Discovery Channel to T-Mobile. Take out the stage winner, Ukrainian Sergei Gontchar (T-Mobile),

The Big Question of the Day: What happened to Levi?

Gontchar powered through time checks, smashing previous best times.

1. Sergei Gonchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 01:01:432. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 01:02:443. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:02:474. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 01:03:075. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Francaise des Jeux, 01:03:176. Patrik Sinkewitz (G), T-Mobile, 01:03:227. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, 01:03:258. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 01:03:269. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 01:03:2710. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 01:03:28 11. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 01:03:3212. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 01:03:3513. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 01:03:4014.

Zabriskie rode to a respectable 13th place

Stage Stats: Stage 7 by the numbers

I am back on the air after a short break due to technical difficulties with my Blackberry Service. So I woke up this morning to 30 real e-mails (and a hefty dose of SPAM) and now life is back to normal again. I am driving to the time trial start right now, trying not to think too much about the situation at hand… or how fast Sabine is driving. We rode the course this morning in the rain and I was appalled at all the people already lining the course. The funny thing is that sometimes there are more people before the race, lining the course to scoop up some free swag from the publicity

Of the big GC contenders, Landis was the big winner of the day

Stage Stats: Stage 7 by the numbers

Among the sheaf of communiqués issued by the Tour de France organization Saturday night, the one that the riders are probably happiest about gives details of the charter flights they will take Sunday evening after stage 8. They’re headed to Bordeaux, where they’ll enjoy a full rest day on Monday and have time to take stock of what is developing into one of the strangest Tours in living memory. But before their flights, which are scheduled to leave Lorient at 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. local time, there’s the not-small matter of a tricky 181km stage across the hills of Brittany to overcome. Huge

When the Tour hits the mountains next week, Landis will have to be considered a favorite.

Stage Stats: Stage 7 by the numbers

With the overall standings at the Tour de France finally breaking up a bit, the St. Grégoire to Rennes time trial proved to be as decisive as it was surprising. Our guy Casey Gibson was there and here are a few of the images he captured on Saturday.

Yaroslav Popovych is now 3:27 down on GC

The stem/bar juncture offers adjustablility

Rumors that Floyd Landis is set to move to Discovery Channel in 2007 appear to be just that, at least for now. Michael Rutherford, Landis’s agent and lawyer, denied reports that the Phonak rider is poised to return to the American team for which he raced during 2002-04. “There have been no discussions with Discovery Channel at all,” Rutherford told VeloNews. “That is definitely just a rumor.” Rutherford confirmed that Landis’s contract with Phonak is up at the end of this season, but said that no new deal for next year has been cut with any team. With new sponsor iShares taking over for

McEwen, though, specializes in sprints.

Stage 6: Lisieux to Vitré - 189km

Man, does he specialize in sprints.

Stage 6: Lisieux to Vitré - 189km

Julian Dean shows the aftermath of yesterday's crash.

That's three for the Aussie pocket rocket

The tools to keep track of Jens Voigt's progress tomorrow

Tellow jersey on the attack. Boonen livened things up early in the stage

Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. Merckx has confidence in Landis's chances

Brard, Backstedt and Geslin moved ahead of the break

Stage Stats: Stage 6 by the numbers

.. but, as usual, the chase kicked in in earnest...

Stage Stats: Stage 6 by the numbers

Course: There’s some initial fun with a visit to Camembert cheese country and a Cat. 3 hill at Vimoutiers that has a 13-percent pitch, but then the shorter (189km) stage settles into a series of long, straight, sometimes hilly highways across the open farmland of Normandy. Rolling hills precede the entry into Vitré, where the course loops around and through town to reach a slightly uphill finishing straight almost 2km long. History: There have been three stage finishes at Vitré, all won by sprinters: Belgian Rudy Matthijs in 1985, Italian Mario Cipollini in 1995 and German Marcel Wüst in

With Boonen back in the fold, the peloton eased off..

McEwen takes the stage and solidifies his hold on the points jersey

After claiming a stunning third Tour de France stage win in five days, Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen warned his shattered rivals that there is plenty of speed left in his legs. And the real bad news for Belgian Tom Boonen, Italian Daniele Bennati, Norwegian Thor Hushovd and Spaniard Oscar Freire is that he plans to use that speed again as soon as possible. But wait, there’s more from the Queenslander whose three-length victory over a frustrated Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) and Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) was clocked in an average stage speed of 45.309 kph for the 189km ride from Lisieux

.. with predictable results

1. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 189km in 4:10:17 (45.308kph)2. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:003. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:004. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:005. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:006. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:007. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:008. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:009. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:0010. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:00 11. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:0012. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis, 00:0013. Steven De Jongh (Nl), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:0014. Arnaud Coyot

Bobby J seems relaxed these days.

Andréas Klöden is not exactly your average big mouth. When the slender T-Mobile pro speaks, his dark brown eyes are fixed on an imaginary spot in the carpet and one has to move really close to him, to understand his almost whispering voice. He offers up sentences like, "Yes, I have the GC in the back of my mind." It's a statement that clearly falls way short of an announcement that Klöden would like to win the Tour de France. Klöden does not seem to quite grasp that after the demise of Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Alexandre Vinokourov he is one of the big favorites of this year's

Robbie the Rocket seems focused.

Earlier this week, Eddy Merckx said he picked Floyd Landis as the favorite to win this year’s Tour de France. Like father, like son. Axel Merckx agrees with his father that Landis is sitting in the pole position going into Saturday’s decisive time trial to win the stage and grab the maillot jaune. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood grabbed a quick interview with the Belgian ahead of Friday’s start. Here are excerpts from that interview. VeloNews.com: What is your role in the team this year? Do you have a little bit of freedom or are you going to be helping Landis? Axel Merckx:

Hey, is that Frankie rifling through the back of Bjarne's car?

From the morning sign-in at the start to the podium at the finish, Casey Gibson covers it all. "Stop me if you have seen this before, guys," Gibson writes us today. "McEwen wins; Boonen pounds his fist in frustration. Its not even close, boys. Three or four bike lengths every day." But our man Casey spent the day on the road, as well, and there was much more than that increasingly predictable finish.

The beauty of Normandy in the summer...

Can the Americans repeat their time-trial dominance from last month’s Dauphiné Libéré – when they swept the top four places – in Saturday’s 52km stage that will kick-start the battle for the overall victory in the 93rd Tour de France? At the Dauphiné, Dave Zabriskie won by an impressive 53 seconds ahead of Floyd Landis on a mostly flat, but windy 43km course. Third at 1:16 was Levi Leipheimer and fourth was George Hincapie at 1:34. The seven-rider American contingent will roll down the start ramp with excellent chances of victory. Also looking for strong rides will be Bobby Julich and

... and the beauties of Normandy in their summer best.

WeatherShowers at start, mostly cloudy and some sprinkles in the afternoon, temperatures in the high 70s, light to moderate head-crosswinds Stage winnerRobbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto), 4h10:17, 45.309kph – McEwen took another dominant victory by three bike lengths to score a Tour hat-trick, winning his third stage in just six tries. Last year, McEwen also won three stages, but it took 13 stages to pull it off. Italian Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) won the battle for second place. Race leaderTom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic), 29h21:00, 42.833kph – The world champion pounded his right

Boonen will be in yellow for Saturday's time trial...

The moment of truth has arrived. After almost a week of following wheels, sheltered in the peloton, all the yellow-jersey favorites are racing “alone and unassisted” on Saturday. That expression was coined in Britain, where road time trials were invented in the late 19th century, to overcome police restrictions on packs of cyclists “riding furiously” and scaring the horses pulling carts and carriages. More than 100 years later — and 71 years after individual time trials were introduced to the Tour — the Brits and their English-speaking brethren are still teaching the Continentals how to race

... and he gets to start behind the man in Green. Will we see a catch?

On every road stage of this 2006 Tour de France, it has been relatively easy for the sprinters’ teams to control the race. One reason is because there was no team trial this year and so no major time gaps have developed in the general classification, which means that in every early break there is generally someone, time-wise, who is not far from the yellow jersey. For example, on Thursday, several riders near the top of the GC rankings went with the early eight-man break. Despite several kilometers of flat-out effort (almost 46km were raced in the opening hour on far-from-flat terrain), the

Quick Step leads the chase

Stage 5: Beauvais to Caen 225km

Even the yellow jersey lends a hand

Stage 5: Beauvais to Caen 225km

New crops frame the peloton

Julich on the bridge

Freire catches the favorites napping

The final sprint

The yellow jersey is not a bad consolation prize

Freire celebrates

Schröder and Dumoulin spent a long day off the front...

Landis is biding his time

... and Boonen's Quick Step team spent a long day chasing