News

Rasmussen takes a gamble

CSC gets the jersey back

Does France have renewed hope?

Armstrong doesn't need that jersey - not right now

Rasmussen gets company, but only for a while

Moreau and Voigt work together

Moreau breaks up the chase group

Chicken Run: Rasmussen on his own

Ullrich takes a tumble

Rasmussen has dreamed of this day

Armstrong's teammates were back on the job Sunday

Wake me when they get here . . .

Course: With four Cat. 3s, a Cat. 2 and this Tour’s first Cat.1 climb (the 9km, 7-percent Ballon d’Alsace) through the Vosges, the climberswill finally get some terrain to their liking. But on completing the lastdownhill from the Ballon, there are still 43km to ride in the valley beforereaching the finish in Mulhouse. History: This is the 100th anniversary of the Ballon d’Alsacebecoming the first major climb included in the Tour. The last time a climbingstage through the Vosges ended in Mulhouse was in 1992, when a soon-to-retireLaurent Fignon broke clear on the Grand Ballon climb to score a

T-Mobile fans are prevalent

The 92nd Tour de France was given an inspiring display Sunday of the panache, courage and desire needed to challenge Lance Armstrong in his bid to win the race for a seventh year in succession. First, brave Dane Michael Rasmussen, a one-time world mountain bike champion who launched many an attack in the mountains last year, grabbed his first elusive win on stage 9 from Gérardmer to Mulhouse after a 167km-long breakaway. His victory not only extended his lead in the King of the Mountains competition he took on Saturday, but also gave his Dutch team, Rabobank, its second stage victory in a

Christophe Moreau and Voight on the final climb

Stage 9 Results1. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 4:08:202. Christophe Moreau (F), Credit Agricole, 03:043. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 03:044. Stuart O’Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 06:045. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise des Jeux, 06:046. Anthony Geslin (F), Bouygues Telecom, 06:047. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, 06:048. Laurent Brochard (F), Bouygues Telecom, 06:049. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 06:0410. Gerrit Glomser (A), Lampre, 06:04 11. Stefano Garzelli (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 06:0412. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Phonak, 06:0413. Christopher Horner (USA), Saunier Duval, 06:0414.

Popovych leads Discovery in the chase

Quotes, quotes and more quotes. Here’s what the big guns had to say before and after Sunday’s stage: Jens Voigt (CSC), in the yellow jersey:On finally getting the green light to attack: "We had a team meeting before the race. Riis said everyone with Basso today, but Jens you're free to attack. I've been asking Bjarne every day, but he said no. Finally he let me free today and I was able to do what I wanted to do and it worked out great." On flatting and Moreau waiting for him: "I want to thank so much Moreau that he waited for me. It would have been very difficult to try to maintain

Lance working hard near the summit of Le Ballon d'Alsace

Michael Rasmussen's stunning victory in the Tour de France's ninth stage following a 169km breakaway was impressive enough in itself, but even more so for the fact he only took up professional road racing three years ago. Rasmussen's relative lack of victories in the discipline is apparent - before Sunday's win he only had three wins to his name spread over his three years as a professional road rider. However, his decision to switch from mountain biking in 2001 was justified tenfold Sunday when he claimed the biggest prize a rider of his caliber could hope for. The

Riders flash by on the descent from Col de Grosse Pierre

The lead changed hands at the Tour de France on Sunday, and Casey Gibson was on hand to capture the action. Here's what he saw from his vantage point on the final climb.

Mickael Rasmussen attacks all alone and is putting time on the peloton

Stage 9 - Gérardmer to Mulhouse >171km

Chicken becomes the Energizer Bunny with this win

Stage 9 - Gérardmer to Mulhouse >171km

Voigt and Moreau cooperated all the way to the finish

Isolated and under attack: There weren't a lot of Discovery jerseys with Armstrong on the Col de la Schlucht

Armstrong readies for the coming battle.

Weening would like to try for the yellow jersey one day - but not this year

Landis is ready.

The lead sax player on what Casey calls the worst rendition of ' I Did It My Way' that he's ever heard

After a series of attacks, it's Klöden's that sticks... bringing much needed relief to the fading Weening

No, he's not a walking, talking Capitol One ad - just another German fan

Mengin was on his way to the line...

The peloton races through the lovely borough of Herbolsheim

No one would have thought Beloki's 2003 Tour would have ended this way

Hincapie leading the descent in the early break

Sunday's stage offers up plenty of challenges.

Course: The opening 60km of this longest stage so far (231.5km)passes through the beautiful Black Forest — Ullrich’s longtime traininggrounds. Any damage done on the four Cat. 3 climbs will be rectified bythe following 120km down and across the Rhine Valley. All the action shouldtake place on this Tour’s first Cat. 2 climb, the 16.8km-long Col de laSchlucht, which tops out at an elevation of 3736 feet just 15km from thefinish.History: A Tour stage has never started or finished in Gérardmer,a tourist town of fewer than 10,000 people set on a scenic lake deep inthe pine forests of the Vosges

Baron von Münchhausen turns out for the Tour

Stage 8 -Pforzheim to Gérardmer >231.5km1. Pieter Weening (Nl), Rabobank, 231.5km in 5:03:54(45.705kph)2. Andréas Klöden (G),T-Mobile, same time3. Alejandro Valverde (Sp),Illes Balears, at 00:274. Kim Kirchen (Lux),Fassa Bortolo, at 00:275. Jens Voigt (G),CSC, at 00:276. Jan Ullrich (G),T-Mobile, at 00:277. Cadel Evans (Aus),Davitamon-Lotto, at 00:278. Christophe Moreau (F),Credit Agricole, at 00:279. Christopher Horner (USA),Saunier Duval, at 00:2710. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz),T-Mobile, at 00:27 11. Stefano Garzelli (I),Liquigas-Bianchi, at 00:2712. Franco Pellizotti (I),Liquigas-Bianchi,

Fans check out the race on the Col de la Schlucht

Liquigas goes to the front

Salvo's salvationThe disappearance of Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team in today's eighth stage from Pforzheim to Gérardmer was main topic of discussion of the Tour this evening. One of his key teammates, two-time Giro d'Italia winner Paolo Savoldelli, finished the day in 68th place at 2:57. Not exactly what might have been expected. An interview with Savoldelli, who was recruited to be one of Armstrong's principal support men in the mountains of the Vosges, Alps and Pyrénées, was published in Saturday's edition of the French sports daily L`Equipe. Of

A lovely bike hidden away, with wooden fenders and woven spoke guard

Any real cycling fan knows there's more to the Tour de France than the race itself - the sideshows are often as interesting (if not more so) than the main event. Plus a guy can only look at so many pictures of bike racers before he goes all cross-eyed. So we appreciate it when our man Casey Gibson takes a slightly different approach to Le Tour - and for you overly-focused out there, we even included a couple of race pics. Check 'em out.

Casey's competition gets younger every year

The Tour never lies. So when Lance Armstrong’s teammates all reported absent during the critical stages of the Col de la Schlucht climb on Saturday, the six-time defending champion had to be concerned. “It was a shitty day,” Armstrong told French television Saturday evening. “Perhaps the team and the boys on the team were too confident … after we did well at the prologue, and won the team time trial. Everyone shows up at the Tour and wants to win, but there are no guarantees.” The one certainty on Saturday was that Jan Ullrich’s T-Mobile team did show up to win. Armstrong himself had to

Armstrong had company alright... but the wrong kind of company..

It’s a cliché, I admit, but there’s a reason things become clichés and the wisdom behind that old line “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over,” has certainly been proven more than a few times over the first few days of this year’s Tour de France. If anyone thinks this year’s Tour is going to be just another cakewalk for defending champion Lance Armstrong – or anyone else for that matter - they have another thing coming. If anything, Armstrong’s six previous Tours are conspiring against him. Given a remarkable string of good luck over the past six years, the odds have to be catching up with him. It

Moreau gives it a go...

July 9 - Stage 8 - Pforzheim to Gérardmer >231.5kmIt was a long day. To start out, we had four third category climbs right at the beginning and things went flat out right away. Almost as soon as the peloton hit the first climb we had 40 or 50 guys who got dropped straight away more or less and we spent the next 150ks trying to get back on to the peloton. Once we got back on – seriously only about three or four kilometers after we got back on – the boss calls up and tells us to go to the front. There was a break away and he wanted us to cut the gap down before the last climb - the second

T-Mobile came into the climb with guns blazing...

Stage 8 - Pforzheim to Gérardmer >231.5km

Casar leads the break, as Hincapie keeps an eye on things.

Judges said it came down to a 2mm margin at the line and gave Weening the win over Klöden

,,, as does Valverde.

Sorenson and Co. join Casar to form a new break

Wet railroad tracks right after the border caused this one.

Robbie decided to wait this one out.

Course: The two early climbs may encourage some attacks, but the flat final half of this stage through the Rhine Valley virtually guarantees a bunch finish in Karlsruhe. History: The only time the Tour has visited this part of Germany was in 1987, when the race started in Berlin two years before the Wall fell. The third stage was in two parts: The short morning leg was won in a solo break by Belgian Herman Frison in nearby Pforzheim (where stage 8 begins), while the afternoon leg began in Karlsruhe. Favorites: The expected huge crowds lining the long (1.2km),wide finishing straight in the

Fast Freddy and his own personal 'fast' food

McEwen again,

Australian Robbie McEwen stole the show again at the Tour de France on Friday, both on and off the bike, as the great race headed into Germany. McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) won't be seen in the fray of battle in the mountains coming up this weekend, but he did more than enough to leave a lasting impression on the 2005 Tour as it completed its first week. The two-time green jersey champion claimed his second stage win of the first week by outsprinting Swede Magnus Bäckstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Austrian Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux) in a bunch sprint marred by another nasty crash in

Do the Germans like the Tour? Oh, ja, ja

The Specialized Tarmac SL

1. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 5:03:45 2. Magnus Bäckstedt (Swe), Liquigas-Bianchi3. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux4. Gerrit Glomser (A), Lampre5. Baden Cooke (Aus), Francaise des Jeux6. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Fassa Bortolo7. Tom Boonen (B), Quickstep8. Gianluca Bortolami (I), Lampre9. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole10. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp), Fassa Bortolo, all s.t. 11. O’grady Stuart (Aus), Cofidis12. Luciano Pagliarini (BRA), Liquigas-Bianchi13. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner14. Nazon Jean-Patrick (F), Ag2r Prevoyance15. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise des

Whoopsadaisy . . .

A glimpse of the carbon cockpit

When Fred Rodriguez needs a lift at the end of a long day in the trenches of the Tour de France, he reaches into the back pocket of his Davitamon-Lotto jersey and pulls out a little cup of coffee. No, he doesn’t have a coffee-maker back there. Instead, he grabs an energy gel bearing a shot of his own band of “Fast Freddy” coffee. “I can’t carry a cup of coffee in the race, so now I have something to take in the last part of the race to give me a last boost of energy,” Rodriguez said. “I usually have one or two near the end of a stage.” Rodriguez said he met with Clif Bar officials to

I'll just lie here for a bit - you guys go on without me

Oversized spindle and bottom bracket

After a week in the saddle, and four days in the yellow jersey, Lance Armstrong says the Tour de France is only now getting set to start. After wrapping up stage 7 in Karlsruhe, Germany, won by Robbie McEwen (Davitamon), the six-time Tour champion said he feels none of the pressure he did last year when he was bidding to secure a record-breaking sixth victory. "In terms of pressure it's nothing compared to last year, so I'm a little relieved I don't have the pressure of winning the sixth Tour that people said couldn't be done,” said Armstrong. “It feels different this year.

Freddy and Vino' test the front of the bunch

Carbon crank

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor hordes of German fans can keep Casey Gibson from his appointed rounds. Our boy was with the Tour as it crossed from France into Germany on Friday; here's what he saw along the way.