News

Andrea Marchant waits for an autograph...

Virenque claims the first mountain stage of the '03 Tour

and Hincapie finally rewards her

Through the streets of Lyon

Simoni's new bike

U.S. Postal

all decked out...

Richard Virenque of Quick Step-Davitamon left behind a shaky past - not to mention the rest of the Tour de France peloton - to experience a dream day in the 2003 Tour's first big mountain stage. The Frenchman, disgraced after his role in the Festina scandal at the 1998 Tour, rebounded in Saturday's hot, steamy mountains opener in the French Alps to win the stage, grab the King of the Mountains jersey and take the overall lead. "Something magical happened to me today," said Virenque, who finished 2:29 ahead of Rolf Aldag (Telekom) after a 190km-long break. "I was going for the King of the

Jan Ullrich

with weights

As the Tour de France climbs into the Alps for three mountain stages, Marco Pantani – one of the greatest climbers in the history of cycling and winner of the 1998 Tour de France – is back on his bike for the first time since he left a drug and depression clinic. Pantani, who spent the second half of June in the clinic near Venice, looked well as he rode his bike for an hour and half near his home in Cesenatico on Friday. He refused to speak as he headed home from his ride, but La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested he could be training ready to make a return to racing at the Tour of Spain in

With the yellow jersey on Pena, chasing duties fell to Postal

A little card playing and wine drinking waiting for the stage

Stage 7 Individual Results1. Richard Virenque (F), Quick Step-Davitamon, 6:06:032. Rolf Aldag (G), Telekom, 02:293. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 03:454. Michael Rogers (Aus), Quick Step-Davitamon, 04:035. Stefano Garzelli (I), Caldirola, 04:066. Christophe Moreau (F), Credit Agricole, 04:067. Laurent Dufaux (Swi), Alessio, 04:068. David Millar (GB), Cofidis, 04:069. Georg Totschnig (A), Gerolsteiner, 04:0610. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Telekom, 04:0611. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), Ag2R Prevoyance, 04:0612. Guido Trentin (I), Cofidis, 04:0613. Grischa Niermann (G), Rabobank,

Pena spent his last day in yellow

Some true Aussie fans

The biggest polka dot jersey ever

Olympic champion Florian Rousseau failed to qualify for the world track cycling championships when he finished in 11th place in the keirin event at the French trials in Hyeres on Saturday. Rousseau, who won Olympic gold in the keirin event at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, had also missed out on selection for the sprint event when he finished fourth in the trials on Thursday. Only the first three were picked for the championships, which take place in Stuttgart, Germany, from July 30 to August 3. –Copyright 2003/AFP

Bettini labors on Virenque's behalf

American Sandwich? Try the Al Capone or the Jazz Fish

Saeco team riders were all handed a 200 Swiss francs ($146.3) fine by Tour de France organisers for sporting white jerseys with a publicity slogan instead of their regular red team kits in Saturday's stage to Morzine. The Italian team wanted to use a new carbon-aluminum Cannondale for the mountains that weighs in at 6.6 kilograms, 200 grams lighter than the UCI minimum of 6.8kg. The UCI imposed the minimum standard three years ago for what the governing body says were safety reasons. To protest at the limitation, Saeco riders sported jerseys asking UCI to "legalize my Cannondale." Saeco

Peña and Armstrong ride in the group

Who?

Seeing a 40-strong group ride into Morzine with Lance Armstrong at the end of the Tour’s first mountain stage on Saturday was quite a surprise — especially after the Postal team leader’s three Spanish climbers had turned on the screws up the Cat. 1 Col de la Ramaz, 25km from the end. But looking back to the action on the Ramaz, we saw three of Armstrong’s billed rivals — Italian Gilberto Simoni, Colombian Santiago Botero and Spaniard Aitor Gonzales — fall back and concede up to six minutes on the defending champion. It was a shock to see those three struggling while American Tyler Hamilton

Far from attacking, Simoni was going backwards

Houseman earned an unlikely win.

Virenque takes the yellow ... and the polka-dot jersey

Steve Peat battles the elements.

What a day the seventh stage into the Alps turned out to be. To finish with my Quickstep-Davitamon teammate Richard Virenque winning the first mountain stage and taking the yellow jersey - and me "passing" my first test in the Alps - it couldn't have been better. Firstly, a few words about Richard. I said the other day he has given me a fair bit of advice and inside knowledge about the mountains. He proved today that his word is good. He told me this morning at breakfast that he was going to go for the stage win. He said he was going to attack on the first kilometer of the first climb,

Virenque celebrates

The crowds were thick in B.C.

There are all sorts you meet on the route of the Tour de France. People, that is. Many of them you forget as days, weeks and years pass. Others remain etched in your mind. Today, I fear, may be the latter. Had we filled the gas tank of our car earlier, rather than after the emergency light had been flickering for 50km, those fears would not exist. Finding service stations in France is not as easy as it sounds, and even less so on the Tour route. Filling stations are either closed, blocked off by barriers or take French-only credit cards. But we felt lucky today, 85km into stage 7 from Lyon

Virenque and sons

Griffiths made it two straight.

Maybe you’re like me and you treated yourself to a hot dog to celebrate the Fourth of July. Heck, maybe you even downed two or three and chased them down with a cold beverage. Chances are, though, you did not wolf down three dozen wieners, and chase them down with another eight-and-a-half. In 12 minutes. That was the final tally for Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobyashi at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, July 4 in Coney Island. The Japanese three-time champion’s 44-and-a-half dogs easily outdistanced second-place Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, who set an American record with 30-and-a-half hot dogs

Lotto was among the chasers that took back an 18-minute deficit

Wherry warms up for the time trial

While Alessandro Petacchi celebrated a tremendous week of sprinting with his fourth stage win of this year's Tour de France on Friday, race favorite Lance Armstrong will be quietly delighted to have reached the foot of the Alps perfectly poised to launch his challenge for a fifth successive victory. Whereas the American is usually lagging behind the other leading contenders before the first mountain stage, he will this time tackle the first big climb with a comfortable lead over his rivals. The Texan took it easy in today’s 143-mile ride from Nevers, finishing a comfortable 39th to remain

At these speeds, le Tour is le blur

Bajadali blasts out onto the course.

Tyler Hamilton will be the subject of an upcoming IMAX film. And they don't use those nice portable mini-cams for that.

It took Danielson a while to find out that he didn't win

Each year, more and more first-timers join the Tour de France press corps. The American invasion began after Greg LeMond started winning the Tour in 1986, and it has accelerated since Lance Armstrong’s first win in 1999. From an Australian viewpoint, the media trickle from down under has become a downpour (or should that be an up-pour?) since riders like Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwen, Brad McGee and Baden Cooke began winning stages. One of the most interesting aspects of a Tour is to hear the first impressions of those covering the world’s biggest and most prestigious bike race for the first

Armstrong's new fork

King wins at Grouse.

Armstrong's new seat tube

Carter captured the overall.

We've made it six stages… which is just about five more than I thought I would see last Sunday. We're still taking things day-by-day here at Camp Collar Bone. I had a second set of x-rays taken last night. The good news was there was no further displacement, or injury. The bad news was there was no evidence of any healing. We've chosen to focus on the good news, so I started today's stage from Nevers with the same mindset I've had all week, which has basically been - lets see what we can do. I'm completely amazed with all the attention my situation is getting. I've been riding my bike for a

Caldirola FSA carbon crank

Miller was untouchable.

Lance Armstrong is happy with the way the first week of the Tour de France has gone: A victory in the team time trial and Victor Hugo Peña’s days in the yellow jersey. He is also excited to reach the mountains, as he knows the 2003 Tour de France will be decided on the slopes of the Alps and Pyrénées. Stage 7 will be the first opportunity to see how well the main contenders for the yellow jersey are climbing this year. Lance’s performance in the Dauphine Libéré provided confidence in his climbing form, and he is stronger now than he was then. Jan Ullrich’s abilities in the high mountains

Fan signage along the route

Here we go again. Superweek 2003 is upon us. I recently moved back to Milwaukee (which is Algonquin for "the great land," according to Alice Cooper in one of the “Wayne's World” movies) for the summer, and I'll be covering the event again this year. Superweek, in its 34th year, is the longest running multi-day cycling series in America. This year, it features 17 stages in 17 days for the pros. Here's the 2003 schedule: Friday, July 11: Chicago criterium (Pro/1/2 only), Chicago, IllinoisSaturday, July 12: Otto Grunski Menasha Classic Criterium, Menasha, WisconsinSunday, July 13: Manitowoc

Tour helicopter flies low enough to kick up hay out of the fields

Petacchi didn't think he had it in him ... but he did

George Hincapie checks out a new Mercedes at the start

An Hors Categorie leader overlooks a Cat. 3 climb

Pena grabbing a bite to eat

Here come the Hurdy-gurdy men.

Stuart O'Grady and Anthony Geslin on a break that came oh so close to making it.

Simoni's bars and head tube

The Posties

Petacchi made a mark at the Giro... did Briko?

Pena leads

Petacchi is at the Tour... and so is Briko

There's just no stopping Alessandro Petacchi. Not even a suicidal two-man breakaway in Friday's hot, sweaty stage into Lyon could derail the Petacchi express. Crédit Agricole's Stuart O'Grady and La Boulangére's Anthony Geslin peeled away from the pack, a few kilometers away from the day's first points sprint at 36.5km. They lasted out there for nearly 200km, only to be brought back in the final kilometer of Friday's stage, the second-longest of this Tour. Petacchi said he told his Fassa Bortolo teammates that he was cooked after coming over two categorized climbs in the final 70km and

O'Grady and Geslin

Petacchi takes over the green jersey, too

Stage 6 Individual Results1. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Fassa Bortolo, 5:08:352. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com, 00:003. Fabrizio Guidi (I), Bianchi, 00:004. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:005. Romans Vainsteins (Lat), Caldirola, 00:006. Damien Nazon (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 00:007. Hinault Sébastien (F), Credit Agricole, 00:008. Gerrit Glomser (A), Saeco, 00:009. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Jean Delatour, 00:0010. Luca Paolini (I), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:0011. Salvatore Commesso (I), Saeco, 00:0012. Pablo Lastras (Sp), iBanesto.com, 00:0013. Mikel Pradera (Sp), ONCE - Eroski, 00:0014.

Stuart O'Grady and Anthony Geslin took off early and nearly made it work

Peña in yellow. How much longer?

While Allesandro Petacchi is proving he is the dominant sprinter of the 2003 Tour de France, the sprinters’ days are numbered as the race approaches the mountains. Petacchi seems to suffer more than Erik Zabel or Robbie McEwen in big mountains, and the green jersey competition is still most likely to come down to a contest between the Australian and the German. Even Fridays sixth stage will be a struggle for the Italian, as the two Category 3 climbs near the end of the stage may take the snap out of his legs. Stage 6 may not even come down to a sprint. The course is the hilliest of any stage

1 point ahead of Petacchi

The learning curve that is the Tour de France steepens dramatically after tomorrow’s seventh stage - literally and metaphorically – when we hit the mountains of the Alps. A lot of people have been asking how I hope to go. I can see why there are some expectations after I defended my lead at the Route du Sud in the last Pyreneen stage. To be honest, how I hope to go and how I actually do go could be two completely different things. All I have been told after talking to the likes of teammate Richard Virenque is that racing in the long and twisting mountain roads of the Tour is a totally