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Sastre and CSC-Tiscali Staff Member Piet DeMoor goof off on Rest Day #2

Up the Galibier

Merckx, Jalabert and the rest of the break.

O'Grady's hunt for points took him over some tough terrain.

Rumsas is solidly holding on to third

Four days to Paris

Rodriguez in trouble

PRELIMINARY RESULTS 1. Michael Boogerd (Nl), RAB, 179.5km in 5:48:29. (30.905 kph) 2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CST, at 1:25. 3. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at 01:25. 4. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONE, at 02:02. 5. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 02:02. 6. Levy Leipheimer (USA), RAB, at 02:10. 7. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at 02:14. 8. Jose Azevedo (Por), ONE, at 02:14. 9. Santiago Botero (Col), KEL, at 02:23. 10. Roberto Heras (Sp), USP, at 02:25. 11. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), BAN, at 02:51. 12. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Sp), ONE, at 04:39. 13. David

The view from the start.

Following his one-year suspension for an elevated testosterone-epitestosterone ratio test result, the Navigators cycling team has released Kirk O’Bee from his contract effective immediately. O’Bee was tested in June of 2001 by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and showed an elevated ratio. The case had been undergoing review until O'Bee agreed to accept a one year suspension on July 18 of this year. While O’Bee has agreed to accept the suspension, his arrangement with USADA will allow him to offer evidence that the single test result was not the result of the use of anabolic steroids or any

A more and more frequent sight this year

On paper, today's stage looked flat out rugged. I knew we were going to be in for a long ride. For me personally, it was especially difficult on account of the fact that my summer cold has set in pretty deep. Add the heat, and you don't have to ask how I'm feeling right now. The team had a good day though. Although my early attempts to join a break were foiled yet again today, Laurent Jalabert was back in the thick of things attacking like he has been for this whole race. His group stayed away for a good portion of the stage and he was able to pick up a few more points in the king of the

'Come on... he's got to be down there somewhere'

If you see the Australian sprinter Baden Cooke wiggling his backside a little, don't fret. He is not trying to shake that booty. Everything had been going swimmingly well for the Tour debutant on the health stakes. Until, that is, he woke up on the rest day to discover he has developed a massive cyst on the left side of his rear end. It has come at a bad time for the former Mercury team rider: just four days before Cooke and his Fdjeux.com teammates launch their bid to win the final stage in Paris. To try and ease the pain while racing, Cooke has been cutting a whole the size of a silver

Carrying dry cleaning down the Galibier. No, we don't know why.

Michael Boogerd found the strength to flash that big toothy smile of his as he won the most difficult stage of the 2002 Tour de France. Moments later he looked like he was going to fall over. Boogerd has always been a very good all-around rider, able to win Classics and one-day races, small stages races and stages in three-week Tours. Today he claimed his first mountain stage in the Tour de France, and did you notice his teammate rode well too? Boogerd’s American teammate on Robobank, Levi Leipheimer is riding a very consistent Tour de France. He hasn’t ridden aggressively, instead he has

And at the Super Bowl, you have to pay for tickets. The Tour is free and no one spills beer on your lap.

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Rodriguez struggles and eventually misses the time cut.

The breakaway formed at 65km

Still in yellow. Still in control.

Blue protects yellow.

Orca is back. The team stickers, by the way, are free at your local Post Office..

Functional fashion -- check the next photo

She swears she rode up L'Alpe d'Huez with these things.

Passing the orchard

The doc'

World-famous cycling Photographer Graham Watson in the flesh

PRELIMINARY STAGE RESULTS: 1. Santiago Botero (Col), KEL, 226.5 km in 5:55:16. (38.253 kph) 2. Mario Aerts (Bel), LOT, at  01:51. 3. Axel Merckx (Bel), DFF, at 02:30. 4. Emmanuel Magnien (Fra), BJR, at 04:22. 5. Sandy Casar (Fra), FDJ, at 04:28. 6. Vicente Garcia-Acosta (Sp), BAN, at 05:15. 7. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 06:41. 8. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONE, at 06:41. 9. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at 06:41. 10. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), BAN, at 06:46. 11. Roberto Heras (Sp), USP, at 06:47. 12. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at

Germany's 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich was banned for six months by the German Cycling Federation (BDR) on Tuesday after testing positive for amphetamines. The 28-year-old Olympic champion, who rides for the Telekom team, tested positive in an out-of-competition test on June 12 at a Bavarian rehabilitation clinic where he was recovering after a knee operation. The injury had already ruled him out of this year's Tour de France. The ban begins on Wednesday and will run until March 23 to take into account the two winter months. Three days after revelations of the positive

The Tour de France needs it fans. They are the source of its popularity. But there are some fans out there that the race can really do without. Always has. Just ask Lance Armstrong. He has already said what he thinks of those who jeered him all the way to the top of Mont Ventoux on stage 14. Go back in time and ask Eddy Merckx. In 1975, while leading the Tour on stage 14 to the Puy de Dôme, he found himself at the receiving end of a mighty wack in the kidneys from a roadside fan. Well, maybe not a fan. Merckx still believes the attack cost him the overall victory, which that year went to

Rob,Yes, I asked to have my contract cut short, but it's not quite as dramatic as OLN made it sound, I suppose I'm still racing with Crédit Agricole till the end of 2002 … or at least getting paid by them. I just asked to be released for 2003, simply because it just wasn't working for me. I had lost my fire to be a pro in Europe, and as you've seen first hand in the Dauphiné, it's just too hard to do it strictly for the money. Rob, I reached my full potential over there, contrary to what some of my own very optimistic friends and fans will say, and in some ways exceeded what I thought was

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

The day after a rest day is a dangerous stage. In some ways rest days can be as much harm as good. Some riders don’t handle disruptions in the rhythm of racing very well, others recuperate to the point they can rip people’s legs off on the next stage. Santiago Botero had a rough day on the Mont Ventoux, but the rest day was all he needed to breathe new life into his legs for a great stage win today. Botero was allowed some freedom because his troubles on the Ventoux put him 18 minutes down on Armstrong in the GC. Since he was no longer perceived as a primary threat to the yellow jersey,

Michael Johnson

Robbie Ventura (left) and Roberto Gaggioli hanging back.

A U.S. fan with a liking for hats

Watch out Phil!

Begian fans

French fans

Pavel on Ventoux

'I'm sorry, sir, the rulebook clearly says both wheels must be the same size.'

Aquarel

Race food?

Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx, who claimed five Tour de France and Giro d’Italia titles, admitted Monday that he never thought Lance Armstrong could one day win the Tour de France. Merckx, who now works a radio consultant and runs the bicycle factory that bears his name, became friends with the 30-year-old American just before he was struck down by testicular cancer in 1997. Since then, the two men have grown closer and Merckx now believes the U.S. Postal team leader, currently heading for a fourth consecutive Tour triumph, can win as many editions of the world's top bike race as he

A rest day leg-loosener for a professional bicycle racer in the Tour deFrance is a hard weekend ride for most people. Lance Armstrong, hiseight U.S. Postal Service teammates and actor Robin Williams set out ona 90km, two-hour “spin” through the countryside of Vaucluse on Monday.After about 30 minutes, Williams took a right turn and flew back to Hollywood. Armstrong kept on pushing to keep his legs limber as he goes into thefinal stretch of his run for a fourth consecutive Tour de France victory. The dust settled Monday following the fireworks on Mont Ventoux. Armstrongset a new record of 58

After a long stage that finished on Ventoux yesterday, I was happy to have a bit of rest this morning. And I had some company as well. In the form of the four legged furry kind. My wife made a surprise trip up from Spain along with our dog Tugboat yesterday. He decided to spend the night at my hotel versus getting back into the car to travel on with Haven. It was nice to have him around, although we found out the hard way, that my roommate Carlos Sastre is allergic to dogs. After spending only a few minutes in our room with Tugs his eyes and legs started to swell. But he was a sport about

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Rapinski (left) and Clark will battle to the death.

Virenque was on the attack for more than 200km

The main escape started at km 19

It was soon down to a familiar list of major players - Rubiera, Armstrong and Beloki.

After trying an attack, Beloki (second from left) found himself struggling and slipped back to his teammate Padera.

Virenque and Armstrong big winners atop Ventoux

Welcome to Provence

Lance Fans

From West Virginia to Ventoux

The Tom Simpson memorial

The Prize

Giuseppe Guerini and Chechu Rubiera in the final kilometer

5:23 p.m. PRELIMINARY STAGE RESULTS1. Richard Virenque (Fra), DFF, 221 km in 5:43:26. 38.610 kph) 2. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), A2R, at ˆ 01:58. 3. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at 02:20. 4. Marco Serpellini (Ita), LAM, at 02:54. 5. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 03:36. 6. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at 03:39. 7. Francisco Mancebo (Esp), BAN, at 03:51. 8. Joseba Beloki (Esp), ONE, at 04:05. 9. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol), BAN, at 04:10. 10. Ivan Gotti (Ita), ALS, at 04:16. 11. Levi Leipheimer (USA), RAB, at 04:25. 12. Jose Azevedo (Por), ONE, at 04:45. 13. Stephane Goubert (Fra), DEL, at

Tour de France race leader Lance Armstrong took a swipe at French fans who he said insulted him regularly as he blasted his way up the Mont Ventoux during the 14th stage on Sunday. The 30-year-old three-time winner of the world's biggest bike race finished third on a stage won by Frenchman Richard Virenque, who managed to hold on to his early lead despite Armstrong chasing him down in the final few kilometers. Armstrong's failure to catch Virenque, who finished 2:20 ahead of the American and 1:58 ahead of Russian Alexandre Botcharov, had good consequences however for his overall position in

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Richard Virenque’s return to the Tour de France had gone relatively quietly until Stage 14. Up to this point he had ridden well and was consistently near the front of the race, but he had not shown his aggressive racing style of years past. He changed all that today by attacking the peloton 19 kilometers into a 221-kilometer stage. Fortunately the group with Virenque was committed to the breakaway and was big enough to afford everyone some rest time between pulls. The gap to the peloton grew to over 12 minutes, and was down to about 8 at the base of the Mont Ventoux. Virenque conjured up

Armstrong has solidified his lead as heads to the Alps.

Allez Jaja

Allez Levi

Today's podium girls are bound to generate a letter or two!

There's really only one climb on Stage 14.

Artwork by Odessa

Put the rulebook downRoop!

5:24 p.m. With the sprint starting with a lead-out from Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd for O'Grady. Telekom comes to the front. The traffic is heavy and it's a mess at the front. The two main points contenders do not win the field sprint, but McEwen nis Zabel at the line, giving him a one-point advantage for the day and putting the two men in a tie on the points standings. 5:23 p.m. We are in the final kilometer. 5:22 p.m. The peloton is heading in to town. The gap is still large. McEwen is active and antsy near the front. Zabel is close by. 5:28 p.m. Now the next big contest will be

Walrod and Carney reall were a 'Prime Alliance'

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Alfred contemplates his next move

When Lance Armstrong says that Mont Ventoux is “the hardest climb we’lldo this year,” you know he means it. He clarified that statement by sayingSunday’s 221km stage from Lodève to the 6273-foot Ventoux summitmay not be the most difficult stage, because there are no other climbs.But when you have already been riding on rough, rolling roads in 90-degreeheat for more than five hours, the sudden effort of scaling a 21.5km climbhas an added bite. The severity of the climb cannot be exaggerated. As the French cyclistRaphaël Geminiani said on a stage of the 1955 Tour: “Easy Ferdi, theVentoux is

Saturday action hot at Alpenrose Velodrome

How about that Laurent Jalabert? The guy's been riding like an animal for three days. I honestly don't know how he does it. Attacking off the front takes a lot out of you, especially going up hill. He's incredible. We're happy to see him wearing the polka-dot climber’s jersey. Doing so was a big personal goal for him and for our team. And you could say the entire country of France is happy for him, too. It seems like the entire population has come out to wish him well in his last Tour de France. The frenzy surrounding this guy is nothing short of a circus. It's great to see. Yesterday