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Armstrong's Trek from Stage 10

Armstrong says he wanted this bad

Ullrich's Pinarello from Stage 10

By the top of L'Alpe d'Huez, Ullrich and Beloki were two minutes back

Robin Williams had Tyler and company laughing before the stage, and found more fans at the finish.

Simon was one of the beneficiaries of Stage 8

Young prologue sensation Florent Brard, like the rest of his Festina Watches team, rides a Specialized Body Geometry saddle

Roux and company left at 6km.

BigMat-Auber 93's Christophe Capelle also rides a Selle Italia Flite TransAm

Telekom looked sharp on the first two major climbs

Kelme-Costa Blanca's Félix Cardenas's Selle Italia Flite TransAm

One of America's biggest cycling fans was there, too.

On a dry day, this photographer's mustache looks pretty cool - try to avoid him on a rainy day, though.

Beats standing 12-deep along the metal barriers of a typical stage finish.

Last-minute touch up.

There are 21 hairpin turns on the famous mountain road that climbs from the Oisans valley to the ski resort of Alpe d’Huez, where stage 10 of this year’s Tour de France has its conclusion on Wednesday. Coincidentally, the Tour has seen stages finishes on the Alpe 21 times -– from the victory of the legendary Fausto Coppi in 1952 (when the road was still unpaved) to that of another Italian, Giuseppe Guerini, who won here in 1999. Each of these stage winners has his name posted on the apex of each turn, giving riders and race followers a timely reminder of this mythic climb’s history. The

Fans of the new decade. Just set up your dish, put up the TV and sun shade, and watch the race. Oh, and there's the view.

I was having flashbacks today as we rode toward the finish at Aix-les-Bains. It felt like 1998 all over again. That year I had been fighting an intestinal bacteria throughout the season and the battle came to a head during stage 8 of the Tour. It was unbelievably warm -- over 100 degrees. I lost 18 minutes that day finishing well after the main field. Our team doctor was asking me every so often if I wanted to stop. But it was the Tour de France and quitting was out of the question. In a word, today was -- grim. My stomach was giving me trouble from the start. Things began getting

The Schwinn/GT Corp. began Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in Denver, Colorado, Monday, in preparation for a planned sale to Huffy Corporation for more than $60 million. In addition, Schwinn has negotiated $30 million in financing with its current debtors, led by Comerica Bank; the money will be used to maintain business operations in the Fitness Division, which Huffy is not buying, and also keep the bicycle division afloat until the sale to Huffy is completed. Schwinn, based in Boulder, Colorado, will lay off 300 employees in its cycling division in preparation for the sale. The Schwinn

It was a hard race today to Aix-les-Bains. The attacks began nearly from the start, plus there was a tailwind. At the beginning, there was a lot of climbing with lots of false flats. It was hard up the climb and over it. . We kept going hard until the feed zone (at the top of the 1200m La Vattay, the second climb of the day), and it was then when the break suddenly gained five minutes. Bonjour and some other teams took up the chase. The last climb (the 520m Cote de Bossy) was really hard. Some of our guys had to chase back on. Our team rode hard for the last 20km, or so, to get Zabel up for

The two time Russian champion made a heroic charge from 7km

The three leaders stayed away for 150km

Zabel took the field sprint, still aiming for that sixth points jersey

Durand and Hushvod tangled up early in the race

The scarred, miracle legs of Johan Museeuw.

A relaxed Fred Rodriguez talking to a friend before the start.

French TV stations interview Lance about the GC standings before the stage

Tyler Hamilton, looking under the weather at the start, would struggle and finish 13 minutes down.

A group of rabid young fans, in a very small village on the way to Aix-Les-Bains.

Jessica Greico was once one of the best track riders -- and bike handlers -- in the United States. She now does TV work when not going to law school.

As heavy rain continued to fall on the green hills of the Jura Sunday night, speculation was rife in the hotels and inns where the thousands of people following the Tour de France were staying. Among the questions being asked were: How could the race favorites allow 14 riders to gain almost 36 minutes? Will a similar breakaway happen Monday? Will the rain still be around? How long will Stuart O’Grady keep the yellow jersey this time? Or how strong a challenge will come from second-placed François Simon or fourth-placed Andrei Kivilev? All this speculation has arisen because this is a Tour

Hamilton at the start of today's stage.

4:41 p.m. (local time) Ivanov held them off. The former Russian champion attacked the lead trio with 9km to go and held off his two breakaway partners, to earn his first-ever Tour de France stage win. Etxebarria and McGee finish just ahead of the quickly closing -- not quick enough, though -- peloton. Erik Zabel took the field sprint for fourth. 4:39 p.m. (local time) With 1km to go, Ivanov is 10 seconds ahead of McGee and Etxebarria. The field is 40 seconds back. 4:37 p.m. (local time)With four km to go David Etxebarria (Euskaltel-Euskadi)and Bradley McGee (La Française Des Jeux)

Conditions can be tough at Cascade.

A glimpse from the start of today's 185km stage, which ran from Pontarlier to Aix-les-Bains.

O'Grady pushing the break.

Tour de France rider Txema Del Olmo of Spain has been dropped by his team Euskaltel after failing a dope test, sources close to the Spanish outfit confirmed Sunday. The results of the rider's second B-sample are not yet known, but the 28-year-old Del Olmo did not compete in Saturday's seventh stage from Strasbourg to Colmar. Tour officials said before the start of this year's race that any rider who returned a positive sample would be prevented from competing, even before the results of the second test were known. copyright AFP2001

Lance (r) and Jose Rubiera take the front of the chase through the corn fields of the Rhein Valley.

5:35p.m. (local time) The main field has finished around 35 minutes behind the leaders. That is outside the 10-percent time limit, but with 160 riders outside of that limit the Tour can invoke Article 22 of its rule book which states that if the percentage of riders to be eliminated is more than 20 percent of the number of riders who have started the stage, the time limit could be extended by agreement of race officials and organizers of the Tour. 5:35p.m. (local time) The main field has finished around 35 minutes behind the leaders. That is outside the 10-percent time 5:23p.m. (local

Grigson held off Blatter in the climbs, then pulled away on the descents.

What do you get when you mix rain, freezing cold temperatures and the Tour de France? One long day and a back ache. I don't know what we did to deserve it, but Mother Nature is sure letting us have it. If I could have a conversation with this woman I'd beg for mercy. Enough with the wind and the rain and the unseasonable temps already. The race is enough of a challenge all by itself. The early part of the day was a bit hectic given that Telekom's Vinokourov was part of the epic break that went up the road at 5 kilometers in. Perhaps the cycling fates were on our side and didn't want us to

Absalon kept Leuchs at bay and passed Evans after he flatted.

Did the fans today witness the stage the blew the Tour apart, or just the first of a day or two of jumbled standings?

Sauser had his lunch a little earlier than anticipated.

Lopes motors past Gracia in the dual semis.

Green looked good here, but trouble loomed.

Gracia got by Carter in the men's consolation race.

Green was forced to stop for air three times.

Dekker had time for a shower and maybe a massage before the peloton arrived.

The scene at the finish line was reminiscent of last week.

Aussie colors: Credit Agricole green and Tour de France yellow

Evans looked to be on his way to victory before the flat-tire bug bit.

It all started innocent enough

Roberto Heras's climbing bike. Note the Selcof seatpost and the Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL wheels.

...and in back, it was just cold and wet.

Heras's climbing bike. Note the oversized 1-3/8' lower headset bearing, with the 1-1/8' upper head cup. The upper cup has wrench flats (Shimano doesn't make threadless headsets), but the threads have been bored out for the threadless steering tube.

While Voight lost the jersey, it's not so bad giving it up to your teammate.

The team requested a 120mm magnesium Deda stem for Heras's bike. It takes oversized (31.7mm) handlebars. On the night before L'Alpe d'Huez, the stem was still not installed. Postal riders have been riding standard 25.8mm (usually called 26.0) bars.

There are no fair weather cycling fans in France. Just a few of the thousands of people who stood in steady rain for hours to glimpse just a few moments of their heroes.

Victor Hugo Peña's Superlight climbing bike. The only equipment difference on his bike from the other Postal climbing bikes is the TTP (Tandem Titanium Project) seatpost, rather than the usual Dura-Ace post.

These two Telekom fans are part of the thousands that line the start, begging for autographs.

Just a few of the 16 photo motors that carry photographers through and around the race. Today the Reuters motobike crashed on the wet road, breaking the leg of the driver.

Rain gear was in evidence everywhere today.

The unseen and forgotten American, Kevin Livingston, looking very fit at the start of today's stage.

On Friday, the Tour de France riders had a small taste of the climbing that faces them Saturday on the 162.5km (101-mile) stage 7 between Strasbourg and Colmar. The foretaste was the 2,385-foot Col du Donon, a 4 km-long climb in the Vosges mountains that was enough to split the peloton, and leave many of the sprinters behind. All the five climbs that await them Saturday are longer than the Donon, and the riders having trouble will be not only the sprinters but probably men like current yellow jersey Stuart O'Grady of Australia - who has trouble on long climbs. From Strasbourg, stage 7 goes

The Champion two-piece band, which unfortunately opens each stage with the one and only song they know.

5:53p.m. (local time) We just finished speaking with John Vande Velde, the father of U.S. Postal Sevice rider Christian Vande Velde. He says that his son has apparently suffered a fractured left arm, contusions on his neck and a possible concussion. Vande Velde was wearing a helmet when he struck a post after missing a turn earlier in the stage. He recovered enough to get back on his bike, but realized his injuries were serious enough to warrant medical attention and then withdrew from the Tour. We'll try to update you as soon as we know more. The senior Vande Velde, just back from the

Les Cadets, junior racers that are having the thrill of their lives at the Tour.

Four people were taken to hospital in Colmar, France Saturday, with one reported to be in a serious condition, after a spectator drove his car into security barriers at the finish line of the Tour de France seventh stage. One woman bystander is in a serious condition after being thrown into the air when struck by the car and is receiving treatment for severe head and leg injuries. Three others - two policemen and a Tour official - were also hospitalised with minor injuries, according to Patrice Clerc, president of the Tour's parent company AOS. "We'll tell you what we know, which is

French flags, and road painting, encouraged all of the French riders to win on Bastille Day.

The bands that play, the fans that come, and the riders at the center of it all.

One of hundreds of German caravans, or small campers, that have joined the Tour and can be found along the course all through the Alps and Pyrennes.

U.S. Postal rider Christian Vande Velde and Fassa Bortolo’s Ivan Basso have been forced out of the Tour de France due to injuries the two young riders suffered in separate accidents during the seventh stage of France’s national tour on Saturday. Vande Velde, a 25-year-old Boulder, Colorado resident suffered a broken left arm, bruises on his neck and shoulder and a possible concussion after missing a turn on the descent of the Category 2. Col d’ Adelspach and striking a metal post. Vande Velde lay on the ground until his team car came to his aid. He then got up and rode for about

Jalabert made all of France cheer

Going into Saturday's stage to Colmar, I didn’t know how I was feeling after all of the hard stages. I stayed at the front not because I was trying to attack, but as a tactic for survival. Again, guys were just attacking from the gun. Finally, on the first climb, it was at full speed, we were flying up that. After a while, though, I was feeling pretty comfortable at the front. When I saw the 1km to go, I kind of shut it down and let a lot of guys go by and rolled down the descent back to the front. I did pretty much the same on all of the climbs. Romans (Vainsteins) tried letting the guys

The day's big winner has to be Voigt - now six minutes up on Armstrong and Ullrich.

Kelme: A force in the peloton, a curiosity in the caravan It has had an incredible 20-year run as a cycling team sponsor, but Kelme’s entry in the Tour publicity caravan doesn’t quite live up to the same standards as the team, yet. While most sponsors in the caravan sport a whole fleet of elaborately decorated and rigged-up vehicles, Kelme really is an army of one. The green pick-up truck with the giant soccer shoe on top is kind of a lonely sight each day, looking like someone who sort of got swept away by a parade barreling down Main St. But is it effective? Well, hey, they got their

The five who defined the stage.

The time trail included a trip through a local brew pub.