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Stage 7 - Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand Bornand - (197.5km)

A long, long, long day

Tom’s favorite shape, Rolls; this one is on his TT bike.

Stage 7 - Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand Bornand - (197.5km)

Noval: All wrapped up and ready to roll

That’s a long stem.

Boonen gets it

In his own little universe. The TDF brings out all kinds of unusual media types. I think this guy is filming himself, or maybe has video feedback of what he is seeing... maybe he's watching an old Al Franken schtick on Saturday Night Live.

The white dot ensures proper positioning.

British champ Tom Simpson

Big crowds at the start

Someone else’s bar is under there.

The monument in his memory, erected on the spot where he died

Peloton makes a nice scenic as they cross a canal early in the race.

Don't look back, Bradley old boy — something may be gaining on you

Saunier Duval car filling up with bottles in the feed zone on a hot day.

COURSE: Only a week into the race, much earlier than usual, this first mountain stage will give an indication of who is going to challenge for the yellow jersey. The stage finale includes the long, tougher northern side of the Cat. 1 Col de la Colombière, which has an average grade of almost 7 percent for 16km. Before this Cat. 1 climb, the stage uses winding roads through the edge of the Jura, with flat roads in the limestone gorges mixed with two Cat. 3 and a Cat. 4 climb. After the Colombière, the course has a fast, open 10km descent into Le Grand Bornand, with a flat 4km loop into the

Sydor may be shifting her focus

CSC car in feed zone, complete with TV antennae and Riis logo.

On stage 13 of the Tour de France 40 years ago today, July 13, Tom Simpson collapsed and died on Mont Ventoux. It still seems like yesterday. That was the fifth year I had followed the Tour by bicycle. During those years I had raced in Brittany for a couple of summers. One of the other Brits I trained with was Colin Lewis. He was as rugged a cyclist as I’ve ever met. His training rides were as tough as most races. He could have taken his pick of European teams, but he told me he never wanted to take drugs, so he signed with a small pro team in England. Colin rode the 1967 Tour for the Great

VIno' sports a full medicine cabinet's worth of bandages

Dave Zabriskie grabs lunch.

Stage Results1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 5:20:592. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, at 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, at 00:004. Sébastien Chavanel (F), Francaise Des Jeux, at 00:005. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 00:006. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 00:007. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, at 00:008. Robert Hunter (Rsa), Barloworld, at 00:009. Romain Feillu (F), Agritubel, at 00:0010. Murilo Fisher(Brz), Liquigas, at 00:00 11. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval-Prodir, at 00:0012. Jérôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 00:0013. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus),

Degano's had better days — he stacked it in the feed zone

Wiggins deep into his 190 k solo ride.

Yellow-jersey contender Alexandre Vinokourov will continue the Tour de France despite enduring a painful day in the saddle, his team manager said Friday. However, Astana team manager Marc Biver admitted that Vino’ and his injured co-leader Andreas Klöden will suffer in the Alps this weekend. Both riders were injured in separate spills on Thursday's crash-marred fifth stage, Klöden sustaining a hairline fracture to his tailbone and Vinokourov receiving 30 stitches to cuts on his knees. The pair finished Friday's sixth stage, although Klöden hobbled into the team bus afterwards

Cancellara finished with the bunch to keep his jersey, but it's almost certainly a goner tomorrow as the race hits the Alps

Once Wiggins is reeled in, the sprinters' teams take over.

Friday the 13th at the Tour de France showered a mixed bag of fate on the 183 riders who began the sixth stage. Some crashed, others suffered through the heat with injuries, but most had uneventful rides. One declared the supposedly ill-omened day downright lucky. Before and after the 200km stage, riders expressed a similarly wide range of beliefs on the date. Steven De Jongh (Quick Step-Innergetic) was among those in the mildly superstitious camp. “With number 13 I have had some very bad crashes,” the Belgian said at the start. “So I will be very careful today.” Whenever De Jongh receives

Vino' is somewhat the worse for wear

Boonen moves back into the green jersey

Germany’s veteran sprinter Erik Zabel (Milram) had not one but two Tour de France green jerseys taken from him Friday before stage 6 even finished. He lost the first — his overall best sprinter title from 1996 — when Tour de France authorities announced they were revoking it because of Zabel’s admission this May to use of the banned blood-booster EPO that year. He lost the second — the current green jersey of the 2007 Tour de France sprint competition — on the road today after Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) scored points at two intermediate sprints and the final to overtake him in the

Wiggins rides that long, lonely road

And everyone is happy

Weather: Sunny, warmer, highs in mid 80s, moderate head-crosswinds. Stage winner: Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) ended a two-year Tour dry spell dating back to stage three of the 2005 Tour to win his fifth career stage in a wild sprint. With a brisk headwind and a slow average speed (37.291kph), everyone thought they had a chance. Boonen had to restart his sprint with about 150m to go and held off Oscar Freire (Rabobank), second for the second day in a row. Race leader: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) enjoyed his sixth day and what will likely be his final day in the race leader’s jersey. The

T-Mobile on the hunt

Boonen’s new Specialized Tarmac SL2, just got its first .

Cofidis rider Bradley Wiggins made no secret that he was disappointed after finishing fourth in the Tour de France’s opening prologue in London. The reigning world and Olympic track pursuit champion — and an outspoken critic of doping in cycling — had set his season around winning in London, on streets he rode as a teenager. Earlier this year, Wiggins even set out to test out the course at 3 a.m., to get the feel of the route with the fewest numbers of cars on the course. He showed he was on form by winning the prologue of the Dauphiné Libéré in June. But when Wiggins crossed the finish

CSC chips in

We’re not going to argue with the name on the top tube.

Benjamin Noval vows to fight on despite a horrible crash in Thursday’s stage when he smashed into a car window that Discovery Channel officials say was the fault of an inattentive Bouygues Telecom sport director. The 28-year-old Spanish rider barreled into the back of a Bouygues Telecom team car Thursday after coming off the day’s final climb in the harrowing, eight-climb stage and suffered horrible cuts to his right arm and chin. Noval gutted it through Friday’s 199.5km sixth stage with his arms, hand, chin and leg wrapped in gauze and bandages. “It was a really hard stage. The first

The peloton

The new fork and front triangle promise to be much stiffer.

Cancellara in yellow once again

Aussie fans in Chablis

The left lever

Chavanel was a busy lad today, breaking away solo . . .

Its Christmas in July when the Tour comes to your town.

The left indicator window

. . . and with company

Zabriskie leads the peloton through Nitry.

14. The battery pack

COURSE: Despite some early hills through the Burgundy and Côte d’Or wine country, this transitional stage closes with45km of long, flat roads into the center of Bourg-en-Bresse — where a mass sprint seems certain. Bourg is a city of 40,000 people that’s the capital of the Ain department. HISTORY: There has been just one stage finish in Bourgen-Bresse. That was in 2002, when stage 18 ended in a three-man sprint taken by Norway’s Hushovd from Frenchman Christophe Mengin and Denmark’s Jakob Piil. FAVORITES: Crosswinds may be a factor in splitting the peloton over the final hour of racing and

With CSC declining to chase, pursuit was left to other teams, such as Caisse d'Epargne . . .

Chavanel leads Gilbert on the day's last descent.

The front derailleur

Stage 51. Filippo Pozzato (I), Liquigas 193km in 4:39:01 (39:67kph),2. Oscar Freire Gomez (Sp), Rabobank, at 0:003. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 0:004. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, at 0:005. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, at 0:006. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:007. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, at 0:008. Stefan Schumacher (G), Gerolsteiner, at 0:009. Bram Tankink (Nl), Quickstep-Innergetic, at 0:0010. Jerôme Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 0:00 11. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 0:0012. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, at 0:0013. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Sp),

. . . and Rabobank

Cancellara rode impressively to protect his jersey.

16. The rear derailleur

Will there be a Spanish civil war between Alejandro Valverde and Oscar Pereiro to see who takes control of the Caisse d’Epargne team? The Spanish team starts this year’s Tour in what could be a delicate issue if the protagonists involved weren’t such carefree characters. The pair says there’s no tension between them and, from the ease at which they smile and joke when they’re together, you have to believe them. “The road will decide who we will ride for,” Pereiro told VeloNews before the start of Thursday’s stage. “If Alejandro is flying, then I will work for him. That’s not to say I’ve

Leipheimer said the Tour's first hilly stage was a tough day in the saddle

Shimano’s prototype carbon crank

Shimano’s new WH-7805 wheel with black double butted spokes

>Weather: Mostly sunny, highs in the mid 70s, brisk crosswindsearlyStage winner: Italian glamboy Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) wonhis second career Tour stage in a spectacular finish to a wild rollercoasteracross rural eastern France. Only 74 riders finished in the front groupin a rough day for Astana as team leaders Alexandre Vinokourov and AndreasKlöden both crashed. Pozzato darted ahead of Oscar Freire (Rabobank)and Daniele Bennati (Lampre).Race leader: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) enjoyed his fifth day inyellow after making it over the day’s final climb with the leaders. A dangerousthree-man

Hincapie's still sporting some scabs from his earlier misfortunes

It relies on the same system as the 2007 XTR crank, and has a tapered Octalink spline

Shimano’s new WH-7805 wheel with silver bladed spokes

Alexander Vinokourov knew he was going to have some tough days at this year’s Tour de France. The Astana leader just didn’t expect his first to come so early, or in the abrupt manner that it came. The tough Kazakh hit the pavement hard with 26km and the Cat. 3 Côte de la Croix de la Liberation remaining on Thursday’s stage 5. Though he was paced by six teammates, Vinokourov could not regain contact with the peloton and lost 1:20 to the race’s GC contenders. It was the second disaster for an Astana team leader on the stage, following Andreas Klöden’s crash into a ditch 75km from the end of

Zabel, meanwhile, is sporting the green jersey

A close up of the bottom bracket spindle, it uses the same bottom bracket as this year’s Dura-Ace crank

The Tour de France had exciting day, covering 182.2km from Chablis to Autun, with Fabian Cancellara (CSC) protected his jersey with a surprisingly strong ride. Our man Casey Gibson was there to capture some of the action.

Cheula chases his way up to the break

The non-drive arm is tapered and has a threaded adjustment knob

Should the peloton have waited for Alexandre Vinokourov when he crashed in the heat of the battle with about 25km to go in Thursday’s fifth stage? There was some suggestion that the group should have eased up to allow the peloton’s top rider to rejoin the group, just as the peloton did in previous Tours such when Lance Armstrong crashed after tangling his handlebars on a fan’s musette in the 2003 Tour. “I remember back in the old days when a big champion like that would crash, the peloton might wait, like what happened with Armstrong in other Tours,” said stage winner Filippo Pozzato. “I

Klöden went down, and may be going out of this year's Tour

The outside of the non drive arm is threaded so a tool can be mounted for its removal

Which came first the chicken or the egg? What is better? Being physically or mentally exhausted? This is a serious question. Is it better to have tired legs from riding at the front all day for a week or because you haven't slept in a week, sitting bolt upright every time you dream that you are riding into the back of the guy ahead and your brakes aren't working? Personally I like the situation we are currently in, dictating the race, rather than having its terms handed to us by other teams. Really, it sucks having no impact on the race whatsoever and suffering from behind

Pereiro expects no gifts this year.

6. It looks sharp mounted up