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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

Stage 5 - Chablis to Autun (182.5km)

Crash!

Stage 5 - Chablis to Autun (182.5km)

The Villers-Cotteret band at the start.

Hushovd wins

CSC director Allain Gallopin wants to be sure he doesn't get lost on the way.

Mavic's Skoda

Polka dot jersey Auge interviewed at start.

Field clocking in for the day's work

There will be no breakaways with the peloton riding nine abreast.

We have yellow Cannondale Caad 9 spare bikes equipped with SRAM Force

Passing the Aisne Marne Cemetery, where 2298 American soldiers from WW1 are buried.

Because of all of the different clipless pedal options, spare bikes come equipped with toeclips and straps

Bike racing is an eco-friendly sport with a really tiny carbon footprint, right?

The new Cosmic Carbone Ultimate is available should it be needed

Sprick, Verdugo, Flecha, Chavanel, and Knees make a break for it.

As is the new R-SYS

Japanese photographer Sunada shares the wheat field, and preps for a shot.

The Chavenal escape

When you have the yellow jersey, the work load falls to your teammates

The break ticks along

...until the sprinters' teams see an opportunity, that it.

COURSE: This should be the most decisivestage of the opening week on a course that traverses the Chablis wine regionand Morvan hills on its way through Burgundy. It resembles a race likeLiège-Bastogne-Liège and features one Cat.2, three Cat. 3and four Cat. 4 climbs. The narrow back roads, with their short steep climbs and twisting descents,continue all day, with a twisting 6km descent preceding the finish in Autun.This town of 18,000 has a Roman amphitheatre and a medieval cathedral amongits tourist attractions. HISTORY: Only one Tour stage hascome to Autun. That was in 1998, on the

The yellow jersey is unconcerned

Stage Results1. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, 193km in 4:37:47 (41.687kph)2. Robert Hunter (Rsa), Barloworld, at 00:003. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, at 00:004. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, at 00:005. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 00:006. Gert Steegmans (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 00:007. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, at 00:008. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 00:009. Sébastien Chavanel (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 00:0010. Mark Cavendish (GB), T-Mobile, at 00:00 11. Marcus Burghardt (G), T-Mobile, at 00:0012. Ruben Perez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:0013.

And Xandio becomes the latest casualty of this year's Tour

Maybe it’s the long winter nights in his native Norway or perhaps he’s the peloton’s only practicing Buddhist. Thor HushovdBorn:January 18, 1978, in Arendal, NorwayHeight: 183cmWeight: 81kgTour de France Record:5 stage wins (1 in 2002, 1 in 2004, 2 in 2006, 1 in 2007)Points Jersey - 2005Vuelta a España2 stage wins (1 in 2005, 1 in 2006)Other Notable VictoriesGhent-Wevelgem (2006)Tour of Vendee (2004)GP of Denain (2004)Haribo Classic (2004)Paris-Correze (2001)Tour of Sweden (2001)Tour of Normandy (2001)Norwegian time trial Championships (2002, 2004, 2005) Norwegian road race Championships

Ever wonder what one of those 'natural breaks' looks like? Now you know

Weather: Partly cloudy all day, but no showers, brisk southwesterly winds, highs in upper 60s Stage winner: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) came off an excellent lead-out from Julian Dean to win ahead of a fast-charging Robert Hunter (Barloworld) in the fourth-straight sprint finish. The victory is the Norwegian’s first since winning a stage in last year’s Vuelta a España. “The victory means a lot. I’ve been sick and had crashes all spring,” he said. Race leader: Cancellara enjoyed his fourth day in yellow but saw Hushovd claw within 29 seconds. Team CSC kept a five-man break on a short

Quick Step adds a man to the pursuit

After a brisk ride through the Brie and Champagne regions of France, Norwegian Thor Hushovd uncorked a ferocious sprint to win stage 4 of the Tour, and our man Casey Gibson was there to catch every drop. Prosit!

Another look at the finish

Hincapie sports a bandage after getting caught in Monday's pileup

A banged-up Mark Cavendish at the start.

The polka-dot jersey and yellow jersey rolling along

Let's just say the pace was not frantic

COURSE: This rolling stage through the Champagne and Brie regions to the east of Paris could be similar to an early stage of Paris-Nice — without the freezing temperatures! Until the final 18km, the stage will be played out on mostly narrow, winding back roads that feature four Cat. 4 climbs, along with twice as many short hills that don’t merit categorization but will make it tricky for the sprinters’ teams to organize a full-scale chase. The finish in the medieval town of Joigny, population 10,000, is on the right bank of the Yonne River. HISTORY: A Tour stage has never finished in Joigny,

Okay, so where are the sunflowers?

Okay, it was slow...

After Freddie Rodriguez broke his collarbone for the fifth time of his career in stage three of last year’s Tour de France, doctors inserted a titanium rod to piece together the brittle bones in his left shoulder. That extra support prevented the 33-year-old sprinter from reaching No. 6 in the broken bones department Monday after he hit the deck hard in the finish-line mayhem that left the road completely blocked by a pile of writhing bikes and bodies. “Initially, I thought I broke my shoulder and I wasn’t sure if I could continue,” Rodriguez told VeloNews before Tuesday’s start.

A battered Rodriguez gets a wheel and a push

... really slow.

Tour de France organizers on Tuesday applauded a French court's decision to reject another appeal by professional cycling team Unibet.com over being left out of the race. Unibet.com, which includes Australian sprinter Baden Cooke, has been left out of many ProTour races this year despite being part of cycling's elite circuit, which is organized by the UCI. The Swedish-registered team represent an Internet betting company, a business that is against the law in France, which is one of the principal reasons that race organizers have sidelined the squad.

And Cancellara gets his second stage win of this year's Tour

Stage Results1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 6:36:152. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:00:003. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, 00:00:004. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:00:005. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld, 00:00:006. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00:007. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 00:00:008. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile, 00:00:009. Mark Cavendish (GB), T-Mobile, 00:00:0010. Heinrich Haussler (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00:00 11. Matthieu Ladagnous (F), Francaise Des Jeux, 00:00:0012. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, 00:00:0013. Chavanel Sébastien (F),

Stage stats: Stage 3

It was a long wait at the finish

Weather: Partly sunny to cloudy, some showers, highs in mid 60s, moderate southwesterly winds Stage winner: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) attacked with about 600 meters to go in the longest stage of the 94th Tour. A four-man breakaway was caught with just under one kilometer to go when the 2006 Paris-Roubaix winner uncorked an attack in front of the Compiègne castle to win for the second time in four days. “To win in the yellow jersey in front of where Paris-Roubaix starts was amazing,” he said.

All patched up and ready to roll!

The pace was high when the peloton finally roared into town

It’s not often that Tom Boonen is satisfied with fourth place in a sprint finish in the Tour de France, especially on a day that finished in Compiègne in front of the start of his beloved Paris-Roubaix. But the Quick Step-Innergetic sprinter was more than pleased after padding his lead as the battle for the green points jersey heats up three days into the Tour.

Bob Stapleton explaining T-Mobile’s new skinsuit.

Folks thought Cancellara was just moving up to avoid the chaos of the main field.

With his impressive stage win in Compiègne and its accompanying 20-second time bonus, CSC’s Fabian Cancellara widened his gap over the rest of the field to margins that might well hold until the race’s first real tests later this week. The Swiss “time machine” now holds a 33-second lead over Astana’s Andreas Klöden, with Saunier Duval’s David Millar sitting third, 41 seconds back. But the more important number is Cancellara’s lead over the race’s top sprinters, who stand to gain time bonuses at intermediate and finishing sprints in the coming days.

Bob Stapleton (right) with Andrzej Bek (middle) and Oakley’s Steve Blick.

Discovery's Alberto Contador just wants to get to the mountains.

Well spank me and call me Patrice. Fabian is a bad man and when you have other bad men working for the most badass of the bad, then sometimes you get genius. But that’s still pretty rare. Most times you work with all of the good intentions in the world and still come up short. Then, when you least expect it, when your pants are down and you’re scrambling just to stay alive, you win anyway! In those moments you come off looking like we did today… like we meant to do it.

Michael Rogers’s new prototype time-trial bike.

Meier wins

The third stage of the Tour de France was this year's longest, covering 236.5km from Waregem to Compiègne. While the course closely parralled the route of the great spring classic Paris-Roubaix (although in reverse), it avoided the the pave' that makes the Hell of the North as tough as it is.

The new bike was built the night before the prologue.

Grain rips it

Stage 4 - Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny (193km)

Marcus Burghardt’s Giant TCR Advanced, set to go.