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The scenery was gorgeous, if you had time to look

David Millar hopes his tortured past and uncertain present doesn’t spell demise for his immediate future. The Scot is battling ghosts of his doping past and suffering through pangs of doubt over his form at the eve of the most important race of his career. The repentant Saunier Duval-Prodir rider - who served a two-year ban for taking banned performance-enhancing products before returning to competition in 2006 – admitted he’s not at his best ahead of the 7.9km prologue to put the Tour de France into gear Saturday. “I’m riddled with self-doubt. I don’t have the same confidence I normally

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

The crowd takes in the TDF video on big screens above Trafalgar Square.

The course traveled up the Cheakamus Canyon.

Despite rumors that Americans Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong were to attend this weekend’s start of the Tour de France, neither is expected to show up. Landis is in the U.S. on a tour promoting his new book, “Positively False,” and is refusing interview requests from cycling media. He also is awaiting a ruling on charges that he doped en route to winning last year’s Tour. A decision from the three-member arbitration panel is expected in the coming weeks. Discovery Channel officials confirmed that Armstrong will not be in London this weekend.

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Tour director Christian Prudhomme and London Mayor Ken Livingstone address the crowd.

A classic day of B.C. riding.

Spanish riders Oscar Pereiro and Alejandro Valverde outright refused to answer questions about Operación Puerto in face of heated queries from journalists during a tense press conference Friday. Despite a request from team manager Eusebio Unzue that journalists only ask queries about sport, one German journalist directly challenged Valverde to comment on a document from the Puerto files that allegedly made inferences to “Piti,” a code name that some insist could link Valverde to the Spanish doping scandal. When Valverde stoically refused, journalists yelled out, “Answer the question – it’s

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

David Millar is happy to be home, but nervous about performing well.

The final base camp.

The 2007 world road race championships, scheduled for Stuttgart in September, could be called off due to the wave of doping scandals hitting cycling, a German government minister has warned. "The world championships in Stuttgart are in a critical situation and it's not inconceivable that the organizing committee will have to reconsider everything," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble was quoted as saying in Saturday's edition of Tagesspiegel. "Perhaps we'll have to reach the conclusion that a spectacular cancellation (of the championships) would herald the new start cycling

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Levi models the new kit.

The rule now hinges on the angle of the extension and the rider’s arm. Sastre is okay.

The Tour de France is ready to roll on Saturday afternoon in London, but on Friday night riders and fans celebrated the coming three-week spectacular with a formal opening ceremony in Trafalgar Square. Our man Casey Gibson was on the scene.

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

Hincapie is wearing his own kit.

Vande Velde and his “bike shop” bars.

One of the charming local residences the race will pass by.

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

George can still make the ladies smile.

Leipheimer’s bike on Thursday — illegal.

The route

Pereiro will start with bib No. 11

This guy on the rooftop was not photographing cyclists, a reminder of what else is in the news in London this week.

Pre-prologue rule 'clarification' sends mechanics scrambling

Perhaps no team enters the Tour de France with as much potential in the race’s four jersey competitions as the Netherlands’ Rabobank squad. With defending two-time King of the Mountains Michael Rasmussen, Russian GC contender Denis Menchov, Spanish sprint star Óscar Freire Gómez and the emerging 22-year-old Thomas Dekker, the team brings riders capable of winning each of the race’s esteemed competitions. Winning more than one jersey is unlikely for Rabobank, however. Menchov, who finished sixth last year, doesn’t top anyone’s list of GC favorites, and at the team’s pre-race medical check

Rasmussen is ready to climb

It was such a nice day, some even forgot it was a bike race...

In his 13th year as a professional, Ag2r-Prevoyance rider Christophe Moreau said Thursday he thinks he can do something he’s never done at the Tour de France — finish on the podium. Though he’s no stranger to the Tour’s top 10 (he was fourth in 2000, and has twice finished eighth), Moreau has never reached the final podium in Paris. But after dominating the Dauphiné Libéré in June, and more recently winning the French national championship, the 36-year-old Moreau has reason to think this year might be different. In the 12 times he has arrived to the start of the Tour, it’s the most serene

Dekker is here for the experience.

...well, at least until the climbing started.

Alessandro Petacchi, charged with doping by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), will learn his fate on July 24. The 33-year-old sprinter will be handed his punishment by the disciplinary commission of the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI). CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri, who charged Petacchi with doping on Wednesday, has requested the FCI ban him from cycling for a year. Petacchi, who had been provisionally suspended by his Milram team last week, has been replaced by Ukrainian Andriy Grivko for the Tour de France, which gets underway in London on Saturday. Petacchi tested

Rasmussen took the climber's jersey at the '06 Tour after his win at La Toussuire

Many options

If Alexandre Vinokourov expected an easy ride during Thursday’s press conference, he was in for something of a shock. The Tour’s red-hot favorite bristled under repeated questions from testy journalists who queried him about his relationship with Dr. Michele Ferrari, the infamous prepatori who helped Lance Armstrong win seven straight Tour de France victories. “I started to work with (Ferrari) in 2005. He’s my physical trainer. I have worked hard. I have done nothing banned,” a defensive Vinokourov said. “I only work with him in training programs. I work with the team doctors with questions

Moreau rode brilliantly to take the Ventoux stage at this year's Dauphiné.

Trevor Linden

A determined and confident Levi Leipheimer confronts the start of the 2007 Tour de France with new motivation after rejoining the American team Discovery Channel following a five-year run with foreign teams. Leipheimer, 33, lines up Saturday in London as the top American hope for the final podium when the Tour ends July 29 in Paris. “I think I am coming into this Tour a little fresher and a little off my best form. Last year, I was too good too early,” Leipheimer told the assembled media Thursday evening. “This year, I’ve tried to push that back because the end of the Tour this year is so

Secret agent man. Zellmann is playing this release for everything he can.

A beautiful day in British Columbia and leader's still maintain grip on overall

A year ago, Quick Step-Innergetic’s Tom Boonen came to the Tour de France with both the rainbow jersey and heavy expectations on his shoulders. The two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders and reigning world champion came to the Tour with four stage wins to his name and was expected to add to his tally while contesting for the green points jersey. Instead, Boonen did neither, leaving the Tour after stage 15, having worn the yellow jersey for four days. Asked about his main objective for this year’s Tour at a pre-race press conference on Thursday, Boonen played it coy, initially saying, “My

The new Red shifter displaying eight degrees of lever adjustment. In this example, the shift lever is adjusted inwards and the brake lever is left out.

Markus Fothem’s new bike, the Specialized Tarmac SL2.

That small pin below the hood is responsible for the shift lever reach.

The large headtube hides the different sized headset bearings.

This small screw adjusts the brake lever reach.

Shimano’s prototype carbon crank.

This prototype lever displays the refined DoubleTap mechanism.

A close look at Shimano’s prototype crank reveals and aluminum spider.

The back of the new Red cassette prototype.

Before, Specialized’s 2006-7 Transition.

The front of the Red cassette prototype.

After, Specialized’s 2008 Transition.

Vinokourov had a tough press conference on Thursday

A pile o’ time-trial wheels.

Leipheimer says he's ready

Before, plenty of work.

Both men say that Astana poses a big challenge

After, and ready to go.

Bruyneel would like to get back to winning the Tour.

CSC director Bjarne Riis announced on Thursday he will not be present to follow his riders during this year's Tour. In May the 43-year-old Dane admitted to doping during his career, notably during his 1996 Tour de France victory. He was subsequently stripped of the title last month by Tour officials. Riis took the decision to sit out the Tour following criticism by former German CSC rider Jorg Jaksche during an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel. Jaksche told Der Spiegel he used performance enhancing drugs during his spell with the CSC team in 2004 and that the Danish

Freire is plagued by an old problem.

Boonen is more relaxed - and a little more humble - going into this year's Tour.

Schalk limbers up aboard the ferry

La Ruta's Manuel Prado

Heading for the docks

Off the boat and onto the bikes

The race start at Earl's Cove

Gumby is going for a ride

Schalk leads going into the final feed

Hestler drives the chase through the forest

Longtime race director Jean-Marie Leblanc has finally retired, leaving Christian Prudhomme in charge of the Tour de France. The 2007 edition starts in London on Saturday, and with no clear favorite, it is shaping up to be one of the most open races in years. Lance Armstrong, who won seven straight Tours beginning in 1999, has retired. Last year's winner, Floyd Landis, is still under the cloud of doping accusations. Other big names, such as Ivan Basso, have fallen afoul of the crackdown on drugs in the sport. But Prudhomme insists that other stars will emerge to take their

Another scenic: This time, it's mainland British Columbia

Alessandro Petacchi lost his spot on Milram’s Tour de France team on Wednesday after being charged with doping by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), according to Agence France Presse. CONI's anti-doping prosecutor, Ettore Torri, asked the Italian cycling federation (FCI) to ban the 33-year-old sprinter for one year following a "non-negative" doping test after the third of his five stage wins at the Giro d'Italia. The urine sample Petacchi gave at Pinerolo on May 23 showed an unusually high level of salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma. “We signed the ProTour

Home sweet home: race founder Dean Payne and his beloved Seventies-era motorhome

Tour de France hopeful Andreas Klöden said Wednesday that he was weary of trying to clear his name as other members of his Astana team are suspected of doping. "I have nothing to confess," Klöden told German daily Die Welt. "You have to believe me when I say that I have never done anything illegal." On Wednesday, Klöden signed the UCI’s anti-doping pledge, but admitted that he wasn’t happpy about it. "I didn't have a choice in order to compete in the Tour de France ... but I felt violated by this procedure. I no longer enjoy competing in the Tour de France. It's like a suspended