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Germany's Jens Voigt led the criticism of the drug-laden cheats who have plunged this year's Tour de France into new depths of the on-going doping crisis. CSC’s Voigt, who claimed his first-ever stage win here in 2001, finished last of a four-man breakaway after a long, hard 188.5km race from Pau to Castelsarrasin on Thursday as the peloton finally waved goodbye to the Pyrenees. The doping issues that have clouded this year's race, and led to the exclusion of former race leader Michael Rasmussen, as well as two entire teams, have hit the image of the Tour and the sport

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

A spectator holds a French newspaper headlined 'The Tour's death' before the start of the 17th stage between Pau and Castelsarrasin

Checking out the news in the village this morning.

Scandals, positives, arrests and ejections... and despite it all, the Tour rolls on. Our man Casey Gibson was there to record it from the media scrum at the start in Pau to the finish in Castelsarrasin.

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Contador appears pensive as he dons the leader's jersey

Van Summeren signs an autograph for a dedicated fan. They are still here.

In the chaotic hours before the start of the 2006 Tour de France, officials from the UCI and the Tour de France were frantically scouring a cryptic 36-page facsimile sent by Spain’s Guardia Civil that summarized evidence of one of Europe’s largest and most elaborate blood doping rings. Officials received the fax on Thursday -- just 36 hours before some 189 riders would start the opening prologue in Strausbourg -- and were under the gun to match a series of veiled, soon-to-be-famous codenames to the Tour peloton. The summary document – written in Spanish – included the most explosive and

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Menzies takes it — or does he?

The peloton with its caravan heads out of Pau.

Yesterday was a long day. It started out with a half-assed protest by the French. They only protested within their respective teams and didn't inform us as to what they were doing or just what it was they were protesting. I agree about taking a stand but taking a stand without unity is a waste of time and, from my point of view, embarrassing. They were quick to throw stones and then at the end of the day they had a positive case of their own in Cristian Moreni. Just great! So we got back to the hotel and it was swarming with police because we were staying in the same hotel as

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

The escape

The break early in the race, puts their heads down for the first steep climb.

“Why did the Chicken cross the road?” questions filtered through the Tour de France press room Thursday following the news that former race leader Michael Rasmussen, whose nickname is “Chicken,” was sent home by his Rabobank team management for lying about his whereabouts prior to the Tour. Popular answers included “To go to Italy” and “Because he was an hour ahead of the peloton.” But the reality is that Rasmussen was sent home from the Tour de France because he was exposed as a liar on the sport’s biggest stage. Lying is nothing new in professional sports. Every athlete who has ever

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Millar and Righi, front and center

One of the always enthusiastic fans that are the heart of the Tour.

Ag2rChristophe Moreau (F)Cyril Dessel (F)(DNF - Stage 15)John Gadret (F)José Luis Arrieta (Sp)Stéphane Goubert (F)Martin Elmiger (Swi)Ludovic Turpin (F)Sylvain Calzati (F)(DNF - Stage 11)Simon Gerrans (Aus) AgritubelFreddy Bichot (F)Moise Dueñas (Sp)Romain Feillu (F) (Withdrawal Stage 8)Eduardo Gonzálo (Sp)(Crash - Stage 1)Cedric Hervé (F) (Time Cut - Stage 8)Nicolas Jalabert (F)Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp)Benoit Salmon (F)Nicolas Vogondy (F) Astana-(The entire team withdrew from the Tour following news of Vinokourov's positve doping test)Antonio Colom (Sp)Maxim Iglinskiy (Kz)Serguei Ivanov

Weather: Warm, highs in low 90s, moderate tail, crosswinds Stage winner: Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) marked late attacks from Jens Voigt to win a four-up sprint ahead of Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner). Bennati overcame pain from a stage 2 crash to sneak into the day’s eight-man break. It’s his first career Tour stage and the second by an Italian in this year’s Tour. Race leader: Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) took the yellow jersey following the controversial ejection of overnight leader Michael Rasmussen by his Rabobank team. Contador didn’t wear the maillot jaune during the

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Discovery on the hunt

Steegmans cools off with a bottle.

COURSE: The rolling terrain of the Armagnac region is perfect for breakaways, especially when a weary peloton is reluctant to chase. There are six climbs on this medium-length stage, but none of them is particularly steep or long. The final 60km is mainly flat. HISTORY: No stage has finished in Castelsarrasin, though it has hosted a start. Stage finishes have taken place in the neighboring towns of Montauban (1998) and Valence d’Agen (1978). Frenchman Jacky Durand headed a six-man break that arrived in Montauban 7:45 ahead of the pack in 1998, while the Valence d’Agen stage in '78 was

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Caisse d'Epargne takes over

In the break. Who else? Jens Voight, bandages and all.

The Tour de France set out here on Thursday for the 17th stage rocked by the doping scandal that has ousted yet another rider: yellow jersey leader Michael Rasmussen. Rasmussen was kicked out of the race by his Dutch team Rabobank late on Wednesday for lying about where he was last month - he had said he was in Mexico when in fact he was in Italy. There had also been revelations that he had missed four random, out-of-competition dope tests over the past 18 months. Despite the devastation, Rabobank informed Tour organizers before the start of Thursday's stage that it planned to let its

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Elmiger and Bennati

Discovery is suddenly in the lead.

“The Tour is dead,” commented the French daily Liberation and the German paper Bild on Thursday after the dramatic dropping of yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen from the Tour de France late on Wednesday. For much of the European press, Rasmussen's withdrawal by his Rabobank team – followed by his sacking Thursday - was the death knell for the world's greatest cycling race and posed enormous questions about the future of the sport itself. The only bright spot for the organizers was that while television audiences sharply declined in Germany — the two public broadcasters took it off the

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Bennati gets it

And the team's new leader.

Michael Rasmussen has reacted angrily to being kicked out of the Tour de France and sacked by his team after allegedly lying about his whereabouts during a missed random dope test. Rabobank dramatically split with Rasmussen after the Danish rider had consolidated his race lead with victory in Wednesday's 16th stage. The Dutch team justified its action by saying Rasmussen had lied when he said he'd been in Mexico rather than Italy for one of the four dope tests he failed to show up for in the past 18 months. But, in an interview with Danish newspaper B.T. Rasmussen questioned his

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

And there's a new man in yellow

Contador, on his way to his first yellow jersey, and his firt press conference as Tour leader.

Rabobank has issued a statement regarding the withdrawal and sacking of Michael Rasmussen, and has announced that it has conducted an additional doping control on its remaining team members. The text of the statement appears in its entirety below. — Editor Rabobank is shocked and disappointed of the fact that Michael Rasmussen gave false information in regards to his whereabouts. Apparently he did not stay at the address that he reported to the UCI and he did not send the report in a timely manner. UCI has issued a rightful warning to Rasmussen for this delayed provision of information. As

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Tour 2007: Updated Teams and Riders

Blick keeps the Z-man looking sharp

After 10 days in the yellow jersey, Michael Rasmussen appeared to have beaten back all challengers in his pursuit of the top spot on the Tour de France’s final podium in Paris this coming Sunday. On Wednesday, he handily dispatched his nearest challenger – Discovery Channel’s Alberto Contador – winning the Tour’s most difficult stage and adding to his already-formidable lead as the race made its final trip into the mountains.

One of Switzerland's largest daily newspapers, Tages-Anzeiger, is stopping race coverage from the Tour de France immediately and will only report doping-related stories, an editor said on Wednesday. "We won't have reports of the race anymore. It doesn't seem to make sense to have a report on the day's stage because the doping issue overshadows everything," day editor Andres Buechi told AFP. Buechi said the Zurich newspaper's editors had decided just to give the stage and overall standings on the sports pages, alongside stories from their reporter following the Tour on

Cofidis confirmed Wednesday that its entire team will leave the Tour de France after rider Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone after last week's 11th stage. Moreni was officially thrown out of the race following the 16th stage after being told he had tested positive for testosterone. Cofidis officials, announced they will forgo their right to ask for analysis of a 'B' sample, also accepted the Tour's "invitation" to withdraw from the race, becoming the second team in 24 hours to exit France's national tour. The Kazakh-backed Astana team exited the race

Moreni leaves the Tour in the company of the gendarmes

Rinero and the boys at work

The Sastre quartet

. . . which became a trio

Contador attacks . . .

. . . and attacks again, to no avail

And there's your winner

Rasmussen extends his lead with a stage win

Leipheimer and Contador took second and third on what the former said may have been the hardest Tour stage he's ever seen

The race leader with four days to go

The first break

Riders from eight teams staged a sit-down protest against doping before the start of the 16th stage of the Tour de France here Wednesday. The protest, organized by six French and two German teams, was triggered by the news 24 hours earlier that pre-Tour favourite Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive for blood doping. When the stage got underway the riders carrying out the demonstration waited for the rest of the peloton to move off before getting on their own bikes to tackle the last of three days climbing in the Pyrenees. AG2R's French cyclist Christophe Moreau described the

Italian rider Cristian Moreni woke up Wednesday just five days away from finishing the Tour de France as a member of the French Cofidis team — one of seven teams that had just announced a new rider’s organization geared towards cleaning up the sport, and kicked off its existence with an anti-doping protest at the start of stage 16. Moreni ended his day in the back of a police car at the top of the Col d’Aubisque, charged with using testosterone and breaking France’s tough laws against using and trafficking in doping products. The 35-year-old former Italian champion admitted to administering

Hoste hosing down his legs on the final climb

It looks like there won’t be a miracle finish for Alberto Contador in the 2007 Tour de France. The 24-year-old Spanish phenom’ was the only rider within shot of race leader Michael Rasmussen, but Contador’s legs faltered on the beyond-category steeps of the Col d’Aubisque as the Dane darted away in the final kilometer to win his second stage and further tighten his grip on the yellow jersey. Contador coasted across the line in third, 35 seconds back and quickly tipped his hat to the superior Rabobank rider. “I started today’s stage to try to win the Tour but now I end it seeing that my

Patrick Lefevre was one of many interviews at the start this morning

It looks like there won’t be a miracle finish for Alberto Contador in the 2007 Tour de France. The 24-year-old Spanish phenom’ was the only rider within shot of race leader Michael Rasmussen, but Contador’s legs faltered on the beyond-category steeps of the Col d’Aubisque as the Dane darted away in the final kilometer to win his second stage and further tighten his grip on the yellow jersey. Contador coasted across the line in third, 35 seconds back and quickly tipped his hat to the superior Rabobank rider. “I started today’s stage to try to win the Tour but now I end it seeing that my

Leipheimer leads Rasmussen and Contrador up the Aubisque

Levi Leipheimer said today's stage may have been the hardest one he's ever seen in a Tour de France, and it may have been the one that determined the podium in Paris. Casey Gibson was there — here's what he saw.

Leipheimer takes a pull for Contador, and almost takes down Rasmussen

UCI chief Pat McQuaid has applauded the Rabobank team's decision to pull race leader Michael Rasmussen out of the Tour de France on Wednesday. However, McQuaid said he wondered why the Dutch outfit had waited so long before acting on information about the Dane having missed four random doping controls, which they knew about prior to the race. "I wonder why they did not make the decision in June when they had the information (about the missed tests)," said McQuaid. "However, it shows a zero-tolerance policy, and I can only applaud it." Despite having no positive tests so far, the

Denis Menchov is blown after his work for Rasmussen

Stage 16- Orthez to Gourette (218.5km)

Barloworld's Juan Soler, claiming the undisputed KOM jersey

Stage 16- Orthez to Gourette (218.5km)

These little fans don't care about the doping

No respect: Rasmussen is not getting the cheers he had hoped for.