News

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.

A long, hot day punctuated by a 190-kilometer solo effort by Cofids's Bradley Wiggins and our man Casey Gibson was there to capture it for history.

The obligatory arty shot

And the rear promises more compliance.

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.

. . . 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

Dear Readers,In mylast Legally Speaking column, we had a question from R.H. about ridingtwo abreast while pacelining in Pennsylvania. In this column, we have afew more questions about pacelining. First up is a question from readerG.F., who writes from Wisconsin to ask:Dear Bob,Thanks for your recent article on riding two abreast in Pennsylvaniaand New Jersey. I ride with a club in Wisconsin and we have had severaldiscussions on what is both safe and legal, in terms of riding etiquette. From your article about Pennsylvania and New Jersey I am projecting toour situation here in Wisconsin that

Discovery's young phenom, Alberto Contador, poses for the photogs.

You can see the aluminum spider between the rings

Stage 6 - Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse - (199.5km)

The War memorial in Chablis

The non-drive arm, mounted and adjusted

Stage 6 - Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse - (199.5km)

The best idea yet for this doping mess.

Ronny Schulz’s rig with the electronic group

Pozzato wins

After sign-in, Leipheimer heads back to the bus.

The right lever’s indicator window

Vino' stacked it at speed and crossed the line nearly 90 seconds down

Hincapie talks to Andrew Hood.

The right lever

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

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

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.