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Weather: Partly cloudy to cloudy, intermittent rain, cool temperaturesin the mid to low 60s, brisk westerly winds Stage winner: Loyal lead-out man Gert Steegmans took his firstcareer Tour stage win ahead of team captain Tom Boonen as QuickStep-Innergeticfinished one-two at the end of the crash-marred finale. Filippo Pozzato(Liquigas) was third. Race leader: Prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (CSC) retainedthe yellow jersey despite falling hard in the day’s major pileup with abouttwo kilometers to go. Cancellara didn’t lose any time despite limping acrossthe line nursing a banged-up

The start in Dunkerque.

The Tour de France arrived in France on Monday and promptly left 17 kilometers later, for a brief one-day foray into Belgium.Belgian fans had their favorites and were able to celebrate a one-two Quick Step victory in Ghent. Our man Casey Gibson was there to record it all for history.

Fans who stay with the sport, no matter what.

Day two is over and done with and apart from four of us hitting the deck thus far, all is well. Stuey went down in the prologue, Kurt went down trying to protect Carlos' wheel, Frank went down in the rain while trying to navigate through a roundabout and then Fabian went down in the big crash near the finish. We were talking at breakfast this morning and commiserating for the poor guys who he landed on. Fabian went over the top like Walter Payton into the end zone, landing his big 86-kilo Swiss cheese ass on top of all of those tiny little men. The Swiss bear was down but not out; he

Fans in Ghent get a little carried away at the finish line.

Stage 3 - Waregem to Compiègne (236.5km)

But will go to any height to get a good photo.

Stage 3 - Waregem to Compiègne (236.5km)

Laurel and Hardy on course.

Steegmans wins

The Yellow jersey and CSC lead the peloton back on the continent.

Paris and the Tour de France podium may still be a long way off, but the yellow-jersey mind games are beginning to take shape. Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov is the leading favorite to succeed American Floyd Landis as the race champion, but on Saturday his German teammate Andreas Klöden also threw his hat into the ring in commanding fashion. Klöden, runner-up in 2004 and third last year, is scheduled to be Vinokourov's main support man in the mountains alongside Italian Paolo Savoldelli and Andrey Kashechkin. However, the German's second-place finish in the prologue, 13

The Aussie pocket rocket scores his 12th win on the Tour

Lots of fans waiting in Canterbury

Results - Stage 11. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 4:39:012. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, 00:00:003. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:00:004. Sébastien Chavanel (F), Francise des Jeux, 00:00:005. Romain Feillu (F), Agributel, 00:00:006. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00:007. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:00:008. Marcus Burghardt (G), T-Mobile, 00:00:009. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval-Prodir, 00:00:0010. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu), Discovery Channel, 00:00:0011. Bernhard Eisel (G), T-Mobile, 00:00:0012. Murilo Fischer (Brz), Liquigas, 00:00:0013. Erik Zabel (G),

The Millar-Auge escape

McEwen earns what he described as his best Tour win. He's got 12 now, so this one was special.

It takes more than a crash with 20km remaining to stop Predictor-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen. In what was nearly guaranteed to be a field sprint, the Aussie sprinter was taken down in a pileup as the nervous peloton approached Canterbury in the final moments of stage 1. For a moment it looked as though McEwen’s hopes of pleasing his Belgian team management by wearing the green points jersey into Ghent, Belgium, on Monday had been dashed. McEwen landed hard on his right wrist, and in the chaos that ensued, he briefly thought of abandoning the Tour. Instead, McEwen’s teammates rallied around the

Saunier Duval working for Millar

TV Techs contemplate how to wrap up the cables after the race, and set up the same for tomorrow.

David Millar has picked up more prestigious jerseys on the Tour de France. But the big Scot was still delighted after Sunday's second stage, won in commanding fashion by Australian Robbie McEwen, after the rare experience of pulling on the polka-dot jersey for the race's best climber. Millar may be a talented rider, but he is the first to admit his climbing skills are, comparatively, just above average. And it was with a wry smile that he appeared from the Saunier Duval team bus to explain what made him go out and race like he did on the second of two days in England. "I was in a

Big Ben

Former Tour de France sprint king Erik Zabel admitted his glory days on the race could be on the wane as one of his biggest rivals took a share in one of his records. Australian Robbie McEwen shrugged off a crash to dominate a bunch sprint and win the first stage of the race held over 203km from London to here on Sunday. McEwen now has 12 stage victories from the Tour, meaning he has equaled a long-held achievement of Zabel, who until Sunday held the record of having the most stage wins on the Tour for an active rider. Zabel, who celebrated his 37th birthday during Saturday's prologue,

Horner kickin' it under the Tower Bridge

Weather: Sunny to partly sunny all day, highs in high 70, moderate westerly winds Stage winner: Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) uncorked a perfect sprint in the final 100 meters to surprise everyone in a chaotic finale that saw riders surging from all sides. The veteran Aussie crashed with about 20km to go after being caught in a pileup but regained contact with the peloton with less than 10km to go. It’s McEwen’s 12th career Tour stage victory. Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) finished second to climb into eighth overall at 29 seconds back with Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) third.

Leipheimer finished safely in mid-bunch

Many have covered the well-travelled road from London to Canterbury over the centuries. Today, our man Casey Gibson was there to offer us the Photographer's Tale.

McEwen in green

Cancellara yellow run could have legsFabian Cancellara’s run in the yellow jersey could last several days. At least that’s what Team CSC is quietly hoping for following the big Swiss time machine’s dominant prologue victory. “I am taking it day-to-day, but the team will work to keep me in yellow as long as possible,” Cancellara said after finishing safely in the bunch at 22nd. “I have a nice gap to the sprinters. We don’t want to let a breakaway stay away.” Cancellara’s 13-second winning margin over Andreas Klöden was the third largest in Tour history, but more importantly, he opened up

And Cancellara in yellow

Stage 1 - London to Canterbury (203km)

A few of Sunday's million plus English fans.

Stage 1 - London to Canterbury (203km)

Two Englishmen trying to be French, albeit badly.

Stage 2 - Dunkirk to Ghent (168.5km)

The Bobbie has almost everyone back from the road, except the little one.

Stage 2 - Dunkirk to Ghent (168.5km)

Pre-riders head out from the start and under the Marble Arch Trafalgar Square.

McEwen wins

To heck with podium girls, we had dancers in the village this morning.

The men's podium

Passing by Big Ben on the way to Canterbury

COURSE: Stage 1 begins at the prologue finish line on The Mall with a processional opening that crisscrosses the River Thames on its way past St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, before heading east out of the metropolis. The start will be given at exactly 11 a.m. (noon in France) at the prime meridian in Greenwich. The rolling course passes the 1000-year-old Rochester Castle and loops through the county of Kent via Tunbridge Wells to Canterbury, where the finish is on a wide highway within sight of the historic cathedral. HISTORY: The last time the race was in England, in 1994,

The women's podium

Millar attacked early on. He soon got company, but all were eventually caught.

COURSE: Thisstage into Belgium makes a giant “S” across the flat plains of Flanderspassing through the hometowns of past champions Freddy Maertens, JohanMuseeuw, Roger De Vlaeminck and Walter Godefroot. It's likely to be veryfast, similar to the one from Calais to Antwerp won by homeboy Marc Wautersin 2002. The wind will be a factor, like it is in the Ghent-Wevelgem springclassic, so the pack might split and could favor the development of a fast-moving breakaway. HISTORY: Amazingly, it has beenalmost a half-century since a Tour stage finished in Ghent, which is oneof the centers of

Quick Step in the driver's seat

The CSC boys had to do most of the chase work... at least until the sprinters' teams got antsy.

The Tour de France no longer employs a small army of officials with stopwatches to time the riders. Instead, each rider has a transponder on his bike that sends information to official race computers to record his time when he crosses the finish line. The transponder also makes it possible to time each rider between intermediate points along the race route, wherever timing check stations are set up. During time trials, viewers can see how each rider stacks up at each intermediate checkpoint and know who is leading on the road, even though the riders have a staggered start. And we can know

His special prologue bike, still sans shifters and cables at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Riders and crowd in front of Buckingham Palace

Prologue results1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 7.9km in 8:50 (53.7kph),2. Andreas Klöden (G), Astana, at 0:133. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:234. Bradley Wiggins (GB), Cofidis, at 0:235. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Discovery Channel, at 0:256. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:267. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kz), Astana, at 0:308. Thomas Dekker (Nl), Rabobank, at 0:319. Manuel Quinziato (I), Liquigas, at 0:3210. Benoît Vaugrenard (F), Française des Jeux, at 0:32 11. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, at 0:3212. José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne,

The non-drive view.

Juan Antonio Flecha and the Union Jack.

British hopes of claiming an historic yellow jersey in the shadow of Big Ben took a nosedive into the river Thames as CSC’s Fabian Cancellara sped to victory in the Tour de France prologue Saturday. England's reigning world and Olympic track pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, who had been targeting victory on home soil, finished in a disappointing fourth place at 23 seconds behind winner Fabian Cancellara (CSC), who won in 8:50. Wiggins crossed the finish line visibly upset, and later lamented his failure to claim an historic win on the streets he used to ride as a teenager. "I gave it

Rogers' name badge is a bit more subtle, notice the seat collar engraving from yesteryear.

Discovery's Gusev flies into the best young rider jersey.

Weather: Sunny to partly sunny all day, highs low to mid 80s Stage winner: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) takes second prologuewin in four years with a dominant 13-second margin of victory over second-placeAndreas Klöden (Astaná). When he won in 2004 in Liège,Belgium, he became the first rider born in the 1980s to win a Tour stage.He becomes the first rider wearing the world time trial champions jerseyto win the Tour’s opening prologue. His average speed of 53.660kph becomesthe third-fastest prologue in Tour history (Chris Boardman holds the recordwith 55.152kph in 1994 and

Internal cable routing

One of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards keeps on eye on the proceedings.

American George Hincapie was disappointed after failing to cap some arduous preparation for the Tour de France prologue by pulling on the race's yellow jersey here Saturday. Hincapie finished third at 23 seconds behind Swiss racer Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and 10 seconds behind Germany's Tour de France hopeful Andreas Klöden (Astana), both of whom are famously strong in the race against the clock. That fact can only add some silver lining to Hincapie's performance, but he admitted he had hoped to score an upset against the specialists. "I'm always up there with all of them -

Selle Italia’s custom TT saddle.

The start ramp at Whitehall.

The pre-everything is finally over. As of Friday evening, there had been little biking, a ton of bus riding, two press conferences, health controls, team presentations, sponsors... enough! So today getting ready for the race was a nice change. But before we go into any of these bike related things, I have something much bigger in my life than the Tour de France: I became a father last week. Leah gave birth to Uma last Wednesday night. Both girls are great and I am more than proud of my wife and the fact that I am now a father! So, the last week was a bit crazy at home and not your

The big Swiss time machine rips it up in London

Leipheimer says he's in a three-week bike race.

Pardon Fabian Cancellara if he looked a little scruffy on the winner’s podium after trading his world champion’s time trial rainbow stripes for the maillot jaune. “I would love to shave but I lost my luggage while flying to London on Wednesday,” Cancellara said, sporting a hint of a mustache and scruff on his chin. “I’m happy to be in the yellow jersey, but I’d love to have my luggage back!” The 26-year-old Swiss time machine has been three days without his razors and just about everything else except his Team CSC kit and his Cervélo time trial bike. That’s all he needed following his

Klöden was second fastest on the day

Thomas Vaitkus is off to a very good start, only two seconds off of Leipheimer's time and seventh in the young rider competition.

Fabian Cancellara ticked along like a fine Swiss timepiece during the prologue of the 2007 Tour de France in London on Sunday, and our man Casey Gibson was on hand to watch. (Yeah, yeah... We know, it's a horrible gag, we know, but the pictures he sent back more than make up for it.)

Hincapie rounded out the podium in third, but he wasn't happy about it

Zabriskie flying through the turn in front of Buckingham palace.

There were few teams more emotional - and rightly so - after the Tour de France prologue on Saturday than CSC. Indirectly forced to leave their emblematic manager Bjarne Riis at home because of his recent admission to doping in the 1990s, the determined Danish outfit was given a quick scare when top rider Stuart O'Grady came crashing down during his promising prologue performance. O'Grady got back up and finished on a spare bike, and after some medical care was given the all clear to keep on racing — albeit with a scraped back and a sore thigh muscle, which he should feel for the

And the big Swiss time machine dons the first yellow jersey of this year's Tour

Cancellara on a Friday shake-down ride.

TourTech: A matter of timing - Those little transponders

Wiggins said he left it all out there on the road

The cockpit of Cancellara’s backup bike.

Millar’s custom prologue-specific Scott Plasma.