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Tour de France 2007: French teams dreaming big

Pereiro will probably have the lowest number at the Tour, but it won't be No. 1.

Another day at the office kicks off

What was your commute like this morning?

Heading for home...

... and Trek wins again

French team Ag2r will be hoping it can repeat its successful 2006 Tour de France, when it pushed Cyril Dessel and recently crowned French champion Christophe Moreau into the top 10 overall. The team’s dream run through the 2006 Tour – which also included a one-day run in yellow by Dessel and a stage victory by Sylvain Calzati into Lorient in stage eight – helped take the sting out of losing the services of team leader Francisco Mancebo, who was implicated in the pre-Tour Operación Puerto purge. While many of the other French teams are on a youth movement, the 36-year-old Moreau seems to

Eatough cleans up.

Alessandro Petacchi, who produced a suspicious urine sample when tested for doping at the Giro d'Italia in May, attended a hearing at the headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome on Monday. The 33-year-old Milram sprinter was quizzed by CONI's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri for two hours as he attempted to clear his name by explaining how his use of the asthma drug Salbutamol was purely therapeutic. Petacchi hopes to prove his innocence so that he can take his place at the Tour de France, which starts next Saturday. The team has named Petacchi to its team,

Tour No. 1 bib missingThere won’t be a No. 1 bib in this year’s Tour de France typically handed out to the previous year’s winner. With the legal status of last year’s Tour winner Floyd Landis still in limbo, the 2007 Tour will start without having an official winner. With runner-up Oscar Pereiro waiting in the wings, the Tour has decided to skip the prestigious No. 1 bib. “We wanted to make a symbolic gesture,” Jean-Francois Pescheux told AFP. It’s the first time in Tour history there won’t be a No. 1 bib in the race, Pescheux said. Instead, Tour officials have decided to remove numbers

No one - especially Landis - knows who will eventually be listed as winner of the 2006 Tour de France.

Moreau collects his first French road crown

TourTech: The advantage of lightweight jerseys?

The mountains may play an even bigger role than usual

Eatough and Schalk

Hestler and Eatough chat before the start

Home sweet home: The tent city in Lake Cowichan

Did we mention it was Canada Day?

It’s no surprise that cycling analysts proclaim the 2007 Tour de Franceto be a wide-open contest.No former winner will be on the start line, and only three men in thisyear’s race — Alexander Vinokourov (third in 2003), Andreas Klöden(second in ’04 and third in ’06) and Oscar Pereiro (second in ’06) — haveever reached the podium. While he may still be young enough to win cycling’sgreatest race, 35-year-old Lance Armstrong hasn’t entertained any rumorsof a comeback since retiring after taking his seventh Tour title two yearsago. And 1998 Tour winner Marco Pantani died of a cocaine overdose in

Kalentyeva takes her third win

1903 - Maurice Garin, (F) 1904 - Henri Cornet, (F)* 1905 - Louis Trousselier, (F) 1906 - Rene Pottier, (F) 1907 - Lucien Petit-Breton, (F) 1908 - Lucien Petit-Breton, (F) 1909 - Francois Faber, (Lux) 1910 - Octave Lapize, (F) 1911 - Gustave Garrigou, (F) 1912 - Odile Defraye, (B) 1913 - Philippe Thys, (B) 1914 - Philippe Thys, (B)Suspended due to war 1919 - Firmin Lambot, (B) 1920 - Philippe Thys, (B) 1921 - Leon Scieur, (B) 1922 - Firmin Lambot, (B) 1923 - Henri Pelissier, (F) 1924 - Ottavio Bottechia, (I) 1925 - Ottavio Bottechia, (I) 1926 - Lucien Buysse, (B) 1927 - Nicolas Frantz, (Lux)

Premont said she was making little mistakes on the descents

One week before the Tour de France begins without Floyd Landis defendinghis title, the U.S. cyclist who tested positive for exogenous testosteronecan only wait to learn his fate.Landis, who could become only the second winner in the 104-year historyof the famed French race to be stripped of his title, made several appearancesin suburban Philadelphia last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.A three-member arbitration panel heard Landis' appeal of his dopingban in May. The panel is expected to issue a ruling sometime in the nextweek or so and the result could be appealed to the Court

Absalon collects win No. 4 and locks up the series

Saunier Duval-Prodir riders will carry a bit less weight over the big climbs than other teams, since their innovative Castelli Superleggera jerseys weigh a mere 70 grams (in size L), less than half the weight of a traditional cycling jersey when dry. And a soaked Superleggera jersey (due to perspiration or rain) weighs only 140 grams, compared to 400 grams for a standard team jersey. Castelli claims that a Superleggera jersey would provide a one-minute advantage over the course of a five-hour mountain stage. Keep an eye on those jerseys in coming weeks.

A late mechanical ended Hermida's chances

If history is any indication, the 2007 Tour de France will be full of surprises. Whenever there are no former winners on the start line — as will be the case this year — anything can happen. That was certainly the case with last year’s race, which had the largest number of surprises since Lance Armstrong took the first of his seven victories in 1999 — the only other time in the past 30 years when there were no previous winners in the field. While uncertainty is a given, there are still favorites for the overall. The Astana team is led by two former podium finishers, German Andreas Klöden

Landis won't be wearing No. 1 in London on July 7

Times have changed in 104 years. Maurice Garin celebrates his Tour win with a smoke

Jaksche won Paris-Nice in 2004.

Chris Eatough prepares for his 'taxi' ride . . .

. . . to Vancouver Island

Victoria

German Jörg Jaksche, one of dozens of cyclists implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal which erupted last year, is set to make a series of stunning revelations about current doping practices. Jaksche's lawyer Michael Lehner said on Friday the German, who has protested his innocence but been suspended from all competition due to his alleged links to the affair, will reveal all in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel on Monday. The Tour de France begins in London on July 7, and organizers and the sport's world ruling body have taken serious steps in a bid to finally bring an

Vinokourov has a lot riding on this team

Petacchi may be celebrating in July.

The new SRAM Red rear derailleur...

... and the shifters that make it work.

Petacchi hopes to get the Salbutamol issue settled by next week.

The Tarmac SL2

Every little bit counts. The Transition tucks its rear brake where it produces the least drag.

S-Works Ruby

Specialized unveils ’08 goods, plus a peek at SRAM Red

The S-Works Road Shoe, just 250 grams

The Transition TT rig

Chengyuan (left) and her Chinese compatriots may lack experience, but they know how to go hard

The 2007 Tour squad is built around one rider: Levi Leipheimer

Hincapie is something of a fixture.

Contador's win at Paris-Nice defined much of his year.

Discovery is returning to a tried-and-true strategy

The 2007 Tour squad is built around one rider: Levi Leipheimer

Discovery Channel unveiled the nine-rider cast that will try to rekindle the Lance Armstrong glory years when it heads to London for the start of the 2007 Tour de France. As expected, Levi Leipheimer got a full vote of confidence from Discovery sport director Johan Bruyneel on Wednesday, and will lead America’s lone ProTour team at the Tour. “He’s capable of being on the podium,” claimed Bruyneel during an hour-long telephone-conference call that included cycling and mainstream media from both sides of the Atlantic. Bruyneel said he wasn’t concerned with Leipheimer’s failure to defend his

Hincapie generally knows what he's doing in July.

Petacchi won five stages and the points jersey at this year's Giro.

Contador's win at Paris-Nice defined much of his year.

Trek’s new Fuel EX, in the top end 9.5 dress: OCLV carbon front triangle with Shimano XTR and SRAM X.0 components.

Discovery is returning to a tried-and-true strategy

The new EVO one-piece rocker link.

The ABP concentric pivot.

The Full-Floater, a floating suspension mount.

The three make up the new R1i tuned rear end.

Dahle-Flesja could miss the rest of the 2007 season

The pint-sized Russian can win in any conditions

: Marga Fullana has returned with refined technical skills

Leipheimer hopes to time his peak for the big one this year.

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. One image in particular that caught our attention was Rick Bazluke’s “Swiss Alps in August.” How cool is that? Nice work Rick! Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of our new Coors Classic DVD. Meanwhile, go ahead and take a look at our latest gallery,decide what you like and let us know what you think by dropping a noteto Rosters@InsideInc.com. Please note

Swiss Alps in August - 2006

Pereiro has his eye on July

For the team

Stevic and Armstrong take overall titles at Nature Valley

Alexandre Vinokourov has a score to settle with the Tour de France. Last year, he was sidelined from starting the Tour after five of his then-Astana teammates were implicated in the infamous Operación Puerto. While Vinokourov was never linked to the damaging scandal, the team didn’t meet the number of riders required to start and he spent July at home for the first time in nearly a decade. Now the unquestioned boss of the fearsome Astana team, Vinokourov looks unstoppable as the Tour de France approaches. At 33, it could be his last chance to win the Tour and he admits as much. In an

Karpets in yellow

Vino' wants another yellow jersey in July

Hill shows why he gets to wear the rainbow

Hill, Jonnier take fast Mont-Ste-Anne downhill

Lopes

Stevic wins his first U.S. stage race and credits his team

Pipp's charge on the 24-percent slopes of Chilkoot Hill may have inspired his team to dominate the stage, with Health Net finishing 1, 3 and 5 on the day.

Do you ever get the feeling that master's racers across America breathe a sigh of relief whenever they see 47-year-old Steve Tilford racing in the pro's field?