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Will No. 41 be No. 1 in Paris?

McEwen scores his ninth career Tour stage win

From start-line caravan to finish-line chaos, Casey Gibson covers it all. Here's what he saw between the lines today.

Hushovd: Back in yellow

Figuring out all the angles

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.The testing sucks, but racing rulesEditor:How is it that nine of the riders in 2006 the Tour de France were on the Operación Puerto list, but all 198 riders tested perfectly clean? What is wrong with the testing? Even Jörg Jaksche, who was "having stomach troubles," tested clean. One

Perhaps with bigger goals in mind, Hincapie and Discovery didn't opt to defend the jersey aggresively on Monday

When Levi Leipheimer first looked at the course for the 2006 Tour de France he fingered Stage 3 from Esch-sur-Alzette to Valkenburg as the one he would study the most in the first week. Starting in Luxembourg, crossing Belgium and ending in the Netherlands, the 216.5km stage saves its teeth for the end: six categorized climbs and two sprints in the final two hours of racing. And these are not just any old climbs. The first is the Côte de la Haute-Levée, one of the key climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the last, 2km from the finish, is the infamous Cauberg that concludes another spring

Hernandez and De la Fuente attacked in the first kilometer

Stage 2: Obernai to Esch-sur-Alzette - 228.5km

Casper spent one day in green, before fading and conceding the jersey to McEwen.

Stage 2: Obernai to Esch-sur-Alzette - 228.5km

McEwen wins; Hushovd reacts

McEwen wins a mad dash to the line... Hushovd pops a pedal, but wins the jersey back

After 11 Tours, most agree that Hincapie's shot at yellow was well-deserved

A team mechanic makes final adjustments to Leipheimer’s Specialized Tarmac SL.

Culture clash: Publicity caravan in Obernai

From the spectator-free start to the blood-spattered finish, Casey Gibson just kept snap-snap-snapping away. Here's a sampler of what he saw.

Julich says he isn't in a position to lead CSC

It was close... but Casper knew he had it.

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Good for George!Editor:I met George Hincapie in 1998 at Interbike in Las Vegas, while I was working for Vetta. On that day, Greg LeMond was a couple of booths away signing autographs with a massive crowd, but George was sitting alone in (I believe) the Sinclair booth. I told him then

Casper's win surprised many... including Casper.

We’ll never forget that the pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso left Strasbourg in public disgrace and private disgust the day before the 93rd Tour de France began. But their departure, and that of the other 11 athletes barred from the race, will begin to be a distant memory when the remaining 176 riders leave their Strasbourg hotels Monday morning and head to the stage 2 start in Obernai. In other words, the Tour is finally getting on the open road, to begin its three-week counterclockwise loop around France. But first stop on the trip is Luxembourg’s second-largest city,

Casper gets the green jersey, too.

Stage 1: Strasbourg - Stasbourg - 184.5km

Hushovd's day started like this . . .

Stage 1: Strasbourg - Stasbourg - 184.5km

. . . and ended like this

Casper prevails in an insane sprint(Hushovd's arm is already bleeding in this photo)

Popovych peeks out of the bus at a nearly spectator-free start

Course: After a parade-style ride from the start outside Strasbourg’s 1000-year-old cathedral, the racing begins on the western edge of the city. The riders then make a counterclockwise loop around the quaint Alsatian towns and vineyards, cross the Rhine River into Germany and then head back across the river for the finish on part of the previous day’s prologue course. The day’s only categorized climb, a Cat. 4, is in the foothills of the Vosges mountains. History: The last time a road stage finished in Strasbourg, in 2001, the 211km stage 6 from Commercy was won by Estonian sprinter Jaan

The front of the Ionos

The finish was another sort of spectacle altogether

In the absence of his friend and longtime Tour de France team leader Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie proved on Sunday that he has no problems taking things into his own hands. In the first road stage of the 2006 Tour, the Discovery Channel rider made a crafty move at an intermediate sprint spot to grab a small time bonus and launch himself into the race lead to become just the fourth American to wear the yellow jersey in Tour history. Stage 1, a mostly flat 184.5km loop that started and finished in the city of Strasbourg, was billed as a sprinters’ affair and that’s how it turned out as the

A rear view

The break

An American sportswriter new to the Tour de France famously said a few years ago: “Why do they have all these flat stages? Why not go straight to the mountains? They’re more fun, right?” On the face of it, he was right. But if there were only mountain stages, half the field would soon be eliminated and the race would become pretty boring. What he didn’t get (at first) is that the so-called flat stages, combined with the climbing stages and the time trials produce a three-week race that crowns the best all-around rider (and team). In many Tours, the lightly built climbers — like the

Side view

The chase

Teams regroup following expulsionsThey’ve gone from being the favorites to scratching their heads about what this Tour de France means. Powerhouses such as T-Mobile and Team CSC are starting to come to grips with the unprecedented expulsions of pre-Tour favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso. The pair’s departure in Friday’s purge - when nine riders from four teams were kicked out of the Tour for alleged links to a blood doping in Spain - left both teams reeling in their absence. Now, as the Tour rolled into its first road stage, the Tour’s presumptive dominators have taken stock and are

Giro will offer KOM and Discovery versions of its Atmos starting later this month

Hincapie in his first yellow jersey

The latest piece of helmet hardware from Giro was unveiled at a downtown hotel in Strasbourg on Sunday. The new lid, dubbed Ionos, is the next generation in a line that started back in 1987 with the egg-shaped Pro Light. But the Ionos bears little resemblance to its ancestor. Instead the company claims that this stealthy offering is lighter and stronger than anything it’s offered before. The Ionos is said to weigh 260 grams (medium size) and will be available starting in spring 2007. In the meantime riders from Discovery Channel, Rabobank and Phonak are getting the first crack at it.

Posthuma's best-young-rider helmet

A happy day all around on the podium, it seems

Results – Stage 11. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:004. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:005. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:006. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 00:007. Stuart O´Grady (Aus), CSC, 00:008. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:009. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:0010. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 00:00 11. Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, 00:0012. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:0013. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:0014. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier

A cutaway view

But the work's not over for the photographers, who must both shoot and send

Norwegian Thor Hushovd, wearing the yellow jersey, was injured during the first stage of the Tour de France held over 184.5km here Sunday. Hushovd was lying on the ground conscious after the dramatic end to the stage but with blood pouring out of what appeared to be a cut on his right arm. Saturday's prologue winner was taken to hospital after he appeared to have been hit by a promotional item held by spectator as he prepared to sprint for victory. Video shows the Norwegian brushing up against a giant cardboard hand distributed by sprint jersey sponsor PMU. The items have caused

Sister company Bell's in on the act, too: Here's Hushovd's helmet

The day's early break never got more than five minutes...

It is a shame that Francisco Mancebo has had to leave the Tour de France. But Christophe Moreau - one of the most popular riders in France - is a great team leader. A professional rider since 1995, at 35 years of age and with 10 Tours in his legs already, Moreau has a vast amount of experience. He has been the best French rider in the Tour four times – in 2003, 2004 and 2005; but has come into his 11th Tour in great form, with his third at the Tour of Catalonia and second at the Dauphiné Libéré. One of the best things too is that Christophe is quite easy to look after. He always has good

The cut turned out not to be as serious as it looked.

Julich expects a much more open Tour

Jimmy Casper has abruptly stopped the rather unfair but now annual bet in the Tour de France press room: that being how long would it take for a Frenchman to win a stage. His win in Sunday’s first stage silenced those who relish French misery in the Tour whenever foreign riders win stages – not to mention the 21-year drought for an overall win. Now the French can boast one out of one stage wins – not including the prologue – and face the rest of the Tour knowing that the possibility of a winless Tour won’t be raised for at least another year. Casper, 28 and a professional since the age of

Hushovd will make it to Monday's start.

Hushovd crosses the line, with an arm already covered in blood.

WeatherSunny, with slight breeze. Stage winnerJimmy Casper (Cofidis), 184.5km, 4h10:00 (44.280 kph) – Twice the lanterne rouge and three times DNF, the 28-year-old Frenchman shot to his biggest win of his career into Strasbourg. Casper started a long sprint to shoot past a dying Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) to relegate Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) to second and deliver the eternal Erik Zabel (Milram) another third. Race leaderGeorge Hincapie (Discovery Channel), 4h18:15 – Took third in the day’s final time bonuses to move into the virtual lead. It all came down to the final bonuses

... as Hushovd's crew kept a close eye on the gap.

Out of the gates of hell, but out of the gates nonetheless. The last few days have been crazy, waking up every morning not knowing what the day will bring. It has been hard to keep our focus and stay above the haze of doubt and unknown. The journalists have been doing their jobs and just like anything, some do theirs better than others. I have so many questions and so much frustration that I don't even know where to begin, to the point of when I ran into George, a person in whom I have always confided, neither of us had a thing to say to each other. But the looks said it all; we

O'Grady channeled his anger into a fine prologue ride

Julich may have an unexpected role on CSC this Tour.

Hincapie's TT bike

Cadel Evans has become one of the riders capable of challenging for the Tour de France crown following the expulsion of several contenders implicated in the Spanish doping inquiry called Operación Puerto. He spoke to Rupert Guinness before placing 14th in Saturday's prologue time trial, just 13 seconds behind winner Thor Hushovd. — Editor VeloNews: There will be a number of riders won’t be here ... Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Francisco Mancebo, Alexandre Vinokourov. How will that change the completion of the race? Cadel Evans: Now there won’t be three teams who would try to control the

Oh so close: Hincapie finishes 0.73 seconds behind Hushovd

Zabriskie says he loves timed events more than any others.

And the new Trek Madone

The head of cycling's governing body says that Tyler Hamilton could be facing a lifetime ban if links to an alleged blood doping ring in Spain are confirmed. Others, including 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile), 2006 Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso (CSC) and T-Mobile's Oscar Sevilla could face four-year bans before returning to cycling’s 20-team ProTour league. UCI President Pat McQuaid told VeloNews that if police evidence linking Hamilton to Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is proven, the 2004 Olympic time trial champion will be banned for life. “With the evidence

Zabriskie rounds out the top three.

The devil you say

Michael Rogers's TT bike

[Watch Video]

Millar marks his return to the peloton

Even the clock comes with advertising

Rujano in his new kit

One day after CSC’s team leader Ivan Basso was barred from competing in this year’s Tour de France over allegations of his alleged involvement with the Spanish doping scandal Operación Puerto, his teammates were left picking up the pieces. In the 24 hours before the prologue in Strasbourg, the world’s No. 1 ranked team went from its focused mission of overall victory for Basso to wondering who might lead the team over the next three weeks. "It’s been very difficult for our team — for our supporters, for everybody," said Australian CSC rider Stuart O’Grady, who was able to channel his

Savoldelli rides to an 8th place finish at 8:25

Name that car

The remaining CSC boys prepare for the day's work