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Savoldelli was irked by Hinault's refusal to work

Discovery was happy to see a break go

Course: At 239.5km, this is the longest stage of the 2005 Tour. There’s rolling terrain throughout, but the key to victory could be the closing 12km loop at Revel, which includes the Cat. 3 St-Ferréol climb 7km from the finish line. History: The last two times that a stage has finished in Revel, two-man breakaways have arrived to contest the finishing sprint. In 1995, it was Sergej Uchakov who outthought a youthful Lance Armstrong, while in 2000, on an almost identical course as this year’s, Erik Dekker got the better of Santiago Botero. Favorites: Long-distance specialists like Rabobank’s

Savoldelli comes from behind for the win

With five stages to go and with 10 teams still without a stage win, competition is again going to be fierce on Wednesday’s 239.5km jaunt from Pau to Revel, which is the longest stage of the 2005 Tour de France. As on virtually every other road stage to date, expect attacks right from the start until the right combination of riders and teams is together. On Tuesday, the first substantial move by 13 men didn’t work because Discovery Channel’s Yaroslav Popovych was in the mix. The next, from 11 riders, also seemed a little suspect because then 12th-placed Cadel Evans slipped into the break. In

And here's another. . . .

Two-time Giro d’Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli finally left his mark on the Tour de France in his fourth start in the race by winning Wednesday's stage 16 from Pau to Revel. Under a cloudless sky, the 32-year-old Italian and Discovery Channel teammate of race leader Lance Armstrong, won the 239.5km stage by coming from behind to outlast CSC’s Norwegian Kurt-Asle Arvesen. In third place, eight seconds back, was Australian Tour rookie Simon Gerrans (AG2R), followed at 11 seconds by Frenchman Sébastien Hinault (Crédit Agricole).He was the last member of a four-man splinter group that was

Hinault at the front

Stage Results1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 5:41:192. Arvesen Kurt-Asle (Nor), CSC, 00:003. Simons Gerrans (Aus), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:084. Sebastien Hinault (F), Credit Agricole, 00:115. Andriy Grivko (Ukr), Domina Vacanze, 00:246. Oscar Sevilla (Sp), T-Mobile, 00:517. Bram Tankink (Nl), Quickstep, 00:518. Daniele Righi (I), Lampre, 00:539. Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 03:1410. Allan Davis (Aus), Liberty Seguros, 03:14 11. Pierrick Fedrigo (F), Bouygues Telecom, 03:1412. Dario Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 03:1413. Rubiera Jose Luis (Sp), Discovery Channel, 03:1414.

Armstrong has a snack as Landis, Evans and Moreau get their lunch eaten by T-Mobile's attacks

Alexandre Vinokourov has had his fill of T-Mobile. After five successful years with the German communications corporation, the “Kamikaze Kazakh” is looking for a new challenge. “He wants to ride somewhere as a captain, lead a team in the Tour,” says team manager Olaf Ludwig, soberly. Adds Vinokourov, who is ranked ninth in this Tour, almost 10 minutes behind Lance Armstrong: “I want to win the Tour de France in the coming years.” At the start of Wednesday’s stage in Pau, Vinokourov said he would make an official announcement in Paris, adding somewhat jokingly, “For me there is either

Fedrigo triggers a split

Leipheimer says this Tour the hardest…Levi Leipheimer says this is the hardest Tour de France of the four in which he has competed. The American leader of the Gerolsteiner team says the aggressive racing has been great for spectators, but hard on the riders. “The speed has obviously been higher, the competition is thicker, and I think the transfers have made it really hard,” said Leipheimer at the start of Stage 15 in Mourenx. “We haven’t had all that many mountaintop finishes, but it seems like there’s been a lot of climbing, and the races have opened up farther from the finish than

The view from the top of the Col d' Aubisque.

For eight long years, Germans have hoped that Jan Ullrich would one again win the Tour de France. His 1997 Tour de France victory electrified the nation and made cycling enthusiasts of his countrymen. After last weekend, however, it is finally beginning to dawn on Germans that there may never be a second victory. The weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel writes that Ullrich has spent his best years battling a better rider, a unique man: “For sure Ullrich will continue to hold on to his dream of winning the Tour again for another year. He has announced that he will continue to fight – as he has

Flecha attacks.

Stage 16 - Mourenx to Pau >180.5km

Pereiro pushes it on the descent.

Stage 16 - Mourenx to Pau >180.5km

Pereiro erases the memory of losing to Hincapie

Armstrong works his way through a crowd of reporters to attend a pre-Tour press conference in Challans on Thursday.

Vino' (surprise, surprise) on the attack

Armstrong and his Discovery Channel teammates reconnoiter Saturday's time trial course.

Hincapie, back on the job

Pereiro would not be denied on Tuesday

The Evans escape

Evans drives the break

Heras, with Vino', tried to salvage something from another disappointing Tour

Course: Following the second rest day (at Pau), this final Pyrenean stage features two of the region’s toughest climbs, the Cat. 1 Marie-Blanque and hors-cat Aubisque. But after the final descent, there’s still 50km of mostly flat roads to negotiate before the finish. History: Pau has hosted 53 stage finishes since first being included on the Tour route in 1930. The last time a stage finished here after scaling the Aubisque was in 1993, when Italian Claudio Chiappucci saved his until-then-failed Tour with a stage win over a small breakaway group. Favorites: This stage is likely to be

In his 78th yellow jersey, Armstrong is now tied with Bernard Hinault for the number of days in the lead of the TdF

Ullrich takes a licking, but keeps on ticking

Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said he wasn’t quite ready to decide on his post-cycling career path until after he finishes this year’s race and takes “a few years to just relax and really evaluate what I want to do with my life.” Armstrong held a pre-Tour press conference in Challans, France. Thursday, two days before the start of what he has promised will be his final professional race. Armstrong will saddle up on Saturday hoping that the "tough" 19km time trial from Fromentine to Noirmoutier will begin a successful final trek around the country which has been his home every July

Evans goes on the attack

Rasmussen is a lock for the polka-dot jersey, if he makes it to Paris

Less than 48 hours after taking second to George Hincapie atop the hardest mountaintop finish of the 92nd Tour de France, Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro replaced the bitterness of that loss with the biggest victory of his career by winning a four-up sprint into Pau at the end of Tuesday's 180.5km stage 16. "It's a spine that I've taken out of my back," Pereiro said after edging Xabier Zandio (Illes Balears) to claim Phonak's first stage win of the Tour after two second places. "I'm happy with the big win today. It makes me forget the disappointment of Sunday." Tuesday's

Horner was among the day's escapees, but was eventually reeled in by Armstrong and Co.

Evans and Mazzoleni

With the second rest day behind them, the 158 riders still racing the 92nd Tour de France face Tuesday’s third Pyrenean stage with diverse ambitions: Michael Rasmussen is hoping he can keep his third place on GC all the way to Paris. Cadel Evans is still seeking a place in the top 10. And Americans Levi Leipheimer, Floyd Landis and Chris Horner would all dearly love to win a stage. Then there are this Tour’s “failed” climbers, Can men like Santiago Botero, Roberto Heras and Iban Mayo find redemption on this last day in the high mountains? Stage 16 is not an easy one. It features four

Do not fool with those people.

Stage Results1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Phonak, 4:38:40 2. Xabier Zandio (Sp), Illes Balears, 00:003. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Lampre, 00:004. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:005. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise des Jeux, 02:256. Anthony Geslin (F), Bouygues Telecom, 02:257. Jorg Ludewig (G), Domina Vacanze, 02:258. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp), Fassa Bortolo, 02:259. Ludovic Turpin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 02:2510. Cedric Vasseur (F), Cofidis, 02:25 11. Marcos Serrano (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 02:2812. Jerome Pineau (F), Bouygues Telecom, 02:3213. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 03:2414.

Leader of the demonstration is requested to move on.

By now, if you’ve looked the results for today’s stage, you’ll know I didn’t make the start this morning in Mourenx. As I said yesterday, I was hoping for a minor miracle overnight and it just didn’t happen. Instead, this morning the doctor told me that I had full-on bronchitis and that if I did continue to ride, it would just get worse and affect my health and fitness for the rest of the season. I don’t like doing this, but I am catching a flight back home to Wales tomorrow and am spending the day today getting ready to head home… and watching the Tour on TV. My best to all of you and

Those great TV images come from moto bikes like this... once they get it fixed.

Jan Ullrich's T-Mobile teammates Andréas Klöden and Matthias Kessler may not make it to the start line for the 17th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, because of injuries the two sustained in crash on Tuesday. Klöden, runner-up in last year’s Tour, was involved with Kessler in a crash early in the stage held over 180.5km from Mourenx to Pau. It later emerged that Klöden has fractured a bone in his left wrist, and is unsure of starting Wednesday's 17th stage - at 239.5km the longest of the race and over undulating terrain. Klöden went on to finish the stage nonetheless, and

The OLN crew gets the same treatment at the barrier as the rest of the crowd.

The 16th stage of the Tour de France and at the start of the day, our man Casey Gibson gets caught up in a small demonstration on the course. A group of locals were protesting the reintroduction of bears to the Pyrénées and since the riot troops were called out, Gibson opted to shoot from a distance.

Just happy to be there: A few of the junior riders honored Wednesday had a hard time keeping their focus. (Save this picture. One of these guys might win a Tour some day.)

Hello,My goal today was to move firmly on to the podium of the Tour de France. I at least wanted to make good time. Unfortunately that didn’t quite work out that way. Oscar Sevilla - the Spaniard here riding with us on this Tour - was really the man we had designated for a stage win today. Oscar wanted to make this “his” stage. It’s no wonder that he made the jump into the day’s break. He did a spectacular job up there today and should be really proud. Oscar is a real asset to this team and it would have been nice to see him take this one, especially. One of the things I admire most about

Jan Ullrich has all but given up on his challenge to Lance Armstrong on this year's Tour de France and admitted he is now fighting Michael Rasmussen for a place on the podium. Germany's 1997 winner and five-time runner-up is nearly six minutes behind his Texan rival in the general classification ahead of next Sunday's race finale on the Champs Élysées - in Tour terms a mammoth deficit which is all but insurmountable. Ullrich, who has finished second to Armstrong three times during the American's six-year reign, admits he is now fighting to make sure he doesn't finish off

Basso to stay with CSC through 2009Team CSC announced Monday that CSC has extended its sponsorship agreement with Riis Cycling through 2009. That ensures that Ivan Basso of Italy, who is currently sitting in second in the general classification, will remain with the Denmark-based team. “We have come far in the last couple of seasons, and no one should have any doubts that our ambitions are sky high,” said CSC sport director Bjarne Riis. “Ivan has not only lived up to our expectations, he has impressed me time after time with his will to improve and take responsibility for himself and his

Lance Armstrong is trying to capture more than just a seventh straight Tour de France title. He wants to win over the French fans, too. So far, it's working. The American cyclist has regularly left the team bus during this year's Tour to greet hordes of people, who push and shove to get a glimpse of him. He recently stopped and rode over to a screaming fan who was calling for him. Armstrong chatted with her while her husband joined the conversation. “Lance, give us your cap,” the man said in broken English, laced with a heavy regional accent. Armstrong handed it over,

Rest day and I need it. Actually I could use another, if it were possible. I mentioned the other day that I’d been sick on the stage to Ax-3-Domaines. Finishing with the grupetto had been hard, just because I’d been throwing up for the first 100k. Yesterday, on the stage to Pla d'Adet, it was worse. My stomach had settled, but I’m still sick with something and it took everything I had just to beat the time cut. I was dropped early in the day, spending probably the last 100 or so kilometers riding on my own… well, I had another guy (Rafael Nuritdinov of, Domina Vacanze), but he was

Ullrich wants to improve on his fourth place from '04

Bruyneel on Hincapie and life without Lance

Magnus Opus: With one eye on Paris...

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Then there were six.

The day had a deceptively mellow start...

Lance Armstrong didn’t take the stage win in the final summit finish of his celebrated Tour de France career, as many had predicted, but on Sunday in the Pyrénées of southern France he did get the next-best thing — a stage win for his close friend and Discovery Channel teammate George Hincapie. Hincapie, the only man to ride with Armstrong in all seven of his post-cancer Tours, took the win atop the Pla d’Adet ski resort out of a 14-man breakaway group that shattered on the Col de Peyresourde, the fourth of six categorized climbs, while Armstrong crossed the line five minutes later with

Armstrong and Ullrich were the only ones to stay with Basso.

Stage Results1. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 6:06:382. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Phonak, 00:063. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, 00:384. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 00:575. Laurent Brochard (F), Bouygues Telecom, 02:196. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 05:047. Lance Armstrong (USA), Discovery Channel, 05:048. Oscar Sevilla (Sp), T-Mobile, 06:289. Jan Ullrich (G), T-Mobile, 06:2810. Mickael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 06:32 11. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears, 06:3212. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), T-Mobile, 07:3313. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, 07:5414. Christophe

Ullrich tried to stay aggressive.

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, I was right up there, ready to fight out the sprint – admittedly, I wasn’t in the top three, but you get the point. I didn’t seem to have the legs to finish the job the boys did for me with the leadout, but I was still feeling pretty good. Today, on the stage from Agde to Ax-3-Domaines, I can only say it was… well, a bit rough. It was a really, really rough day on the bike today. I threw up four times in the first 100 kilometers. I couldn’t eat a thing all day and it was two or two-and-a-half hours before I could even drink a little bit. I don’t

The team rose to the occasion on Sunday.

In Pla d’Adet, France … Hincapie, team leader?Could George Hincapie lead Discovery Channel next year after Lance Armstrong retires at the end of the 2005 Tour de France? That might have seemed a crazy notion three weeks ago, but it’s gaining credibility as Hincapie continues to progress into a solid, all-round rider. Even Armstrong said it’s not such a far-fetched idea. “We always have these dreamers who say they’re going to win the Tour, so why couldn’t George Hincapie be in that position?” Armstrong said. “He’s a complete rider.” Armstrong said he’s already discussed the possibility

The Casartelli monument

You never know what you're going to see on any given day in the Tour. Could be an oblivious fan getting a camera moto's tire tracks up his spinal column; could be a hairy-backed cross-dresser. Our man Casey Gibson didn't snap a shot of the former, but he did get the latter, along with some racing action, the late Fabio Casartelli's family at a memorial in his honor, and much, much more. Check it all out below.

His family, just before the memorial ceremony

George Hincapie has been a loyal, selfless and dedicated teammate during Lance Armstrong's six Tour de France titles. On Sunday, he picked the Tour's toughest stretch to make a statement of his own. Hincapie broke away early and held on to win the 15th stage through the Pyrenees, beating Phonak's Oscar Pereiro in a sprint to the line for his first stage win at cycling's premier event. “This ride is so hard. In training I almost didn't arrive at the top because I was so tired,” the 32-year-old Hincapie said. “It took us seven hours in training. I just can't

'Yo, 'scuse me, but I'm just gonna drop it down a couplea cogs and win the stage here'

Hincapie wins his first Tour stage

Chris Horner is still having fun at the end of four Cat. 1 climbs and an HC grinder

Armstrong and Basso put the screws to Ullrich

Levi, on the other hand, looks a touch spent

. . . this guy is clearly a professional

The peloton in the Pyrenees

Don't try this at home, kids . . .

The fans find a cool spot along the climb

Alan Buttlar installs a new chain

The Tour definitely needs bigger trash cans