News

No, he's not a walking, talking Capitol One ad - just another German fan

Mengin was on his way to the line...

The peloton races through the lovely borough of Herbolsheim

No one would have thought Beloki's 2003 Tour would have ended this way

Hincapie leading the descent in the early break

Sunday's stage offers up plenty of challenges.

Course: The opening 60km of this longest stage so far (231.5km)passes through the beautiful Black Forest — Ullrich’s longtime traininggrounds. Any damage done on the four Cat. 3 climbs will be rectified bythe following 120km down and across the Rhine Valley. All the action shouldtake place on this Tour’s first Cat. 2 climb, the 16.8km-long Col de laSchlucht, which tops out at an elevation of 3736 feet just 15km from thefinish.History: A Tour stage has never started or finished in Gérardmer,a tourist town of fewer than 10,000 people set on a scenic lake deep inthe pine forests of the Vosges

Baron von Münchhausen turns out for the Tour

Stage 8 -Pforzheim to Gérardmer >231.5km1. Pieter Weening (Nl), Rabobank, 231.5km in 5:03:54(45.705kph)2. Andréas Klöden (G),T-Mobile, same time3. Alejandro Valverde (Sp),Illes Balears, at 00:274. Kim Kirchen (Lux),Fassa Bortolo, at 00:275. Jens Voigt (G),CSC, at 00:276. Jan Ullrich (G),T-Mobile, at 00:277. Cadel Evans (Aus),Davitamon-Lotto, at 00:278. Christophe Moreau (F),Credit Agricole, at 00:279. Christopher Horner (USA),Saunier Duval, at 00:2710. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz),T-Mobile, at 00:27 11. Stefano Garzelli (I),Liquigas-Bianchi, at 00:2712. Franco Pellizotti (I),Liquigas-Bianchi,

Fans check out the race on the Col de la Schlucht

Liquigas goes to the front

Salvo's salvationThe disappearance of Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team in today's eighth stage from Pforzheim to Gérardmer was main topic of discussion of the Tour this evening. One of his key teammates, two-time Giro d'Italia winner Paolo Savoldelli, finished the day in 68th place at 2:57. Not exactly what might have been expected. An interview with Savoldelli, who was recruited to be one of Armstrong's principal support men in the mountains of the Vosges, Alps and Pyrénées, was published in Saturday's edition of the French sports daily L`Equipe. Of

A lovely bike hidden away, with wooden fenders and woven spoke guard

Any real cycling fan knows there's more to the Tour de France than the race itself - the sideshows are often as interesting (if not more so) than the main event. Plus a guy can only look at so many pictures of bike racers before he goes all cross-eyed. So we appreciate it when our man Casey Gibson takes a slightly different approach to Le Tour - and for you overly-focused out there, we even included a couple of race pics. Check 'em out.

Casey's competition gets younger every year

The Tour never lies. So when Lance Armstrong’s teammates all reported absent during the critical stages of the Col de la Schlucht climb on Saturday, the six-time defending champion had to be concerned. “It was a shitty day,” Armstrong told French television Saturday evening. “Perhaps the team and the boys on the team were too confident … after we did well at the prologue, and won the team time trial. Everyone shows up at the Tour and wants to win, but there are no guarantees.” The one certainty on Saturday was that Jan Ullrich’s T-Mobile team did show up to win. Armstrong himself had to

Armstrong had company alright... but the wrong kind of company..

It’s a cliché, I admit, but there’s a reason things become clichés and the wisdom behind that old line “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over,” has certainly been proven more than a few times over the first few days of this year’s Tour de France. If anyone thinks this year’s Tour is going to be just another cakewalk for defending champion Lance Armstrong – or anyone else for that matter - they have another thing coming. If anything, Armstrong’s six previous Tours are conspiring against him. Given a remarkable string of good luck over the past six years, the odds have to be catching up with him. It

Moreau gives it a go...

July 9 - Stage 8 - Pforzheim to Gérardmer >231.5kmIt was a long day. To start out, we had four third category climbs right at the beginning and things went flat out right away. Almost as soon as the peloton hit the first climb we had 40 or 50 guys who got dropped straight away more or less and we spent the next 150ks trying to get back on to the peloton. Once we got back on – seriously only about three or four kilometers after we got back on – the boss calls up and tells us to go to the front. There was a break away and he wanted us to cut the gap down before the last climb - the second

T-Mobile came into the climb with guns blazing...

Stage 8 - Pforzheim to Gérardmer >231.5km

Casar leads the break, as Hincapie keeps an eye on things.

Judges said it came down to a 2mm margin at the line and gave Weening the win over Klöden

,,, as does Valverde.

Sorenson and Co. join Casar to form a new break

Isolated and under attack: There weren't a lot of Discovery jerseys with Armstrong on the Col de la Schlucht

Armstrong readies for the coming battle.

Course: The two early climbs may encourage some attacks, but the flat final half of this stage through the Rhine Valley virtually guarantees a bunch finish in Karlsruhe. History: The only time the Tour has visited this part of Germany was in 1987, when the race started in Berlin two years before the Wall fell. The third stage was in two parts: The short morning leg was won in a solo break by Belgian Herman Frison in nearby Pforzheim (where stage 8 begins), while the afternoon leg began in Karlsruhe. Favorites: The expected huge crowds lining the long (1.2km),wide finishing straight in the

Fast Freddy and his own personal 'fast' food

McEwen again,

Australian Robbie McEwen stole the show again at the Tour de France on Friday, both on and off the bike, as the great race headed into Germany. McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) won't be seen in the fray of battle in the mountains coming up this weekend, but he did more than enough to leave a lasting impression on the 2005 Tour as it completed its first week. The two-time green jersey champion claimed his second stage win of the first week by outsprinting Swede Magnus Bäckstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Austrian Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux) in a bunch sprint marred by another nasty crash in

Do the Germans like the Tour? Oh, ja, ja

The Specialized Tarmac SL

1. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 5:03:45 2. Magnus Bäckstedt (Swe), Liquigas-Bianchi3. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux4. Gerrit Glomser (A), Lampre5. Baden Cooke (Aus), Francaise des Jeux6. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Fassa Bortolo7. Tom Boonen (B), Quickstep8. Gianluca Bortolami (I), Lampre9. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole10. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp), Fassa Bortolo, all s.t. 11. O’grady Stuart (Aus), Cofidis12. Luciano Pagliarini (BRA), Liquigas-Bianchi13. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner14. Nazon Jean-Patrick (F), Ag2r Prevoyance15. Philippe Gilbert (B), Francaise des

Whoopsadaisy . . .

A glimpse of the carbon cockpit

When Fred Rodriguez needs a lift at the end of a long day in the trenches of the Tour de France, he reaches into the back pocket of his Davitamon-Lotto jersey and pulls out a little cup of coffee. No, he doesn’t have a coffee-maker back there. Instead, he grabs an energy gel bearing a shot of his own band of “Fast Freddy” coffee. “I can’t carry a cup of coffee in the race, so now I have something to take in the last part of the race to give me a last boost of energy,” Rodriguez said. “I usually have one or two near the end of a stage.” Rodriguez said he met with Clif Bar officials to

I'll just lie here for a bit - you guys go on without me

Oversized spindle and bottom bracket

After a week in the saddle, and four days in the yellow jersey, Lance Armstrong says the Tour de France is only now getting set to start. After wrapping up stage 7 in Karlsruhe, Germany, won by Robbie McEwen (Davitamon), the six-time Tour champion said he feels none of the pressure he did last year when he was bidding to secure a record-breaking sixth victory. "In terms of pressure it's nothing compared to last year, so I'm a little relieved I don't have the pressure of winning the sixth Tour that people said couldn't be done,” said Armstrong. “It feels different this year.

Freddy and Vino' test the front of the bunch

Carbon crank

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor hordes of German fans can keep Casey Gibson from his appointed rounds. Our boy was with the Tour as it crossed from France into Germany on Friday; here's what he saw along the way.

The ever-shy Horner reluctantly grants an interview

The noise reached record levels in Karlsruhe at around 5:30 local time Friday, as a huge crowd of happy Germans cheered the man stepping up to the podium of the Tour de France. It was not stage winner Robbie McEwen this crowd was cheering. Nor was it Lance Armstrong in the yellow jersey, nor Tom Boonen in green. No, the assembled crowd at the Karlsruhe fairgrounds had been following the progress of their hero throughout the day. It was Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann. Wegmann stepped onto the Tour podium to have the polka dot jersey of the Tour’s best climber put on his shoulders,

Lance at lunch

Hello from Germany,Unfortunately today was not the beautiful summer weather we might have hoped for as the Tour came into our home countrytoday. Still, the crowds were huge and we could see them lining the roads in the distance as we crossed the Rhine into Germany. The reception was remarkable and I would, on behalf of the team, like to thank all of you who turned out to welcome the Tour, and specifically the Germans in the peloton, back home. It’s days like this that make the effort really worth it. The day was a bit hectic at times. Vino barely avoided a crash at one point today and the

Ullrich and Vino' out front early on

VeloNews: How have things been going since we last spoke? You sound as though you’re in pretty good spirits. Chris Horner: The racing has been going pretty well. The finish today was incredible. All the spectators that were there … you cannot imagine! All of Germany must have been out for it. VN: Even though it was wet, everyone came out? CH: Yeah, it was wet from the start to about 70km to go. It was pretty good after that. VN: It’s funny because when we spoke a few days ago, you said that with everyone fighting for position, you couldn’t imagine how the peloton could continue to ride

And McEwen out front when it mattered

In the three days since Discovery Channel won the team time trial at Blois, its riders have had a relatively easy time defending Lance Armstrong’s yellow jersey. After another stage that ended in a field sprint Friday, Armstrong talked about “riding a medium tempo” and “getting a lot of help” from the sprinters’ teams. That’s not going to be the case in any of the next five stages, starting with this weekend’s two days in the climbs of the Black Forest and Vosges mountains. Armstrong admitted Friday: “I don’t know these stages.” That’s unusual for the master of knowing all there is to know

McEwen decided it would be suicide to stay out all day. Wegmann thought it was worth the effort.

Stage 7 - Lunéville to Karlsruhe >228.5km

The road ahead: Stage 8- Pforzheim to Gerardmer, 231.5km

Boonen was feeling the weight of the green jersey today

Another tumble at the finish.

Wegemann led the peloton into Germany - but couldn't stay out front

Calzati took a hit, but carried on.

The Boss would like a sprint-free finish on Saturday

Welcome to Germany

Wet railroad tracks right after the border caused this one.

Robbie decided to wait this one out.

Our man Casey Gibson, ever the master of understatement, noted after Thursday's soggy stage to Nancy: "Rain makes things a little exciting at the end, eh?" No kidding – especially if you're Christophe Mengin (Française des Jeux), who was lookin' good until that final corner. Happily, Casey kept upright, and here's the upshot.

Boonen and McEwen roll in together after Mengin laid it down

London bombings won’t change Tour securityNews of the terrorist bomb attacks in London shocked the Tour de France entourage - as it did the world. In memory of those killed and injured, the peloton will observe a minute's silence before the start of Friday's seventh stage, the 228.5km leg from Lunéville to Karlsruhe in Germany. While the terrorist alert level in France was escalated to the red on Thursday, it appears that security at the Tour de France is already quite high and there is little the Tour can do to make it tighter. While representatives of the Garde Republicaine

Lance on the front of the peloton early in the race, just outside Troyes

“Die Tour Kommt!” (The Tour is coming!) is the message that has been plastered across billboards in the German city of Karlsruhe for the past several months. Expect most of the city’s 300,000 people to be at the roadside Friday afternoon, along with perhaps three times that number from neighboring cities in the heavily populated valley of the Rhine. The last two times that a Tour de France stage finished in Germany (Saarbrücken in 2003 and Freiburg in 2000), crowd numbers were astronomical. They will be just as big on Friday when the final 40km of the stage are run on German roads, with the

Lance attacks and Vinokorov follows

That a bicycle race can bring out millions of fans to line rural roads and jam up the boulevards of a finishing town is actually a relatively recent phenomenon in Germany. Cycling enthusiasm did spike – albeit briefly – in Germany when Didi Thurau, the "angel face" from Frankfurt, wore the maillot jaune for 15 days in the 1977 Tour de France. But German interest faded as Thurau’s career derailed through doping scandals and fans saw a remarkable talent wasted on too much racing for quick money. Instead, in the 1980s and ‘90s, Germans returned to what they knew best: soccer. But the passion –

Floyd rolls into the start, looking relaxed and cool

Well that was quite a finish in Nancy, eh? Thankfully, I missed the mess at the last turn… mostly because I got dropped on the last climb, got back on the descent and decided I didn’t have the legs to contest the sprint anyway, so I stayed back a little, think it was smarter to stay out of that last turn on wet roads. Looking at the book this morning, you could just see that thing would be trouble in wet weather… especially with that crosswalk and all that white paint right on the turn. That stuff always makes things touch-and-go. As soon as it’s raining, it doesn’t really matter if you’re

Mengin on a descent in the rain

Stage 6 - Troy to Nancy > 199km

Peloton in fields near Troyes

Survivor: Bernucci celebrates his luck... and his first win as a professional