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Levi Leipheimer huddled against the cold wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean at a Gerolsteiner team presentation Friday afternoon. He wouldn’t shake hands with journalists who came for an interview. With Leipheimer starting the Tour in his best condition ever, there’s no jinxing the form now. Sitting on a beach with the Pont de Noirmoutier towering overhead -- the same bridge he and the 188 other starting riders will tackle in Saturday’s 19km time trial from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile – a leaner, meaner Leipheimer quietly puts himself among the top-line contenders. “Yes, I am more

Dave Zabriskie was gobbling down French sweets at an alarming rate Friday afternoon as journalists gathered around the tall, slender Utahan to learn more about this American making his Tour de France debut. “I feel stupendously happy. There’s a lot of free candy in the press room,” Zabriskie said with a wry smile. “Who doesn’t like free candy?” The world’s press is about to get the “Zabriskie treatment,” a mixture of humor, sarcasm and insight that keeps the hacks in stitches. How’s the motivation for the team? “Super motivated – the Prozac is being passed around nightly.” Are you

The riders of the 2005 Tour de France were on display Friday during a parade for the fans and the traditional team introductions. Our man Casey Gibson was on hand with his bag of cameras - here are a few of the postcards he sent home.

A critic savaged this year's Tour de France Guide

Just when you thought TV couldn't get any worse, we have Roll in the raw

VeloNews Photo Contest: A new winner and a new gallery

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

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

When Lance Armstrong announced his retirement, to begin July 24, theimplications for the 2005 Tour de France couldn’t have been more profound.Three weeks after the six-time defending champion takes the start in Fromentineon July 2, one of two historic scenarios will develop: Either a rival willrise to the occasion and become the only rider to have stopped Armstrongin his streak of Tour victories, or Armstrong will further distance himselffrom an elite group of five-time Tour champions with an unprecedented seventhconsecutive victory. Either way, the cycling world awaits the outcome. Since

With a little bit of luck, T-Mobile will arrive at the 2005 Tour withits full weaponry in place and finely honed. The German powerhouse hopesto wage a three-front war on Lance Armstrong, spearheaded by perennialTour contender Jan Ullrich and buttressed by a resurgent Andreas Klödenand the ever-combative Alexander Vinokourov. And if all goes accordingto plan, T-Mobile hopes its time to bring down Armstrong may have finallycome. “I’ve been trying for a long time to prove that there is strength innumbers, but I’ve never been able to get everything to come together,”says T-Mobile team manger

The latest Photo Gallery in our continuing photo contest has now been posted for your viewing pleasure. Last Week's WinnerWe’ve awarded a copy of Graham Watson’s "Landscapes of Cycling." to Bill Parsons for "Bug Eyes," a shot that perfectly captures that "Oh $#@&!!!!" moment of realization that something is going on behind you. Thank you and congratulations Bill. We'll be sending you a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapesof Cycling. This Week's ContestThe announcement of a winner also signals the start of a New Contest, so go ahead and take a look at the Gallery from this

Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said he isn’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

The 92nd edition of the Tour de France promises to be one of the most competitive in the event’s history. Each of the 21 teams is made up of riders with specific roles. Climbers, sprinters, time trialists and domestiques. Each is essential to a team’s success at the tour. Here is a look at each of the teams contesting the race. AGR-Prevoyance (France)Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra)Ludovic Turpin (Fra)Mikel Astarloza (Spa)Nicolas Portal (Fra)Samuel Dumoulin (Fra)Simon Gerrans (Aus)Stéphane Goubert (Fra)Sylvain Calzati (Fra)Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) Bouygues Telecom (France)Anthony Geslin (Fra)Didier

Once a year we get a cycling event that is so big that it deserves its own special corner of VeloNews.com. Keep track of the greatest sporting event in the world by logging visiting www.velonews.com/tour2005/ and bookmarking the site to follow developments throughout the three-week-long Tour de France. We will have live daily coverage, daily highlight videos of each stage, full results, and pictures. Don't miss out on any of the great stories that will make up the fabric of this year's Tour de France!

Armstrong's Stage 17 win last year capped a dominant Tour.

Dan Coyle is a contributing editor for Outside magazine, a two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and the author of “Hardball: A Season in the Projects.” Most recently, Coyle spent the 2004 season following Lance Armstrong and has offered his insights in his book "LanceArmstrong's War," which reached bookstores last week. VeloNews contributor Sebastian Moll recently had a chance to sit down with Coyle and discuss the impressions a year spent with "Lance Inc." made on the author from Homer, Alaska. VeloNews: So, after nearly a year trying to figure it out, maybe we should start

Signed as co-captain by Gerolsteiner, Leipheimer is aiming for a top-five finish

Totschnig says the Plateau de Beille stage last year was one of my best days as a pro.

Robic arrives in Atlantic City

Chris Wherry laughs about it now, but in the first days after his stunning win at the USPRO Championships, he admits he had something of a tenuous relationship with the race’s top prize. “When I first came home I had two of the national championship jerseys and I didn’t wear either of them for like three days,” said Wherry during an interview with VeloNews at his home in Durango, Colorado, on Monday. “I was like, I’m not going to take this thing out training. It’s totally being a poser. But then I was finally like screw it, I f--king won that race. That was a hard day. I deserve to wear this

By announcing on April 12 that the 2005 edition will be his last Tour de France and that his career will come to a close when the race does, Lance Armstrong has not changed the expectations for the race — after all, the players are all the same. He has, however, changed the context in which the race will unfold. Armstrong has liberated himself from a two-year commitment that seemed to weigh on him. Surely his position as “absolute record holder” with six consecutive victories gives him the right to be master of his own destiny as a cyclist. There is a certain amount of panache to this move,

Levi Leipheimer and Georg Totschnig shared more at last year’s Tour de France than their top-10 finishes. In key mountain stages, whenever the roads went up, both quickly found themselves isolated without any team support. Leipheimer’s Rabobank teammate Michael Rasmussen spent much of the Tour in a vain hunt for a stage win, so when the time came for Leipheimer to find a friendly wheel, the former mountain-bike world champion was already blown out the back. Totschnig, meanwhile, got some help on the mountain approaches from his young Gerolsteiner teammates, but he was often left to fight

Waving to the crowd from the final Dodge Tour de Georgia podium, a grinning Floyd Landis looked as though he couldn’t be happier. He showed no disappointment in his overall third-place finish, even though he had begun the final climbing stage two spots higher, only to be passed by Discovery’s Tom Danielson and Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer. Nor were there signs of the strained relationship with his former U.S. Postal Service captain Lance Armstrong, with whom Landis had exchanged curt words just hours earlier regarding the previous day’s finish. There was no sign of fatigue or pressure or

VeloNews and the HandleBar & Grill will team up on Saturday,July 2 at 5:30 p.m. to kick off the Tour de France!Launching the biggest month-long Tour party in Colorado, the HandleBar& Grill will throw a Tour de France bash at its location near downtownDenver.Watch Outdoor Life Network’s coverage of the first stage of the 92ndTour de France on HandleBar & Grill’s large outdoor screen or relaxat the bar and watch inside.Admission is free to watch the Tour alongside hundreds of passionatecycling fans as the world’s strongest cyclists race the short distanceindividual time trial that

Ullrich has his eye on the yellow jersey

Wherry and the jersey he won at Philly. It was a little on the small side.

Mementos from a Philly win.

Close up with a prize not many of us get to see.

Wherry says his ab roller is one of his key training tools.

Leblanc, 60, directs the Tour for the 17th time this year

Press Release: Nine Centuries in Ireland (with a bit of Guinness thrown in for good measure)

Press Release: Nine Centuries in Ireland (with a bit of Guinness thrown in for good measure)

The fight for the jerseys

Do I have to get up again?

 BMC with a new Secret weapon for the Tour de FranceBMC, the leading Swiss high-end bicycle brand, has developed for thenumber 1 Pro Tour Team Phonak a new secret weapon for the Tour de France.Last year, BMC had already introduced the revolutionary “Time Machine“during the Tour de France, which set the new standard for time trial bikes.This year, we can present another revolutionary bike the BMC “Pro Machine”.The “Pro Machine is the first bicycle frame in the world which is madeentirely using the revolutionary Easton CNT-Nanotechnology.Nanotechnology is the next frontier in scientific

One Monday morning, about three months ago, I was browsing through the weekend’s papers, and feeling not too interested in the day’s work ahead of me when something landed on my desk to break the boredom. An invitation from a man by the name of Paul McQuaid. From Ireland. To ride nine century rides with his tour company in June, right around the coast of Ireland. Heck, this was the sort of thing I needed and I immediately contacted Paul by email to see what it was all about. The response was swift and encouraging. “What we do is we take people on nine century rides around Ireland,” was his

YELLOW JERSEYThe yellow jersey — or maillot jaune — is worn by the overall raceleader, the rider who has covered the overall distance in the least amountof cumulative time. Time bonuses (20 seconds for winning a road stage,six seconds for winning an intermediate sprint) are deducted, and timepenalties (for infractions like dangerous riding or accepting pushes fromspectators on the climbs) are added to riders’ stage times before calculatingtheir GC (general classification) times.2004 WINNER: Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal Service POINTS LEADERThe green points-leader’s jersey is awarded to

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.Flesh heals . . .Editor:Wow, I just read your article on Lance's crash. I guess I'd ask the same question that I ask when any of my buddies crash: "Is the bike okay?” All kidding aside, we're looking forward to your coverage of the Tour. Good luck to the riders. Corbett

Vinokourov says T-Mobile wants to pull out all the stops

A member of the CBFD team heads out on another lap at the 24 hour townie tour

This was one of three sweat suits that Than Acuff donned during the 24-hour townie tour in which he was the only rider to compete as a soloist.

A bib used at the Bridges of the Butte 24 Hour Townie Tour

The bikes come in all shapes and sizes here at Crested Butte Fat Tire Week

Three members of the 16-rider Crested Butte FD relay team that won the 24-hour townie race.

With Mount Crested Butte in the background, a racer heads toward the finish during the Wildflower Rush downhill race on Sunday.

A racer holds on for dear life during the downhill race at the Wildflower Rush at Mount Crested Butte.

Bike racks packed with clunkers and cruisers of all shapes and sizes are commonplace in Crested Butte.

Riders in the 24 hour townie race head down Elk Avenue in Crested Butte toward the finish, where much beer drinking quickly commenced.

Crested Butte local Than Acuff was the only rider to complete the 24-hour townie race as a soloist. He claimed that his secret to success were Backwoods Cigars, which helped him stay awake in the wee hours of the night.

Chris MacDonald suffers in the heat

The tree-lined opening climb of the Wildflower Rush in Crested Butte

With Whetstone Serving as the backdrop a rider tackles Saturday's cross-country

Heras played it cool at the Dauphiné

The town of Crested Butte seen from the Red Lady Chairlift up on the ski hill

Mighty mites at the start of the boy's 10-12 crit

A wet winter and spring has led to an abundance of skunk cabbage. Fortunately it doesn't smell

Riders in the women's 17-18 crit

A racer heads into the woods along some of Crested Butte's ubiquitous single-track

TIAA-CREF surrounds the eventual winner in the U-23 crit, Kyle Gritters (Seasilver)

A racer slices his way through a throng of Aspen trees during Saturday's cross-country

Riders pass the flags at the entrance to Deer Valley

The long grind up one of several fire road climbs

An outnumbered Farrar takes a corner in the U-23 crit

Three mountain-bike racing's legends made the Hall of Fame cut in 2000

Geist leads the 17-18 crit

This is just one of the countless classic photos that can be seen at the MTB Hall. Can you find Gary Fisher? Hint: He doesn't have an afro

Gritters corners during the U-23 crit . . .

MacGregor defends

. . . en route to winning over Macgregor

MacGregor figured the day's last climb was where he could beat Farrar