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Armstrong took an early digger

Hamilton, meanwhile, got caught up in the final spill

Boonen stays ahead of the carnage to claim his first Tour stage win

COURSE: This is a flat course that uses some of the roadsof Paris-Tours, with a run along the Loire Valley at the end. If there’sno wind, this stage could see a 50 kph average speed. FAVORITES: With this stage marking the end of the first week of racing, the teammates of the top sprinters will be starting to get tired, while others will have dropped out because of crashes. In other words, some of the “other” sprinters like Olaf Pollack or Jean-Patrick Nazon might get their chance in Angers. HISTORY: Angers has seen 14 stage finishes, but none since 1979.That year, Dutchman Jan Raas

An early break that did not stay away

Top Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini have both pulled out of the Tour de France with injuries. Petacchi, the world’s No. 1, injured his shoulder when he crashed in Thursday's fifth stage. The Fassa Bortolo team leader, who won four stages in the flat sections in last year's Tour, had a disappointing start and failed to challenge in the first three big sprints. He won nine stages in the Giro d'Italia in May but was lying 83rd, 13 minutes off the pace, when he called it a day. The 37-year-old Cipollini had been struggling with a leg infection from a crash in the

Voeckler looks as though he feels the weight of that jersey

Quick Step’s Tom Boonen avoided a dramatic last-minute pile-up in the peloton before going on to claim a deserved victory on the sixth stage of the Tour de France Angers on Friday. Thomas Voeckler, of the La Boulangere team, retained the race leader's yellow jersey after the 196km ride Bonneval and here. Boonen, 23, claimed his first ever stage win on the race on the back of a blistering season so far which has seen him win a number of prestigious one-day victories and stages. But it was the frightening realities of the high-speeds at the world’s biggest bicycle race that took center stage

The thrill of victory

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Davitamon, 4:33:412. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 00:004. Danilo Hondo (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:005. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com, 00:006. Sergio Marinangeli (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:007. Pineau Jérôme (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 00:008. Julian Dean (NZl), Crédit Agricole, 00:009. Janeck Tombak (Est), Cofidis, 00:0010. Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 00:00 11. Filippo Pozzato (I), Fassa Bortolo, 00:0012. Karsten Kroon (Nl), Rabobank, 00:0013. Massimiliano Mori (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:0014. Massimo Giunti

Voeckler chats with 'the voice of the Tour,' Daniel Mangeas

Looking at the weather as Stage 5 was about to begin this afternoon, I almost felt sorry for the small group of riders I knew would inevitably strike out on their own for the day’s long breakaway. Working in a break for the majority of a stage is hard enough, but doing it in driving rain and a terrible headwind is absolutely miserable. Of course, a Tour stage win and the prospect of taking Lance Armstrong’s yellow jersey, which he was more than happy to put up for grabs, are strong motivators. Sure enough, a five-man breakaway left the field behind before the 20th kilometer and never looked

Armstrong finishes after the last crash.

There are thousands of tactical opportunities that present themselves over the course of a single stage at the Tour. Most of them never result in any major advantage and for the most part we simply forget about them. Every once in a while, though, someone takes advantage of a turn of events and almost changes the outcome of a stage. For that, I have to commend the Fassa Bortolo rider Jaun Antonio Flecha for his great attempt in the closing kilometers of stage six, the 196km race from Bonneval to Angers on Wednesday. Early in the stage, six riders moved to establish a lead and built it up

Bruckner and Bessette in the start house

I wish I didn’t know as much as I do about road rash. I wish I didn’t still have scars on my hips, knees, arms, and back from the innumerable falls that came with being a professional cyclist. Unfortunately, I know all too well what it’s like to leave a lot of skin on the roads of France, Italy, Belgium, the United States, etc. If you choose to be a cyclist, at any level of the sport, you have to be prepared to sacrifice some skin, and you have to know how to care for your wounds. There were already a lot of riders sporting bandages at the start of Stage 6 this afternoon, and many more will

Sorry for the delay in getting this update to you. Last night was pretty emotional for our team. In fact, the last couple of days have really put everyone to the test. And I don't just mean us, I mean everybody in the race. Tuesday's stage from Waterloo to Wasquehal didn't make any liars out of those who predicted carnage by the conclusion of the day. I don't know if I've ever ridden in a peloton as aggro’ as the one that headed into the first section of pavé. The fight for position started 40km in advance of the cobblestones, which meant we were going all out for nearly an hour before we

Tour de Tech: It's all about fit

The Mail Bag is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday feature on VeloNews.com, but will appear daily during the Tour. 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.Noval’s doing a fine jobEditor:I was sorry to read Holly Whitney's note about Ben Noval not being the right man for the job. Did she notice his work today? I wish people would stop second-guessing the wisdom and experience of both

Muñoz, sets up cleats

STAGE 5 July 08 Amiens - Chartres (121.173mi/195km)

Thorburn sticks it to the women's peloton again

STAGE 5 July 08 Amiens - Chartres (121.173mi/195km)

Creed drives the break of four riders, including Louder (left), towards the top of McKenzie Pass

André Leducq wins in 1932.

Vogels drove the break for the better part of an hour

The break drives along well ahead of the peloton...

Wherry called the race 'probably the most negative bike race he’d ever been in'

O'Grady plays it smart and scores a stage

Creed makes a move – and got penalized for yellow-line violations

'Aber wo sind die Ami's?'

KOM Louder and race leader Elken drive the breakaway toward the climb of Three Creeks Road

In case you're wondering, I'm the big guy in the middle of the picture.

Get your Phonak Jersey at VeloGear.com!

Voeckler in yellow: A promising career ahead for the 24-year-old French Champion?

COURSE: There’s only one official climb on this 200km stage, but the roads to the west of Paris pass through a series of small towns with short hills and lots of turns. With crosswinds expected in the final 50km, there could be some splits that catch out a few sprinters. FAVORITES: The winds will make it tough for a breakaway to succeed, so expect Petacchi to get another chance of winning — especially as the finishing straight is a kilometer long. HISTORY: The Tour has never ended a stage in Chartres, but when the race passed through here in the 1950s, Italian campionissimo Fausto Coppi was

This mishap took down four Posties

A new yellow jersey in French champion Thomas Voeckler and a thrilling stage win by Australian Stuart O'Grady gave the fifth stage of the Tour de France plenty for fans to talk about even as the overall contenders, like overnight leader Lance Armstrong, happily took a back seat for the day. Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangere) and O'Grady (Cofidis) were in Thursday's delightfully successful five-man breakaway, which formed at the 12km mark after a flurry of early attacks. The quintet then spent the next 188km racing into a bitingly cold cross/head wind and through often-torrential rain. The

Postal moved to the front and kept the pace under control

INDIVIDUAL1. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 5:05:582. Jakob Piil (Dk), CSC, 00:003. Sandy Casar (F), FDJeux.com, 00:004. Thomas Voeckler (F), Brioches La Boulangere, 00:005. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Alessio-Bianchi, 00:006. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Lotto-Domo, 12:337. Janeck Tombak (Est), Cofidis, 12:338. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, 12:339. Rene Haselbacher (A), Gerolsteiner, 12:3310. Nazon Jean-Patrick (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 12:33 11. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 12:3312. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Ag2R Prevoyance, 12:3313. Danilo Hondo (G), Gerolsteiner, 12:3314. Allan Davis (Aus),

Aldag in an early crash

Saeco team leader Gilberto Simoni, a two-time winner of the Giro d’Italia, is so fed up with the Tour de France that he wants to go home. The Tour has yet to reach the tough mountain stages, where Simoni last year had a tough time trying to challenge eventual winner Lance Armstrong for honors. But it’s not the upcoming climbs that worry Simoni – it’s the team time trial that went so wrong for him on Wednesday. Saeco's TTT performance would not have been so bad for Simoni, had he not finished behind the leading five riders in his team. The time for Wednesday's event was taken on the fifth

It seemed like everyone crashed at one time or another

I told you I was feeling better. I had a good day today. I knew I was feeling okay after yesterday’s time trial and this morning circumstance had it so that I managed to take advantage of that and get into one of those rare little breaks that actually manages to stay away. Sure, I am disappointed I didn’t win today, but at the same time, I am really happy that my legs are feeling good. There were attacks from the gun. We all knew there would be, especially after we saw Armstrong speaking last night about how he and the team really had no reason to defend the jersey at this stage of the

... while the peloton battled wind, rain and crashes

Five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has bowed out of this year’s Olympics in Athens according to a team spokesman. The announcement comes just two days after the 2000 bronze medalist was named to the five-rider team that will compete in Greece. Armstrong, who is currently racing at the Tour, said he wanted to spend the month of August with his three children. Meanwhile, USA Cycling athletics director Steve Johnson said his organization has a short list of possible replacements that includes Floyd Landis, Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer and Freddy Rodriguez, and that a decision

Rabobank and other teams use a variation of the same tool to measure fit

TEAM RESULTS - STAGE1. U.S. Postal Service, 1:12:032. Phonak, 01:073. Illes Balears-Banesto, 01:154. T-Mobile, 01:195. CSC, 01:466. Rabobank, 01:537. Liberty-Seguras, 02:258. Euskaltel-Euskadi, 02:359. Saeco, 02:3610. Alessio-Bianchi, 02:57 11. Quick Step-Davitamon, 03:2912. Crédit Agricole, 03:3213. Ag2R Prevoyance, 04:0514. Brioches La Boulangere, 04:1715. Domina Vacanze, 04:2216. Gerolsteiner, 04:3617. Fassa Bortolo, 04:5218. Lotto-Domo, 05:1919. Cofidis, 05:3420. R.A.G.T. Semences-MG Rover, 05:3721. FDJeux.com, 07:33 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - STAGE 41. Rubiera José Luis (Sp), U.S. Postal

Phonak had five flats on Wednesday

Tour stuff

I think I was in my element today. I sure do feel a lot better than I have these past few days of the Tour de France and there’s nothing like a team time trial to get a big motor like me feeling back in sorts. No, it isn’t a complete turnaround. I’m clearly not in top form, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Team time trials are really what the early part of my racing career was all about. Being taller and stronger on the flats I offer up a pretty good draft, eh? When you see teams like CSC and Phonak running into the troubles they had today, you really begin to see how

Back in his favorite color

Tour stuff

Few events in cycling offer a team the opportunity to equally share in the pain and the triumph of a victory the way a team time trial does. Wednesday’s stage at the Tour de France required the complete effort of the U.S. Postal Service team, and the exhilaration of winning was clearly evident on the riders’ faces as they crossed the finish line. Lance Armstrong’s team showed today itself to be the strongest squad of the 21 teams in the race, and perhaps the most skilled as well. The team rode the length of the 64.5-kilometer course in nearly-perfect formation, close together, taking full

Chris Carmichael Diary: Riding the slipstream to victory

Tour stuff

The Mail Bag is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday feature on VeloNews.com, but will appear daily during the Tour. 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.What’s up with attacking after Mayo’s crash?Editor:I'd be interested in the views of the distinguished VeloNews editors (if you can find any), as well as the highly opinionated band of Mailbag contributors, on the sportsmanship of

Elken (left) nips Candelario and Fraser at the line

Tour stuff

McEwen loses yellow, but keeps greenLotto’s Robbie McEwen handed the yellow jersey over to Lance Armstrong after Wednesday’s team time trial, but he probably didn’t mind too much - on Thursday, he will be wearing the green points jersey and hunting another stage win. McEwen's short stint in the maillot jaune was a tough one for the 32-year-old from Brisbane, who suffered mightily as his team posted a time that was more than five minutes behind U.S. Postal. Still, he enjoyed his day in yellow. "It was very difficult for me today,” McEwen said. “Wearing the yellow jersey is now over. I only

The early breakaway, from left: Creed, Evans, Dionne, Lieswyn and Swindlehurst

Tour stuff

STAGE 4 July 07 Cambrai - Arras (TTT) (40.39mi/65km)

Dionne makes a late-race solo bid

Tour stuff

STAGE 4 July 07 Cambrai - Arras (TTT) (40.39mi/65km)

The peloton was having none of it

Tour stuff

Postal pounded to the win despite horrific conditions

Do they have hills in Oregon? Oh, yeah – try Mount Bachelor

Tour stuff

Don't bug me, man

The podium: Candelario, Elken and Fraser

Tour stuff

Phonak took second despite shelling three riders

Tour stuff

Tour stuff

Ullrich and T-Mobile could do no better than fourth

Tour stuff

Postal poured it on as the rain poured down