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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

Italian sprint king Alessandro Petacchi, the postwar record holder for the number of stage wins on a single edition of the Giro d'Italia, is patiently awaiting his chance to grab a stage victory on this year's Tour de France. And the 30-year-old Fassa Bortolo rider could decide to finally get his act together on Thursday's 200.5km fifth stage. The largely flat outlay of the course is exactly to Petacchi's liking, although the soft-spoken Italian and the rest of the sprinters will have to be wary of influential cross winds that could lead to breaks in the peloton and end their chances of

BANG!

Tour stuff

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

Tour stuff

COURSE: This team time trial course is 5km shorter and less rolling than last year’s between Joinville and St. Dizier. Also, the straighter, more open roads this year mean that the prevailing southwest winds are likely to be the main difficulty, with likely crosswinds in the final 20km. FAVORITES: Look for a great battle between Ivan Basso’s CSC team, Armstrong’s U.S. Postal-Berry Floor squad and Jan Ullrich’s T-Mobile formation. Tyler Hamilton’s Phonak team could also be in the mix. HISTORY: The last time there was a team time trial in this region was in 1984, when the finish at

And it got them atop the podium, while putting Lance in yellow

Tour stuff

The smiles of Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team said it all and then some on a day that was bleak, stormy and awfully miserable for most. By blazing a trail through the shadows of a wet day in northern France to win today's 64.5km stage 4 team time trial from Cambrai to Arras, they told every rival that Armstrong was the right stuff, and so was the entire line-up. Armstrong said as much after his team finished with eight of nine riders, at an average speed of 53.71kmh, following a winning ride that saw them fight back from fifth place at the first time check of 19km. “We

Pulling the train: Bäckstedt at work

Tour stuff

I’m starting to feel a little sweaty, maybe even a little feverish. And no, I’m not talking about Tour fever here. I’m talking about a severe case of hypochondria. Let me digress. For those who haven’t yet picked up the latest issue of VeloNews, you’ll be in for a bit of surprise: I was given artistic license to pen the “What We’re Riding” section. Okay, so expounding about cycling products isn’t exactly artistic, but given my technical prowess, it was a bit of a stretch. While Andrew Juskaitis is our go-to tech writer, I tend to stick to the race coverage and features. But I gave it a

Plus he has to drive, too!

Tour stuff

Nazon takes the sprint ahead of Zabel and McEwen

Armstrong stayed out of trouble again today

But Mayo didn't - he lost big time

And McEwen got the jersey

Voigt and De Groot stayed away for much of the day

COURSE: This twisting course, half in Belgium, half in France,is evocative of the spring classics. It includes sections of the Tour ofFlanders course (the Meerbeke finish line at 42km, and part of the Murde Grammont at 61km) and two sectors of Paris-Roubaix cobblestones at Wandignies (146km) and Gruson (185km). FAVORITES: Should the cobblestones and weather be factors, expecta breakaway with riders like Tom Boonen and Leif Hoste to succeed, especiallywith a technical finale that makes it hard for teams to organize a chase.Otherwise, the 1400-meter-long finish straight should favor

Hincapie powered the move across the cobbles

Lance Armstrong can strike the name of Iban Mayo from his list of major rivals hoping to keep him from a sixth Tour de France victory. The Spaniard lost nearly four minutes after he was involved in a crash during the third stage, which covered 210km from Waterloo, Belgium, to Wasquehal in France. A final podium finish is still possible for Mayo, but he conceded that his hopes of overall victory are now gone. “That is clear,” said Mayo after the stage finish. “I am very sad about what happened, especially for the team rather than me. There were so many nerves out there Tuesday. Then there

Hincapie models the Giro Rev 6

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.Trautwig needs to try listening for a changeEditor:Al Trautwig needs to listen a little more – no, a lot more - and talk less. His producers should squelch his talking over Bobke and maybe monitor the timing of Al's ADD meds a little

What's inside Postal's new lid

INDIVIDUAL - STAGE1. Jean-Patrick Nazon (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, 4:36:452. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 00:003. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Lotto-Domo, 00:004. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Davitamon, 00:005. Kim Kirchen (Lux), Fassa Bortolo, 00:006. Danilo Hondo (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:007. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Ag2R Prevoyance, 00:008. Alessandro Bertolini (I), Alessio-Bianchi, 00:009. Fabio Baldato (I), Alessio-Bianchi, 00:0010. Gutierrez José Enrique (Sp), Phonak, 00:00 11. Michele Scarponi (I), Domina Vacanze, 00:0012. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Rabobank, 00:0013. Laurent Brochard (F), Ag2R Prevoyance,

Lotto's Lazer

Though they are adversaries, Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, and Roberto Heras know there is a time and place to work together for their mutual benefit. When a crash prior to the first section of cobblestones split the field and isolated Iban Mayo, all the other team leaders sent their men to the front to make sure the Spaniard didn’t make it back to the front group. In doing so, they have changed the face of the 2004 Tour de France and significantly damaged Mayo’s chances of challenging for the yellow jersey. While there was definitely a chance that Armstrong or Ullrich could

And what's inside

USA Cycling announced today the team that will represent the United Statesin the discipline of road cycling at this summer’s Olympic Games in Athens.After securing the maximum start positions in both men’s and women’s roadcycling, USA Cycling will be sending a mix of accomplished veterans andtalented newcomers to Athens. Five men and three women will contest theroad race, while two men and two women will also compete in the time trial.Leading the men’s roster is five-time Tour de France winner and 2000Olympic Bronze Medalist, Lance Armstrong (Austin, Texas). Armstrong’swell-documented career

Rabobank's Giro