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This is wine country, with the early kilometers through the Bordeaux vineyards, followed by the brandy town of Cognac halfway though the stage, and a finish not too far from the muscadet-producing areas of the Loire. The stage is mainly over rolling terrain on small roads, which could favor small breakaway groups. The finish town of St. Maixent-l’École is the smallest of this Tour, with just 8600 residents. 7/25/2003 Start Time: 12:15:00pm7/25/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:20:00pm HISTORYThe Tour has often passed through the Deux-Sèvres department, but only once before did it have a stage

Michael Rogers chats with Aussie journo' Rupert Guinness

Servais Knaven (Quick Step) and nine other riders derailed the sprinters’ chances of snagging another stage win at the Tour de France Thursday as they scampered off in a break just meters from the start of a pancake-flat 180.5km race from Dax to Bordeaux. This city is typically the domain of the fast-twitch men and the last time the Tour came here in 1999, Tom Steels of Belgium took the mass gallop. But this year a 10-man move scooted up the road moments after the start in Dax, and with Austrian Peter Lüttenberger (CSC) the highest-ranked rider (18th, 26:52 back), no one in the main bunch

David Millar

Celebrating another local favorite pastime

North American Riders in boldNorth American Teams in ItalicsIndividual Results from Stage 171. Servais Knaven (Nl), Quick Step-Davitamon, 3:54:232. Paolo Bossoni (I), Caldirola, 00:173. Christophe Mengin (F), FDJeux.com, 00:174. Leon Van Bon (Nl), Lotto-Domo, 00:175. Salvatore Commesso (I), Saeco, 00:176. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Sp), iBanesto.com, 00:177. LÜttenberger Peter (A), CSC, 00:178. Clain Médéric (F), Cofidis, 00:179. Bram De Groot (Nl), Rabobank, 00:1710. Ivan Parra (Col), Kelme - Costa Blanca, 01:5511. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Lotto-Domo, 08:0612. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, 08:0613.

Lance's day at the office

Dear Bob;I don’t know if you can help me, but I am an employee at a large independentbicycle shop in the northwest. I love my job and most of the other employees.But, there is a manager who, after I turned down his offer to go out ona date, has been very vindictive and unfair towards me.What can I do to stop his harassment and what are my rights?L- SeattleDear L,I assume that by large, the shop has more than 15 full-time employees,which qualifies you for protection under both federal and state law againstthis type of sexual harassment. I am not sure exactly what kind of treatmentyou are being

Avoiding the traffic hazards

If there were ever any doubt before, Tyler Hamilton cemented his reputation Wednesday as the toughest man in the world's toughest sport. The 32-year-old New Englander gritted his teeth and rode on the rivet to a spectacular stage victory in Wednesday's deceptively challenging 197.5km mountain stage from Pau to Bayonne. Hamilton shook off lingering pain caused by his fractured right collarbone and held onto a solo breakaway win on what compatriot Floyd Landis called "the toughest stage in this year's Tour."Results are posted Hamilton's victory puts him in elite company – he becomes only

Armstrong had no reason to chase. Vino' did.

New UCI officials' uniform?

North American Riders in boldNorth American Teams in ItalicsResults – Stage 16 – Pau to Bayonne1. Tyler Hamilton (USA), CSC, 4:59:412. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, at 01:553. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Jean Delatour, at 01:554. Luca Paolini (I), Quick Step-Davitamon, at 01:555. Gerrit Glomser (A), Saeco, at 01:556. Bram De Groot (Nl), Rabobank, at 01:557. Marcus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, at 01:558. Sandy Casar (F), FDJeux.com, at 01:559. Fabrizio Guidi (I), Bianchi, at 01:5510. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Credit Agricole, at 01:5511. Christophe Mengin (F), FDJeux.com, at 01:5512. Andy Flickinger (F), Ag2R

Remarkably, the French authorities have yet to arrest our horned-helmet guy for crimes of fashion

Our French is kinda weak: Are they calling Virenque a CheeseBurger?

To see how Stage 16 of the Tour unfolded live, just go to our Live Update window and follow the action all the way to the finish.

Americans at the Tour: Iowa State!

Americans at the Tour: A long way from Alaska

Tyler Hamilton has invited Walter Godefroot to inspect X-rays from his fractured collarbone following the Telekom team manager's claims that the injury had been blown out of proportion. Hamilton, the 32-year-old CSC team leader, has been riding with what was diagnosed as a double fracture of his collarbone since the second day of the Tour de France - a feat which stunned many observers as Hamilton rode valiantly in the Alps and the Pyrénées. Godefroot was recently quoted as saying that Hamilton's injury was "nothing but a cheap American PR stunt," a comment that was immediately raised

Americans at the Tour: Sayin' HEY to the homies at Whole Wheel Velo

You have to be willing to take risks if you want to achieve anything in cycling, or in life. It’s now clear that Tyler Hamilton was not content to languish in seventh place, 9:02 out of the lead, in the 2003 Tour de France. He proved that when he took the race into his own hands during Stage 16 in an effort to get a stage win and move up in the overall classification. On paper, Hamilton’s attack should have been doomed to failure. While he was not a threat to either Lance Armstrong or Jan Ullrich, it would have been hard to imagine that the Euskaltel Euskadi team would let a great time

Americans at the Tour: Captain Saturn

Wow!!!!!Dear Tyler;Awesome ride today!!!!Don't give up on getting even higher up the GC. I won't be surprisedif you can pull back Mayo, maybe Zubeldia, maybe even Vino in Saturday'sTT (stranger things have certainly happened in this Tour!). Take it aseasy as possible and stay out of trouble on Thursday and Friday. Don'tgive up thoughts of that final podium! American cycling fans believe inyou, Bjarne and your team believe in you, your wife and dog certainly believein you.The fans over here want to see Lance get #5 now that it's this closeand he's fought so hard, but nothing would be better

Waiting for the break....

Amid the celebration of what was the most athletic stage win in this year’s Tour, Tyler Hamilton took time out to admit that he made a huge mistake early in the day. Just 10km into the stage, as the peloton sped over the day’s first climb, the Cat. 4 Côte des Crêtes, Radio Tour announced that a group of 20 riders had been dropped. Then came the news that No. 71, Hamilton, was in that group. “I made a mistake, a big mistake,” Hamilton said after the stage. “We went over that Category 4 climb and it was a windy, twisty descent. There were a lot of attacks from the front, and the peloton was

Hey, maybe things really do go better with...

If the Col Bargaguy looked steep on television, it was … plus some. I can honestly say I have never ever climbed up a road as steep as that one – let alone race up it like we did in today’s 16th stage. It felt like we were pedaling up one giant wall forever and ever. We all knew it was a steep climb, but we never expected it to be that steep. I think a lot of riders were really caught out by it today. Me included. I have never ridden so hard on the bike. Although, I heard Tyler Hamilton had trained over it and you can see that the time taken doing that paid off today. One thing I have to

It was just one of those days.We caught a good shot of Tyler on the first climb, just as he attacked. Of course, not being on a motorcycle, our next best option after that was to try and get ahead of him and catch him later on route.On the descent, we got a little off-course and ended up on what could best be described as a goat track... much to the amusement of the locals who kept saying, "No voitures," "No voitures,""No voitures." Okay maybe we should have taken them seriously when they said "no cars."Anyway, we drove like hell for 80km to get back ahead of the peloton and had to negotiate

The last image I will have of Nick Gates in the Tour de France was of him wiping his nose and then dropping his head as we drove past him after 22km of today’s 16th stage. As he pedaled with his shoulders stooped through the green forest lining the road up the Cat. 4 Côte des Crêtes, you could tell that he was right on the brink of abandoning. It was the second time the Australian had been dropped in the stage, the first being on an uncategorized rise soon after the start. He managed to get back on the decent, but…. Seeing riders like Gates suffering and facing the daunting challenge of

Well, what a day this turned out to be. With Paris on the horizon and a day off from racing yesterday, I started letting myself feel a little disappointed about this year's Tour. I had really centered my entire season around my objectives for July. With five stages to go, I knew my initial hopes of finishing on the podium by the end of the race were not going to be realized. I was trying to convince myself that seventh overall with my injuries was still respectable. But part of me was having a little trouble justifying all the suffering I had put myself through since the first stage. Last

Ullrich and Armstrong both seem willing to leave the big showdown until Saturday

Ahh, a rest day. I don’t know about you, but I know I needed that break yesterday. The Pyrenean stages have been exhausting, and I haven’t even left home. Actually, that’s not true, as I’ve sandwiched a move between trips to Bend, Oregon, and the upcoming NORBA in Sand Point, Idaho. Between packing boxes, writing race reports and watching the Tour, there’s hardly been time to do other important things, like eat, sleep and shower. I don’t know about you, but it’s good for me that OLN broadcasts its race footage a dozen times a day. Before I go any further, much respect is due to Jan Ullrich

Postal could take a break of sorts today

Hamilton makes his move

Rogers - This morning... before the war

This is the flattest stage of the Tour and will probably be one of the fastest, with all of the remaining sprinters’ teams anxious to take advantage of one of only two opportunities of success before the final stage into Paris. The stage is made for the sprinters, with long, straight roads through the pine forests of the Landes preceding the dash into the center of Bordeaux. 7/24/2003 Start Time: 12:45:00pm7/24/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:17:00pm HISTORYWhile this is the most frequent Tour stage town after Paris with 77 finishes, Bordeaux — another of the six original 1903 stopovers —

Zabel is still a points jersey contender

A Pau resident shows us the importance of bike handling

On paper, this final mountain stage doesn’t appear to be as challenging as the other three days in the Pyrénées. There are two Cat. 1 climbs, but the last is 87km from the finish in Bayonne. On the other hand, from where the Col du Soudet begins climbing after 51km until the end of the descent of the Col de Burdincurutcheta 80km later, the riders will be on narrow, tortuous back roads with constant ups and downs. The climbs are steep: The Soudet has 15-percent pitches and an average of 7.5 percent for 14km; the Côte de Larrau averages 10.5 percent for 2.4km; and the Col de Bagargui, 9.2

Jan Ullrich may have received a punishing blow from Lance Armstrong on Monday but the Bianchi team leader took it in stride, saying the Tour de France's 15th stage had not been "too negative." "In the past, when Armstrong did his thing in the mountains, I would lose two minutes,” Ullrich said. “I only lost one minute this time. So that's not too negative." Ullrich, who had upset the four-time Tour winner in the Gaillac to Cap'decouverte time trial last Friday, finished third in Monday’s stage to Luz-Ardiden , 40 seconds behind the American and now trails him by 1:07 overall. "I'm a little

Cofidis team leader David Millar has vowed to continue riding the Tour de France - at least until Bayonne - despite a serious chest cough which has virtually halted his progress in the race. After Tuesday's rest day in Pau, the Tour continues with the 16th stage on Wednesday - a 197.5km ride from Pau to Bayonne over six Pyrénéan climbs, two of which are rated Category 1. Millar had been going well up until stage 13 when he lost over nine minutes on the first Pyrénéan stage from Toulouse to Ax Trois Domaines. However it was on the 14th stage from St Girons to Loudenvielle over six difficult

The contenders for the green jersey will certainly be among the 151 still left on the Tour de France looking forward to Tuesday's rest day. With Aussie Baden Cooke still in the green jersey and compatriot Robbie McEwen still trying to get hold of it, a day of relaxing and some light training will help the two rivals recharge their over-used batteries. "Two days ago I had a fairly bad day. It's not really how difficult the days are supposed to be. It's how you feel - but I did have a few bad days there," Cooke told AFP after the eventful 15th stage won by U.S. Postal’s Lance

Lourdes. If ever a place has been so steeped in Tour de France tradition, but officially visited by the race so few times, it has got to be this Catholic pilgrim city in the Pyrénées. It seems that no matter where the Tour goes, I am forever returning to Lourdes: its centrality in the Pyrénées makes it an ideal and easy-to-get-to place after nearby mountain stages. And when I do, it never seems to change: same drab hotels, same masses of humanity walking in search of blessings, miracles and hope, and same wafting sense of bleakness from the general public mood to the overcast and humid

Although the weather at the Tour has changed from blazing hot to cloudy and humid, the tactics at the race are likely to continue in their aggressive fashion on Wednesday. You can never predict what will happen next. There have had crashes that have eliminated pre-race favorites like Joseba Beloki and Levi Leipheimer, and handicapped another, Tyler Hamilton. And there have been unexpectedly strong performances by Bianchi’s Jan Ullrich, Telekom’s Alex Vinokourov, and the Euskaltel pair Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia. On Wednesday, the two riders from the Basque Country will get a chance for

The Tour de France is an exhausting event for everyone involved. It’s obvious the riders could use a break after racing for two weeks, but this short rest is also important for the journalists, the support crews and the thousands of people who make this three-week traveling circus run smoothly. The brief lull in the action is just the relief everyone needs to make the final push to Paris. Just as on the first rest day, the riders will go out for a two-plus hour ride today to keep their legs fresh and maintain the routines their bodies have become accustomed to. This is even more important

Several sharp-eyed viewers noticed that Lance Armstrong was riding what appeared to be a standard team-issue 5900 Superlight during Monday's stage to Luz-Ardiden. When VeloNews contacted Trek to inquire as to why Armstrong was not riding that nifty new Madone 5.9 and instead riding what appeared to be 2003 technology, spokesman John Riley informed us that Armstrong was actually riding another all-new 2004 Trek bike. The bike on which Armstrong won Monday's tumultuous stage was, in fact, a much-updated 2004 Trek 5900 Superlight. Riley said the new bike takes carbon fiber construction to the

OVERALL STANDINGS after Stage 151. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal Service, 65:36:232. Jan Ullrich (G), Bianchi, 01:073. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Telekom, 02:454. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 05:165. Iban Mayo (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 05:256. Ivan Basso (I), Fassa Bortolo, 08:087. Tyler Hamilton (USA), CSC, 09:028. Christophe Moreau (F), Credit Agricole, 11:129. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), iBanesto.com, 16:0510. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 16:1211. Denis Menchov (Rus), iBanesto.com, 17:0912. Georg Totschnig (A), Gerolsteiner, 18:5213. Manuel Beltran (Sp), U.S. Postal Service,

The Tour de France collected its breath Tuesday after a string of spectacular stages through the Pyrénées. One more hard stage remains on tap in the mountains Wednesday before a string of rolling stages winding north toward Nantes and Saturday's time trial clash between Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong in the Tour's penultimate stage. Armstrong on the riseThe mood was buoyant at U.S. Postal's team hotel in Pau during Tuesday's rest day. The team went for a 70km training ride and otherwise enjoyed a relaxing day away from the pressures of the Tour. Team spokesman Jogi Mueller said Armstrong

'Well, I tried,' said Ullrich of his attack on the Tourmalet.

Ullrich avoided the crash, but refused to attack

Tour Tech - What was Lance riding?

Alexander Vinokourov saw his Tour de France chances severely dented when he finished more than two minutes behind dfending champion Lance Armstrong in the 15th stage on Monday. The Kazakh lies third overall, 2:45 behind Armstrong, but he has vowed to keep fighting and wished his former Telekom team chief Jan Ullrich good luck. "The last climb was very hard," he said of the 13.5 km ride from the foot of the mountain to Luz-Ardiden. "But it was even worse on the Tourmalet," added Vinokourov, who was dropped on the way to the renowned Pyrénées summit, the penultimate climb of the day.

Fans and bikes on Col d'Aspin

Tour Tech - Jan's bike

The view from the Col d'Aspin

Well, whatever happens between here and the Tour de France finish in Paris on Sunday, I know for sure that I won’t go home empty handed. It has been a successful Tour for the Quickstep-Davitamon team. As of today, we have managed to win the most prize money of any team: 48,597 Euros. That has come from virtually securing the King of the Mountains title for Richard Virenque who has also won one stage in the Alps and hauling Paolo Bettini into third place in the same competition. To top it off, I’ve got a new nickname now, thanks to Richard. He calls me “Scooter” because he reckons I’m like