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Stages 17 and 18 of the 2003 Tour de France have been destined to be battles between the sprinters and the opportunists. The point jersey competition is now extremely close, and the opportunists are running out of days to get a stage win, so today’s attack from the start line made sense. Over 180 kilometers later, the opportunists triumphed over the sprinters and Servais Knaven won his first Tour stage in much the same fashion he won Paris Roubaix a few years ago. Tomorrow is another flat stage, and the sprinters’ teams are not likely to be outfoxed again. With the Tour de France as close

This one started early and stayed away

Giro d’Italia winner Gilberto Simoni has signed a two-year extension to his contract with Saeco until 2005, his team announced in Bordeaux on Thursday. The 31-year-old Italian has twice won the Giro (2001 and 2003) but has encountered a somewhat more challenging Tour de France campaign this year. Simoni, after struggling through the Alps and Pyrenean stages, finally got his act together to win the 14th stage to Loudenvielle on Sunday. His teammate Dario Pieri, who finished second in this year's Paris-Roubaix one-day classic, also signed a new two-year deal.Copyright AFP2003

Armstrong had a day in which a good lunch was a primary concern

Dear VeloNews;What I want to know is, was Team Telekom really hurting that bad, whenthey tried for more than sixty kilometers to reel Tyler Hamilton in, orwas this just another German/American ploy to garner more publicity forTyler Hamilton's 'bogus' injury?Jerry Jensen,Ogden, Utah Quitters never win…Editors;Irony: Ivan Basso losing his sixth place on GC because he has no teammatesto chase down Tyler Hamilton.Any chance anyof the Fasso Bartollo guys who bailed were suffering HALFas much as Tyler was during that first week? Of course, Tyler toughed itout to "help his team".UnbelievableNeil

Knaven tries his luck

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

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

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?

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

George and Frankie talk before the stage

The anticipated carnage began as soon as the stage 15 rolled out from Bagnères-de-Bigorre, just as the race rose up steeply for 1.5km to the aptly named Haute de la Côte. Virtually the first thing we heard in our car on Radio Tour — besides “top, départ donné,” to signal the official start — were the numbers of three riders “en difficulté” and that the speeding peloton was in one long line, indicating a very fast start to the day. The stage was barely a little over an hour old — 1:13 p.m. to be precise — when the first abandon was announced. That was number 52, Italian Leonardo Bertagnolli

... Armstrong and Mayo recover...

Roadside Pyrenees climb

...Mayo goes down, Ullrich avoids...

Village food

Sure, we've all looked at every square millimeter of Lance Armstrong's Trek by now, but what is his main rival riding at this Tour? Jan Ullrich's Bianchi EV3 is based on the production model EV3 that is available in shops, but as you might guess, it differs slightly from its commercial counterpart. Jan Ullrich’s EV3 features an oversized downtube and somewhat more-swaging on the toptube and seattube for improved aerodynamics. Custom built, Ullrich’s EV3 sports a 56.5cm seattube with a 58cm toptube. A CNC-machined headtube houses an FSA integrated headset, while the forged bottom bracket

John Lieswyn celebrates after winning at Bensonville

What every gas station in France stocks, oil and wine

My apologies for the lag in getting an update out. I've been a little tapped the last few nights. This feels like the fifth week of the Tour de France for me, not the third. Most GC riders spend the first week of the race laying low, conserving energy. But I feel like I've been on the rivet since the get-go. Adrenaline and disbelief probably got me through the first ten stages of the race. But all the effort to keep going has taken its toll. And as a result the Pyrénées have been a bigger challenge than I would have liked. Today's stage started out with a two-kilometer climb from the gun.

... and back to the front.

Freddy heads home