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Thursday stage in the Pyrénées went over some pretty bighills, including the Col d’Aubisque, this year’s first hors-categorieclimb (that translates to "above-category" in English). It’s a climb thatbegins in a beautiful green valley and soon climbs up the mountainsideto the east, past a line of giant pine trees, including what looked likeone or two redwoods. The Aubisque then slaloms its way up a V-shaped side valley, makes asharp turn at the ski resort of Gourette before heading above the treeline on a narrow road that commands wide views of some of the rockiestpeaks in this part of France.

Frankie Andreu - Man on the scene

I had hoped today was going to be an opportunity for our team to finally show its true strength. Personally, I had goals of doing something special, but none of it was meant to be. I didn't have the extra, little bit of snap you need to be at the front at the finish. By the end of today's stage I had lost about 3 minutes. Luckily I was able to hang in and limit my losses. But my disappointment was nothing in the grand scheme of things. On a competitive note, it was tough to see Laurent come so close to winning another stage. If only the race had ended, say, five kilometers before it did.

Coach

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

The first sign of the Pyrénées

On Thursday afternoon, a U.S. Postal rider charged up the switchbacks toward a stark Pyrenean peak during stage 11 of the Tour de France. The mountain air on the Cat. 1 climb to La Mongie was cooler than it had been in the approaching valley, and the white clouds that closed in on the barren peaks seemed close enough to touch. Down in the trenches, however, on the cracked and painted pavement, it was hot as hell. The rider was George Hincapie, and the setting was a world away from that other place where Hincapie thrives: the cold, dreary and mostly cobbled world of the spring classics. Both

The road to the Aubisque

Economy of energy has been among the main topics of conversation between Lance and me over the past few months. We want to make sure Lance uses his maximum power at times when he has the most to gain from his effort. It is wasteful to expend extreme amounts of energy in situations where he might gain only a few seconds as a result. The final climb of Stage 11 was hard, but not terribly steep. Roberto Heras’s blistering pace shattered the race within seconds of his arrival at the front of the lead group. Nearly ten of the world’s best climbers were dropped in the first 500 meters of his

The climber's jersey changed ... uhhh .. hands today.

Life on the Tour de France was looking pretty grim for the little known French rider Christophe Oriol as he slowly rolled out with the bunch for today's first mountain stage in the Pyrénées. He had every right to feel a little down. Four crashes in the first week. A seriously bashed right hand, bruised and cut legs. And plenty of time off the back. Plenty. “I hurt my hand, legs and coccyx. Then I had a lot of trouble just following the pack. I simply haven't had any force,” explained Oriol with a smile of disbelief. Little wonder. So much time did he lose, that by today's 12th stage from

That last grind to the finish

Beloki couldn't respond when Armstrong went for the line.

On the road to La Mongie. You think these guys were treated to a show today?

The fifth man. In any Tour de France car he is welcome. So long as he pays his bills and in doing so makes our share a little less. So long as he offers to buys the first drinks at night when we reach our hotel. So long as he is grateful for our company. And grateful too for being rather useful. At times. But he is definitely not welcome when he can't find a car to go with the next day. When he leaves everyone else cramped with knees up to their chins and elbows tucked to their sides like not-so-little chickens in a coop. Not every car has a fifth man, though. Wise choice. I reckon on days

The starting village in Bazas

With half of his first Tour de France in the rearview mirror, Rabobank team leader Levi Leipheimer says bring on the mountain stages. After an uneventful Stage 10 ride on Wednesday that saw him finish with the main group, 3:57 behind solo winner Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour), Leipheimer talked about the first real mountain test on Thursday — as well as what he thinks might be an even more interesting day in the Pyrénées on Friday. “I think of all the mountain stages, it’s probably the least critical,” Leipheimer said of Thursday’s stage 11, which finishes with a Category 1 climb atop La

The Global Market- German hat, French kids and American mouse.

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

His brother may be leading, but Aitor Gonzalez de Galdeano has had enough.

Okay, I made my original predictions about the Tour de France way back in the beginning of May. Some of them are coming true and some aren't. Which is about the same thing my broker is telling me right now. Anyhow… I figured that midway into the Tour would be a good time to let the world know of my revised thoughts on the 2002 Tour. First off, Lance Armstrong is still going to win the Tour de France. Yeah, yeah, I know, he lost the first time trial, and honestly I think he is getting a little slower in TT's. I think he feels that way too. I know because when I spoke to him in the

Two reasons why McEwen has the points jersey

Today’s blistering pace (52 kph for the first two hours of racing) is going to affect everyone’s preparedness for tomorrow’s mountain stage. Much of Stage 10 was ridden faster than the team time trial, and even in the draft, 50+ kph is a hard pace to maintain. ONCE spent a long time sitting on the front of the peloton this afternoon, which is beneficial to Lance and the Postal Service. Regardless of how much work ONCE did today, the team will be aggressive tomorrow on the Col d’Aubisque and La Mongie. Several men will be anxious to fire the first shot in the battle for climbing supremacy.

According to a press release issued Wednesday by Threshold Sports, Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini will not compete in the inaugural New York City Cycling Championship after all. Despite receiving a signed engagement contract from Cipollini’s team manager on July 9, 2002, organizers of the New York event were notified on Wednesday that Cipollini’s sudden retirement announcement meant that his New York appearance would be canceled. "While we can try to enforce his contract, we can’t make him ride his bike if he doesn’t want to," said David Chauner, president of Threshold Sports, the

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano

ONCE put in most of the chase effort.

McEwen

Armstrong looking forward to the moutains.

'The Russian Concussion'

5:10 p.m. McEwen wins the field sprint and takes over the green points jersey, beating Baden Cooke and Erik Zabel to the line. 5:05 p.m. Halgand wins! Pineau takes the sprint for second! 5:04 p.m. With 1km to go, Halgand is still flying. He's got the stage win. 5:03 p.m. With 2km to go, Halgand has it in the bag. He's got a 20-second advantage over the three chasers. 4:59 p.m. Race radio gives the Jean Delatour rider an advantage of 12 seconds over the three chasers, with 4km to go. 4:55 p.m. Halgand is still out there with a 100-meter advantage with 5km to go. He could be the first

Hilton Clarke

Overall Tour de France leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will not be punished for failing a drugs test. it was announced in Pau Wednesday by leading cycling administrator Daniel Baal. However, Dr Alain Garnier, who heads the Lausanne bureau of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), told the French wire service AFP that the rider's regular use of asthma medicine should not normally return as high a reading as was reported. Gonzalez de Galdeano, who has been in the yellow jersey since last Thursday, gave a reading of 1360 nanograms of Salbutamol per milliliter of urine following the sixth stage.

Andy Crater

Overall Tour de France leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will not be punished for failing a drugs test. it was announced in Pau Wednesday by leading cycling administrator Daniel Baal. However, Dr Alain Garnier, who heads the Lausanne bureau of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), told the French wire service AFP that the rider's regular use of asthma medicine should not normally return as high a reading as was reported. Gonzalez de Galdeano, who has been in the yellow jersey since last Thursday, gave a reading of 1360 nanograms of Salbutamol per milliliter of urine following the sixth

Leipheimer: “It’s a long race”

A seven-year-old boy died Wednesday after being hit by a vehicle that was part of the advertising caravan of the Tour de France, emergency workers said. The accident took place 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) into the Tour's 10th stage, a 147-kilometer ride from Bazas to Pau, at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains in southwestern France. The boy, who was a native of the region, was trying to cross the road in Le Poteau, near the town of Retjons, when the accident occurred. His grandmother was waiting on the other side. Preliminary investigations indicated that the boy had run away from his

We don't understand the significance of the whale, but they're around at the Tour this year.

I feel like we've kind of earned our first rest day here at le Tour 2002. No matter how many times you start this race, the first week is always a shock to the system. First, there's the stress of entering the world's most talked about bike race. Then there's that second nagging element that lingers in the back of every rider's mind. Bad luck can curse you at any moment during the first week. Folks always say the Tour doesn't start until the roads rise up toward the heavens. But it's also true that your Tour can surely end in the first week if you are in the wrong place at the wrong

The first rest day of the Tour de France is a good time to reflect on the first week of the race, and look ahead to the challenges ahead. Lance Armstrong emerged from the first week relatively unscathed. He was involved in one minor crash, his first since coming back to the Tour in 1999. The Stage 9 time trial didn’t go as well as planned, but everything is looking good as the race heads into the mountains later this week. Lance’s average heart rate during Stage 9 was not as high as it usually is for a long sustained effort of that type. He usually maintains an average of 186-188 bpm during

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton. Today, Gibson proved that you can't always tell the quality of the team by the size of its bus.

Fans of America’s first three-time Tour de France winner, Greg LeMond, will be able to see him on television and hear him on radio for the next couple of days as he begins a media swing through New York to discuss bike racing, the Tour de France and the upcoming Saturn Cycling Classic in Colorado. Starting Wednesday morning, LeMond will appear on NBC’s Today show to generate interest in American cycling, including the Colorado race, where he has signed on to be the official starter at the August 10 event. The Saturn Cycling Classic is, with some justification, being touted as the toughest

Any way you look at it, Stage 9 was a close one.

Gonzalez de Galdeano - How long in yellow?

The caravan has company -- for a stretch.

CSC-Tiscali

Domo-Farm Frites

Kelme

Lotto

Telekom

If you were left scratching your head after Monday’s stage of the Tourde France, bewildered by the closeness of the 52km time trial, you weren’talone. After extensive research, VeloNews has ascertained that this was the closest result in a “long” time trial since the individual raceagainst the clock was introduced to the Tour in 1934. Never before havesix riders finished within a minute of the stage winner — and it mighthave been seven if Tyler Hamilton hadn’t flatted with about 12km to go. The closest that any previous Tour time trial of more than 50km hascome was in 1988, when four men

If there is one day on the Tour de France when you wish you were a rider, it’s a day like this Tuesday. Officially it is a rest day. In reality, it is anything but, unless you are a rider who is whisked from one region to another in the luxury of a jet plane — or a reporter who manages to talk their way on to one of the two Tour charter flights. Tuesday's transfer was from Brittany to Bordeaux. The riders? They flew out from Lorient during the morning in, one plane leaving at 9.50 a.m., the other at 10 a.m. Our transfer began some 10 hours earlier, the night before, as we left Lorient for

The dust was still settling a day after Lance Armstrong’s narrow defeatin Monday’s 52km individual time trial. The 182 riders remaining in the2002 Tour de France flew down to Bordeaux on two chartered airplanes whileeveryone else – mechanics, journalists and hangers-on – made the 500kmdrive by autoroute from Lorient. Most teams went on an afternoon training ride after the trip down. Armstrong’sU.S. Postal Service team went on a two-hour ride for about 80 kilometers.Riders idled away the afternoon, taking naps and relaxing as much as possible. Following Wednesday’s transition stage to Pau,

Leipheimer

Hamilton's flat cost him time.

Should Mangeas stop singing Richard's praises?

Armstrong: '...not a super day, but it was not a terrible day'

Grabbing prime real estate is important in any stage.

Young fans line up early, too.

5:25 p.m. Colombian Santiago Botero won the 52km time-trial between Lanester and Lorient. Defending Tour champion Lance Armstrong came in 10 seconds behind Botero. Spain's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano retained the overal leader's yellow jersey. Sergei Gontchar of the Ukraine was third in a time-trial that saw six riders separated by just 30 seconds. 1. Santiago Botero (Col), KEL, at , 52 km in 1hr 02min 18sec (average: 50.080 kph, at 2. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at at 00:11. 3. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), FAS, at 00:18. 4. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa), ONE, at 00:19. 5. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), MAP,

The view from the course.

The Belgian flooring manufacturer Quick Step plans to maintain its cycling sponsorship despite co-backer Mapei's decision to pull out at the end of the season. Mapei announced the end of a decade's sponsorship in cycling last month, the building company blaming lack of progress in cleaning up the sport's tarnished image. Quick Step spokesman Philiep Caryn told the Belgian news agency Belga they were seeking to continue their involvement with an as yet unnamed Belgian company. Caryn reported: "We've already got a number of riders under contract -- the main ones being Tom

Go Floyd Go!

It's confirmed, the world will end soon, as Lance finished second. Look at the evidence folks: The stock market is crashing, wildfires are burning everywhere, nuclear tensions, terrorists’ threats and now Lance Armstrong has finished second in an individual time trial at the Tour de France. The world is clearly coming to a premature close, so make sure you're wearing clean underwear. Never mind that finishing second in a Tour TT is a miracle in itself, for a guy who had ten pounds of tumors in his body just a little while ago. Even so, I have to say I was surprised to see Lance get beaten.

Botero!

A travesty is occurring at the Tour de France. And it needs fixing quick. Every day, Tour riders are introduced by race speaker Daniel Mangeas as they step up to sign on for the stage. And on time trials like Monday's 52km ninth stage from Lanester to Lorient in Brittany, the commentary is taken up again as they approach and cross the finish line. Every time, Mangeas announces the riders' names to the waiting crowd along with their palmarès - or achievements - to much loud applause and cheers. It is meant to be a fitting gesture, aimed to arouse the crowd and boost the Tour's atmosphere and

Miss Bretagne presented Millar with the best young rider jersey today.

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Tour Tech - Stage 9 - The importance of being aero' II

Before your heart sinks too far, let me tell you something: Lance is fine. No, he didn’t win the time trial; and no, he isn’t wearing yellow yet. On the other hand, he is closer to the lead than he was yesterday and the hardest portion of the Tour is yet to come. So what happened today? Santiago Botero and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano rode brilliantly, and Lance rode reasonably well. I don’t think anyone should look at today’s result as a failure on Lance’s part, nor as a chink in his armor. He will be a formidable and aggressive force on the hardest mountain stages coming later this week and

Tour Tech - Stage 9 - The importance of being aero' II

Lance Armstrong rode a good time trial – downright great for anyone but him – and put himself in a perfect position for the upcoming mountain stages. The question is, was he doing some aerodynamic sandbagging or just not having a great day? And what’s with the guy on the road bike with no helmet beating him? On this pivotal stage, Armstrong eschewed his super-fast time trial suit with long sleeves and integrated gloves in favor of a short-sleeved suit. He once again used his new one-off flat Deda aluminum integrated stem/aero’ bar. His rear disc appeared not to be a Mavic, although it was

He was on the juice. Should he be in our hearts?

Botero

Baldwin (Navigators), Lieswyn (7UP/NutraFig), Fisher (Saturn), and Peters (Prime Alliance) gaining time on the rest of the field.

The power of yellow - Gonzalez Galdeano rose to the occasion

Small village, long walk.

Jonnier was a close second.

Layers of fans.

Peat donned a skinsuit for the first time — and it worked.