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Frederick Guesdon leads two teammates through a turn on the first climb.

Euskaltel fans took over one entire climb of today's race. One entire mountain of crazy ... er enthusiastic Basques!

The incredible climb to the summit of Col de Val-Louron-Azet.

The village of Saint-Lary-Soulet below, and the day’s final climb to the Pla d'Adet ski area at the upper left.

Armstrong powering his way up a climb by himself is becoming a familiar sight at this Tour

Jalabert led the charge and then stayed out on his own almost until the end.

And again, it came down to a two-man battle

4:18 p.m. Simon has finished at 13:20 behind Armstrong. He has lost the yellow jersey to the American. 4:14 p.m. Simon is still on the road and the clock has just passed the nine-minute mark. Armstrong has the yellow jersey. 4:12 p.m. We have now passed the 7:00 mark and Simon has more than 2km to go. The yellow jersey will move from Simon to Armstrong today. 4:08 p.m. Beloki and Heras have finished at 1:46 for third and fourth. Garzelli has taken fifth. Jalabert has finished in seventh at 3:06. Cofidis's Kivilev has finished 4:02 behind Armstrong. Simon is stll way down on the

5:19 p.m. – (local time) Felix Cardenas (Kelme) won the 12th stage of the Tour de France, a tough 166.5km mountain stage from Perpignan to Aix les Therme on Friday. It was the first Tour de France victory for 28-year-old Cardenas and the tenth ever for a Colombian rider France's Francois Simon of the Bonjour team holds the overall leader's yellow jersey for the second day. Cardenas came in some 15 seconds ahead of Spaniard Roberto Laiseka and defending Tour champion Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal team who left Telekom's Jan Ullrich in the final 2km. At the finishing line Armstrong

Dutch cyclist Bram de Groot suffered severe concussion after a horrific crash during the 12th stage of the Tour de France from Perpignan to Ax-les-Thermes Friday. A medical source said that the 26-year-old Rabobank rider, who failed to negotiate a bend during the descent from Jau and crashed into a rock before colliding with a security barrier, was in a coma in hospital in Perpignan. Gerard Porte, the Tour de France's chief doctor, said: "Initial scanner and radiograph tests carried out have come back negative. The rider is currently undergoing further examination." "At 1800 (10:00

From the start in Perpignan and on the road to Ax-les-Thermes.

It was windy today (Friday, July 20). At the start (in Perpignon, on the southeastern coast), it was a head-crosswind. The attacks started before first climb. U.S. Postal and even some Bonjour riders took control of the race a bit. With the wind, groups went away, but kept coming back. On first descent, we caught that first group with Vinokourov in it. Despite the course profile, it was pretty uneventful today. We rode this stage once during training. I knew the first climb wasn’t very steep, and I could kind of picture happening what did. The climbs were short and weren’t steep enough to

Simon remains in the yellow jersey - despite losing four minutes today.

The Postal team kept the gaps to a manageable level

Armstrong stayed put for much of the climb to Aix-les-Thermes

Cardenes at the start. And how did Casey know to snap a shot of him? Beats us...but nice work.

This morning Armstrong was presented with a miniature reproduction of the Fabio Casartelli memorial -- a site the race will be passing tomorrow.

Though the stage was in France, the architechture reflects a strong Spanish influence.

And if the architechture wasn't a clue, the flags were a sure sign of who the fans are cheering for..

The flags say it all.

OLN and CBS commentator Jessie Greico shares a moment with George Hincapie. They were teammates on the 1991 world junior team.

For the first week of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong had little to say to the media, usually only a few brief words on leaving the team bus to go to sign-in in the morning, or after the race going from the bus to the car taking him to the team hotel. But after his consecutive stage wins in the Alps, the two-time defending champion spoke at length during the obligatory stage-winner’s press conferences. Among the issues that the U.S. Postal Service leader addressed were the upcoming stages in the Pyrénées, his continued improvement year after year, and his relationship with his former

It had been rumored for some time, and now it’s official: Mountain cross will be contested at the NORBA NCS finals at Mount Snow, Vermont. The four-rider, dual-hybrid event will take place on Sunday, August 19, after the downhill finals. Practice and qualifying is tentatively set for Thursday, August 16. Mountain cross made its primetime debut in March at the Sea Otter Classic and drew mostly rave reviews. At Mount Snow the jumps won’t be quite as big , but that should allow for tighter racing. As he did at Sea Otter, pro downhill/slalom racer Eric Carter will design the course at Mount

On the time trial stages in the Tour de France, journalists have the option of following behind one of the riders to get from the start to the finish of the stage. You might think that on the uphill test to Chamrousse, well, that’s a no-brainer. Follow Lance. Or Ullrich. Or Beloki. Of course, things are never so simple. For one thing, most of us would prefer to get to the pressroom at the finish before those big hitters have started, so that we can monitor their progress all the way up the hill. For another, when you follow the favorites, you get a good view of the team car, a couple of

As I've mentioned in previous years, rest days at the Tour de France are kind of a misnomer. You might think we get to sleep in, drag ourselves to breakfast and then hang out for the day. But as it turns out we do just about everything but rest. For starters, we usually have to make a transfer. Which we did today by plane from the Alps. This meant we got up at the crack of dawn so we could eat breakfast and have our bags packed well before departure time. The flight was an hour long and we arrived in Perpignan in the pouring rain. I don't know if the storm clouds are following us or if

Armstrong about former teammate Livingston: And it’s awkward to see him riding on the front in a pink jersey

Armstrong's dedication to the Tour looks to be paying off.

Drivers on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles give each other more space than what Pradera got from the Cochonou van.

By the top, Pradera even had his right thumb and pinky extended out, cocking his wrist in a drinking motion, hoping to bum yet another water from the crowd.

Yesterday, Armstrong hoped he wouldn't lose two minutes today. He need not have worried.

Credit Agricole's Jonathan Vaughters pulled out the Spinaci for the time trial, too, but he added some Cinelli strap-on elbow pads as well. The Denver native placed a fine 21st place, 4:31 down.

Ullrich is seaching for cycling's equivalent to the wooden stake to help slow Armstrong's push to Paris..

The UCI banned the Cinelli Spinaci and imitations for road racing. But there are still plenty around, and they make an appearance in uphill time trials. Popeye would have popped out the spinach for an uphill time trial, too.

ONCE's Beloki is now fourth on GC, trailing Armstrong by 3:10.

Steffen Kjaergaard took it easy and just used his bike as is, without an aero' bar.

Simon is making the podium a family affair: his brother wore the jersey 2 years ago, and today his daughter joined him.

George Hincapie used the light Mavic SSC SL wheels with a more standard clip-on handlebar obtained through Ritchey.

The start platform in Grenoble.

Stuart O'Grady rode unmarked Mavic carbon Cosmics up to Chamrousse.

Prisoners of passion, or style. Our policy is: don't ask, don't tell.

ONCE's mechanic, like that of Postal, was very thorough and wiped down every tire before the start.

When you have to wade to get your bike, it is not going to be a good day. But things dried out by the start.

Did you know.... that the Mavic neutral-support bikes are Cannondales equipped with Shimano Ultegra parts (and Mavic wheels and derailleurs).

Secret see-through GoreTex (tm) seatcovers? Nay, plastic bags from the produce vendor down the street.

The guy on the right is apparently going to air mail his pants home at the end of the Tour.

A young fan runs alongside CSC -Tiscali's Francisco Cerezo to cheer him on. The boy must have done this with nearly 30 riders.

The view down from the 18 kilometer mark, with the village of Montgardier below and the start in Grenoble in the distance.

6:37 p.m. local timeQuite a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:18 p.m. (local time) -- Armstrong has won by a big margin. Ullrich is a minute down, while the much-feared Kivilev has finished 6:07 behind Armstrong at 1:13:34. 5:14 p.m. (local time) -- It's not over yet, but no one still on the road looks able to challenge the top

Armstrong's bars, built by Louisiana aerodynamics guru John Cobb.

Lance Armstrong had a smile on his face Tuesday evening after becoming the second American, nine years after Andy Hampsten, to win a stage of the Tour de France at L'Alpe d'Huez. In doing so he came within 26 seconds of equaling the record time of 37 minutes 35 seconds for the 14km-long climb set in 1997 by Italian super-climber Marco Pantani. Making such an effort after racing for six hours on a 209km course with more than 17,000 feet of climbing is a phenomenal athletic feat. And if Armstrong is to continue making up time he conceded in the Tour's first nine stages he will have to make a

Kelme's best young rider Oscar Sevilla rides an sloping-top-tube aluminum Look.

More rain. More mountains. More time taken back by Armstrong.

Kelme's Santiago Botero placed seventh up to Chamrousse on this carbon Look equipped with carbon Shimano wheels and an ITM clip-on aero' bar.

Today's uphill time trial was just a day for me to get to the finish fast enough to secure a spot in the remaining stages of the Tour. You never know when you're going to have tired legs, and after yesterday's stage up L'Alpe d'Huez, I wasn't too excited about the time trial...but you don't want to miss the time cut. The stage was somewhat rolling, leading up to an Above Category climb. My plan was to arrive at the climb fresh and ride steady -- but quickly -- to the top of the mountain. Waking up to see rain -- again -- this morning was a bit tiring. The weather is amazing. Not just the

Second-placed Andrei Kivilev of Cofidis could only close 53 seconds on the yellow jersey with this MBK equipped with Campagnolo Bora rear wheel and Nucleon front, while Armstrong got six minutes closer to him.

Here's a look at the bikes prepped in Grenoble for Stage 11. Lance Armstrong's uphill time trial bar was cobbled together by Louisiana aerodynamics guru John Cobb. They featured Profile Carbon-X extensions and hardware of his own making to position the pads out of the way of the hands, and the extensions at the right wrist angle. Note the non-STI left brake lever (he uses a down tube shifter for the front derailleur to save weight on his climbing bike). In the uphill time trial, Armstrong also used Munich-made Lightweight composite wheels, which have carbon-Kevlar spokes and carbon hub

Euskaltel-Euskadi's Roberto Laiseka placed fourth in the time trial without an aero' bar.

Well, folks. We’re looking at a radically altered GC at this point. 1 SIMON François FRA BJR en 45:34:09 2 KIVILEV Andrei KAZ COF at 11:54 3 O'GRADY Stuart AUS C.A at 18:10 4 ARMSTRONG Lance USA USP at 20:07 5 BELOKI Joseba ESP ONC at 21:42 6 MOREAU Christophe FRA FES at 22:21 7 ULLRICH Jan GER TEL at 22:41 8 GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor ESP ONC at 23:34 9 SEVILLA Oscar ESP KEL at 24:07 10 BOTERO Santiago COL KEL at 25:52 11 BOOGERD Michaël NED RAB at 25:58 12 SERRANO Marcos ESP ONC at 26:15 13 MANCEBO Francisco ESP BAN at 27:15 14 JALABERT Laurent FRA CST at 28:06 15 ROUS Didier FRA BJR at 28:40

He's an Aussie fan for sure.

Just shots of fans today...with one exception. They are here in every type and color, and cover every square foot of the climb out of the valley. And many of them have been here for days, camping out in parking lots, lawns, or on the shoulder of the road. Once you see the scenery -- and the peloton -- you can understand why.

This couple had been saving this spot for hours, maybe days, and didn't want to lose it over a little sleep.

When Lance Armstrong rolled away on L’Alpe d’Huez and gained time on his rivals in large gobs, he spun his 39-23 and 39-21 at around 90 RPM. Anyone watching that could see that it is unique in the history of cycling for someone to climb away from the greatest climbers in the world spinning 15-20 RPM faster than any of them as Lance did today as well as in the mountains in 1999 and 2000. It is a simple fact that the 70-75 RPM cadence that Ullrich, Beloki and Moreau were doing behind Lance is completely standard. That’s just the way it has always been done. We watched Ullrich pedal the same

The view from the top of L'Alpe d'Huez.

He has three national champion’s jerseys in the closet already, and Volvo-Cannondale’s Tinker Juarez will be looking to add a new one to the collection in August. Organizers of the 24 Hours of Adrenalin NORBA National Championship race announced Wednesday that Juarez, a two-time Olympian, will compete for the first U.S. solo title at Winter Park, Colorado, August 3-4. Juarez competed at and won his first 24-hour solo race at Laguna Seca, California, in May, and has committed to competing at the Winter Park nationals.

The grouppo climbs through Turn 3 of the 21 hairpins on the way to the top.

Well, I made it. Historically speaking, it's been a long time since I found satisfaction with merely finishing a race, but today, finishing within the time limit was my sole priority today on L'Alpe d'Huez. Once under way, I mentioned to Lance that I'd help as much as I could but he said -- "I'd prefer that you concentrate on finishing". I took his orders to heart. Although I was able to show my face for a little bit at the front of the peloton at the base of the Madeleine. After that, it was all about getting through. The stomach fates are being a little more cooperative. I was still

The human grouppo after the race. It took 45 minutes to reach the top from Turn 3, but it was a very nice ending to an exciting day. Different clubs sang songs as we walked, and someone with an accordion serenaded us as we climbed.

I went around and looked at all of the bikes being ridden in the Tour to see how many riders are using saddles specifically designed to address the issue of male impotency. There is one team in which all of the riders do so. That, of course, would be Festina, which is sponsored by Specialized. All Festina riders use Body Geometry saddles with a deep split in the back and a groove down the middle. Otherwise, I only found two other riders using split saddles. Cardenas of Kelme and Christophe Capelle of BigMat-Auber 93 are using Selle Italia Flite TransAm saddles, which have a slot through the

Armstrong's Trek from Stage 10

Armstrong says he wanted this bad

Ullrich's Pinarello from Stage 10

By the top of L'Alpe d'Huez, Ullrich and Beloki were two minutes back

Robin Williams had Tyler and company laughing before the stage, and found more fans at the finish.

Simon was one of the beneficiaries of Stage 8

Young prologue sensation Florent Brard, like the rest of his Festina Watches team, rides a Specialized Body Geometry saddle

Roux and company left at 6km.

BigMat-Auber 93's Christophe Capelle also rides a Selle Italia Flite TransAm