Road Racing

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

It’s exceptional to have so many leading riders eliminated from the yellow-jersey stakes before reaching the first true mountain stages. But it’s not unknown for potential winners and contenders to crash out of the race in incidents like those on Sunday.

Stage 9 will almost certainly be remembered as one of the Tour’s most bizarre and gut-wrenching.

Alexander Vinokourov and Jurgen Van den Broeck crash out of the 2011 Tour de France.

A mid-race crash helps Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) gain the yellow jersey, Chris Horner leaves the hospital for Mickey D's, and Tejay Van Garderen is the second American to lead the mountains competition.

Cadel Evans, BMC’s hope for Tour de France overall victory, is happy to have this week behind him after watching more than 18 riders drop out of the race, most with serious injuries.

Furious Tour de France organizers threw a television car off the race for striking Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) during a crash-marred ninth stage.

Two stage wins, seven days in yellow, one rider in an ambulance and a lot of torn clothing. In nine days, Garmin-Cervélo has experienced the highs and lows of the rollercoaster that is the Tour de France.

Ben Delaney and Andrew Hood discuss what they say has become the Tour of the Last Man Standing after a crash-filled ninth stage.

Graham Watson was on the job during Sunday's crash-filled ninth stage of the 2011 Tour.

Alberto Contador wound up on the deck in stage 9 after getting tangled up with Vladimir Karpets.

• 1. Luis-Leon Sanchez, Rabobank Cycling Team, 5h 27' 09"
• 2. Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar, at 00:05
• 3. Sandy Casar, Fdj, at 00:13
• 4. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma - Lotto, at 03:59
• 5. Peter Velits, Htc - Highroad, at 03:59

Crashes once again played a decisive role as Thomas Voeckler took the yellow jersey in stage 9 of the 2011 Tour de France on Sunday.

Breakfast with Bernie: Stage 9

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Even if you weren’t one of the 10 riders who abandoned in the first week of this Tour de France, the cuts and bruises sustained in the repeated pileups and crashes continue to hamper many of the 188 survivors.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Casey B. Gibson trains his lenses on the Tour's first foray into the Massif Central.

Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) lit up the roads of France with a thrilling ride in Saturday's eighth stage that confirmed his status as a future grand-tour rider, and the team bosses couldn't be happier with the young rider's performance.

Ben Delaney and Andrew Hood break down the first of two days in the Massif Central.

Sunday’s stage 9 from Issoire to St. Flour is both lengthy (208km) and difficult – with five substantial climbs within 55km of one another. Don’t look for any high-profile GC changes to occur, however, as Contador, Schleck and Evans have again agreed to complete the stage on a three-seat tandem bike.

Ben Delaney chats with Bernie Eisel about how he got into cycling and the joys of the gruppetto.

The first week of the 2011 Tour de France has already been one giant rollercoaster of a ride. With the first chapter of the Tour closing in Chateauroux Friday, and the second chapter beginning in the Massif Central Saturday, we thought it appropriate to take a quick look back. And besides, who doesn’t love a good top-10 list?

SUPER-BESSE, France (VN) ─ Veteran American cyclist Christian Vande Velde knows well what a rollercoaster of luck and fitness the Tour de France can be. He finished fourth overall in the 2008 Tour, 11th in the 2009 Tour and crashed out of the 2010 competition with broken ribs. Well before that, he twice rode on U.S. Postal Service squads that deliver Lance Armstrong to overall victory.

SUPER-BESSE, France (VN) ─ Andreas Klöden is RadioShack's last man standing.

Riding in his first Tour de France, 22-year-old American Tejay Van Garderen went for broke on stage 8, and ended up with the King of the Mountains jersey and the Most Combative prize for his efforts.

Robert Gesink's yellow jersey hopes suffered a blow as the Tour de France peloton completed the first of two consecutive days in the hilly Massif Central Saturday.

SUPER-BESSE, France (VN) ─ Ryder Hesjedal faced the cruel reality of the results sheet Friday evening and admitted the obvious: his GC chances are all but cooked.

Graham Watson was there as the peloton took its first look at the mountains in the 2011 Tour de France.

• 1. Faria Da Costa Rui Alberto, Movistar Team, 4h 36' 46"
• 2. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma - Lotto, at 00:12
• 3. Cadel Evans, Bmc Racing Team, at at 00:15
• 4. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel - Euskadi, at at 00:15
• 5. Peter Velits, Htc - Highroad, at at 00:15

Rui Da Costa (Movistar) won the eighth stage of the 2011 Tour de France just a whisker ahead of classics star Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and BMC captain Cadel Evans.

Under pressure from sponsors accustomed to his now-aging squad’s dominating victories of the past, Radio Shack’s Johan Bruyneel adopted a novel approach to selecting the members of his 2011 TDF squad (average age: 53).

Rain showers and breakaways in the forecast this weekend

The professional team’s association on Friday continued the public debate with the UCI over enforcement of a rule requiring saddles to be horizontal.

CHATEAUROUX, France (AFP) - Belgium's 2005 world road race champion Tom Boonen, injured after crashing on Wednesday, quit the Tour de France during Friday's seventh stage.

CHATEAUROUX, France - Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) says stricter anti-doping rules are making for a cleaner Tour de France this year.

CHATEAUROUX, France (VN) — Riders came across the line in dribs and drabs. The nerves and fatigue of nearly a week of racing showing clearly on the riders' faces. Some survived after dodging another bullet, but others were not so lucky.

CHATEAUROUX, France (VN) — Bradley Wiggins’s Tour de France dreams shattered Friday as he broke his collarbone in a crash on stage 7. A pileup with about 40km to go brought down Team Sky’s GC hope and many others. While most remounted, Wiggins retired from the race into an ambulance.

VIDEO: Stage 7 finish-line analysis — text book delivery for Cav; RadioShack gets dinged up

Tyler Farrar talks about Friday's big crash

Nick Legan pokes around Leopard-Trek's Tour de France support car.

• 1. Mark Cavendish, Htc - Highroad, in 5h 38' 53"
• 2. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre - Isd, at
• 3. André Greipel, Omega Pharma - Lotto, at 00:00
• 4. Romain Feillu, Vacansoleil-Dcm, at s.t.
• 5. William Bonnet, Fdj, at s.t.

Mark Cavendish won Friday's marathon 218-kilometer race from Le Mans to Châteauroux, the last sprinter's stage before the race enters the Massif Central this weekend.

Ben Delaney chats with Bernie about his power numbers

CHATEAUROUX, France (AFP) — Australian Stuart O'Grady has admitted the tough first week of the Tour de France has left him feeling battered and bounced around like a character from a computer game.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

LISIEUX, France (AFP) — French champion Sylvain Chavanel admitted he came close to abandoning the Tour de France on Thursday due to the pain of injuries suffered in the fifth stage.

A 12-year-old German spectator suffered a broken nose after failing to catch the once-in-a-lifetime souvenir tossed to her by Saxo Bank-Sungard leader Alberto Contador during Wednesday’s stage 5. The rider — eager to improve his image amongst increasingly hostile roadside fans — decided to up the ante on the traditional water bottle toss, hurling a $10,000 S-Works Tarmac at the girl as he awaited his team car following the first of two unexpected crashes. The frustrated Spaniard refused questions at the finish, muttering only that “she catches like a little girl.”

10 team workers who make a difference at the Tour

U.S. veterans ride to recovery at the Tour

Ben Delaney chats with Christian Vande Velde soon after the end of Thursday's stage.

Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen won stage 6 of the 2011 Tour de France on Thursday, a 226.5km race from Dinan to Lisieux along the coast of Normandy.

Ben Delaney and Andrew Hood check in after stage 6

LISIEUX, France (VN) — With the real battle of the Tour de France still looming, Leopard-Trek sport director Kim Andersen says the Schleck brothers are trying to stay as quiet as possible in the first hectic week of the race.

LISIEUX, France (VN) — It sounds simple enough. Just stay at the front, and stay out of trouble. Problem is, there are 194 guys all simultaneously trying to be in the front five percent of the field. In this high-speed game of musical chairs, somebody is bound to lose out.

LISIEUX, France (AFP) - British cycling chief Dave Brailsford hailed the unselfishness of Welshman Geraint Thomas as Team Sky finally made history by scoring their first win on the Tour de France.

LISIEUX, France (VN) — Sean Yates was celebrating on two fronts Thursday. On one side, Team Sky won its first-ever Tour de France stage victory with Edvald Boasson Hagen in Thursday's rainy sixth stage. And on the GC front, Bradley Wiggins is picking his way through the first treacherous week of racing in very good position.

LISIEUX, France (AFP) — Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini says Britain's Mark Cavendish is the strongest sprinter in the world, but believes the Tour de France star still has lots to learn.

LISIEUX, France (AFP) — Despite the temptation, Britain's Mark Cavendish is likely put nostalgia to one side when he saddles up for a pop at his second stage win of the Tour de France Friday.

Sylvain Chavanel's Eddy Merckx EMX-5. Why the French champion has a stealth paint job

RadioShack's veteran says Contador still looks strong, but his team may not be

Ben Delaney checks in with HTC's Bernhard Eisel before stage 6.

• 1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky)
• 2. Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad)
• 3. Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo)

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Thor Hushovd is the latest rider to be inspired by the leading the Tour

Dan Wuori is one of the funniest Twitter bards in the cycling world (follow him at @dwuori). This month, he will be expanding a bit beyond 140 characters to share periodic journals during the Tour de France. Today's is the sixth.

CAP FREHEL, France (VN) - The official medical communique of Wednesday's sixth stage at the Tour de France only lists eight names, but the pain and suffering went much deeper than that.

Nick Legan rides Cervelo's new S5 (the same model Mr. Hushovd is using). Plus a look at Hushovd's personal bike.

Training to peak for a key event may be more art than science, but Chris Horner is two-for-two this season.

Cavendish's leadout man talks about the dangerous Tour and Cav's first win of this Tour