Road Racing

Mavic's new aero wheels feature a smooth transition from rim to tire.

Bjarne Riis and Alberto Contador faced down a sometimes-skeptical media mob Thursday ahead of Saturday's Tour de France where Contador will line up as defending champion with an asterisk.

Fabian Cancellara will be ready to take on the Tour's time trials with a new Trek Speed Concept TT bike.

A look at Andy Schleck's Trek Madone 6 series SSL. Is it a Tour winner?

A part-time soigneur with American squad BMC Racing was arrested Monday in connection with an 18-month investigation into performance enhancing drugs in Belgium. Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad reported that “Sven S., of Zonnebeke” was taken into custody by a magistrate earlier this week after a search of his home uncovered syringes and other doping equipment.

LES HERBIERS, France — Bradley Wiggins enters the 2011 Tour de France a dramatically different man than the one who showed up last year.

LES HERBIERS, France — Jonathan Vaughters couldn't hold back his smile Thursday as he discussed the Garmin-Cervélo lineup for the 2011 Tour de France.

Cav on VeloNews.com's Tour de France video diarist Eisel: “He’s one of the few people who can tell me to shut up”

LES HERBIERS, France — In a survey of 94 Tour de France team managers and riders conducted by L’Équipe on Tuesday, only three mentioned Levi Leipheimer as a potential podium pick. The two American veterans say they are ready to upset the odds

The company 110% PlayHarder is fusing compression gear with the good old ice pack

The 98th edition of the Tour de France begins on Saturday. Although riders from the host country have not won an edition of the Tour since 1985, France continues to hold the record for the number of wins by a two-to-one margin.

Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) lines up Saturday as an outsider for overall victory in a Tour de France that most expect to see as a battle between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador.

Readers chime in on the UCI's technical rules — would the world be better off with no UCI?

Inside the Selle Italia factory

Cervelo will debut its new S5 aero road bikes at the first stage of this year’s Tour de France, on Saturday.

Andy Schleck returns to the Tour de France this week with the weight of being the twice-consecutive runner-up.

Former Silence-Lotto rider Wim Vansevenant has acknowledged that a package seized by customs officials two weeks ago contained doping products destined for him.

PARIS, (AFP) ─ Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme said he will shake the hand of reigning champion Alberto Contador despite a controversy which has left the race in an unprecedented quandary.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

• Tom Danielson
• Julian Dean
• Tyler Farrar
• Ryder Hesjedal
• Thor Hushovd
• David Millar
•  Ramunas Navardauskas
• Christian Vande Velde
• David Zabriskie

Giant introduces a bevy of new features in its 2012 road bike line. Nick Legan gives his take.

Last year’s Tour de France was headlined by a mountaintop finish on the Col du the Tourmalet (won by Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck over Spain’s Alberto Contador) to mark the centennial of the Tour’s first crossing of the Pyrénées. This year’s race, starting on Saturday, celebrates 100 years of racing through the High Alps, culminating with a stage to the top of the Col du Galibier — which, at 8,678 feet (2,645 meters) elevation, will be the highest stage finish in Tour history.

Brim Brothers has taken another step toward releasing a cleat-based power meter

• Tom Danielson
• Julian Dean
• Tyler Farrar
• Ryder Hesjedal
• Thor Hushovd
• David Millar
• Johan Vansummeren
• Christian Vande Velde
• David Zabriskie

Blue Cycles refines its aero bikes

• Pavel Brutt
• Denis Galimzyanov
• ,Vladimir Gusev
• Mikhail Ignatyev
• Vladimir Isaychev
• Vladimir Karpets
• Alexander Kolobnev
• Egor Silin
• Yuriy Trofimov

Brent Bookwalter is headed this week to his second Tour de France on the Vendée coast in western France. He talked with VeloNews about the pressure of entering the season with the Tour on his schedule, BMC Racing teammate George Hincapie’s record-tying 16th Grande Boucle and his recovery from a broken collarbone suffered in April.

Pause for a moment and ask yourself, how do you feel about Alberto Contador?

“I won two races, one on the road and another in the hotel,” Contador said.

Brian Nygaard, team manager at Leopard-Trek, promises that the Schleck brothers will be attacking in the Tour de France and especially aggressive in the high mountains.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Team Europcar for Tour de France

• Anthony Charteau (F)
• Cyril Gautier (F)
• Yohann Gene (F)
• Vincent Jerome (F)
• Christophe Kern (F)
• Perrig Quemeneur (F)
• Pierre Rolland (F)
• Sebastien Turgot (F)
• Thomas Voeckler (F)

Pierrick Fédrigo, a three-time Tour de France stage-winner, told his bosses at FDJ he's not up to racing this year's grande boucle.

2011 Tour de France preliminary startlist

Max Korus (BikeReg.com-Cannondale) won the elite men's road race in a two-up dash to the line on Sunday at the USA Cycling national championships at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

Robin Farina (NOW-Novartis) beat Andrea Dvorak (Colavita-Forno d'Asolo) by a wheel to win the USA Cycling elite women's road race on Sunday at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

HTC-Highroad for the Tour de France

• Bernhard Eisel (A)
• Mark Cavendish (GB)
• Matt Goss (Aus)
• Mark Renshaw (Aus)
• Tony Martin (G)
• Peter Velits (Slv)
• Lars Bak (Dk)
• Danny Pate (USA)
• Tejay Van Garderen (USA)

Rob Squire and Jacob Rathe went one-two in the under-23 men's road race on Saturday at the USA Cycling national championships in Augusta, Georgia.

One of the most impressive items that Giant has launched for the 2012 model year is its new WheelSystem.

The rumors were already being whispered during this year's Giro d'Italia that flamboyant race director Angelo Zomegnan might be leaving the race.

Here's a chance to see how the new Ultegra Di2 might look on your bike.

What do UCI WorldTour teams do with team cars after races outside of Europe such as the Tour of California or the Tour down Under?

This year’s Tour field boasts a deep wealth of Yankee talent, including a top sprinter, a quartet of potential top-5 finishers, one of the sport’s most promising young riders, and a star-crossed veteran who will be starting his record-tying 16th Grand Boucle.

Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) says returning to the winner's circle will be his top priority when he lines up for his first Tour de France following a few tumultuous seasons marked by injury and controversy.

The UCI issued a warning Thursday advising teams and riders that several blood samples are undergoing expert scrutiny in advance of the Tour de France to determine whether blood doping or other forms of manipulation have taken place.

The new Ridley FB features integrated braking, but you better move fast if you want one.

Alberto Contador will take aim at the Spanish national title this weekend in both the road race and time trial events.

Vacansoleil team for the Tour de France

• Romain Feillu (F)
• Borut Bozic (SLO)
• Marco Marcato (I)
• Thomas De Gendt (B)
• Bjorn Leukemans (B)
• Johnny Hoogerland (Nl)
• Wout Poels (Nl)
• Lieuwe Westra (Nl)
• Rob Ruijgh (Nl)

Omega-Pharma for the Tour de France

• Gilbert Philippe (B)
• Andre Greipel (G)
• Sebastian Lang (G)
• Jurgen Roelandts (B)
• Marcel Sieberg (G)
• Jurgen van den Broeck (B)
• Jurgen van de Walle (B)
• Jelle Vanendert (B)
• Frederik Willems (B)

Ryder Hesjedal will start his fourth career Tour de France under very different circumstances than the previous three editions following his break-out seventh place in 2010.

Team Sky for Tour de France

• Bradley Wiggins (GB)
• Geraint Thomas (GB)
• Ben Swift (GB)
• Juan Antonio Flecha (Sp)
• Rigoberto Urán (Col)
• Xabier Zandio (Sp)
• Simon Gerrans (Aus)
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor)
• Christian Knees (G)

A commuter bike that glows, why didn’t I think of that?

Please no wagering ...

Saxo Bank-Sungard for Tour de France

• Alberto Contador (Sp)
• Jesus Hernandez (Sp)
• Dani Navarro (Sp)
• Benjamin Noval (Sp)
• Richie Porte (Aus)
• Chris Anker Sørensen (Dk)
• Nicki Sørensen (Dk)
• Matteo Tosatto (I)
• Brian Vandborg (Dk)

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Levi Leipheimer insists there will be no leadership battles within RadioShack during the upcoming Tour de France despite the team having as many as four riders capable of riding for GC.

Enve's new compact carbon handlebar.

RadioShack for the Tour de France:

• Jani Brajkovic (Slo)
• Chris Horner (USA)
• Markel Irizar (Sp)
• Andreas Klöden (G)
• Levi Leipheimer (USA)
• Dmitriy Muravyev (Kz)
• Sérgio Paulinho (P)
• Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
• Haimar Zubeldia (Sp)

The German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are refusing to broadcast the race live on German TV for the second year in a row in protest of what they say is too much doping in the sport. German fans will be able to watch the race via the cable channel Eurosport, however, which will broadcast the 21-stage race live across all of Europe.

The first week of this year's Tour features something for everyone

Danielson primed for Tour

Rabobank for Tour de France:

• Robert Gesink (Nl)
• Luis León Sánchez (Sp)
• Carlos Barredo (Sp)
• Juan Manuel Garate (Sp)
• Bauke Mollema (Nl)
• Laurens ten Dam (Nl)
• Lars Boom (Nl)
• Maarten Tjallingii (Nl)
• Grischa Niermann (G)

More questions about crank length and why Andy Schleck dropped his chain, again.

Quick Step for the Tour de France:

• Tom Boonen (B)
• Sylvain Chavanel (F)
• Gerald Ciolek (G)
• Kevin De Weert (B)
• Dries Devenyns (B)
• Addy Engels (Nl)
• Jerome Pineau (F)
• Gert Steegmans (B)
• Niki Terpstra (Nl)

Nick Legan's Harvey Rapha Continental bike

Euskaltel-Euskadi for Tour de France:

• Samuel Sánchez (Sp)
• Egoi Martínez (Sp)
• Gorka Verdugo (Sp)
• Amets Txurruka (Sp)
• Rubén Pérez (Sp)
• Iván Velasco (Sp)
• Alan Pérez (Sp)
• Pablo Urtasun (Sp)
• Gorka Izagirre (Sp)

RadioShack has four of its Tour nine already confirmed, but team boss Johan Bruyneel is asking fans' help in rounding out the squad.

Shimano adds a second electronic group to its lineup.

BMC Racing Team for the Tour de France

• Brent Bookwalter (USA)
• Marcus Burghardt (G)
• Cadel Evans (Aus)
• George Hincapie (USA)
• Amaël Moinard (F)
• Steve Morabito (Swi)
• Ivan Santaromita (I)
• Manuel Quinziato (I)
• Michael Schär (Swi)

Rory Sutherland stamped his name on Chilkoot Hill for the second year in a row, winning the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix Sunday. Yellow jersey Jesse Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth) closed on a solo Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare) on the 20-percent finish climb to roll in for second and secure the final overall classification.

Garmin-Cervélo's Daniel Martin surged to victory in Sunday's Giro della Toscana in Italy in a strong bid to earn a spot for the Tour de France.

Philippe Gilbert wins the Ster ZLM Toer as Leigh Howard takes the finale.

Spanish rider Luis Mate (Cofidis) won the final stage of the Route du Sud in France on Sunday while Vasily Kiryienka (Movistar) secured the overall title.

Leah Kirchmann and Amber Neben led the women’s peloton on moving day at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Bernard Van Ulden broke the UnitedHealthcare lock on the Nature Valley Grand Prix Saturday when he won the Menomonie Road Race from a long breakaway.

What's that bike CVV is riding at the Swiss Tour?

Giant's new prototype road frame is being used by several Rabobank riders