Road

North Americans young and old are turning in fine performances early on in the 2011 Tour de France.

LES ESSARTS, France (VN) - Alberto Contador tried to put a positive spin after a second consecutive day of time losses to his rivals at the 2011 Tour de France.

This time the UCI is making sure that saddles are "horizontal."

Jonathan Vaughters says Garmin-Cervélo's victory in Sunday's team time trial is confirmation that cycling is cleaning up its act.

Graham Watson captures Garmin-Cervélo's maiden stage win in the team time trial at the 2011 Tour de France.

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 third.

Stage Result

• 1. TEAM GARMIN-CERVELO, in 24:48
• 2. BMC RACING TEAM, in 24:52
• 3. SKY PROCYCLING, in 24:52, at 00:04
• 4. TEAM LEOPARD-TREK, in 24:52, at 00:04
• 5. HTC-HIGHROAD, in 24:53, at 00:05

Garmin-Cervélo finally won its first stage in a Tour de France on Sunday, claiming victory in the stage-2 team time trial and putting world champion Thor Hushovd into the race leader's yellow jersey.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Stage 1 of the 2011 Tour de France proved yet again that contenders for the final overall victory need to keep themselves up front and out of trouble.

Alberto Contador's rivals for the overall got a gift on Saturday as the defending Tour de France champ lost more than a minute on the first stage.

Inside the sprawling 3,430km Tour de France, stage 2 is a mere 23km; however, the team time trial could well be decisive for the overall.

RadioShack pushed its four riders through the mayhem in Saturday's opening stage of the 2011 Tour de France, but team boss Johan Bruyneel shot down suggestions that the Shack was driving the bunch when Alberto Contador was caught behind the main pack with a crash in the closing kilometers.

Casey B. Gibson has dragged his camera bag across the pond yet again to help VeloNews.com cover the 2011 Tour de France.

Philippe Gilbert admitted he could not have wished for more as his dream season continued with a maiden Tour de France stage win, and the yellow jersey, on Saturday.

Andrew Hood's notebook will once again be a regular feature during Velonews.com's coverage of the 2011 Tour de France.

Johan Bruyneel talks about RadioShack's post-crash tactics on stage 1 of the Tour de France.

Philippe Gilbert's spare Canyon Aeroad CF is sexy enough to be anyone's main machine.

Breakfast with Bernie, stage 1: "We're always fighting on the bus"

Nick Legan sends a few snaps from the start of the 2011 Tour de France.

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 second.

How does the '3km rule' impact Saturday's stage? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

• 1. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma - Lotto, in 4h 41' 31"
• 2. Cadel Evans, Bmc Racing Team, at 00:03
• 3. Thor Hushovd, Team Garmin - Cervelo, at 00:06
• 4. Joaquin Rojas Jose, Movistar Team, at 00:06
• 5. Broeck Jurgen Van Den, Omega Pharma - Lotto, at 00:06

Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) won a crash-filled kickoff to the 2011 Tour de France on Saturday, while defending champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) found himself nearly a minute and a half in the hole after getting caught behind a massive pileup with 8km to race.

Davis Phinney is perhaps America's winningest road racer ever.

The UCI is taking a second look at the 6.8kg (14.99lb) weight limit currently inflicted on race bikes.

LES HERBIERS, France (AFP) - Cadel Evans believes Alberto Contador remains the man to beat at this year's Tour de France despite the Spaniard's recent efforts in winning the Giro d'Italia.

Last year, he could use the white jersey as a back up. This year, it's all about yellow.

There’s a feeling in the air this month that this could be the Tour of upsets.

Quick Step's Tom Boonen says he'll treat the Tour stages like one-day races.

LES HERBIERS, France (AFP) - American George Hincapie has found himself in familar territory at the Tour de France helping Australian Cadel Evans in his bid for an elusive yellow jersey.

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 first.

From winning stages at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Ster ZLM Tour to burying his best friend following a fatal accident at the Giro d’Italia, it would be a terrible understatement to call the first half of 2011 a rollercoaster for Garmin-Cervélo’s Tyler Farrar.

LES HERBIERS, France (AFP) - Quick Step sporting director Wilfried Peeters said Friday his team had nothing to worry about despite their bus being given a thorough search by police on the eve of the Tour de France.

Swiss doctors say Mauricio Soler is healing, but remains unconscious two weeks after his crash at the Tour de Suisee, The Associated Press is reporting.

The HTC sprinter says fans and media don't understand how hard it is to win a stage.

A look at Ivan Basso's Cannondale Super Six Evo, and Basso's adjustable-on-the-fly seatpost

LES HERBIERS, France (VN) — Two sprinters in one team might mean trouble, but Garmin-Cervélo promises that there will be no discord between world champion Thor Hushovd and Tyler Farrar when it comes to mass gallops over the next three weeks.

LES HERBIERS, France (VN) — Andy Schleck says he's locked and loaded to take on the challenge of winning the Tour de France.

LES HERBIERS, France (VN) — With everyone talking about Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, Robert Gesink is just fine hanging on the edges of the limelight.

World champion Thor Hushovd, in his rainbow stripes, may have stolen the show at Thursday’s Tour de France team presentation by donning a wig and brandishing a hammer as the Norse god of thunder; but also sharing the spotlight were the riders in distinctively colored national championship jerseys who won their respective title races last weekend.

Team Garmin-Cervelo at a pre-Tour de France news conference

Riis says Contador has every right to race this Tour

Less pressure on Wiggins should lead to better results

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

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

Check out Brian Holcombe's author page.

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.

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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.

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

Tour of Utah organizers on Tuesday will announce a new look route for the sixth edition of the race they deem “America’s toughest,” and that slogan has never been more appropriate.