Road

Charlotte and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, welcome the NRC crowd this weekend with a pair of crits. Charlotte

Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, a stage winner in last month's Tour de France, on Friday pulled out of the Beijing Olympics, citing health problems. "It's stupid and very bitter but I have to think of my health. I struggled on the Tour de France and I was sick," the 30-year-old Hushovd, who races for Crédit Agricole, told Norwegian agency NTB. "I wanted to compete, but like I explained to the team doctor, I need rest."

Shortly after the official result sheet of last Saturday’s Tour de France time trial was dropped on my table at the pressroom in St. Amand-Montrond, I made an interesting discovery. All but one of the riders who had just taken the top 15 places in the challenging 53km test either represent teams that have a strong internal anti-doping program (CSC-Saxo Bank, Garmin-Chipotle and Team Columbia) and/or are members of the Movement for Credible Cycling (Gerolsteiner, Rabobank, Garmin and Columbia).

Shimano has formally announced plans to release Dura-Ace Di2, a new electronic shifting option for the all-new 7900 series Dura-Ace, in January. Composed of dual control shift/brake levers, front derailleur, rear derailleur, a wiring harness and battery pack, the new Dura-Ace Di2 7970 components integrate with components from the upcoming 7900 series Dura-Ace group, while adding only 68 grams.

When Trek’s new top-of-the-line Top Fuel 9.9 SSL was unveiled earlier this month at the company's mountain bike product launch, arguably one of the most attention-grabbing components was a Bontrager-branded carbon wheelset. As it turned out, this was not the only new set of wheels Trek will unveil for 2009. Bontrager will offer updated versions of its Race Lite wheelset for the cross-country crowd as well as its all-mountain Rhythm line. Both models will be offered in 26-inch and 29-inch versions. Carbon upgrade

Fort Lewis College, a small college with a bike cycling program in Durango, Colorado, dethroned Lees-McRae College to win the 2007-2008 USA Cycling Collegiate National Team Rankings Division I competition by a single point. In Division II, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology defeated Western Washington University in another tight race. Lees-McRae, a private North Carolina school with an enrollment of less than 800, had to settle for second in its sophomore season in Division I.

Italian cyclist Leonardo Piepoli said he had "denied everything" following his doping hearing with the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) on Thursday. Piepoli was heard just a day after his former Saunier-Duval teammate Ricardo Riccò, who admitted to using EPO. Riccò was kicked out of the Tour de France earlier this month after failing a dope test following the fourth stage time trial. He was fired by Saunier-Duval, who also dismissed Piepoli, claiming he had violated their code of ethics.

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) suspended Riccardo Riccò on Thursday after the former Saunier Duval rider admitted to using a new version of the banned red-blood-cell-booster EPO.

Following the withdrawal of his team’s title sponsor, Barloworld’s Enrico Gasparotto has signed with the Lampre team for 2009, a decision criticized by his current team manager. Gasparotto reached the agreement this week, following a decision by Barloworld to pull its sponsorship of the team after one of its riders tested positive for a new version of EPO during the Tour de France.

The Astana team has announced that it has reached contract agreements for the 2009 season with nine of its current riders, including American Chris Horner and German Andreas Klöden. The team’s general manager Johan Bruyneel said that in addition to Horner and Klöden, Astana has re-signed Assan Bazayev, Maxim Iglinskiy, Steve Morabito, Dmitriy Muravyev, Daniel Navarro, Gregory Rast and Michael Schär. The nine will be part of a team that already includes 2008 Giro d’Italia Champion Alberto Contador and two-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer.

American Kori Seehafer of the Menikini-Selle Italia Master team won Wednesday UCI Women's World Cup event in Vargarda, Sweden. Seehafer, a Wisconsin native who lives in Colorado, won the 132-kilometer event in a sprint against fellow American Kim Anderson (High Road). The two finished 1:10 ahead of third placed Charlotte Becker. (Results) The win moved Seehafer, who did not have any prior women's World Cup points, into 9th place in the rankings: Women's World Cup road rankings and points following Vargarda road race: 1. Judith Arndt, 260

A video clip showing Australian Cadel Evans snap at a broadcast journalist following the Tour de France’s stage 10 finish at Hautacam has become a minor YouTube sensation, with the clip garnering near 100,000 views and hundreds of comments by race’s end. After taking the yellow jersey, Evans was walked through customary post-stage TV interviews when a microphone windscreen tapped his injured left shoulder, wounded in his race threatening stage 9 crash.

With concern growing over a knee injury sustained at a post-Tour de France party, Cadel Evans has withdrawn from the Olympic time trial in Beijing. In a news release issued Wednesday, the Australian Cycling Federation said Evans will be replaced in the event by three-time world time trial champion, Michael Rogers.

Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen has confirmed that he plans to leave Silence-Lotto for a new team next season. McEwen has reportedly signed with Tinkoff Credit Systems squad, but in an interview with The Australian newspaper, the Aussie sprinter declined to confirm that. “I've signed with a new team for next year but I'll wait until later in the year to make any announcements about what I'm doing and let the new team announce it,” McEwen told the paper. “Whatever team it is, I'll let them announce it.”

Before we get to storytime I’ve got a bit of homework for everyone … click on this link. Read about my motoring habits. And maybe prove that I’m more popular than last week’s “Celebrity Drive” subject, Sammy Hagar … Not bloody likely.

The Italian ANSA news agency has reported that cyclist Ricardo Riccò, who tested positive for a new form of EPO, following the 4th stage of the Tour de France, has admitted to having doped in preparation for the French tour. According to ANSA, the former Saunier Duval rider made the admission at a hearing before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Riccò, who won two stages at the Tour before exiting the race for testing positive for a new product known as Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator (CERA), was called before a CONI panel on Wednesday.

World champion cyclist Marta Bastianelli has been ordered to before an Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) hearing on August 5 after failing a dope test this month. The 21-year-old has been kicked off the Italian Olympic team but protested her innocence, claiming she had inadvertently consumed the banned stimulant flenfluramina. Bastianelli blamed her pharmacist for preparing an herbal mixture aimed at weight loss but containing the stimulant.

Zogics Citra Wipes Retail price: $10 for eight wipes Website: www.zogics.com Zogics Citra Wipes are handy little single-use packs for cleaning the grime from your hands after road and trailside repairs. They're easily stuffed into a seat bag or hydration pack, and the solvent in the wipe is citrus-based and therefore nontoxic; in fact, Zogics claims the whole thing to be biodegradable (the wipe, not the packaging.)

Now that the champagne has lost its fizz and the podium girls are back to their day jobs, the cycling world now waits with bated breath until that last anti-doping control winds through the labyrinth of syringes, gyroscopes, laser prisms and other weapons in the arsenal at the labs. Until the final sample comes back clean, no one can afford to breathe easy. Anyone who loves the Tour is desperate to avoid that final-hour “worst-case scenario” that could once again send cycling to its knees.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans pulled out of the one day criterium held in Flanders on Tuesday with a reported injured knee. According to organizer Denis Bolle the Australian cyclist sustained the problem at a party put on by his team Silence Lotto in a Parisian cafe on Sunday night to celebrate the end of the Tour. "It shows a flagrant lack of respect," said Bolle, adding he had only been told of Evans' absence "a few hours before the criterium."

Tubes, tubulars or NoTubes?
Dear Lennard,
I'm currently running Campy 10-speed and am interested in running Hutchinson Tubeless Tires. It appears that the only officially approved system is the Shimano Dura-Ace wheelset, which is obviously not an option for me. My question is will a wheelset with rims that do not have pierced spoke holes on the interior (like the Mavic Ksyrium SL, Campy Shamal Ultra or Fulcrum Racing Zero) suffice and is there anything special that has to be done to make them work?
Phil

World women's road champion Marta Bastianelli has tested positive for a banned stimulant in a test conducted by the International Cycling Union (UCI), Italian news agency Ansa reported on Monday. Bastianelli tested positive for the stimulant in a control run by the International Cycling Union (UCI) during the Under-23 World Championships at Verbania on July 5, the competition at which she qualified for next month's Olympic Games in Beijing.

Carlos Sastre's triumph in the Tour de France over the weekend has capped a "magical" year for Spanish sports, Spanish media said Monday just two weeks before the Olympic Games get underway. "Sastre's triumph in the Tour marks the end of the two most fruitful months in Spanish football," the daily newspaper El Mundo wrote with photographs of the cyclist on the Champs Elysees after his win on Sunday. "Sastre conquers Paris in a magical year for Spanish sports," wrote rival daily El Pais.

Increased suspense, a boom in television ratings and happy sponsors left Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme in a buoyant mood two days prior to the end of this year's race. But with the ever-present threat of cheats lingering, the Frenchman knows it is far too early to talk of a definitive turnaround for the sport. After years of controversy the reputation of the race was tarnished by a minority of drugs cheats. But compared to recent scandals, this year's Tour got off comparatively lightly.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans (Silence-Lott) dismissed as “unfounded rumor” speculation he has suffered a knee injury that could threaten his participation in next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Evans, 31, finished second in Tour de France for the second straight year and on Sunday night joined his Silence Lotto team mates for the traditional post-Tour dinner in Paris. Evans said he did slip on a wet floor but it was no more than that.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has been put under the spotlight by a report that claims the world cycling body was paid to help get track cycling's keirin event on the Olympic program in 1996. The BBC reported on its Web site that it possesses documents which "reveal a series of substantial payments to the UCI, which began just two months after the keirin was accepted into the Olympics in December 1996.” The report, which was denied by a top Japanese official, claims that $3 million was "paid by organizers of a Japanese cycling event to the UCI — the world cycling body.”

For Australia's Cadel Evans, the Olympic road race in Beijing is already too far on the horizon. For the immediate future, the 31-year-old wants to concentrate on winding down at the one-day criteriums which follow the end of the Tour de France — and then put his bike to rest. Evans' overriding feeling was one of "relief" on Sunday after he finished his fourth Tour campaign with an impressive fourth top ten finish. Yet his second consecutive runner-up spot, a year on from losing the yellow jersey by 23 seconds to Spaniard Alberto Contador, must have hurt.

Here's a picture that reflects the amazing day now behind me. It was amazing. The feeling riding onto the Champs was unlike anything I've ever felt on a bicycle before in my life. Tired legs turned into a feeling of nothing but excitement. And now we're in the middle of a celebratory dinner and I've already consumed far too much bubbly. Thanks everybody for following the past few weeks!

Stage 21 stats

Stage 21, Étamps to Paris, 143km

Carlos Sastre has a reputation of being a cool customer under pressure. After 11 seasons as a pro, nothing rankles the 33-year-old veteran too much. From doping scandals that nearly toppled his CSC team after captain Ivan Basso was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal to the death of his brother-in-law, José María “El Chaba” Jiménez in 2003 at just 32, he’d seen it all.

Anyone can attest it’s hard to sleep when you’re hot. It's a fact that Garmin-Chipotle physiologist Allen Lim knows well. It’s why, among other things, regulating his riders’ temperatures on and off the bike is key to keeping them as fresh and fast as possible. This concept plays into both short-term and long-term performances; the former being a stage performance and the latter being the whole of the three-week race like the Tour de France.

Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant, his Credit Agricole team said on the final day of the Tour de France. Fofonov finished the race in 19th overall, 28:31 behind race winner Carlos Sastre. Credit Agricole manager Roger Legeay said Fofonov told the team he bought a product over the Internet to fight cramps. He has been suspended and may be fired, Legeay said.

Carlos Sastre became the seventh Spaniard to win the Tour de France yellow jersey when he wrapped up overall victory on Sunday, taking his country's total to 11 wins.

Drew Geer and Mark Gouge are racing the Jeantex Bike Transalp 2008 powered by Nissan, an eight-stage epic mountain bike stage race, from Füssen, Germany, to Riva del Garda, Italy, passing through Austria and Switzerland. The two are racing for the Chipotle-Titus-VeloNews team.

Naturns to Andalo Italy

Defending champions Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm of Team Bulls won the final stage of the TransAlpe 2008 and wrapped up their second consecutive win of the 665-kilometer stage race. On the last stage from Andalo to Riva del Garda, Platt and Sahm underlined why they kept hold on their title with good reason. The team mastered the 61-kilometer stage in 2:30:03, putting their total riding time in the 8-stages at just under 30 hours at 29:59:25.

Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo Bank) won the 95th Tour de France on Sunday as Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) took the 21st and final stage on the Champs-Élysées.[nid:80935] "I've dreamt of this since I was a child," said an emotional Sastre, who was surrounded by his wife and two children, Claudia and Yeday. "I'm beyond words — to be here with my family is really special." Steegmans, too, was delighted, having finally snapped his team's winless streak at this year's Tour.

Just days ago Mont-Ste-Anne’s tricky four-cross course was reduced to an impassable mud bog after heavy mid-week thunderstorms dumped buckets of rain on the region. Organizers contemplated canceling the event outright, as the thick mud refused to dry in the wake of additional showers. [nid:80882] But eventually the track did dry out, and maintenance crews armed with shovels and earth moving equipment turned the tide. As the World Cup race kicked off under darkening skies on Saturday evening, only a handful of patches sported mud. [nid:80879]

Drenched with sweat after riding at maximum effort for four and a half minutes, Greg Minnaar couldn’t contain his smile after winning the Mont-Ste-Anne round of the 2008 UCI World Cup. “Winner winner, chicken dinner,” Minnaar said.

Stage 20: Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53km Weather: Hot and humid with partly cloudy skies and moderate wind, temperatures in the mid 80s. Stage winner: Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher proved he was the strongest time trialist at this Tour, winning both the 29km stage 4 TT and Saturday’s 53km effort. World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara finished second, 21 seconds back.

Stage winner Stefan Schumacher was more surprised than anyone to be back on the Tour de France podium after claiming victory in Saturday’s time trial. Schumacher’s win in the first time trial at a distance of 29.5km wasn’t a complete surprise because he’s done well in shorter distances, but his 21-second victory ahead of Olympic favorite and two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara wasn’t expected by many.

Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher surprised a few observers when he won the stage-four time trial in this year’s Tour de France. Then, he stunned them on Saturday by winning the Tour’s second race against the clock, beating two-time world champion Fabian Cancellara (CSc-Saxo Bank) by 21 seconds on the 53km course. "I did a perfect race,” said the 27-year-old German. “The course was a little bit rolling, which is perfectly suited to me. I got into a good rhythm straight away. There was a tailwind at the start, and afterwards I just kept my head down and focused on the job."

Carlos Sastre is poised to become the seventh Spanish rider in history to win the Tour de France. Barring catastrophe, the Team CSC-Saxo Bank rider will ride into Paris on Sunday as the third consecutive Spanish Tour winner. The 33-year-old surprised many after he fended off the time trial threats of Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov to retain the leader’s jersey. Sastre spoke with reporters after Saturday’s stage. Here’s a sampling of what he had to say. Question: What are you feeling now with the yellow jersey?

It’s been three weeks since we left Brest for the start of this thing and after today’s TT stage we find ourselves back in a Campanile, a hotel that takes the cookie-cutter room model to the max. The feeling of déjà vu is out of control, at least until you step outside. It’s strangely fitting however, in an odd sort of way. Tomorrow we head to Paris for one of the grandest sporting spectacles in the world, a slick hotel, huge dinner and evening out to follow, but tonight we’re off in the middle of nowhere, relaxed as can be, and feeling like it’s any another day.

CSC-Saxo Bank's Carlos Sastre withstood the challenge from Silence-Lotto's Cadel Evans on Saturday, defending his yellow jersey going into the final stage of the 2008 Tour de France. A surprising Sastre ceded just 29 seconds to Evans over Saturday's 53km time trial and will enter the Tour's finale Sunday with a 1:05 lead over the Aussie, who is on track for his second consecutive runner-up finish in the Tour.

Saturday dawned cool and cloudy in Cérilly, central France, where the podium of the 95th Tour de France is being decided in a 53km time trial. Favorite to come out on top is Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), who rode the course a few months ago. He says the hills on the zigzagging course are power climbs suited to a strong time trialist like himself rather than the more lightly built Carlos Sastre, the race leader, who starts the day with a 1:34 advantage on the Australian.

On the eve of this race’s final test, the 53-kilometer time trial from Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, CSC-Saxo Bank’s Carlos Sastre leads Frank Schleck by 1:24, with another 9 seconds to Bernard Kohl and — perhaps most ominously — 1:34 to Cadel Evans, who sits fourth. In this Tour's first time trial, a super-flat 29.5-kilometer race circumventing Cholet, Sastre finished 1:16 behind Evans and four seconds in front of Kohl.

Astana has sacked Russian rider Vladimir Gusev for reportedly showing “abnormal values” during the team’s internal doping checks. "Vladimir Gusev has been officially informed that he is no longer part of the team Astana," said general manager Johan Bruyneel in a news release. The three-time Russian time-trial champion showed "abnormal values" during an internal doping check, according to the release.

The former Saunier Duval-Scott team will continue as Scott-American Beef after the squad’s title sponsor announced Wednesday that it would leave professional cycling in the wake of a drug scandal at the Tour de France. Italian rider Riccardo Riccò tested positive for a new version of the banned blood booster EPO after the stage-four time trial, prompting the team to pull out of the race last week. Both Riccò and his compatriot Leonardo Piepoli, who had won the prestigious Bastille Day stage but had not failed a dope test, were sacked last Friday.

When I said yesterday that you could tell which directors weren't pleased with their teams' races, today you could tell who was f-ing pissed. If it weren't for the fact that they made the day one of the most painful I've ever raced I'd actually feel bad for the guys on Liquigas, and a couple of others to a lesser degree. As is the only sympathy is the fact that there were a lot of really, really hurting guys out there today and we all shared in it together. [nid:80807]

Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen said Friday he will appeal the decision of a Utrecht court that awarded him 665,000 euros ($1 million) against his former Rabobank team for the way he was kicked off their 2007 Tour de France squad. The 34-year-old, who instituted proceedings for unlawful dismissal demanding damages of 5.5 million euros, was thrown out of the race while wearing the leader's yellow jersey for lying about his whereabouts when he was being sought out for doping tests.

Double world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland on Friday extended his contract with CSC-Saxo Bank until 2011. Cancellara, who will begin as the favorite for the penultimate-stage time trial of the Tour de France Saturday, has won some of cycling's biggest one-day races with the Danish team run by former Tour winner Bjarne Riis. "It means a lot to me that my future is secure with Team CSC-Saxo Bank," said Cancellara.

Australian Scott Sunderland has spent three weeks trying to make sure compatriot Cadel Evans loses the Tour de France. Now Sunderland, a co-team manager with CSC-Saxo Bank, is preparing for the distinct possibility that Evans will upset his race leader, Carlos Sastre, in Saturday's penultimate stage time trial. Sastre goes into the 53km race against the clock with a lead of one minute and 34 seconds on Silence-Lotto’s Evans, and with the yellow jersey on his back.

Cofidis' Sylvain Chavanel, one of the most aggressive riders in this year's Tour, got the stage win he's been looking for on Friday, outsprinting Jeremy Roy (Francaise des Jeux), his breakaway companion of nearly 85 kilometers to take the win in Montluçon. Race leader Carlos Sastre (CSC) finished in the lead pack to retain his overall lead heading into Saturday's critical final time trial.

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“You got a choice, Dishwasher. Either you get out of town, or tonight you be out on that street alone.”—Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”

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The upcoming time-trial battle between Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans that will decide this 95th Tour de France is the talk of the race — much more than Thursday’s excellent stage victory for Columbia’s Marcus Burghardt in St. Étienne or Friday’s likely bunch finish in Montluçon. Obviously, there’s much speculation whether Evans can overcome his 94-second deficit on the race leader in the 53km time trial from Cérilly to St. Amand-Montrond on Saturday. But the media are also looking at any angle they can to predict the protagonists’ performances.

Great Britain's cyclists are planning a gold-medal spree at the Beijing Olympics. Defending Olympic champions Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy are the leading contenders among a 25-strong team harboring realistic gold-medal hopes in six disciplines. Britain's cyclists impressed in Athens four years ago when Wiggins and Hoy won gold, the men's pursuit team secured silver and Wiggins also won a bronze in the men's Madison alongside Rob Hayles. But the world's top-ranked track cycling team will arrive in China stronger than ever, according to team chief Dave Brailsford.

It looked like Columbia's Marcus Burghardt put in a huge ride on stage 18, and his SRM power meter data confirms it. Burghardt was super aggressive and obviously wanted the win bad. He was in the initial breakaway, and when that was caught he escaped again wth Feillu. He dropped Feillu on the Col De Parmenie, and caught Barredo on the descent.

A car driven by the father of Tour de France stars Andy and Frank Schleck (CSC-Saxo Bank) was searched by French customs during the 18th stage, which began in Bourg d'Oisans on Thursday. An official source in Grenoble later said that "no doping products or banned substances" were found during the long search, which took place at Vizille in the Isere region of the Alps. Andy Schleck suggested "jealousy" may have been behind the search.

The past week has been quite a busy one. First, Taylor finished up with the UCI junior track world championships by racing in the points race last Monday. There were two qualifying heats in the afternoon that were used to field the final later on that evening. Taylor went extremely well in the qualifying heat and won a couple of the sprints and also took a lap on the field, winning convincingly. He felt good about the qualifying race and was excited about the final.

Stage 18, Bourg-d’Oisans to Saint-Etienne, 196.5km

For 2009 Trek will offer six models of their venerable flagship cross-county full suspension bike, the Top Fuel. Trek will also offer two new carbon models of their Fuel EX trail bike. Both lines will also feature women’s specific models. Toss out the bearing press![nid:80670] The 2009 Trek mountain bike line will receive a number of significant manufacturing upgrades designed to reduce weight and increase stiffness. Perhaps most notable is Trek’s new Net Molding technology that allows for a much more precise fit when manufacturing sockets on their carbon bikes.

After battling his way through the 18th stage of the Tour de France Thursday, despite sustaining potentially serious injuries in a crash, Lampre's Damiano Cunego has pulled out of the race, according to team sources. "It's a miracle I finished this stage," said the Lampre rider, who came over the finish line with blood dripping from a wound under his chin and injuries to his chest and thorax.

After yesterday’s insanity on the climb, today’s came at the start area. As we drove down the Alpe, thankfully in cars with the bus waiting at the bottom, there were still hundreds of people camped out roadside.

Spanish cyclist Moises Duenas, who was kicked out of the Tour de France after failing a drugs test, on Thursday denied knowingly taking any banned substance during the race. Duenas was charged last week in France with "use and possession of plants and poisonous substances,” and dropped by his British-registered team Barloworld. He risks a two-year jail term and a 3750-euro fine.

Stuart O'Grady finally came through one of his "toughest" Tour de France campaigns as the peloton headed out of the Alps and steadily towards Paris on Thursday. However, the Australian admitted he almost never made it as far as the second mountain range of this year's race after finding out he was carrying a virus three days into the race, "I didn't know it at the time but I was a bit crook. It turned out it was pretty serious," O'Grady told AFP. "When the results came through it was actually a relief."

Swiss pharmaceutical giant F. Hoffman-La Roche issued a statement Thursday disputing a recent claim by World Anti-Doping Agency chief John Fahey that it had inserted a “marker” in its new anti-anemia drug Micera. The drug has been the focus of recent attention after Ricardo Riccò, Saunier Duval’s top GC hope at the Tour de France, tested positive for the drug following the stage 4 time trial at Cholet.

After spending almost all of the day on the attack, Team Columbia’s Marcus Burghardt won the 18th stage of the Tour de France, beating Quick Step’s Carlos Barredo in a final kilometer chess match that bore more resemblance to a match-sprint on the velodrome than the end of a 196.5 mile road race. The two joined forces early in the day and cooperated until the final ten kilometers. At that point the two could afford to risk the benefits of cooperation as they enjoyed a healthy 4:50 lead over a group of three chasers and nearly 10 minutes on the peloton.

Retail Price: $24.95 Web site: www.velogear.com Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France is a new book by sports writer Matt Rendell. The book examines the Tour's inspiring and sometimes astonishing history, its whimsical mishaps and astounding feats. Blazing Saddles is available now in bookstores, bike shops, and online.

From virtually every aspect, Carlos Sastre has ridden a perfect Tour de France. As soon as the route for this year’s Tour was announced last October, he said that the race would be decided in the final week, and probably at L’Alpe d’Huez. That’s why he focused his whole season on being at his very best right now, using races as training all season long, and trying to remain anonymous through the first two weeks of the race itself.

Retail price: $20.00 for 3-ounce jar Web site: www.nubutte.com Nubütte chamois butter is shea butter-based (not water-based), and contains other high quality all-natural ingredients formulated to soothe, heal and prevent saddle sores, including Witch hazel, Comfrey leaf, St. Johns Wort, Tea Tree, Calendula and grape seed oil. Nubütte is Paraben free and not tested on animals.

CSC-Saxo Bank’s Carlos Sastre took both the stage win atop L’Alpe d’Huez and the race lead following Wednesday’s massive 210km queen stage of this year’s Tour — but who was the day’s biggest winner? Following this Tour’s final mountain stage, one minute and 34 seconds separate stage 17 winner Carlos Sastre and pre-race favorite Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto with just four stages remaining. Of greatest interest, of course, is Saturday’s rolling 53km time trial, where the final classification will certainly be determined.