Road

Fighting for the yellow jersey puts as much pressure on the head as on the legs, as Cadel Evans is learning at the Tour de France. After the second of two days in the Alps on Tuesday, the Silence-Lotto rider boosted his bid to win the final yellow jersey by surviving the CSC-Saxo Bank team's efforts to shake him off on the difficult Cime de la Bonette-Restefond climb.

I’m writing these words on the road to L’Alpe d’Huez where, at the end of this glorious Wednesday in the French Alps, the 95th Tour de France could be decided. The infamous 21-turn mountain climb concludes a gigantic stage 17 after the riders have already crossed the mighty Col du Galibier and Col de la Croix de Fer climbs.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday Italian rider Riccardo Riccò tested positive at the Tour de France after a secret molecule was planted in the blood booster EPO during its manufacture. Riccò, 24, upset the big names of the sport to win two stages of this year's Tour before he was kicked off after testing positive for EPO (erythropoietin). Revealing the now high-tech nature of the fight against drugs in sport, WADA chief John Fahey said his organization worked with drugs giant Roche on the newest version of EPO (erythropoietin).

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 and are providing daily journals and photos. The following report from Geer is about stage 4, from Scuol, Switzerland, to Livigno, Italy: 77 km with an elevation gain of 2621m (8600 feet) "I will just never be able to pronounce 'Chipotle' it is just too hard," the finish announcer at Tranalps said.

The Tour de France yellow jersey is set to be decided on the final alpine stage of the race on Wednesday after a dramatic 16th stage which left CSC still in control of the race. Luxembourg's Frank Schleck finished the 157km stage from Cueno in Italy to here with his 7-second lead on Austrian Bernhard Kohl intact, with Australian Cadel Evans in third at 08. Spaniard Carlos Sastre, Schleck's teammate at the CSC team, is fourth at 49 while Denis Menchov, one of the day's biggest losers, is now at 1:13behind Schleck after losing time on the day's final descent.

Hilton Clarke brought the Toyota-United Pro squad its second victory in the 2008 USA CRITS Series on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho. Daniel Ramsey (Time Pro Cycling) led the the race for 11 laps until Clark bridged up with teammate Dominique Rollin and the trio lapped the field. Toyota took no chances, dominating the final 30 minutes of racing and setting up a successful lead-out train for their Australian sprinter, who collected his 12th win of the season.

The Saunier Duval cycling team look set to be excluded from the Tour of Germany because of doping, race organisers revealed on Tuesday. The elite team withdrew from the Tour de France last week after Italian rider Riccardo Ricco failed a dope test - they subsequently sacked both him and compatriot Leonardo Piepoli, who had won the prestigious stage on July 14. However that move has failed to placate the Tour of Germany chiefs, whose race runs from August 29 to September 6.

According to their father, CSC duo Frank and Andy Schleck rarely talk of the sport that has put them into the global spotlight. But when they do get round to talking of their profession in the Schleck household, it usually centers on the Tour de France yellow jersey. On Sunday, Frank realized one of his boyhood dreams when he pulled on the yellow jersey with a seven second lead on Austrian Bernhard Kohl of the Gerolsteiner team, with former leader and last year's runner-up Cadel Evans just one second further off the pace.

Bernhard Kohl sat in the sunlit conference room of the mountain resort hotel Navize Te in the Italian Alps on the rest day of the Tour de France for more than hour, patiently answering questions from nearly 100 international reporters. It was a new experience for both sides. Never before in his career had the 26-year-old Austrian been the focus of so much attention and before last Sunday, when he rode his way to within seven seconds of the maillot jaune, no one, except for the most avid Austrian cycling fans, had ever even heard of … Bernhard who?

Stage 16, Cuneo, Italy, to Jausiers (157km)

The Bonette bust
Most Tours are decided on the climbs, but the 23.5km descent off the 2802-meter Col de Bonette made for some decisive moments in what’s been a wild 95th edition. There were several crashes, including a spectacular fall by John Lee Augustyne (Barloworld), who toppled over the edge near the summit, and another by Christian Vande Velde; the falls undercut their respective runs for glory.

Frenchman Cyril Dessel of AG2R finally drew a line under his nightmare 2007 season with a prestigious maiden win on the Tour de France 16th stage on Tuesday. Dessel came to the wider cycling world's attention when he wore the race's yellow jersey for a day in 2006 — when he finally had to hand it over to disgraced American Floyd Landis. A year later Dessel disappeared almost entirely from the peloton after succumbing to toxoplasmosis.

First up, rest days rock. After two weeks of racing, a day to relax a bit and kick back is like Christmas when you still believe in the big man. A morning to sleep late, eat a ridiculous amount of food, tool around on the bike for a while (preferably on some beautiful country Italian roads), grub down a bit more, sleep, then sleep a bit more, get a massage, eat another stupid amount of food, and then sleep again, ideally at least 10 hours.

Three weeks ago, Garmin-Chipotle’s Christian Vande Velde left his European home in Girona, Spain, for the Tour de France with the goal of his first-ever top 10 finish. However as the Tour’s second rest day came to a close Monday, the 32-year-old American sits fifth overall, just 39 seconds behind race leader Frank Schleck, and is poised to capitalize on his strengths during stage 20’s time trial to fight for the Tour podium.

South African John-Lee Augustyn said he was lucky to escape with his life after a spectacular crash during the 16th stage of the Tour de France Tuesday left him halfway down a mountainside. The Barloworld rider crossed the summit of the day's second unclassified climb on his own after attacking his leading group half a kilometer from the summit. But moments later, after being rejoined by his group, he misjudged a right-hand bend and shot over the edge, leaving him 50 meters below on the gravel mountainside.

Christian Vande Velde’s miracle Tour de France ride took a dive in Tuesday’s hard-fought 157km, two-climb 16th stage when he crashed coming down the beyond-category descent off the Col de la Bonette. Vande Velde, who started the day fifth overall at 39 seconds back, lost contact with the yellow jersey group about midway up the long, exposed 25.5km climb as CSC-Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck set a menacing pace.

A list of the past 25 riders to win a Tour de France stage atop the legendary Alpe d'Huez climb, the climax of this year's mountain stages: Winners: 1952: Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1976: Joop Zoetemelk (NED) 1977: Hennie Kuiper (NED) 1978: Hennie Kuiper (NED) 1979: Joachim Agostinho (POR) 1980: Joop Zoetemelk (NED) 1981: Peter Winnen (NED) 1982: Beat Breu (SUI) 1983: Peter Winnen (NED) 1984: Luis Herrera (COL) 1986: Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1987: Federico Echave (ESP) 1988: Steven Rooks (NED) 1989: Gert-Jan Theunisse (NED)

The threat of being caught cheating at this year's Tour de France has proved a major deterrent, according to the chief of France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) on Tuesday. AFLD chief Pierre Bordry said prior to the race's 16th stage that he had no further positive cases to report in the wake of three positive tests for EPO. His claims come in the wake of a newspaper report in which disgraced Italian climber Riccardo Riccò re-affirms that he did not use banned substances.

Spain's 2006 Tour de France champion Oscar Pereiro admitted Tuesday that he thought he was going to die after a spectacular fall during the 15th stage at the weekend. The Caisse d'Epargne rider toppled over a guard rail on his way down Col Agnel in the Alps between France and Italy, falling several meters onto the road below. "I was going much faster than those on the left. I think that (Damiano) Cunego (Lampre team) got a slight fright. He made an abrupt maneuver and I couldn't avoid him," Pereiro told the Spanish press.

Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) won stage 16 of the Tour de France on Tuesday as Frank Schleck, backed by an indomitable CSC-Saxo Bank team, kept his grip on the maillot jaune. Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), meanwhile, gained time on Rabobank's Denis Menchov while American Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) slid to sixth overall, more than three minutes back of the race leader.

Those long stems
Dear Lennard,
I read that several riders at this year's Tour de France have opted for a small frame and very long stem (140-150mm) combination. I'm curious whether this is to get a lighter frame (seems unlikely since pro's don't have to take unusual steps to reach the UCI legal weight), or to get less responsive/twitchy steering for high-speed descents etc. I have run a similar setup for a couple of years due to the safer feel of the steering but people always tell me that a 140mm stem is ridiculous.
Dan

There has never been a Tour de France as closely poised as this 2008 edition, less than a week before the finish. The most similar state of the race came in 2003, when prior to the final mountain stage, just 18 seconds separated race leader Lance Armstrong from his two remaining challengers, Jan Ullrich and Alexander Vinokourov. But Armstrong went on to win on the mountaintop finish at Luz-Ardiden (after famously being brought down by the handle of a spectator’s plastic bag), and clinched his fifth consecutive title in the final time trial at Nantes.

Riis won’t play games
Team CSC-Saxo Bank boss Bjarne Riis is widely viewed as one of the best tacticians in the game. So far through this year’s Tour de France, he’s confirmed that reputation. With two well-oiled attacks, first in the stage to Hautacam and a second up Prato Nevoso, Riis has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that CSC-Saxo Bank is the strongest team in the pack. But now he’s faced with an interesting quandary. Frank Schleck is wearing the yellow jersey but it looks like Carlos Sastre could be the strongest climber on the team.

Cadel Evans might have lost the yellow jersey battle up Prato Nevoso, but he’s still confident he can win the war to Paris. The Silence-Lotto captain expressed confidence Monday that he’s still on track to win what he called a “very tight” 95th Tour de France despite losing time to all of his major rivals and slipping to third overall in the uphill drag race on the Cat. 1 Prato Nevoso summit.

Chris Horner wrapped up his first trip to BC Superweek by powering away from Matt Shriver and Andrew Pinfold up the final hill to win the Peace Arch News Road Race at the Tour de White Rock on Sunday. Horner led the three-man breakaway with an attack coming out of a hairpin and up a steep climb on the last of 11 laps around a 10-kilometer circuit. Driven by Horner, the trio stayed away for all six laps of the shorter 3.8-kilometer route before he finally created a gap his last trip up the big backside hill.

It's Rest Day No. 2 at the 2008 Tour de France. Photographer Casey Gibson started his day by sorting through his files and then sent us some interesting shots from Sunday's stage to Prato Nevoso. He then went over to the Garmin-Chipotle camp, just as the team was ready to roll out on an easy Rest Day training ride. Editor's note: Our links to Casey's homepage have been inconsistent during the Tour. We apologize for the confusion. For the record, the proper link to his site is www.cbgphoto.com

Stage 15, Embrun to Prato Nevoso, Italy, 182km

Team CSC-Saxo Bank once again executed near-perfect tactics in Sunday’s 15th stage and this time they got the big prize: the yellow jersey. CSC did just about everything right in the three-climb stage to Prato Nevoso and turned a one-second deficit into a seven-second lead to Bernhard Kohl. With a four-man breakaway staying clear to take the day’s flowers, CSC had its plan ready to fire up.

Katie Compton (Spike Shooter-Primus Mootry) and Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen) took solo victories on Sunday in the short-track cross-country race at the 2008 USA Cycling national mountain bike championships at Mount Snow, Vermont. Compton, the four-time national cyclocross champ, attacked from the gun to take her first career elite mountain bike title ahead of Mary McConneloug (Seven-Kenda). McConneloug crossed the line 34 seconds in arrears with Lea Davison (Trek-Volkswagen) charging her way into third and Kelli Emmett (Giant) outsprinting Willow Koerber for fourth.

Stage 15 of the 2008 Tour de France proved a mixed bag for the Garmin-Chipotle team. First, the good news: Danny Pate got into the day’s four-man breakaway, finishing third on the stage after a valiant ride fell just short in the final kilometer. And GC leader Christian Vande Velde stayed with the GC favorites on the category 1 climb up Plato Nevoso, crossing the line two seconds behind newly crowned race leader Frank Schleck (CSC).

For 2009, Trek’s Gary Fisher brand built a new trail bike, the Roscoe, and refined its HiFi line. Gary Fisher (the man) described the Roscoe as “a go-anywhere, confidence-inspiring bike.” The 5-inch travel bike features suspension technology co-designed by Fox and Gary Fisher. The new Dual Rate Control Valve (DRCV) rear shock is an evolution of Fox’s successful RP23. While it still has three external adjustment settings and the on/off Propedal lever, the similarities end there.

Australian Simon Gerrans caused a minor sensation on Sunday by winning the tough 15th stage of the Tour de France on the race's third mountain finish in the Italian Alps. The 28-year-old from Melbourne, however, was quick to give a nod to Australian great Phil Anderson, without whom he might never have got on a bike. Gerrans, who rides for Credit Agricole, bagged a prestigious first win in the race after attacking breakaway companions Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel and Garmin's Danny Pate in the final 150 meters of the rain-lashed 183km stage.

Into the Alps we went today and it was an epic. It was pouring rain at the start, coming down in sheets. This was when the long bomb break with our man Pate in it took off. Then as we started up Angel pass, a nearly 25k beast that took us up to 2700 meters, the sun poked through and with the humidity so thick it was like a sauna. Then the wind kicked up, absolutely battering us up the open slopes of the climb and cooling things back off.

Spain's 2006 Tour de France champion Oscar Pereiro has suffered shoulder injuries following a spectacular fall during the 15th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. According to a first official diagnosis Pereiro has a sprained shoulder but has not injured his leg or his back, as previously believed. "He is not complaining of pain in his legs or his back," said a doctor accompanying Pereiro to hospital.

Team CSC-Saxo Bank battered and isolated race leader Cadel Evans in the first Alpine stage Sunday, coming away with the yellow jersey on the shoulders of Frank Schleck as the GC race tightened.[nid:80475] Evans fell to third, one second behind Gerolsteiner's Bernard Kohl and eight seconds behind Schleck. American Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle) is in fifth at 38 seconds, still very much in the hunt.

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Kelly Benjamin of Cheerwine Pro Cycling and Andrew Pinfold of the hometown Symmetrics Pro Cycling won Saturday's Bosa Properties Criterium; the fourth win for each of them at Canada's seven-event BC Superweek. Benjamin threw her bike across the finish line just ahead of Australian Ruth Corsets for the win. The Kansas City cyclist immediately raised her arms in victory, although it took officials a few minutes to examine the photo-finish before they declared her the winner.

Quadruple stage winner Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France prior to the 15th stage, the first of three days in the Alps here Sunday, according to his Columbia team. Cavendish has been one of the stars of the July 5-27 race so far, winning four bunch sprints to set a new British record for stage wins in a single edition. He was victorious on stages 5, 8, 12 and 13. But the 23-year-old from the Isle of Man admitted he was suffering fatigue following two tough weeks of racing. "I've done enough here with four stages," said Cavendish.

There are seven major mountain climbs to tackle in the next three stages of the 95th Tour de France: the Col Agnel, Prato Nevoso, Col de la Lombarde, Cime de la Bonette, Col du Galibier, Col de la Croix de Fer and L’Alpe d’Huez. Race leader Cadel Evans has ridden them all in training, and he is ready to defend his yellow jersey, starting with Sunday’s stage 15 that heads into Italy with a mountaintop finish at the ski station of Prato Nevoso.

Kenyan-born Briton Chris Froome hit out at Barloworld teammate Moises Duenas here on Saturday after the Spaniard's positive doping control at the Tour de France. Duenas's positive test for the banned blood booster EPO (erythrpoietin) on stage 4 has been one of three on the race, but is the first to force a drastic decision on the part of a team sponsor. On Saturday Barloworld, which made its debut on the Tour last year when Robbie Hunter won his first stage and Colombian Mauricio Soler won the King of the Mountains jersey, said it was quitting the sport.

Last year Adam Craig came to Mount Snow for the USA Cycling national mountain bike championships with a pretty good idea he’d win. And he did, by a whopping three minutes. That wasn’t the case in 2008. While Craig did emerge victorous from the race, finishing ahead of Kona’s Ryan Trebon by just over two minutes, the Giant rider didn’t expect to cross the line first. Drained by a season spent chasing Olympic selection and facing a fast, less-technical course, altered by race officials for erosion reasons, Craig simply hoped for the best.

Cadel Evans has been poring over cycling's history books as he prepares to put his yellow jersey on the line during three crucial days of climbing at the Tour de France. But the 31-year-old Aussie has not ruled out trying to forge alliances, if needed, in a bid to counter some of his big rivals for the race's main prize. Evans finished the 14th stage here Saturday suffering, like most of the peloton, from the searing temperatures as the race headed slowly upwards to the foot of the Alps. "I'm kind of surprised to hold the jersey this far, to be honest," said Evans.

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 and are providing daily journals and photos. The following report from Geer is about Friday's stage 1, a 75-kilometer route. "There will be some tarmac and you will go fast. You will walk your bike, but you will not mind because it will be so beautiful."

Spaniard Oscar Freire should now have a better idea of whether he can keep the Tour de France green jersey, after some in-race consultation with sprint rival Mark Cavendish. Cavendish, the winner of four sprint stages so far, was conspicuous by his absence on Saturday as Freire claimed his first win of this year's race from yet another bunch sprint at the end of the 194km 14th stage.

Stage 14, Nimes to Digne-Les-Baines, 194.5km

CAV EXIT LIKELY: Mark Cavendish’s dream Tour de France is likely over as it’s expected that the British sprinter won’t take the start for Sunday’s opening salvo into the Alps. Cavendish won four sprint stages, but struggled to maintain the pace over a fourth-category climb with 9.5km to go to the line in Dignes-les-Bains. He popped off the back of the peloton and rolled across the line 108th at 3:27 back.

Garmin-Chipotle sport director Matt White has had a front-row seat to the team’s surprisingly good opening two weeks of the Tour de France. Team captain Christian Vande Velde enters Saturday’s opening shot of the showdown in the Alps poised in third place overall. The team has been flying under the radar, but that’s bound to change if Vande Velde’s consistency continues through the Alps. We caught up with Matt White ahead of Friday’s start to talk tactics looking ahead to the decisive climbing stages in the Alps. Here are excerpts from the interview:

A HOT one here in France-land today, and fast from start to finish. A flurry of attacks in the first few minutes eventually created a group of 21. With a slight wind at our backs the first hour rolled 53Ks under the tires. The group was just a bit too big however and eventually a concerted chase from behind brought us back. Four took off out of the group for the long haul, the rest of us got to go back, fetch some bottles and settle in for the day.

Last year the bikes Lampre riders showed up to the Tour with were well used, all looked battle worn with chipped paint and rusted bolts from the harsh weather and frequent washing by the mechanics.

Points competition leader Oscar Freire won Saturday's 14th stage of the 2008 Tour de France, a mostly flat 195km route from Nimes to Digne les Bains. Overall race leader Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) finished in the lead group on the stage to retain his 1-second advantage over Frank Schleck as the race approaches several difficult mountain stages.

Rock Racing’s Tyler Hamilton on Saturday defended his overall lead in China's Tour of Qinghai Lake, holding a ten-second lead going into Sunday's final stage. Hamilton won Friday's stage 8 — his first race win in four years — by outsprinting Poland's Mark Rutkiewicz. The pair finished more than a minute ahead of the field including former race leader Hossein Askari (Tabriz Petrochemical Team). The win moved him from fourth to first place.

The sponsor of Cadel Evans' team on the Tour de France is known for products that allow noisy snorers to doze off and enjoy a good night's sleep. But if there was ever a time the Australian needed his Silence teammates to wake up, it will be on the three upcoming alpine stages that are likely to decide whether he keeps the yellow jersey. After battling through the Pyrenees with injuries sustained in a crash, Evans managed to get through this last week relatively unscathed, rebuilding strength in an injured shoulder which has left him lop-sided on the bike.

Spanish rider Moises Duenas, kicked out of the Tour de France, has blamed a Spanish doctor for his positive test for the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO), the daily El Pais reported on Saturday. Duenas, who was charged with "use and possession of poisonous substances" before a court at Tarbes, southwestern France on Thursday, had claimed that the products were sold to him by Spanish doctor Jesus Losa.

Until Mark Cavendish came on the pro scene just over a year ago, the most successful British Tour sprinter was Barry Hoban, who won eight stages between 1967 and 1975. Hoban was not a natural sprinter, but he could sustain a long finishing effort and he won stages with smart positioning. He rarely had any support from his French team, Mercier, which was devoted to protecting its team leader Raymond Poulidor. The only other British Tour rider to win field sprints was Michael Wright, who took three stages between 1965 and 1973.

He's known for being a joker among a cosmopolitan team that came to the Tour de France proclaiming their "clean" approach to racing would help smooth their way to success. But when it gets serious in the hectic bunch sprints, curly-haired Briton Mark Cavendish doesn't have time for practical jokes. Cavendish reinforced his status as arguably the fastest sprinter in the world on Friday when he claimed his fourth stage win of this year's edition.

The first radio communication, not one minute after we rolled through K0 was from Millar: “We’ve got a CBF’d Friday boys, it’s bloody wonderful!” The neutral was stressful with a strong crosswind threatening to make the race a crazy one, but I didn’t even get above 200 watts before the field had shut down the road and all you could here were screams, yells and whistles of “pisseee, piano, grupetto.” The first attack was off, and we CREPT for a lovely 30k through the countryside of southern France, truly enjoying a lazy start to the day.

Canadians Andrew Pinfold and Gina Grain did their countrymen proud at the BC Cancer Foundation’s Tour de Gastown in Vancouver, this week, the sixth stop in the 2008 USA CRITS Series. Pinfold, an Ontario native, is a former elite Canadian Criterium Champion, while Grain was the 2007 Canadian National Road Race Champion. Both victories took place in front of tens of thousands of cycling fans, who lined the barriers three to four rows deep on a perfect summer day.

Cavendish in good company:

Stage 13, Narbonne to Nimes, 182km

Retail: 5.75 euro (about $9) Web site: www.tacx.com The Tacx Tool Tube lets riders carry tools and spare tubes in their water bottle cages. The screw-top bottle has room for a tube, tire levers, a multi-tool and a CO2 inflator. The lid is watertight and tools are not included.

Taylor Phinney wrapped up the his world junior world championship run Friday with a third-place finish in the individual time trial, 8 seconds off the winning pace of Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski. Phinney won gold in the 3,000-meter individual pursuit on the track last Saturday. Entering the race as the defending world champion, Phinney recorded a time of 36 minutes, 29.15 seconds over the 26.8-kilometer course.

Italian racer Riccardo Riccò, kicked off the Tour de France for doping, has been remanded in custody for "using a poisonous substance," the public prosecutor at Foix said on Friday. Prosecutor Antoine Leroy said Riccò had been remanded for "using a substance classed poisonous under the terms of the public health code." "Riccò is placed under arrest and is banned from contacting other members of the team,” he added. Leroy said Riccò had told the examining magistrate what he had earlier told police - namely, that he is innocent.

Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish won his fourth stage of this year's Tour de France, sprinting into Nimes ahead of Silence Lotto's Robbie McEwen. McEwen took a brief respite from protecting team leader Cadel Evans' overall lead to contest the sprint, but was little match for Cavendish's finishing kick. Evans, meanwhile, finished with the leaders to preserve his one-second overall lead over CSC's Frank Schleck. Cavendish said his velodrome-honed kick saved the day.

Editor's Note: It's official: Team Giant's Adam Craig is one of two men picked for the U.S. Olympic cross-country team. He continues to share his journals with VeloNews readers as he races around the world. This week he report on some East Coast racing: Windham, New York, last week and the national mountain bike championships at Mount Snow, Vermont, this weekend. Enjoy.

Disgraced Italian cycling star Ivan Basso deserves a second chance of resurrecting his career, the Italian's future manager at the Liquigas team said Friday. Basso is nearing the end of a ban handed down after he admitted, without having tested positive for banned substances, to being involved in the Spanish doping affair 'Operation Puerto'. The Italian, a former rival of Lance Armstrong on the Tour de France while racing for the Danish CSC team, is due to return to racing at the end of the summer.

Saunier Duval has sacked Riccardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli for infringing the Spanish team’s code of ethics, it was announced on Friday. Riccò was dismissed following his positive doping control for EPO (erythropoietin) at the Tour de France. Piepoli also was sacked, though he had not tested positive; team manager Mauro Gianetti said he, too, had infringed the team's code of ethics. The entire Saunier Duval team voluntarily left the Tour before Thursday's 12th stage.

“I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”— Captain Renault in “Casablanca,” shortly before a coupier presents him with his winnings.

While the news media were massed around the pale yellow Saunier Duval team bus in Lavelanet Thursday just as stage 12 was setting out farther down the street, Philippe Brunel stood back from the crowd watching the spectacle. I felt sorry for him. As an award-winning French sportswriter — he’s the principal cycling reporter for L’Équipe, the major French sports newspaper — Brunel looked to be in a quandary.

Riccardo Riccò's departure from the Tour de France produced a stack of emails and letters to the editor. Here is a sampling: Zero Tolerance Editor, This little gem was in your one of your Ricardo "Vegetable" Ricco articles: "While teams like CSC, Columbia, Garmin-Chipotle and Astana have financed independent blood-monitoring programs, some question whether that “new cycling” will ever occur until doping in sport is criminalized internationally, as it is in France, and the risks outweigh the incentives."

Riccardo Riccò always wanted to be like his hero, Marco Pantani. The self-styled "Cobra" got his wish Thursday and made a Pantani-esque implosion as two French gendarmes hauled him away after he failed a doping control from stage four at the Tour de France. In a scene that was an eerie replay of Pantani’s exclusion from the 1999 Giro d’Italia for testing for high hematocrit levels, Riccò made his own forced exit Thursday that could have equally grim consequences.

Australia's Cadel Evans has called on cycling's detractors to take a long hard look at what is being done in the sport to clean up its image. For the second consecutive day the Tour de France was rocked by controversy following the news that Italian climber Riccardo Ricco had become the third rider to test positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). Ricco won two climbing stages last week, becoming one of the most followed riders in the Pyrenees where he left many established climbers — including Evans — in his wake with his lightning fast accelerations.

Tour de France organizers ASO may be regretting the choice of music played after the peloton rolled out of Lavelanet at the start of stage 12 Thursday. Only 45 minutes after the news of Ricardo Riccò’s positive test for red-blood cell booster CERA rocked the start village, the public address system blared Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” — fitting perhaps as the swansong for a defiant young rider who rocketed into the spotlight while simultaneously thumbing his nose at the sport’s establishment.

We’re officially more than half way through!