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COURSE: This should be the most decisivestage of the opening week on a course that traverses the Chablis wine regionand Morvan hills on its way through Burgundy. It resembles a race likeLiège-Bastogne-Liège and features one Cat.2, three Cat. 3and four Cat. 4 climbs. The narrow back roads, with their short steep climbs and twisting descents,continue all day, with a twisting 6km descent preceding the finish in Autun.This town of 18,000 has a Roman amphitheatre and a medieval cathedral amongits tourist attractions. HISTORY: Only one Tour stage hascome to Autun. That was in 1998, on the

After experiencing problems getting service to riders in need within the peloton, Bruno Gormand had an idea — why not devise an means of offering immediate neutral assistance to race leaders and serving as a liaison between the caravan vehicles and racers? And so he created Service Course, Mavic’s neutral race-support system. The first race handled by Mavic Service Course was the 1973 Paris-Nice, and since it has become one of the company’s most revered legacies. This year Mavic has three of its Service Course cars in the Tour de France peloton. VeloNews caught up with Nate Field, four-year

Stage Results1. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, 193km in 4:37:47 (41.687kph)2. Robert Hunter (Rsa), Barloworld, at 00:003. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, at 00:004. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, at 00:005. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 00:006. Gert Steegmans (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 00:007. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, at 00:008. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 00:009. Sébastien Chavanel (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 00:0010. Mark Cavendish (GB), T-Mobile, at 00:00 11. Marcus Burghardt (G), T-Mobile, at 00:0012. Ruben Perez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:0013.

Maybe it’s the long winter nights in his native Norway or perhaps he’s the peloton’s only practicing Buddhist. Thor HushovdBorn:January 18, 1978, in Arendal, NorwayHeight: 183cmWeight: 81kgTour de France Record:5 stage wins (1 in 2002, 1 in 2004, 2 in 2006, 1 in 2007)Points Jersey - 2005Vuelta a España2 stage wins (1 in 2005, 1 in 2006)Other Notable VictoriesGhent-Wevelgem (2006)Tour of Vendee (2004)GP of Denain (2004)Haribo Classic (2004)Paris-Correze (2001)Tour of Sweden (2001)Tour of Normandy (2001)Norwegian time trial Championships (2002, 2004, 2005) Norwegian road race Championships

Weather: Partly cloudy all day, but no showers, brisk southwesterly winds, highs in upper 60s Stage winner: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) came off an excellent lead-out from Julian Dean to win ahead of a fast-charging Robert Hunter (Barloworld) in the fourth-straight sprint finish. The victory is the Norwegian’s first since winning a stage in last year’s Vuelta a España. “The victory means a lot. I’ve been sick and had crashes all spring,” he said. Race leader: Cancellara enjoyed his fourth day in yellow but saw Hushovd claw within 29 seconds. Team CSC kept a five-man break on a short

After a brisk ride through the Brie and Champagne regions of France, Norwegian Thor Hushovd uncorked a ferocious sprint to win stage 4 of the Tour, and our man Casey Gibson was there to catch every drop. Prosit!

Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com-ParkPre) crossed the line alone on Wednesday to take the 92-mile first stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic atop Pilot Butte, just outside Bend, Oregon.

Stage 5 - Chablis to Autun (182.5km)

Stage 5 - Chablis to Autun (182.5km)

Hushovd wins

Mavic's Skoda

Field clocking in for the day's work

We have yellow Cannondale Caad 9 spare bikes equipped with SRAM Force

Because of all of the different clipless pedal options, spare bikes come equipped with toeclips and straps

The new Cosmic Carbone Ultimate is available should it be needed

As is the new R-SYS

The Chavenal escape

The break ticks along

The yellow jersey is unconcerned

And Xandio becomes the latest casualty of this year's Tour

Ever wonder what one of those 'natural breaks' looks like? Now you know

Quick Step adds a man to the pursuit

Another look at the finish

Crash!

The Villers-Cotteret band at the start.

CSC director Allain Gallopin wants to be sure he doesn't get lost on the way.

Polka dot jersey Auge interviewed at start.

There will be no breakaways with the peloton riding nine abreast.

Passing the Aisne Marne Cemetery, where 2298 American soldiers from WW1 are buried.

Bike racing is an eco-friendly sport with a really tiny carbon footprint, right?

Sprick, Verdugo, Flecha, Chavanel, and Knees make a break for it.

Japanese photographer Sunada shares the wheat field, and preps for a shot.

When you have the yellow jersey, the work load falls to your teammates

...until the sprinters' teams see an opportunity, that it.

In a stunning display of tactics, courage and pure power, race leader Fabian Cancellara timed his jump to perfection, overtaking a four-man breakaway with 500 meters to go and then holding off the hard charging sprinters to win stage 3 of the Tour de France Tuesday.

COURSE: This rolling stage through the Champagne and Brie regions to the east of Paris could be similar to an early stage of Paris-Nice — without the freezing temperatures! Until the final 18km, the stage will be played out on mostly narrow, winding back roads that feature four Cat. 4 climbs, along with twice as many short hills that don’t merit categorization but will make it tricky for the sprinters’ teams to organize a full-scale chase. The finish in the medieval town of Joigny, population 10,000, is on the right bank of the Yonne River. HISTORY: A Tour stage has never finished in Joigny,

After Freddie Rodriguez broke his collarbone for the fifth time of his career in stage three of last year’s Tour de France, doctors inserted a titanium rod to piece together the brittle bones in his left shoulder. That extra support prevented the 33-year-old sprinter from reaching No. 6 in the broken bones department Monday after he hit the deck hard in the finish-line mayhem that left the road completely blocked by a pile of writhing bikes and bodies. “Initially, I thought I broke my shoulder and I wasn’t sure if I could continue,” Rodriguez told VeloNews before Tuesday’s start.

Tour de France organizers on Tuesday applauded a French court's decision to reject another appeal by professional cycling team Unibet.com over being left out of the race. Unibet.com, which includes Australian sprinter Baden Cooke, has been left out of many ProTour races this year despite being part of cycling's elite circuit, which is organized by the UCI. The Swedish-registered team represent an Internet betting company, a business that is against the law in France, which is one of the principal reasons that race organizers have sidelined the squad.

Stage Results1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, 6:36:152. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:00:003. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, 00:00:004. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:00:005. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld, 00:00:006. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00:007. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 00:00:008. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile, 00:00:009. Mark Cavendish (GB), T-Mobile, 00:00:0010. Heinrich Haussler (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:00:00 11. Matthieu Ladagnous (F), Francaise Des Jeux, 00:00:0012. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, 00:00:0013. Chavanel Sébastien (F),

Weather: Partly sunny to cloudy, some showers, highs in mid 60s, moderate southwesterly winds Stage winner: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) attacked with about 600 meters to go in the longest stage of the 94th Tour. A four-man breakaway was caught with just under one kilometer to go when the 2006 Paris-Roubaix winner uncorked an attack in front of the Compiègne castle to win for the second time in four days. “To win in the yellow jersey in front of where Paris-Roubaix starts was amazing,” he said.

It’s not often that Tom Boonen is satisfied with fourth place in a sprint finish in the Tour de France, especially on a day that finished in Compiègne in front of the start of his beloved Paris-Roubaix. But the Quick Step-Innergetic sprinter was more than pleased after padding his lead as the battle for the green points jersey heats up three days into the Tour.

With his impressive stage win in Compiègne and its accompanying 20-second time bonus, CSC’s Fabian Cancellara widened his gap over the rest of the field to margins that might well hold until the race’s first real tests later this week. The Swiss “time machine” now holds a 33-second lead over Astana’s Andreas Klöden, with Saunier Duval’s David Millar sitting third, 41 seconds back. But the more important number is Cancellara’s lead over the race’s top sprinters, who stand to gain time bonuses at intermediate and finishing sprints in the coming days.

Well spank me and call me Patrice. Fabian is a bad man and when you have other bad men working for the most badass of the bad, then sometimes you get genius. But that’s still pretty rare. Most times you work with all of the good intentions in the world and still come up short. Then, when you least expect it, when your pants are down and you’re scrambling just to stay alive, you win anyway! In those moments you come off looking like we did today… like we meant to do it.

By now, it’s pretty clear that T-Mobile is moving in a new direction. Of course, there was little choice after a year of scandal that started with the ejection of Jan Ullrich from last year’s Tour.

The third stage of the Tour de France was this year's longest, covering 236.5km from Waregem to Compiègne. While the course closely parralled the route of the great spring classic Paris-Roubaix (although in reverse), it avoided the the pave' that makes the Hell of the North as tough as it is.

Two first-time road champions were crowned Tuesday at the Canadian national road championships in St-Georges, Québec. Gina Grain (Expresscopy.com), a rider better known for her sprinting and track results than her road racing, took the elite women's title, while Christian Meier gave Symmetrics its first title of the 2007 nationals when he took the espoir men's national jersey. An espoir women's title was also awarded to Emilie Roy (Vinci Specialized Menikini), although the UCI does not officially recognize that category. The heavy rain that plagued the time trials Monday

Stage 4 - Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny (193km)

Stage 4 - Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny (193km)

Cancellara defends from the front

Vogondy and Ladagnous had an early go

When Auge and Willems bridged up, the break was a foursome

Hincapie sports a bandage after getting caught in Monday's pileup

The polka-dot jersey and yellow jersey rolling along

Okay, so where are the sunflowers?

A battered Rodriguez gets a wheel and a push

And Cancellara gets his second stage win of this year's Tour

Stage stats: Stage 3

All patched up and ready to roll!

Bob Stapleton explaining T-Mobile’s new skinsuit.

Bob Stapleton (right) with Andrzej Bek (middle) and Oakley’s Steve Blick.

Michael Rogers’s new prototype time-trial bike.

The new bike was built the night before the prologue.

Marcus Burghardt’s Giant TCR Advanced, set to go.

The spare bikes are equipped with the Zipp 404/808 combination as well.

T-Mobile’s custom Hed H3C.

The whole team races with SRM power meters.

The bikes were equipped with FSA ceramic bottom brackets.

A banged-up Mark Cavendish at the start.

Let's just say the pace was not frantic

Okay, it was slow...

... really slow.

It was a long wait at the finish

The pace was high when the peloton finally roared into town

Folks thought Cancellara was just moving up to avoid the chaos of the main field.

Discovery's Alberto Contador just wants to get to the mountains.

Meier wins

Grain rips it

If things had gone as scripted, Quick Step’s Tom Boonen would have burst out of a huge, fast-moving peloton into Ghent, in front of thousands of adoring fans, as the Tour de France made its sole foray into Belgian territory on Monday.

COURSE: The rumoredinclusion of some Hell of the North pavé on this stage that headssouth from Belgium to the French city of Compiègne, where Paris-Roubaixstarts, was incorrect. But this longest stage of the Tour (236.5km) passesthrough many of the villages made famous by the April classic, includingFontaineau-Bois, the hometown of outgoing Tour race director Jean-MarieLeblanc. The finale passes the Napoleanic palace in Compiègne oncobblestones before hitting the 1km Avenue Royale in the south part oftown HISTORY: Remarkably, only one Tour stage has finished in Compiègne. This was in 1980,