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Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis) and Alison Powers (Advil-Chapstick) scored the opening victories on Monday as the International Tour de Toona got under way with the Altoona Beasley prologue in downtown Altoona, Pennsylvania. Organizers welcomed a record number of pre-registered participants to central Pennsylvania for the evening 3.1-mile (5.6km) time trial, which saw riders leaving the start house every 30 seconds. Just over five seconds separated the top five pro men contenders. Menzies turned the fastest time of the day, 5:09.19, followed by Shawn Milne (Navigators Insurance) in

I promised in my July 3 column to follow up about bruising, inflammation, Tyler Hamilton’s lower back and heart attacks. I set it aside for the Tour, but I’ve been reminded enough that it’s time to spell it out. I was in Europe at the time, having come over with my wife to visit a dear friend in Germany who had just barely survived a massive heart attack a few weeks before. He is an extremely strong man, former Olympian and many-time German national champion in judo who was almost never sick. He was one of the last people you might expect to suffer a heart attack, as is Hugh Walton, another

Next year is going to be a good one for tech-heads. We already have so much 2007 stuff to ride and talk about — and we’re still more than a month away from the season’s first trade show. The latest look ahead came this past week when Michael Zellmann, SRAM’s PR and media manager, visited VeloNews HQ in Boulder showing off SRAM’s new Force road group. At the Sea Otter classic in April, both Lennard Zinn and I had the opportunity to ride a pre-production version of the new components, which were very close to the finished product. The group Zellmann dropped off is from the first official

Jan Ullrich has vowed to win the Tour de France before he retires from pro cycling — and he has been in contact with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team. ''I have always said, 'I will finish with a Tour victory,' '' Ullrich told the Swiss daily Blick. ''Unfortunately, this year I was prevented from doing so. That's why I will try to add another year.'' While he has been in contact with Discovery Channel, Ullrich said that no concrete agreement had been reached. The team is said to have hired Gerolsteiner rider Levi

What a long strange trip it's been

Menzies turns the fastest time of the day

Powers is looking forward to the hills

SRAM’s PR and media manager, Michael Zellmann, chillin' before the climb . . .

. . . and suffering up Flagstaff Mountain

The new Force crankset

Cassette and rear derailleur

Rear brake

The front end

It’s been a while since VeloNews.com provided a Fred’s-Eye View of the domestic mountain-bike scene. It could have something to do with that skinny-tire race that’s been going on in France — but the fat-tire crowd has been throwing down, too. USA Cycling crowned some new champions July 13-16 out in sweaty Sonoma County, California, and more than a few newcomers made themselves players. Infineon Raceway was the stage, and I came back home with a camera full of snapshots and a tape recorder bursting with audio clips. Here are a few snippets from four days of dust, sun and fat tires. Ryan

The wind was at his back now, gently rustling the banners along the Champs-Élysées and urging Floyd Landis on with a certainty he hadn't felt since he lit out of Pennsylvania Dutch country as a kid, vowing some day to win the world's greatest bicycle race. On Sunday, Landis was every bit as good as his word. ''I kept fighting, never stopped believing,'' he said, and the yellow jersey stretched snugly across Landis' slim shoulders confirmed the wisdom of that. The first Tour de France of the post-Lance Armstrong era was captured by another American — on the same

New Tour de France champion Floyd Landis leapt to second in the latestPro Tour standings released on Monday.The American's victory moves him to just 20 points behind leader AlejandroValverde of Spain, while Australian Cadel Evans's top five finish on theTour propelled him to sixth in the standings. Standings1. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 195 points2. Floyd Landis (USA) 1753. Frank Schleck (LUX) 1504. Tom Boonen (BEL) 1455. Ivan Basso (ITA) 1386. Cadel Evans (AUS) 1207. Christophe Moreau (FRA) 1188. Jsrg Jaksche (GER) 1109. Alessandro Ballan (ITA) 11010. Damiano Cunego (ITA) 10611.

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis said Monday he hopes to have his ailing right hip replaced within the next month so he can return to the sport with the possibility of defending his title next July. Speaking with American reporters in a conference call from his hotel room in Paris, Landis said he remains confident that he can resume his racing career, despite the fact that he will become the first professional cyclist and only one of a small number of professional athletes to successfully undergo total hip replacement surgery. Landis dismissed concerns regarding the very limited

Trebon gave it where he could

Haywood for a morale boost from her win

Riffle loved the win, hated the course

Irmiger found herself gobbling a grass sandwich

Landis never stopped fighting

If his surgery goes as he expects, Landis may well be toasting another Tour win next July.

Course: Unlike most recent final stages that looped through the countryside south or east of Paris before entering the city, the entire course is on suburban and city streets in the southern and western parts of the metro area. Most significant is the very steep Cat. 4 climb of Mont Valérien after 72km, which is followed by a fast sweep down to the Seine River at Clichy. The next 20km are along the right bank of the Seine before riders reach the traditional Champs-Élysées circuit after 100km. Eight laps of the 6.5km circuit complete the 2006 Tour, 400 meters after the final right turn from

Welcome to VeloNews TV. Tune in daily for FREE race highlights, interviews, tech profiles, rider diaries, cycling news and more. Our own Jason Sumner is in France and will be reporting daily from inside the action at the 2006 Tour de France. NOW PLAYING ON VELONEWS TV Stage 20Stage 20 race highlights. American Floyd Landis wears the yellow jersey in Paris. Chris Horner Diary: Stage 20. Americans George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde and Levi Leipheimer reflect on the 2006 Tour and what comes next. Omega Pharma CEO Marc Coucke talks about his company’s sponsorship of the Davitamon-Lotto

Scott “Iceman” Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) returned to Mt. Evans to takehis sixth victory in the Bob Cook Memorial Hillclimb, dropping the seemingly ageless Ned Overend (Specialized) by five seconds on the final pitches. Local mainstay Mike Carter (Colorado Velo – Denver Spoke) and Navigator’s PhilZajicek came home in third and fourth respectively. This year’s race saw beautiful Colorado weather saw the mountain’s wildlifecome out to watch the race, with reports of marmots and mountain goatsplaying chicken on the road with the racers. Some of the pro racers entertained thoughts of

American Floyd Landis won the Tour de France Sunday, as the world's greatest bicycle race wrapped up three weeks of racing with its traditional finale on the elegant cobbles of the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Phonak captain crossed the finish line of the final stage, a 154km stage from the suburb of Antony, in 69th place behind Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), who surged to his second stage win of the race, outsprinting Australian Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto). Another Australian, Stuart O'Grady (CSC), finished third on the stage. Landis, 30, becomes the third winner of

Results - Stage 201. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 154.5km in 3:56:52 (39.135kph)2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:003. Stuart O’Grady (Aus), CSC, 00:004. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:005. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:006. Samuel Dumoulin (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 00:007. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:008. Anthony Geslin (F), Bouygues Telecom, 00:009. Alessandro Ballan (I), Lampre, 00:0010. Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, 00:00 11. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 00:0012. Marco Velo (I), Milram, 00:0013. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 00:0014.

Yellow Jersey: Floyd LandisDate of birth:October 14, 1975 - Lancaster,PennsylvaniaHeight: 1,78 mWeight:68 kgStage racesParis-Nice - overall (2006)Tour of California: one stage plus overall (2006)Tour of Georgia: one stage plus overall (2006)Tour of the Algarve: one stage plus overall (2004),Tour of Poitou-Charentes (2000) one stageTour of Langkawi (2000) one stageDauphine Libere: 2nd (2002)Tour de France: one stage plus overall 2006, ninth 2005, 23rd 2004, 77th 2003, 61st 2002. Five participations, no abandons.Tour of Spain: five days in yellow jersey (2004)TeamsMercury (1999-2001)U.S. Postal

Saunier Duval’s David Millar had more reasons than most to feel happy when he rode over the Tour de France finish line on the Champs Élysées in Paris on Sunday. For the 29-year-old Scot, completing what has been a spectacular and hard-fought race this year was a big achievement in itself. Millar returned to the race on which he made his name only days after completing a ban for doping. e admitted using the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) to win his world time trial crown at Hamilton, Canada in 2003. In the three weeks since the race began under a huge doping cloud in Strasbourg,

Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen won the Tour de France polka dot jersey for the second consecutive time here Sunday when he finished the race covered in covered in polka dots…. and goosebumps. Riding over the mainly flat 154km final stage, when he is so used to performing in the mountains, left the skinny Rabobank climber feeling emotional. "This is just as good as last year," he said after stepping onto the podium with his son Milo draped in the same polka dot outfit. "You get goosebumps whether you're (veteran Viacheslav) Ekimov (the oldest man in the race) or Michael

Robbie McEwen won the Tour de France points competition for the third time here Sunday to once again pull on the green jersey. In what is considered the second hardest competition on the race after the yellow jersey battle, McEwen topped the standings on 288 points to leave former six-time winner Erik Zabel of Germany down in second place on 199. The 34-year-old Belgium-based Aussie also claimed three stages on this year's race, however he was pipped to the most coveted sprint stage when he was beaten to the Champs Elysees finish line by last year’s points jersey winner Norway's

If the plan works, sports fans will soon have another 24-hour network at their disposal: Olympic TV. The United States Olympic Committee is considering starting its own network, filled with live events, archival footage and maybe a cooking show or two. The working title, the United States Olympic Sports Network, is an idea that has been discussed for the last decade. Now the U.S.O.C. is getting serious. Among the goals for the network would be to make money and to increase exposure for Olympic sports, many of which are forgotten as soon as the Games end. There is a chance that increased

Norwegian Thor Hushovd was all smiles again here Sunday three weeks after he began what has been a spectacular Tour de France with victory on the opening prologue. Hushovd, of Credit Agricole, surged to his second stage win of the race on the world famous Champs Elysees after out-muscling his biggest rival -Australian Robbie McEwen - 100 meters from the finish line. Another Australian, Stuart O'Grady of CSC finished third on the stage just ahead of the bunch. After beating American George Hincapie by less than a second to win the prologue and the yellow jersey, Hushovd's bid for

Damiano Cunego took a step toward a future victory on the Tour de France by winning the race's white jersey in Paris on Sunday. Cunego, who has been considered a huge stage racing prospect since winning the Giro d'Italia at the age of 22, sealed victory in the Tour's 25 years old and under classification with an impressive time trial performance on Saturday. On the race's 19th and penultimate stage, a 57km race against the clock, the 24-year-old blond-haired Italian finished 10th at 3:44 behind Ukrainian specialist Sergei Gontchar of T-Mobile. His main rival for the

Three weeks of the world's greatest bicycle race - awww, forget that, it's the world's greatest sporting event - and it's all done and the Tour de France has a new champion, a smart, funny and very low-key kid from Lancaster Pennsylvania. From the late start in the prologue to the mechanical problem in his stage 7 time trial to the near complete shutdown on stage 16 to a suicidal break on stage 17, Floyd Landis has provided us with enough drama for several Tours. Through it all, our photographer Casey Gibson was there to capture images of the spectactle that is the Tour de

While Floyd Landis was enjoying his moment in the French sun atop the winner’s podium at the Tour de France, riders from Discovery Channel were wondering how they could rediscover their mojo. The defending Tour-winning team entered this year’s race with high hopes, but fell flat in the Pyrenees and could never regain its footing in the Alps. José Azevedo was the best among the GC in 19th at 38:08 back. The team had some high points, earning the yellow jersey with George Hincapie in Stage 1 and claiming a stage victory in Stage 12 into Carcassone with Yaroslav Popovych. Both riders were

As Floyd Landis crossed the Tour de France finish line Sunday, his devout Mennonite parents were riding their own bicycles home from church. Paul and Arlene Landis were so confident their son would win cycling's greatest race that they didn't have to choose between going to church and watching it on TV at a neighbor's house. "I'm glad we didn't have to make that choice. Church is very important to us," Arlene Landis said. "We felt in our hearts he was going to win. He is not one to take second place." The couple and their neighbors in Farmersville, a tiny hamlet in the

President George W. Bush called Floyd Landis to congratulate him on his victory in the Tour de France and highlight US pride at winning the event for the eighth straight year. "Everybody is proud of you," a White House spokeswoman quoted Bush as saying in a telephone call to the 30-year-old Landis as he started celebrations in Paris. Landis had displayed "great courage” and showed “amazing strength of character." Bush, who has become a keen mountain biker since being forced to give up running because of knee problems, invited Landis, his wife, Amber, and their family to visit the White

Full coverage of the 2006Tour de France

Stage 20: Sceaux/Antony to Paris (Champs-Elysées) 154.5km

Stage 20: Sceaux/Antony to Paris (Champs-Elysées) 154.5km

Moninger wins it

But it had been a duel all the way up

Hushovd bookends his Tour with wins

The leader of the Tour on the Champs-Elysees

The jerseys of the 2006 Tour

A very happy man

The top three

McEwen shows his usual flair when celebrating his third green jersey victory.

Cunego, Landis and Rasmussen with incoming Tour director Christian Prudhomme and retiring director Jean Marie Leblanc

Hushovd caps off an amazing Tour

Prudhomme and Leblanc pose with Cunego, Landis and Rasmussen

The village departe' is a daily fixture at le Tour

Baby, you're a rock star

The riders in the peloton present Jean Marie with a special memento of his last Tour

Landis and his old friend, and former teammate, Dave Zabriskie.

Phonak on parade

Chris Horner lookin' happy... as usual

For the yellow jersey, the key is just to get through these last few kilometers in one piece.

The podium of Floyd

Course: This final time trial follows a complicated 57km route between the twin industrial cities of Le Creusot and Montceau-les-Mines. There are a few long straightaways, but in between — from 5km-17km, 23km-34km and 47km-55km — the course is on a mixture of narrow back roads and city streets that twist and climb around the district’s former coalmines and steel mills. In other words, it’s a challenging up-and-down course where riders are constantly changing direction, sprinting out of turns, grinding up hills and racing down descents. History: Only once has this area hosted a Tour stage;

Going into the final time trial, never before has the Tour de Francecome down to six riders still having a chance of standing on one of the three podium spots in Paris. But that’s the situation this Saturday. Starting at 4 p.m. local time, the six riders ride at three-minute intervals in the 57km stage 19 time trial from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines.(LiveCoverage is now underway. These are the six men, their starting times, how much they have to makeup on race leader Oscar Pereiro, how the performed in the first time trialon July 8 and their chances of success on Saturday. Denis Menchov

Complete List of Scheduled Start Times, Stage 19 Wim Vansevenant (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 11:15:00Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 11:17:00Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis, 11:19:00Aitor Hernandez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 11:21:00Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, 11:23:00Filippo Pozzato (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 11:25:00Cédric Coutouly (F), Agritubel, 11:27:00Christophe Mengin (F), Francaise des Jeux, 11:29:00Kjell Carlström (FIN), Liquigas-Bianchi, 11:31:00Arnaud Coyot (F), Cofidis, 11:33:00Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas-Bianchi, 11:35:00Julian Dean (NZl), Credit Agricole, 11:37:00Unai

There is a Spanish civil war erupting between Team CSC and Caisse d’Epargne as each side is pointing the finger at the other for allowing Floyd Landis to ride back into the Tour de France in Thursday’s epic solo attack. As Landis lines up Saturday as the heavy favorite to erase a 30-second gap to race leader Oscar Pereiro, Spanish pundits are looking for someone to blame for what’s viewed as a blown opportunity to win its first Tour since Miguel Indurain last won in 1995. “We let the Tour slip right through our hands,” Pereiro said. “Now Landis is right back in it and he’s the favorite to

1. Sergei Gontchar (Ukr), T-Mobile, 57km in 1:07:45 (50.479kph)2. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, at 00:413. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, at 01:114. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., at 02:405. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, at 03:186. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, at 03:357. Viatceslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel, at 03:418. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, at 03:419. Bert Grabsch (G), Phonak, at 03:4310. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 03:44 11. David Millar (GB), Saunier Duval, at 04:0112. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, at 04:0313. Marcus Fothen (G), Gerolsteiner, at

When Phonak’s Floyd Landis gave Oscar Pereiro a 30-minute "gift" at the Tour de France one week ago to put the Spanish rider in yellow, he couldn’t have imagined the difficult task he’d have to stave off his former teammate. That task got tougher after his grand meltdown atop La Toussuire on stage 16, when Landis gave up eight minutes and Pereiro regained the yellow jersey he’d lost to Landis at L’Alpe d’Huez. And when the American fought back with an epic solo breakaway into Morzine the following day, he still had a half-minute deficit on Pereiro going into Saturday’s 57km time trial. On a

Phonak's Robert Hunter will be deprived of riding into Paris with teammate Floyd Landis after the South African was eliminated following the 19th stage of the Tour de France Saturday. Hunter's deficit to Ukrainian Sergei Gontchar (T-Mobile) over the penultimate stage 57km time trial was 18 minutes and nine seconds. It meant the South African officially finished the stage outside the permitted time limit. Permitted deficits on Tour de France time trials are based on the best time of the stage multiplied by 25 percent. Gontchar claimed his second stage win of the race in a time of

Andreas Klöden didn’t win the Tour de France as he promised three weeks ago, but he had an inspired performance Saturday to move onto the final podium for the second time of his career. Klöden started the day fourth at 2:29 back of overnight leader Oscar Pereiro and 2:17 behind second-place Carlos Sastre. While Pereiro was able to retain a podium position, Spanish mountain goat Sastre could only muster 20th, opening the door for Klöden to ride onto the podium. Only teammate Sergei Gontchar beat him by 41 seconds as he moved up to third overall at 1:29 back. “I heard that I was more than a

Amber Basile made one pledge after seeing her husband, Floyd Landis, secure an almost-certain claim to the Tour de France maillot jaune on Saturday: to wear yellow in Paris on Sunday. Clutching a Credit Lyonnais lion and bouquet behind the podium minutes after Landis had been cheered as the Tour champion in waiting, Basile said she hadn’t arrived in France with a yellow dress in readiness for tomorrow’s finale on the Champs Elysees in Paris. “It’s so hard to get yellow here," she said, "but there will be yellow on me somewhere." Like her husband at his post-race press conference, she

When Floyd Landis stands atop the Tour de France podium on Sunday with the yellow jersey, he will do so knowing his victory came partly thanks to one of the race's biggest legends. The 30-year-old American heads into Sunday's largely celebratory final stage to Paris with a 59-second lead on former Phonak teammate Oscar Pereiro and a lead of 1:29 on Germany's Andréas Klöden (T-Mobile). At the end of 154km of racing that finishes on the Champs-Elysées, Landis will succeed another former teammate, Lance Armstrong, who won the jersey seven years in a row before retiring last

As it really should be, the 2006 Tour de France came down to a battle in the final time trial. American Floyd Landis became the third American to wear the yellow jersey going into Paris, the 11th time a U.S. rider has won the race since Greg LeMond first achieved that feat 20 years ago this week.As he has been throughout this Tour, photographer Casey Gibson was there to capture the moment.

When it comes to Tour de France technology, nothing brings out the big-ticket items quite like a time trial. Most of the ProTour bikes on display Saturday at the start in Le Creusot cost more than that first car you bought in college. Heck, the BMC TT machine piloted by new yellow jersey holder Floyd Landis is probably worth more than the car I drive to work right now. With its carbon water bottle cage and crank cover, Landis’s ride is at the leading edge of the technology movement. But Floyd wasn’t the only rider piloting a tricked out machine. Here’s a look at some of the other TT bikes

57k by yourself. That’s a long way (especially if you’ve already put in 3445.6 over the last three weeks) and to drive the point home the organizers were kind enough to put out signs up starting with 50k-to-go reminding you that you will be riding by yourself without any assistance for an absurd amount of time. There were no real surprises today other than Oscar riding the TT of his life for a podium place that he rightfully doesn't really, 100 percent deserve, but even as I say that, I contradict myself. He was a great fighter these last few days and impressed many of us along the way.

Robbie Hunter of South Africa will be the one Phonak rider who won’t be entering Paris in Triumph on Sunday. Hunter was eliminated from the race after the penultimate stage for missing the time cut. He crossed the line 18:09 – one minute and 11 seconds outside the permitted time limit. He later explained to a friend in a text message: “I rode the whole time trial standing because of saddle sores .My arse is in pieces. What a way to end the Tour.” It is believed that Hunter last night traveled to Paris from the time trial finish at Montceau-les Mines, but was not permitted to travel with

WeatherSunny to partly sunny, warm, humid, afternoon breezes, highs 30-34C Stage winnerSergei Gontchar (T-Mobile), 1h07:45, 50.480kph – The Ukraine won his second time trial of this year’s Tour, finishing 41 seconds ahead of teammate Andreas Kloden and to Floyd Landis (Phonak) at 1:11. Race leaderFloyd Landis (Phonak), 3,502.6km, 85h42:30, 40.861kph – Landis erased a 30-second deficit to Oscar Peirero (Caisse d’Epargne) to grab the maillot jaune going into Sunday’s finale into Paris. Pereiro slipped to second while Kloden bumped onto the podium with Carlos Sastre (CSC) dropped to fourth.

Stage 19: Le Creusot to Montceau les Mines - 57km (ITT)

Stage 19: Le Creusot to Montceau les Mines - 57km (ITT)