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Retired superstar Mario Cipollini may be full of praise for Robbie McEwen’s stage-winning speed at the Tour de France. But the Italian still believes he was a better sprinter than the Australian is today. Twenty-four hours after lauding the Australian, who now has 11 Tour stage wins to Cipollini’s career tally of 12, Il Magnifico said on Wednesday morning that he believes he remains the real master blaster. Cipollini spoke to VeloNews as riders were preparing for the start of stage 10 in Cambo–les-Bains just after he chatted with Belgium’s world champion Tom Boonen of Quick

From the morning sign-in at the start to the podium at the finish, Casey Gibson covers it all. Here's what he saw between the lines today.

WeatherCloudy to partly cloudy all day, fog on Soudet summit, temperatures in mid-20sC Stage winnerJuan Manuel Mercado (Agritubel), 4h49:10, 39.527kph – Spanish mountain goat Mercado outsprinted Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) after the pair snuck away in the day’s winning breakaway. Mercado won a Tour stage in 2004, but was otherwise unproductive in two years with Quick Step. The victory gives his wild-card team a big boost. Race leaderDessel, 1,850.6km in 43h07:05, 42.916kph – Dessel started the stage 28th at 3:50 back and now leads Mercado by 2:34. Ukraine Sergei Gontchar (T-Mobile) saw his

For the first time in 21 years, the top professional road cyclists from the United States, many of whom are currently racing in the Tour de France, will compete for the coveted stars-and-stripes jersey in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains over Labor Day weekend. The dual championship for road racing and individual time trial will be held in Greenville, South Carolina, and top Americans expected to compete are George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Dave Zabriskie (Team CSC) and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner). In coordination with USA Cycling Inc., Medalist Sports unveiled today a

Landis's drivetrain doesn't look standardDear Lennard,What's up with the crank used by Floyd Landis? And What about Landis's rear derailleur? It didn't look like a normal Record model.Chris Dear Chris,According to Francesco Zenere at Campagnolo, Landis's rear derailleur and Ergo Power levers are 2006 series Record models. And BMC made a special cover for Landis's Campy cranks for improved aerodynamic efficiency in time trials.Lennard What about Hincapie’s steerer in Paris-Roubaix?Dear Lennard,George Hincapie's bike had a blasted and black-anodized aluminum

The 2006 U.S. National Mountain Bike Championships kicks off today at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, with the 56-mile marathon cross-country. Always a favorite of endurance freaks, pain gluttons and adventure-style riders, Thursday’s race spins seven laps around the same 7.9-mile loop that will be used for Friday’s cross-country races. Race organizers admit that using the cross-country course for the marathon is not ideal. However, it is one of the many alternative plans that have arisen in the wake of the national championships being moved from Mammoth, California. Record snow

Stage 10: Cambo-les-Bains to Pau - 190.5km

Stage 10: Cambo-les-Bains to Pau - 190.5km

Mercado nipped Dessel at the line

Cofidis

A smaller profile Triple from Hed

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

David Millar's TT rig

Tour Tech: A walk through the pits

Thor Hushovd's Look

...with a well solid front end for sprinting

T-Mobile's Giant

It came down to these two.

T-Mobile on the Col de Soudet

A French leader of the Tour

The pride of France: Dessel becomes the first yellow jersey in two years... and he has the climber's jersey, too.

Sage Advice: Cipo' offers words of encouragement to Boonen

Rujano in his new team kit

Narrow road to the Soudet

Basque food at the start

Riding into the mist of the Pyrenees

Gontchar looking a bit fatigued on the Soudet

Horner in the fog on the climb.

Landis stayed with T-Mobile

The team of the yellow jersey had to do the bulk of the work

Dessel grabbed top KOM points along the way.

A beautiful village high in the Pyrenees.

Riders disappear into the chaos of the final chute.

France's first yellow jersey in two years

Madame fan at the finish.

Stage Stats: Stage 10 by the numbers

Stage Stats: Stage 10 by the numbers

Mercado rates most aggressive

Gontchar struggled on the climbs, but fought his way back to the peloton

Leipheimer stayed with the favorites on the Soudet, but struggled on the Marie Blanc

Hincapie looked relaxed and smooth all day.

Popovych

T-Mobile leads the charge on the Marie Blanc

Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) almost bridges up to the leaders

Dessel and Mercado crest the Marie Blanc with a nice lead

Mercado gets it!

This turned out to be the move to join.

The venue

Course: After a long transfer and rest day in Bordeaux, the race continues with the last stage likely to have a mass finish until the Tour is two days out from Paris. The sprinters won’t waste the opportunity, especially on a completely flat stage like this one. It barrels southwest through the pine forest of the Landes almost to the Atlantic coast before turning south. Any breakaways are likely to be swept up after the route turns southeast for the final 35km — where winds off the ocean could split the peloton into echelons (perhaps CSC will make one of its trademark surges) and possibly

Oscar Freire (Rabobank) won the battle of the sprinters in Tuesday’s turbo-charged prelude to the Pyrénées, stabbing his wheel ahead of Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) to win stage 9 in a heart-stopping charge to the line. It was the Spanish sprinter’s second stage win of this year’s Tour de France, while Erik Zabel (Milram) snuck past a frustrated Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) to grab third place on the 169.5km stage from Bordeaux to Dax. “I’ve good and bad memories from finishes like that,” said Freire, referring to other photo finishes in his career. “I had good luck at Milan-San

1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank2. Robbie Mc Ewen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 00:003. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 00:004. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 00:005. Cristian Moreni (I), Cofidis, 00:006. Isaac Galvez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., 00:007. Francisco Ventoso (Sp), Saunier Duval, 00:008. Luca Paolini (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, 00:009. David Kopp (G), Gerolsteiner, 00:0010. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 00:00 11. Bernhard Eisel (A), Francaise des Jeux, 00:0012. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis, 00:0013. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre, 00:0014. Martin Perdiguero M.angel (Sp), Phonak,

Scrounging through our warehouse the other day, one of our staff ran across an old copy of a Made in USA special supplement to VeloNews. In late 1996, then VeloNews technical editor, Charles Pelkey, and photographer Robert Oliver made a quick visit to Southern California to tour the facilities of several local manufacturers, including one that operated under the label of TWP - Two Wheeled Performance - Products. A small company, the firm's owners decided that one of the best ways to promote their product line would be to sponsor a bike team. Well, that team was largely built around a

You take good news whenever it comes, especially on the Tour de France when the timing of it can help a lot. I can vouch for that, having finally gotten on top of the bronchial illness I had coming into the Tour, just as the race is about to hit the first mountain stage in the Pyrénées. I had been suffering and felt it going into the time trial, but now I feel ready to do what I came here to do and help Christophe Moreau as much as I can for the next big days. The team is looking forward to what’s ahead, and the stage win by Sylvain Calzati on stage eight at Lorient has given us the boost

Weather Sunny in morning, partly cloudy in afternoon, temperatures in high 70s, very humid Stage winner Oscar Freire (Rabobank), 3h35:24, 47.214kph – The three-time world champion won his second stage of this year’s Tour in a wild, wide-open sprint into Dax. Freire won in a bike stab against Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto), with Erik Zabel (Milram) taking third in the fastest road stage of the race so far. Race leader Sergei Gontchar, 1,660.1km in 38h14:17, 43.415kph – The Ukraine with an oft-misspelled name had another easy day in the saddle, finishing 32nd safely tucked in the main

While you relaxed in the cube farm, occasionally sneaking a glance at our Live Update, Casey Gibson was galloping through France alongside le Tour, chronicling the day's action. Here's what he sent back across the pond.

Australian Robbie McEwen has been lauded for his “explosive” top-end speed by Mario Cipollini, arguably the greatest sprinter of modern Tour de France history. Such praise from the retired Italian superstar was all the more meaningful considering that McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) actually lost the sprint at the end of Tuesday’s 169.5km ninth stage from Bordeaux to Dax. But McEwen’s lightening come-from-behind surge in the last 50 meters of Tuesday's stage to come from fifth wheel and then dart 10 meters across to his left and still challenge for the win was “astonishing,” said

If you ask six different experts who is going to win the 2006 Tour de France, you get six different answers. No one knows. Not even the athletes or their team officials know which rider is going to emerge in the mountains to take command. T-Mobile would appear to have the advantage with four riders in the first six, including yellow jersey Sergei Gontchar, but even the German squad has no real idea. Asked if his team will operate in the mountains like Lance Armstrong’s did for seven years, T-Mobile team manager Olaf Ludwig told VeloNews, “No, we don’t do the same as Discovery Channel or

Copper Triangle Alpine Classic Partners with the Davis Phinney FoundationDenver, CO, July 6, 2006 — This year’s Colorado Cyclist CopperTriangle Alpine Classic bike ride will benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation.The ride organization recently announced the partnership with the Foundationas part of the re-launch of the Copper Triangle ride. By donating a percentageof the registration revenue, organizers hope to raise $20,000 for the Foundation,which supports research aimed at understanding and treating Parkinson’sdisease and improving the lives of people challenged by the disease.

A real break. Yesterday's rest day, followed by a nice flat day like today, is bonus. It means that the rest day could be treated like a true rest day, one in which we only ride for 90 minutes or so, eat, get a little sleep and have no cars, planes or trains involved in our day. We took advantage of it, had a nice stroll through the vineyards yesterday and even stopped for a coffee. It was most likely to be the last day of this Tour in which we can actually “rest.” Tomorrow we head into the Pyrénées, and our next rest day on Monday is going to be followed by a brutally difficult

Newly crowned national road champions Matt Cooke and Craig Lewis are celebrating their respective recent victories at the elite and under-23 road championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. Cooke (LSV-Kelly Benefit Strategies) took the nation’s second-most prestigious road title on July 8 by attacking his two breakaway companions in the final meters of the hilly 176km road race, while on July 10 Lewis (TIAA-CREF) — who nearly died at the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia after he was struck by a vehicle — caught and passed teammate Steven Cozza in the final kilometer, leaving behind Priority

Stage 9: Bordeaux to Dax - 169.5km

Stage 9: Bordeaux to Dax - 169.5km

Freire wins a mad dash to the line

Ten Years After: Who'da thunk it?

Gontchar heads into the mountains wearing yellow

Three escapees

As the leading three were about to be caught, Knees wanted to try for a solo

Stage Stats: Stage 9 by the numbers

Not much threat to Pineau's jersey today

Knees earned most aggressive on the stage

Their lead topped out at 7:00

The peloton's work resulted in another well-timed catch

TV hounds Boonen, Why aren't you on the podium again today?

Bordeaux start. Nice place to spend the morning.

TV films the break