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Bumped into 1987 Tour de France winner Stephen Roche the other day. Literally. But as anyone who has followed the Tour will tell you, as the race gets bigger and bigger and more congested along the way, bumping into people is what you do. Forget meeting them. Doing so with Roche was a good thing. Our subsequent chat brought back a lot of fond memories. We spoke of his great races and tigerísh spirit to racing. We spoke of 1987, the year of his triple crown — victory in the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and the world professional road championship (at Villach, Austria). We spoke and spoke

More than anything, I wish the biggest story of the day was AlexanderVinokorouv’s victorious attack in the closing kilometers of Stage 9. Instead,our attention was once again drawn to the dangers of racing bicycles, thistime illustrated by Joseba Beloki’s brutal crash on the final descent ofthe day.No one really knows what happened first, whether his rear tire blewor slipped in melted asphalt, but the result was quick and painful. Belokifought to stay upright, his wheels dug into the soft pavement, and he wasthrown violently to the ground. Early reports indicate the impact brokethe upper

Two days removed from the World Cup downhill at Grouse Mountain, just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, a handful of the circuit’s best gravity riders made the two-hour trip north up Highway 99 to Whistler to contest a pair of races at the famous ski resort. First up was Monday’s Joyride BikerCross (same concept as mountain cross and/or four-cross), where Frenchman Cédric Gracia and American Jill Kintner earned wins on the track that snaked its way towards the main village underneath the Fitzsimmons chairlift. In the men’s final, Gracia (Siemens-Cannondale) grabbed the lead early, then

Armstrong is forced off the road as Beloki crashed

Vino' now in second overall

Armstrong puts on 'cross demo' for a startled spectator

Prince Albert of Monaco talks with five time Tour winner Bernard Hinault

Beloki before the start

Millar was on the attack before Vino charged

Armstrong's pedal sports the new 2004 Dura-Ace anodization...

...but not the larger contact platform of the final production version.

L'Alpe d'Huez is just as steep going down as it is going up

Stage 9 Tech Talk: Hot tar, sticky brakes and Lance's daily driver

Stage 9 Tech Talk: Hot tar, sticky brakes and Lance's daily driver

Armstrong, Ullrich and Basso finish

Virenque celebrates the climber's jersey with Laurent Jalabert

Stage 9 Tech Talk: Hot tar, sticky brakes and Lance's daily driver

On the Col d'Izoard

Jaksche was a big factor all day.

Up the Côte de la Rochette - moments before Beloki's crash

Armstrong knows better than anyone that this race is far from over

Riding with Richard

Gracia grapples with his new trophy.

It’s a name that’s synonymous with the Tour de France: L’Alpe d’Huez. The numbers are well known — 13.8km long, 21 switchbacks, 7.9 percent average grade — but they can’t begin to tell the story of the fabled climb. It has become to cycling what Kitzbühel is to ski racing, or Monaco to Formula 1. So when planning the course of this centennial Tour, it was clear that L’Alpe d’Huez had to be one of the “must” stage finishes. The Alpe wasn’t included in the Tour’s itinerary until 1952, so it has been featured only 21 times (this year will make it 22) in the event’s 89 editions. Although that

This is the third straight 200km-plus stage, and the most challenging yet. All the action will be in the final 100km. That’s when the race reaches the foot of the Col du Télégraphe, which is the start of 30km of uphill work (other than one brief downhill) to the 2645-meter (8697-foot) summit of the Col du Galibier, the high point of the 2003 Tour. This northern approach is unrelenting, and usually sees the peloton reduced to a handful of riders, especially if the weather is cold or wet. There will surely be some sort of regrouping on the 40km-long descent, but then comes the infamous 13.8km

This is an unusual mountain stage, with the longer climbs at the start, and two shorter uphills near the end. The Col d’Izoard is one of the Tour’s mythical climbs, but much of the peloton will regroup in the 64km before the next hill. The long, steep Izoard descent, followed by a snaking road down a canyon, gives an opportunity for a breakaway to establish itself. A beautifulroad alongside (and across) the Serre-Ponçon lake — the largest reservoir in Europe — precedes the last two uphills: St. Appolinaire (28.5km from the finish) and La Rochette (8km from the line). They are long enough

Since the 2003 Tour route was released in December, Sunday's stage 8 over the Télégraphe and Galibier climbs and up the 21 famed switchbacks of Alpe d'Huez had all the makings of a classic. Well, it certainly lived up to expectations. More than 400,000 fans lined the twisting, 14km final climb to Alpe d'Huez and enjoyed one of the most spectacular and exciting Tour stages in years. Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) delivered on his promise to win a Tour stage and shot away from a lead group of favorites with just over 7km to go and held on for the biggest win of his career. Lance Armstrong surged

Stage 8 Individual Results1. Iban Mayo (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 5:57:302. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Telekom, 01:453. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal Service, 02:124. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), iBanesto.com, 02:125. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 02:126. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONCE - Eroski, 02:127. Tyler Hamilton (USA), CSC, 02:128. Ivan Basso (I), Fassa Bortolo, 02:129. Roberto Laiseka (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 02:1210. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Alessio, 03:3611. Christophe Moreau (F), Credit Agricole, 03:3612. Roberto Heras (Sp), U.S. Postal Service, 03:3613. Jan Ullrich (G), Bianchi,

Well, my pre-race top-five predictions aren't all doing so hot, so I fear that I may not be the wise sage I claim to be. However, one thing that I predicted that is definitely coming true is that Lance Armstrong is really having to fight for dominance this year. As I've said before, I think Armstrong will win this Tour de France, but I think it's going to be his toughest win ever. Today was an obvious example of that, since in the Alpe d’Huez stage in 2001, Lance just killed everyone, and buried the race on the first mountain day. Today, many men still have realistic hope of taking a

When the Tour de France visited L’Alpe d’Huez two years ago, Lance Armstrong destroyed his opposition by a two–minute margin and virtually put his third Tour win on ice. That’s far from the case this year. In Sunday’s spectacular alpine stage, the defending champion was attacked from all quarters and it was the Texan who conceded the two minutes to an explosive Iban Mayo — the 25-year-old Euskaltel-Euskadi rider who already pushed Armstrong to the limit in taking second place at last month’s Dauphiné Libéré. You could say that Armstrong and his U.S. Postal-Berry Floor team were

Lance Armstrong loves to win, but he knows it is better to concede some battles in the effort to win the war. When he has a great day, Lance can leave everyone behind with one hard attack, but today wasn’t great and it became clear to him early on in the Alp d’Huez climb that the best strategy was to ride defensively. Lance went into Stage 8 intending to attack on Alp d’Huez and put as much time as possible into his main rivals for the yellow jersey. The US Postal Service set him up perfectly to do just that, setting a blistering pace up the initial slopes of the mountain. Their efforts

This was the one everyone was waiting for. At 219km, the stage from Sallanches to L'alpe D’huez was the fourth longest of this Tour, but it was, by a long stretch, the toughest so far. Of the five climbs, two are among the toughest (and most famous) in the world: the hors categorie 2645-meter Col du Galibier (the highest point of the entire race) and the much-feared 1850-meter L' Alpe d'Huez. To take on a day like this, both riders and their equipment needed to be ready for the seemingly endless climbs as well as heart-stopping descents. Here's a look at some of the equipment the riders

It’s one of the most overused adjectives when it comes to mountain-bike racing, but in this case “epic” really did apply. With heavy rain moving in and out all day, and a legitimately tough course serving as the stage, the fourth stop of the UCI World Cup concluded with a pair of cross-country races that produced enough drama to fill a week of daytime television. When it was all done, the day’s heroes were Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle and Belgian Roel Paulissen, each taking World Cup victories after spending full days at the front. For Paulissen, the win was a long time coming, erasing his name

A great injustice has occurred on the Tour de France and not a soul has stood up to make a point of it. By doing so now, I’ll probably find out why lips have remained tight. Basically, Tour history has stiffed the person who should be credited with founding the Tour. And it took today’s stage 8 from Sallanches to L’Alpe d’Huez to highlight that omission. As the stage passed the 2654-meter summit of the Galibier after 157km and we began the long descent, looking to the right we saw the massive stone monument dedicated to Henri Desgrange. Known as H.D (pronounced “ash-day” in French) to his

What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday night was a pretty low point for me and everyone on the CSC team. But here we are seven days later, reflecting on a day we couldn’t have imagined was possible. It's impossible to explain the range of emotions this team has been through since the start of the Tour. But everyone has rallied around me and my effort to continue. I don't know where I'd be without their support. My being able to stay in this race has been the result of a full and collective effort by all the riders and staff. Everyone has tried to stay as positive as possible.

The final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 1km afternoon criterium, was held Sunday in Bend, Oregon, and as expected, Saturn’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette held onto their overall leads, with Bessette and Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) winning the stage. Held in the town’s Old Mill district, the flat five-corner criterium offered no real possibility for changes in the general classification: Bessette held a near five-minute lead on second-placed Heather Albert (Team Basis), while Danielson’s 49-seond lead over Jonathon Vaughters (Prime Alliance) was protected by the strongest

Swiss rider Nicole Brandli won the 2003 Giro d’Italia Femminile in dramatic fashion on Sunday, overtaking Edita Pucinskaite on the final day of the race to win by a scant 17 seconds. Trailing by five seconds heading into the 22.9km stage 9 time trial, Brandli put enough time on her Lithuanian rival to take the final pink jersey in Venice. The Giro had become a two-woman race after the mountainous stage 3, won by Brandli, when Pucinskaite assumed the race lead with the Swiss just five seconds behind. Following that came a sprinting display by German Regina Schleicher, who posted four

No stage win, but Armstrong got a bigger prize

Ullrich lost 1:24 to Armstrong on the climb

Fast company

American fans on Alpe d' Huez, from Seattle and Atlanta

Courage, climbing Alpe d'Huez with one leg

French fans in turn 3 entertained all of us for hours

views of the north side of Galibier

Biggest Lance fan on Alpe d'Huez, a Brit!

Member of the cycling monastary