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5:25 p.m. Colombian Santiago Botero won the 52km time-trial between Lanester and Lorient. Defending Tour champion Lance Armstrong came in 10 seconds behind Botero. Spain's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano retained the overal leader's yellow jersey. Sergei Gontchar of the Ukraine was third in a time-trial that saw six riders separated by just 30 seconds. 1. Santiago Botero (Col), KEL, at , 52 km in 1hr 02min 18sec (average: 50.080 kph, at 2. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at at 00:11. 3. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), FAS, at 00:18. 4. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa), ONE, at 00:19. 5. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), MAP,

1. Santiago Botero (Col), Kelme, at, 52 km in 1hr 02min 18sec(average: 50.080 kph, at2. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal, at 00:11.3. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), Fassa Bortolo, at 00:18.4. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa), ONCE, at 00:19.5. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Mapei, at 00:25.6. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), Lampre, at 00:25.7. David Millar (Gbr), Cofidis, at 00:50.8. Dario Frigo (Ita), Tacconi Sport, at 01:34.9. Andrea Peron (Ita), CSC-Tiscali, at 01:34.10. Joseba Beloki (Spa), ONCE, at 01:38.11. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), U.S. Postal, at 01:41.12. Tyler Hamilton (USA), CSC-Tiscali, at 01:56.13. Marc

Russian Svetlana Boubnenkova of the Aliverti Kookai team won the 13th Giro d’Italia Femminile, a race that ended Sunday in Gorla Minore and was dominated by women from eastern Europe. Boubnenkova took over the race lead of the 10-day race on stage 3, when she won the 110.5km stage from Lari to Cascina, 18 seconds ahead of 2000 world champion Zinaida Stahurskaia (Chirio Forno d’Asolo) of Belarus. Boubnenkova cemented her overall win three days later, with a win in the 19.7km stage 6 time trial in Suno, near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, where she beat Lithuanian Rasa Polikeviciute (Acca due

The Belgian flooring manufacturer Quick Step plans to maintain its cycling sponsorship despite co-backer Mapei's decision to pull out at the end of the season. Mapei announced the end of a decade's sponsorship in cycling last month, the building company blaming lack of progress in cleaning up the sport's tarnished image. Quick Step spokesman Philiep Caryn told the Belgian news agency Belga they were seeking to continue their involvement with an as yet unnamed Belgian company. Caryn reported: "We've already got a number of riders under contract -- the main ones being Tom

It's confirmed, the world will end soon, as Lance finished second. Look at the evidence folks: The stock market is crashing, wildfires are burning everywhere, nuclear tensions, terrorists’ threats and now Lance Armstrong has finished second in an individual time trial at the Tour de France. The world is clearly coming to a premature close, so make sure you're wearing clean underwear. Never mind that finishing second in a Tour TT is a miracle in itself, for a guy who had ten pounds of tumors in his body just a little while ago. Even so, I have to say I was surprised to see Lance get beaten.

After Sunday's final stage at Cascade-- a short criterium course won by Saturn's Chris Fisher and Hutch's Sandy Espeseth-- there was no change in the overall standings, sealing victory for Chris Wherry (Mercury) and Kimberly Bruckner (Saturn). Entering the criterium, Bruckner had the overall sealed up, leading by over six minutes as a result of her dominant performance in the opening stage's road race. Still, she came out swinging Sunday, attacking the field with eight laps to go, with only Espeseth joining her. At the line, Espeseth benefitted from Bruckner's final efforts for the stage

A travesty is occurring at the Tour de France. And it needs fixing quick. Every day, Tour riders are introduced by race speaker Daniel Mangeas as they step up to sign on for the stage. And on time trials like Monday's 52km ninth stage from Lanester to Lorient in Brittany, the commentary is taken up again as they approach and cross the finish line. Every time, Mangeas announces the riders' names to the waiting crowd along with their palmarès - or achievements - to much loud applause and cheers. It is meant to be a fitting gesture, aimed to arouse the crowd and boost the Tour's atmosphere and

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Before your heart sinks too far, let me tell you something: Lance is fine. No, he didn’t win the time trial; and no, he isn’t wearing yellow yet. On the other hand, he is closer to the lead than he was yesterday and the hardest portion of the Tour is yet to come. So what happened today? Santiago Botero and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano rode brilliantly, and Lance rode reasonably well. I don’t think anyone should look at today’s result as a failure on Lance’s part, nor as a chink in his armor. He will be a formidable and aggressive force on the hardest mountain stages coming later this week and

Lance Armstrong rode a good time trial – downright great for anyone but him – and put himself in a perfect position for the upcoming mountain stages. The question is, was he doing some aerodynamic sandbagging or just not having a great day? And what’s with the guy on the road bike with no helmet beating him? On this pivotal stage, Armstrong eschewed his super-fast time trial suit with long sleeves and integrated gloves in favor of a short-sleeved suit. He once again used his new one-off flat Deda aluminum integrated stem/aero’ bar. His rear disc appeared not to be a Mavic, although it was

Botero

Baldwin (Navigators), Lieswyn (7UP/NutraFig), Fisher (Saturn), and Peters (Prime Alliance) gaining time on the rest of the field.

The power of yellow - Gonzalez Galdeano rose to the occasion

Leipheimer

Hamilton's flat cost him time.

Should Mangeas stop singing Richard's praises?

Armstrong: '...not a super day, but it was not a terrible day'

Grabbing prime real estate is important in any stage.

Young fans line up early, too.

The view from the course.

Go Floyd Go!

Botero!

Miss Bretagne presented Millar with the best young rider jersey today.

Tour Tech - Stage 9 - The importance of being aero' II

Tour Tech - Stage 9 - The importance of being aero' II

He was on the juice. Should he be in our hearts?

Sunday’s eighth stage of the Tour de France was a long, hot day in thesaddle across France’s Brittany region and the peloton wanted to get itover with quickly. It was a stage that spelled the end for Mapei’s OscarFreire and Lotto’s Aart Vierhouten, both victims of Saturday’slate-race crashes did not start on Sunday. The group roared past huge crowds of fans celebrating France’s BastilleDay and covered nearly 100 kilometers in the first two hours. A seven–manbreakaway slipped away midway through the stage and became the second successfulbreak of the 89th Tour. Rabobank’s Karsten Kroon ruined

PRELIMINARY RESULTS 1. Karsten Kroon (Nl), RAB, 217.5 km in 4:36:52. (47.135 kpm) 2. Servais Knaven (Nl), DFF, at ˆ 00:00. 3. Erik Dekker (Nl), RAB, at 00:00. 4. Franck Renier (Fra), BJR, at 00:00. 5. Sebastien Hinault (Fra), C.A, at 00:00. 6. Stephane Auge (Fra), DEL, at 00:00. 7. Raivis Belohvosciks (Let), LAM, at 00:00. 8. Robbie McEwen (Aus), LOT, at 01:55. 9. Erik Zabel (G), TEL, at 01:55. 10. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJ, at 01:55. 11. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), C.A, at 01:55. 12. Jan Svorada (Cz), LAM, at 01:55. 13. Fred Rodriguez (USA), DFF, at 01:55. 14. Robert Hunter (SA), MAP, at 01:55. 15.

1. Karsten Kroon (Nl), Rabobank, at , 217.5 km in 4hr 36 min 52sec (47.135kph)2. Servais Knaven (Nl), Domo-Farm Frites, at at 00:00.3. Erik Dekker (Nl), Rabobank, at 00:00.4. Franck Renier (F), Bonjour, at 00:00.5. Sebastien Hinault (F), Credit Agricole, at 00:00.6. Stephane Auge (F), Jean Delatour, at 00:00.7. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Lampre, at 00:00.8. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Lotto, at 01:55.9. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, at 01:55.10. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com, at 01:55.11. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Credit Agricole, at 01:55.12. Jan Svorada ((Cz), Lampre, at 01:55.13. Fred Rodriguez (USA),

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Successfully staying away from the field, 7UP-Nutra Fig's John Lieswyn and Hutch's Nicole Demars tasted victory Saturday at stage 5 of the Cascade Classic in Bend, Oregon. In the women's 56-mile race over rolling hills and a tough climb after the start/finish, several attacks were reabsorbed before a breakaway finally stuck with Demars and Saturn's Jessica Phillips. The two rode nearly half the 56-mile race together off the front, creating a comfortable gap of 2:30 by the last seven-mile lap. Demars had the better punch at the finish, with Phillips taking second place. The consistent

The eighth stage of the 2002 Tour de France was the sort of race a healthy Fred Rodriguez loves. The 217.5km trek from the Normandy region of France toward the southern coast of Brittany suited the talents of the American Domo-Farm Frites rider perfectly. “Today might be one of those days where one of our guys gets to go out there and try to go for a stage win,” said Rodriguez before the start of the long stage that finished on the road circuit of the 2000 world championships in Plouay. Just as he had hoped, Domo did get one of its men in position for a win when Servais Knaven made the final

If there is hell on the Tour de France, we came close to it on 217.5km of mostly long, flat, bumpy and dead roads from St. Martin de Landelles to Plouay in Brittany on Sunday. For followers of the Tour - les suiveurs - anything longer than 200km and without a mountain in sight (let alone under our wheels) is pure and painful purgatory. Today's eighth stage to the site of the 2000 world road championships was a case in point. Okay ... the riders in the peloton behind us attacked, attacked and then some until the final break of seven finally got away. Okay, the last 10km battle between

I realize I have no power over how the peloton races each day, but at least for now, my wishes from yesterday were granted. I hoped riders would stop crashing and, as far as I know, there were no serious falls or injuries today. So, if I write on Velonews.com that I want Lance to win tomorrow’s time trial, you think that might come true, too? Stage 8 was fast, the breakaway arrived ahead of the expected finish time for the stage, but Bastille Day didn’t go well for the French this year. There were three Frenchmen in the winning seven-man breakaway, but every man on today’s podium was Dutch.

We spent our longest day in the saddle to date today. Stage 8 proved to be a little less dramatic than Stage 7, thankfully. The amount of crashing and full on craziness yesterday was enough to frazzle the strongest of nerves. Everyone always says -- stay up front and out of trouble. But yesterday, the trouble was up at the front. Both crashes occurring in the final ten kilometers were in large part, a domino effect from the front of the peloton, which just goes to show you that anything can happen in bike racing. Just when you think you are doing the right thing - you could wind up in a

Britain's Steve Peat and Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson turned in a pair of heroic performances Sunday, each taking wins at World Cup downhill No. 4 in Telluride, Colorado. Chausson's victory was one of the most memorable of her illustrious career, as she beat out Sabrina Jonnier on the short, dry and dusty Telluride track. When day broke in southwest Colorado the Volvo-Cannondale rider could barely walk, still feeling the effects of a bad crash suffered in Saturday's four-cross. Following the mishap she was taken off the course on an inflatable backboard, then had to make the two-hour

There are lots of bicycles and components made in Taiwan that are usedin the Tour de France. But most have European or American brands on them.However, there are three Taiwanese companies that do put their names ontheir equipment in the Tour (read: they have paid for the right to havetheir names on the bikes). Giant was the first and is the longest-running Taiwanese sponsorin the Tour. This year, its all-carbon 6.8-kilogram (15-pound) road bikesfor ONCE are very cool. Not only is the black-and-gold styling classy andunique, the rest of the components on the bike match. Campagnolo

Small village, long walk.

Layers of fans.

Daniel Mangeas - The voice of the Tour de France

My friends the Langlois.

Postal at the helm.

The Dutchman who stole Bastille Day from the French

Still in charge

Another escapes makes it to the finish.

Armsstrong grabs lunch in St. Meen le Grand.

Beloki

These two will be joined at the hip for much of the Tour.

Rodriguez signs an autograph before Stage 5

Demars and Phillips climbing through the feed zone

Johnson, Lieswyn, and  Creed grabbing KOM points off the front of the field

Chausson sailed to downhill World Cup win No. 35.

Boxing, not biking, looked to be Chausson's new vocation.

Jonnier was a close second.

Peat donned a skinsuit for the first time — and it worked.

The men's podium.

Gonzalez de Galdeano's Giant

Virenque's bike is made in Belgium, but that fork comes form Khiausiung.

Bonjour's FSA

U.S. Postal1. Lance Armstrong (USA)2. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus)3. Roberto Heras Hernandez (Sp)4. George Hincapie (USA)5. Benoit Joachim (Lux)6. Floyd Landis (USA)7. Pavel Padrnos (Cz)8. Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col)9. José L.Rubiera Vigil (Sp)Telekom11. Erik Zabel (G)12. Rolf Aldag (G)13. Udo Bölts (G)14. Gian Matteo Fagnini (I)15. Giuseppe Guerini (I)16. Danilo Hondo (G)17. Bobby Julich (USA)18. Kevin Livingston (USA)19. Steffen Wesemann (G)ONCE21. Joseba Beloki (Sp)22. José Azevedo (Por)23. Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano (Sp)24. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Sp)25. Jörg Jaksche (G)26. Isidro

5:30 p.m. Here are the preliminary results from today's stage. As you can see from the overall standings, Armstrong has lost some time, but the impact was not too serious. He was caught up in a crash about 2km from the finish. 1. Bradley McGee (Aus), FDJ, 176 km in 4:10:56. (42.083 kph)2. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), A2R, at 00:00.3. Pedro Horillo (Sp), MAP, at 00:00.4. Robbie McEwen (Aus), LOT, at 00:00.5. Erik Zabel (G), TEL, at 00:00.6. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), C.A, at 00:00.7. Jan Svorada (Cz), LAM, at 00:00.8. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJ, at 00:00.9. Fred Rodriguez (USA), DFF, at 00:00.10. Thor

Just when people were complaining that the 2002 Tour de France was gettingboring, Saturday’s seventh stage gave everyone a quick kick in the derrière. Three-time defending champion Lance Armstrong was caught up ina late-stage crash and lost 27 seconds to race leader Igor Gonzalezde Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski). Armstrong didn’t fall, but U.S. Postal Service riders George Hincapie and Roberto Heras did. Two late-race crashes sent scores of riders to the pavement and sentFrenchman Didier Rous to the hospital and out of the race. Worldchampion Oscar Freire of Mapei-Quick Step and Crédit Agricoleteam

Italy's 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani on Saturday had his eight month suspension for drugs lifted by the Italian Cycling Federation after a successful appeal. The 32-year-old, who also captured the 1998 Tour of Italy, had been sanctioned on June 17 by the Federation after allegedly using the banned substance insulin during the 2001 Giro d’Italia. The commission said there was no real proof that the cyclist, better known as 'Il Pirata' for his shaven head, gold earring and colourful bandanas, had taken insulin despite police finding a syringe with traces of it in his

1. Bradley McGee (Aus), FDJeux.com, at , 176 km in 4:10:56 (42.083kph)2. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Ag2R, at 00:00.3. Pedro Horillo (Sp), Mapei, at 00:00.4. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Lotto, at 00:00.5. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, at 00:00.6. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Credit Agricole, at 00:00.7. Jan Svorada (Cz), Lampre, at 00:00.8. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com, at 00:00.9. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Domo-Farm Frites, at 00:00.10. Thor Hushovd (N), Credit Agricole, at 00:00.11. Andrej Hauptman (Slo), Taconi Sport, at 00:00.12. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), iBanesto, at 00:00.13. Francois Simon (F), Bonjour, at 00:00.14.

Stage Four of the Cascade Cycling Classic was raced Friday night in downtown Bend, with no changes in the overall standings. Racing on a flat, six-turn course in front of thousands of spectators, Mercury controlled the field, defending race leader Chris Wherry and bringing sprinters Henk Vogels and Gord Fraser across the line in first and second, respectively. While originally leading out Fraser, Vogelshad so much left he was able to stay on the front all the way to the line. Third was believed to be, unofficially, Russell Stevenson of Prime Alliance in the photo finish while Saturn's

Well, there was another pileup, two to be exact, in the final kilometersof Saturday’s stage to Avranches. And there was a last-kilometer attack,two to be exact, on the uphill finish — resulting in a breakthrough stagevictory for Aussie Brad McGee. Both the crashes and the attacks were predictable,but no one likes to see riders climbing into ambulances, nursing injuredlimbs as they struggle to the finish, or stopping to help their fallenteam leaders. The crash 5km from the finish that dumped riders in ditches was a resultof the symptoms that caused similar mass pileups in 1997. Back then,

For all the things Tour de France race sponsors will do to maximize the value of their investment, there are days when the effort must seem wasted. Take the bosses of the Norman cheese manufacturer, Coeur de Lion, who must have been wondering what the worth of their public performance was today. Having alerted media 24 hours earlier that 700 workers from their factory would line the road donned in their trade mark red T-shirts in what was called "Operation Coeur de Lion," what response they ever really expected is anyone's guess. But there they stood. As promised, with 15km to go in

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

The first week of the Tour is always dangerous, and this year is proving to be no exception. Christophe Moreau has been hitting the ground like a paid-off prizefighter. Usually the peloton is somewhat nervous on the first two days, resulting in a few crashes, and then things calm down by this point. I am hoping people are getting their crashes out of the way early and the rest of the race will go more smoothly. This year, the final kilometers of a few stages have included small roads and several tight turns. Almost the entire peloton is reaching the final kilometers en masse too. Without a

The first week of the Tour de France is always full of crashes. It’s just an accepted part of the race. I just wish it weren't, though. Crashes in pro’ bikin' are no fun. Unlike when I was a junior and I overlapped someone’s' wheel and scraped myself up, crashes at this level tend to be into fixed objects at 40 miles an hour. Everyone ends up either in a ditch or in an ambulance and the rest jump up to catch the peloton as fast as they can so they won't miss next wreck. It's a little ironic, how dangerous it is to ride a bike with a bunch of people who make hundreds of thousands of dollars

Alexandre Cloutier and Clara Hughes were among the winners at the Canadian national track championships in Bromont, with Cloutier taking the men’s 4000-meter individual pursuit and Hughes winning the women’s pursuit. Other senior winners included Lori-Ann Muenzer and Steen Madsen in the match sprints and Marc Ernsting in the points race.

Canada’s Geneviève Jeanson will miss the Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Manchester, Great Britain, from July 25 to August 4, her team announced on Saturday. The leader of the RONA Cycling Team has a tendonitis behind her left knee. The cause of which is not yet known. Jeanson experienced pain during the last stage of the Hewlett Packard Women’s Challenge, on June 23. The pain then subsided but reappeared during the Fitchburg Longsjo Bicycle Classic the following week. "I am extremely disappointed by this turn of events," said Jeanson. "This injury happens at the worst of

One did it from the front, the other from one place back. But in the end both strategies paid off, as Alison Dunlap and Kashi Leuchs took wins in the Telluride 360 Adventure Festival cross-country omnium. Leuchs earned victory by putting together a pair of second-place finishes during the two-day event, and that gave the Volvo-Cannondale rider 4 points, two less than Subaru-Gary Fisher's Ryder Hesjedal and Leuchs' teammate, Christoph Sauser. Meanwhile, Dunlap was untouchable both days, adding a dominating win in the short track on Saturday to go with her equally impressive effort in

Eric Carter and Sabrina Jonnier were the last riders standings when the dust — literally — cleared after a carnage-filled evening of four-cross racing at World Cup No. 4 in Telluride, Colorado on Saturday. Among those who didn’t ride off the course were reigning dual world champions Brian Lopes and Anne-Caroline Chausson, who both suffered highlight-reel crashes on the lightning-fast, John Tomac designed course. Lopes, who went down right at the finish of one semifinal round, but did manage to clean himself off and returned for the small final to take fifth, which allowed the GT-Fox rider to

One fire burns out another's burning,One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish.- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet I don’t often ride with other cyclists. I ride with racers. The distinction is subtle, finer than a legal hair being split by aUSA Cycling attorney. Yet the yawning gulf that separates these subsetsof the group, "people who ride bicycles," is as wide as, say, Monica Lewinsky'sbutt in a Naugahyde jumpsuit with a D.C. phone book in each hip pocketafter six months on a diet of Twinkies, Schlitz Malt Liquor tallboys, andjumbo buckets of the Colonel's

There are no Spinacis to blame. The organizers have to take the rap for this mess.

Festina tries to get noticed, too.

Waiting for the gun to go off