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Vanlandingham came from behind to take second.

iBanesto.com's TT bike -- with the offending bars

Sauser was untouchable.

The men take on the opening climb.

Ferguson DNF'd but still drew atttention from the local media.

5:08 p.m. -- Estonian national champion Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won the fifth stage of the Tour de France Thursday after he and the other members of a five-man break managed to hold off a hard charging peloton at the end of a 195km stage from Soissons to Rouen. ONCE’s Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano retained the race leader's yellow jersey. Former Danish champion Michael Sandstod of the CSC team came second in the stage with Belgian Ludo Dierckxsens, who rides for Lampre, third following 199.5 km of racing from Soissons to here. The main peloton arrived around 20secs later. Preliminary stage

Lotto’s powerful sprinter, Robbie McEwen, surprises with his choice of bikes. He rides – and sprints very fast – on the superlight compact-geometry climbing frame of Litespeed, the Ghisallo. It does help that he is short, and the flex in the thin tubes is reduced by virtue of being on such a tight little frame, in addition to having the compact geometry to further reduce weight and flex. McEwen wears white shorts and the white jersey of the Australian national champion, and he also chooses a white saddle and white handlebar tape while the rest of his team uses black saddles and tape. The

A long flat stage in the Tour de France can seem incredibly boring, but then something happens. It always does in the Tour.For the overall race favorites, Thursday’s 195km (121-mile) fifth stageacross the lush farm country of northern France was a relatively easy day in the saddle. But for the rest of the peloton, there was the usual mix of drama, glory and disappointment. Lance Armstrong said his U.S. Postal Service team worked wellto keep him out of heavy crosswinds, while the Spanish ONCE-Eroski teamsuccessfully defended the race leader’s yellow jersey for Igor Gonzalezde Galdeano. Up in

1. KIRSIPUU Jaan (Est), A2R en 4h 13:332. SANDSTOD Michael (Dk), CST, at 00:003. DIERCKXSENS Ludo (B), LAM, at 00:004. CASAGRANDA Stefano (I), ALS, at 00:035. EDALEINE Christophe (F), DEL, at 00:086. MC EWEN Robbie (Aus), LOT, at 00:337. COOKE Baden (Aus), FDJ, at 00:338. O'GRADY Stuart (Aus), C.A, at 00:339. ZABEL Erik (G), TEL, at 00:3310. HAUPTMAN Andrej (Slo), TAC, at 00:3311. PIZIKS Arvis (Lit), CST, at 00:3312. SVORADA Jan (Slo), LAM, at 00:3313. MATTAN Nico (B), COF, at 00:3314. HUNTER Robert (SA), MAP, at 00:3315. PAGLIARINI Luciano (Brz), LAM, at 00:3316. MAGNIEN Emmanuel (F), BJR,

The 47km mark of Friday's sixth stage will mean a lot more to six membersof the Tour entourage. Possibly more than what it will for those riderswho will race across it to contest the first of the day's three intermediatesprints.Sure, the mark may see German Erik Zabel's narrow lead in the sprinters'green jersey competition come under siege. Or it may be where the day'swinning break will escape.But when the Tour races towards the PMU banner in the town of Les Andelysin Normandy, the hearts of six among the media will be racing - hopefullynot at tachycardiac levels!One of the most picturesque

Normandy, the region of France the Tour de France entered Thursday andexits on Saturday, has probably seen more bike racing than anywhere elsein the world. The very first cycling road race took place between Parisand Rouen in 1869 when the roads were dusty and rocky, and the bikes werecrude, chainless velocipedes — pedal cranks were attached directly to thefront wheel hub. The winner of that inaugural Paris-Rouen race was an Englishmanliving in Paris, Dr. James Moore, who customized his hubs with ball bearings,made for him by prisoners in a Paris jail.Paris-Rouen gave birth to a series of

The bike on which Jaan Kirsipuu wonn stage five is a Decathlon aluminum bike, the brand of the largest sports retailer in Europe, the huge FrenchDecathlon chain. Decathlon has its own brand of much of what it sells. For instance,the wheels are “dPr,” or “Decathlon Penta” wheels, built up onto deep-section rims and hubs with the dPr logo on it. The headsets are integrated on the road bikes and external on the time trial bikes, also with the Decathlon brand on them. Otherwise, the bikes have Time pedals and carbon forks, CampagnoloRecord 10-speed groups, ITM stems and bars, Michelintires and

Final overall: Men: 1. Brent Dawson, Jelly Belly 2. Graeme Miller, Mercury 3. Andrew Crater, OFOTO-Lombardi 4. Dan Schmatz, 7UP-Nutra Fig

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.

Maybe the peloton took its cue from yesterday’s team time trial; today’s stage was just plain fast. Five men put in an impressive ride to hold off the charging sprinters, but these are the days when riders start falling apart. Tom Steels was the first rider to abandon the 2002 Tour de France. He hasn’t been feeling well during any stage and he had been coming off the back every time the road tilted even slightly. When the speed increases toward the end of the first week, struggling riders start cracking. It is a normal process. Some riders get stronger with a few days of racing in their

At the start of Thursday's 76-mile McKenzie Pass Road Race-- stage 2 of the Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon -- Saturn's Trent Klasna made the first big move of the day and was joined on the attack by a handful of other riders, including Mercury's Gord Fraser and Mike Sayers, and representatives from Prime Alliance, Navigators and Sierra Nevada. Their gap grew to 1:30, forcing Prime Alliance into chase mode for Chris Horner back in the pack. When they were caught on McKenzie Pass, the hard tempo left only 40 riders left. About a dozen riders soon went clear from that group, including

Robbie’s Ride

Kirsipuu makes it to Rouen.

Five men on a mission

They stayed away with 33 seconds to spare.

AG2R's Decathlon TT bikes-

The team truck still shows last year's bike.

Go Packers! .... uhhhh okay...

Tail gate party... maybe the Packer fan knew something we didn't.

Grand Mere...coffee for Everyone!

Ya gotta do something while waiting for the peloton.

Just cuz it looks cool

Ya almost don't recognize the guy without the Stars-and-Stripes.

Another day in yellow

The road to Rouen.

What would the Tour be without our man Didi?

5:20 p.m. The ONCE team won the fourth stage of the Tour de France as it finished in Château-Thierry Wednesday after a 67.5km team time trial from Epernay. ONCE's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano of Spain took the leader's yellow jersey. ONCE finished 16 seconds ahead of the US Postal team of reigning champion Lance Armstrong, while the CSC team of Tyler Hamilton and Laurent Jalabert finished third. Here are the final standings from today's team time trial:1. ONCE - EROSKI 01:19:492. US POSTAL SERVICE 01:20:05, at 00:163. TEAM CSC TISCALI 01:20:35, at 00:464. FASSA BORTOLO 01:21:19, at 01:305.

The yellow jersey is an elusive piece of clothing. During Wednesday’s67.5km team time trial it slipped through the hands of several riders before falling onto the shoulders of Spanish rider Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano. Thanks to an impressive victory by his ONCE-Eroski team in the 2002Tour’s stage 4, Galdeano becomes the first Spanish rider to earn the maillotjaune since five-time Tour champion Miguel Indurain last wore it onwinning his final Tour in 1995. CSC-Tiscali’s Laurent Jalabert seemed destined to snag the jersey thathe’s been chasing since finishing just two seconds behind Lance

After declaring on his Web site on Tuesday that he was through with cycling, Italian star Mario Cipollini told Gazzetta dello Sport that he was tired of "being treated like a mediocre cyclist," and again cited the non-selection of his Acqua & Sapone team to the Tour de France as one of the primary reasons for his decision to retire. "I am fed up with being treated as a mediocre cyclist and being snubbed. By who? By everyone, even by the media," said Cipollini. "No one came to my defense in the dispute with [Jean-Marie] Leblanc, (the chief of the Tour de France), who decided not to invite my

I could tell you that I can't believe our team was treated like a pretty boy fresh into a maximum security prison today. But, I won’t, since I do believe it and I suppose we did about as well as we could have. No there weren't any outstanding mistakes, or headwinds that the rest of the teams missed. No excuses, we just weren't right as rain today -- as we haven't been for the first bit of this Tour. At this point I think we'll be licking our wounds for a bit, and hoping for one of Jens's attacks to work out and restore the morale of the troops. Enough of the past, how about tomorrow?

Every day and every second counts during the Tour de France, and riders like Oscar Sevilla and Levi Leipheimer are bleeding. Following the team time trial, and with four stages remaining before the first individual time trial, both men have lost over 2 minutes to Lance. The time gap is by no means insurmountable, but I don’t remember the last time either man beat Lance by that much in an individual time trial. Tour contenders can not afford to lose minutes (to each other) during the first week of the Tour. Losing time is easy and can happen anytime during any stage. Gaining time, on the

It seems that everyone except the race organizers is regretting theabsence of Mario Cipollini from this year’s Tour de France. So the LionKing’s decision Tuesday night to announce his retirement from cycling comesat an appropriate moment — although we all regret that his flamboyancewill no longer grace our sport’s biggest stage.Cipollini brought excitement to the Tour, whether it was with his fourconsecutive stage wins in 1999 or his four days in the yellow jersey in1997. And, on a day when this Tour focused its attention on a team timetrial, many have forgotten that it was in a team time

Here are the final standings from today's team time trial:Stage results1. ONCE - EROSKI 01:19:492. U.S. POSTAL SERVICE 01:20:05, at 00:163. TEAM CSC TISCALI 01:20:35, at 00:464. FASSA BORTOLO 01:21:19, at 01:305. COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 01:21:33, at 01:446. IBANESTO.COM 01:21:45, at 01:567. DOMO - FARM FRITES 01:22:01, at 02:128. RABOBANK 01:22:05, at 02:169. KELME - COSTA BLANCA 01:22:08, at 02:1910. LAMPRE - DAIKIN 01:22:11, at 02:2211. CREDIT AGRICOLE 01:22:17, at 02:2812. TEAM TELEKOM 01:22:36, at 02:4713. BONJOUR 01:23:02, at 03:1314. ALESSIO 01:23:04, at 03:1515. LOTTO - ADECCO

Luck plays a very important role in bike racing. When it's not on your side, it can wreak havoc on everything. It's my belief that today, bad luck cost CSC-Tiscali the victory in the team time trial and Laurent Jalabert the yellow jersey. We were leading the race through the first two time splits at 20km and40km. Then fate intervened, and Michael Sandstod flatted. Our team's radios weren't working well at that moment, and we didn't know what happened to him right away. So as he slowed to a stop, we powered on. And pulled away. Finally, Bjarne reached us over the radio and told us to slow

Oscar Freire sprinted past Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel to win stage two aboard the mount that has brought so many victories to Mapei and Rabobank. He was riding a Shimano Dura-Ace equipped Colnago C40, the 2.5-pound frame that won Paris-Roubaix five times between 1995 and 2000. But it is not just another bonded carbon frame, since Colnago’s construction methods C40 are unique and analogous to its method of constructing steel frames. Integral to the C40 are one-piece molded, hand-finished carbon lugs that eliminate the bonding problems and weight of aluminum lugs and are stronger,

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.

Invitations come in different forms and shapes on the Tour de France, depending on the region it might be visiting. In the Champagne region where the Tour passed through yesterday and today, they came as empty champagne flutes. “Take this monsieur,” said a smiling hostess at Chateau-Thierry in the department of the Marne where today's 67.5km fourth stage time trial from Epernay finished. Passing me a flute engraved with `Les champagne des Vigneron', she informed explained that from 6pm it will gain entry to a free swill of bubbly. Here we go again, I thought. Another town. Another drink.

1. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Lotto-Adecco, 174.5km in 4hr 13 min 37sec(average: 41.283 kph) 2. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom 3. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com 4. Andrej Hauptman (Slo), Taconi Sport 5. Fabio Baldato (I), Fassa Bortolo 6. Paolo Bossoni (I), Taconi Sport 7. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), Ag2R Prevoyance 8. Francois Simon (F), Bonjour 9. Jan Svorada (Cz), Lampre-Daikin 10. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Credit Agricole 11. Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Sp), Kelme-Costa Blanca 12. Oscar Freire (Sp), Mapei 13. Laurent Brochard (F), Jean Delatour 14. Luciano Pagliarini (Brz), Lampre-Daikin 15. Karsten Kroon (Nl),

Henk Vogels got Mercury rising at the Columbia River Bank Cascade Cycling Classic stage race, getting the better of Svein Tuft (Prime Alliance) to win the stage-1 Pacific Power Road Race July 10 in Bend, Oregon. The two were given the same time in the 110-mile stage, just five seconds ahead of Chris Baldwin (Navigators), Gord Fraser (Mercury and the rest of the top 20. The six-stage race continues on Thursday with the 72-mile Deschutes Brewery Road Race, a hilly leg-breaker with 7,000 feet of climbing. The elite women’s five-stage race starts on Thursday as well.

Gonzalez de Galdeano - First Spaniard since Indurain to wear the yellow jersey.

ONCE - Tops when it counted.

Teamwork

Postal kept it all together

Should we stay or should we go now?

Ready to roll

Mitered tubes ready for the bottom bracket shell

The Ti bottom bracket sleeve

Mapei in the vineyards

Ms. Liberty comes home

Roadside art work

Advanced flower arranging for bike fans.

Team support by the glass

A new stage finish, new customs and new rules.

5:15 p.m. Either way, Zabel -- who finished second in the stage -- is the new overall leader of the Tour de France. 5:13 p.m. It's a huge scramble for the front. McEwen gets it.... but he's moved out of his line, and cut across Zabel's line. 5:10 p.m. All of the big players are up front. Nico Mantan is attacking. He's caught. Zabel is up front on his own... the Telekoms are not in a position to lead out their man. 5:08 p.m. With 4km to go, Lotto is at the front. Telekom is beginning to set up Zabel. 5:05 p.m. The swarm is beginning. With 5km to go, the sprinters are moving up,

You can always count on Jacky Durand. The 35-year-old bulldogof a racer just keeps on trying. And try he did, with one of his epic trademark attacks early in Tuesday’s174.5-km stage from Metz to Reims. It didn’t work. It rarely does, butit was a good show for the French fans as the 2002 Tour de France camehome after three hot and humid days in Luxembourg and Germany. Durand attacked just 6km into the stage and got reeled in with 6km togo. He didn’t win the stage – his last Tour stage-win came in 1998 – buthe did earn the day’s Coeur de Lion prize for most combative rider. Australian Robbie

Stuart O'Grady was involved in something of a health scare during the third stage of the Tour de France here Tuesday which left the Credit Agricole rider with an accelerated heart rate of 235 beats per minute. The 28-year-old Australian, who has in the past had a history of brief and spontaneous, accelerated heartbeats, was forced to call for help from his team car near the end of the 174.5km stage from Metz to here. Surprisingly O'Grady recovered in time to contest the closing sprint and finished the stage in 10th position, but the fact the heart scare has resurfaced - the last time it

Okay, Okay, Okay. Enough already. Now, we've had our three bad days, which, for the superstitious among you, should mean that our bad luck streak is over... I hope. For those of you saw it on TV, Stuey is okay. His heart just misfired for about an hour, being stuck at about 235 bpm. He was light-headed and could barely pedal, which is not good during a bike race. We weren't too sure he should be continuing the race, but this is something that's happened to Stuey before, and apparently isn't quite a life-threatening as it sounds. Nonetheless, you have to hand it to him for finishing. Hope

Tammy Thomas, a national-team track rider and resident at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, could be barred from bicycle racing for life after allegedly testing positive for the anabolic steroid Norbolethone, according to press reports. The 32-year-old track racer released a statement regarding the lifetime ban, proposed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. She has asked for a hearing; meanwhile, the agency has declined comment, and the U.S. Olympic Committee has yet to make a formal announcement regarding the test. This is not the first doping controversy surrounding Thomas, who

According to Lance Armstrong, there are actually 187 guys in the Tour de France, and two 800-pound gorillas. George Hincapie and Vjatcheslav Ekimov are accustomed to filling the roles of Lance’s favorite guardians. They’re not malicious in any way, but they are very good at making sure no harm comes Lance. Fortunately they are also very strong, because the U.S. Postal Service needs as much collective strength as possible for tomorrow’s team time trial. The Postal team is strong enough to have a chance at winning the team time trial. More importantly, Lance has the opportunity to gain time on

It all happens at once on the Tour de France.And ain't it great ... at least when you are an Australian reporteron the Tour de France and have covering today's third stage.Not that the outcome made for a easy day, nor for total joy, thanksto four very sound reasons that made a seemingly boring day so dramatic.Reason 1: The third stage from Metz to Reims was won by an Australianin Robbie McEwen (Lotto) who again beat Germany's Erik Zabel (Telekom).Reason 2: Meanwhile, Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) was undergoinga cardiogram after suffering a tachycardia attack saw his heart beat

According to a press release issued on Tuesday by Threshold Sports, organizers of the New York City Cycling Championship, Mario Cipollini will take part in the New York race, August 4. The release states that Cipollini and teammates Mario Scirea and Gabriele Colombo are scheduled to ride the 100km criterium in Manhattan, joining Lance Armstrong and Marty Nothstein on the list of scheduled racers. However, also on Tuesday, in a short statement issued on his Web site, Cipollini announced his imminent retirement from the sport. In a statement titled "I stop here," Cipollini said "the bitterness

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.

O'Grady went back to check with his doctor.

Das Gelbe Trikot -- Zabel gets the jersey

Headbangers' Ball -- Durand (right) tries another long escape.

The Telekoms led the chase

Caffeinating under the gaze of Eddy.

Coffee for the staff...

...and coffee for the masses.

Lance fans in Metz...

... Lance fans on the road. (It's a 1943 Dodge Command Car, in case you're wondering.)

Durand and Rénier - They were never really alone out there.