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U.S. Postal's Dan Osipow and Armstrong's Lawyer/Agent Bill Stapelton -- already planning the post-race appearance schedule, no doubt.

Because they could find a field of sunflowers....

News Item: Credit Lyonnais plans to continue its sponsorship.

5:10 p.m. A quick calculation shows that Lampre's Reubens Bertogliati retains his hold on the yellow jersey, two seconds ahead of Erik Zabel. Zabel, who could have earned the jersey had he finished in second, keeps the green points jersey. Meanwhile, Hushovd is still on the road, within 5km of the finish. We hope he makes the time cut. 5:01 p.m. The Telekoms are leading out Zabel perfectly. Zabel is getting a nice lead-out from Fagnini and Lotto's McEwen is coming on strong... Riders are all across the road and... It's Oscar Freire, the reigning world champion who takes it! McEwen is

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a line. Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. Rider diariesI miss the rider diaries. That was the best part of your coverage.Corey Barton We would miss them too, if we didn't have them. Rest assured, wedo. Jonathan Vaughters and Tyler Hamilton are sending in regular reportsfrom the peloton. You can always check the

Monday’s 181km stage 2 of the 2002 Tour de France was supposed tobe an Erik Zabel homecoming party. The script was already written:Zabel, already resplendent in the green jersey, would win the stage afterhard work by his Telekom team to bring the race to a bunch sprint and takethe yellow jersey, all in front of a rowdy German crowd lining the roadsestimated to top one million. As it happens so often in the Tour, though, it didn’t quite turn outthat way. Not only did the Telekom man not win the field sprint, he finishedonly third and he left the yellow jersey in the hands of Lampre's

Long-time Tour de France supporter Credit Lyonnais, the French banking consortium which sponsors the famed yellow leader's jersey, on Monday announced an extension to their contract - but only if the race succeeds in keeping its doping problems at bay. Representatives of the company on the Tour include former Tour contender Raymond Poulidor, and the women who hand out flowers, and kisses, to the stage winners and race leader on a daily basis. Credit Lyonnais have signed a five-year extension, until 2008, to their deal which was due to expire on the Tour's centenary next year. However the

French news agency AFP reported on Monday that the Domo-Farm Frites team has reinstated Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke, who was recently given an 18-month suspension, with 12 months suspended, by the Flemish Community’s disciplinary commission. Vandenbroucke is appealing that decision. After quantities of EPO, the steroid clenbuterol and morphine were found in his home in February, Vandenbroucke was suspended by the Belgian cycling federation, but that ban was recently overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The ruling by the Flemish Community came

Well folks, I figured that I would send in another entry today, as once again it was a strange day for Crédit Agricole. Christophe seems happy, and recovered from his tough day yesterday, so that's good. What wasn't so good, was poor Thor Hushovd. Our polar bear from Norway didn't deal too well with the heat after being in the early break, and cramped severely, having to stop to be massaged. We're not too sure about whether he'll be able to start tomorrow, as he was close to the time cut. This is a cruel, cruel sport cycling.... You're in the break, you cramp bad, and despite the fact

Planning courses in urban areas in Europe requires imagination to balance the needs of the public with those of the riders and the race entourage. Courses like we had the first two days in Luxembourg are great examples. The courses were interesting, they went right through the middle of the city center, and they caused very little disruption. The prologue course was downright scary in places, being very narrow and curvy and rough in spots. It had one particularly hair-raising downhill left turn on a narrow, fast descent in a cobblestone alley. Only the very gutsiest riders stayed on their

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.

Brent Dawson (Jelly Belly-Carlsbad Clothing) and Tina Mayolo-Pic (Diet Rite) took home the top prizes at the Wendy’s International Cycling Classic, the six-race series of criteriums in Ohio that ended Sunday. Dawson beat out 7UP-Nutra Fig’s Dan Schmatz in the final points standings while national criterium champion Nicole Freedman (Rona) was runner-up to Mayolo-Pic. Mayolo-Pic didn’t win a single stage, but finished the week with three second-place finishes and two third places to top Freedman, who won the series opener in Powell, Ohio. Rona scored a total of three wins, with Melissa Holt

On Sunday, Saturn’s Viktor Repinski won the 4 Bridges of Elgin road race in Elgin, Illinois. The only UCI under-23 race on the U.S. calendar, 4 Bridges of Elgin has slowly grown into one of the biggest races on the calendar for up-and-coming young riders, with past winners including Charles Dionne and Danny Pate. Repinski, Saturn’s 21-year-old from Belarus, broke clear with about a mile to go in the 66-mile race. The Saturn rider soloed in, while Jonathan Erdelyi (C-bike.com) led in a nine-rider chase group just five seconds behind. Erdelyi took second, with Shawn Milne (Wheelworks-Mengoni)

We had a long day in the saddle yesterday. Stage 1 of this year's Tourde France was no promenade. It was up and down all day and the speedskept everyone on their toes. It felt like we were riding a one-day Classic,not starting a three-week stage race.The early Tour crash index was at an all time high as well. You couldsee by some of the finish times that those mishaps took their toll. Somebig guns lost precious time. It was a crazy first day to say the least-- especially when the roads narrowed and some pace cars got stuck forcingthe riders to unclip from their pedals and slow to a near stop

How many decisions can you make in one second? Should you go to the left or right? Should you shift? Brake? Where’s the guy in front of going to go? Is it too early to launch for the line? I don’t care how much power you have. To win a sprint stage of the Tour de France, you have to be able to make critical decisions in the blink of an eye. A great field sprinter has as much knowledge as he does power. Riders at this level have trouble explaining exactly how and why a finishing sprint developed the way it did. Thousands of sprint finishes, going all the way back to Junior races, have made

Every day at the Tour there is a stage prognostics competition for journalistsand other official race followers sponsored by Sodexho, a hotel and cateringconglomerate. For the past two days, nearly every entry has had one nameat the top of the “betting” slip: Erik Zabel. Each day, the German sprinterhas failed his supporters.After the last-kilometer upset by Rubens Bertogliati on Sunday, it wasworld champion Oscar Freire who won against the odds on Monday. This time,it appeared that Zabel’s Telekom squad had done everything right.The whole team led the chase that brought back the remnants of

Editor's Note: Aside from having a name that conjures up visionsof a nice refreshing pint, Rupert Guinness is a sports writer for the dailynewspaper The Australian. A former European correspondent for Winningand VeloNews, Guinness will be sending in a daily column from theTour.So you reckon cycling's recent doping problems have soured public interest in the sport? Think again. Judging by the crowds for today's second stage from Luxembourg to Saarbrücken in Germany, the sport's popularity is as high as ever. Especially in Germany despite former Tour champion Jan Ullrich's own doping muddle

Results - Stage 2 1. Oscar Freire (Spa/MAP), 181km in 4hr 19 min 51sec (average: 41.793kph), 2. Robbie McEwen (Aus/LOT), at 00:00 3. Erik Zabel (Ger/TEL), 00:00 4. Baden Cooke (Aus/FDJ), 00:00 5. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est/A2R), 00:00 6. Andrej Hauptman (Slo/TAC), 00:00 7. Pedro Horillo (Spa/MAP), 00:00 8. Fred Rodriguez (USA/DFF), 00:00 9. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita/TEL), 00:00 10. Stuart O'Grady (Aus/C.A), 00:00 11. Danilo Hondo (Ger/TEL), 00:00 12. Jan Svorada (Cze/LAM), 00:00 13. Francois Simon (Fra/BJR), 00:00 14. Paolo Bossoni (Ita/TAC), 00:00 15. Nico Mattan (Bel/COF), 00:00 16. Serguei Ivanov

This is why he has those stripes on his jersey. Freire takes Stage 2

The man they were all hoping to see.

After shedding Hushovd, the two Frenchmen tried their luck for a wheile before being caught and passed by Voigt.

Landis and Ekimov

Jens Voigt before things got busy.

Protecting the man in yellow.

Cheering on the break.

Passing the time, waiting for the peloton.

Translation: Give us gum!

Waiting for the sprint.

At the finish line.

Repinski

The letters page: This morning's mail and a flood of responses

5:38 p.m. Credit Agricole's Christophe Moreau has finished some 3:40 behind the main field. Bertogliati finished 19th yesterday, so with his 20-second bonus today, he has earned him the yellow jersey. Quite a win. 5:34 p.m. Talk about your good timing. Bertogliati pulled off the win. Zabel is second, McEwen is third. 5:33 p.m. Lampre's Rubens Bertogliati has attacked. 5:33 With 1km to go Telekom is at the front. 5:31 So, with 2.5km left, it's all together. The big names are up front, including O'Grady; Zabel; Jalabert and Armstrong are up front. Telekom is trying to set up their

Just a reminder for our readers to click on the blue "Live Coverage" button on the top of the navigation bar to the left for today's live updates. Things are off to a little slower start today. The ceremonial start at the Place du Glacis in Luxembourg is taking a little longer than planned. The peloton should be heading out and on the way toward the rolling start on the N. 12 very soon. VeloNews's John Wilcockson reports that the weather is quite nice for a bike race today. Temperatures are in the sixties and there is a slight wind (10mph) from the southwest. The wind, however, should not

I know, I know…. Saying the Tour de France sucks to a crowd of cycling fans is akin to standing in the middle of downtown Denver and saying that John Elway sucks. But, I'm sorry, it does. Of course, if all goes well, and you win something, then the Tour de France is the greatest event in the world, a whole lot of fun and the race you will specifically target next year. It is like all things at the absolute pinnacle, elation or heartbreak and all of it in the deepest sense. The Tour de France is so hard and such a high level of competition that if one little thing goes awry, then it all

Cycling journalists love to play with numbers. All day long, the hackswere figuring the time splits among the favorites in the chase for theyellow jersey in the 192.5-km opening stage of the 2002 Tour de France. Prologue winner Lance Armstrong revealed he wasn’t interestedin defending the maillot jaune when he conceded the time bonusesat the first intermediate sprint after 50km, so the jersey was prime forthe picking. All eyes were on the established riders, especially those immediatelybehind Armstrong in the overnight standings, Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali)and Raimondas Rumsas

When Lance was questioned before the prologue about whether he would try to wear the yellow jersey for the first road stage of the Tour, he replied that when there is a chance to wear the jersey, you simply have to go for it. There is no other choice. Sixty men started the first stage within 30 seconds of the yellow jersey, and judging by the intensity of the racing, every one of them shared the race leader’s philosophy regarding the yellow jersey. Have you ever heard of Rubens Bertogliati before today? Few people have; he’s young and obviously talented, but he’s not on the top of anyone’s

When Lampre Daikin’s Rubens Bertogliati powered away from the hard-chargingpeloton up the big hill below the city walls of Luxembourg, he had histeammates looking up at him as he rode, but not just from the peloton.His bike frame actually had pictures of various Lampre-Daikin racers in2002 action on the top tube and down tube. The photographic images (as well as the frame logos) are reproducedperfectly on the frame, but they are not on a decal that can be peeledoff, nor are they air-brushed onto the frame. The images on the bike donot have any edges or high spots whatsoever. They appear to

Editor's Note: Aside from having a name that conjures up visionsof a nice refreshing pint, Rupert Guinness is a sports writer for the dailynewspaper The Australian. A former European correspondent for Winningand VeloNews, Guinness will be sending in a daily column from theTour.Australian hope Baden Cooke discovered before today's first stage ofthe Tour de France even started just how big the step up is for a newcomerto the world's biggest bike race. That it took the 23 year-old from Benalla - home of the famed Australianbushranger Ned Kelly - 30 minutes to simply get from his FDJeux.com

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.

Belgian Filip Meirhaeghe took a commanding lead in the chase for World Cup overall cross-country title Sunday, winning the fourth round of the series at Grouse Mountain in British Columbia. Meirhaeghe, who also won a week ago at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, now holds an 120-point lead over Giant's Bart Brentjens with just one race to go. If Brentjens manages to win the final race, Meirhaeghe would need to finish no worse than fifth to capture his first World Cup overall title. The win Sunday was the sixth of his career, moving him out of a tie with Ned Overend and John Tomac and into sixth place

Bertogliati catches them all by surprise.

It's a safe bet to say that Bertogliati had not expected to be wearing this when he got up Sunday morning.

More like a spring classic than the Tour opener.

Tour Tech - Soft bike, tough guy

There's a Texan in there somewhere. Can you spot Graham Watson in the crowd?

It's all about the Lance.

How those pictures come to your living room.

The parking lot by the press tent is always packed.

Top team - CSC-Tiscali. The guy on right writes for VeloNews

The first entry in our daily podium girl series.

THE GREAT ESCAPE - It didn't last, but Mengin got the climber's jersey.

Armstrong and Landis

ARMSTRONG & MILLAR - Bertogliati got both of their jerseys

Meirhaeghe won his second straight World Cup race.

Sauser won here last year, but settled for second in 2002.

Leuchs moved onto the podium during the second half of the race.

Dupouey looks for his line.

Green struggled to stay near the front.

The pace was quick right from the beginning.

Many rider's day ended like this.

In a Frankfurt news conference Saturday Jan Ullrich admitted that he had taken recreational drugs on a night out with friends last month because he was depressed a knee operation had not resolved a long standing injury. The 28-year-old Tour de France and Olympic champion said this was why he tested positive for amphetamines in an out of competition test on June 12 while he was recuperating at a Bavarian clinic after the operation. However the two-time world time-trial champion could face criminal charges over his taking of the drugs as the Munich prosecutors office has opened a judicial

The managers of the Italian cycling team Saeco said they intend to take legal action against the organisers of the Tour de France after their expulsion from the race last month. The Saeco team, which was given one of a few wildcard entries for the July 6-28 showpiece, was excluded when its star rider Gilberto Simoni tested positive for cocaine during the Giro d'Italia. Former Giro winner Simoni had been touted as a challenger to three-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and team managers feel the financial losses incurred from the expulsion merit corrective action. In a press

A light rain was falling on the smooth tarmac and rough cobblestones of Luxembourg’s streets late Friday night, threatening to make Saturday evening’s prologue time trial of the 89th Tour de France even more challenging than expected. Not since 1995, when the Tour started in the French port city of St. Brieuc, has there been as difficult a prologue course. Straddling a deep river valley, the spectacular course contains more than 25 tricky turns, a mind-chilling downhill, and two climbs in the final third of its 7 kilometers. In the dry, it’s a course that could highlight the inherent power

7:18 p.m.Lance Armstrong wins the prologue. 1. Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal, 7.3km in 9:08.782. Laurent Jalabert (F), CSC, 9:103. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit) Lampre, 9:11. 7:17 p.m. Whoa... Armstrong flies in, finishing in 9:08.78. He wins the prologue of the 2002 Tour de France and is back in yellow. This is his 12th stage win at the Tour. 7:16 p.m. Zabel finishes with 9:33 for 40th. 7:15 p.m. Beloki has finished with a 9:21. 7:14 p.m. Oscar Sevilla finishes in 66th with a 9:41. 7:13 p.m. David Millar, winner of the prologue in 2000, finishes in 9:13.48, good for fourth. 7:12 p.m.

Fans of VeloNews’s live Tour de France coverage will be pleased to knowwe have a new system to allow readers to follow the day’s action andhave their view of the race automatically updated without the need to hit the “refresh” button.Look to the left column and click on the blue “Click Here for Live Coverage”button. From there, you should get a new window to pop up. Let us knowhow you like it by dropping us a quicke-mail.

Lance Armstrong went like a rocket Saturday to win the opening prologueof the 2002 Tour de France and pick up exactly where he left off in Parislast summer. The three-time defending champion roared over the twisting, technicallydifficult 7.3-km course in downtown Luxembourg, edging Frenchman LaurentJalabert (CSC-Tiscali) by two seconds to win his 12th career Tour stage(prologues, time trials and road stages) and take the first yellow jerseyof the 89th Tour. “I was lucky. When I got out there, the course was dry. It is a surprise(to win) and a good surprise. I am happier than you think,”

Finally, we're underway.The days leading up to the Tour de France, and then the prologue, arealways hectic, nervous, and, I suppose, fun.It’s the same every year: All the team's best riders are present, andall have new bikes uniforms, and glasses.... Everybody comes to dinnershaved, smelling nice, and happy. It’s quite a contrast from most otherevents where the riders seem displeased they've been dragged from theirgardening to do a damned bike race. All the Sunday-best put on displayfor the preacher.As usual, we got the blood tests, medical examinations, and such fortwo days before the

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.

Editor's Note: Aside from having a name that conjures up visionsof a nice refreshing pint, Rupert Guinness is a sports writer for the dailynewspaper The Australian. A former European correspondent for Winningand VeloNews, Guinness will be sending in a daily column from theTour.There was only one thing more sure than Lance Armstrong's might on twowheels in today's prologue of the Tour de France in Luxembourg: when itcomes to predicting weather, Holstein cattle know a thing or two.Forget those frisky fat Friesians. Pretty the `Ben and Jerry' cattlethey may be in their black and white skins. But

Arriving at the Tour de France is always an interesting endeavor. You leave the relative quite of your home life behind to join a roving circus. Even though we stayed put for a few days prior to the start of this race, the pace you keep heading out to medical check ups, media presentations and interviews is nothing short of grueling. I don't think I've had more than a second to myself since arriving here on Wednesday. When my wife and I were driving into the airport, we got to talking about last year's Tour. I was remembering that Steffan Kjeargaard had brought his own comforter and pillow

To see and talk to Lance Armstrong before today’s prologue, you would have thought he warming up for a local Tuesday night time trial series. I know he’s used to the pressure, accustomed to the crowds and the press, but I’ve never seen him as relaxed before the start of the Tour as he was today. He calmly stepped into the start house, peacefully settled onto his bike, and then nearly ripped the cranks off of it. All talk of whether it is better to wait until after the first week to take the yellow jersey is irrelevant when it comes to prologues. Your only choice is ride flat out from start

Armstrong won on a special superlight prototype aero’ bar that Dedahad whipped out for him for the Tour. It is completely flat; there is nodrop to it like the Vision Tech bars the team has used in the pastand still has on some of its time trial bikes. It is made out of aluminum, but according to Deda’s Fulvio Acquati, “We are still working out the exact design with Armstrong, and when we get it exactly the way he wants it, we will make it out of carbon.” Dedaalso has a carbon aero’ bar that Acquati was showing to the teams the daybefore the prologue. The carbon base bar is just a prototype,

Three years ago, Lance Armstrong was ecstatic when he won the Tourde France prologue at Le Puy du Fou. Tears filled his eyes as he slippedon the first yellow jersey of his career. Saturday, in a finally sunnyLuxembourg City, there were no tears, just the satisfaction of a job welldone when Armstrong was awarded the Tour yellow jersey for the 36th time.What a difference three years can make….Some things will likely stay the same, though, because two days aftertaking the lead at the 1999 Tour Armstrong conceded the yellow jersey toa sprinter, Jaan Kirsipuu. The Estonian achieved that feat by

It's been a long time since the German national anthem has been played at the end of a women's World Cup cross-country race. But after winning round 4 of the Tissot UCI World Cup series at Grouse Mountain, British Columbia Saturday, Merida's Sabine Spitz changed that Saturday — sort of. Spitz took the lead for good with three laps to go in the 28.82km race, then held off a late charge from American Alison Dunlap to capture her first career World Cup win. But afterward organizers had problems with their national anthem CD, and twice played the wrong song. Finally Spitz was offered a

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

At the Sang and Klang tavern

Euskadi!

A sense of perspective

A sense of history --