Maintaining his two-second advantage over DFL Cyclingnews' Daniel Lloyd, overall victory in China’s Tour of Qinghai Lake is all but assured for Italian climbing veteran Gabriele Massaglia. For the second day in succession, a breakaway before the day's main climb worked in his favor, and once on the mountain, the 36-year-old was strong enough to fend off his adversaries. "I wasn't the strongest - that was Relax - but I worked with my head, because I knew the others did not want to risk everything," said Massaglia of the events on Daban mountain, who was shivering so badly at the

Belgian superstar Tom Boonen grabbed his second stage win of the 2007 Tour de France on Friday, nailing a perfectly executed sprint at the close of stage 12's 178.5km ride form Montpellier to Castres. The victory was the fourth this Tour for Boonen's blue-kitted Quick Step-Innergetic team, and solidified his lead in the chase for the green jersey. Boonen is first with 195 points, with South African Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) second (175), and German Eric Zabel (Milram) third (174).

On a day all the GC favorites watched each other, waiting for a move that never came, four men decided to play their own game of chance up the 3792-meter-high, hors catégorie Daban mountain. The way things have turned out the past few days during the Tour of Qinghai Lake, they didn't really stand much hope. But in cycling, hope, however small it may be, is enough to drive someone to success — and on Friday in Menyuan, success became a reality for 24-year-old Martin Mares. "Every time I hoped," said the Czech rider from PSK Whirlpool, who was in fact the overall winner from 2005. "It was

Weather: Sunny but cooler in morning, brewing clouds and cooler temperatures at finish, highs in the low 70s, brisk headwinds. Stage winner: Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) won after a textbook perfect lead-out from his train ahead of Erik Zabel (Milram) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld). A two-man breakaway was caught with just over 1km to go to set up the sprint in the final sprint-friendly stage until next Thursday. Race leader: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) retained the yellow jersey after finishing 47th with the front pack. There were no major changes in the GC as the peloton seemed

The 11th stage of the 2007 Tour de France dealt a cruel blow to one GC contender and welcomed a new country into its hall of champions on Thursday. The newcomer was South Africa and top sprinting star Robbie Hunter, who won a mad dash to the line that concluded the pan-flat, 182.5km ride from Marseille to Montpellier.

A continent away, as drugs and scandal appear to be perennially linked to the Tour de France, we hope - perhaps now even pray - that what we are seeing at China’s Tour of Qinghai Lake is the real deal. Allan Davis' name was linked to Operación Puerto, but he was cleared to race late last year. Despite taking an unprecedented fourth stage win in Xining Thursday ahead of the Ukraine's Yuriu Metlushenko and Wiesenhof's André Schulze, it's hardly what one would call inhuman: the Discovery rider lost the lead three days ago because he wasn't climbing well enough, but stuck to

No one expected Barloworld to be in the Tour de France, let alone win a mountain stage in the Alps and field a contender for the points jersey. Indeed, the continental pro team’s season goal was merely to be invited to cycling’s biggest show. But when it found out it was the last team invited, its goals evolved. Riders and management alike promised to be on the attack everyday, until they won a stage. Now the team has won two. “The goal originally was to get into the Tour,” said Gary Blem, a mechanic with three years tenure at Barloworld and the first South African to spin wrenches for a

For the second time in this Tour de France Fred Rodriguez ended a stage flat on his back, writhing in pain. And both times, in Ghent 10 days ago and in Montpellier Thursday, the Predictor-Lotto sprinter was critical of the race organization. “They do it every time. They don’t care,” said an angry Rodriguez. “It’s the Tour de France and they think they own this race. They have no respect for the riders. I’m sick of it.” The crash happened 700 meters from the line at the end of a chicane that was not shown on the map in the official road book. The chicane followed a fast run down a narrow

A decade after his first Tour de France stage win, 36-year-old Frenchman Cedric Vasseur gave the host country something to cheer about on Wednesday, taking the 10th stage of the 2007 Tour, a 229.5km rolling run from Tallard to Marseille. Vasseur (Quick Step-Innergetic) shot out the right side of a five-man breakaway 200 meters from the finish, narrowly holding off countryman Sandy Casar (Française des Jeux); the difference at the line barely more than a tire width. It was the first victory by a Frenchman at the Tour since Pierrick Fedrigo took stage 14 into Gap a year ago.

COURSE: This is one of the flattest courses of the entire Tour, skirting the Camargue marshes of the Rhône delta, just north of the Mediterranean coast. This stage has “sprinters” written all over it, especially if the Mistral winds are blowing. The finish loops to an end on the western edge of Montpellier, an ancient city dating back to the 8th century. HISTORY: There have been 25 Tour stage finishes at Montpellier, the latest in 2005, when Robbie McEwen won a tight field sprint after breakaways Chris Horner and Sylvain Chavanel were caught in the finishing straightaway. FAVORITES: A few

Until Wednesday, many believed overall victory in China's Tour of Qinghai Lake would go to one of two teams: Selle Italia with Gabriele Massaglia, or Relax-Gam with Francisco Mancebo. But a 26-year-old Englishman by the name of Daniel Lloyd, a relative unknown who hails from a small London suburb a stone's throw from Heathrow Airport, has set out to prove them wrong. Courtesy of a five-second bonus after finishing third in a 42-man sprint, won for the third time by Discovery Channel's Allan Davis, the DFL-Cyclingnews rider earned the privilege to don the yellow jersey on

If there was anyone able to grab a stage win for CSC on the Tour de France's 10th stage here Wednesday, it was Jens Voigt. However the German, who suggested he would have dedicated the victory to his stricken teammate Stuart O'Grady, was left with the crumbs after being outfoxed in the closing meters, leaving the outcome to a tight sprint duel between Sandy Casar and Cedric Vasseur. Voigt, watching three of his sprint rivals on his left, fell victim to Vasseur's perfectly-executed attack as the experienced Frenchman sneaked up on Voight’s right in the race's final 200

Weather: Very sunny and warm, highs into the 90s, moderate headwinds Stage winner: Cédric Vasseur (QuickStep-Innergetic) outsmarted five riders that were the remnants of the day’s winning 11-man breakaway with a surprise sprint on the right side of the road with 200m to go. His second career Tour victory comes a decade after he won with a 145km solo break into La Chatre to snag the yellow jersey in the 1997 Tour. The win is the third for QuickStep in this year’s Tour. Race leader: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) retained the yellow jersey after finishing 30th safely tucked inside the bunch at

Allan Davis gets the sprint...

The last wild-card team picked for the 2007 Tour de France showed Tuesday that the organizers made the right choice, after Barloworld's Colombian climber Juan Soler earned an impressive solo win in the 159.5km stage 9 haul from Val-d'Isère to Briançon.

COURSE: With a start from just south of Gap, and heading through Provence to the Mediterranean coast, this long stage looks ripe for a successful breakaway. Two Cat. 3 climbs in the final 30km will split up the break and also disrupt the chasing efforts of the sprinters’ teams. The Col de la Gineste, out of the small wine town of Cassis, summits 10km from the finish, which is on a wide boulevard on the eastern edge of Marseille. HISTORY: There have been 32 stage finishes in the port city of Marseille, the most recent in 2003 and 1993. Four years ago, Denmark’s Jakob Piil out-sprinted

Hardly anyone knew a thing about Juan Mauricio Soler Hernández before he ran away with Tuesday’s climbing stage across the Galibier. Journalists were scrambling to find out more about the soft-spoken son of farmers from central Colombia who bolted away from the world’s best climbers to win Barloworld’s first stage of the 2007 Tour de France.

On Tuesday, the first real day in the high mountains at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, the expected assault on Discovery Channel saw overnight leader Allan Davis knocked off the top spot on the overall classification, and replaced by Selle Italia's mountain man Gabriele Massaglia. A late offensive on the 3880-meter-high Laji mountain by Selle Italia and Relax-Gam, the team of race favorite Francisco Mancebo, almost saw the blond-haired Aussie rejoin the front group on the 50km-long descent. Though unfortunately for Davis, just as his group began to close in on the front 17, he wiped out on

Keith Norris (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) won the U23 stars-and-stripes jersey in a field-sprint of 174 riders on Sunday, July 15, at the USA Cycling National Festival in Champion, Pennsylvania. It was a close call for Norris, who jumped out front early to position himself for the final sprint, proving his strength and holding the lead without a lead-out. Cody O’Reill (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) and Jacob Keough (CL Noonan-Coast to Coast) finished second and third, respectively. “The whole race was much faster than I anticipated,” Norris said. “My plan was to be in the top three coming out of

Despite a barrage of attacks designed to ruffle their feathers, Discovery Channel has again emerged on top at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, as race leader Allan Davis claimed his second stage triumph with a last-minute lunge to the line in Xihaizhen. After 152 kilometers in the saddle, the plucky Australian learned his lesson from yesterday, this time going head-to-head with Stage 2 winner André Schulze and matching each other meter by meter - with only a perfect throw of the bike deciding the outcome. "It was close, but I knew I had it," said Davis. "I've got really good legs - a lot better

With another mountain-top finish on the schedule, Saturday’s fifth stage at the Cascade Classic held the promise of shaking up the overall standings in the men’s race. But while Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis) won the day, Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance) retained his GC lead by coming across on his wheel for second in the stage, followed closely by Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), Scott Moninger (BMC)and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell).

Opening up the throttle 200 meters from the line in Bird Island, Weisenhof's Andri Schulze chose to sprint long and hard towards the finish of the second stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, and his result surprised everyone but himself. Immediately gapping the peloton right behind him, the German's bold move and strong legs combined in perfect unison to deliver the 32-year-old his second season victory and his second at Qinghai Lake, out-sprinting race leader Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) and Selle Italia's Alberto Loddo. "The team worked the last 10 kilometers for me, and in

Australian cycling fans may be drowning their sorrows in a cold Foster’s Monday after learning that not one but three of their nation’s top riders were out of the Tour after Sunday’s critical climbing stage. First to leave the race was CSC’s Paris-Roubaix champion Stuart O’Grady, who was taken to the hospital after a crash on the fast and tricky descent of the Cormet de Roselend. According to hospital officials O'Grady suffered fractures to five ribs. “For the moment he is in the hospital and is getting a scan,” said CSC team director Kim Andersen. “It is difficult to say more than

Discovery Channel played its joker card Sunday and sent Spanish phenomenon Alberto Contador on the attack. The 25-year-old Paris-Nice champion took flight and easily marked accelerations by Christophe Moreau and Iban Mayo up the Cat. 1 Tignes finale, but saw a puncture with about 4km to go take the wind out of his sails. “I tried to get back but I lost my rhythm. I was going well and it’s unfortunate to have this bad luck,” said Contador, who finished eighth at 3:31 back. “Things were going OK and you have to remember there’s a lot of racing ahead of us, but when you lose time like this

Weather: Very much, highs in 80s, intense alpine sun, brisk cross-headwinds Stage winner: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) claimed his third career Tour stage with a daring attack on the Cornet de Roseland. The former world mountain bike champion known as “Chicken” spun his slender legs to reel in the day’s early break that included George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) and soloed in for victory at 2:47 ahead of Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir). Race leader: Rasmussen erased enough time to overtake leader Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) to claim the yellow jersey for the first time of his career. The

In what he described as “the most painful 3k I’ve had in quite awhile,” Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) outsprinted second place Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com-ParkPre) and third place Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) to take the sixth and final stage of the Bend Memorial Cascades Cycling Classic on Sunday.

In the eponymous town that gives this race its name, a perfectly timed move 150 meters before the line delivered Discovery Channel's Allan Davis to victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake. The 26-year-old Australian, who hails from the Queensland town of Bundaberg, beat Intel-Action's Denus Kostyuk and Denmark's Casper Jorgensen to claim his second victory of the season. It was by no means an easy one because of the altitude - the Qinghai Lake finish being some 3,231 meters above sea level – and Davis said he left his finishing sprint a little later than

Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance) beat teammate Ben Day by just one second in Friday morning’s Cascade Classic stage 3 time trial, but put enough time on the other GC contenders to take the leader’s jersey away from Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), retaining it through the evening’s stage 4 twilight criterium in downtown Bend. As the sun set in Central Oregon, Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) returned to stage racing after his mid-May crash at the Tri-Peaks Challenge with a resounding win in a dramatic bunch sprint at the crit. Time trial

Felix Cardenas is back at the Tour de France after nearly disappearing off the peloton map. The 34-year-old Colombian climber is back in cycling’s bigs after bouncing around Spanish teams before joining Barloworld in 2005. The team finally got a Tour berth this season and he’s ready to make the most of it. “It’s good to be back to the Tour,” Cardenas told VeloNews before the start of Saturday’s stage. “I’ve only been to one Tour and I won a stage, so I hope to keep the streak alive this year.” After Cardenas won a Tour stage while with Kelme in 2001 at Plateau de Bonascre, he bounced

Weather: Sunny, warmer, highs in mid 80s, moderate head-crosswinds Stage winner: Tour rookie Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) joined a 15-man breakaway and bridged out to the attacking Dmitriy Fofonov (Crédit Agricole) on the day’s final climb on the Colombière. He counterattacked with 7km to go and soloed in 40 seconds ahead of the chasing Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel). Race leader: Gerdemann moved from 20th into the maillot jaune, the 12th German to wear the leader’s jersey. Gerdemann is now 1:24 ahead of Landaluze as five riders from the day’s breakaway moved atop the leaderboard. Fabian

All the talk of big Tom Boonen not being able to hang with the pure sprinters was silenced Friday, as the burly Belgian took a commanding win at the finish of Stage 6 of the 2007 Tour de France, a mostly flat, 199.5km run from Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse. The Quick Step-Innergetic star burst from the right side of a scrambled sprint, took the front, then drifted left and right, keeping second-place finisher Oscar Freire (Rabobank) at bay. German Eric Zabel (Milram) was third on a day when the bunch spent 5:20:59 in the saddle.

On stage 13 of the Tour de France 40 years ago today, July 13, Tom Simpson collapsed and died on Mont Ventoux. It still seems like yesterday. That was the fifth year I had followed the Tour by bicycle. During those years I had raced in Brittany for a couple of summers. One of the other Brits I trained with was Colin Lewis. He was as rugged a cyclist as I’ve ever met. His training rides were as tough as most races. He could have taken his pick of European teams, but he told me he never wanted to take drugs, so he signed with a small pro team in England. Colin rode the 1967 Tour for the Great

Alison Sydor has spent the past two decades making her mark as the most-accomplished Canadian mountain-bike racer ever. But in 2007 Sydor, owner of 13 world championship medals, has gone missing from the starting line of the World Cup. Instead, Sydor has turned her attention to stage races and marathon mountain-bike events, including the June 9-16 Trans Germany off-road race, which she won with Rocky Mountain-Haywood teammate Carsten Bresser. Is her shift in focus permanent? The 40-year-old Sydor said isn’t quite sure yet. VeloNews: What was the reason for your departure from the World

Friday the 13th at the Tour de France showered a mixed bag of fate on the 183 riders who began the sixth stage. Some crashed, others suffered through the heat with injuries, but most had uneventful rides. One declared the supposedly ill-omened day downright lucky. Before and after the 200km stage, riders expressed a similarly wide range of beliefs on the date. Steven De Jongh (Quick Step-Innergetic) was among those in the mildly superstitious camp. “With number 13 I have had some very bad crashes,” the Belgian said at the start. “So I will be very careful today.” Whenever De Jongh receives

Germany’s veteran sprinter Erik Zabel (Milram) had not one but two Tour de France green jerseys taken from him Friday before stage 6 even finished. He lost the first — his overall best sprinter title from 1996 — when Tour de France authorities announced they were revoking it because of Zabel’s admission this May to use of the banned blood-booster EPO that year. He lost the second — the current green jersey of the 2007 Tour de France sprint competition — on the road today after Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) scored points at two intermediate sprints and the final to overtake him in the

Weather: Sunny, warmer, highs in mid 80s, moderate head-crosswinds. Stage winner: Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) ended a two-year Tour dry spell dating back to stage three of the 2005 Tour to win his fifth career stage in a wild sprint. With a brisk headwind and a slow average speed (37.291kph), everyone thought they had a chance. Boonen had to restart his sprint with about 150m to go and held off Oscar Freire (Rabobank), second for the second day in a row. Race leader: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) enjoyed his sixth day and what will likely be his final day in the race leader’s jersey. The

Benjamin Noval vows to fight on despite a horrible crash in Thursday’s stage when he smashed into a car window that Discovery Channel officials say was the fault of an inattentive Bouygues Telecom sport director. The 28-year-old Spanish rider barreled into the back of a Bouygues Telecom team car Thursday after coming off the day’s final climb in the harrowing, eight-climb stage and suffered horrible cuts to his right arm and chin. Noval gutted it through Friday’s 199.5km sixth stage with his arms, hand, chin and leg wrapped in gauze and bandages. “It was a really hard stage. The first

After the finish of stage 2 in Ghent, Belgium, the Quickstep-Innergetic team bus was mobbed. At the sight of Tom Boonen leaving the podium pen with the green jersey, a father and his teenaged daughter opened into a full sprint trying to get to their country’s hero for an autograph. One can only imagine what the scene was like yesterday after his stage 6 win in Bourg en Bresse. Tom Boonen will never pay for a beer in Belgium. Tom Boonen has Belgian pop songs written about him. For god sakes, in Belgium he has his own breakfast cereal — the man is a god. And he will probably stay that way for

While Italian heartthrob Filippo Pozzato earned a hard-fought sprint win in stage 5 of the Tour de France, Thursday's big news developed at the back of the pack, where pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov lost 1:20 to his fellow GC contenders after crashing hard with 26km to go in the testing 182.2km run from Chablis to Autun.

COURSE: Despite some early hills through the Burgundy and Côte d’Or wine country, this transitional stage closes with45km of long, flat roads into the center of Bourg-en-Bresse — where a mass sprint seems certain. Bourg is a city of 40,000 people that’s the capital of the Ain department. HISTORY: There has been just one stage finish in Bourgen-Bresse. That was in 2002, when stage 18 ended in a three-man sprint taken by Norway’s Hushovd from Frenchman Christophe Mengin and Denmark’s Jakob Piil. FAVORITES: Crosswinds may be a factor in splitting the peloton over the final hour of racing and

>Weather: Mostly sunny, highs in the mid 70s, brisk crosswindsearlyStage winner: Italian glamboy Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) wonhis second career Tour stage in a spectacular finish to a wild rollercoasteracross rural eastern France. Only 74 riders finished in the front groupin a rough day for Astana as team leaders Alexandre Vinokourov and AndreasKlöden both crashed. Pozzato darted ahead of Oscar Freire (Rabobank)and Daniele Bennati (Lampre).Race leader: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) enjoyed his fifth day inyellow after making it over the day’s final climb with the leaders. A dangerousthree-man

Alexander Vinokourov knew he was going to have some tough days at this year’s Tour de France. The Astana leader just didn’t expect his first to come so early, or in the abrupt manner that it came. The tough Kazakh hit the pavement hard with 26km and the Cat. 3 Côte de la Croix de la Liberation remaining on Thursday’s stage 5. Though he was paced by six teammates, Vinokourov could not regain contact with the peloton and lost 1:20 to the race’s GC contenders. It was the second disaster for an Astana team leader on the stage, following Andreas Klöden’s crash into a ditch 75km from the end of

As a child I loved watching the videos of the champions in the wake of their teammates as they shredded the peloton while setting a violent tempo. To me, there was something unique about the complete physical sacrifice as they selflessly emptied their energy on the road for their teammates until they could no longer pedal fluidly. Lance Armstrong had eight riders who did this to the utmost every year for him, never questioning his leadership while totally devoting themselves to the goal of victory in Paris. In many ways they were the reason he won seven Tours with barely a hiccup. Riding on

Two days after being caught behind the mass pileup on the run into Ghent, Thor Hushovd had a much better view of the finish line on Wednesday. Bolstered by a blistering leadout from Crédit Agricole teammate Julian Dean, Norway's No. 1 cycling star was first across the line in Joigny on stage 4 of the Tour de France.

Maybe it’s the long winter nights in his native Norway or perhaps he’s the peloton’s only practicing Buddhist. Thor HushovdBorn:January 18, 1978, in Arendal, NorwayHeight: 183cmWeight: 81kgTour de France Record:5 stage wins (1 in 2002, 1 in 2004, 2 in 2006, 1 in 2007)Points Jersey - 2005Vuelta a España2 stage wins (1 in 2005, 1 in 2006)Other Notable VictoriesGhent-Wevelgem (2006)Tour of Vendee (2004)GP of Denain (2004)Haribo Classic (2004)Paris-Correze (2001)Tour of Sweden (2001)Tour of Normandy (2001)Norwegian time trial Championships (2002, 2004, 2005) Norwegian road race Championships

Weather: Partly cloudy all day, but no showers, brisk southwesterly winds, highs in upper 60s Stage winner: Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) came off an excellent lead-out from Julian Dean to win ahead of a fast-charging Robert Hunter (Barloworld) in the fourth-straight sprint finish. The victory is the Norwegian’s first since winning a stage in last year’s Vuelta a España. “The victory means a lot. I’ve been sick and had crashes all spring,” he said. Race leader: Cancellara enjoyed his fourth day in yellow but saw Hushovd claw within 29 seconds. Team CSC kept a five-man break on a short

After a brisk ride through the Brie and Champagne regions of France, Norwegian Thor Hushovd uncorked a ferocious sprint to win stage 4 of the Tour, and our man Casey Gibson was there to catch every drop. Prosit!

Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com-ParkPre) crossed the line alone on Wednesday to take the 92-mile first stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic atop Pilot Butte, just outside Bend, Oregon.

In a stunning display of tactics, courage and pure power, race leader Fabian Cancellara timed his jump to perfection, overtaking a four-man breakaway with 500 meters to go and then holding off the hard charging sprinters to win stage 3 of the Tour de France Tuesday.

COURSE: This rolling stage through the Champagne and Brie regions to the east of Paris could be similar to an early stage of Paris-Nice — without the freezing temperatures! Until the final 18km, the stage will be played out on mostly narrow, winding back roads that feature four Cat. 4 climbs, along with twice as many short hills that don’t merit categorization but will make it tricky for the sprinters’ teams to organize a full-scale chase. The finish in the medieval town of Joigny, population 10,000, is on the right bank of the Yonne River. HISTORY: A Tour stage has never finished in Joigny,

Weather: Partly sunny to cloudy, some showers, highs in mid 60s, moderate southwesterly winds Stage winner: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) attacked with about 600 meters to go in the longest stage of the 94th Tour. A four-man breakaway was caught with just under one kilometer to go when the 2006 Paris-Roubaix winner uncorked an attack in front of the Compiègne castle to win for the second time in four days. “To win in the yellow jersey in front of where Paris-Roubaix starts was amazing,” he said.

It’s not often that Tom Boonen is satisfied with fourth place in a sprint finish in the Tour de France, especially on a day that finished in Compiègne in front of the start of his beloved Paris-Roubaix. But the Quick Step-Innergetic sprinter was more than pleased after padding his lead as the battle for the green points jersey heats up three days into the Tour.

With his impressive stage win in Compiègne and its accompanying 20-second time bonus, CSC’s Fabian Cancellara widened his gap over the rest of the field to margins that might well hold until the race’s first real tests later this week. The Swiss “time machine” now holds a 33-second lead over Astana’s Andreas Klöden, with Saunier Duval’s David Millar sitting third, 41 seconds back. But the more important number is Cancellara’s lead over the race’s top sprinters, who stand to gain time bonuses at intermediate and finishing sprints in the coming days.

Two first-time road champions were crowned Tuesday at the Canadian national road championships in St-Georges, Québec. Gina Grain (Expresscopy.com), a rider better known for her sprinting and track results than her road racing, took the elite women's title, while Christian Meier gave Symmetrics its first title of the 2007 nationals when he took the espoir men's national jersey. An espoir women's title was also awarded to Emilie Roy (Vinci Specialized Menikini), although the UCI does not officially recognize that category. The heavy rain that plagued the time trials Monday

If things had gone as scripted, Quick Step’s Tom Boonen would have burst out of a huge, fast-moving peloton into Ghent, in front of thousands of adoring fans, as the Tour de France made its sole foray into Belgian territory on Monday.

Whether or not Gert Steegmans was on the receiving end of an early Christmas present from QuickStep-Innergetic team captain seemed insignificant Monday evening for the big burly Belgian. Steegmans is usually ahead of team captain Tom Boonen in the finishing straight only to give sway to the Belgian superstar in the final 200 meters. On Monday, the tables were turned as it was Steegmans charging across the line as the pair switched the pecking order - at least for one day. Steegmans, 26, won Monday’s wild uphill sprint that saw most of the peloton caught up behind one of the most spectacular

When showers drenched the start town of Dunkirk hours before stage 2 of the 2007 Tour de France began, riders’ thoughts immediately turned to the possibility of a crash on what was likely to be a second field sprint in two days. However, once the rain subsided in the hour leading into the stage, everyone’s nerves settled down for the start. “It looked like it was going to come down to a Belgian classic,” said American Chris Horner of Predictor-Lotto. “I thought for sure three or four GC guys were going to lose any chance of winning the Tour on a day like today.” Instead, a break of three

Weather: Partly cloudy to cloudy, intermittent rain, cool temperaturesin the mid to low 60s, brisk westerly winds Stage winner: Loyal lead-out man Gert Steegmans took his firstcareer Tour stage win ahead of team captain Tom Boonen as QuickStep-Innergeticfinished one-two at the end of the crash-marred finale. Filippo Pozzato(Liquigas) was third. Race leader: Prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (CSC) retainedthe yellow jersey despite falling hard in the day’s major pileup with abouttwo kilometers to go. Cancellara didn’t lose any time despite limping acrossthe line nursing a banged-up

Judging by his incredible acceleration away from the rest of the world’s best sprinters, you would never know that just a few kilometers before, Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) had been off the back, chasing with an injured wrist after a crash. Nonetheless, the Aussie handily won stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de France from London to Canterbury, collecting his 12th career stage victory in the world’s greatest race. CSC’s Fabian Cancellara finished safely in the bunch to retain the overall lead.

COURSE: Stage 1 begins at the prologue finish line on The Mall with a processional opening that crisscrosses the River Thames on its way past St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, before heading east out of the metropolis. The start will be given at exactly 11 a.m. (noon in France) at the prime meridian in Greenwich. The rolling course passes the 1000-year-old Rochester Castle and loops through the county of Kent via Tunbridge Wells to Canterbury, where the finish is on a wide highway within sight of the historic cathedral. HISTORY: The last time the race was in England, in 1994,

After 38 grueling laps through the streets of West Chester, Pennslvania, Priority Health rider Emile Abraham parlayed a bid for a standard race prime into a 22-lap kamikaze effort that brought him first place in this year’s Iron Hill Twilight Criterium. “After winning a few primes, I went for an attack and got a gap. I didn’t think it would stay away but I kept rolling,” he said.

It takes more than a crash with 20km remaining to stop Predictor-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen. In what was nearly guaranteed to be a field sprint, the Aussie sprinter was taken down in a pileup as the nervous peloton approached Canterbury in the final moments of stage 1. For a moment it looked as though McEwen’s hopes of pleasing his Belgian team management by wearing the green points jersey into Ghent, Belgium, on Monday had been dashed. McEwen landed hard on his right wrist, and in the chaos that ensued, he briefly thought of abandoning the Tour. Instead, McEwen’s teammates rallied around the

Former Tour de France sprint king Erik Zabel admitted his glory days on the race could be on the wane as one of his biggest rivals took a share in one of his records. Australian Robbie McEwen shrugged off a crash to dominate a bunch sprint and win the first stage of the race held over 203km from London to here on Sunday. McEwen now has 12 stage victories from the Tour, meaning he has equaled a long-held achievement of Zabel, who until Sunday held the record of having the most stage wins on the Tour for an active rider. Zabel, who celebrated his 37th birthday during Saturday's prologue,

Weather: Sunny to partly sunny all day, highs in high 70, moderate westerly winds Stage winner: Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) uncorked a perfect sprint in the final 100 meters to surprise everyone in a chaotic finale that saw riders surging from all sides. The veteran Aussie crashed with about 20km to go after being caught in a pileup but regained contact with the peloton with less than 10km to go. It’s McEwen’s 12th career Tour stage victory. Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) finished second to climb into eighth overall at 29 seconds back with Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) third.

Cancellara yellow run could have legsFabian Cancellara’s run in the yellow jersey could last several days. At least that’s what Team CSC is quietly hoping for following the big Swiss time machine’s dominant prologue victory. “I am taking it day-to-day, but the team will work to keep me in yellow as long as possible,” Cancellara said after finishing safely in the bunch at 22nd. “I have a nice gap to the sprinters. We don’t want to let a breakaway stay away.” Cancellara’s 13-second winning margin over Andreas Klöden was the third largest in Tour history, but more importantly, he opened up

Many riders finished their 7.9km prologue effort with an all-out sprint;world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara began his winning ridewith a furious sprint, and maintained that blazing pace throughout thewinding course among London's historic sites to take the first yellow jerseyof the 94th Tour de France. Before the race, Cancellara said he wanted to show the world why he wore theworld-champion skinsuit for the time trial. And indeed he did.

COURSE: The prologue starts in theheart of London, goes past Downing Street (residence of Britain’s PrimeMinister), the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey to BuckinghamPalace (residence of Queen Elizabeth II). The course then climbs Constitution Hill, passes through Wellington Arch and loops around The Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park, before heading back downhill to the Victoria Memorial and to the finish on The Mall, London’s grandest avenue, with Buckingham Palace as the backdrop. HISTORY: This is the first timethat the Tour has started in London, although the race has visited

Sympathy is not something Predictor-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen is usually known to offer his rivals. But on Thursday the Australian sprinter admitted he felt sorry for one of his main rivals, Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi. But in almost the same breath McEwen called for glorious sporting achievements at this year’s Tour de France to replace months of lurid headlines about doping in cycling. Petacchi, who faces a one-year ban for an unusually high level of salbutamol during the Giro d'Italia, will not race the Tour this year. He also missed last year’s edition due to a knee

Perhaps no team enters the Tour de France with as much potential in the race’s four jersey competitions as the Netherlands’ Rabobank squad. With defending two-time King of the Mountains Michael Rasmussen, Russian GC contender Denis Menchov, Spanish sprint star Óscar Freire Gómez and the emerging 22-year-old Thomas Dekker, the team brings riders capable of winning each of the race’s esteemed competitions. Winning more than one jersey is unlikely for Rabobank, however. Menchov, who finished sixth last year, doesn’t top anyone’s list of GC favorites, and at the team’s pre-race medical check

A year ago, Quick Step-Innergetic’s Tom Boonen came to the Tour de France with both the rainbow jersey and heavy expectations on his shoulders. The two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders and reigning world champion came to the Tour with four stage wins to his name and was expected to add to his tally while contesting for the green points jersey. Instead, Boonen did neither, leaving the Tour after stage 15, having worn the yellow jersey for four days. Asked about his main objective for this year’s Tour at a pre-race press conference on Thursday, Boonen played it coy, initially saying, “My

Rabobank will see a passing of the baton as Michael Boogerd, the major Dutch rider of his generation, starts his final Tour de France while emerging star Thomas Dekker makes his Tour debut. Boogerd will be starting his 12th consecutive Tour that will also be his last. The 36-year-old will retire at the end of the 2007 season. A winner of two Tour stages and twice in the top 10, Boogerd dreams of one more glory ride before hanging up the cleats this year. “In other years, I started strongly and felt weaker while nearing the end of the race. Right now, I am not feeling that well because of a

Rabobank will see a passing of the baton as Michael Boogerd, the major Dutch rider of his generation, starts his final Tour de France while emerging star Thomas Dekker makes his Tour debut. Boogerd will be starting his 12th consecutive Tour that will also be his last. The 36-year-old will retire at the end of the 2007 season. A winner of two Tour stages and twice in the top 10, Boogerd dreams of one more glory ride before hanging up the cleats this year. “In other years, I started strongly and felt weaker while nearing the end of the race. Right now, I am not feeling that well because of a

Team Fuji-Salamander teammates Shane Kline and Nik Reinert both collected their third national titles of the week Monday as the 2007 USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships continued at the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kline won the men's 17-18 sprint and later teamed up with Reinert to win the Madison, adding a second and third stars-and-stripes jersey to the one he won in Sunday's kilometer time trial. For Reinert, the victory in the Madison complemented his earlier wins in the individual pursuit and the points race. Kline posted the fastest time in

French team Ag2r will be hoping it can repeat its successful 2006 Tour de France, when it pushed Cyril Dessel and recently crowned French champion Christophe Moreau into the top 10 overall. The team’s dream run through the 2006 Tour – which also included a one-day run in yellow by Dessel and a stage victory by Sylvain Calzati into Lorient in stage eight – helped take the sting out of losing the services of team leader Francisco Mancebo, who was implicated in the pre-Tour Operación Puerto purge. While many of the other French teams are on a youth movement, the 36-year-old Moreau seems to

Sunday was a big day for Team Fuji-Salamander at the 2007 USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colleen Hayduk collected her second national title of the weekend at the 7-Eleven Velodrome with a victory in the women’s 17-18 sprint. Nik Reinert also captured a second title, in the men’s 17-18 3km individual pursuit. And Shane Kline won the men’s 17-18 kilometer time trial. After earning the top seed with a 200-meter qualifying time of 12.273 seconds, Hayduk took two straight rides from Dana Feiss (Young Medalist Cycling) in the final to claim another

Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) outsprinted Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) in the final stretch of Sunday’s Manhattan Beach Grand Prix criterium. Bahati’s teammate Kayle Leogrande hit two birds with one stone by towing Bahati into the final sprint and finishing third overall. Successful Living teammates Curtis Gunn and Daniel Ramsey dominated the first half of the race. A three-man breakaway containing Gunn formed in the first lap, and when a prime was announced for the second lap, Gunn picked up the pace, leaving the other two to be caught by the peloton. The second big attack came from

Tour No. 1 bib missingThere won’t be a No. 1 bib in this year’s Tour de France typically handed out to the previous year’s winner. With the legal status of last year’s Tour winner Floyd Landis still in limbo, the 2007 Tour will start without having an official winner. With runner-up Oscar Pereiro waiting in the wings, the Tour has decided to skip the prestigious No. 1 bib. “We wanted to make a symbolic gesture,” Jean-Francois Pescheux told AFP. It’s the first time in Tour history there won’t be a No. 1 bib in the race, Pescheux said. Instead, Tour officials have decided to remove numbers

Trek-Volkswagen teammates Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk made it 2-for-2 at the B.C. Bike Race: The Pacific Traverse on Monday, taking a convincing win on stage 2 of the seven day race and increasing their overall lead in the seven-day event that finishes on Saturday in Whistler. The American east coasters now own two stage wins and a 6:02 advantage in the G.C., with North Vancouver teammates Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun (Rocky-Mountain-Haywood Securities) again settling for second place. Eatough and Schalk covered the 118km from Lake Cowichan to Port Alberni in 4:34:06, with

Four national champions were crowned on Friday as the 2007 USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships kicked off at the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colleen Hayduk (Team Fuji-Salamander) set a national record in the women’s 17-18 500-meter time trial and earned an automatic nomination to represent the United States at the UCI Junior Track World Championships later this summer in Mexico. Hayduk’s time of 36.656 seconds surpassed the old record of 37.280 previously held by Missy Thompson. Behind Hayduk, Dana Feiss (Young Medalist Cycling) took second in 38.740, while

France — AG2R team leader Christophe Moreau continued to display his race form ahead of the Tour de France by winning his first-ever French road-race crown Sunday in Aurillac. The 36-year-old winner of last month’s Dauphiné Libéré escaped late in the race and finished with a two-minute lead on Pierrick Fedrigo and Patrice Halgand. The Netherlands — Rabobank rider Koos Mourenhout won the Dutch national road race championship Sunday in Maastricht. Mourenhout finished ahead of Sebastien Langeveld and Maarten den Bakker after a solo attack in the final lap of the race. Switzerland —