Up-and-coming Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Bianchi) stunned a host of favorites to win the Grand Prix Ouest-France Sunday in Plouay. Nibali claimed his first victory in the ProTour series after 217km of racing on the tough Britanny circuit. The 22-year-old Sicilian held off experienced Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) in a two-man sprint after Flecha's long-distance dash for the finish line ran out of steam. Italian Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval-Prodir) finished third. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who is taking part in the Vuelta a España, retained the lead of the ProTour

Bettini takes the sprint

Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre pulled within 12 seconds of the yellow jersey in last month’s Tour de France but later faded to a no-glory fourth place, so perhaps it was only fitting that the mild-mannered Spaniard took the gold jersey Saturday in an thrilling team time trial to kick-start the 2006 Vuelta a España. Sastre made a late decision to start the Vuelta – his third grand tour of this season and his fifth in a row dating back to the 2005 Tour de France – and he’s glad he did. "I am not thinking about the Tour anymore," Sastre said. "This is a childhood dream to take the Vuelta jersey,

Denis Menchov admits he won’t be the five-star favorite to win the Vuelta a España while Rabobank teammate Oscar Freire confirms he won’t be taking Saturday’s start. Menchov – who was named winner of the 2005 Vuelta after Roberto Heras tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO – said his efforts from the Tour de France could cost him in the mountainous Vuelta. “I’ve love to win, but the Vuelta is a secondary objective this year after the Tour and I don’t feel as fresh this time,” Menchov told the Spanish daily MARCA. “I think I have a chance, but psychologically I don’t feel as sharp

The Eneco Benelux Tour ended bitterly for George Hincapie on Wednesday after arch-rival Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) hooked him in the final 50 meters, sending the Discovery Channel leader sprawling to the ground and causing him to lose the race on time bonuses. Schumacher started the 201km seventh and final stage three seconds behind race leader Hincapie, but the German rider bounded ahead to finish third behind winner Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) and runner-up Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval-Prodir) to earn a four-second bonus that nudges him into overall victory in the eight-day

Discovery Channel officials said they felt “robbed” of victory in the Eneco Tour following the controversial finish to Wednesday’s finale when German rider Stefan Schumacher caused George Hincapie to crash less than 100 meters from the line. Schumacher barged Hincapie’s line and sent the race leader toppling to the ground in disbelief and anger as the Gerolsteiner rider took four bonus seconds with third-place to claim overall victory by one second. “It was so unfair what happened to him,” Discovery Channel sport director Dirk Demol told VeloNews. “George felt so strong and the team did an

German David Kopp (Gerolsteiner) sprinted to victory in the sixth and penultimate stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Tuesday. Italy's Marco Zanotti (Unibet.com) and Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) crossed second and third in the 213km stage from Bornem to St. Truiden, a nervy racec marked by numerous falls. "Normally I should launch the sprint for my leader (Stefan Schumacher), but I found myself alone on the front and decided to attack and go for the win," explained the 27-year-old Kopp. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) holds the overall race lead going into

Three-time world champion Oscar Freire said he is unsure he will be able to take Saturday’s start of the Vuelta a España as he continues to suffer the dizzy spells that forced his departure from the Tour de France. The Rabobank sprinter won the Vattenfall Cyclassics in late July, but was forced to skip the Clásica San Sebastián as the problem worsened. He’s been taking medication, but is worried he won’t be stable enough to race the vertiginous Vuelta. "I don’t know if I can start. My head hurts and I suffer dizziness. I am training and I will decide in the next few days, according to how

Tom Boonen made the most of home advantage when winning the fifth stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux Monday in Balen, Belgium. The Quick Step rider came out on top in a sprint just meters from the house where he lives, with New Zealand's Julian Dean (Crédit Agricole) and Italy's Simone Cadamuro (Milram) taking second and third. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) retained the leader's red jersey with just two stages remaining. Germany's Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) is lying second with Vincenzo Nibali (ILiquigas) third. Boonen, who was adding this to his successes in

Boonen takes a soggy sprint at the line

Pure insanity. That’s how the new national criterium champion Brad Huff (TIAA-CREF) described the final lap of the 100km USPRO championships on Sunday in Downers Grove, Illinois. Only the Navigators could muster any semblance of a lead-out, and their efforts were not in vain as Aussie Hilton Clarke blew past Toyota-United’s Tony Cruz and Huff after the decisive final corner to take the win. Huff charged to the front with 300 meters and held it until near the final corner at 150 meters when Cruz pulled even with him. The pair swung wide out of the corner, and Clarke took the inside line and

World champion Tom Boonen won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Saturday ahead of Discovery’s Max Van Heeswijk and Australian Baden Cooke (UniBet). Quick Step team leader Boonen, who also won Thursday's first stage, extends his overall lead to an 11-second advantage over Liquigas’s Manuel Quinziato, who won on Friday. Boonen later revealed that he had initially set out to set-up victory bids for two of his teammates. "I decided to lead out the sprint for my teammates Wouter Weylandt and Steven De Jongh," explained Boonen after the 185km stage.

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.An open letter from a Cat.4 regular guyDear VeloNews, fellow cyclists, my teammates and family,When I starting cycling three years ago, it was my ultimate goal toenjoy all that cycling had to offer. As of today, August 16th, 2006, Ihave achieved that goal.With the dedication and support

Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) unleashed a late-stage attack to surprise the bunch to steal home his first career victory in Friday’s second stage while Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) finished safely in the main pack to retain the overall lead at the Eneco Tour. The 26-year-old Italian jumped clear with just over 2km to go go and held off the main pack to snatch the victory while scores of riders finished more than a minute off the winning time after a crash late in the stage. “When I saw there were just 40 riders on the last lap and that everyone was tired and no team was able to set the

Boonen nails itWorld champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) won his first race since abandoning the Tour de France and surged into the overall lead Thursday at the Eneco Tour. Boonen earned a 10-second time bonus with the relatively easy sprint victory in the first stage and overtook Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) in the overall standings. The big Belgian received a textbook-perfect leadout and easily held off Simone Cadamuro (Milram) and Enrico Gasparatto (Liquigas), who came through third. “This is my first race after the Tour and after the problems that I’ve [had] in France, now

Phonak was flying high three weeks ago with the dramatic comeback Tour de France victory of Floyd Landis, but now the team is facing an uncertain future in the wake of Landis’ disastrous failed doping control. Phonak team owner Andy Rihs and team manager John Lelangue have scheduled a Tuesday morning press conference at a Zurich hotel to discuss the team’s future, but many insiders believe the Landis scandal could spell the end of the beleaguered Swiss squad. Unconfirmed reports were flying at last weekend’s Clásica San Sebastián that iShares – the San Francisco-based online investment

The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team gained a new member on Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when Andrew "A.J." Smith, a brawny 24-year-old former national junior track champion, won the opportunity to ride as an honorary member of the team at next month’s USPRO time-trial championship in Greenville, South Carolina. Smith was a promising track rider in the late 1990s who grew disillusioned with the sport while training for the 2000 Olympic sprint trials. After missing out on the Olympic team selection, the Florida native gave up cycling and became a personal trainer with a focus

There were a lot of smashing fists on handlebars Saturday as the relatively unheralded Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) surprised a host of favorites with an early sprint to win the Clásica San Sebastián. The 26-year-old held off Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) and Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) to score just his second victory of his professional career, leaving the frustrated runner’s up to bash their handlebars in an opportunity missed. “I wouldn’t have bet on it,” Florencio said with a smile when asked if he thought he was going to win the 225km, five-climb classic around the hills of

The 2006 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah concluded Saturday with the much-anticipated Stage Six Snowbird Road Race, won by TIAA CREF rider Blake Caldwell. The 91-mile stage included three very difficult climbs and more than 12,000 feet of climbing as it traversed the Wasatch Mountains from Deer Valley Resort to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort. The decisive third climb of the day, in Little Cottonwood Canyon affected the final General Classification as Scott Moninger took the yellow jersey from teammate and hometown favorite Jeff Louder. Team TIAA CREF forced an early break with four riders in

Spain’s top stars are converging on the posh resort town for Saturday's big one-day race to kick-start San Sebastián’s summer festival, but it’s no guarantee fans will have the chance to cheer on a hometown winner. While Spanish riders have won the past two editions, the 225km race around the hills of Spain’s Basque Country has long been dominated by foreign riders. Take away the 2004-05 wins by Martín Perdiguero and Constantino Zaballa, respectively, and you have to go all the way back to Miguel Indurain’s win in 1990 to find another Spaniard who won this race. One of those foreigners

Stage Five of the 2006 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah entertained an estimated crowd of 30,000 fans in downtown Salt Lake City, Friday night, as the Twinlab Circuit Race tested riders with six laps of a 6.3 mile course that included a very steep climb to the Utah State Capitol before plunging and twisting back to the wide avenues of downtown. A wide and slightly downhill finishing straight encouraged sprints and attacks, making for a very fast race, won by Toyota-United rider Chris Baldwin. The stage was slotted between two of the toughest climbing stages in American cycling, but was not the

The 2006 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah earned its reputation as one of the country’s toughest Thursday as the race entered the mountains of the Wasatch Front with the 67.5-mile 101.9 The End Road Race, which began in Provo and finished at Nebo Loop, pitted some of the best climbers in U.S. against each other as the stage culminated with a 20-mile ascent through Payson Canyon to the 9000-foot Nebo Loop summit. HealthNet-Maxxis rider Scott Moninger won the stage with a time of two minutes thirty-eight seconds at an average speed of 22.48 miles per hour. Moninger's teammate and Salt Lake

After two years spent with Davitamon-Lotto as Robbie McEwen’s lead-out man at the Giro d’Italia, Australian veteran Henk Vogels will return to the North American peloton as a member of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team. Vogels is the first new addition to the Toyota-United roster for the 2007 season. “The Toyota team looks as though they’ve done a great job this year,” Vogels said. “I was impressed with them at the Tour of Georgia. They’ve done well by themselves. I think the team wanted me for a few reasons. My physical ability is still very good, but I think what I bring in terms of

Stage Two of the 2006 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, the Steve Williams Memorial Road Race, was a hot and dry 97-mile stage from Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, to the newly constructed Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele. Riders battled shifting winds and temperatures topping 100 degrees as they raced along a portion of the historic Pony Express Trail through Utah's West Desert. The race began with a series of gradual climbs out of Lehi, then onto rolling terrain as it moved toward the finish at the motorsports park. Attacks were launched almost immediately as the race climbed out of Lehi,

Shawn Milne (Navigators Insurance) and Tina Pic (Colavita-Cooking Light) won their respective events Saturday evening during the Bank of America Invitational criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina. [nid:36034]In the 53-mile men’s race, Milne bridged to Jackson Stewart (Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada) and Rahsaan Bahati (TIAA-CREF) with about 15 laps of the 1.2-mile course remaining, and the three began to extend their lead over the bunch.

Just hours before the start of Saturday’s dual slalom at the No. 5 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series race in Brian Head, Utah, veteran gravity racer John Kirkcaldie announced his pending retirement from mountain-bike racing. "I’m getting too old for this," said the 30-year-old Kiwi, who admitted he had contemplated ending his 11-year career several times over the past two seasons. Kirkaldie (Maxxis) appeared motivated by his impromptu announcement, and rode like a man possessed, fighting his way past Cody Warren (C-Dub Racing) and Andrew Neethling (Mongoose) and into the finals of the dual

Australia's Graeme Brown (Rabobank) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Germany on Saturday, a 203km leg between Heidenheim and Bad Tolz. Brown won a tense sprint finish against German duo Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) and Erik Zabel (Milram), finishing in four hours, 34 minutes and 38 seconds. The 36-year-old Zabel took the overall lead from Russian Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel). Gusev slipped back to second, seven seconds behind Zabel, with German Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) third, eight seconds down. "It was my last chance to take the lead before the mountains," Zabel told

In preparation for the August 5-6 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series stop at Brian Head, Utah, husband-and-wife duo Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Heather Irmiger borrowed the Irmiger family pickup and headed to Winter Park, Colorado, for a quick high-altitude training camp. The regimen included staving off mosquitos, shooting slingshots and a few epic training rides through the Rocky Mountain backcountry. "We just wanted to have fun, and it worked out because the riding was great," Irmiger said. "I had a pretty awesome bonk one day. I broke my derailleur and ran out of water and food. Jeremy

Team CSC made what’s likely cycling history on Thursday when the team won three races in three different events all on the same day. With ProTour squads boasting enough riders on their roster to run three programs, Team CSC scored an unprecedented “hat-trick” Thursday, taking stage-wins at the Deutschland Tour with Jens Voigt, Tour of Denmark with Fabian Cancellara and Paris-Corrèze with Marcus Ljungqvist. “It’s a very special time for the team,” Team CSC sport director Tristan Hoffman told VeloNews. “We have a good combination of riders on the team who can win races. We have a very good

A prosecutor in northern Italy has asked for an investigation into a group of Spanish cyclists suspected of using doping products during competition in Italy, Spanish daily El Pais reported on Friday. Other investigators have also asked to question Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso later this month. According to the paper, the cyclists targeted by a Bergamo prosecutor are Marcos Serrano, Joseba Beloki, Unai Osa and Angel Vicioso. Italian police, according to El Pais, "have received documents sent to them by Spanish police which indicate several Spanish riders used doping products

Gerald Ciolek, of the continental Wiesenhof team won a frantic sprint at the end of the third stage of the Tour of Germany, Friday, a 203.3km race from Witzenhausen to Schweinfurt. The stage was marked by a long 145km solo break by Saunier Duval’s Marco Pinotti, who was eventually reeled in with 25km to go, setting up a fast closing stretch with none of the top sprinters’ teams able to control the field as it rushed through the final kilometers into Schweinfurt. Ciolek - who at 19 is seen as the next great hope of German cycling - clinched his first victory on the ProTour after pipping

German CSC rider Jens Voigt on Thursday won the second stage of the Tour of Germany over 181.5km between Mindent and Goslar ahead of Italian Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Kazakh Andrey Kaschechkin (Astana). The German CSC rider clinched victory after mounting a bold attack on the final climb before outpacing Rebellin and Kaschechkin in a sprint finish at the end of the 181.5km stage. Voigt, 35, a stage winner at this month's Tour de France and a yellow jersey holder during the 2001 and 2005 editions of cycling's most prestigious event, was delighted with his victory. "To

Fields have been announced for the two biggest races on the North American road-racing calendar, the Bank of America Invitational Criterium and the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. With the Tour of Utah beginning just 36 hours after the Charlotte, North Carolina, B of A Criterium ends — and with the August 13 Tour of Elk Grove Criterium, held near Chicago, taking place the day after Utah ends — it’s a good bet that the North American peloton will be split into two, with sprinters looking to bring home cash from the calendar’s biggest prize lists. The Bank of America Invitational Criterium,

Sastre unsure as Vuelta expects heavy Spanish accentWith the “Puerto Nine” not welcome and a host of foreign stars expected to skip the season’s final grand tour, Vuelta a España organizers are putting a heavy Spanish accent of the 2006 edition. Race organizers revealed a preliminary start list Tuesday that’s laden with Spanish stars and lean on foreign riders. Defending champion Denis Menchov and his Danish climbing Rabobank counterpart Michael Rasmussen are the biggest foreign stars expected for the Aug. 26 start in Málaga. Confirmed Spanish riders include Tour de France runner-up Oscar

Some of Oscar Freire’s biggest wins have come at the expense of one man: That perennial German warrior Erik Zabel. The Spanish sprinter took his third world title in 2004 in Verona in Italy with Zabel taking second, a win that came months after Freire out-stabbed Zabel on the Via Roma to win Milan-San Remo that spring. In Sunday’s Vattenfall Cyclassics, Freire once again revealed he has one of the best bike stabs in the game, sneaking away with a photo-finish mass sprint with Zabel getting the worse end of the bargain. Last year’s winner Filippo Pozzato came through third.FULLRESULTS “I

Normally, the final stage of a stage race is supposed to be more of a celebratory parade than a decisive day in the saddle. But that's never been the case at the International Tour de Toona. Coming into the final stage, the top-2 men overall - Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance) and Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) - were separated by only 3 seconds on general classification with 52-seconds of time bonuses up for grabs. Any one individual could win a maximum of 30-seconds. Kyle Wamsley (Colavita - Sutter Homes) would take the stage win, but the battle for yellow continued throughout the

Saturday's epic 145.9km point-to-point road race was all it was cracked up to be - causing a decisive shift in the men's overall classification, although not without controversy. Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance) won the race from a 6-man group sprint, snatching a 20-second time bonus and the yellow jersey along with it. Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) finished second, taking a 15-second time bonus, and putting him into second overall. Baldwin now trails Lagutin by only 3 seconds in general classification going into tomorrow's criterium, which has a total of 52 seconds of time

The first ProTour cycling event since the Floyd Landis positive doping test, the Vattenfall Cyclassics, takes place in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday when team and UCI officials will surely be talking about the matter. Though Sunday's 250km, 11th edition of the HEW Cyclassics in theory should be the main event, it is likely that the cycling world will still be taking stock of the news of the positive test for testosterone by the Tour de France winner which broke on Thursday. Of course Landis will not be present at the race but team staff, sponsors, UCI officials and riders will have

Friday's fifth stage at the International Tour de Toona ended in breakaway finishes for both the men and women with no effect on general classification. The men raced four 20-mile circuits through the Mennonite farmlands of Martinsburg, Penn. Bernard van Ulden (Navigators Insurance) outsprinted Mark McCormack (Colavita/Sutter Homes) in a 3-up breakway that was out in front for 79 of the stage's 80 miles. For the women's race, it was Brooke Miller (Palo Alto Bicycles/TIBCO) who nipped Webcor's Felicia Gomez at the line in The pro men's race started off aggressive from

(Hollidaysburg, Penn.) - The Tour de 'Toona's fourth day of racing took place Thursday in Hollidaysburg - where the Slinky toy is manufactured - and did not result in any significant changes on general classification, allowing the sprinters to take center stage. Juan Jose "JJ" Haedo (Toyota United) easily took the uphill sprint, scoring the team's second stage victory. The men's race saw several mutt breakaways go up the road, but none posed a serious threat on the undulating course. In the women's race 4-time national criterium champion Tina Pic (Colavita) maintained

Mariano Friedick (Toyota United) scored a 10-second winner's time bonus to take the lead at the International Tour de Toona on Tuesday. Meanwhile, four-time national criterium champion Tina Pic (Colavita) took the stage-2 field sprint ahead of Lipton's Laura van Gilder, but Alison Powers (Advil-Chapstick) retained the yellow jersey heading into Wednesday’s decisive 98-mile stage, which features a Category 1 climb over Blue Knob ski resort at mid-race. In the men’s race, a five-man breakaway got away early and nearly made it until the end. Stefano Barberi (Toyota-United) and Bernard

Americans returned from the 38th Tour de l'Abitibi this weekend where some of the nation’s best junior cyclists claimed three stage wins and fifth place overall. One of the most prestigious junior stage races in the world, the 2.HC rated UCI event is the only North American junior race on the UCI Calendar and is often referred to as the "Tour de France for juniors." More than 160 junior cyclists, including 54 Americans, from seven countries lined up for eight stages in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of northern Quebec. U.S. National Team rider Kevin Soller (Breckenridge, Colorado)

Wednesday’s 96-mile point-to-point road race took the riders through four counties starting from the Johnstown Galleria Mall and finishing at the Logan Valley Mall in Altoona. The yellow jersey would change hands in both the men's and women's race on a day of attrition over an undulating course. Frank Pipp (Target Training) was the surprise winner in the men's race, nipping prologue winner Karl Menzies (Health Net) and Ciaran Powers (Navigators) at the line. The 20-second time bonus was enough to put Pipp into second place overall. But Menzies second place finish was good enough

Pipp takes it in the sprint

I promised in my July 3 column to follow up about bruising, inflammation, Tyler Hamilton’s lower back and heart attacks. I set it aside for the Tour, but I’ve been reminded enough that it’s time to spell it out. I was in Europe at the time, having come over with my wife to visit a dear friend in Germany who had just barely survived a massive heart attack a few weeks before. He is an extremely strong man, former Olympian and many-time German national champion in judo who was almost never sick. He was one of the last people you might expect to suffer a heart attack, as is Hugh Walton, another

Course: Unlike most recent final stages that looped through the countryside south or east of Paris before entering the city, the entire course is on suburban and city streets in the southern and western parts of the metro area. Most significant is the very steep Cat. 4 climb of Mont Valérien after 72km, which is followed by a fast sweep down to the Seine River at Clichy. The next 20km are along the right bank of the Seine before riders reach the traditional Champs-Élysées circuit after 100km. Eight laps of the 6.5km circuit complete the 2006 Tour, 400 meters after the final right turn from

Welcome to VeloNews TV. Tune in daily for FREE race highlights, interviews, tech profiles, rider diaries, cycling news and more. Our own Jason Sumner is in France and will be reporting daily from inside the action at the 2006 Tour de France. NOW PLAYING ON VELONEWS TV Stage 20Stage 20 race highlights. American Floyd Landis wears the yellow jersey in Paris. Chris Horner Diary: Stage 20. Americans George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde and Levi Leipheimer reflect on the 2006 Tour and what comes next. Omega Pharma CEO Marc Coucke talks about his company’s sponsorship of the Davitamon-Lotto

American Floyd Landis won the Tour de France Sunday, as the world's greatest bicycle race wrapped up three weeks of racing with its traditional finale on the elegant cobbles of the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Phonak captain crossed the finish line of the final stage, a 154km stage from the suburb of Antony, in 69th place behind Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), who surged to his second stage win of the race, outsprinting Australian Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto). Another Australian, Stuart O'Grady (CSC), finished third on the stage. Landis, 30, becomes the third winner of

Robbie McEwen won the Tour de France points competition for the third time here Sunday to once again pull on the green jersey. In what is considered the second hardest competition on the race after the yellow jersey battle, McEwen topped the standings on 288 points to leave former six-time winner Erik Zabel of Germany down in second place on 199. The 34-year-old Belgium-based Aussie also claimed three stages on this year's race, however he was pipped to the most coveted sprint stage when he was beaten to the Champs Elysees finish line by last year’s points jersey winner Norway's

Norwegian Thor Hushovd was all smiles again here Sunday three weeks after he began what has been a spectacular Tour de France with victory on the opening prologue. Hushovd, of Credit Agricole, surged to his second stage win of the race on the world famous Champs Elysees after out-muscling his biggest rival -Australian Robbie McEwen - 100 meters from the finish line. Another Australian, Stuart O'Grady of CSC finished third on the stage just ahead of the bunch. After beating American George Hincapie by less than a second to win the prologue and the yellow jersey, Hushovd's bid for

Course: This final time trial follows a complicated 57km route between the twin industrial cities of Le Creusot and Montceau-les-Mines. There are a few long straightaways, but in between — from 5km-17km, 23km-34km and 47km-55km — the course is on a mixture of narrow back roads and city streets that twist and climb around the district’s former coalmines and steel mills. In other words, it’s a challenging up-and-down course where riders are constantly changing direction, sprinting out of turns, grinding up hills and racing down descents. History: Only once has this area hosted a Tour stage;

Matteo Tosatto collected Italy’s first victory of the 2006 Tour de France in a broiling transition stage over the Jura Mountains. There were no major shakeups in the overall as everyone is looking ahead to Saturday’s decisive final time trial. The Quick Step-Innergetic rider out-shot compatriot Cristian Moreni (Cofidis) to win Friday’s 197km 18th stage, which ran from the cool heights of Morzine onto the sticking hot flats along the Saône, out of a 15-man breakaway that included Americans Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and Dave Zabriskie (CSC). “To be the first Italian to win this year is

WeatherSunny to partly sunny all day, highs 30-34C Stage winnerMatteo Tosatto (Quick Step), 4h16:15, 46.127kph – The Italian veteran edged compatriot Cristian Moreni (Cofidis) and Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner) in a three-up sprint after counter-attacking a 15-man breakaway that pulled away about 50km into the transition stage over the Jura Mountains of eastern France. It was the first stage-win for Italy and Tosatto’s Quick Step team. Race leaderOscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne), 3,445.8km, 84h33:04, 40.748kph – There were no major changes in the top 12. American Levi Leipheimer

It was a mountain too far for Floyd Landis in Wednesday’s epic, four-climb stage 16 across the French Alps as the already-crazy 93rd Tour de France dropped more bombshells in an attack-riddled charge up the finishing climb to La Toussuire. The Phonak team captain apparently bonked on the lower flanks of the 18.4km final climb and saw his hopes of overall victory sink after finishing 22nd on the day, losing eight minutes to the other contenders in the final 12km. A rejuvenated Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Épargne-Illes Balears) bounced back into the yellow jersey, while Michael Rasmussen

After a terrific ride in Wednesday’s 16th stage to La Toussiere, Cadel Evans showered, ate a snack and then invited the media to his team hotel to answer questions about how one of the most astonishing finale’s in modern Tour de France unfolded for him and what he expects in the crucial days ahead. VeloNews.com contributor Rupert Guinness was there VeloNews.com: How did you feel today, Cadel? Cadel Evans: Good, today was a much better race for me. Yesterday (stage 15) when we hit the bottom of the climb, you saw the size of the peloton. It wasn’t a very hard race until that point whereas

Aren’t aero’ covers on components a no-no?Dear Lennard,Floyd Landis's aerodynamic cranks have been described as both a "fairing" and a "cover." I thought aerodynamic covers on components isn't allowed.Steve Dear Steve,It isn’t allowed to have a cover on a component that is strictly for aerodynamics, but a cover can be made that serves an aerodynamic purpose while at the same time increasing the strength or rigidity of the component. That argument could be made with Floyd’s crank cover.Lennard How do they rig those aero-bar brakes?Dear Lennard,I've seen a brake lever on the CSC

Talk about close finishes. On the last day of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a circuit race held on a demanding 17-mile loop, Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) won a tiebreaker based on stage finishes against Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis) to win the final overall classification. Meanwhile, in the women’s race, Kristen LaSasso (Lipton) maintained her 23-second lead over teammate Kristen Armstrong to take the overall victory. MenIn the men’s circuit race Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe’s) took the stage victory, out-dueling breakaway partners Glen Chadwick (Navigators), Aaron Olson (Saunier

There have been some memorable finishes at L’Alpe d’Huez. But perhaps none of the 23 road stages that have finished atop the 21-turn mountain road has had as big an impact as that promised on Tuesday. With at least six riders still holding a serious chance of winning the 2006 Tour de France with six days of racing remaining, the hundreds of thousands of fans lining the 13.8km climb to the finish of stage 15 should witness a spectacular battle. Before the two Pyrenean stages last week, then race leader Floyd Landis (Phonak-iShares) was given the biggest chance of winning this Tour. For many,

Course: With a rest day coming up in Gap, followed by the Alps, this gives the lesser known riders one of their last chances of glory. The intricate 180.5km stage through hilly terrain north of Mont Ventoux offers two Cat. 3 climbs in the first half and two Cat. 2s in the second half. The narrow back roads and constant ups-and-downs will make it a hard stage for everyone and encourage breakaways. The last of the climbs, the Sentinelle, is less than 10km from the finish and offers a great chance for a solo rider to stay clear of a small breakaway group. History: Gap has seen the finish of 18

Unless you’re a diehard Bouygues Telecom fan, stage 14 of the 2006 Tour de France won’t be remembered as a day marked by large time gains or big victories. The 180.5km stage from Montélimar, in northern Provence, to Gap, in the foothill of the southern Alps, will go down as a day of crashes, abandons and drama. A spectacular sequence of riders overcooking a right turn at the end of a winding descent with 40km remaining took down half of the day’s six-man breakaway, opening the door for Frenchman Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom) and Salvatore Commesso (Lampre-Fondital) to ride on and

Eddy Merckx, the world’s greatest ever cyclist, visited the Tour that he won five time for stage 14. His mission? To watch his son Axel race for Phonak, spend time with Merckx Jr. and his grandchildren on the rest day and to find out for himself who will join the family of our champions. Before stage 14 started at Montelimar on Sunday, Merckx spoke to Rupert Guinness to discuss how he saw the race unfolding VeloNews.co: How has the Tour changed since you raced? Eddy Merckx: Oh … there is a huge difference now, yes. It is a lot more publicized, There are more media. It has become so much

After a double day of competition domestique riders Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis) and Kristen LaSasso (Lipton) continue to lead the Cascade Cycling Classic. Saturday’s racing included a flat, 6.6-mile time trial in the morning and a technical, downtown criterium in the evening. Men’s time trialLouder rode bravely in the morning time trial to retain the leaders jersey by a scant nine seconds over his teammate Nathan O’Neill. O’Neill now sits in second place overall, with Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) moving down to third. Louder, who seemed a bit stunned by his performance, said being in

Eric Carter (Mongoose) nailed the start and withstood a hard-charging Brian Lopes to defend his national mountain-cross championship at the 2006 USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Championships. The 36-year-old Carter, who hails from Temecula, California, was more than one second slower than Lopes in qualifying, but perfectly timed the dropping of the start gate to grab an advantage on the reigning world champion in the finals. Surprisingly, Lopes chose the outside lane in the finals, giving Carter the inside. "Luckily I was able to shut him down because we all know that when Brian gets out

WeatherSunny early in stage, building clouds, afternoon showers, highs 34C Stage winnerPierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom), 4h14:23, 42.574 kph – The Frenchman scored his team’s first Tour stage win at the expense of Salvatore Commesso (Lampre), who came up just short of winning Italy’s first stage of this Tour. Fedrigo’s win is the third by a Frenchman in this Tour. Fedrigo was part a six-man break that slipped away at about 60km. Three crashed out at 141km in the most fearsome spill of the Tour so far. Race leaderOscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne), 2,679.1km, 64h05:04 – Pereiro had a

The Tour de France saw two more teams, CSC and Caisse d’Épargne-Illes Balers join Discovery Channel in turning around their problem-stricken 2006 campaigns into face-saving celebrations on Saturday’s stage 13. The 230km stage from Béziers to Montélimar, the longest of the race, was won in a two-up sprint by evergreen German Jens Voigt (CSC) while breakaway companion Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Épargne) profited from their half-hour winning margin to take the yellow jersey from American Floyd Landis (Phonak). The outcome, was an incredibly fitting one, coming as it did 24 hours after the

Ryan Trebon has made a name for himself as one of the fastest starters on the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series circuit — the 6-foot, 7-inch rider likes to fire his afterburners early, and then try to hold on. Sometimes the tactic pays off — Trebon took the NMBS No. 3 short track at Mount Snow, Vermont, by soloing off the front early. However, more often than not, Trebon’s early suicide attacks have fizzled out long before the finish line. So when Trebon took a flyer on the first of four 7.9-mile laps during Friday’s national mountain-bike championships at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,

Good friends, albeit from different teams, took the spoils on Friday in the 87-mile men’s Cascade Lakes Road Race. Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) won stage 3 of Oregon’s Cascade Cycling Classic while Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis), his Salt Lake City friend and training partner, moved into the overall lead. In the 75-mile women’s race, which was staged at the base of Mount Bachelor, 12 miles down the road from the men’s start, Kristen Armstrong (Lipton) won a sprint finish from Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Cooking Light) and Mara Abbot (Rio Grande). MenThe action in the men’s race started

WeatherMostly sunny, very hot again, high 35C Stage winnerJens Voigt (CSC), 5h24:36, 42.514kph – The German won his second career Tour stage in trademark panache, attacking in the Tour’s longest stage to win in a breakaway. The five-man breakaway started to dissolve under searing temperatures and counter-attacks late in the stage. Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) chased a long sprint from Voigt, but the German out-muscled him for the win. Race leaderPereiro, 2,498.6km, 59h50:34 – Spain’s Pereiro becomes the seventh rider to hold the yellow jersey, just one man short of the record eight

Saturday’s long, hot and laborious stage 13 across the deep south of France was debilitating for everyone at the Tour de France. And it was no surprise that a small group of riders deep in the general classification successfully conducted a breakaway of more than 200km — even though few expected Floyd Landis and his Phonak team to let the break gain half an hour and hand their former teammate, Oscar Pereiro, the yellow jersey. While Pereiro, stage winner Jens Voigt and their companions averaged a solid 42.5 kph on the rolling course between the Mediterranean and Rhône Valley, the peloton,

Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) won Thursday’s 81-mile McKenzie Pass Road Race in dramatic fashion. Within a mile of the mountaintop finish, Zirbel launched an attack from a group of 12 riders, narrowly holding off second- and third-place finishers Sergey Lagutin (Navigators) and Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) at the line to claim victory in Stage 2 of the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon. On the first day of competition for the women’s field, Kristen LaSasso (Lipton) rode solo across the line to take the victory by nearly two-minutes over breakaway partner Kirsten Robbins (Victory

Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer found the best way to save what could have been a disastrous day for American cycling in the Tour de France Thursday . Phonak team leader Landis took the yellow leader’s jersey, while Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) finished second to Russia’s Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at the end of this Tour’s most grueling and decisive stage yet. Landis began the day in third overall but stage 11 from Tarbes to Val d’Aran (Pla-de-Beret) in Spain saw the peloton split so decisively that just three men remained in the lead group that conquered the brutal 206.5km stage featuring five

With the high peaks of the Pyrénées behind them, the Tour’s remaining 165 riders set out Friday on three arduous stages across the south of France that will be made more grueling by temperatures in the 80s and 90s. The first of the trio is stage 12 from Luchon to Carcassonne. This hilly 211km stage looks made for breakaways — especially after Thursday’s savage race through the Pyrénées created huge time differences in the GC. Besides the certainty of attacks from riders now buried in the overall standings — and that unexpectedly includes the whole of the Discovery Channel team — the other

Weather Partly cloudy in morning to sunny and partly sunny in afternoon, highs in mid-20sC Stage winnerDenis Menchov (Rabobank), 6h06:25, 33.814kph – Russian Menchov timed his downhill sprint perfectly to finish ahead of Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and Floyd Landis (Phonak). The 2005 Vuelta a Espana winner claims his first career Tour stage win in Race leader Landis, 2,057.1km, 41.723kph – Landis became the fifth American to wear the maillot jaune thanks to time bonuses. By finishing third in the stage, Landis picked up eight seconds in bonuses, the difference now between him and overnight

Trek-Volkwagen’s endurance duo of Travis Brown and Chris Eatough dominated Thursday’s sweaty marathon national championships race, held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. After disposing of Jay Henry (3D-Hillenbrand) on the third of eight laps, the two Trek riders spent the rest of the day riding together at the front. Brown was able to separate himself from cramping 24-hour champion Eatough midway through the final lap, and held his narrow 13-second advantage to the finish line. "The race was pretty conservative, but I felt totally dehydrated during the race, I drank 12 bottles

Ouch! Now, that was rude. 5200 meters (17,060 feet)of climbing over 207km. To add insult to injury, it was hotter than Hell out there today. Climbs, heat or whatever, the race was shaken up today big time and, truthfully, I am so dead right now I can't even think straight, so this will have to be brief. Here’s my quick and dirty stage wrap:Comeback of the day: Levi.Contender of the day: Floyd.Sure, Denis Menchov won, but I still think that Floyd will now be the man for this Tour. Carlos rode like we hoped that he would today and I think that he can ride to a podium place in this

Menchov wins a three-up sprint to the finish

Menchov wins the sprint... Landis gets those eight seconds.

The first major climbs of the 93rd Tour de France served up some significant changes atop the leader board Wednesday; but the main contenders were content to keep a wary eye on each other — even when an early breakaway gained more than 10 minutes and fought for all the spoils of the three-climb, 190.5km 10th stage 10. From the original break of 15 riders, just two were left upon reaching the finishing straight in Pau after the demanding journey through the Basque part of the Pyrénées. Spanish rider Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) and Frenchman Cyril Dessel (AG2R) fought out a hard sprint in

The Tour de France continued to produce surprises Wednesday when Cyril Dessel became the first Frenchman to wear the yellow jersey in two years. Dessel’s moment in the sun comes just 10 days after his former Ag2r team leader, Francisco Mancebo, was thrown off the race following his implication in an ongoing doping scandal. Dessel is riding only his second Tour with Ag2r despite his seven-year professional career, which has been blighted by injury. Having been pulled out of the Tour squad 10 days before the start in 2005, when he was struck by appendicitis, the 31-year-old knows he has

Retired superstar Mario Cipollini may be full of praise for Robbie McEwen’s stage-winning speed at the Tour de France. But the Italian still believes he was a better sprinter than the Australian is today. Twenty-four hours after lauding the Australian, who now has 11 Tour stage wins to Cipollini’s career tally of 12, Il Magnifico said on Wednesday morning that he believes he remains the real master blaster. Cipollini spoke to VeloNews as riders were preparing for the start of stage 10 in Cambo–les-Bains just after he chatted with Belgium’s world champion Tom Boonen of Quick