Laurent Jalabert took his Tour de France form straight into Spain and outfoxed three Italians to win the Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday. Jalabert, a winner of two stages and the best climber’s jersey in the 2001 Tour de France, edged Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Wladimir Belli (Fassa Bortolo) to win the first World Cup victory for his Danish CSC-Tiscali team. "I was worried when you have three Italians, two on the same team, I thought the only way I could win is if I had the strongest legs," said Jalabert, who won in 5 hours, 17 minutes, 54 seconds.

Geneviève Jeanson (Rona) locked up her win at the six-day Tour de 'Toona by joining a two-woman break 8km from the finish of Sunday's 48-kilometer Coca Cola Downtown Criterium in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while Saturn’s Harm Jansen battled down to the wire with Navigator’s ace sprinter Vassili Davidenko to take the overall men’s title. Jeanson and stage winner Kimberly Davidge (Saturn) finished 37 seconds ahead of the peloton after launching a breakaway with 8 km of racing left, right after Jeanson's teammate Meshy Holt (Rona) was caught by the field after her own solitary effort off the

The cross-country course in Leysin, Switzerland — site of this week's Tissot-UCI Mountain Bike World Cup — is steep. At 6.3km in length, each lap begins with 2km of fast descending, first through bumpy cow-trodden grass and then down a wooded single-track plunge. Then, for the next four kilometers (60 percent of the total lap), the course points straight back up toward the finish line. It's brutal on even the most seasoned riders, as they discovered Sunday in round six of the series. First victim was the seemingly unbeatable Spaniard Marga Fullana (Specialized), who succumbed to a resurgent

On another hot, muggy day in central Florida, eight more stars-and-stripes jerseys -- plus a little cash -- were handed out at the USCF Espoir/Junior National Road Cycling Championships. Most of the cash -- $150 of $500 -- went to Nathan Rogut (Plano Cycling), who was the winner of the non-national championship espoir criterium. Rogut was part of a four-rider break that escaped during the early going of the 44-lap race around a pancake-flat, 1.5-mile course at the Gainesville Raceway. That group, which also included Friday’s espoir road race national champion Mike Friedman (Mike Frasse’s

Hammer won the sprint in the 17-18s.

Chris Stockburger (right) took the 13-14s sprint by the width of a tire.

Dane Jankowiak has never been to Europe and Sara McLarty doesn’t consider herself a bike racer. But after both rode to surprise victories in the 17-18-year-old division road races at the junior national championships on a hot, drippy Saturday in muggy Florida, a trip to October’s road world’s in Portugal coutesy of an automatic berth on the U.S. national team has become reality. Jankowiak, who says his primary sponsor is his parents, got away from the pack on the eighth of 10 laps, then barley held off the late charge of Rigo Meza to win the 102km race with a time of 2:27:26. The course was

Staley sprints to victory.

The most telling moment at Friday’s espoir national road race championship didn’t happen on the road, but afterwards during the awards ceremony. With medals handed out and the champion’s jersey awarded, the five top finishers raised nine of their combined 10 hands in triumph. The lone exception was the left hand of second-place finisher Ian Dille, who refused to acknowledge the man to his left, race winner Mike Friedman. According to Dille, Friedman had broken the code, cutting a deal out on the course, then reneging as the pair came to the finish line. "After we got away, he told me not to

Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) and Saturn's Anke Erlank took the third stage of Pennsylvania's Tour de 'Toona on Thursday, a circuit race contested on a 20.1-mile loop near Holidaysburg. With her win, Erlank has moved into the overall lead in the six-day stage race. Meanwhile Saturn's Harm Jansen holds a narrow three-second lead over his teammate Eric Wohlberg in the overall standings. The women's race was peppered with attacks from the start. But Genevieve Jeanson and her Rona team was intent on keeping a tight reign on the field and most of the efforts were quickly reeled back in. One

Alessio’s Alessandro Bertolini won the the 56th Getxo Circuit race Tuesday, which has been renamed the Ricardo Otxoa Memorial race in honor of the Basque cyclist who was killed in an accident last year. Bertolini won a sprint finish to pip fellow breakaway rider Spaniard Francisco Caballo of the Kelme team in 3:58:59 following the 175km race, over 12 laps of a 14.6km circuit. ONCE’s Joseba Beloki, who finished third in the Tour de France on Sunday, crossed the line in fourth some nine seconds behind the leading duo.Copyright AFP2001

5:25 p.m. It's official. The band is playing the Star Spangled Banner. Lance Armstrong has been awarded the Tour's final yellow jersey by the mayor of Paris and the 2001 Tour de France is over! Thanks for tuning in folks. We've enjoyed doing the updates and hope you've found them to be at least a little helpful as you scanned the net while you were supposed to be working. See ya next year! 5:17 p.m. Here are the preliminary results of the 20th and final stage of the 2001 Tour de France. 1. Jan Svoarda (Lampre-Daikin); 2. Erik Zabel (Deutsche Telekom); 3. Stuart O'Grady (Crédit

On the final day of the Tour de France this year, many of the images were the same as the past two years. The U.S. Postal Service team led the peloton onto the Champs-Elysées in Paris under sunny skies, the lead guard for a yellow-jersey-clad Lance Armstrong. Armstrong donned the final yellow jersey of the race, and was joined on the podium by the same runner-up and third place riders, Jan Ullrich and Joseba Beloki. It was a near-perfect day in Paris, but at least one rider was hoping to change things a bit from last year. Stuart O'Grady entered the day with a two-point lead in the points

Stage Winner: Jan Svorada (Slovakia), Lampre-Daikin---------------------------------- Overall Lead: Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service Sprinter: Erik Zabel (G), Deutsche Telekom Climber: Laurent Jalabert (F) CSC-Tiscali Under 25: Oscar Sevilla (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca Click below for full results and overall.

Pennsylvania rider Sarah Uhl won the women's match sprint against defending champion Christin Muche (Germany) on Saturday to earn the first gold medal for the U.S. at a world junior championship since 1991. Uhl won the event in two straight rides on July 28, at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. The 17-year-old took the first ride after holding her lead position going in to the third turn of the final lap. With the second ride, Muche pulled close in the second turn of the last lap, but didn't have the speed to pass. Jessica Grieco -- now an Outdoor Life Network

Svorada enjoyed a final sprint in what is traditionally one of the Tour's most prestigious stages

As the Tour de France edges closer to Paris, the sprinters get more nervous with every kilometer that passes under their wheels. Five-time sprint points winner Erik Zabel is one of those men, as for the first time in his reign he is not wearing the green jersey entering the final weekend. He trails 11 points behind Stuart O’Grady, whose consistency over the first 18 stages has given him the lead despite his not winning any stages. Zabel won two stages in the first week, and the German may have to win one of the last two stages if he is to get the better of his Australian rival. If Zabel is

Quite a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. Here is a provisional top-ten list for the day. 1. ZABEL Erik GER TEL In 3:12:27; 2. O'GRADY Stuart AUS C.A; 3. VAINSTEINS Romans LAT DFF; 4. TEUTENBERG Sven GER FES; 5. SVORADA Jan SLO LAM; 6. PETACCHI Alessandro ITA FAS; 7. NAZON Damien FRA BJR; 8. SIVAKOV Alexei RUS BIG; 9. CAPELLE Christophe FRA BIG; 10. CASPER

Stage Winner: Erik Zabel (G), Deutsche Telekom, 149km in 3:12:27---------------------------------- Overall Lead: Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service Sprinter: Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole Climber: Laurent Jalabert (F) CSC-Tiscali Under 25: Oscar Sevilla (Sp) Kelme-Costa Blanca Click below for full results and overall.

Face it. The race for the yellow jersey at the Tour de France has been pretty much over for a week. No matter how many times someone has said, “Anything can happen,” the fact remained that Lance Armstrong put a stranglehold on the race lead in the mountain stages which concluded last week. And Friday, he put the final exclamation mark on his win by putting in another dominant performance in the final individual time trial. But while the race between Armstrong and Jan Ullrich has been put to rest, there’s still another compelling battle that will come down to the final day in Paris. In

The sprint jersey duel between Zabel and O'Grady (that's his arm behind Zabel) will come down to Sunday's final sprint in Paris.

Stuart O'Grady, the green sprint jersey holder, may not have been in the top 50 in the time trial, but his helmet and shorts sure match that green jersey nicely.

5:13[local time] Armstrong has finished in 1:14:16. He has won the stage by 1:23 over Igor González de Galdeano and beat Ullrich by 1:38. Wow. Click here to see preliminary finishing results and starting times for Stage 18 TT.2:15[local time] 5:10[local time] Ullrich has finished in second place -- a likely third -- at 1:15:55. 5:06[local time] Joseba Beloki has finished with a strong 1:16:48, good enough for fifth, but more importantly, he has locked in third place overall. At the third time check, Armstrong has crossed with a 1:07:27 - 1:14 better than Gonzales and 1:36 up on

The Tour has bad memories of Brive-la-Gaillarde, where Thursday’s stage 17 begins. It was here in 1998 that the Festina team was excluded from the Tour de France in a late-night announcement by race director Jean-Marie Leblanc. The decision was made after firm evidence came through that the Festina team –- then ranked No. 1 in the world –- had used an organized system of doping, and that the team had intended using the cache of drugs seized from a Festina team car the previous week. This year, there have been no drug scandals, and only one rider has tested positive since the race began. That

4:59 p.m. Here are the preliminary top-ten: 1. BAGUET Serge BEL LOT in 4:13:36; 2. PIIL Jakob DEN CST at 00:00; 3. LELLI Massimiliano ITA COF at 00:05; 4. SVORADA Jan SLO LAM at 00:13; 5. NAZON Damien FRA BJR at 00:13; 6. ZABEL Erik GER TEL at 00:13; 7. O'GRADY Stuart AUS C.A at 00:13; 8. VAINSTEINS Romans LAT DFF at 00:13; 9. PETACCHI Alessandro ITA FAS at 00:13; 10. CAPELLE Christophe FRA BIG at 00:13; Stay tuned for a complete post stage wrap-up and results, including details on the ever-tightening green jersey race between Stuart O'Grady and Erik Zabel.4:54 p.m. They MADE IT! With the

The Tour de France loves to give out second chances. And this year, it seems like they’re everywhere. Of course, there’s Lance Armstrong, who’s living out his second life after his recovery from cancer. But after that, there are plenty of other less monumental examples. Laurent Jalabert, for example, has transformed himself from a perennial July disappointment into a new, aggressive, attacking Tour rider who’s taken two Tour stage wins and the polka dot jersey this year. And on Thursday, the Tour was introduced to Serge Baguet, who really is living out a second career. The Belgian

5:33 p.m. [local time] After a final breakaway attempt by Francois Simon -- the man who had been in the yellow jersey -- Erik Zabel won the field sprint as the peloton finished more than 25 minutes behind stage winner Jens Voigt. Zabel, however, only gained a point in the race for the green jersey, since Stuart O'Grady finished right on Zabel's wheel. The Australian still leads Zabel by 12 points in the green points jersey competition. Stay tuned for complete results and a post-stage wrap up story later this morning. 5:08 p.m. [local time] Alexandre Bocharov (Ag2R-Prevoyance) has edged out

In late July in France, there are plenty of pleasant ways to spend a sunny summer afternoon during vacation season. Riding a bicycle for nearly six hours in 90-degree weather is not one of them. But after two-and-a-half weeks, and more than 1600 miles covered, that’s what the riders in the Tour de France face for most of the final week. These are the dog days of the Tour, when many of the weary riders are just looking forward to getting to Paris. Still, even during the dog days, every day presents another chance for glory or disappointment, and Wednesday’s Stage 16 from Castelsarrasin to

In today's opening session of the 2001 World Junior Track Championships, USA's Tyler Farrar qualified for the quarterfinal round of the men's 3km individual pursuit. Farrar -- in only his fourth pursuit ride of his career -- clocked a 3:29.701 on the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. Competition runs from July 25 to 29. The morning's fastest time, in hot, muggy conditions, went to defending world junior champion Volodymyr Dyudiya (Ukraine) in 3:27.090. Germany's Christopher Meschenmoser was second (3:27.350) and Dyudiya's countryman, Vitaliy Kondrut next

4:48 p.m.(local time) The main peloton has finish 15:04 behind stage winner Rik Verbrugghe. Stay tuned for a look at the Tour's overall standings and stage results. 4:31 p.m.(local time) Verbrugghe held on to Pinotti's wheel until the 300meter mark and sprinted in for the win. The chasing 23 finished in sight of and just a few seconds behind the two leaders. 4:30 p.m.(local time) With 1km to go the two have less than 10 seconds -- Verbrugghe is behind Pinotti. 4:29 p.m.(local time) With less than 3km to go, Verbrugghe and Pinotti are on the gradual descent to Lavour. The have 15 seconds on

If anyone thought that this last week of the tour was going to be a gentle promenade toward Paris, think again. Tuesday’s stage from Pau to Lavaur gave a hint of what to expect on Wednesday, with a 25-man break averaging more than 44 kph on a marathon 232.5km stage littered with short, back-breaking hills. And the first, hillier half of the stage was conducted in almost perfect conditions: no wind, overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. By the finish in the little town of Lavaur, the clouds had gone and the temperatures risen to the low 80s. On Wednesday, there will be hot

Roland Green probably won’t ever forget his back-to-back World Cup flats that likely cost him a pair of cross-country wins, but after the weekend he’s had at Mammoth Mountain in California, the pain has certainly been eased. A day after winning the cross country at NORBA NCS No. 4, Green added to his haul by running away with Saturday’s short track. It’s the second time this year the Canadian Trek-Volkswagen rider has doubled up at an NCS stop, a feat he also accomplished at NORBA No. 2 in Snowshoe, West Virginia. In the women’s race Alison Dunlap was fastest in a hard-fought affair,

6:37 p.m. local timeQuite a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:25 p.m. (local time) Kivilev, the man who began the day in second overall, has finished at 2:27. This might be a good time to glance at the results and standings as of the end of yesterday’s stage. 5:22 p.m. (local time) Laiseka -- the only remaining member of the

At last, the massive mountains of the Alps and Pyrénées are behind the riders of the Tour de France. After a brutal six-day stretch of racing, the riders will have one more rest day on Monday, followed by the final six stages which will take them to the finish in Paris. With 14 stages in the books, American Lance Armstrong leaves the mountains with an almost insurmountable lead in the overall race. Armstrong was the dominant force in the mountains, but on Sunday, the weekend in the Pyrénées concluded with a hugely popular win for Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Roberto Laiseka. Of the three Pyrénéan

4:18 p.m. Simon has finished at 13:20 behind Armstrong. He has lost the yellow jersey to the American. 4:14 p.m. Simon is still on the road and the clock has just passed the nine-minute mark. Armstrong has the yellow jersey. 4:12 p.m. We have now passed the 7:00 mark and Simon has more than 2km to go. The yellow jersey will move from Simon to Armstrong today. 4:08 p.m. Beloki and Heras have finished at 1:46 for third and fourth. Garzelli has taken fifth. Jalabert has finished in seventh at 3:06. Cofidis's Kivilev has finished 4:02 behind Armstrong. Simon is stll way down on the

5:19 p.m. – (local time) Felix Cardenas (Kelme) won the 12th stage of the Tour de France, a tough 166.5km mountain stage from Perpignan to Aix les Therme on Friday. It was the first Tour de France victory for 28-year-old Cardenas and the tenth ever for a Colombian rider France's Francois Simon of the Bonjour team holds the overall leader's yellow jersey for the second day. Cardenas came in some 15 seconds ahead of Spaniard Roberto Laiseka and defending Tour champion Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal team who left Telekom's Jan Ullrich in the final 2km. At the finishing line Armstrong

On Friday, the Tour de France entered the Pyrénées, for the start of a weekend in the mountains that will most likely decide the final outcome of the Tour de France. After a day to fly from the Alps to the mountains that separate France from Spain, and to recover a little from the two mountain stages in the Alps, the Tour resumed with Kelme-Costa Blanca’s Felix Cardenas scoring the stage victory, but it also saw Lance Armstrong show off a little more of his arsenal as he again took time out of all his rivals. On the course profile, Stage 12 from Perpignan to Ax-Les-Thermes looked like the

After two very tough weeks, Roland Green’s string of bad luck came to an end Friday at NORBA National No. 4 at Mammoth Mountain in California. The Canadian Trek-Volkswagen rider took the front during the third of five laps, then pulled away from his pursuers to win the 29.3-mile race in 2:18:05. Countryman Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) was next across the line, 1:16 back of Green. New Zealand’s Kashi Leuchs (Volvo-Cannondale) was third, another :36 back. As Green crossed the finish line he pumped his fist emphatically, then told a gathering of reporters, "The curse is over!" Green’s

6:37 p.m. local timeQuite a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:18 p.m. (local time) -- Armstrong has won by a big margin. Ullrich is a minute down, while the much-feared Kivilev has finished 6:07 behind Armstrong at 1:13:34. 5:14 p.m. (local time) -- It's not over yet, but no one still on the road looks able to challenge the top

Well, folks. We’re looking at a radically altered GC at this point. 1 SIMON François FRA BJR en 45:34:09 2 KIVILEV Andrei KAZ COF at 11:54 3 O'GRADY Stuart AUS C.A at 18:10 4 ARMSTRONG Lance USA USP at 20:07 5 BELOKI Joseba ESP ONC at 21:42 6 MOREAU Christophe FRA FES at 22:21 7 ULLRICH Jan GER TEL at 22:41 8 GONZALEZ GALDEANO Igor ESP ONC at 23:34 9 SEVILLA Oscar ESP KEL at 24:07 10 BOTERO Santiago COL KEL at 25:52 11 BOOGERD Michaël NED RAB at 25:58 12 SERRANO Marcos ESP ONC at 26:15 13 MANCEBO Francisco ESP BAN at 27:15 14 JALABERT Laurent FRA CST at 28:06 15 ROUS Didier FRA BJR at 28:40

As heavy rain continued to fall on the green hills of the Jura Sunday night, speculation was rife in the hotels and inns where the thousands of people following the Tour de France were staying. Among the questions being asked were: How could the race favorites allow 14 riders to gain almost 36 minutes? Will a similar breakaway happen Monday? Will the rain still be around? How long will Stuart O’Grady keep the yellow jersey this time? Or how strong a challenge will come from second-placed François Simon or fourth-placed Andrei Kivilev? All this speculation has arisen because this is a Tour

4:41 p.m. (local time) Ivanov held them off. The former Russian champion attacked the lead trio with 9km to go and held off his two breakaway partners, to earn his first-ever Tour de France stage win. Etxebarria and McGee finish just ahead of the quickly closing -- not quick enough, though -- peloton. Erik Zabel took the field sprint for fourth. 4:39 p.m. (local time) With 1km to go, Ivanov is 10 seconds ahead of McGee and Etxebarria. The field is 40 seconds back. 4:37 p.m. (local time)With four km to go David Etxebarria (Euskaltel-Euskadi)and Bradley McGee (La Française Des Jeux)

It was a hard race today to Aix-les-Bains. The attacks began nearly from the start, plus there was a tailwind. At the beginning, there was a lot of climbing with lots of false flats. It was hard up the climb and over it. . We kept going hard until the feed zone (at the top of the 1200m La Vattay, the second climb of the day), and it was then when the break suddenly gained five minutes. Bonjour and some other teams took up the chase. The last climb (the 520m Cote de Bossy) was really hard. Some of our guys had to chase back on. Our team rode hard for the last 20km, or so, to get Zabel up for

Zabel took the field sprint, still aiming for that sixth points jersey

5:35p.m. (local time) The main field has finished around 35 minutes behind the leaders. That is outside the 10-percent time limit, but with 160 riders outside of that limit the Tour can invoke Article 22 of its rule book which states that if the percentage of riders to be eliminated is more than 20 percent of the number of riders who have started the stage, the time limit could be extended by agreement of race officials and organizers of the Tour. 5:35p.m. (local time) The main field has finished around 35 minutes behind the leaders. That is outside the 10-percent time 5:23p.m. (local

After an opening week at the Tour de France during which everyone was on edge, with riders struggling at their limit in the crosswinds every day, something had to give. And it finally did on Sunday. A typical group of headbangers went out on the early breakaway, just as you would expect on a long transitional stage, two days before the first high mountain passes of the Tour. But the end result added yet another twist to this year’s Tour, turning the standings upside down, putting the yellow leader’s jersey back onto the shoulders of Stuart O’Grady, and introducing a possible wild card into

5:53p.m. (local time) We just finished speaking with John Vande Velde, the father of U.S. Postal Sevice rider Christian Vande Velde. He says that his son has apparently suffered a fractured left arm, contusions on his neck and a possible concussion. Vande Velde was wearing a helmet when he struck a post after missing a turn earlier in the stage. He recovered enough to get back on his bike, but realized his injuries were serious enough to warrant medical attention and then withdrew from the Tour. We'll try to update you as soon as we know more. The senior Vande Velde, just back from the

For the Crédit Agricole team, the biggest player so far this year in the Tour de France, everything is going according to plan. For Laurent Jalabert, it’s almost as if he has no plan, taking everything day-to-day. Both approaches worked just fine on Saturday, as the Frenchman Jalabert won his second stage of this year’s Tour, while Crédit Agricole saw the leader’s yellow jersey change hands within the squad, going from Australian Stuart O’Grady to German Jens Voigt. Jalabert’s win was the second time in his career that he has won a Tour stage on the French national holiday Bastille Day, the

Kelme: A force in the peloton, a curiosity in the caravan It has had an incredible 20-year run as a cycling team sponsor, but Kelme’s entry in the Tour publicity caravan doesn’t quite live up to the same standards as the team, yet. While most sponsors in the caravan sport a whole fleet of elaborately decorated and rigged-up vehicles, Kelme really is an army of one. The green pick-up truck with the giant soccer shoe on top is kind of a lonely sight each day, looking like someone who sort of got swept away by a parade barreling down Main St. But is it effective? Well, hey, they got their

Many of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph of our daily updates, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:15 p.m. (local time) Stuart O'Grady retains the yellow jersey and Telekom's Erik Zabel continues in his quest for his sixth green jersey. 5:05 p.m. (local time) Kirsipuu! Telekom's Erik Zabel, was looking strong, but ran into traffic. Kirsipuu had a clear shot, while Zabel

On Friday, many of the riders at the Tour de France may have been breathing a sigh of relief, comforted in the fact that they had survived a very difficult opening week. For Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R Prevoyance), it was not only physically taxing, but also a mental challenge as well. However, he bounced back on Stage 6 and scored the second Tour de France stage win of his career, on the 211.5km stage from Commercy to Strasbourg. It won’t get any easier for the riders from here on out, but at least now, the Tour may settle down into a more recognizable rhythm. Week one of the Tour was

An analysis of the time splits at Thursday’s team time trial show that the U.S. Postal Service squad was on target to place second before Christian Vande Velde skidded on the slick, white-painted center line and fell, bringing down the team’s No. 2 rider Roberto Heras. The crash happened just inside 15km to go. If the other seven Postal riders hadn’t have waited, not only would Heras have lost a couple of minutes but he would also have felt abandoned. And that’s not how a team wants to go into the mountains, where the Spanish climber needs to be at his best to help Lance Armstrong win the

Even a brief visit to one of the women’s grand tours in Europe will leave even the most casual observer asking questions about equal treatment. The hotels are cheaper, the press coverage infrequent and the transfers often border on the ridiculous, sometimes up to 200km. But at least one front, this year’s edition of the Giro d’Italia femminile – the “Girodonne” – has achieved a degree of equity: the Italian drug police raided the hotels on Wednesday night. In a move reminiscent of this year’s men’s Giro d’Italia, the Italian anti-drug police, swooped in and searched the rooms and processions

There aren't too many flat roads on Wednesday's 215km stage 4 from Huy to Verdun that traverses the Ardennes range from north to south. And the stage won't be made any easier by a predicted three-quarter head wind gusting up to 25 mph and possible rain showers. The good news is that most of the day's climbing is in the first half of the stage, when the unfavorable wind should keep the peloton together.Despite that likelihood, there are bound to be early attacks. Half the field is now more than five minutes off the pace, and 40 of them are more than 10 minutes behind race leader Stuart

5:30 p.m. local timeSo a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:12 p.m. (local time) Jalabert earns his fourth Tour de France stage win, but he will not make it into the yellow jersey. Stuart O'Grady managed to finish close enough to keep the overall lead. Dierckxsens earned second and Nazon edged out Fast Freddie Rodriguez for

On Wednesday, the Tour de France made its way back into France, after racing through Belgium for three days in the opening week of the race. Along the route from Huy, Belgium, to Verdun, France, was the war memorial in Douaumont, commemorating the two-and-a-half-year battle in World War I, where more than 150,000 French and German soldiers lost their lives. But looking back on Stage 4 of the Tour, it’s the 150km of roads before that monument that will be remembered most after an epic chase and a surprising show of force by the teams of the top contenders for this year’s overall title. On

5:16 p.m.(local time) Here is the unofficial top 20 list from stage 3 of the 2001 Tour de France. Stuart O'Grady is now officially the overall race leader with a 17-second advantage over Festina's Christophe Moreau, the man who first wore the jersey in Dunkirk. 1. ZABEL Erik GER TEL 198.5km in 4:5:7; 2. MAGNIEN Emmanuel FRA, FDJ; 3. GARZELLI Stefano ITA, MAP; 4. BALDATO Fabio ITA, FAS; 5. SIMON François FRA, BJR; 6. MIKHAILOV Guennadi RUS, LOT; 7. CAPELLE Christophe FRA, BIG; 8. BOUYER Franck FRA, BJR; 9. BAGUET Serge BEL, LOT; 10. ARMSTRONG Lance USA, USP; 11. MOREAU Christophe FRA, FES;

Everyone knows that a potential Tour de France winner has to make climbing strength his No. 1 priority. An inability to ride fast uphill is a serious handicap. And there's plenty of climbing ahead in this Tour -- starting with Tuesday in the Ardennes of southern Belgium. This is the hilly region where the infamous Liège-Bastogne-Liège World Cup classic takes place every April. It's a race that showcases strong climbers. Five-time Tour de France winners Eddy Merckx of Belgium, and Jacques Anqutil and Bernard Hinault of France, all won the Liège classic. Among the event's most famous climbs

After two days of chasing time-bonus sprints to try to get his hands on the leader's yellow jersey at the Tour de France, Australia's Stuart O'Grady did it the old-fashioned way on Tuesday -- by finishing in the lead group of stage 3. Meanwhile the race leader at the start of the day, Rabobank's Marc Wauters, fell far behind on the difficult climbs in the Ardennes region of Belgium. At the finish line in Seraing, Telekom's Erik Zabel took his second stage win of the week, thanks to the smooth teamwork of his Telekom team, while O'Grady finished in the pack, but took the race lead by 17

Warm sunshine, a favorable breeze and a completely flat stage Monday are all the ingredients needed for a stage of record speed. And for Tour stages longer than 200km that means the 48.764 kph average of 1998’s stage of 205.5km from Tarascon to Le Cap d’Agde won by Tom Steels. The absolute Tour stage record speed is the 50.355 kph set by Mario Cipollini on the 194.5km stage from Laval to Blois in 1999. Cipollini is, unfortunately, not at this year’s Tour, but Steels is. Ordinarily, Mapei-Quick Step’s big Belgian would be the favorite to win Monday in his own country, but on Sunday he showed

5:10.m. (local time)Wauters is the man in yellow. A Belgian takes the day when the Tour finishes in Antwerp. Stay tuned for complete results of today's stage, a post-race wrap up story from VeloNews Senior Writer Bryan Jew and analysis and a preview of tomorrow's race from VeloNews's John Wilcockson. 4:53p.m. (local time)Wauters! He takes the stage (and that $22,000 diamond) as the leaders have indeed managed to stay away from the frantically chasing field. And the Belgian from the Rabobank squad is now also the new overall leader of the Tour de France. 4:49p.m. (local time)

The Tour de France yellow jersey is one of those prizes that is known and coveted in the sports world for its history and prestige. Like the NHL captain who hoists the Stanley Cup, or the golfer who slides into the green jacket at the Masters, the rider who dons the maillot jaune at the end of the Tour de France has worldwide recognition. Everybody knows that the Postal Service’s Lance Armstrong has pulled that jersey on in Paris each of the past two years, and is one of the favorites to do so again. But in the early stages of the Tour, it’s a whole different breed of rider who chases after

Foreign riders won both the men's and women's races of the second leg of the four-race BMC Software Grand Prix in Arlington, Massachusetts, Sunday. In the end, it was Mercury-Viatel’s Australian Baden Cooke taking the 62-mile men’s race and Canadian Lyne Bessette of Saturn winning the 42-mile women’s race. The women's race kicked off the day, although many of the riders thoughts were anywhere but on the race as they struggled to face the memories of this event last year when Saturn rider Nicole Reinhart was killed in a crash. "Our goal is just to celebrate Nicole's life and get through the

6:00p.m. (local time) Telekom's Erik Zabel is celebrating his stage win and Festina's Christophe Moreau retains the overall leader's yellow jersey. Today's top five:1. Erik Zabel (Deutsche Telekom)2. Romans Vainsteins (Domo-Farm Frites)3. Jimmy Casper (Française Des Jeux)4. Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole)5. Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R) Check back for complete results, a stage wrap-up from VeloNews Senior Writer Bryan Jew, commentary and preview from VeloNews editorial director John Wilcockson and compelling images from this first stage by VeloNews photographers Graham Watson and Casey

Making history was the last thing on Rob Hunter's mind as he became the first South African to ride in the Tour de France in Dunkirk Saturday. The 24-year-old Lampre rider, who relocated to Europe three years ago in a bid to join the pro ranks, was pre-occupied with the demands of the opening 8.2km prologue than etching his name in the record books. Hunter could only manage a "disappointing" 68th from 189 riders on the first day of the 3454km race, 32sec behind French prologue winner Christophe Moreau. But despite that setback, his comments prior to becoming the first South African to ride

The story of Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France seems typical enough for an opening road stage: a slow early pace; a long, eventually unsuccessful breakaway; a mass field sprint; and a stage win by one of the star sprinters of the Tour, Telekom’s Erik Zabel. Routine enough, but the 194.5km stage from Saint-Omer to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the very north of France was anything but an ordinary, flat, sprinters stage. The stage began in the town of Saint-Omer, about 50km inland from the North Sea. Under gray skies and a light drizzle, 188 starters rolled out of town. Lotto-Adecco’s Fabian De

The story of Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France seems typical enough for an opening road stage: a slow early pace; a long, eventually unsuccessful breakaway; a mass field sprint; and a stage win by one of the star sprinters of the Tour, Telekom’s Erik Zabel. Routine enough, but the 194.5km stage from Saint-Omer to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the very north of France was anything but an ordinary, flat, sprinters stage. The stage began in the town of Saint-Omer, about 50km inland from the North Sea. Under gray skies and a light drizzle, 188 starters rolled out of town. Lotto-Adecco’s Fabian De

U.S. Postal Service general manager Mark Gorski, the 1984 Olympic sprint champion, said he was almost speechless when he read Sunday morning the accusations made by one of the team's early physicians, Prentice Steffen, in the London newspaper article authored by staff sportswriter David Walsh. Steffen told Walsh that "two of my riders approached me saying they wanted to 'talk about the medical program.'" Walsh then wrote, "Steffen is sure he was being asked to help two riders to dope." In commenting on those statements, Gorski said Sunday evening at the Postal team's hotel

U.S. Postal Service general manager Mark Gorski, the 1984 Olympic sprint champion, said he was almost speechless when he read Sunday morning the accusations made by one of the team's early physicians, Prentice Steffen, in the London newspaper article authored by staff sportswriter David Walsh. Steffen told Walsh that "two of my riders approached me saying they wanted to 'talk about the medical program.'" Walsh then wrote, "Steffen is sure he was being asked to help two riders to dope." In commenting on those statements, Gorski said Sunday evening at the Postal team's hotel 25 miles east of

If Mario Cipollini were riding this Tour de France -- as he and his Saeco team should have been -- he would be rubbing his hands with glee right now. He would have done well in Saturday’s prologue, as it was just the type of time trial he likes: enough turns to make use of his turn of speed, and long straightaways where a big rider like him could churn a big gear with great effect. Indeed, going into Sunday’s second stage, the Lion King would have been within a few seconds of race leader Christophe Moreau, and ready to take over the yellow jersey with a 20-second stage-win bonus. Cipollini

Lance Armstrong and Roberto Heras arrived on scene in a special Postal team car, rear windows tinted black, and the two stars were quickly ushered out, past the crowds, and into the Postal team bus parked at the prologue start in Dunkirk. A classic, rock-star arrival. Meanwhile, just a few meters away, Fassa Bortolo’s former world No. 1 rider, Francesco Casagrande, would later warm up for the race practically unnoticed, just one young fan poised against the Italian outfit’s taped-off team area. That was all just part of the curious scene in front of the Piscine Municipale Paul Asseman, the

Only four men in the 98-year history of the Tour de France have managed to win the race three times in succession: Frenchmen Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Induráin. American Lance Armstrong is now attempting to join those four greats of the past. Of the four, you would have thought that the insatiable Merckx would have had the easiest passage to his three in a row. He had won the Tour in 1969 and 1970 by margins of 17:54 and 12:41. Yet, his 1971 ride was the least glorious of his eventual five Tour victories. After wearing the yellow jersey for

A Tour de France contender can do everything right in training, but unless he balances that schedule with the right amount of racing, his chances of success take a nose-dive. In his first two Tour victory seasons, Lance Armstrong got it just right. In 1999, his last event before the Tour was the low-key Route du Sud, where he won the last stage, a summit finish at Plateau de Beilles. Then, last year he won the time trial stage of his last pre-Tour race, the Dauphiné Libéré, in which he helped teammate Tyler Hamilton take the overall. Both these performances boosted Armstrong’s morale

Only four men in the 98-year history of the Tour de France have managed to win the race three times in succession: Frenchmen Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Induráin. American Lance Armstrong is now attempting to join those four greats of the past. Of the four, you would have thought that the insatiable Merckx would have had the easiest passage to his three in a row. He had won the Tour in 1969 and 1970 by margins of 17:54 and 12:41. Yet, his 1971 ride was the least glorious of his eventual five Tour victories. After wearing the yellow jersey for

On the final day of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Saturn’s Lyne Bessette wrapped up her third consecutive overall win a Fitchburg, while the weather once again led to a premature end of the men’s stage, neutralizing the results and leaving Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg as the men’s champion. The final stage of the women’s race came down to a field sprint, with national criterium champion Laura Van Gilder (Verizon) beating out Procter & Gamble’s Joanne Kiesanowski for the downtown criterium win. Just behind came Bessette’s closest challenger, Genevieve Jeanson (RONA),

France's Laurent Gané took the match sprint title as the World Track Cup continued Saturday in Pordenone, Italy. Other winners included Belarus's Natalia Markovnitchenko in the women's match sprint and Russia's Olga Slioussareva in the women's pursuit. American Tanya Lindenmuth took fourth place in the match sprint, losing to Oxana Grichina in the bronze-medal match.

Friday’s stage 2 of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, saw no change in the overall standings, as Mercury’s Baden Cooke won the men’s 77.5-mile circuit race and Genevieve Jeanson of RONA won the women’s 40.3-mile race. Jeanson beat out Bessette in a big group finish, with Verizon’s Laura Van Gilder third, but the RONA rider could only pick up a few seconds on the day thanks to time bonuses. Jeanson now trails Bessette by 47 seconds In the men’s race, team Saturn was able to hold the race together for race leader Eric Wohlberg, and the race ended with Mercury’s Cooke

Lance Armstrong became only the second American to win the Tour of Switzerland, 14 years after Andy Hampsten took the second of his consecutive victories. In Thursday's final stage, Armstrong finished safely in the main pack, some three minutes behind a five-man break that resulted in a stage win for Oskar Camenzind of Lampre-Daikin. Camenzind was defending champion of the Swiss tour, but this year played a support role to teammate Gillberto Simoni, who finshed second overall, 1:02 behind Armstrong. To win the 176km stage 10, out and back from Lausanne, Camenzind escaped with Frenchmen

St. Omer has grown up around the Notre Dame basilica and St. Denis church. It is a city of art and history, a city that holds, in its Sandelin Museum, beautiful ceramics from Delft, paintings, archaeological artifacts and a masterpiece in gold -- the foot of the cross of St. Bertrin. In short, despite its history of considerable suffering (St. Omer was bombed during both World Wars), life here is good. We suppose it would be even better were it not for a small problem -- never, in 87 editions, has the city hosted the Tour de France! But St. Omer will emerge instantly from its anonymity

If the words carry a double meaning, this hamlet of Le Tap-Cul, which the race swallows in the guise of an hors-d’oeuvre, could be much more than a simple point on the map: an invitation, a warning…. Because in cycling, "tape-cul" (literally "slap-ass") means potholes and cobblestones, potholes and echelons, potholes and pitfalls -- in short, everything the vocabulary can imagine as soon as the peloton rides the back roads of the North. Leaving Calais, this Monday stage heads directly toward Flanders; at 1:30 p.m. it will cross the Belgian border. In Leisele, Gijverinkhove and Hoogstade,