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June 30, 2006 The top names in cycling are out of the Tour de France after the biggest scandal ever to hit cycling swept through the peloton on the eve of the sport’s marquee event. Pre-race favorites Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich have both been suspended, along with a…
In a head to head battle with every other rider in the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong won his first stage victory this year, proving he is the fastest cyclist on the French roads and the man who will cruise to victory tomorrow on the fabled Champs-Elysees. lance armstrong…
With a perfectly timed attack in the final mile, T-Mobile’s Giuseppe Guerini surprised a group of three riders to take Stage 19, the last long day of riding before the Tour de France rolls into Paris Sunday. Giuseppe Guerini winning in Le Puy-en-Velay The Italian had been…
Spaniard Marcos Serrano took advantage of an uphill finish to break away from two other riders, winning team Liberty Seguros its first victory over the 117-mile Stage 18. Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong maintained what looks to be an insurmountable lead of 2:46 with four days to go.
Paolo Savoldelli put another feather in team Discovery Channel’s cap with a win today in the longest day of the Tour—the marathon, 148-mile Stage 17 from Pau to Revel. Peloton racing by sunflowers Peloton racing by sunflowers The 32-year-old Italian joined a 17-rider breakaway at 19 miles…
Spain’s Oscar Pereiro overcame a punctured tire in the final miles of Stage 16 to catch a breakaway group of three riders, then out-sprint them in the home stretch to capture his first-ever stage victory. Pereiro atop Col d'Aubisque en route to winning the stage today in Pau Pereiro…
After selflessly pacing teammate Lance Armstrong through six Tour de France victories, George Hincapie got the chance to raise his arms across the finish line for the first time, winning his first-ever Tour de France stage victory on the 127-mile Stage 15, through the worst of the Pyrenees. George…
Austrian Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) was the last cyclist to survive a 15-man breakaway group in Stage 14 Saturday, crossing the finish line first almost a minute ahead of six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on a hot, grueling first day in the Pyrenees. Georg Totschnig wins Stage 14…
On a hot, flat day of racing tailor-made for sprinters, Australian Robbie McEwen bided his time and then unleashed a furious dash for the win in Stage 13 Friday, passing two riders who had set the pace for most of the day on the 108-mile road from Miramas to Montpellier,…
The French waited for Bastille Day to capture their first victory in the 92nd Tour de France, with David Moncoutie of Cofidis breaking away with 24 miles to go, holding on to a 57-second lead until he crossed the line in Digne-les-Bains. Three of the four top finishers of the…
Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) proved he can still be a threat to Lance Armstrong’s Tour hopes today with a big win in Stage 11. Alexandre Vinokourov Alexandre Vinokourov Riding several minutes ahead of the peloton over a pair of major climbs in the Tour’s second day in the…
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Illes Balears) out-sprinted Lance Armstrong to the finish line at the end of the Tour’s grueling first Alpine stage Tuesday, but it was Armstrong and team Discovery Channel’s furious tempo over the day’s two mountains that withered the field and returned the reigning champ to the overall…
Lance Armstrong lost his grip on the yellow jersey in the ninth stage of the Tour de France Sunday, slipping into third place behind team CSC rival Jens Voigt—while Danish rider Mickael Rasmussen won the day after leading for over 100 miles. Jens Voight, who now has the yellow…
It was team Rabobank’s day to shine in Stage 8 of the Tour de France Saturday, with the team’s riders taking four of the five summits and the finish line, as the Tour got its first taste of the mountains. Weening and Klöden on the top of the Col…
In another day for the sprinters, Australian Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) took the seventh stage of the Tour de France in a dash to the finish line to win another pair of kisses on the podium. The peloton races to the finish line in Friday’s Stage 7. Robbie McEwen snagged…
A massive pileup crippled the leaders in the rain-slicked final turn of Thursday’s Stage 6, handing the day’s victory to a relatively unknown Italian rider, Lorenzo Bernucci, from team Fassa-Bortolo. Bernucci stage win in Nancy Bernucci stage win in Nancy After leading for the last 84 miles…
In a day for the sprinters, Davitamon-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen edged out his green jersey rival Tom Boonen by half a wheel in a dramatic dash to the finish line to capture stage 5 of the Tour de France Wednesday. Robbie McEwen Robbie McEwen The win was a…
Team Discovery Channel has won Stage 4 in the fastest team time-trial in Tour de France history with a time of one hour, ten minutes, and 39 seconds, finishing just two seconds ahead of Team CSC, showcasing the depth of talent in the riders surrounding Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong,…
U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong won an unprecedented sixth consecutive Tour de France Sunday, besting his closest competitor by over six minutes in the overall standings. “Everything went perfectly,” the Texan said in French on the three-step victory podium. “The tactics, the training, everything. The team was the best one here.”…
Lance Armstrong capped his spree of victories in the 2004 Tour with a win in the final time trial, all but guaranteeing that he’ll capture an unprecedented sixth championship in the celebrated race. Lance Armstrong won his fifth stage Saturday, virtually clinching an unprecedented sixth victory in the 2004…
Juan Miguel Mercado (Quick Step -Davitamon) won his first stage of the 2004 Tour de France Friday over Vicente Garcia-Acosta (Illes Baleares-Banesto) in a mad dash for the finish on the 104-mile Stage 18 from Annemasse to Lons-le-Saunier. Dmitriy Fofonov (Cofidis), Sébastien Joly (Crédit Agricole) Marc Lotz (Rabobank), and Juan…
Lance Armstrong won his fourth stage of the 2004 Tour Thursday, blasting across the finish line of the 128-mile Stage 17 from Bourg d’Oisans to Le Grand Bornand inches ahead of his rivals. The win was Armstrong’s 20th career stage win at the Tour and proved to be an intense…
Five-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong snuffed out any question of whether he has a sixth Tour win in him Wednesday as he buried his closest rivals on Stage 16’s 10-mile L’Alpe d’Huez time trial course. Armstrong posted a time of 39:41, 61 seconds better than second place finisher…
Five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong found himself in a familiar color Tuesday. The U.S. Postal team leader won the 113-mile Stage 15 from Valréas to Villard-de-Lans, surging past the likes of Ivan Basso (CSC) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) in the last feet of the stage, and snatching the…
After spending two days in the Pyrenees, five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal) and the rest of the riders in the 2004 Tour got a break from the mountains Sunday as they made their way 120 miles from Carsassonne to Nîes on the flat, winding Stage 14…
Five-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong won his first stage of the 2004 Tour Saturday, edging out CSC’s Ivan Basso on the 128-mile mountain course from Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille. Although Armstrong put considerable time between himself and his main rivals he still wasn’t able to wrest the yellow jersey…
CSC’s Ivan Basso beat Lance Armstrong to the finish line by less than a bike length Friday to score his first Tour de France stage win. The 123-mile Stage 12, from Castelsarrasin to La Mongie, proved to be a grueling one with a number of riders dropping from the main…
France’s David Moncoutie (Cofidis) took Stage 11 of the 2004 Tour de France Thursday after attacking with about six miles to go in the race, edging out Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) and Egoitz Martinez (Euskaltel Euskadi). Moncoutie wins the Tour's second mountain stage Moncoutie wins the Tour’s second…
Frenchman Richard Virenque (Quick Step) won the first mountain stage of the 2004 Tour de France Wednesday, Bastille Day, edging out the rest of the peloton and posting one of the longest successful escapes in Tour de France history. The 148-mile course from Limoges to Saint-Flour is the longest stage…
Lotto-Domo’s Robbie McEwen won his second stage of the 2004 Tour de France Tuesday in a last-second photo finish on the 100-mile course from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Guéret. McEwen, along with sprinters Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis), caught leaders Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) and Filippo Simeoni (Domina Vacanze) with…
Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) won Stage 8 of the 2004 Tour de France Sunday in a battle at the finish of the 104-mile course from Lamballe to Quimper, France. Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo), Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo), and Andreas Kloden (T-Mobile) rounded out the top five…
Fassa Bortolo’s Filippo Pozzato won Stage 7 of the 2004 Tour de France Saturday. The course wove riders 123 miles from Chateaubriant to Saint Brieue in Brittany, the heart of the France’s cycling region and home to such cycling legends as five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault. The win…
Stage 6 began with a scare for five-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong. The Texan was involved in a crash on the 123-mile course with riders from teams Gerolsteiner, Domina Vacanze, FDJeux, and Lotto-Domo after just eight miles. No one was injured in the incident and all riders were able to…
Australian Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) won Stage 5 of the 2004 Tour de France in what proved to be a tactical showdown in the final mile against Jakob Piil (CSC), Magnus Backstedt (Alessio-Bianchi), Sandy Casar (FDJeux.com), and Thomas Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangere). A series of attacks and counter attacks on the…