Category: Tour de France

Pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov once again is providing the drama for the Tour de France as he won the 13th Stage time trial around Albi on Saturday.

Seriously injured and counted out after his solo crash in Stage 5, the leader of the Astana team improved from 19th place at the start of the day to 9th overall at the end. In spite of two stitched up knees, he's not giving up.

Yellow jersey cyclist Michael Rasmussen provided the other surprise in the stage, as the traditionally poor time trial rider actually gained time on some of his close rivals and retained the overall lead. …

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If there was any justice in the world, either Amets Txurruka or Perrick Fedrigo would have been first across the finish line in Castres on Friday.

The two attacked with about 85 miles to go in the 111-mile 12th stage of the Tour de France, built up a 5-minute lead and held it until over the final climb, only to be swept up only about a half-mile from the finish.

A textbook leadout by the QuickStep team and a hard sprint by Belgian Tom Boonen won him his second stage victory of this year Tour over Erik Zabel (Milram) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld). Txurruka (Euskaltel) and Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) finished with the peloton. …

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US cyclist David Zabriskie missed the Stage 11 time cut on Thursday and has had to leave the Tour de France.

The Utah resident told VeloNews that his left knee, injured several years ago, has been hurting since Team CSC made all the riders change to a different type of shoe during the Giro d'Italia. …

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As the Tour de France bike race grinds its way through France, Versus cycling commentator Bob Roll continues to amuse us on the evening rebroadcasts with his Tour insights.

The blogger at So Quoted has collected some funny excerpts from  Bobke's earlier works. A member of the original 7-Eleven team, Roll certainly has a unique perspective on things.

I took the picture above when Roll spoke at the 2005 Seattle Bike Expo, where he explained how and why he came up with “Tour DAY France:” ….

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Robbie Hunter scored the first-ever Tour de France win for a South African cyclist in Stage 11 on Thursday, as Frenchman Christophe Moreau dropped out of the Top 10.

Denmark's Michael Rasmussen retained the yellow jersey in the 113-mile mostly flat stage from Marseille to Montpellier in southern France that saw the peloton essentially split in two.

US sprinter Freddie Rodriguez found himself in the leading group, but crashed into barriers as he and others were accelerating toward the finish line. He did not get up immediately to finish the race, but did cross the line nearly 5 minutes later (See also: Zabriskie out; Rodriguez angry; US riders' standings). …

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I always heard: Dog bites man; no story. Man bites dog; story.

There's no rule for man on bicycle hits dog on the Tour de France, so I'll offer this up. It's a clip of Marcus Burghardt hitting a Labrador during Tuesday's Stage 9.

Look how that front wheel crumples.

Apparently the dog was not injured. We …

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Cedric Vasseur became the first Frenchman to win a Tour de France stage in 2007 when he sprinted from a five-man breakaway in the last few yards before the finish line in Marseille.

The peloton finished about 10 minutes later, but Michael Rasmussen's yellow jersey was safe on his shoulders.

The 142-mile race from Tallard to Marseille was a restful stage for most of the peloton. It was the first out of the Alps and featured just four hills, two category 4's and two category 3's…..

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Two German public TV channels stopped airing the Tour de France after a member of the T-Mobile pro cycling team tested positive for a high level of testosterone.

The cyclist, Patrik Sinkewitz, dropped out of the tour on Sunday after he rode his bike into a spectator.

Sinkewitz was tested during training on June 8, and the results just came back. …

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Colombian cyclist Mauricio Soler, riding in his first Tour de France, soared past the favorites to win the final stage in the Alps on Tuesday.

Overall leader Michael Rasmussen retained the yellow jersey after Stage 9, while the rest of the top 10 reshuffled itself and pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov struggled, continuing his descent in the overall standings.

Discovery's Levi Leipheimer remained the highest ranked US cyclist in the bike race, climbing into 9th place. His teammate, the fantastic Spanish climber Alberto Contrador, worked his way into 5th place overall, winning the Best Young Rider's white jersey. …

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Tour de France bike race fans witnessed another serious skake-up of the overall standings over the 102-mile route through the Alps on Sunday.

One cyclist rode away to a solo victory, another went from the virtual yellow jersey to abandonment in the course of a few miles, and a chase group's infighting prevented them from putting away some pre-race favorites.

Danish climbing specialist Michael Rasmussen, left, must have been licking his chops when he saw the three Category 1 Alpine mountains on Sunday's route of the Tour de France bike race. He attacked on the first and rode away by himself on the second and third climbs to win the stage and yellow jersey at Tignes. …

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