Category: Tour de France

Another crash hurts the chances of some Tour favorites

Mid-race crashes continued to spoil the chances of some favorites at the Tour de France on Friday while Mark Cavendish won his second stage this year — the 17th of his career.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins (Sky) abandoned the race with a broken collarbone in a crash that cost many of the favorites — including Americans Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner (RadioShack) — at least 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, Norway's Thor Hushovd stayed away from the disaster and survived to hold onto the yellow jersey for another day. He has finished in the top 10 every stage so far.

Friday's big crash occurred about 37km from the finish ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/08/another-crash-hurts-the-chances-of-some-tour-favorites/

Norway hailed at Tour de France while US favorite drops back

The focus of the Tour de France seems to have turned to Norway as her favorite cycling sons Edvald Boasson Hagen and Thor Hushovd were celebrated in Lisieux on Thursday at the completion of Stage 6.

Boasson Hagen (Team Sky), 26, won his first-ever stage on Thursday while Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) continued to hold onto the overall leader's yellow jersey that he's worn since Stage 2.

Things got a little blurry for American cyclist Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack), however. He lost control of his bike at the side the road and “surfed” along a guardrail for a few feet before falling about 4.5 miles from the finish.

The crash caused the Santa Rosa cyclist to lose serious time….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/07/norway-hailed-at-tour-de-france-while-us-favorite-drops-back/

Cyclists crash throughout Stage 5 at Tour de France

English speedster Mark Cavendish emerged from a crash-plagued Stage 5 to win his first Tour de France stage this year and the 16th in his career.

The “Manx Missile” sprinted past 8 or 9 cyclists in the final 150 yards to win the stage in Cap Fréhel on the blustery French coast.

Norway's Thor Hushovd finished in the tight bunch in the sprint, enabling the Garmin-Cervelo cyclist to hold onto the yellow jersey for another day.

Although the sprint was free of crashes …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/06/cyclists-crash-throughout-stage-5-at-tour-de-france/

Favorites battle for win on Stage 4 of Tour de France

The 4th stage out of 21 may seem a little early for the Tour de France contenders to test each other, but that's what happened on a rainy Tuesday in the summit finish Mûr-de-Bretagne.

Scoring well in this early test were Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador, last year's winner. Not doing so well was Andy Schleck, who finished second in 2010 and was considered Contador's chief rival.

Contador (Saxobank), who has been languishing at 1:42 behind the yellow jersey, issued the challenge ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/05/favorites-battle-for-win-on-stage-4-of-tour-de-france/

US cyclist at Tour de France will remember this Fourth of July

US cyclist Tyler Farrar won his first-ever stage of the Tour de France on Sunday as his Garmin-Cervelo team took its second straight victory.

The 27-year-old from Wenatchee, Washington, crossed the finish line flashing a “W” with both hands in honor of his Belgian friend and training partner Wouter Weylandt who died in a crash during the Giro d'Italia.

After the race, Farrar said his friend's father told him, “Win a stage for Woulter in the Tour.”

The Stage 3 victory in Redon …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/04/us-cyclist-at-tour-de-france-will-remember-this-fourth-of-july/

Garmin-Cervelo celebrates first yellow jersey at Tour de France

Norway's Thor Hushovd pulled on the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Sunday, marking the first time the US-based Garmin-Cervelo cycling team has ever led the race.

And they did it as a team, much like they did in 2008 (racing as Garmin-Chipotle) when Christian Vande Velde took the overall leader's pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia.

The squad managed by Jonathan Vaughters secured the yellow jersey by winning the Stage 2 team time trial. They beat another US-based team, BMC Racing, by 4 seconds in the 23km flat stage around Les Essarts …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/03/garmin-cervelo-celebrates-first-yellow-jersey-at-tour-de-france/

Crash delays defending champ at Tour de France stage 1

Belgium's national champion Phillippe Gilbert probably had to commit to the sprint earlier than he wanted, but still he survived to win Stage 1 and earn the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.

BMC Racing's Cadel Evans finished in 2nd place. One of this year's overall favorites, the Australian drove hard to trail Gilbert by just 3 seconds.

Meanwhile, defending champion Alberto Contador and chief rival Andy Schleck found themselves caught behind crashes near the end of Stage 1, but only Contador lost time because of it.. …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/07/02/crash-delays-defending-champ-at-tour-de-france-stage-1/

Where to follow the 2011 Tour de France; TV and essential links

Do you like the Tour de France? Do you enjoy watching the top cyclists battle for stage sprints? Are you looking forward to hearing announcer Phil Liggett say, “The rubber band has snapped!” to describe the peloton coming apart on a steep climb?

Then this is your month. The 2011 Tour de France rolls out on Saturday and runs through July 24.

Once again, Versus is televising the Tour live beginning at 8 a.m. (ET) on most mornings (earlier on some big mountain stages). However, the online component of Tour coverage will be at NBCSports.com.

That's because Comcast (owner of Versus) purchased NBC earlier this year …

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/06/30/where-to-follow-the-2011-tour-de-france-tv-and-essential-links/

Promotional video of 2011 Tour de France

The 2011 Tour de France in 3-minutes and 40-seconds.

[Warning: May cause motion sickness or the desire to dip a 6-inch wide brush in yellow paint and stripe one of your regular bikes routes.]

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/06/29/promotional-video-of-2011-tour-de-france/

US cyclists line up for 2011 Tour de France — updated

While Lance Armstrong's presence at the Tour de France is certainly part of the past, 10 Americans will line up when the peloton rolls out for Stage 1 on July 2.

It's one of the biggest represetations of US cyclists I can remember, and it reflects not only the old timers but some fresh faces.

Leading that group of veterans is George Hincapie, 37, above, of Greenville, SC. Now cycling for BMC, this will be Hincapie's 16th Tour de France. That ties retired Dutch cyclist Joop Zoetemelk's record ….

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/06/28/us-cyclists-line-up-for-2011-tour-de-france-updated/