Tour de France 2023

The French Anti-doping Agency AFLD on Thursday handed German cyclist Stefan Schumacher a two-year ban from racing in France after failing a doping test at the 2008 Tour de France, his lawyer said. The decision issued by the AFLD applies only to events contested on French soil, said Schumacher's attorney Michael Lehner. That ruling, however, may be extended globally if the German cycling federation or the UCI pursue the case. Schumacher said he would fight the ban.

The 2010 Tour de France will open with a nine kilometer individual time trial through the streets of Rotterdam, race director Christian Prudhomme announced in Rotterdam on Thursday. It will be the first time that the Tour will have started from the Dutch port city, but four other cities in the country — Amsterdam (1954), Scheveningen (1973), Leiden (1978) and 's-Hertogenbosch 1996) have previously enjoyed the honor. The 2009 race kicks off from Monaco.

Spanish cyclist Manuel Beltran has been banned from racing in France for two years after testing positive for the banned blood booster EPO at this year's Tour de France. France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) made the announcement Tuesday.

Alejandro Valverde has won just about everything he’s wanted in his productive career, except a grand tour. Prolific in one-day classics and smaller stage races, Spain’s “Balaverde” has struggled in GC in three-week grand tours. With two podium finishes in the Vuelta a España, Valverde still believes he can win a major tour.

The Tour de France is heading back to Holland in 2010. Tour officials announced Thursday that the 2010 Tour will start in Rotterdam. More details will be provided in an official ceremony on Dec. 11 in the Dutch port city, officials said. “Rotterdam is an important metropolitan area with assurance of success,” Tour director Christian Prudhomme told AFP. “It’s doing everything so that people can get around on the bike. It’s in this spirit that the city wants the grand départ.” The Dutch city was picked ahead of Utrecht, Holland, and Dusseldorf, Germany.

Leonardo Piepoli, one of seven riders to fail drug tests at the Tour de France, has demanded a counter-test, according to the French national anti-doping agency (AFLD) on Wednesday. Piepoli, one of four who tested positive for a new strain of a banned blood booster EPO called CERA, will be controlled in the coming weeks AFLD said, without giving further details. Last month Austria's Bernhard Kohl became the seventh positive doping case after being controlled retroactively for CERA, joining Italians Piepoli and Riccardo Ricco and Germany's Stefan Schumacher.

German public broadcaster ARD has been told it has no basis on which to bring a premature end to its contract with Tour de France organizers to televise the race during 2009-11. A spate of recent doping scandals, some of which involved German and Austrian riders, prompted ARD and fellow German broadcaster ZDF to announce their intention to stop broadcasting the world's biggest bike race.

Levi Leipheimer couldn’t be in Paris last week to watch the official unveiling of the route of the 2009 Tour de France, but he was certainly following the news. Like just about everyone, the Astana captain was keenly waiting for details of the 96th Tour. VeloNews caught up with Leipheimer while he was in Utah this week to gauge his reaction to the route. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews: What was your first impression after seeing the route?

Mont Ventoux could play judge, jury and executioner in the 96th Tour de France in what some are already calling a climber’s course. For the 2009 Tour, officials saved the best and hardest for last, with the mighty Ventoux poised in the penultimate day of the 21-stage, 3445km route from Monaco to Paris. Tour officials, who unveiled the course to rave reviews in a ceremony in Paris on Wednesday, are hoping the race will be so tightly packed that almost anything could happen on the storied steeps of the géant de Provence.

What’s most clear from Wednesday’s announcement of the 2009 Tour de France is that the winner will have to maintain top form from the very first day in Monaco on July 4 to the finish in Paris on July 26.

Lance Armstrong says the 2009 Tour de France route, unveiled Wednesday, is "innovative and very interesting" and he said he looks forward to negotiating with Tour officials about "a mutually beneficial future together." In the statement released Wednesday afternoon, Armstrong appeared to be a bit ambivalent about whether he would ride the Tour next year.

Call the 2009 Tour de France a race of innovation and originality. Unwinding like a corkscrew from Monaco on July 4 to the finale into Paris three weeks later, the 21-stage race will be one hard to control and full of room for riders who dare to defy traditional tactics. Mont Ventoux is back, and so is the team time trial, but what makes the 2009 Tour route so interesting is that organizers were not afraid to throw convention to the wind.

The men favored to contest for the yellow jersey in the 2009 Tour de France applauded the route revealed in Paris on Wednesday, calling it “difficult, but interesting.” The 96th edition of the Tour de France will begin on July 4 in the Mediterranean Principality of Monaco, race director Christian Prudhomme announced at the Palais des Congrès of Paris on Wednesday.

VeloNews.com will live stream Wednesday's presentation of the 2009 Tour de France route. The presentation will begin at 11:30 a.m. Paris time (5:30 a.m. EST). You can watch the stream here.

Tour de France organizers will finally end months of waiting on Wednesday by unveiling the route that they hope will provide another exciting, albeit cleaner, race for the famous yellow jersey. In the months since Spaniard Carlos Sastre claimed overall victory, seven riders - including KOM winner Bernhard Kohl and stage winners Ricardo Riccò, Leonardo Piepoli and Stefan Schumacher - have been exposed as drugs cheats. However a bigger question on the minds of some fans will be whether seven-time champion Lance Armstrong will take part.

Austria's Bernhard Kohl will be the "seventh and last" positive doping case from this year's Tour de France, according to sports daily L'Equipe on Tuesday. Kohl, the best climber at this year's race where he finished third overall, has become the fourth rider to test positive for CERA, a new generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). In all seven riders tested positive at this year's race, which was won by Spaniard Carlos Sastre of the CSC team.

Former Saunier Duval climber Leonardo Piepoli is facing a ban from the sport after the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) announced Monday he had tested positive for banned substances twice at this year's Tour de France. Piepoli, who won a stage and helped former Saunier Duval teammate Riccardo Ricco win two stages at the race, will now come before a CONI commission on Friday in connection with the failed tests on July 4 and 15.

During last week’s press conference at Interbike in Las Vegas, in revealing details of his comeback to racing, Lance Armstrong blurted out that he was “looking forward to the Mont Ventoux” stage in the 2009 Tour de France.

Prosecutors at the anti-doping tribunal of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) have asked that rider Riccardo Ricco be handed a 20-month ban after he tested positive for a new variant of EPO during the Tour de France. Ricco, 24, was suspended from riding by CONI in July after admitting to using the banned blood-booster. He was kicked off the Tour de France and sacked by his Saunier Duval-Scott team after testing positive following the fourth stage time-trial. The team itself subsequently lost both of its title sponsors.

Next year's Tour de France is set for a two-stage incursion to Barcelona, according to the Catalan city's Mayor Jordi Hereu on Tuesday. "This is important for the city, but also for the Tour, for cycling and sport in general," said Hereu. The city's top sports coordinator, Pere Alcober, said Barcelona would host a stage finish on July 8 and the start of a stage on July 9. Dates for next year's race, which is scheduled to start in the principality of Monaco, have yet to be confirmed by race organizers.

Whatever the reasons for Lance Armstrong deciding to make a comeback to the Tour de France after a three-year absence — whether to raise awareness of a worldwide cancer initiative, to lay to rest the decade-old doping accusations that still hound him or simply for the heck of it — he knows that the eyes of the world will be on him.

The second sample provided by Spanish rider Manuel Beltran, who tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) during the Tour de France, has also tested positive for the blood booster, a source close to the dossier said Tuesday. The test on the second sample, known as the "B" sample, was carried out by French anti-doping agency AFLD which also tested the first sample back in July, the source, who does not want to be identified, told AFP. The anti-doping agency is expected officially to announce the results of the testing on the "B" sample shortly.

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Phinney and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. "Votre hard-drive ne marche pas ... c'est morte" is something that I didn't want to hear today.

Shortly after the official result sheet of last Saturday’s Tour de France time trial was dropped on my table at the pressroom in St. Amand-Montrond, I made an interesting discovery. All but one of the riders who had just taken the top 15 places in the challenging 53km test either represent teams that have a strong internal anti-doping program (CSC-Saxo Bank, Garmin-Chipotle and Team Columbia) and/or are members of the Movement for Credible Cycling (Gerolsteiner, Rabobank, Garmin and Columbia).

A video clip showing Australian Cadel Evans snap at a broadcast journalist following the Tour de France’s stage 10 finish at Hautacam has become a minor YouTube sensation, with the clip garnering near 100,000 views and hundreds of comments by race’s end. After taking the yellow jersey, Evans was walked through customary post-stage TV interviews when a microphone windscreen tapped his injured left shoulder, wounded in his race threatening stage 9 crash.

Now that the champagne has lost its fizz and the podium girls are back to their day jobs, the cycling world now waits with bated breath until that last anti-doping control winds through the labyrinth of syringes, gyroscopes, laser prisms and other weapons in the arsenal at the labs. Until the final sample comes back clean, no one can afford to breathe easy. Anyone who loves the Tour is desperate to avoid that final-hour “worst-case scenario” that could once again send cycling to its knees.

Increased suspense, a boom in television ratings and happy sponsors left Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme in a buoyant mood two days prior to the end of this year's race. But with the ever-present threat of cheats lingering, the Frenchman knows it is far too early to talk of a definitive turnaround for the sport. After years of controversy the reputation of the race was tarnished by a minority of drugs cheats. But compared to recent scandals, this year's Tour got off comparatively lightly.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans (Silence-Lott) dismissed as “unfounded rumor” speculation he has suffered a knee injury that could threaten his participation in next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Evans, 31, finished second in Tour de France for the second straight year and on Sunday night joined his Silence Lotto team mates for the traditional post-Tour dinner in Paris. Evans said he did slip on a wet floor but it was no more than that.

For Australia's Cadel Evans, the Olympic road race in Beijing is already too far on the horizon. For the immediate future, the 31-year-old wants to concentrate on winding down at the one-day criteriums which follow the end of the Tour de France — and then put his bike to rest. Evans' overriding feeling was one of "relief" on Sunday after he finished his fourth Tour campaign with an impressive fourth top ten finish. Yet his second consecutive runner-up spot, a year on from losing the yellow jersey by 23 seconds to Spaniard Alberto Contador, must have hurt.

Here's a picture that reflects the amazing day now behind me. It was amazing. The feeling riding onto the Champs was unlike anything I've ever felt on a bicycle before in my life. Tired legs turned into a feeling of nothing but excitement. And now we're in the middle of a celebratory dinner and I've already consumed far too much bubbly. Thanks everybody for following the past few weeks!

Stage 21 stats Stage 21, Étamps to Paris, 143km WeatherHot and humid with partly cloudy skies and moderate wind, temperatures in the mid 80s Stage winnerQuick Step’s Gert Steegmans salvaged a disappointing Tour for his Belgian team by winning one of the most prestigious sprints in cycling along the Champs Elysees. Yellow jerseyRace leader Carlos Sastre held his overall lead, with no major change on classification.

Carlos Sastre has a reputation of being a cool customer under pressure. After 11 seasons as a pro, nothing rankles the 33-year-old veteran too much. From doping scandals that nearly toppled his CSC team after captain Ivan Basso was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal to the death of his brother-in-law, José María “El Chaba” Jiménez in 2003 at just 32, he’d seen it all.

Anyone can attest it’s hard to sleep when you’re hot. It's a fact that Garmin-Chipotle physiologist Allen Lim knows well. It’s why, among other things, regulating his riders’ temperatures on and off the bike is key to keeping them as fresh and fast as possible. This concept plays into both short-term and long-term performances; the former being a stage performance and the latter being the whole of the three-week race like the Tour de France.

Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant, his Credit Agricole team said on the final day of the Tour de France. Fofonov finished the race in 19th overall, 28:31 behind race winner Carlos Sastre. Credit Agricole manager Roger Legeay said Fofonov told the team he bought a product over the Internet to fight cramps. He has been suspended and may be fired, Legeay said.

Carlos Sastre became the seventh Spaniard to win the Tour de France yellow jersey when he wrapped up overall victory on Sunday, taking his country's total to 11 wins. Wins by country after 95 editions 36: France 18: Belgium 11: Spain 10: United States 9: Italy 4: Luxembourg 2: Netherlands, Switzerland 1: Germany, Denmark, Ireland

Stage 20: Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53km Weather: Hot and humid with partly cloudy skies and moderate wind, temperatures in the mid 80s. Stage winner: Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher proved he was the strongest time trialist at this Tour, winning both the 29km stage 4 TT and Saturday’s 53km effort. World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara finished second, 21 seconds back.

Stage winner Stefan Schumacher was more surprised than anyone to be back on the Tour de France podium after claiming victory in Saturday’s time trial. Schumacher’s win in the first time trial at a distance of 29.5km wasn’t a complete surprise because he’s done well in shorter distances, but his 21-second victory ahead of Olympic favorite and two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara wasn’t expected by many.

Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher surprised a few observers when he won the stage-four time trial in this year’s Tour de France. Then, he stunned them on Saturday by winning the Tour’s second race against the clock, beating two-time world champion Fabian Cancellara (CSc-Saxo Bank) by 21 seconds on the 53km course. "I did a perfect race,” said the 27-year-old German. “The course was a little bit rolling, which is perfectly suited to me. I got into a good rhythm straight away. There was a tailwind at the start, and afterwards I just kept my head down and focused on the job."

Carlos Sastre is poised to become the seventh Spanish rider in history to win the Tour de France. Barring catastrophe, the Team CSC-Saxo Bank rider will ride into Paris on Sunday as the third consecutive Spanish Tour winner. The 33-year-old surprised many after he fended off the time trial threats of Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov to retain the leader’s jersey. Sastre spoke with reporters after Saturday’s stage. Here’s a sampling of what he had to say. Question: What are you feeling now with the yellow jersey?

It’s been three weeks since we left Brest for the start of this thing and after today’s TT stage we find ourselves back in a Campanile, a hotel that takes the cookie-cutter room model to the max. The feeling of déjà vu is out of control, at least until you step outside. It’s strangely fitting however, in an odd sort of way. Tomorrow we head to Paris for one of the grandest sporting spectacles in the world, a slick hotel, huge dinner and evening out to follow, but tonight we’re off in the middle of nowhere, relaxed as can be, and feeling like it’s any another day.

Saturday dawned cool and cloudy in Cérilly, central France, where the podium of the 95th Tour de France is being decided in a 53km time trial. Favorite to come out on top is Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), who rode the course a few months ago. He says the hills on the zigzagging course are power climbs suited to a strong time trialist like himself rather than the more lightly built Carlos Sastre, the race leader, who starts the day with a 1:34 advantage on the Australian.

Australian Scott Sunderland has spent three weeks trying to make sure compatriot Cadel Evans loses the Tour de France. Now Sunderland, a co-team manager with CSC-Saxo Bank, is preparing for the distinct possibility that Evans will upset his race leader, Carlos Sastre, in Saturday's penultimate stage time trial. Sastre goes into the 53km race against the clock with a lead of one minute and 34 seconds on Silence-Lotto’s Evans, and with the yellow jersey on his back.

“You got a choice, Dishwasher. Either you get out of town, or tonight you be out on that street alone.”—Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance in

The upcoming time-trial battle between Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans that will decide this 95th Tour de France is the talk of the race — much more than Thursday’s excellent stage victory for Columbia’s Marcus Burghardt in St. Étienne or Friday’s likely bunch finish in Montluçon. Obviously, there’s much speculation whether Evans can overcome his 94-second deficit on the race leader in the 53km time trial from Cérilly to St. Amand-Montrond on Saturday. But the media are also looking at any angle they can to predict the protagonists’ performances.

It looked like Columbia's Marcus Burghardt put in a huge ride on stage 18, and his SRM power meter data confirms it. Burghardt was super aggressive and obviously wanted the win bad. He was in the initial breakaway, and when that was caught he escaped again wth Feillu. He dropped Feillu on the Col De Parmenie, and caught Barredo on the descent.

A car driven by the father of Tour de France stars Andy and Frank Schleck (CSC-Saxo Bank) was searched by French customs during the 18th stage, which began in Bourg d'Oisans on Thursday. An official source in Grenoble later said that "no doping products or banned substances" were found during the long search, which took place at Vizille in the Isere region of the Alps. Andy Schleck suggested "jealousy" may have been behind the search.

Stage 18, Bourg-d’Oisans to Saint-Etienne, 196.5km WeatherSunny and warm, clear skies, temperatures in the low 80s. Stage winnerOn a day destined to see a winner come from a breakaway, Columbia’s German Marcus Burghardt took his first-ever Tour stage win out of a two-man breakaway, ahead of Quick Step’s Spaniard Carlos Barredo.

After battling his way through the 18th stage of the Tour de France Thursday, despite sustaining potentially serious injuries in a crash, Lampre's Damiano Cunego has pulled out of the race, according to team sources. "It's a miracle I finished this stage," said the Lampre rider, who came over the finish line with blood dripping from a wound under his chin and injuries to his chest and thorax.

After yesterday’s insanity on the climb, today’s came at the start area. As we drove down the Alpe, thankfully in cars with the bus waiting at the bottom, there were still hundreds of people camped out roadside.

Spanish cyclist Moises Duenas, who was kicked out of the Tour de France after failing a drugs test, on Thursday denied knowingly taking any banned substance during the race. Duenas was charged last week in France with "use and possession of plants and poisonous substances,” and dropped by his British-registered team Barloworld. He risks a two-year jail term and a 3750-euro fine.

Stuart O'Grady finally came through one of his "toughest" Tour de France campaigns as the peloton headed out of the Alps and steadily towards Paris on Thursday. However, the Australian admitted he almost never made it as far as the second mountain range of this year's race after finding out he was carrying a virus three days into the race, "I didn't know it at the time but I was a bit crook. It turned out it was pretty serious," O'Grady told AFP. "When the results came through it was actually a relief."

Swiss pharmaceutical giant F. Hoffman-La Roche issued a statement Thursday disputing a recent claim by World Anti-Doping Agency chief John Fahey that it had inserted a “marker” in its new anti-anemia drug Micera. The drug has been the focus of recent attention after Ricardo Riccò, Saunier Duval’s top GC hope at the Tour de France, tested positive for the drug following the stage 4 time trial at Cholet.

From virtually every aspect, Carlos Sastre has ridden a perfect Tour de France. As soon as the route for this year’s Tour was announced last October, he said that the race would be decided in the final week, and probably at L’Alpe d’Huez. That’s why he focused his whole season on being at his very best right now, using races as training all season long, and trying to remain anonymous through the first two weeks of the race itself.

CSC-Saxo Bank’s Carlos Sastre took both the stage win atop L’Alpe d’Huez and the race lead following Wednesday’s massive 210km queen stage of this year’s Tour — but who was the day’s biggest winner? Following this Tour’s final mountain stage, one minute and 34 seconds separate stage 17 winner Carlos Sastre and pre-race favorite Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto with just four stages remaining. Of greatest interest, of course, is Saturday’s rolling 53km time trial, where the final classification will certainly be determined.

Bike manufacturer Scott, the second sponsor of the Saunier Duval team, announced on Wednesday that it would step in and rescue the Spanish outfit. Saunier Duval announced earlier on Wednesday that it had pulled out of cycling immediately in the wake of the drug scandal that engulfed its team at the Tour de France. Italian rider Riccardo Riccò tested positive for a new version of the banned blood booster EPO after the fourth-stage time trial, prompting the team to pull out of the race last week.

That was a day; long, hard and completely covered by some amazing fans. The Alpe was what it is built up to be: crazy. As far as the climb itself goes, it's hard, but was the easiest of the day by far. The fans however ... well, that's a whole other story. The drunk Dutch corner; the unruly Basque section; the crazy Germans; the Frenchies that always yell "ce n'est pas loin" no matter how long you have to go, and seemingly always cheer for the French rider who happens to be the most annoying at the time.

Fighting for the yellow jersey puts as much pressure on the head as on the legs, as Cadel Evans is learning at the Tour de France. After the second of two days in the Alps on Tuesday, the Silence-Lotto rider boosted his bid to win the final yellow jersey by surviving the CSC-Saxo Bank team's efforts to shake him off on the difficult Cime de la Bonette-Restefond climb.

I’m writing these words on the road to L’Alpe d’Huez where, at the end of this glorious Wednesday in the French Alps, the 95th Tour de France could be decided. The infamous 21-turn mountain climb concludes a gigantic stage 17 after the riders have already crossed the mighty Col du Galibier and Col de la Croix de Fer climbs.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday Italian rider Riccardo Riccò tested positive at the Tour de France after a secret molecule was planted in the blood booster EPO during its manufacture. Riccò, 24, upset the big names of the sport to win two stages of this year's Tour before he was kicked off after testing positive for EPO (erythropoietin). Revealing the now high-tech nature of the fight against drugs in sport, WADA chief John Fahey said his organization worked with drugs giant Roche on the newest version of EPO (erythropoietin).

The Tour de France yellow jersey is set to be decided on the final alpine stage of the race on Wednesday after a dramatic 16th stage which left CSC still in control of the race. Luxembourg's Frank Schleck finished the 157km stage from Cueno in Italy to here with his 7-second lead on Austrian Bernhard Kohl intact, with Australian Cadel Evans in third at 08. Spaniard Carlos Sastre, Schleck's teammate at the CSC team, is fourth at 49 while Denis Menchov, one of the day's biggest losers, is now at 1:13behind Schleck after losing time on the day's final descent.

The Saunier Duval cycling team look set to be excluded from the Tour of Germany because of doping, race organisers revealed on Tuesday. The elite team withdrew from the Tour de France last week after Italian rider Riccardo Ricco failed a dope test - they subsequently sacked both him and compatriot Leonardo Piepoli, who had won the prestigious stage on July 14. However that move has failed to placate the Tour of Germany chiefs, whose race runs from August 29 to September 6.

According to their father, CSC duo Frank and Andy Schleck rarely talk of the sport that has put them into the global spotlight. But when they do get round to talking of their profession in the Schleck household, it usually centers on the Tour de France yellow jersey. On Sunday, Frank realized one of his boyhood dreams when he pulled on the yellow jersey with a seven second lead on Austrian Bernhard Kohl of the Gerolsteiner team, with former leader and last year's runner-up Cadel Evans just one second further off the pace.

Bernhard Kohl sat in the sunlit conference room of the mountain resort hotel Navize Te in the Italian Alps on the rest day of the Tour de France for more than hour, patiently answering questions from nearly 100 international reporters. It was a new experience for both sides. Never before in his career had the 26-year-old Austrian been the focus of so much attention and before last Sunday, when he rode his way to within seven seconds of the maillot jaune, no one, except for the most avid Austrian cycling fans, had ever even heard of … Bernhard who?

Stage 16, Cuneo, Italy, to Jausiers (157km) Weather: Sunny and warm, clear skies, variable winds blowing up the valleys, creating headwind on both hors catégorie climbs Stage winner: Cyril Dessel (AG2R-La Mondiale) won a downhill sprint out of a four-man breakaway that included Yaroslav Popovych (Silence-Lotto), Sandy Casar (Francaise Des Jeux) and David Arroyo (Caisse d’Epargne).

The Bonette bustMost Tours are decided on the climbs, but the 23.5km descent off the 2802-meter Col de Bonette made for some decisive moments in what’s been a wild 95th edition. There were several crashes, including a spectacular fall by John Lee Augustyne (Barloworld), who toppled over the edge near the summit, and another by Christian Vande Velde; the falls undercut their respective runs for glory.

Frenchman Cyril Dessel of AG2R finally drew a line under his nightmare 2007 season with a prestigious maiden win on the Tour de France 16th stage on Tuesday. Dessel came to the wider cycling world's attention when he wore the race's yellow jersey for a day in 2006 — when he finally had to hand it over to disgraced American Floyd Landis. A year later Dessel disappeared almost entirely from the peloton after succumbing to toxoplasmosis.

Three weeks ago, Garmin-Chipotle’s Christian Vande Velde left his European home in Girona, Spain, for the Tour de France with the goal of his first-ever top 10 finish. However as the Tour’s second rest day came to a close Monday, the 32-year-old American sits fifth overall, just 39 seconds behind race leader Frank Schleck, and is poised to capitalize on his strengths during stage 20’s time trial to fight for the Tour podium.

South African John-Lee Augustyn said he was lucky to escape with his life after a spectacular crash during the 16th stage of the Tour de France Tuesday left him halfway down a mountainside. The Barloworld rider crossed the summit of the day's second unclassified climb on his own after attacking his leading group half a kilometer from the summit. But moments later, after being rejoined by his group, he misjudged a right-hand bend and shot over the edge, leaving him 50 meters below on the gravel mountainside.

Christian Vande Velde’s miracle Tour de France ride took a dive in Tuesday’s hard-fought 157km, two-climb 16th stage when he crashed coming down the beyond-category descent off the Col de la Bonette. Vande Velde, who started the day fifth overall at 39 seconds back, lost contact with the yellow jersey group about midway up the long, exposed 25.5km climb as CSC-Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck set a menacing pace.

A list of the past 25 riders to win a Tour de France stage atop the legendary Alpe d'Huez climb, the climax of this year's mountain stages: Winners: 1952: Fausto Coppi (ITA) 1976: Joop Zoetemelk (NED) 1977: Hennie Kuiper (NED) 1978: Hennie Kuiper (NED) 1979: Joachim Agostinho (POR) 1980: Joop Zoetemelk (NED) 1981: Peter Winnen (NED) 1982: Beat Breu (SUI) 1983: Peter Winnen (NED) 1984: Luis Herrera (COL) 1986: Bernard Hinault (FRA) 1987: Federico Echave (ESP) 1988: Steven Rooks (NED) 1989: Gert-Jan Theunisse (NED)

The threat of being caught cheating at this year's Tour de France has proved a major deterrent, according to the chief of France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) on Tuesday. AFLD chief Pierre Bordry said prior to the race's 16th stage that he had no further positive cases to report in the wake of three positive tests for EPO. His claims come in the wake of a newspaper report in which disgraced Italian climber Riccardo Riccò re-affirms that he did not use banned substances.

Spain's 2006 Tour de France champion Oscar Pereiro admitted Tuesday that he thought he was going to die after a spectacular fall during the 15th stage at the weekend. The Caisse d'Epargne rider toppled over a guard rail on his way down Col Agnel in the Alps between France and Italy, falling several meters onto the road below. "I was going much faster than those on the left. I think that (Damiano) Cunego (Lampre team) got a slight fright. He made an abrupt maneuver and I couldn't avoid him," Pereiro told the Spanish press.

Those long stemsDear Lennard,I read that several riders at this year's Tour de France have opted for a small frame and very long stem (140-150mm) combination. I'm curious whether this is to get a lighter frame (seems unlikely since pro's don't have to take unusual steps to reach the UCI legal weight), or to get less responsive/twitchy steering for high-speed descents etc. I have run a similar setup for a couple of years due to the safer feel of the steering but people always tell me that a 140mm stem is ridiculous.Dan

There has never been a Tour de France as closely poised as this 2008 edition, less than a week before the finish. The most similar state of the race came in 2003, when prior to the final mountain stage, just 18 seconds separated race leader Lance Armstrong from his two remaining challengers, Jan Ullrich and Alexander Vinokourov. But Armstrong went on to win on the mountaintop finish at Luz-Ardiden (after famously being brought down by the handle of a spectator’s plastic bag), and clinched his fifth consecutive title in the final time trial at Nantes.

Riis won’t play gamesTeam CSC-Saxo Bank boss Bjarne Riis is widely viewed as one of the best tacticians in the game. So far through this year’s Tour de France, he’s confirmed that reputation. With two well-oiled attacks, first in the stage to Hautacam and a second up Prato Nevoso, Riis has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that CSC-Saxo Bank is the strongest team in the pack. But now he’s faced with an interesting quandary. Frank Schleck is wearing the yellow jersey but it looks like Carlos Sastre could be the strongest climber on the team.

Cadel Evans might have lost the yellow jersey battle up Prato Nevoso, but he’s still confident he can win the war to Paris. The Silence-Lotto captain expressed confidence Monday that he’s still on track to win what he called a “very tight” 95th Tour de France despite losing time to all of his major rivals and slipping to third overall in the uphill drag race on the Cat. 1 Prato Nevoso summit.