Biking Bis - Tour de France

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Total news: 46
Last news: September 1, 2010 15:37:55

French pro cyclist Laurent Fignon died at age 50 on Tuesday after battling cancer for the past year.

Although he won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, he was best known to Americans as the cyclist who lost the Tour to Greg LeMond by 8 seconds in 1989 on the final day of the race.

On a visit to France during the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to grab a photo of Fignon riding at the head of the peloton with Miguel Indurain (in yellow, of course) and Claudio Chiappucci (in the polka dot jersey). He was easy to recognize with his receding hairline and long blond hair.

Talking to my French brother-in-law later.... - [Read more]

Here are some numbers that might be remembered as the books close on the 2010 Tour de France:

3 -- The number of career Tour de France championships won by Alberto Contador

0 -- The number of stage wins by Alberto Contador in the 2010 Tour de France

28 -- The number on the jerseys worn by Lance Armstrongs RadioShack team at the start of the final TdF stage and on the podium in Paris. Represents 28 million people living with cancer worldwide. The high commissioners of cycling threatened to disqualify them for this egregious breach of protocol. .... - [Read more]

No one can beat Mark Cavendish if he can see the finish line from the front of the peloton.

He proved that again on Sunday when he won the final stage of the 2010 Tour de France in Paris.

The HTC-Columbia sprinter passed Alesandro Petacchi and Thor Hushovd on the Champs-Elysees, marking his 5th stage win at this years Tour. It was his 15th career win at the Tour.

Decked out like a yellow canary, Alberto Contador finished comfortably in the pack to retain his lead and win his second consecutive Tour de France championship, the third of his career ... - [Read more]

For just a moment on the road from Bordeaux to Paullac, it looked as if Andy Schleck was riding himself back into the lead in his battle with Alberto Contador for 2010 Tour de France championship.

Schleck attacked hard in the early part of the 32-mile individual time trial course, gaining 6 seconds on Contador at the first time check and coming with 2 seconds of regaining the yellow jersey.

That was as close as Schleck was going to get, however. Either Contador increased his tempo or Schleck began running out of gas, but Schleck started slipping back.

At the finish, the defending champion had beat his younger rival by 32 seconds .... - [Read more]

Another mass sprint and another victory for Mark Cavendish at the Tour de France as the HTC-Columbias speedster weaved through his rivals to win in Bordeaux on Friday.

While competing teams drove their sprinters toward the finishline, Cavendish coolly emerged from the pack and easily won his 4th stage of this years Tour; the 14th of his career.

Meanwhile, there was no change in the overall standings as yellow jersey wearer Alberto Contador prepares for Saturdays individual time trial in anticipation of Sundays championship in Paris. He still leads Andy Schleck by 8 seconds .... - [Read more]

The showdown on the Col Du Tourmalet lived up to expectations at the Tour de France on Thursday as Andy Schleck tried but failed to win back the yellow jersey he lost to Alberto Contador on Monday.

The contest for the yellow jersey on Stage 17 boiled down to the two men in the Pyrenees on the last climb of ... - [Read more]

Lance Armstrong battled in the deciding breakaway on Stage 16 of the Tour de France all day on Tuesday only to bested in a 9-man sprint by stage winner Pierrick Fedrigo.

The 120-mile race over four major mountains came down to a sprint in the town of Pau as the overall race leaders struggled to stay together on the Col de Peyresourde, Col dAspin, Col du Tourmalet and Col dAubisque.

Although Andy Schleck wanted revenge on race leader Alberto Contador for winning the yellow jersey as he wrestled with a dropped chain on Monday, nothing came of that threat as Contador retained his 8-second lead.

This might have been Armstrongs swan song of the Tour de France ... - [Read more]

A dropped chain cost Andy Schleck the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Monday as Alberto Contador attacked after the mishap and made up more than the 31 seconds he had been trailing by.

The controversial decision by Contador to take advantage of a mechanical mishap on Stage 15 will surely dog him throughout the rest of the race. There are unwritten and debatable "rules" about gaining on adversaries who have crashed or suffered similar problems.

Angry and disappointed after the race, Schleck was asked whether he thought Contadors attack was fair:

"Whats fair or not fair... its not for me to decide. I would not have raced like that.

My stomach is full of anger. I want to take my revenge .... - [Read more]

The two main rivals in this years Tour de France battled so hard to outfox each other on the final climb of Ax Les Thermes on Sunday that they might have lost sight of the other competitors who finished ahead.

Frances Christophe Riblon (AG2R) won the 114-mile Stage 14 from Revel to Ax-3 Domaines by joining a breakaway about 10 miles into the race. Riblon attacked and rode away from the break on the above-category Port de Pailheres and survived solo over the Ax Les Thermes.

Meanwhile, yellow jersey Andy Schleck and defending champion Alberto Contador played a game of cat and mouse as the race moved into the Pyrennes ... - [Read more]

Say what you will about one-time suspended Alexandre Vinokourov, but the Kazakh cyclist makes things happen.

The Astana cyclist showed his fighting spirit for the second day in a row at the Tour de France on Saturday when he attacked the peloton on a climb near the finish.

Unlike Friday, when he was basically chased down by team leader Alberto Contador and finished 3rd overall, Vino extended his lead over the last 5 miles of the race on Saturday and won Stage 13 in Revel by 13 seconds.

Andy Schlecks overall lead of 31 seconds ahead of Contador remains unchanged... - [Read more]

Will the true leader of the Astana cycling team please stand up? Its Alberto Contador.

The defending Tour de France champion blasted past race leader Andy Schleck and Astana teammate Alexandre Vinokourov on the final climb of Stage 12 on Friday.

Joaquin Rodriguez of Team Katusha won the two-man sprint to the finish, but Contador gained 10 seconds on Schleck. He also reminded Vinokourov that hes the team leader.

Vinokourov seemed to have trouble understanding that concept in a couple of stages .... - [Read more]

British sprinter Mark Cavendish undeniably achieved his 3rd win of the 2010 Tour de France -- the 13th of his career -- on Thursdays Stage 11.

What remains for debate, however, is how much some heavy-handed tactics by his HTC-Columbia lead-out man Mark Renshaw contributed to that victory.

Overhead views of the final sprint in Bourg les Valence show Renshaw head-butting Garmin-Transitions Julian Dean, who was riding on his right.

With Dean out of the way, Renshaw opens a lane for Cavendish .... - [Read more]

Team RadioShack finally has something to crow about after domestique Sergio Paulinho won Stage 10 of the Tour de France on Wednesday.

The Portuguese cyclist was part of a 6-man breakaway that led most of the 111-mile race from Chambery to Gap over four climbs.

Andy Schleck remained in the yellow jersey, as the rest of the peloton finished about 15 minutes later, content to hear whether one of the two Frenchmen in the breakaway could win on Bastille Day. Neither could.

The 30-year-old Paulinho is an unlikely hero for the RadioShack team, but with Lance Armstrong locked in 31st .... - [Read more]

One day in the yellow jersey for Aussie Cadel Evans was about all she wrote as the 2010 Tour de France appears to be boiling down to a contest between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador.

Shleck donned the yellow leaders jersey at the end of Stage 9, the most challenging so far with three major Alpine climbs over the 126 mile-route.

Contador grappled into second place overall, matching every one of Schlecks accelerations on the final climb on the Col de la Madeleine. Contador couldnt do that Sunday, but Contador was the sole contender who could do that on Tuesday. All others lost ground, with a disappointed Evans being the chief among them. He lost about eight minutes, dropping clear out of the Top 10 to 18th place ... - [Read more]

"Lance lost this Tour for bad luck. Physically, there’s no reason to believe that he couldn’t have been competitive in this Tour. He came to this Tour in good shape with real ambitions to win. We knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to win this Tour, but we came here with that as a goal. Even today we saw Contador not as strong as he was last year. Today we simply didn’t have the luck.”

-- Johan Bruyneel, team manager for Radio Shack, talking about Lance Armstrongs crashes at the 2010 Tour de France in an interview with Andrew Hood at VeloNews ..... - [Read more]

The mountain-top finish at Morzine-Avoriaz will be remembered in Tour de France history as the place where Lance Armstrongs chances to achieve another championship appeared doomed and Alberto Contador showed he was beatable.

Andy Schleck had the strongest legs at the end of the 117-mile stage that included two Alpine summits as he beat Samuel Sanchez in a two-man sprint to the finish. Cadel Evans, left, and Alberto Contador were unable to match Schlecks final kick to the finish, although Evans did gain the yellow jersey for the first time at this Tour de France.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong didnt take part in this battle, however. He was some 10 minutes down the mountain after getting caught in three crashes. He was just trying to put one of the worst days in his cycling career behind him ... - [Read more]

Frances Sylvain Chavanel regained the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Saturday while former leader Fabian Cancellara cracked as the peloton entered the foothills of the Alps.

Chavanel won the 102-mile stage from Tournus to Station des Rousses and took the lead, jumping from 5th place overall to 1:25 ahead of the nearest challenger, Australias Cadel Evans.

Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador and the other major contenders for this years championship finished in a select group 1-minute 47 seconds behind Chavanel. Although Armstrong dropped from 2:30 to 3:16 behind the first place rider, he remained 50 seconds behind his rival, Contador.

The peloton faces its first major mountain stage on Sunday ... - [Read more]

While house sellers tout "Location, location, location" as the three most important attributes of real estate, bike race sprinters must credit "Position. Position. Position."

For instance, Britains Mark Cavendish had an ideal position in Fridays finish of Stage 6 of the 2010 Tour de France in Gueugnon behind teammate Mark Renshaw. The HTC-Columbia riders were following three cyclists for Garmin-Transitions, including Tyler Farrar.

As the finish line approached, Cavendish was delivered alongside the Garmin cyclists by Renshaw. Then Cav handlily beat Farrar across the line by more than a bikes length ... - [Read more]

The strategy for a textbook lead-out for Team HTC-Columbia flew right out the window on Stage 5 of the Tour de France on Thursday, but Mark Cavendish took the sprint anyway.

It was the first sprint win for the Brit at this years Tour. The cycling press had begun to wonder if Cavendishs reign as sprint champion had ended as previous sprints had been taken by Alessandro Petacchi (2) and Thor Hushovd (1). In 2009, Cavendish had won 6 stages of the Tour.

As the peloton neared the finish in Montargis, it looked like the drought might continue for Cavendish.

Bernard Eisel was leading the pack toward the finish, but he was followed by four cyclists from Garmin-Transitions .... - [Read more]

Three bike changes for Sylvain Chavanel cost him the yellow jersey on Tuesday as Fabian Cancellara regained the overall lead of the Tour de France.

Cancellara powered himself back into first place at the front of a peloton split into smaller groups by seven sections of cobblestones in the 132-mile stage in the Paris-Roubaixs "Hell of the North" locale.

Lance Armstrong fell out of the top 10 and lost time to other top contenders, such as Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador. The RadioShack cyclist limited his losses by bridging across to the fourth group to cross the finish line.

One of the biggest winners of the day was Canadian Ryder Hesjedal .... - [Read more]