Yesterday, for a big mountain stage was very tame, the big names didn’t attack each other but today, being the final mountain stage of the ‘08 Tour, was the last chance for the big climbers to make their mark before Saturday’s time-trial. Get enough time on the TT specialists today and you could well be in with a shout of winning the Tour. Today, however only Carlos Sastre had it in him to properly attack and get the job done. The only question that remains now, is did he get enough time on a time trialing expert like Cadel Evans before Saturday? MORE »

Well what about that? On today’s first of the Alpine mountain stages we had two races on the go. One involving the four men at the head of the race, so far up the road that long before the final climb we knew they would hang on for the win. None of them were overall threats and so were allowed to fight it out between themselves. Remember this was a stage the sprinters teams were never going to even attempt to close down. But while that was going on, minutes down the road and onto the final climb the Tour de France was taking shape, or in many ways, losing shape. MORE »

Yesterday the sprinters had their last shot at glory before the final stage in Paris as we head into the vital stages of the 2008 Tour de France. Yesterday Oscar Friere, the Green Jersey man, finally had his day when Cavendish was dropped on a category 4 climb 10k from the finish. Today however he and Friere will have it hard as the Tour hits the Alps and the big names come to the fore. Following today there is some major mountains that will dictate who wins this thing. MORE »

It has been quite the year for 23-year old Mark Cavendish. First he becomes a World Champion on the track towards the early part of 2008, then he shows up at the Giro d’Italia and wins two stages, he then proclaims himself as the fastest man in the world and backs that up with not one, not two, not even three until yesterday, but FOUR stage wins in the Worlds biggest bike race, the Tour de France. In August his bandwagon will roll in to Beijing as he looks for Olympic Gold. Should he come home with that on top of the current honors, he most certainly will be the deserving forerunner for Britain’s Sports personality of the Year 2008. MORE »

Above is Riccardo Ricco pointing to himself, the cheating scumbag, who is another rider giving a clear disregard to his sport, his team-mates, and the fans who come to watch it. Yes, Ricco, a greedy, self-centred man, in it for the money, has won two-stages in this years tour and although he becomes the third rider to be disqualified for drug cheating, he is the most high profiled. Remember stage 9 how he burst away from everyone on the final climb? Remember Phil Liggett on ITV4 telling us that he rode like Marco Pantani? Remember how pre-race we had been told that he had a ’shady past’ that he defended as being natural? Yes. Remember all that suspicion . . . It was correct.

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Today’s stage didn’t really make much different to the overall standings, though when Oscar Periero attacked midway through the stage it looked for a moment he was going to do a 2006 all over again and claw back the minutes he was down on GC. It wasn’t to be though and a break of 12 men stayed away with Kurt-Alse Arvesen taking the victory.

The last few days however have seen things shake up in dramatic fashion. MORE »

Young Riccardo Riccò timed his move on the final category 1 climb perfectly. He sprung clear of all the big favourites, caught and left behind the men further up the mountain and rode down the other side into the finish for an excellent victory. He only took a minute or so out of what was left of the peloton containing all the big contenders, but for the young Italian who said he was here to learn the Tour and pick up a stage win, things are going very much to plan. MORE »

TdF Stage 8: Figeac - Toulouse (172.5km)

It was one of the easier sprint finishes you will ever see on the Tour de France, it was wet, probably not overly warm, and nobody else for some reason seemd to interested. Either that or they just knew they stood no chance agaisnt the self proclaimed fastest man in the world. A claim which he is backing up in fine fashion. Yes, 23 year old British rider, Mark Cavendish won his second stage today, the only man to have won two stages at the Tour this year, and his fame continues to grow.

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This is Manuel Beltran, the face of the first man to be kicked out of the Tour for testing positive for drugs. EPO being the drug in particular but to be honest, who cares what it was, he is positive, he is out and he is a cheat who for some reason continues to feel it is worth the risk of dragging the sport through the dirt if he is caught and in the new age of dope testing, you will get caught. MORE »

TdF Stage 7: Brioude - Aurillac (159km)

Luis Leon Sanchez was the winner of today’s rolling stage that took the Tour further South towards the big mountains. It was a stage that had five category climbs and one that again split up the main bunch into pieces towards the end. Sanchez broke free of the pack on the decent down towards the finish and kept away to take the victory ahead of the Tours main protagonists. MORE »

According to an article I have just read on the CBC website, 20 riders in this years Tour de France have been warned about their slightly abnormal hematocrit levels. MORE »

TdF Stage 6: Aigurande - Super Besse (195.5km)

I made a little mistake yesterday saying that the stage finished on a hill but that it was a category four one. I got a little mixed up there, the stage in fact finished at the top of a category 2 climb, one that seperated the men from the boys for the first time in this Tour de France and seen the Yellow Jersey change hands in unfortunate circumstances. MORE »

TdF Stage 5: Cholet - Châteauroux (232km)

This is a moment young Mark Cavendish has been waiting for his entire career, a moment when he could throw his arms up upon crossing the line first in a race in the Tour de France, the biggest cycle race in the world. It happened today when Mark’s Columbia team, also taking their first Tour win in their first Tour, reeled in a break of three that had been up the road for most of the day. Mark went for the line and beat out such legendary sprinters as Oscar Freire, Erik Zabel and Thor Hushovd. MORE »

180 Men entered this years Tour de France and currently through four and a half days we are down to 177. Only three men have pulled out so far, all through injury. Herve Duclos-Lassalle fractured his left-wrist in stage one and abandoned, Angel Gomez pulled out during stage three after a crash and early today Jan Mauricio Soler Hernandez of Barloworld, who won last years polka-dot jersey, retired due to an injury he has been carrying since day one.

After the jump, a list of the 177 riders left, per nation, in the Tour: MORE »

TdF Stage 4: Cholet - Cholet (29.5km ITT)

The Tour de France got underway for real yesterday in many peoples eyes with the first individual time-trial, and stage that properly sorted out the GC. The winner of the stage though, and new yellow jersey leader, was a bit of a surprise — Stefan Schumacher — no relation to thee Schumacher (as far as I know) — who went round the 29.5km circuit in a very impressive 35′44. He was the only man to go under 36 minutes. MORE »