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Virenque and Voeckler tops at Tour on Bastille DayMerckx says former teammate broke his word Special to VeloNews This report filed July 14, 2004 Richard Virenque gave French cycling fans all they could have dreamed for to mark their national holiday, Bastille Day, by winning the 237km stage 10 from Limoges to Saint Flour. The win moved him up to fourth place overall and gave him the lead in the King of the Mountains competition -- his primary goal at this year's Tour de France. Furthermore, on this Bastille Day, French could also celebrate another day with a Frenchman in...

Rest Day #1 - July 12 Rest day wrap-up Slip-sliding away The boom-crash opera of the first week of the 2004 Tour de France saw an almost unprecedented number of crashes as the race visited the roads of Belgium and northern France. In a region that usually hosts the Spring Classics, the weather turned the calendar back to March and the wind and rain played as much of a role as the riders in the race's first 8 stages. The Tour's next generation battled through the weather to emerge on to the podium as several stage wins and the yellow...

Welcome To The Coverage Of Stage Nine The shortest road stage of the 91st Tour de France, from Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat to Gueret (160.5km) is scheduled to begin at 1.30pm. There is a 1.8km neutral zone before the riders reach the site of the official start. The weather is more akin to summer after the first rest day. The sun is already shining in Gueret and the temperature is significantly higher than any of the days in early phase of the 2004 Tour.

Chris Carmichael Daily Reports: Rest Day The first week of the 2004 Tour de France was difficult and nervous, and by the time the peloton crossed the finish line yesterday, most of the riders were exhausted. Tom Boonen put it nicely when told a journalist, “Everyone sits like a corpse on the bike.” It’s difficult to believe that these riders are going to race for two more weeks, and that some of them are actually going to get stronger as the race goes on. At the Tour de France, we see a very interesting phenomenon. When you look at markers...

Tyler's ready for a rest By Reuters This report filed July 11, 2004 Tyler Hamilton, suffering from back pains after a crash on Friday, says he is relieved to be taking a day's rest before the Tour de France battle starts in earnest this week. The American, who finished fourth last year behind five-time champion Lance Armstrong, despite breaking his collarbone, said on Sunday he was not afraid of suffering. The many crashes during the wet and windy conditions of the first week had made him nervous, however. "Considered all the problems we had in the last couple of days,...

The best team ever: USPS-Berry Floor powers to win in Team Time Trial - Armstrong takes Maillot Jaune As a double-barreled low pressure area blew across northern France Wednesday afternoon, the rain poured, the wind blew and the black clouds of the alleged curse of the sixth Tour de France victory swirled above the USPS-Berry Floor team bus in Arras, but when their nine riders rolled out of Cambrai bound for Arras 64.5km away, it soon seemed like Lance Armstrong's team was blessed. The rain and wind let up and the Postal Blue Train rolled across the flat wheat fields...

Armstrong Takes Tour de France Lead Thanks to Team By Francois Thomazeau ARRAS, France (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong claimed back his familiar Tour de France leader's yellow jersey when U.S. Postal won a 40-mile team time trial in Arras Wednesday. The American outfit clocked one hour 12 minutes three second in the fourth stage from Cambrai to hand the five-time Tour winner the 54th yellow jersey in his career. Armstrong now leads his team mates George Hincapie and Floyd Landis in the overall rankings by 10 and 16 seconds respectively. Swiss team Phonak, led by American Tyler Hamilton, were second...

Mayo's Wasquehal Waterloo - McEwen snatches Maillot Jaune by one second On the flat, windy fields where WWI's trench warfare raged almost 90 years ago, the Tour de France peloton battled and battered each other for position on the pave and in the innumerable turns on Stage Three. And at the end of the tumultuous, dramatic 202.5km stage, the Tour's fastest ever including pavé, a stage that took the Tour back to France, it was fittingly a Frenchman riding for a French team who won. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r) took his team's second stage win today and his second career Tour...

Armstrong Holds Back on First Tour Stage CHARLEROI, Belgium - Five-time winner Lance Armstrong played it safe in the first full stage of the Tour de France. Saving himself for the ordeal to come, Armstrong finished comfortably back in the pack in 48th on Sunday He is focused on winning a record sixth straight Tour, not scrapping for victories in the hazardous and fast-paced early stages of the three-week race. A final all-out burst of speed secured Jaan Kirsipuu's victory in the 125.5-mile trek that featured roads turned treacherous by rain. There were crashes, crowds, wind, punctures and a mighty...