Happy 4th of July! Farrar wins Stage 3 of the Tour de France!

Tyler Farrar steps it up and takes a stage win for the USA! Although remarkably back, this is a long race! George Hincapie is still the leading American 13th only 4 seconds back from the yellow jersey wearer Thor Hushovd. Americans Christopher Horner and Levi Leipheimer are only 10 seconds back and both show good poise to grab a good finish this year.

Happy 4th of July!

Chasing the maillot jaune in the 2011 Tour de France - Grand Start

Philippe Gilbert slips on this jersey after the First Stage of the 2011 Tour de France. The most surprising of the first stage was the amount of crashes that happened especially in the last leg of the course. There were several crashes under 5km to go. Although the first stage is only the beginning of a long journey around France, injuries from crashes can impose a long ride for some and you really don't want to fall too far back. As usual there was an early break who actually held the Peleton to 4 minutes, including only 3 riders, Jeremy Roy, Perrig Quemeneur, and Lieuwe Westra who stayed out front until about 19km to go. The Peleton was led by Omega Pharma who pulled the breakaway back in once they felt the finish was getting too close. Christopher Horner is showing that he will be there being the top finishing American in the race, who also was the top finisher last year, sitting only 6 seconds back in 9th place. He is definitely the one to watch and seems as most likely the one to carry the American banner this year and has shown that he can make a good attempt at leading the general classification. Levi Leipheimer who can also challenge for the maillot jaune is only 1 minute and 20 seconds back, and we all know George Hincapie who sits right under 2 minutes back. Tyler Farrar who was thought to be a dark horse in this race led the peleton a couple times, but did not finish in the top 100 by the end of the first stage. Cadel Evans who is always a good strong rider finished right behind Gilbert and is 2nd in the overall classification. Last years winner and of course this years favorite Alberto Contador is 1 minute and 21 seconds behind Gilbert, who will go into tomorrows Stage 2, which is a Team Trial Stage with the Yellow Jersey. If Omega Pharma maintains the strength that they showed today, it should be quite an interesting team trial tomorrow. With several strong teams out there. What an exciting Grand Start!

Lance Armstrong Muscles Stage 16 in the Tour de France.

This picture is directly from the Team Radioshack Website . Lance steps on the pedal in today's Stage 16th. After his wrecks in an earlier stage Lance had fallen to 40 minutes behind Alberto Contador who still maintains the yellow jersey. Today Lance Armstrong pulled out to a 9 minute lead to finish in a group 7 minutes ahead of the Peloton. Chris Horner from Team Radioshack was the big gainer for today pulling just under 9 minutes from the lead. Levi Leipheimer is just over 5 minutes behind Contador. Even if Lance decides to continue to escape from over the next 3 stages and even potentially gaining another 7 minutes on the leaders that would only bring him 21 minutes. Today he is 33 minutes behind Contador. The winner is usually decided on Stage 19, and Stage 20 is the Parade stage down to the Champs-Élysées in Paris. It is still conceivable to have the United States win, and even simply Team Radioshack bring home the Maillot Jaune. I honestly would not care about protocol if Team Radioshack escaped from the Peloton in Stage 20 and crossed over the finish line first, enough time someone on that team could win, especially if there some inclusive breaks and attacks in these next few stages that include any of the Team Radioshack members. The question for Lance is, did you wait too long to turn on the afterburners?

Chasing the Maillot Jaune in the 2010 Tour De France

Lance Armstrong is sitting in 18th place after 5 stages, a little bit over 615 miles and just over 23 hours ridden. He is only 2 minutes and 30 seconds behind yellow jersey occupant Fabian Cancellara. Cancellara has never won the Tour de France but has won many stages and has been in contention for several years. This year's Tour is heavy in mountain stages which will play into Armstrong's favor. There have been great attacks in this race so far which has a long way to go. Today's attack got up to an 8 minute break before getting wrapped up by the peloton by the end of the race. The rest of Team Radioshack is not too far behind with Levi Leipheimer +23" on Lance with Janez Brajkovic and Andeas Kloden less than 10 seconds behind Levi. Overall Team Radioshack is 11th among the 22 teams participating in the Tour this year. With many more miles to go this is still anyone's race.

Tour de France 2009: Stage 4 Preview

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Looks like America is showing up strong in this years 2009 Tour de France. After Stage 3, the top 10 is wrapping up with Levi Leipheimer only 1 minute and 11 seconds back. The top 3 are separated by 40 seconds with Lance Armstrong in 3rd. With Tony Martin from Germany riding for Team Columbia an American based team only 33 seconds behind in second. They are all chasing Fabian Cancellara from Switzerland, riding for Team Saxo Bank. Stage Four will be exciting with a Team Trial in Montpellier. Team Astana which holds 4 out of the top 10 positions in the Tour de France is favoured to win this stage, which will put Lance Armstrong in the Yellow Jersey if that happens. With Cycling Racing there are many combinations that could factor in winning and that is what makes it exciting.

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Tour de France 2009, Starts July 4th

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Lance Armstrong is back! After breaking a collarbone this year Lance has already taken to racing again. Here comes Tour de France with a start date of July 4th, 2009. What a great day to celebrate by having an American win the Individual Time in Monaco. There will be many opportunities to accomplish this mission with two American Teams on the Roster for the 2009 Tour de France: Team Columbia and Garmin-Slipsteam. I think both teams will be talked about by Phil Liggett on the OLN, or whatever you call it channel now... Versus? As long as there is a channel that carries the Tour de France, I dont care what you call it. Bob Roll is a great analyst who jumps right in and asks the tough questions you expect from a journalist and past racer. I hope more support comes on the Tour for the Astana team. I believe Astana is going to be winnning stages and wearing yellow jerseys and its not going to be a definite one person. I am curious to see Lance Armstrong's ability for winning after being gone for so long. The team is stacked with Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer. But don't forget about George Hincape, experience is great, the force is strong within his Team Columbia. The Astana team also has Mr. Contador who can pose a big threat at any time for anyone in ther race. This year will be an exciting race with many participants capable of winning. Not to mention that Lance Armstrong is back! Go USA!

Lance Armstrong officially enters UCI Pro Tour

Lance Armstrong has entered several tours for professional cycling this year. But the question lingers about his Tour de France appearance. Most people do not know that you have to be invited to race in the Tour de France, and Lance has not officially or unofficially heard whether or not he will be invited to the Tour de France 2009. According to the UK Times online, he has submitted his request and has heard no reply. Make no mistake, the Tour de France 2009 plays directly into Lance's hands with several good mountainous stages that Lance is good at. Let the Tour de France 2009 officials know that it would be a tremendous benefit to have Lance in it. It definitely would give us someone to route for even though there are some good Americans always in the Tour, George Hincape(would love to see him win!), but Lance would blow the publicity out of the water. He just finished 2nd in the Leadville tour in PA, and his first official race in the Pro Tour is in Jan. 2009 in Austrailia. So, the ears to the floor awaiting word on the Tour de France 2009. Go Lance and Livestrong!

www.lancearmstrong.com

www.livestrong.com

2009 Tour de France : Lance is back!

Well it's all over for all the other contenders, because I believe Lance Armstrong is going to win every time he rides, an even number like 10 wins would be something even to finish on. 

Congrats to Carlos Sastre for his Win of the 2008 Tour de France.

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Tour de France 2008 - Grand Start July 5,2008

The grand start went off yesterday, July 5. The Tour de France has always been something I have enjoyed watching. All the way back to the times when Greg Lemond was winning in the 1980s. And of course everyone knows Lance Armstrong in his record setting 7 wins. I believe he could actually win more if he truly wanted to race again. The prize winnings for this race is very lucrative with the Yellow Jersey winner receiving over $700,000. Not a bad take for a month of intensely hard bike riding, over a 150 miles a day for a month. With only two teams this year from the US, Team Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle, it does make it difficult to find a team or person to cheer for. I cannot make any predictions on the winner because I really don't watch all the other races or know whose good this year, but I definitely am a fan of George Hincape from the US who does really well, and has ridden in 14 Tours. David Millar from Great Britian is also a good one to watch, because he did really well in the past few years. After only 2 stages a good start to the race has happened with Alejandro Valverde taking the yellow jersey. Team Columbia has a second place with Kim Kirchen who is French. With the top 45 seperated by 7 seconds, and the top 100 within 2 minutes, this year hopefully will be a great race! Phill Ligget is an awesome announcer! He's the Dick Vitale of bike racing.