BMC Racing

The 99th Tour de France began this past Saturday with eight American riders competing to wear the yellow jersey in 2012. Stuck behind the shadows of seven-time champion Lance Armstrong, it’s likely none of you have ever heard of our country’s cycling ambassadors.

George Hincapie, 39, will be riding in his 17th Tour de France this year, setting a new record for the most tours in a rider’s career. Hincapie has already announced he will retire at the season’s end (per the Associated Press, via ESPN.com).

Hincapie rode alongside Armstrong in all seven of his wins, and he also helped Australia’s Cadel Evans win the tour in 2011. He has been a part of 10 Tour de France-winning teams in his career, and he will look for his 11th by joining Evans again on the BMC Racing team.

American Tejay van Garderen, 23, is also a teammate of Hincapie and Evans in 2012. On Saturday, van Garderen was ranked fourth overall after the first stage, a performance that won him the white jersey, an award given to the best rider under the age of 25.

Van Garderen is the third American (Andy Hampsten ’86, Greg Lemond ’84) to ever wear white in the Tour de France.

Although Evans is currently the team’s captain, van Garderen hopes he can upgrade to the better and brighter yellow jersey in the tours to come. “In a few years’ time hopefully he [Evans] can pass the torch,” van Garderen said via The Washington Post.

Racing as a BMC rival for team RadioShack-Nissan, 40-year-old Chris Horner will ride in support of Luxembourg native Frank Schleck. Horner was a last-minute replacement for team RadioShack-Nissan, but he is ready to improve upon his 2011 campaign after being knocked out of the race in a brutal crash last year.

Should Schleck feel unable to perform in the latter stages of the tour, Horner would take over as the team’s captain.

Serving as the co-captain of the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team, Levi Leipheimer is another notable American rider in 2012. Leipheimer struggled in 2011, but this year, he placed third in the Tour of Switzerland, proving the 38-year-old is still in contention for the yellow jersey.

Finally, team Garmin-Sharp rounds out the 2012 American class of cyclists.

Dave Zabriskie, Tyler Farrar and Christian Vande Velde will all work to secure a victory for their team’s co-captain, Tom Danielson. Danielson placed eighth in the 2011 Tour de France, and as one of the best climbers in the world, he will make his move toward the top in the later, more mountainous stages of the race.

Danielson currently is ranked 35th in the tour, but with more than 2,000 miles left to go, the American will look to fight for a top-five finish in 2012.

Peter Sagan captured stage one of the Tour de France on Sunday. However, Sagan still finds himself trailing after a subpar performance during the day one prologue.

After the Tour’s prologue went very nearly according to plan a day ago, several names are beginning to rise and fall amongst the leaderboard that are somewhat unexpected.

What does this mean, if anything, for these fresh faces amongst the leader boards? Fortunately, or unfortunately for them, a Tour hasn’t ever been won on a solid performance on just the first or second day of the heralded event.

After all, the Tour de France isn’t a sprint; it’s an endurance test to the maximum degree.

A year ago Philippe Gilbert took the first yellow jersey but failed to maintain that momentum and faded throughout the race.

Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan led at the first time check during the prologue on Saturday. That was until a mishap at the second roundabout caused an ensuing slow-down. This blip on an otherwise solid run cost him a top-ten finish on day one of the race.

However, Sagan bounced back on day two by edging out race leader Fabian Cancellera.

His impressive performance so far has vaulted him into race winner discussions. If you didn’t recognize this Slovakian born racers name before today, it’d be due diligence to look him up after two impressive showings.

Cadel Evans Falling Behind?

The defending champion Evans isn’t out of the race just yet, but he hasn’t done enough to keep himself on pace with the leaders to this point. He’s fallen to eighth place and 17 seconds behind the leader Fabian Cancellera.

Evans is a heavy favorite of this year’s race after dominating a year ago.

Anything can happen and will happen in the coming weeks. Cadel is going to need a lot of things to fall in his favor if he is to maintain the pace and gain ground on the leaders.

Fabian Cancellera maintains lead

Cancellera is regarded by many as one of the finest time-trial specialists in cycling. Competitor and closely trailing Bradley Wiggins of England had this to say about him:

“He is the best in the world” at time trials, Wiggins said.

Cancerllera may not be the favorite to continue his performance throughout the test of the Tour, but he has certainly impressed in the early running. It will be interesting to see if he can keep up with the bigger named racers as the miles begin to rack up.

Follow Mike on Twitter @BigHoagowski

Cadel Evans has put himself in a great position to have a monstrous Day 2 at the Tour de France after a solid opening day. 

The BMC Racing member finished the opening day in 13th place but is just 17 seconds behind the leader. The full standings can be found here. 

Evans, the defending champion of the Tour, emerged as a slight favorite to win this year's event, and it'd be foolish to write him off after finding himself in a great spot to make a run toward the lead Sunday.

The Australian took to Twitter after his opening round to express his feelings on the first day.

The Tour has started...Well, everyone knows that.... Not great a start but not bad. The real stuff starts tomorrow. Nice ride Tejay!

— Cadel Evans (@CadelOfficial) June 30, 2012

RadioShack Nissan team member Fabian Cancellara continued his success of dominating the opening-day prologue by taking an early lead in the Tour.

The track in Liege is the same place where the 31-year-old topped Lance Armstrong in the opening-day event just eight years ago. Cancellara proved once again why he's heralded as the best time-trial rider in the sport.

Unfortunately for him, he struggles in the mountains and is still seen as no threat to continue his lead for much longer with the quality in the field.

The biggest obstacle standing between Evans and his second consecutive victory on the sport's biggest stage is Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins. 

Wiggins has widely been pegged as the top candidate to dethrone Evans. Surprisingly enough, a Wiggins victory at this year's Tour de France would be Britain's first ever.

Evans has 26 wins and 94 podiums to boast in his career compared to Wiggins' 21 and 46, respectively, but both riders seem to be neck-and-neck when it comes to public opinion on who the front runner is for this year's event.

Whoever wears the heralded yellow jersey at the culmination of this treacherous journey will have to endure 20 stages and nearly 3,500 kilometers. And if history is any indication, it will be Cadel Evans.

 —Stay tuned to B/R's Cycling page for up-to-date news and analysis on the Tour de France

While a dark cloud is looming over the sport of cycling for a steroid doping scandal that's more severe but less publicized than Major League Baseball's era of doping, one man is still hoping for a chance to achieve something positive. 

Cadel Evans, the Australian defending Tour De France title-holder, is looking to repeat his success. And in the process, perhaps he can provide the sport with a recognizable face that hasn't been slammed with charges from the Anti-Doping Agency, unlike legend Lance Armstrong.

But at the age of 35, will Evans be able to repeat his 2011 success? 

At first glance, Evans' age is not a major concern since there have been 22 Tour De France winners who were 30 years or older since the race resumed in 1947 after the end of WWII. 

But while a racer in his thirties winning the trophy is not terribly uncommon, a repeat win would make Evans the oldest racer to ever win during the post-war era. 

It would also make him the second-oldest winner in Tour De France history and the oldest winner since Firmin Lambot in 1922 (36 years old). 

With his age increasing, some believe they have sensed a decline. 

Evans was forced to pull out of the Amstel Gold race last April and did not finish the final 65 kilometers. 

Evans also completely missed the spring classic races in Belgium and Holland last Spring. 

The reason was unknown at the time, but Evans was forced to abandon his BMC team and pull out of the races due to a debilitating sinus infection. 

The infection has passed, and what seemed to be a slow start to the year was actually the result of a legitimate illness, rather than old age. 

In an effort to bounce back, Evans won stage one at Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month. He ultimately lost the race, but the effort was enough to prove that he has returned to form and is ready for France. 

The odds are clearly against Evans, but as a new father who adopted his son last Christmas, he'll have a little extra motivation going into this year's race. 

If Evans can become the second-oldest winner in Tour De France history, it will provide the sport with a new icon. 

And perhaps, the new icon will ultimately lead the sport past the dark cloud of the steroid era. 

Veteran cyclist George Hincapie announced he will retire in August, ending a successful 19-year career in the professional peloton.

The 38-year-old will enjoy his birthday just one day before the start of the Tour de France, where he will look to help defending champion Cadel Evans win yet again.

“This is definitely not a decision that has been easy,” Hincapie confirmed in a press statement. 

“I came to the conclusion that I want to go out while I can still contribute and make a difference. To be able to compete for 19 years as a professional cyclist has been something I would have never dreamed of doing. But at the same time, it’s also going to be good to spend more time with my kids, who are getting to be the age where they miss me when I’m gone.”

Hincapie, a longtime teammate of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, also helped Evans capture the yellow jersey last year while riding for Team BMC. 

Hincapie is a three-time national US road race champion and has won stages in the Criterium du Dauphine Libere, team time trials in the Tour de France, San Francisco Grand Prix and Gent-Wevelgem. 

In an amazing show of overall fitness and mental toughness, he has 17 finishes at Paris-Roubaix and 17 finishes of Tour of Flanders under his belt—and will make his 17th start of the Tour de France in a few weeks. 

After years of training and racing, in addition to thousands of kilometers logged while training, his body will certainly enjoy a reprieve from racing professionally.

“George was the first big rider to believe in the BMC Racing Team,” said Jim Ochowicz, BMC Racing Team President. 

“He's led us through the past three years of the Classics and Grand Tour seasons as both a leader and a teammate. I am very proud that he was able to start as a professional with me on the Motorola team in 1994 and that I'm still with him at the end of his career. It's been an honor to bookend the career of one of the nicest people and one of the greatest cyclists America has ever produced."

Hincapie spent the majority of his career helping others towards cycling glory, while sacrificing his chances at victory.  He would turn himself inside out to help a teammate fight for contention in a spring classics race, or during a grand tour -- it didn't matter where and when he would have to ride, but it was guaranteed he would show up ready to race.

In addition to his strong riding resume, Hincapie has largely avoided any of the doping drama that has ensnared several teammates, including Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, and Lance Armstrong.

The American cyclist is retiring from active racing but will still be an integral part of US rider development.  He’ll still lead the Hincapie Sportswear Company, along with participating in the BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development Cycling Team—a team dedicated to fostering new US riders.

As the curtain comes down on a remarkable 2011 Tour de France, Stage 21 proved to be the same bi-polar experience that we have seen for the last 20 years.

It started with the unveiling of a memorial to the great, two-time winner of the Tour, Laurent Fignon, who died last year after a battle with cancer.

It then went into the ceremonial neutral phase prior to the official start of the stage.

This is traditionally a photo opportunity which brought together the jersey holders from each of the classifications, Cadel Evans (GC), Mark Cavendish (points), Sammy Sanchez (KoM) and Pierre Rolland (young rider).

It also brought together Evans with the Schleck brothers, who occupy the other two steps on the podium, and it was nice to see that they were able to share a joke after almost coming to blows two days ago and battling it out for the Tour win yesterday.

It’s this sportsmanship that endears cycling to its fans and the unofficially neutralized final stage gives a rare opportunity for the riders to acknowledge the fans who have followed the race around France for the past three weeks.

It has been a memorable Tour.

From the first week which saw so many contenders fall victim to crashes, including the horror accident which saw—amongst many other things—Alexander Vinokourov disappear into the trees and fracture his femur and the ridiculous spectacle of Nicki Sorensen’s bike getting hooked up in a media motorcycle.

And who will ever forget the terrible vision of Juan Antonio Flecha being hit by a media car and Johnny Hoogerland being catapulted through a barbed wire fence.

It’s a testament to the courage of both riders that they both continued  and made it all the way to Paris and more so that Hoogerland continued to be involved in breakaways in keeping with the pattern that he established in the first week.

Andy Schleck delivered two incredible solo charges in the Alps that almost established a Tour winning lead.

We saw the emergence of Pierre Rolland who  became only the second Frenchman to win the a stage ending on the Alpe-d’Huez and claimed the only stage win for France in this year’s Tour.

Rolland rode with teammate Thomas Voeckler through every stage and guided him through the mountain stages until Voeckler released him to take his stage win.

Voeckler himself proved to be the unlikely superstar of the Tour, holding the yellow jersey through nine stages including in the Pyrenees and up until the final stage in the Alps when he finally relinquished it to Andy Schleck.

Alberto Contador had a couple of falls in the early stages, effectively destroying his chances of a fourth win, but he returned in the final week to spice up some of the final stages.

And then we saw the electrifying time-trial in the penultimate stage which saw Evans destroy the brothers Schleck to claim the yellow jersey and take his place amongst the list of winners of the Tour de France.

The final stage, however, is all about the sprinters and after Team BMC had been given the honour of leading the peloton onto the bone-rattling cobblestones of the Champs Elysees, the race for the points began in earnest.

It’s hard to think of a more impressive venue for the culmination of a sporting event than the Champs Elysees. Not only is it a beautiful avenue—the French claim it as the most beautiful in the world, La plus belle avenue du monde—it a stretch of road that is steeped in history.

We were treated to a breakaway of riders who were non-threatening to the leaders of any of the classification, leaving green jersey holder Cavendish to simply mark his closest competitor for the points title, Jose Joaquin Rojas.

Cavendish beat Rojas  to the remaining points on the interim sprint and was left with the  difficult decision as to whether to have his team try to chase down the breakaway to give him a chance of taking the prestigious stage win or continue to secure his points victory by shadowing Rojas.

Inevitably, the breakaway was caught, and we were treated to the stunning spectacle of a bunch sprint to finish the Tour.

Predictably, HTC-Highroad took their place at the head of the peloton and delivered Cavendish in the perfect position to claim the stage and secure his green jersey and finally fulfilled his destiny to become the points winner of the Tour de France and underline his status as the world’s fastest sprinter.

And so, with the Tour over we have our first Australian champion of the Tour in Cadel Evans who has now joined the ranks of Aussie sporting heroes and finally erases the pain and disappointment of the previous four Tours.

The BMC team stopped as a unit as soon as they had crossed the line and embraced not only Evans, but each other after riding an almost perfect Tour.

The win vindicates Evans’ decision to buy his way out of his Omega Pharma-Lotto contract and join the small and unheralded team BMC, a team that wasn’t even guaranteed a start in the Tour de france and in two years has developed from obscurity to being the team of the Tour de France winner.

What a great race, I can’t wait for next year.

Jersey holders for the 2011 Tour de France (from www.letour.fr)

		141	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	86h 12' 22"
		171	CAVENDISH Mark	HTC - HIGHROAD	334 pts
		21	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	108 pts
		188	ROLLAND Pierre	TEAM EUROPCAR	86h 23' 05"
			TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO		258h 18' 49"

Final General Classification Standings (from www.letour.fr)

1.	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	86h 12' 22"
2.	SCHLECK Andy	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 01' 34"
3.	SCHLECK Frank	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 02' 30"
4.	VOECKLER Thomas	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03' 20"
5.	CONTADOR Alberto	SAXO BANK SUNGARD	+ 03' 57"
6.	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 04' 55"
7.	CUNEGO Damiano	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 06' 05"
8.	BASSO Ivan	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	+ 07' 23"
9.	DANIELSON Tom	TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO	+ 08' 15"

Cadel Evans has all but won the Tour de France.

Down by 57 seconds to Andy Schleck entering the penultimate stage of cycling's best known race, which is 21 stages and 2,132 miles in length this year, the Australian used his time trial prowess to defeat the Luxemborgian by two minutes, 27 seconds, taking the overall lead by a minute-and-a-half.

Though there is still one final (albeit flat) stage—a 95 kilometer (58.9 mile) ride from Cretéil to Paris—the chances of the overall standings being altered are very slim, considering that the Tour's final stage is generally considered a "ceremonial" occasion in which the group of riders (commonly known as the peloton) cruise into the French capital.

Barring a crash or mechanical problems—both of which are unlikely to affect the final stage, considering the pack moves slow—Evans will become the first Australian to win the tour.

Coming into the second-to-last stage, many cycling pundits predicted that Evans' ability in time trials wouldn't be enough to close the gap on Schleck. Unlike normal stages, where all racers start at once, time trials feature riders starting individually, being released from the starting gate at a set interval. (This particular time trial featured a rider starting every three minutes.)

Success in time trials rely heavily on aerodynamics and the ability to "race against the clock," as competitors often rely on "splits" transmitted via radio to give them an idea of their position in comparison to other racers who have already gone.

Indeed, time trials are a much different beast than stages that are based on climbing.

However, despite much skepticism, Evans defied the odds. By the first checkpoint, located at the 15 kilometer (9.3 mile) mark, the former World Champion had closed the overall gap on Schleck to 21 seconds. At the next, this one at 17.1 miles, Evans had put 35 ticks on Schleck in the overall standings.

Despite crossing the line visibly exhausted, the Australian was no doubt thrilled with the outcome, his eyes red with tears of joy as he received the Yellow Jersey, given to the overall leader of the race.

While the defeat will be heartbreak for Schleck—whose older brother, Frank, will likely take third in the Tour—it has to be said that Evans has been knocking at the door for quite some time.

The 34-year-old placed second in both 2007 and 2008, finishing behind Spaniards Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre, respectively. Schleck also has a pair of seconds, from the 2009 and 2010 editions. Needless to say, both riders had plenty of desire to emerge victorious this year.

Though it is all but certain that he will have to wait another year, Schleck—unlike Evans—likely has plenty more chances left. Many professional cyclists retire from racing in their mid-to-late thirties, as the impact of racing often takes a toll on their aging bodies. Evans is in the twilight of his career; the man from Luxemborg is still by and large in the "day."

Despite the all-but-certain loss by their favorite rider, many fans of Schleck are happy for Evans, as he has virtually claimed cycling's biggest prize before calling time on his illustrious career.

Regardless of affiliation, it will likely be nice for cycling supporters to see one of the sport's most humble and likeable characters standing atop the podium tomorrow afternoon in Paris.

It is remarkable that after 3,300 kilometres and 83 hours in the saddle, the 2011 Tour de France is still a race of seconds.

Of the top three riders, the gap between them was less than a minute. The battle for honours between Andy Schleck and brother Frank from the Leopard-Trek team and Cadel Evans from team BMC, came down to a total of 57 seconds.

Between them, the Schleck brothers are one of the finest climbing combinations in world cycling. Andy has been prominent in the Tour de France for the past three years, winning the best young rider jersey in each of those years and finishing second in the past two Tours.

Evans was runner-up in the Tour in 2007 and 2008, but injury, illness and team troubles cost him his 2009 Tour, and a fractured elbow last year destroyed his Tour chances.

This year, the Schlecks have looked to dominate the Tour and were the driving force behind the race.

They put together a magnificent team and attacked the last two stages over the biggest peaks in the Alps and did everything in their power to secure their victory before the individual time-trial of the penultimate stage.

Evans, on the other hand, did it the hard way. With an inferior team and little support within the peloton Evans had to counter every attack on his own, which he did with brute force and strength of character.

And so, the 2011 Tour came down to the time-trial. The Schlecks have always struggled with the ITT, Evans has always relished it.

While the Schlecks are built for climbing, Evans is built for riding cadence over long distances with power and precision.

And so it proved as the day unfolded.

History told us that Evans would outperform the Schlecks over this course and this distance, but it has been a grueling Tour with some massive stages and, as one reader has consistently pointed out, at 34 he’s heading towards the end of his career.

It would come down to who had the most left in the legs after the Alps.

As the time-trial unfolded it was clear that Evans would easily beat Andy Schleck.

At the 15km time check he had already pulled back 36 seconds, by the second check Evans was ahead and at the end of the stage, he had not only eclipsed the 57 second deficit, he had established a 1:34 lead over Schleck the younger.

In a remarkable performance, Cadel Evans secured victory in the 2011 Tour de France.

Thirty years after Aussie Phil Anderson became the first non-European to wear the yellow jersey, Evans becomes the first Australian to secure victory in the world’s greatest annual sporting event.

It must be a bitter pill for Andy Schleck to swallow. He takes out the runner-up position for the third year in succession. He will go on to win the Tour, probably many Tours, but today’s effort will take some time to process.

Evans now has the luxury of riding into Paris in the yellow jersey.

Tradition has it that no one attacks the yellow jersey leader on the final day of the Tour, so barring something very strange happening, he will be presented as Tour champion on the Champs Elysees tomorrow.

The emotion of the day, the culmination of a grueling Tour, and the burying of demons from Tours past burst through as Evans was presented with his yellow jersey. It was a magnificent effort, and one that should be applauded.

Jersey holders after Stage 20 (from www.letour.fr)

		141	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	83h 45' 20"
		171	CAVENDISH Mark	HTC - HIGHROAD	280 pts
		21	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	108 pts
		188	ROLLAND Pierre	TEAM EUROPCAR	83h 56' 03"
			TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO		250h 57' 43"

General Classification standings after Stage 20 (from www.letour.fr)

1.	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	83h 45' 20"
2.	SCHLECK Andy	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 01' 34"
3.	SCHLECK Frank	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 02' 30"
4.	VOECKLER Thomas	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03' 20"
5.	CONTADOR Alberto	SAXO BANK SUNGARD	+ 03' 57"
6.	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 04' 55"
7.	CUNEGO Damiano	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 06' 05"
8.	BASSO Ivan	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	+ 07' 23"
9.	DANIELSON Tom	TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO	+ 08' 15"
10.	PERAUD Jean-Christophe	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 10' 11"

The final day in the mountains for the 2011 Tour de France was always going to be pivotal, providing the last opportunity for riders to pick up big time gaps on their competitors.

It’s also the best opportunity for a last-ditch, desperate attempt to get back into contention. Sometimes that works, and sometimes, like today, it’s all just a big waste of energy.

At least for some.

It was another day for an early attack by the leaders and Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Thomas Voeckler and Cadel Evans.

On the climb up the Col du Telegraphe, Voeckler cracked and Evans appeared to be similarly in trouble but was apparently having problems with the gears on his bike. He lost around a minute waiting to get a replacement from the team car.

We were treated to the unlikely eventuality of Contador and Andy Schleck cooperating on the way up the Col du Galibier hoping to destroy Evans and Voeckler once and for all.

It was not to be.

For the second day in succession, Cadel Evans was forced to single-handedly dragged the peloton—or what was left of it—back into contact with Contador and Andy Schleck on the descent off the Galibier.

It was all going to come down to the final climb of the Tour.

Contador attacked again and was establishing a significant gap and looked very much like he was riding himself back into contention, but the efforts of the last two days took their toll, and the last five kilometers proved too much.

The battle of interest was between Andy Schleck and Evans up the Alpe-d’Huez. Evans was content to sit on Schleck’s wheel which led to a physical confrontation between the two, with some shoulder barging as Schleck tried to convince Evans to take his turn at the front of the bunch.

Eventually Evans did go to the front and drove to the line.

As riders approach the peak of the Alpe d’Huez, the crowd got a bit too close for comfort.

Cycling is a people’s sport, and the characters who line the route make the race as special as it is, but sooner or later, one of the drunken clowns is going to cause an accident and destroy someone’s Tour chance—or maybe something even worse.

French rider Pierre Rolland finally claimed a stage victory for France, causing a national sigh of relief, but the yellow jersey was taken off the shoulder of a Frenchman and taken by Andy Schleck, with brother Frank 53 seconds back and Evans a further four seconds away.

Cadel Evans may well have ridden himself to a Tour de France victory. The Schlecks’ time-trial performance this year has been very ordinary, and on form alone, Evans should be far superior.

The unknown is how much the efforts of the last few days has taken out of the riders. Andy Schleck pulled up only metres after the finish line and looked very distressed, how well he recovers will determine his chances of an overall victory.

The yellow jersey weighs heavily on some shoulders, but for others—like Voeckler—it gives them extra energy. It will be interesting to see how Andy carries it.

Today was an amazing stage, worthy of the special place that the Alpe-d'Huez holds in the hearts of cycling fans the world over.

This Tour is a long way from being decided.

Jersey holders after Stage 19 (from www.letour.fr)

		11	SCHLECK Andy	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	82h 48' 43"
		171	CAVENDISH Mark	HTC - HIGHROAD	300 pts
		21	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	108 pts
		188	ROLLAND Pierre	TEAM EUROPCAR	82h 57' 40"
			TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO		248h 02' 15"

General classification standings after Stage 19 (from www.letour.fr)

1.	SCHLECK Andy	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	82h 48' 43"
2.	SCHLECK Frank	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 00' 53"
3.	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 00' 57"
4.	VOECKLER Thomas	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 02' 10"
5.	CUNEGO Damiano	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 03' 31"
6.	CONTADOR Alberto	SAXO BANK SUNGARD	+ 03' 55"
7.	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 04' 22"
8.	BASSO Ivan	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	+ 04' 40"
9.	DANIELSON Tom	TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO	+ 07' 11"
10.	ROLLAND Pierre	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 08' 57"