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The first three stages through the Pyrenees haven’t yielded the clear leader most of us were hoping for. Instead, the 31 second lead held by Andy Schleck has been erased, and Alberto Contador now holds an 8 second lead. Since my last post, both Denis Menchov (2 minutes back) and Samuel Sanchez (2 minutes 13 seconds back) have been able to close the gap on the leaders.

Stage 2 played out exactly as one would expect. The peleton chased down a non threatening breakaway, ending in a typical sprinters dual, with Cavendish beating all and Tyler Farrar best of the rest. Hushovd coming in a respectful 4th.
Stage 3 showed the value of experience. Only Cavendish and Hushovd made the break when team [...]

One of the sporting world’s great annual endurance events begins anew. Running from Saturday July 4th to Sunday July 26th, the 96th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages with 180 riders hoping to complete a total distance of 3,500 kilometers (over 2,170 miles).

What a climactic close to the 100th anniversary of this prestigious bike race as Russia’s Denis Menchov survived a fall on a rain-soaked final stage to win the Giro d’Italia in dramatic fashion in Rome on Sunday.

Searching for his third Grand Prix victory and first here, the Rabobank rider seemed to have the world’s second-biggest stage race in his grasp with a 20-second lead before Sunday’s 14.4-kilometer time-trial, but the conditions quickly turned hazardous making Rome’s slippery cobblestones even slicker.

Michele Scarponi of the Diquigiovanni team won the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday as the race crossed into Austria.

Scarponi, who won March’s Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, finished the 248-kilometer (154 mile) stage in five hours, 49 minutes, 55 seconds. Scarponi was part of a five-rider breakaway that led the race for most of the day before the Italian dropped his companions and rode alone across the finish line. Danilo Di Luca of Italy held on to the overall leader’s pink jersey after finishing 36 seconds back.