Alberto Contador's Tour de France chances suffered an early blow on Saturday when the Spaniard crashed with about 80 km left in the first stage.
French health authorities, on Saturday, introduced stricter regulations for exclusions from the Tour in the event of coronavirus cases.
Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement and compete in next year's Tour de France, the cycling magazine VeloNews reported on Monday. Velonews cited sources on its website as saying that Armstrong, 36, would compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphine-Libere and the Tour de France.
Battered and bruised, the Tour de France begins the 17th stage on Thursday minus its leader.
Hold your breath as Rediff.com brings to you some of the picturesque places that the cyclists race through at the Tour.
While the yellow jersey positions hardly moved, Briton Bradley Wiggins being content with staying out of trouble to retain his second place - seven seconds behind.
The build-up to the Lance Armstrong drama has possibly seen its last as the United States anti-doping agency (USADA) has stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and issued a lifetime ban from cycling, the BBC reported on Friday.
Chris Froome took another big step towards a third Tour de France title when he dropped his main rivals in the finale of the 17th stage, a 184-km mountain trek won by Russian Ilnur Zakarin on Wednesday.
Greg van Avermaet, one of cycling's nearly men, enjoyed a rare victory when he claimed the 13th stage of the Tour de France on Friday with a late burst of speed in an uphill finale.
The American became the fifth person to win the prestigious event five times and also the second to have five straight Tour victories to his credit.
Briton Mark Cavendish snatched his 21st Tour de France stage win when he prevailed in a bunch sprint at the end of a 207.5-kilometres ride.
The World No 1 sustained the pace in the climbs up to the Col de Vars and the Col d'Izoard, both culminating at more than 2,000 metres, but then lost ground when his compatriot Thibaut Pinot accelerated to rein in defending champion Geraint Thomas.
A look at the main Tour de France contenders ahead of Saturday's first stage, a 14-km individual time trial in Duesseldorf:
Riders were in a state of shock on the first rest day of the Tour de France after Sunday's chaotic and crash-strewn ninth stage.
Three-time holder of the green jersey sprinters' classification at Tour de France, Robbie McEwen and Elia Vivani, who represent RadioShack of the USA are among the cyclists who will participate in a two-stage international Class I cycling race to be held in Nashik and Mumbai next month.
Caleb Ewan claimed his second victory in this year's Tour de France when he prevailed in a tightly contested sprint to win the 11th stage,
Frenchman Alaphilippe retains lead.
Seven-times winner Lance Armstrong will make a Tour de France comeback next year, his spokesman told Reuters on Monday. The 37-year-old rider announced in September he was coming out of retirement for the 2009 season.
Italian Riccardo Ricco won the sixth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday while Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen seized the overall leader's yellow jersey. The Giro d'Italia runner-up, also known as "The Cobra", attacked in the final metres of a category-two climb to Super-Besse to beat Spain's Alejandro Valverde and Australian Cadel Evans, second and third respectively.
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador found the time he spent off the road with Astana team mate Lance Armstrong tougher than the race itself, the Spaniard said on Monday. The 26-year-old picked up his second Tour title in Paris on Sunday, finishing ahead of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck and Armstrong who came third.
World champion Tom Boonen stepped off his bike 59 km from the finish of the 15th stage over 187 km from Gap to l'Alpe d'Huez.
The Tour de France was hit by doping again on Wednesday when Moises Duenas Nevado of the Barloworld team became the second Spaniard to test positive for the blood-boosting erythropoietin (EPO). The French-Anti Doping Agency (AFLD) said that Duenas Nevado, who joined Barloworld two years ago, had failed a dope test after last week's fourth stage, a time trial in Cholet.
Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France before the 15th stage to Prato Nevoso, his Team Columbia said.
Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez claimed his maiden Tour de France victory when he took the seventh stage with a bold solo attack in the finale of a 159-km ride from Brioude to Aurillac on Friday.
Britons David Millar and Bradley Wiggins will be the riders to watch when the Tour de France starts with a 7.9-km prologue in London.
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) won the 13th stage of the Tour de France, a 37.5-km individual time trial from Bourg-Saint-Andeol on Friday.
Alberto Contador has promised a more exciting Tour de France this year after Bradley Wiggins's Team Sky dominated all the way to the Champs-Elysees in the 2012 edition.
The American cyclist will not participate in any race in France till the end of his disciplinary hearing.
Belgian Tom Boonen clinched his first win in two years on the Tour de France when he took the race's sixth stage, a 199.5-km ride from Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse on Friday.
Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo were named in a doping investigation in Spain
British journeyman Stephen Cummings earned South African team MTN-Qhubeka a landmark victory on Mandela Day when he spoiled a French party to take a surprise win in the 14th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday.
Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France when he claimed the 99th edition of the greatest cycling race on Sunday.
Briton David Millar showed composure to claim his fourth Tour de France stage win when he prevailed in the 12th stage, a 226-km ride from St Jean de Maurienne on Friday.
Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France after Briton Mark Cavendish took Sunday's final stage on the Champs Elysees for the third year in a row.
Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong on Thursday was sued by a company that paid him about $12 million for three of his seven Tour de France wins that have since been stripped from him for his use of banned drugs.
France's Romain Bardet of AG2r-La Mondiale won the 18th stage of the Tour de France, a 186.5-km trek from Gap on Thursday.
The 31-year-old three-time winner of the world's biggest bike race, tweeted a picture of the twisted remains of his "totaled" training bike, saying he had been deliberately knocked off by the driver.
The Slovenian played it safe on the last climb of the day but it was enough for him to move to the top of the standings in a ninth stage won by Tour debutant Pogacar.
The overall standings remained unchanged at the top with Thomas leading defending champion Froome by one minute 39 seconds and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 1:50.
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