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Norway's Thor Hushovd wins the second stage of the Tour de France in an exciting sprint finish.

Today we have a 164.5 kilometer stage from Auray to Saint Brieuc. It features the first 3rd Category climb of the race, the Cote de Mur-de-Bretagne, along with 3 more 4th Category climbs and 3 intermediate sprints. Drug tests were conducted this morning on the Lampre, CSC-Saxo Bank, Columbia, and Saunier Duval squads. All riders were cleared to race. Mauricio Soler took the start with a fractured wrist. The 2007 King of the Mountains was injured in a crash late on yesterday's stage. Garmin-Chipotle's Danny Pate was involved in the day's first break, along with Jens Voigt, Bernhard Eisel, Fabian...

Alejandro Valverde is in yellow as stage two sees the riders travel 164.5km across Brittany from Auray to Saint-Brieuc.

I always review the nationalities breakdown for the Tour, with a special eye toward the English-speaking countries. Here's last year's, for comparison. USA George Hincapie, Team Columbia Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle Will Frischkorn, Garmin-Chipotle Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle This is the least in years, with Freddie Rodriguez riding in the U.S., Bobby Julich not selected, Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer barred with Astana, and David Zabriskie nursing a back injury. Australia Baden Cooke, Barloworld Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto Simon Gerrans, Credit Agricole Adam Hansen, Team Columbia Brett Lancaster, Milram Trent Lowe, Garmin-Chipotle Robbie McEwen, Silence-Lotto Stuart O'Grady, CSC-Saxo Bank Mark Renshaw, Credit...

Spanish champion Alejandro Valverde showed tremendous power in closing down late attacks by Kim Kirchen and Stefan Schumacher and smoking to the first stage victory and overall leadership. Stage 1 Results and Overall Classification (updated) 1) Alejandro Valverde, Caisse d'Epargne 2) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, @ :01 3) Jerome Pineau, Bouygues Telecom, s.t. 4) Kim Kirchen, Team Columbia, s.t. 5) Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval-Scott, s.t. 6) Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, s.t. 7) Fränk Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, s.t. 8) Filippo Pozzato, Liquigas, s.t. 9) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t. 10) Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t. It's the first day in yellow for...

It's Christmas in July for U.S. Tour fans, as the Versus network has revamped its broadcast team. Gone is Al Trautwig, who combined bombast and ignorance in staggering proportions. Replacing him is Craig Hummer, a former competitive swimmer and professional lifeguard who also has anchored bull riding and sailing coverage for Versus. Hummer kicked off the network's broadcasters' jersey competition by picking outstanding climber Riccardo Ricco to win today's stage which finishes with a “sprinter's hill” over the last 2 kilometers. Update: Ricco was 5th, so that was a pretty good pick after all. I can't tell if Trautwig's absence...

It's like a classic for the jersey today, as the Tour foregoes a prologue and gives the leader's jersey to the first man to finish a 197.5 kilometer stage in Brittany, the far west of France. To borrow from Liggett, this one's got a sting in the tail, as there's a tough climb up to the finish that would seem to preclude the field sprint experts and throw things toward the classics specialists and sprint opportunists like Zabel and Freire. Eight riders went away early: Jegou (FdJ), Voeckler (Bouyges), Auge (Cofidis), de La Fuente (Saunier Duval), Perez (Euskaltel), Arrieta and...

Stage one of the 2008 Tour sees the race travel from Brest to Plumelec with Britain's Mark Cavendish among the starters.

Tour de France 2008 | Riders' list Silence-Lotto's Cadel Evans starts the 2008 with the big fat bullseye of race number 1 on his back. Evans was 2nd in last year's Tour, and organizers gave him the easiest number in the race to spot after prohibiting the Astana team of last year's race winner, Alberto Contador, from competing in this year's race. Garmin-Chipotle's Danny Pate sits at the other end of the train, wearing rider number 199. Mauricio Soler of Barloworld, the defending King of the Mountains, starts in “lucky” number 51.

"I could not make a fast bend and went flying speedway style into the bushes"

Google Maps - Tour de France 2008 Google is taking Street View on the road. The 3D panorama view for Google Maps is already available in dozens of US cities, allowing you to fly through stitched-together photos of San Francisco's Lombard Street, Broadway, or Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami. Now, Google is taking the tech outside the United States for the first time, offering Street View for not just the cosmopolitan parts of this year's Tour, but the entire route, from start to finish. Combined with a Google Maps .kml file of the route, you can fly through the...

Mark Cavendish and David Millar carry British hopes when the 2008 Tour de France gets under way in Brittany on Saturday.

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