The 2010 USA Cycling cyclocross nationals in Bend, Oregon, will feature a longer course than last year, with a new bridge/spectator underpass plus some new off-camber corners.

Organizers of the December 8-12 event, held in Bend for the second consecutive year, released a map of the new course and a preliminary event schedule on Thursday.

The new 2010 race course is similar to last year’s, with a staircase run-up and two barriers, and several technical sections. This year the course is approximately 500 yards longer, includes three straight-aways, three off-camber sections, and a ride-over bridge that will also serve as a spectator underpass entrance to the in-field and beer garden.

“The new course will have similar technical challenges as the 2009 course, but now includes long straight-aways and additional off-camber features that will challenge every type of rider and will definitely produce worthy national champions,” said Brad Ross, the race director.

Organizers released an event schedule that includes a variety of competitions, entertainment, cultural and social meet-ups, in addition to five days of racing.

“This year’s ‘cross nats will be a five-day nonstop celebration of the cyclocross lifestyle,” said Doug La Placa, president and CEO of Visit Bend.

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Right in the heart of metropolian Houston, Texas is a big park, Memorial Park with an even bigger secret: an intricate network of mountain bike trails hidden away in thick woods offering some of the best dirt riding you can find.

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The National Racing Calendar closed out last weekend at Chris Thater and USA Crits is on a break until the finale in Dallas on September 16. The women’s season is all but concluded and the men’s U.S. Professional Road Championships are still a couple weeks out. Fall is just around the corner and that means time for quality, regional stage racing in Vermont and Colorado and the Gateway Cup in St. Louis.

Gateway Cup – St. Louis, Missouri
September 3-6

The Gateway Cup four-day omnium kicks off Friday night under the lights of the Lafayette district and continues through Labor Day. The favorites in the men’s events include new U.S. crit champ Daniel Holloway (Bissell) and Brad Huff (Jelly Belly-Kenda). The women’s field is packed with Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) no doubt hoping to close her season out on an up note over U23 national champ Samantha Schneider (Tibco-To the Top) and Carrie Cash-Wootten (Vera Bradley Foundation).

Day 1: Studio 2108 Tour de Lafayette
September 3 8:30 p.m. (women) / 9:30 p.m. (men)
45 min + 5 laps (women) / 75 min + 5 laps (men)

Day 2: Big Shark Bicycle Co. Tour des Hills
September 4 3:30 p.m. (women) / 4:30 p.m. (men)
45 min + 5 laps (women) / 75 min + 5 laps (men)

Day 3: Giro Della Montagna
September 5 4:15 p.m. (women) / 5:50 p.m. (men)
45 min + 5 laps (women) / 75 min + 5 laps (men)

Day 4: Greenstreet Properties Benton Park Classic
September 6 2:20 p.m. (women) / 3:30 p.m. (men)
50 min + 5 laps (women) / 75 min + 5 laps (men)

Green Mountain Stage Race – Waitsfield, Vermont
September 3-6

The GMSR kicks off Friday in Vermont. Canadian road champion Will Routley (Jelly Belly-Kenda) and Jake Keough (UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis) will be on hand, as will the full Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team of Jamey Driscoll (Jamis-Sutter Home), Tim Johnson (UnitedHealthcare) and Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly). Irish champ Olivia Dillon (Peanut Butter & Co.-Twenty12), Megan Guarnier (Tibco-To the Top) and Janel Holcomb (Team Danbury Audi-Cyfac) are among the elite women set for the four-stage affair.

Stage 1: Champion System Time Trial
September 3 9:15 a.m. (women) / 10:50 a.m. (men)
5.7 miles

Stage 2: The Bridges Circuit Race
September 4 8:50 a.m. (women) / 1:00 p.m. (men)
53 miles (women) / 72 miles (men)

Stage 3: Mad River Road Race
September 5 8:30 a.m. (men) / 9:50 a.m. (women)

Stage 4: Dealer.com Burlington Criterium
September 6 2:10 p.m. (women) / 3:50 p.m. (men)
25 laps (women) / 50 laps (men)

Steamboat Springs Stage Race
September 3-6

The second annual event in the ski area town of Steamboat Springs rolls out beneath Mount Werner on Friday. Peter Stetina and Timmy Duggan (Garmin-Transitions) as well as their 2011 teammate Caleb Fairly (Holowesko Partners), and Marc de Maar and Chris Baldwin (UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis) highlight the men’s startlist. Uber veteran and current French TT champion Jeannie Longo (Vital Plus) is the top favorite on the women’s startlist.

Prologue: Aspire Time Trial
September 3 4:07 p.m. (women) / 4:25 p.m. (men)
6.2 miles

Stage 1: Marabou Ranch Circuit Race
September 4 12:30 p.m. (men) / 3:15 p.m. (women)
45 miles (men) / 31.5 miles (women)

Stage 2: Moots Road Race
September 5 8:00 a.m. (men) / 1:00 p.m. (women)
70 miles (men) / 55 miles (women)

Stage 3: Ski and Bike Kare Criterium
September 6 1:45 p.m. (women) / 2:40 p.m. (men)
45 minutes (women) / 60 minutes (men)

When was the last time you bought a new pair of road shoes, tinkered with the cleats for a few minutes, and then promptly proceeded to log nearly twelve hours of hard alpine asphalt riding in them over the course of one weekend? For that matter, has someone ever handed you a brand new pair of mountain bike shoes three days before your first one-hundred-mile mountain bike race, and then you went on to win said mountain bike race, wearing said shoes, in record time?

The latter honor goes to Levi Leipheimer, winner of this year’s Leadville 100 race. As the story goes, Giro product managers handed him a brand new pair of Giro Code mountain bike shoes literally in the airport as he was departing California for Colorado and the race. Wearing the brand new shoes, he set a new course record.

And although not entirely planned, the former experience is mine, wearing the new Giro Factor road shoes. Giro marketers chose Livigno, Italy as the venue to introduce to the world their new line of seven shoe models (four road and three mountain). Naturally they mapped out some riding. However, they didn’t plan for unexpectedly long routes, chilly weather, and challenging climbs.

Fortunately it all worked out for the good – I suffered no tingly toes, hotspots, heel lift, blisters, or other symptoms of ill-fitting footwear. From my perspective at least, Giro has clearly done their footwork in terms of fit and features.

It’s no surprise coming from a company that’s already known for class-leading helmets and a relatively new but increasingly popular (and high-performance) line of gloves. Over the course of the weekend it became clear that between Livigno and Levi, the California-based company put a lot of work into cobbling the new kicks.

True, every foot is different. Different folks need different fits. In fact, another editor flatly stated over breakfast that the mountain bike shoes weren’t working for his low-volume, narrow feet. But after twelve hours in the Factors, I’d say Giro is on its way to kicking down the cycling footwear door and their competitors should take note.

Redefining stock comfort, one thing at a time … for a long time

In taking the decision to build shoes, Giro designers leveraged every advantage they could find. One advantage was time – with no high-pressure timeline for introduction, they spent a full two years just building the shoe last. A last is the nylon, foot-shaped form around which a shoe is built. After fully sixteen revisions and a range of inputs, they settled on medium-volume lasts for the new shoes. They also made separate, differently shaped lasts for the two women’s shoes in the line (one road and one mountain, with more on the way).

Spending this kind of time just refining a foot model seems silly, especially when stock foot forms can easily be sourced off the shelf. But company designers wanted precise fit, securely molded heel cups for retention, and adequate volume to accommodate a range of foot sizes and a range of insoles.

Part of the insole option comes directly from Giro, who designed a new insole system to go with their new shoes. Called the SuperNatural Fit Kit, the system includes a stock insole that mates via Velcro to any of three different included arch supports. The arch supports dock underneath the insole (keeping the contours under your feet smooth and soft) and come in a range of low, medium and high. They’re made from firm but forgiving foam to conform to different feet.

Furthermore, knowing that many riders are turning to custom orthotics for improved comfort and arch support, Giro shoes are designed to fit with either their stock insoles or with aftermarket or custom orthotic insoles. Normally I can’t stand shoes without installing my own orthotics, but Giro’s high arch supports in the SuperNatural kit actually nearly did the trick for me, making those long hours on the bike comfortable.

The final piece of Giro’s fit puzzle included extensive attention to the carbon fiber soles (or plates) on top of which all the shoes are built. Company designers sought light weight, usable stiffness for power transfer, and sensible fit. To that end, they enlisted help from Easton carbon fiber engineers. Easton and Giro are part of the same sporting goods company. Easton tested a range of competitors’ carbon soles for weight and stiffness, then designed their own to minimize weight yet retain stiffness where it was needed. They even used real time digital foot pressure mapping to understand more clearly the loads exerted on the sole of a cycling shoe.

As a result, Giro’s Easton-branded carbon soles are quite flat across their width and they are very thin at the toe and heel. They’re also competitively light and stiff, and just 6.5mm thick above the cleat, making for a very low stack height. The design contrasts with many shoe makers who have turned to cupped or concave soles with carbon that curves up around the edges and perimeter. Giro feels that designs like this inhibit comfort by confining the wearer’s feet to a rigid, unyielding “tub” of sorts. Giro wanted their soft, pliable upper to extend all the way down to the shoe sole so that any foot volume “spillover” would be free of pressure points.

Also in contrast to certain shoe designs, Giro wanted a neutral platform, free of any built-in varus or valgus wedge or cant. It’s become common for bike fitters to wedge shoes and cleats to correct perceived irregularities in rider’s pedal strokes. Some shoes have this built in. But after consulting with Todd Carver of Retul bike fitting (preferred fitter for RadioShack, Sky, HTC-Columbia, and others), Giro decided to create neutral shoes. They felt that if bike fitters wanted to add wedge correction after the fact, that was their decision but they didn’t want to force a fit on customers that didn’t need it (or didn’t know, or for that matter didn’t care).

So, about those shoes

Giro’s got four road models and three mountain bike models coming to stores in February 2011.

The Prolight SLX is Giro’s flagship, ultralight road shoe. Claimed weight on a size 42 hovers just over 200 grams, and the retail price will be $350. Levi Leiphiemer already made these shoes famous by taking them on a certain cycling trip through France in July. They feature titanium hardware (including cleat inserts and D-rings for the three Velcro straps). The uppers are made from very light, thin (1.1mm), and supple microfiber called Teijin AG100 that is rarely used for cycling shoes. The sole is Giro’s top of the line, 60-gram Easton EC90 SLX with high-modulus carbon. The SuperNatural Fit Kit footbed system is included.

I rode the Factor, Giro’s fully featured $280 pro-level road shoe. If the Prolight shoes are like Giro’s ultralight Prolight helmet, the Factor shoes equate to their Ionos helmet which features more adjustability, more robust construction, and generally more of an “all-day” piece of gear. The Factor shoes claim roughly 250-gram weight, a ratchet buckle closure plus two Velcro straps, and Giro’s slightly heavier Easton EC90 carbon sole. This shoe comes with the SuperNatural Fit kit.

For $200, you can get all the fit technology of the top-end shoes (minus the SuperNatural Fit kit) in Giro’s Trans shoe. Slightly heavier materials keep the cost down but the shoes are based on the same architecture and patterns as the lighter, most costly models. Even so, the Trans claims a weight of just 270 grams, which for anyone counting, is about 60 grams less than many premium Italian shoes that cost twice as much. The sole is a carbon/glass fiber blend.

For women, there’s the sweet-looking Espada, built on a female-specific foot form (aka, last). It’s a $200 shoe that mimics the Trans in terms of materials. More women’s shoes are in the pipeline.

And on the mountain side, the models are the Code ($280) and Gauge ($200), and the Sica for women ($200). They all feature injection molded outsole lugs, carbon sole plates, scuff-guard armored and more supportive upper material. Their blend of competitive weight (about 350 grams) and features will make them equally at home on the race course or on epic trail rides.

One step at a time

Only time will tell if Giro shoes ultimately live up to their splashy Italian introduction. Company designers pointed repeatedly to Leipheimer’s notoriously finicky involvement with shape, features, and fit. He figures prominently in photography and literature. And nobody will disagree with a pro rider adopting new shoes – it’s a rarity. But who’s to say if his demands align with the needs of average cyclists everywhere? And will the shiny shoes hold up for the long haul?

So far, I’d say Giro did fine work melding magic and performance for super elite racers with comfort and traditional construction for weekend warriors. I for one managed to soldier through a demanding saddle schedule with no discomfort and growing admiration for the fit details. And keep your eyes open – competition on the footwear playing field is only going to get hotter.

Greetings cyclocross racers, I’d like to share three workouts to help take your cyclocross game to the next level. I presume nearly all of you have been racing and are participating in a local mid-week CX group ride or “hotlap” session. If you aren’t – that’s your next level before these workouts. Head on over to your local cyclocross course and hold mock four-to-five-lap races. Toe a makeshift start line, say “go” and chase each other around for bragging rights. Ride with stronger riders who will push you harder than you would on your own. Ride hard, practice your technical skills while on the rivet and keep it as simple as that. But for those of you I know that have already been tearing the “Wednesday Worlds” up, and want to take your performance up a notch or two, read on.

These three workouts encompass the cyclocross version of the specificity article I wrote for VeloNews.com last year. To figure out what’s beneficial cyclocross training, it’s helpful to understand what happens during a race. I don’t think it will surprise any cyclocross racer to hear that cyclocross racing is an anaerobic sport. It’s hard, it hurts and here’s why as illustrated by this cyclocross race power data:

In this race, the longest continuous stretch of power output was for 23 seconds. Most segments were in the 4-8 second range and 125-200 percent greater than the rider’s threshold power. A third of the race was anaerobic and another third less than 170 watts: throttle wide open or not at all (see power distribution graph below).

That’s just how ’cross is: pedal hard for a short period of time, negotiate an obstacle or barrier and get back on the “gas,” otherwise known as stomping on the pedals. Go hard, jump, run, jump, run some more, accelerate, slow down, accelerate, and go hard again. All in little high-powered anaerobic periods of time.

Now, we can’t go around doing 5-second intervals at 150–200 percent of threshold power. That would be silly, and besides that’s what the group rides and races are for. They are the ultimate in specificity training. They are the ultimate in specificity training. But we can break down the important parts of a cyclocross race and mimic what happens with the three following workouts:

Short Anaerobic Intervals:

Forty-five second and 1-minute intervals pack a lot of anaerobic adaptations per workout. But for ’cross, I like to shorten the duration and increase the intensity (wattage) for a more specific training session. Lately, I’ve been using myself as a guinea pig and performing Tabata Intervals in this format:

2-3 sets of 7 x 20 seconds On FULL GAS, 10 seconds OFF with 4 minutes between sets.

The physiological benefits of Tabata Intervals have been widely published in the scientific literature but I find there’s an additional mental benefit specific to cyclocross as well: “going” again mentally when the body isn’t ready. The ten-second recovery period is far from adequate and that’s essentially what cyclocross feels like – having to go hard again without a proper recovery period. The first two to three Tabata repetitions aren’t bad but then the 10-second recovery period catches up very quickly for an incredibly difficult workout. At that point, in order to successfully complete this workout, athletes need to dig deep mentally to “go again.” Because this is very similar to racing cross, Tabata intervals are as good for your legs as they can be for your head.

Race Start Simulation:

The first lap of a cyclocross race is uber important. Racers go from 80 beats per minute to 180 bpm and then hold that intensity for the rest of the race. Practice your race starts beginning with one foot unclipped on the ground on your imaginary start line at your local cyclocross course. Accelerate as hard as you can, clipping into the pedal as smoothly as you can. Go hard for 1 minute. Real hard. Try 125 percent of your threshold power hard; maybe even 150 percent.

Add a barrier section to this 1-minute race simulation, a deceleration, acceleration, or a run up – combine all the technical elements of ’cross into this full-gas effort — because there’s a big difference in your technical skills going easy and going full tilt. After the initial 1 minute, keep the pressure on and perform 2-3 hot laps while working on your technical cross skills. This race simulation is the cyclocross version of the mountain bike race start article Jason Hilimire wrote for SingleTrack.com this summer.

If you have a group of eight or more crossers, half the group up into two for a 1-lap race start simulation while the other half rests. When the first group finishes, then the next group goes. Each group experiences 1 lap “On” and 1 lap “Off.” Repeat three-to-five times to reinforce and improve your race start accelerations, clipping in smoothly and going hard while fighting for position toe-to-toe. If you’ve been timid at the start of a ’cross race, this is your chance to work on being more aggressive.

Motorpacing:

If you want to get more out of your body on any given day than you could on your own, motorpacing is the ticket. There’s nothing more motivating in a workout than having a wheel to hold on to. I know the logistics for nearly all of our readers are difficult, but it’s such a quality workout for cyclocross that motorpacing deserves mention. After all, suffering like nobody’s business to maintain your position is CX in a nutshell. And staying on the wheel of a motor is just that.

Bursty power is the name of the game, much like the power graph above. Drafting behind a motor produces short high powered anaerobic outputs and mimics the power demands of ’cross, sans the technical aspects.

If you are lucky enough to have motorpacing as training option perform this workout by feel. A good once-a-week motorpacing workout should feel hard overall, and very hard multiple times during the 45-60 minute session. Have your driver keep the throttle steady and smooth for average speeds between 25-33 mph (depending on your ability level), slower uphill and faster downhill. Let the terrain take care of the intensity and remember the number one rule of motorpacing: stay on the wheel no matter what (all safety considerations, aside). Yes, it’s hard but so is cyclocross!

If you are racing consecutively each weekend, pick your poison from one of these workouts mid-week. Add in two rest days per week (before and after each race) and you practically have your weekly training set up. Be creative setting up your practice cyclocross course(s) and don’t forget your technical skills practice. Have fun, but work hard. Hup Hup!

Frank Overton is the head coach and owner of FasCat Coaching, a cycling coaching company in Boulder, Colorado. For cyclocross training, Frank regularly tastes his own medicine with the workouts above. For more information about Frank, FasCat Coaching and their coaching services please email frank@FasCatCoaching.com

They’re rivals now, but next season, Tyler Farrar and Thor Hushovd will ride side-by-side on the new-look Garmin-Cervélo team.

The arrival to Garmin of Hushovd and six more riders, including Heinrich Haussler, will incredibly strengthen the team’s classics team as well as bolster its sprinter depth.

Just moments after his stage victory in Lorca at the Vuelta a España, VeloNews asked Farrar how he thinks the arrival of Hushovd and the others will change the dynamic at Garmin.

“It certainly will change things. We haven’t spoken about it. We started to talk about it a bit, but I said, ‘I want to worry about the Vuelta and then the world championships right now.’ Let’s finish this season before worrying about the next one,” Farrar told VeloNews. “I know they’re coming. We’ll find a way to make it work. There are lots of races on the calendar. It’s not something I am going to worry about until I finish Melbourne.”

Hushovd said he didn’t think his arrival should create tension with Garmin next season.

“Of course, Tyler Farrar is a good sprinter, he’s an up-and-coming sprinter. We’ll just do our spring classics and we’ll see how things develop as we get closer to the Tour de France,” Hushovd told VeloNews. “I am sure we will find a good solution. We are going to be very strong and I am sure we will be fighting for the green jersey, whether it’s more, Tyler or Heinrich Haussler.”

The transfer of classics power from Cervélo — which is closing down at the end of this season and becoming the bike sponsor of Garmin next year — to Garmin in 2011 should transform the American squad into a major force in the spring classics.

Joining Hushovd and Haussler to the move will be classics specialists Roger Hammond, Daniel Lloyd, Brett Lancaster, Andreas Klier and Gabriel Rasch. Lancaster has also served as Hushovd’s lead-out man and will add more strength to Garmin’s sprint train next year as well.

Hushovd said the deal came together quickly and that he’s looking forward to teaming up again with Garmin manager Jonathan Vaughters.

“It’s good to be back with Jonathan. We raced together at Crédit Agricole, now he’s my boss, so I am really looking forward to working with him and the whole team. Of course, I am sad that the Cervélo team has to stop, but that’s just how it goes sometimes,” Hushovd continued. “We have six guys who can come with me. For me, the classics are important for me and these six guys will be there to support me. We will be really, really strong for the classics next year.”

Vaughters told VeloNews earlier this week that there’s plenty of room for both Farrar and Hushovd on the team next season.

“I’ve spoken with Tyler about it. At the end of the day I think they are different types of sprinters,” Vaughters told VeloNews. “Thor can survive hearty mountain stages, and he excels on hard, uphill finishes; Tyler is really fast. I think they are very compatible. If Thor were six or seven years younger, like when he was quick sprinter, it might be different. But now he’s really strong, he time trials well, he’s proven at one-day races that are 260km long, and with climbs. Tyler is pure speed, and I think they complement each other rather than supplement each other.”

Stage results

• 1. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Transitions, in 5h 03′ 36”
• 2. Larrea Koldo FernÁndez De, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 3. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Columbia, at 00:00
• 4. Matteo Tosatto, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 5. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 00:00
• 6. Sébastien Chavanel, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 7. Robert FÖrster, Milram, at 00:00
• 8. Denis Galimzyanov, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 9. Theo Bos, Cervélo TestTeam, at 00:00
• 10. Greg Van Avermaet, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 00:00
• 11. Óscar Freire, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:00
• 12. Yauheni Hutarovich, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 13. Manuel Ortega, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 14. William Bonnet, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 15. Daniele Bennati, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 16. Gonzalo RabuÑal, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 17. Johannes FrÖhlinger, Milram, at 00:00
• 18. Antonio Lea Cardoso Manuel, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 00:00
• 19. Andrey Kashechkin, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 00:00
• 20. Ian Stannard, Team Sky, at 00:00
• 21. Roy Sentjens, Milram, at 00:00
• 22. Juan Jose Haedo, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:00
• 23. Dmitriy Fofonov, Astana, at 00:00
• 24. Allan Davis, Astana, at 00:00
• 25. Nicholas Roche, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 00:00
• 26. Jorge Montenegro, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 27. Thomas Peterson, Garmin-Transitions, at 00:00
• 28. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 00:00
• 29. Marzio Bruseghin, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 30. Ezequiel Mosquera, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 31. Alexandre Pichot, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 32. Tejay Van Garderen, HTC-Columbia, at 00:00
• 33. Valentin Iglinskiy, Astana, at 00:00
• 34. Ruben Plaza, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 35. Niki Terpstra, Milram, at 00:00
• 36. Danilo Hondo, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 00:00
• 37. Andreas Stauff, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 38. Andrey Zeits, Astana, at 00:00
• 39. David GarcÍa, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 40. Jacopo Guarnieri, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 41. Juan Antonio Flecha, Team Sky, at 00:00
• 42. Peter Velits, HTC-Columbia, at 00:00
• 43. Dominik Roels, Milram, at 00:00
• 44. Vladimir Isaichev, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 45. Enrico Gasparotto, Astana, at 00:00
• 46. Ludovic Turpin, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 00:00
• 47. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 48. Maciej Paterski, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 49. Paul Voss, Milram, at 00:00
• 50. Nikolas Maes, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 51. Romain Zingle, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 00:00
• 52. Kanstantsin Sivtsov, HTC-Columbia, at 00:00
• 53. Carlos Barredo, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 54. Markus Fothen, Milram, at 00:00
• 55. Thomas Danielson, Garmin-Transitions, at 00:00
• 56. Laurens Ten Dam, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:00
• 57. Jean-christophe Peraud, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 00:00
• 58. Filippo Pozzato, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 59. Mikel Nieve, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 60. Igor Anton, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 61. Vladimir Gusev, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 62. Grischa Niermann, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:00
• 63. Denis Menchov, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:00
• 64. J. Ángel GÓmez Marchante, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 65. Egoi MartÍnez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 66. Xavier Tondo, Cervélo TestTeam, at 00:00
• 67. Jurgen Van Goolen, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 00:00
• 68. Mikael Cherel, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 69. Mauricio Ardila, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:00
• 70. Juan Jose Oroz, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 71. Christophe Le Mevel, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 72. Thomas LÖvkvist, Team Sky, at 00:00
• 73. Joaquin Rodriguez, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 74. Yoann Offredo, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 75. Gustavo CÉsar, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 76. Enrique Mata, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 00:00
• 77. David LÓpez, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 78. Björn SchrÖder, Milram, at 00:00
• 79. Alberto BenÍtez, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 00:00
• 80. Sébastien Minard, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 00:00
• 81. Markus Eichler, Milram, at 00:00
• 82. Xavier Florencio, Cervélo TestTeam, at 00:00
• 83. Gorka Verdugo, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 84. Rémy Di Gregorio, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 85. Sergey Renev, Astana, at 00:00
• 86. Kevin De Weert, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 87. Gustavo Rodrigue Iglesias, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 88. Dario Cataldo, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 89. Vincent Jerome, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 90. Carlos Sastre, Cervélo TestTeam, at 00:00
• 91. Giampaolo Caruso, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 92. Delio Fernandez, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 93. Simon Gerrans, Team Sky, at 00:00
• 94. Stuart O’grady, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:00
• 95. Frank Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:00
• 96. Josep JufrÉ, Astana, at 00:00
• 97. Vladimir Karpets, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 98. Andy Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:00
• 99. Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 100. Gustav Larsson, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:00
• 101. Giampaolo Cheula, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 00:00
• 102. Juan Manuel Garate, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:00
• 103. Marcos Garcia, Xacobeo Galicia, at 00:00
• 104. Arthur Vichot, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 105. Daniele Righi, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 00:00
• 106. Oliver Zaugg, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 107. Pablo Urtasun, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 00:00
• 108. Lars Petter Nordhaug, Team Sky, at 00:00
• 109. Imanol Erviti, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 110. Luis León SÁnchez, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 111. Javier Moreno, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 112. Alexandr Kolobnev, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 113. Mikhail Ignatiev, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 114. Luis Pasamontes, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 115. Rigoberto Uran, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 116. Mauro Finetto, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 117. Manuele Mori, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 00:00
• 118. Matthew Wilson, Garmin-Transitions, at 00:00
• 119. Biel Kadri, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 00:00
• 120. Daniele Pietropolli, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 00:00
• 121. Matthieu Sprick, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 122. Tony Gallopin, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 00:00
• 123. Lars Ytting Bak, HTC-Columbia, at 00:00
• 124. David Moncoutie, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 00:00
• 125. Anders Lund, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:00
• 126. Assan Bazayev, Astana, at 00:00
• 127. Iñigo Cuesta, Cervélo TestTeam, at 00:00
• 128. Antonio Piedra, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 129. Christian Vandevelde, Garmin-Transitions, at 00:00
• 130. Juan Javier Estrada, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 131. Martin Pedersen, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 00:00
• 132. Ivan Santaromita, Liquigas-Doimo, at 00:00
• 133. Pierre Cazaux, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 134. Rinaldo Nocentini, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 00:00
• 135. Alexsandr Dyachenko, Astana, at 00:00
• 136. Perrig Quemeneur, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 137. Gianni Meersman, Française des Jeux, at 00:00
• 138. Davide Malacarne, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 139. Javier RamÍrez, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 140. Pierre Rolland, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 141. Sergio Carrasco, Andalucia Cajasur, at 00:00
• 142. Branislau Samoilau, Quick Step, at 00:00
• 143. J. Vicente GarcÍa Acosta, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
• 144. Philip Deignan, Cervélo TestTeam, at 00:00
• 145. Joan Horrach, Team Katusha, at 00:00
• 146. Rémi Pauriol, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 00:00
• 147. David Gutierrez Gutierrez, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 00:00
• 148. Johann Tschopp, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:00
• 149. Johnnie Walker, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 22
• 150. Leif Hoste, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 29
• 151. Michel Kreder, Garmin-Transitions, at 40
• 152. Angelo Furlan, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 43
• 153. Grega Bole, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 43
• 154. Martin Velits, HTC-Columbia, at 43
• 155. David Vitoria Cano, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 43
• 156. Stefan Denifl, Cervélo TestTeam, at 43
• 157. Thor Hushovd, Cervélo TestTeam, at 43
• 158. Hayden Roulston, HTC-Columbia, at 1:02
• 159. Kasper Klostergaard, Team Saxo Bank, at 1:02
• 160. Sebastian Langeveld, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1:19
• 161. David Arroyo, Caisse D’Epargne, at 1:26
• 162. Domenik Klemme, Team Saxo Bank, at 1:30
• 163. Freddy Bichot, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 1:44
• 164. Dmitry Kozontchuk, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1:55
• 165. Nico Sijmens, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 2:04
• 166. Samuel Dumoulin, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 2:08
• 167. David Millar, Garmin-Transitions, at 3:35
• 168. David Zabriskie, Garmin-Transitions, at 3:35
• 169. Julian Dean, Garmin-Transitions, at 3:35
• 170. Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank, at 3:35
• 171. Kjell CarlstrÖm, Team Sky, at 3:35
• 172. Peter Kennaugh, Team Sky, at 3:35
• 173. Amets Txurruka, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 4:28
• 174. Beñat Intxausti, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 4:28
• 175. Arnaud Labbe, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 4:28
• 176. Olivier Kaisen, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 4:28
• 177. Mickael Delage, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 4:28
• 178. Matthew Harley Goss, HTC-Columbia, at 4:28

GC standings

• 1. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma-Lotto, in 19h 00′ 06”
• 2. Igor Anton, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 10
• 3. Joaquin Rodriguez, Team Katusha, at 10
• 4. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Doimo, at 12
• 5. Peter Velits, HTC-Columbia, at 16
• 6. Tejay Van Garderen, HTC-Columbia, at 29
• 7. Xavier Tondo, Cervélo TestTeam, at 49
• 8. Frank Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 50
• 9. Ruben Plaza, Caisse D’Epargne, at 54
• 10. Ezequiel Mosquera, Xacobeo Galicia, at 55
• 11. Nicholas Roche, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 58
• 12. Marzio Bruseghin, Caisse D’Epargne, at 1:01
• 13. Denis Menchov, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1:11
• 14. Rigoberto Uran, Caisse D’Epargne, at 1:19
• 15. Thomas Danielson, Garmin-Transitions, at 1:21
• 16. Luis León SÁnchez, Caisse D’Epargne, at 1:24
• 17. Vladimir Karpets, Team Katusha, at 1:24
• 18. Jean-christophe Peraud, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 1:33
• 19. Laurens Ten Dam, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 2:08
• 20. Mikel Nieve, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 2:14
• 21. Carlos Sastre, Cervélo TestTeam, at 2:15
• 22. Greg Van Avermaet, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 2:17
• 23. Carlos Barredo, Quick Step, at 2:20
• 24. Andrey Kashechkin, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 2:27
• 25. David Arroyo, Caisse D’Epargne, at 2:27
• 26. Markus Fothen, Milram, at 2:28
• 27. David GarcÍa, Xacobeo Galicia, at 2:30
• 28. Alexsandr Dyachenko, Astana, at 2:40
• 29. Vladimir Gusev, Team Katusha, at 2:54
• 30. Kanstantsin Sivtsov, HTC-Columbia, at 3:01
• 31. Javier Moreno, Andalucia Cajasur, at 3:09
• 32. Alexandr Kolobnev, Team Katusha, at 3:15
• 33. David Moncoutie, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 3:17
• 34. David LÓpez, Caisse D’Epargne, at 3:18
• 35. Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas-Doimo, at 3:26
• 36. Ivan Santaromita, Liquigas-Doimo, at 3:26
• 37. Gustav Larsson, Team Saxo Bank, at 3:56
• 38. Thomas Peterson, Garmin-Transitions, at 3:59
• 39. Lars Petter Nordhaug, Team Sky, at 4:01
• 40. Iñigo Cuesta, Cervélo TestTeam, at 4:09
• 41. Mikael Cherel, Française des Jeux, at 4:33
• 42. J. Ángel GÓmez Marchante, Andalucia Cajasur, at 4:50
• 43. Christophe Le Mevel, Française des Jeux, at 4:58
• 44. Luis Pasamontes, Caisse D’Epargne, at 5:03
• 45. Roy Sentjens, Milram, at 5:30
• 46. Maciej Paterski, Liquigas-Doimo, at 5:31
• 47. Ludovic Turpin, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5:44
• 48. Filippo Pozzato, Team Katusha, at 6:12
• 49. Manuele Mori, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 6:27
• 50. Pierre Rolland, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 6:33
• 51. Sébastien Minard, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 6:45
• 52. Josep JufrÉ, Astana, at 6:58
• 53. Rémy Di Gregorio, Française des Jeux, at 7:10
• 54. Marcos Garcia, Xacobeo Galicia, at 7:52
• 55. Alberto BenÍtez, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 8:13
• 56. Giampaolo Caruso, Team Katusha, at 9:02
• 57. Juan Manuel Garate, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 10:24
• 58. Arthur Vichot, Française des Jeux, at 10:41
• 59. Niki Terpstra, Milram, at 10:43
• 60. Juan Jose Oroz, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 10:52
• 61. Egoi MartÍnez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 11:54
• 62. Gustavo CÉsar, Xacobeo Galicia, at 13:13
• 63. Gorka Verdugo, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 13:17
• 64. Matthieu Sprick, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 13:38
• 65. Enrico Gasparotto, Astana, at 14:59
• 66. Xavier Florencio, Cervélo TestTeam, at 15:12
• 67. Andrey Zeits, Astana, at 15:40
• 68. Daniele Bennati, Liquigas-Doimo, at 15:42
• 69. Mauro Finetto, Liquigas-Doimo, at 15:57
• 70. Assan Bazayev, Astana, at 16:09
• 71. Jurgen Van Goolen, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 16:50
• 72. Romain Zingle, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 17:01
• 73. Sergey Renev, Astana, at 17:01
• 74. Johann Tschopp, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 17:28
• 75. Johannes FrÖhlinger, Milram, at 17:43
• 76. Gonzalo RabuÑal, Xacobeo Galicia, at 19:50
• 77. Dario Cataldo, Quick Step, at 19:53
• 78. Daniele Pietropolli, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 19:57
• 79. Amets Txurruka, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 20:08
• 80. Pablo Urtasun, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 20:09
• 81. Grischa Niermann, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 20:53
• 82. Imanol Erviti, Caisse D’Epargne, at 21:14
• 83. Delio Fernandez, Xacobeo Galicia, at 21:15
• 84. Tony Gallopin, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 21:17
• 85. Thomas LÖvkvist, Team Sky, at 21:29
• 86. Juan Javier Estrada, Andalucia Cajasur, at 21:38
• 87. Grega Bole, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 21:58
• 88. Joan Horrach, Team Katusha, at 22:51
• 89. Biel Kadri, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 23:12
• 90. Vincent Jerome, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 24:38
• 91. Davide Malacarne, Quick Step, at 24:45
• 92. Matteo Tosatto, Quick Step, at 25:40
• 93. Gustavo Rodriguez Iglesias, Xacobeo Galicia, at 25:47
• 94. Javier RamÍrez, Andalucia Cajasur, at 26:05
• 95. Oliver Zaugg, Liquigas-Doimo, at 26:47
• 96. Samuel Dumoulin, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 28:10
• 97. Andy Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 28:58
• 98. Christian Vandevelde, Garmin-Transitions, at 29:01
• 99. Juan Antonio Flecha, Team Sky, at 29:12
• 100. Dominik Roels, Milram, at 29:17
• 101. Sergio Carrasco, Andalucia Cajasur, at 29:21
• 102. Anders Lund, Team Saxo Bank, at 29:26
• 103. Giampaolo Cheula, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 29:41
• 104. Manuel Ortega, Andalucia Cajasur, at 29:43
• 105. Antonio Piedra, Andalucia Cajasur, at 29:43
• 106. Markus Eichler, Milram, at 30:19
• 107. Perrig Quemeneur, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 30:41
• 108. Björn SchrÖder, Milram, at 31:10
• 109. J. Vicente GarcÍa Acosta, Caisse D’Epargne, at 31:40
• 110. Danilo Hondo, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 31:51
• 111. Dmitriy Fofonov, Astana, at 31:55
• 112. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 33:53
• 113. Paul Voss, Milram, at 33:57
• 114. Nikolas Maes, Quick Step, at 34:12
• 115. William Bonnet, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 34:18
• 116. Óscar Freire, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 34:21
• 117. Leif Hoste, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 34:33
• 118. Alexandre Pichot, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 34:57
• 119. Pierre Cazaux, Française des Jeux, at 35:25
• 120. Allan Davis, Astana, at 35:33
• 121. Kasper Klostergaard, Team Saxo Bank, at 35:39
• 122. Manuel Antonio Lea Cardoso,, at 35:39
• 123. Nico Sijmens, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 36:23
• 124. Daniele Righi, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 38:14
• 125. Rinaldo Nocentini, Ag2r La Mondiale, at 38:17
• 126. Olivier Kaisen, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 38:24
• 127. Beñat Intxausti, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 38:34
• 128. Martin Velits, HTC-Columbia, at 39:13
• 129. Lars Ytting Bak, HTC-Columbia, at 39:37
• 130. Jacopo Guarnieri, Liquigas-Doimo, at 39:47
• 131. Yauheni Hutarovich, Française des Jeux, at 39:50
• 132. Stuart O’grady, Team Saxo Bank, at 39:51
• 133. Martin Pedersen, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 39:54
• 134. Robert FÖrster, Milram, at 39:55
• 135. Stefan Denifl, Cervélo TestTeam, at 39:59
• 136. Kevin De Weert, Quick Step, at 40:00
• 137. Branislau Samoilau, Quick Step, at 40:00
• 138. Vladimir Isaichev, Xacobeo Galicia, at 40:03
• 139. Rémi Pauriol, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 40:05
• 140. Ian Stannard, Team Sky, at 40:08
• 141. Yoann Offredo, Française des Jeux, at 40:10
• 142. Gianni Meersman, Française des Jeux, at 40:10
• 143. Sébastien Chavanel, Française des Jeux, at 40:20
• 144. David Gutierrez Gutierrez, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 40:28
• 145. Enrique Mata, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 40:34
• 146. Hayden Roulston, HTC-Columbia, at 40:39
• 147. Philip Deignan, Cervélo TestTeam, at 40:42
• 148. Thor Hushovd, Cervélo TestTeam, at 40:56
• 149. Sebastian Langeveld, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 41:58
• 150. Michel Kreder, Garmin-Transitions, at 42:00
• 151. David Millar, Garmin-Transitions, at 43:29
• 152. Mikhail Ignatiev, Team Katusha, at 43:54
• 153. David Vitoria Cano, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 44:10
• 154. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Columbia, at 44:27
• 155. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Transitions, at 44:36
• 156. Larrea Koldo FernÁndez De, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 45:02
• 157. Dmitry Kozontchuk, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 45:04
• 158. Simon Gerrans, Team Sky, at 45:15
• 159. Juan Jose Haedo, Team Saxo Bank, at 45:23
• 160. Andreas Stauff, Quick Step, at 45:23
• 161. Theo Bos, Cervélo TestTeam, at 45:25
• 162. Mauricio Ardila, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 45:53
• 163. Angelo Furlan, Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 45:54
• 164. Johnnie Walker, Footon – Servetto – Fuji, at 46:00
• 165. Denis Galimzyanov, Team Katusha, at 46:01
• 166. Jorge Montenegro, Andalucia Cajasur, at 46:06
• 167. Domenik Klemme, Team Saxo Bank, at 46:31
• 168. Freddy Bichot, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 47:10
• 169. Matthew Wilson, Garmin-Transitions, at 47:42
• 170. Mickael Delage, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 48:13
• 171. Matthew Harley Goss, HTC-Columbia, at 49:15
• 172. Peter Kennaugh, Team Sky, at 49:36
• 173. Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank, at 50:05
• 174. David Zabriskie, Garmin-Transitions, at 54:30
• 175. Kjell CarlstrÖm, Team Sky, at 55:05
• 176. Arnaud Labbe, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 59:43
• 177. Valentin Iglinskiy, Astana, at 1:01:32
• 178. Julian Dean, Garmin-Transitions, at 1:13:33

Perhaps the most notable reactions to the death of Laurent Fignon early Tuesday morning at age 50 came from a string of French politicians. Among those who hailed the outstanding career of the two-time Tour de France champion and noted his immense courage in the face of terminal cancer were President Nicolas Sarkozy, heads of French political parties, union leaders and former ministers of sport.

Some of the most telling tributes came from the French communist party’s general secretary Pierre Laurent, who said, “It’s with emotion that I’ve learned of the death today of Laurent Fignon, whose talent and generosity have written a magnificent page in the history of French cycling.”

Fignon’s battle with cancer lasted 18 months. It was initially defined as cancer of the digestive system, but a course of chemotherapy in the spring of 2009 was unsuccessful. He began to experience bronchial problems last year, and in January this year he told Paris-Match magazine that his doctors found the cancer had originated in his lungs.

This summer Fignon’s vocal chords were affected, but he still completed his assignment as a color commentator on French television at the 2010 Tour de France, working from his Paris home and speaking in a soft and throaty, yet informative and impassioned voice.

Lung cancer was not mentioned, but Fignon was a smoker after he ended his pro cycling career in 1993. Significantly, he never wrote about his cancer in his informative 2009 autobiography, “When We Were Young and Carefree,” which was published in English this year. He had said early on to his confidant and former trainer Alain Gallopin, now a directeur sportif at Team RadioShack: “I’m not afraid to die.”

The communist party’s Laurent said this Tuesday: “A champion of rare stature, Laurent Fignon honored his sport in taking a courageous position to denounce doping and the pressure put on riders by powerful pharmaceutical lobbies that falsify the spirit of cycling.”

In his book, Fignon did admit that he had succumbed to using drugs at various times in his career, but he was embarrassed when he once tested positive, and later spoke out against the temptations of doping.

A native of Paris

Born in the mainly working-class 17^th arrondissement of northwest Paris on August 12, 1960, Laurent Fignon grew up at a time when France was slowly evolving from a traditional Old World country to a modern state. He was a talented but not particularly earnest student, although he did well enough to obtain his high school baccalaureate.

His English teacher Irène Frain, now a best-selling French novelist, said Tuesday, “For me, Laurent remained the young adolescent of 16, gauche, in (11^th grade), with a bright red sweater and soft blue eyes. He remembered me some 20 years later as ‘a strict but fair teacher.’”

Fignon earned the nickname of Le Professeur from the other members of his small amateur cycling club because of his round, thick-lens glasses and scholastic achievements. When it came time for him to serve his compulsory military service he was selected to join the French army’s elite sporting battalion at Joinville, where he spent most of his time training and racing with his best pal, Pascal Jules, who was a year younger.

Their achievements earned them pro contracts for the 1982 season, Jules with a minor domestic team, Fignon with the famed Renault-Gitane squad that was directed by ace coach Cyrille Guimard and led by Bernard Hinault –‑ who was then the world’s No. 1 racer, having won the Tour de France in 1978, 1979 and 1981. Also on the team was the new American phenom Greg LeMond, who was fast gaining notoriety in his second pro season.

Remarkably, after winning some early-season races on the Côte d’Azur, the rookie Fignon was picked by Guimard to ride support for Hinault at the 1992 Giro d’Italia. Fignon would take the leader’s pink jersey after he placed second on stage 2 after helping Renault win the opening day’s team time trial. He went on to place 15^th overall, with Hinault taking the victory.

Fignon quickly become known as a solid team rider in France, but his real breakthrough internationally came about because of a defeat in October 1982. The Paris-Tours race was then run in the opposite direction, from Blois to Chaville, a Paris suburb, giving the venerable classic a hilly finale.

Knowing the roads well, Fignon made a strong solo break and he was seen by the television audience heading for victory when he suddenly fell. The crash was caused by the titanium axle on his Campagnolo Record chainset snapping in two — the “new” material was not used again for such a force-sensitive component.

The youthful Fignon continued his rise to fame in 1983 at the Vuelta a España, then held in April and May. Again, he was riding for Hinault, and this time he was the only Renault team man that could support the French star in the mountains; Hinault won the race, while Fignon took six top-three finishes, including his first grand-tour stage win.

The following month, Fignon came to race in the United States at the one-day USPRO Championship, held on a small circuit in Baltimore; part of a small contingent of European riders, he finished fifth in a race won by Davis Phinney from Steve Bauer, who wouldn’t turn pro until after the 1984 Olympics.

A few weeks later, Fignon got a lucky break when teammate Hinault was unable to defend his Tour de France title because of knee tendinitis that required surgery. Without their leader, the Renault team went into the Tour with hopes of some stage wins from their young riders in what was a wide-open Tour.

The team’s sights were raised after the first week when Fignon figured in a big breakaway on the Pyrenean stage from Pau to Luchon over the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde mountains passes. Rival French team Peugeot took the honors — the stage win for Scot Robert Millar and the yellow jersey for French climber Pascal Simon — and not too many noticed that the 22-year-old Fignon, in his debut Tour, had moved into second place, albeit a couple of minutes behind Simon.

But 24 hours later, the picture changed. Simon fell in a small pileup and fractured his shoulder blade. The race leader continued for five days, but the pain became too much when the race hit the Alps and he quit — so Fignon inherited the maillot jaune at L’Alpe d’Huez. He kept it to the finish, but won only a single stage, taking the final time trial by less than a second over Irishman Sean Kelly.

Fignon was the Tour’s youngest winner in 50 years, and it transformed his career. The injured Hinault fell out with team director Guimard and started a new team, La Vie Claire, with French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie, and Fignon became Renault’s top rider — even though LeMond (who would make his Tour debut in 1984) won the world pro road race championship a month after Fignon won the Tour.

With his confidence raised, Fignon went to the 1984 Giro with ambitions of winning. Indeed, he did wear the pink jersey into the final stage after taking second place on the two toughest mountain stage only to lose the victory to Francesco Moser in the final day’s time trial — when the Italian rode a futuristic aero’ bike like the one he’d earlier used to break the world hour record of Eddy Merckx.

Fignon was determined not to leave room for error at the 1984 Tour, which saw him ride a brilliant race, winning five stages and putting runner-up Hinault, his old boss, 10 minutes behind him by Paris; LeMond was third. The immense confidence gained by Fignon was emphasized when Hinault, still in contention, made a bold solo break in the valley before L’Alpe d’Huez. Fignon, after winning the stage, commented: “When I saw him attack like that I began to laugh.”

Fignon, still only 23, never again reached such a high peak. He, too, suffered from tendinitis of the knee and had surgery that prevented him riding the 1985 Tour (Hinault won from LeMond, who had transferred to La Vie Claire). Then Renault pulled its sponsorship — a setback that showed Fignon’s true character. He could have accepted big offers from other teams but he decided to stick with Guimard.

Guimard, who is now a team manager and radio consultant, said on Tuesday: “In 1985, when the Renault corporation decided to abandon us, (Laurent) stayed faithful and worked with me to find a new a sponsor.”

The new sponsor, supermarket chain Système U, would support the team for four years, but Fignon was the not the same rider after his injury. His only significant success in 1986 was winning the Flèche Wallonne classic in Belgium. He came in seventh at the Vuelta and 17^th at the Dauphiné in his warm-up races for the Tour, but his return to La Grande Boucle ended with him pulling out after 12 stages (LeMond was the overall winner).

Fignon’s fortunes worsened in 1987, when his best friend, Jules, died in a car crash after playing in a charity soccer game. Fignon won only two minor criteriums that year, with his top rides being third overall at Paris-Nice (winning two stages), third at the Vuelta (one stage win) and seventh at the Tour (one stage win).

Things didn’t go much better for Fignon in 1988 except for a brilliant solo win in the March classic, Milan-San Remo; he had an abysmal Tour, not placing top 10 on any stage and pulling out at the halfway mark. But it appeared that he was finally back on track in 1989 when he again took Milan-San Remo before winning the Giro (where an out-of-sorts LeMond, still not recovered from his 1987 shotgun wounds and subsequent injuries, almost quit after failing in the mountain stages).

The infamous eight seconds

This was the background to the historic 1989 Tour, when Fignon and LeMond fought one of the event’s epic duels, with first one then the other taking the lead. The race appeared to be over when Fignon took the yellow jersey on L’Alpe d’Huez only five days from the finish and extended his lead to 50 seconds over LeMond the next day.

Then, on the final mountain stage, Fignon dropped all of his rivals on the Col de Cucheron and could have shot for another stage win in Aix-les-Bains; but he felt that he already had the Tour sewn up and wasn’t concerned when LeMond took the stage’s sprint victory ahead of the small group of leaders. There followed one more flat stage and a train transfer to Paris before the finale: a 24.5km time trial from Versailles to the Champs-Élysées

Reviewing the situation in a post-Tour interview Fignon said, “Frankly, I had 50 seconds’ lead and that’s what I’d lost (to LeMond) over more than 70K (in the Tour’s first long time trial). Over less than half that distance, I didn’t have too many concerns.”

Already, in that earlier 76km time trial to Rennes, LeMond had used a prototype clip-on aerobar to win the stage. So Fignon felt he had no reason to experiment with a last-minute imitation bar that Guimard’s Système U team had produced; the Frenchman didn’t even wear an aero helmet over his trademark blond ponytail.

The whole world saw what happened. LeMond raced with inspiration to set the winning time in Paris at a record speed for a TT longer than 20km, 54.545 kph, and Fignon rode with desperation to reach the finish line an agonizing 58 seconds behind and lose the Tour to the American by the smallest-ever winning margin, eight seconds.

On finishing, Fignon collapsed onto the pink cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées as LeMond, his former teammate, celebrated his magnificent comeback — not only that day, but also from the hunting accident that almost cost him his life two years before. Ironically, Fignon’s defeat made him a more popular figure with the public after being deemed arrogant after his two Tour victories in the early ’80s.

Fignon never won another major race. He abandoned the 1990 Tour on stage 5, placed sixth overall in 1991, and after leaving Guimard to join Italian team Gatorade for his final two seasons, Fignon finished 23^rd at the 1992 Tour and abandoned the race in his final season.

True to his unassuming nature, Fignon didn’t have a symbolic farewell race for his fans like Hinault and most top stars. He quit halfway through a minor race in Brittany before the end of the 1993 season and never raced again. Fignon’s last victory happened earlier that year when he came to North America to ride the Ruta Mexico stage race to please his team sponsor, Gatorade.

Assessing Fignon, his former protégé and partner, Guimard said Tuesday: “He was a man of great feeling, very shy, a little complex. He protected himself behind a sort of arrogance that made him unpopular … (but) his defeat (at the ’89 Tour) allowed him to be more popular and sympathetic.”

Ten years after that loss, Fignon himself said, “Sure, for the pride, for my career, I should have won that Tour. But, for the continuation, I must say that it was better that I lost. And the continuation of my life is long….”

Tragically, his life was cut short on Tuesday at a hospital in Paris. He is being buried on Friday at the Père Lachaisse cemetery in the 20^th arrondissement of Paris. It’s said to be the most visited cemetery in the world, containing the tombs of French jazz musician Stéphane Grappelli, French playwright Molière, American pop musician Jim Morrison and Irish author Oscar Wilde. And, for eternity, the French cyclist Laurent Fignon.

If you like watching people jump stuff on BMX bikes, street riding, California or cool music, you should check this video just put out by Mutiny Bikes and Etnies. There's a crash or two thrown in as well, just to show that even the pros wipe out from time to time.  It's the best 8:30 you'll spend all day.

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