Tadej Valjavec

Norwegian Thor Hushovd finally ended his frustrating wait for victory on this year's Tour de France by winning a treacherous, rain-hit sixth stage from Gerona to Barcelona Thursday. Saxo Bank's Fabian Cancellara retained the race leader's yellow jersey with a 0.22sec lead on American Lance Armstrong after the 181.5km stage ahead of the first day of climbing in the Pyrenees on Friday. Despite attempts by Armstrong's Astana team to distance their yellow jersey rivals further with accelerations of pace on the climbs, the biggest star of the day was Hushovd. The big Cervelo rider, handing his new team their first victory on the Tour, ... Read Full Story

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (Reuters) - Home rider Fabian Cancellara is the favorite to win the Tour of Switzerland after a strong performance on the final mountain stage on Saturday. German Tony Martin won the eighth and penultimate stage, a 181-km journey from Le Sentier to Crans-Montana, with a late attack but Cancellara finished third to move within four seconds of overall leader Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia (AG2R). Last year's race winner Roman Kreuziger of Czech Republic is third, 28 seconds off the pace. The Tour ends in Cancellara's home town of Berne with a 39-km individual time trial on Sunday. The Swiss won the gold ... Read Full Story

Mark Cavendish of Great Britain. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) more pics » Mark Cavendish of Great Britain dominated another sprint finish to win the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday, while Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia retained the overall lead. Cavendish finished the 111-mile ride from Oberriet to Bad Zurzach in 4 hours, 18 minute, 26 seconds. Three-time world champion Oscar Freire of Spain was second and Italy's Francesco Gavazzi was third. Valjavec finished safely in the pack to ensure he will wear yellow for a third day Friday, but his lead was cut to nine seconds as Fabian Cancellara picked ... Read Full Story

Swiss time-trial Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara won the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday after winning the ninth and final stage of the race here, a 38.5 kilometres time-trial. Cancellara beat Germany's Tony Martin - winner of Saturday's penultimate stage and second in the final stage - by 2minutes 2seconds in the overall standings while Roman Kreuziger of the Czech Republic was third 2min 24sec adrift. It was Cancellara's first major stage race win since the Tirreno-Adriatico on 2008. Long-time overall leader Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia knew his game was up early on as Cancellara, who was only four seconds behind him going into Sunday's ... Read Full Story

BRIGNOLES, France, July 5 (UPI) -- Britain's Mark Cavendish rode to victory Sunday in Stage 2 of the Tour de France. Cavendish covered the 187-kilometer (116-mile) run from Monaco to Brignoles, France, in 4 hours, 30 minutes and 2 seconds. American Tyler Farrar placed second, finishing just behind Cavendish, and France's Romain Feillu took third. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, who won the opening leg of the 21-stage race Saturday, ended up 7 seconds behind Cavendish in 38th place but retained the yellow jersey worn by the overall race leader. American Lance Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, finished in 80th place in Stage ... Read Full Story