CyclingFans: Friday's Tour de France Stage 6 departs Epernay at 12:15pm CET (6:15am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Metz at around 5:12pm CET (11:12am U.S. Eastern).  Tour de France live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern). 

TwistedSpoke: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) showed blistering speed and astonishing bike handling skills in the final kilometers of stage five of the Tour de France.

VeloNation: Cavendish runs out of gas a bit short, Sagan caught up in late crash.

Outclasses the field on uphill stage seven finish.

CyclingNews: Dutch rider solidifying maglia rosa.

Opinion: The future is Sagan...

VeloNews: It isn’t entirely fair to blame Phil Liggett, really, because the curse had already been bandied about on group rides, in coffee shops, on Twitter and elsewhere as soon as Peter Sagan started becoming a majority owner of short stage races. But it was Liggett who formally unleashed the curse on Sagan on Tuesday’s NBC coverage of the Tour de France, declaring to the world seconds after Sagan’s stage 3 victory that “(Sagan) is the new Eddy Merckx in cycling, for sure.”

CyclingNews: Races & Results.
Tour de France - June 30 - July 22 (Stages & Results),
Giro d'Italia Femminile June 29 - July 7 (Stages & Results),
Tour of Austria July 1-8 (Stages & Results),
Tour of Qinghai Lake June 29 - July 12 (Stages & Results),
Tour of Americas Dairyland June 21 - July 1 (Stages & Results),
2012 Olympic Games - July 28 - August 12 (Races),
Vuelta a España - August 18 - September 9 (Stages),
More...

road.cc: We take the brand new design for a spin in Belgium.

Coverage News...

InnerRing: Each stage is analyzed, each jersey is explained and once more information is available there will be full list of riders and other content that’ll be updated every day so you can dip in and out during the next few weeks.

VeloNation: Close calls for yellow and green jersey holders in dangerous finale.

VeloNews: Former teammates of Lance Armstrong, who is facing new doping allegations, have played down a report claiming they testified against the seven-time Tour de France champion and would receive six-month bans after admitting doping.

PEZ: Not a lot happened but then a lot kind of did, but not really, and that makes no real sense does it? Another day for the doc and his fancy stretchy gauze, one for numb bums and even number commentators. It came to life in the end though and if you like crashes well you’re sadistic, but it was kind of exciting at the end. Just... kind of.

InnerRing: Regular readers will know I’ve been following the case of Danish rider Alex Rasmussen closely since last September when news emerged that he’d committed three anti-doping “whereabouts” faults. Normally this constitutes an anti-doping violation under the rules, meaning a ban was likely.

Tyler Farrar's Tour de France went from bad to worse when he crashed out of stage 5 from Rouen to Saint-Quentin. It was the third straight day in which the American had hit the tarmac, and ended with him trying to confront sprint rival Tom Veelers outside the Argos-Shimano bus.

road.cc: Custom-painted Terminator bike to celebrate his first Tour stage win.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Excellent handling mid-weight aero wheels at an affordable price."

road.cc: Tough, high-quality chain whip with loads of leverage.

CyclingNews: Vos remains as race leader.

SBS: The Tour de France – currently underway – has long been regarded as one of the most demanding endurance events in sporting history. But what does that mean in physical terms for the athletes taking part?

VeloNation: Dutch newspaper Telesport has reported what it says are the identities of four riders and one manager who have given evidence to both federal agents and the US Anti Doping Agency.

CyclingNews: Arbitrators, not review board will determine outcome.

CyclingNews: Rob Goris of Team Accent Jobs-Willems Veranda's has died of a heart attack at age 30. He was visiting the Tour de France at the time, and suffered the fatal attack in his hotel in Rouen.

Jens Voigt: "While I was out there riding, I had time to reflect a little because, well, otherwise I would have died of boredom. And I realized how much I miss Thor Hushovd in this Tour. First of all, I miss him as friend. I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but Thor was the best man at my wedding.  He passed me the ring that I put on my wife’s finger."

Bicycling: First five-time Tour champion was a star and bon vivant, on and off the bike.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Weight and height aside, this is a comfortable all-rounder of a saddle."

VeloNation: “I feel terrible, everything is destroyed. I won’t give up.”