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- 2010 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe Photos:

Stage 1:  Page 1 (Fedrigo, Voeckler, Dumoulin) - Page 2 (Armstrong/RS) - Page 3 (Armstrong/RS)

Stage 2:  Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5 - Page 6

Stage 3:  Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4

Stage 4:  Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5

Stage 5:

Videos and LIVE coverage:  Click here

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  The peloton arrives in Angers for the finish of the Day 2 morning stage.  After a lunch hour break, riders compete in a short Individual Time Trial, also in Angers.  It's a formula that is popular with cycling fans and the inclusion of the time trial makes the event attractive for Tour contenders, who have relatively few in-competition time trials before July.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

More photos below

- The 2010 Circuit de la Sarthe starts tomorrow, Tuesday, and runs to April 9.  (We'll have a live ticker and video clips for each stage)  I've shot a couple editions of this race over the years.  There's a chance I'll join this year's race from Wednesday on in Angers.  The gallery below is a look back mostly at the 2003 edition, when Lance Armstrong's USPS "A" team was entered in the event.  (Armstrong and Jose Luis Rubiera are back with RadioShack for this year's Circuit de la Sarthe.)  Jan Ullrich also showed up at Sarthe in that oh-so-turbulent 2003 season for the German, with Team Coast in April and with Team Bianchi in July, that led to his best-ever Tour finish vs. Armstrong.  The media had a field day with Armstrong and Ullrich on Stage 1 and organizers overnight printed out event posters featuring the two Tour champions together at the start of the race.  Alas, Armstrong pulled out 70km from the finish in stage 2, due to illness.  And I forgot to grab one of those posters from the organizers before leaving Angers!  -Pete

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  The chateau in Angers.  If you've read Saul Raisin's book, "Tour de Life: From Coma to Competition," you may recall that Angers was where Saul was in the hospital after his crash in the 2006 edition of the Circuit de la Sarthe.  Saul's parents walked the streets of Angers for weeks as they worried about the future of their son.  Saul unfortunately had to retire from the sport and American cycling lost a great talent for the future.
Conclusion: No bike race is a "minor event".
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  The peloton arrives in Angers for the finish of the morning stage.  Sarthe organizers understand the importance of finishing circuits which naturally are hugely popular with fans.  The 2010 edition features 4, 6, even 7 trips across the finish line depending on the stage.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  The reigning world champion, Mario Cipollini, was present only in the form of an image on the side of the Domina Vacanze team truck.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  USPS team manager Johan Bruyneel, always on the move,
arrives for the afternoon time trial.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  Steffen Kjaergaard and Roberto Heras bikes.
With Armstrong out of the race, Kjaergaard of Norway became USPS team leader.
Kjaergaard won this race in 1999...while riding for a team called Team Chicky World!
His victory no doubt is what got the attention of USPS, which he joined the following season;
he made the 2000 Tour team for USPS.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  Jan Ullrich (Team Coast) liked this race, in part I believe
because it was a low key event.  If I recall correctly, Sarthe was his first race of the
2003 season due to the team being suspended by the UCI in March because
riders were not being paid on time.  Note that Ullrich is not wearing a helmet.
Andrei Kivilev died just a month prior to this race following his crash in Paris-Nice
and pros would not be required to wear helmets for a few more weeks.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  Victor Hugo Pena (USPS) before the time trial.  Just three months later Pena would become the first Colombian to ever wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.  His story is told in Matt Rendell's book, "A Significant Other".
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  Jose Luis Rubiera competes in the afternoon time trial.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  A Domina Vacanze rider.  This was one of the wildest kits ever.  When the Domina Vacanze team was introduced to the public before Paris-Tours at the end of the season, Daniel Mangeas, the "voice of the Tour," asked the public not to make too much noise lest they awaken these wild animals.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  Norway's Steffen Kjaergaard.  Did I mention that he won this event
in 1999 riding for a team called Team Chicky World?
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2003 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  Carlos Da Cruz (FdJeux) finished Stage 1 nearly 6 minutes ahead of the peloton in a breakaway with Alexei Sivakov (Big Mat-Auber 93).  He held on to the leader jersey until the end, winning the overall.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2004 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe:  This photo is from the 2004 edition of the race and illustrates the desire by organizers to feature climbs in stage finishing circuits.  This climb up the rue Gazonfier in Le Mans has an 18% grade.  It's a wall, with stairs for pedestrians on the sidewalks.  Though Le Mans has long been included as a stage finish city at Sarthe, it is being skipped in 2010.
photo Copyright © Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com