With 4 days to go in the Tour, Andy Schleck threw everything at the high mountains. He pushed his rivals to the limits to give himself a real chance to take his second win. But in the final time trial Cadel Evans returned the favour by throwing everything he had left back at Andy, to take his first Tour win! Franck Schleck finished on the podium for the first time as well. The 2011 Tour held twists, turns and action from day 1 in the Vendee, to day 23 in Paris.

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For 10 days the whole of France was glued to the race unfolding on their home roads. One man looked on the verge of doing something incredible, and for 9 days he looked like upsetting the established contenders. But on the races best known climb, l'Alpe d'Huez, Tommy Voecklers dream slipped away.

Back in 2004 a young upcoming version of Voeckler fought for 10 days to keep the Yellow Jersey off the shoulders of Lance Armstrong. Then this year he fought for 10 days to keep the Yellow Jersey off the shoulders of everyone. On stage 9 he was part of a breakaway group allowed significant time, and moved into Yellow.

When the race hit the Pyrenees on stage 12 he was expected to give it back to the main contenders. But up the slopes to Luz Ardiden Tommy did not crack. In fact he rode with the favorites all the way, and did so up every climb in those high mountains.

The defining moment of his race game on Stage 18 up the Galibier. While Andy Schleck was up front, Cadel dragged the favorites group along. Andy crossed the line to win, and the clock began. Cadel came over thrid, but Tommy Voeckler unhitched! He dug down deep to find something more, and saved his jersey by 15" to equal that ride in 2004. The dream of winning may have passed by but Tommy Voeckler stole a nation for 10 days in July.

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The 2011 Tour was not just about Tommy Voeckler. France took inspiration again to pull out a great race. This race saw the emergence of Pierre Rolland as world class climber. On l'Aple Pierre rode away from Samu Sanchez to take the home nations only stage win. When compared to 2010 this might seem like a failure. However Pierres work for Tommy kept him in the Top10 GC, and allowed him to win the White Jersey.

Outside of Europcar there was action. Jeremy Roy of FDJ flew the flag. Jeremy was in the break on Stage's 1 and 4, gaining the Combativity award on stage 4. On Stage 13 he was caught with 2.5km to go to finish the stage in third place, whilst also taking the KoM Jersey for a couple of days, and another combativity award. The man would not stop as he was also in the break on Stage 21 in Paris. In total Roy spent over 700km in breakways, earning him the overall Combativity award. Finally JCP also finished in the Top10 GC, making 3 French riders in the Top10.

In many ways 2010 was a better French Tour, but 2011 has shown a shift. No longer should France limit themselves to stage wins. The Maillot Jaune beckons.

Mark Cavendish stole the finish as Great Britain delivered the perfect race. A close bunch finish saw Matt Goss and Andre Greipel round out the podium in the closest World Championship finish in years. A few days earlier Tony Martin delivered his biggest win in the Time Trial. Bradley Wiggins capped a strong year in second, with Cancellara slightly disappointing in third.

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The biggest surprise of the week must be from the French. They took two gold medals and a silver in Road Races. It began with Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier who sprinted away to take victory in the Mens Junior race. This was followed up by a dominant performance in the Mens U-23 event. Arnaud Demare and Adrien Petit took a 1-2 finish ahead of Andrew Fenn of Great Britain.

The growth of French cycling in the last few years has come from the more established section of riders who have found a new level of competition. But this World Championships has shown that the next batch of French talent are ready to step up to the challenge, and fly the flag in the future.

Things at Team Radioshack Nissan Trek are not going well. More rumors are emerging from the team about growing tensions between the management and certain riders. In the Giro there was talk about a rift following Franck Schlecks retirement. No there is continuing talk of unrest involving the Schelcks following Andys fall in the Dauphine, and subsequent Tour missing injury.

It does not stop at the Schleck brothers either. Jakob Fuglsang was passed over for the Tour Squad and is reported to have fallen out with team manager Johan Bruyneel. Since this news broke, Jakob has taken the team to Court as he claims they have failed to pay his, and other riders, wages for the last couple of monts. With Nissan unsure about their association with the squad these financial difficulties are a ticking timebomb. Neither Jakob nor Johan were available for comment, but all signs point to Jakob leaving the team.

While we are on the subject of Radioshack, the news gets worse. USADA's investigation into Lance Armstrong's alleged doping is picking up pace. It directly impacts upon several current and former Radioshack riders, including Johan Bruyneel. USADA's report is expect to be released in September/October, and it could have major implications for the already troubled team.

For nearly a decade France had to watch every July as US Postal invaded it's shores and dominated it's great race. With Lance Armstrongs retirement a new age of the Tour began, and things for a few years looked on the up and up. But now there is a new threat. Team Sky fully took over from US Postal this year as Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome took a 1-2 in the GC, with Vincenzo Nibali a distant third. The British outfit dominated the race from stage 7 until Paris, ushering in a potential new era of domination.

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While the GC battle may have been a dud, the French again put in a great race. A grand total of 5 stage wins, the King of the Mountains and 2 riders in the Top10 gave them a lot to be happy about.

Things kicked off for France on Stage 8 with Thibaut Pinot and Marc Madiot. The young frenchman just about held off the favorites, with a lot of encouragement from his DS, to claim a solo stage win into Porrentury. It was a very good race for Pinot who proved himself to be amongst the best of the climbers in July. He ultimately fell short of the White Jersey but did still take 10th Overall.

Tommy Voeckler didn't match his 2011, but that hardly meant a poor race. He took a first stage win in the worlds slowest sprint into Bellegarde-sur-Valserine from a breakaway. From there he face a close fight with Frederik Kessiakoff for the King of the Mountains. He took the Jersey for the final time with another breakaway stage win into Bagneres-de-Luchon. Whilst not a run in Yellow 26th Overall was still a good performance.

Pierre Rolland took a win on Stage 11 to La Toussuire from a breakaway. The 5th French win was delivered by Pierrick Fedrigo on Stage 15 to Pau, when he defeated his breakaway companions in a dash for the line.

2010 and 2011 saw a new rise in French Tour success, and 2012 has continued that trend. For the first time since Fignon there is real belief amongst the cycling community in France that a Tour GC win is coming! They can only hope, but things really do look good for the future.

Double doping news broke today. First Frank Schlecks B-sample from the Tour's second rest day has been confirmed as testing positive for traces of Xipamide. The Luxembourg Anti-Doping Association are expected to confirm a ban over the next two months. Frank Schleck, supported by his team Radioshack Nissan Trek, is claiming innocence, and that the substance was not intentionally ingested.

The second news of the day is a lot more worrying. Lieuwe Westra, Wout Peols and Johnny Hoogerland of the Vacansoleil-DCM team have all been announced as testing positive during the Tour de France. At this stage we only know their A-samples have tested positive. We do not know when or for which substance(s). Following on from the issues of Mosquera and Ricco amongst others Vacansoleil-DCM certainly has a troubled past, and this latest round of problems could pose serious implications for the future.

Today WADA called a press conference to discuss the recent failed tests of Westra, Hoogerland and Poels of Vacansoleil. All three failed tests came from A-samples taken during the Tour's second rest day, the same as Frank Schlecks. All 3 B-samples have also been tested, and all 3 have confirmed the positive test result.

Westra, who finished 2nd in Paris-Nice, Hoogerland, 5th in Tirenno-Adriatico, and Poels, 8th in Tirenno-Adriatico, have all been confirmed as testing positive for Acadesine (AICAR). Acedesine is supposed to convert muscle use from fast-twitch to the more energy efficient slow-twitch, and has been on WADA's prohibited list since 2009.

Vacansoleil have since released a statement claiming no knowledge of any doping within the team, and that any failed tests are solely down to the individual. However their past links wiht doping are being brought back up with the Royal Dutch Cycling Union being urged to suspend their license until a full investigation to be carried out.

As of yet no response has been given by any of the three riders, or any other member of the Vacansoleil team. It is expected that the ban's are to be announced over the next 2 months.

The KNWU today confirmed the suspension of Johnny Hoogerlands, Wout Peols and Lieuwe Westra. Last month all three were confirmed to have failed drug tests and used Acadesine. They have been confirmed as banned for 2 years from competitive cycling. Their bans will end 17th July 2014. Vacansoleil have announced that they have all been released from their contracts as well, leaving them unpaid and without teams for the foreseeable future.

This goes along with Frank Schlecks 2 year ban for Xipamide use. Franks ban ends on 13th July 2014, but as many are speculating he may well retire before then. For the moment, unlike the Dutch trio, Frank has not been released by Radioshack.

However that is not the end of the story. Both Vacansoleil and DCM are expected to announce their withdrawal from sponsorship in the coming days. And following in the wake of USADA's Reasoned Decision in the Lance Armstrong case Radioshack are also fully expected to announce their withdrawal from sponsorship. This will leave two teams without sponsors and facing collapse. Times are certainly tough.

Rabobank announce that they will be leaving the sport! In a statement, Rabobank said that doping was so rampant that it was "no longer convinced the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport." They will honor part of their contract deal and pay various fees and wages, but no longer want to be associated with the sport.

This leaves yet another team in trouble. Now we have three teams without confirmed sponsors for the 2013 seasons: Vacansoleil-DCM, Radioshak-Leopard-Trek and Rabobank. The only good news is that there are plenty of rumors suggesting that both Vacansoleil and Radioshack have new sponsors lining up to be confirmed. These rumors include: Belkin, Microsoft, Airbus, Heineken, Carrefour and ING amongst others. Both Vancansoleil and Radioshack have arranged press conferences for next month where new sponsors are set to be announced.

It seems that cycling is not viewed as badly anymore, with plenty of new interest thanks to a new up coming generation, and it's openness to shame and ban it's big stars. There is a lot of excitement about the new sponsors and the press conferences are eagerly anticipated.

The latest in a spree of withdrawing sponsors was known earlier today. AG2R La Mondiale made a statement to the press that they will be withdrawing their sponsorship for 2013. Ever growing costs have been the driving factor behind the move out of the sport, with recent drug scandals playing a secondary, if significant, part as well.

Fortunately there was a queue of sponsors lining up to move in following the successes of French cycling over the last few years. In the statement AG2R did confirm that a new lead sponsor was already signed on, but as yet is unannounced. The new sponsor will only be known to the public at the teams 2013 presentation in January, but they have been assured by the UCI of their World Tour status.