Thursday, July 13 Armstrong returns to Limoges
	By Andrew Hood ABC Sports Online LIMOGES, France -- Limoges is the scene of one of the most dramatic days of Lance Armstrong's career. It was here in 1995 when Armstrong went on a mad solo break to win the stage in honor of Fabio Casartelli, a teammate on his former Motorola squad who had died in a race crash three days earlier. Casartelli's death was just the second fatality in Tour racing history. Casartelli crashed on a harrowing descent down the Portet d'Aspet high in the Pyrénées, smashing his head against a concrete safety barrier. He bled to death from massive hemorrhaging. Racers were too traumatized to race and the next day's stage was neutralized. Although the racers rode the course, there was no real racing and the peloton let the Motorola team cross the finish line together in tears. Two days later, Armstrong was in a breakaway en route to Limoges with several other riders. He made an attack about an hour from the finish line and riding like a possessed man, no one was strong enough to counter. An emotional Armstrong blew kisses to the heavens as he crossed the line alone, one of the most endearing images in cycling. "It's still the greatest day of my career," Armstrong said before Friday's start. "It's better than the Tour last year, better than any of the Classics. It's even better than the world championships. It's my best day." Wust in green It seems like nothing can go wrong for Marcel Wust, a German on the Festina team. First, the sprinter who hates climbing was the unlikely winner of the first polka-dot climber's jersey in the opening stage. Wust held it through Tuesday's fourth stage because there were no rated climbs until then. Then, he won a stage Wednesday, doing what he does best, winning it in an exciting field sprint. In Friday's seventh stage, he took the green points jersey, charging to the line second behind stage-winner Christophe Agnolutto. He nipped compatriot Erik Zabel at the line, ruining Zabel's 30th birthday and taking the points jersey, which Zabel has won four years in a row. Telekom's Alberto Elli retained the race leader's yellow jersey while Mapei's Paolo Bettini kept the climber's jersey and Saeco's Salvatore Commesso retained the under-25 young rider's jersey. Three racers out As expected, Australian Stuart O'Grady didn't start Friday's stage. The popular Credit Agricole rider crashed in Thursday's stage and broke his right collarbone. Incredibly, he finished the day's stage before being taken to the hospital. In January, O'Grady suffered a concussion when he was mugged and his attackers hit him in the head. On Thursday, he was fortunate that he was wearing his helmet. It could have saved further damage as the Australian landed hard on his head. O'Grady was scheduled to have surgery on Friday night to have a pin placed in the shoulder. He won't ride the Vuelta Espana in September because his Credit Agricole team won't be going there. O'Grady, a favorite for the Olympic road race in Sydney, should be back on the bike in about 15 days, team officials said. Two other riders bowed out. Rafael Mateos, a Spanish rider on the Polti team, abandoned Thursday's stage, leaving France's best hope, Richard Virenque, two riders short heading into the mountains. Polti's Rossano Brasi was flicked before the start of the race for failing blood tests. Also, Jesper Skibby, a Dane on the Memory Card-Jack and Jones, abandoned Friday after he aggravated a right knee injury. 174 riders remain in the Tour. Lance's personal wrench Lance Armstrong can't afford mechanical problems on the road. To make sure his bikes are in top shape for the daily battles on asphalt, Armstrong brought his own personal mechanic this year. Typically, two or three mechanics will work on an entire team's bikes, but this year, Armstrong felt he needed one person to maintain his bikes personally. Armstrong called Dave Lettieri, a former pro on the old 7-Eleven team and a former track Olympian, who owns a bike shop in California, just about a month before the Tour started and offered him the job. Armstrong met Lettieri when he went to Santa Barbara, Calif., in late 1997 for some of his first training rides after recovering from testicular cancer. "He just called out of the blue. I was hesitant about cutting in on the other mechanics, but Lance said it would be OK," Lettieri said. "When he came to California, I didn't really know him before that. We just kind of clicked and we did some training rides together. Since then, we've stayed in touch." Lettieri says he spends about two hours after every stage cleaning and preparing Armstrong's bike for the next day's stage. The bikes are cleaned, lubricated, adjusted and examined to see if any parts need to be replaced. Lettieri says he changes the wheels and tires every three to four days and adjusts the chain rings depending on how hard the day's stage is. Armstrong has six bikes he is using at this year's Tour: two time trial bikes, three road bikes and one special lightweight bike for the mountain stages. Lettieri, a 16-year veteran of the race scene, said he's happy to be back on the racing scene, except he had to close down his bike shop for the month to come over. Banesto in the mood Riders from the Spanish Banesto team showed up at the start on Friday morning wearing red bandanas around their necks, called panuelicos, to mark the start of the famous running of the bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain. The San Fermines festival was introduced to the world by Ernest Hemingway in the 1920s. The Banesto team, a winner of six Tours including five straight with Miguel Indurain in the early '90s, hails from the Navarra region of Spain. Stage Eight The 87th Tour de France continues Saturday with a 203-kilometer stage from Limoges to Villeneuve-sur-Lot. There are three rated climbs early in the stage -- including the category 3 Côte de Petit Puy-Mathieu at 11 kilometers. The course is relatively flat in the middle with a category 4 climb 18 kilometers from the finish with the Côte de Monflanquin. Ideal for another breakaway?		ALSO SEE Dekker takes Tour's 8th stage; Armstrong looms Ango on the go: Frenchman breaks free Hincapie Diary No. 5 Stage Seven results