Rose Cantine

Michael Rasmussen, a Danish rider who has been wearing the yellow jersey in the last few stages, is also under suspicion of having used banned substances because he failed to report his whereabouts for out-of-competition doping tests. His excuse is that he was in Mexico (where his wife is from), training and simply failed to respond in time. He also says he was warned only once. The Danish cycling federation says he got three warnings. As a result, Rasmussen will not be allowed to ride for the Danish team in the Olympics or the world championships.

Lanterne Rouge

Will Wim Vansevenant keep his Lanterne Rouge title this year? Vansevenant was the 2006 Tour’s lanterne rouge and in this year’s Tour, he’s kept the lanterne rouge over last few stages. The lanterne rouge (red lantern) is awarded to the cyclist who comes in last place in the Tour. It’s better to be the lanterne rouge than to finish in the middle of the pack because the lanterne rouge is just as well remembered as the winner. The guy who finished second to last disappears into the mists of history and is forgotten. The lanterne rouge makes more money in post-Tour races than those who finished slightly ahead of him precisely because he is infamous.

Lanterne rouge refers to the red lantern mounted on the rear of the last wagon or carriage of a train.

This is hysterically funny. I found this blog called Tour de France Lanterne Rouge (http://tdflr.blogspot.com/). The blog also summarizes each stage of the Tour in addition to the lanterne rouge winners.