The drama of the Tour de France got a lot more interesting today with Lance Armstrong moving up to 3rd place in the G.C. today in the Tour de France, and Astana team leader Alberto Contador 19 seconds behind in 4th place, leaving everybody asking:

* Who will don the Yellow Jersey after tomorrow?

* Will Armstrong give up his lead to help Contador?

* Which rider will Team Astana support?

Armstrong finished with the breakaway group with two other Astana riders, while Contador finished in the second group back with almost the entire Astana team, including American Levi Leipheimer.

You’re Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel. What do you tell the team?

See also KWC: Questions on Leadership.

During the Tour de France, Bike Hugger is hosting a live chat during the race over at Hub.BikeHugger.com. One of the questions that popped up during the Individual Time Trial on Monaco concerned the aero wheels on the time trial bikes.

Q. I’m a mountain biker and we don’t use aero wheels, but watching the Tour I wonder why they don’t use aero wheels on the front.

The inquiry was concerning the disk wheels used during the time trial. Several chatters answered the question: Full disk wheels on the front make the bike difficult to control, especially in a crosswind.

If you have questions regarding equipment, teams, people, rules, or any other aspect of the Tour de France, jump in during the race at Bike Hugger Hub chat. We’re mostly pretty friendly and there are no stupid questions.

Bike Hugger closes the chat out right at the stage finish. Today’s Stage 3 (Monday, July 6) will be finished by about 8:30 AM Pacific Time, but drop in to see when the next chat time is.

Just for the fun of it I thought I’d see if there’s a Tour de France for Dummies — and there is! Not only that, it was written by Phil Liggett!

This book was published in 2005 so it won’t have the latest info, but this book with cycling commentator Phil Liggett as a contributor should be authoritative and it’s gotten good reviews on Amazon.com.

The product description says Tour de France for Dummies is a plain-English guide to the world’s most famous-and grueling-bicycle race. It’s an easy-to-follow, entertaining guide that demystifies the history, strategy, rules, techniques, equipment, and competitors in what is arguably the most grueling and intriguing multiday, multistage sporting event in the world.

Click here to see more and purchase. The Tour de France runs for three weeks so you should have plenty of time to read this book.

Happy USA Independence Day, all!

When Greg LeMond became the first American to race the Tour de France in 1984 and then started beating the Europeans at their own game, he paved the way for the current generation of professional American cyclists who have joined the peloton along with Lance Armstrong. They’ve turned this greatest of bike races into an American sport as much as a European one, with Americans winning more races since LeMond donned the Yellow Jersey in 1986 than any other single nation.

For Americans, however, the only name most of us recognize is Lance Armstrong. Seven world class cyclists will represent the United States from three different teams, two of which are American teams. Here are the names from the United States to follow as you watch the action.

Team Astana has the winningest cyclist in Tour history, Lance Armstrong. The 37 year old came out of retirement to show that it can be done, but for this year’s tour Armstrong says he’ll ride to support team leader Alberto Contador of Spain.

The other American on Astana, Levi Leipheimer, hails from northern California, where he won the Tour of California three years in a row. He’s been racing for pro teams in Europe for the last decade. Leipheimer placed 6th in the 2009 Giro d’Italia last May.

Look for Levi and Lance in the Team Astana blue and yellow.

The American Garmin-Slipstream has several Americans on its roster. They are the flamboyant and funny David Zabriskie of Salt Lake City; European racing veteran Christian Van de Velde of Chicago; Danny Pate of Colorado Springs; and Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, WA, who is making his TdF debut this year.

You can spot Garmin-Slipstream riders in their distinctive orange and blue argyle kit.

Finally, George Hincapie of Greenville, SC continues racing for the American Team Columbia-HTC (formerly Columbia-High Road). Hincapie was Armstrong’s chief lieutenant, assisting Armstrong for all seven of his Tour de France wins. Hincapie also served as domestique for Alberto Contador’s Tour de France win in 2007 when he raced with Team Discovery.

You can spot the Columbia-HTC riders in their white jerseys and shorts with yellow and black highlights and logos.