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Dear Explainer,
I am as much of an anti-doping advocate as the next guy, but isn’t it kind of ridiculous that we’ve been suffering through the on-again-off-again cycles of Operación Puerto for more than three years now? Doesn’t cycling have a freakin’ statute of limitations? We’ve seen Jan Ullrich driven out of the sport, Ivan Basso suspended and other riders implicated but never charged. Now we have Alejandro Valverde being charged by the Italians over something that supposedly happened in Spain.

Italian Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti PVC Disquigiovanni) attacked on the last climb to win stage 3 of the Vuelta Mexico on Tuesday and take over the yellow jersey.

Fabian Cancellara’s classics campaign is in doubt following a shoulder injury that forced him out of today’s start of the five-day Vuelta a Murcia. The Olympic time trial champion recently crashed at his home in Switzerland during a training ride, injuring his right shoulder blade and throwing a wrench into his racing and training schedule ahead of the spring classics.

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Press release Team Type 1 Announces Internal Anti-Doping Testing Program Atlanta — Team Type 1 announced today that it has launched its first anti-doping testing program.   The world's only professional cycling team that includes riders who have Type 1 diabetes administered blood and urine tests to its riders at training camp in Buellton, Calif., in late January. The samples were tested and analyzed by Scott Analytics Inc., an independent anti-doping test agency in Pasadena, Calif.  

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic readies for 50th An American Classic – part of the USAC National Racing Calendar Commemorating the gold anniversary for a race that should have never been is bittersweet. The 50th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, which has become a staple for amateur and professional cyclists from around the world, is preparing for record attendance for the July 2 – 5 stage race.

MINNEAPOLIS – February 23, 2009 – The Nature Valley Pro Ride has announced its 2009 schedule, growing from three to six events in its second year. This unique program offers elite amateurs a chance to win a trip to the Nature Valley Grand Prix, the top ranked Pro/Am race in the country, where they’ll race on the Nature Valley Cycling Team. The Nature Valley Grand Prix, which begins June 10 in St. Paul, Minn., is the only race among the USA Grand Tours to admit amateurs and serves as an amateur’s chance to have a full professional racing experience.

NWTandemRacing.com Reminds You That Tandem Racing is BIG in Oregon nwtandemracing.com The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA.org) has more races that cater to tandems than almost any part of the US. But with all of the new tandem races that have been popping up it's been a real challenge to get the word out in advance. In January 2009, NWTandemRacing.com was launched to help give a meeting place for all of these tandem opportunities.

Mars Hill College Cycling Team "A Cinematic Celebration of the Bicycle" Thursday, March 5 at 9:30pm. Fundraiser Films include: Klunkerz: A Billy Savage film chronicling the birth of mountain biking. Set in Northern California's Marin County, the film follows the free-wheeling pioneers of the sport and their make-shift bikes known as "klunkerz" as they lay the foundation for today's mountain biking scene. 95min. www.klunkerz.com www.vasentertainment.com Chris Hoy: Just a Minute: A BBC film that follows the Olympic and world

The Tour of the Red River Gorge Summer Cycling Series - Culminates with 4 Day, 5 Event UCI Junior Invitational Stage Race. Championship Development LLC, organizers of the annual Tour of the Red River Gorge have announced the race will expand into a full summer of cycling events in eastern Kentucky culminating in an internationally sanctioned, invitational stage race for the top elite junior racers from around the world.

With so many exhibitors combining to bring unlimited creativity to NAHBS this year, the stories and photos are far from exhausted. Among the myriad of bicycle configurations on display in Indianapolis, those with only a single cog and chainring represented a majority. Many were track bikes, urban fixed gear bikes, commuters, town bikes, and even a cyclocross bike or two.

The rangers at Colorado's Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area weren’t sure what to make of Catherine Shenk when she pulled up to the fee booth on a mountain bike recently. It was, after all, the dead of winter and the entire area was covered in snow. “They weren’t sure if bikes were allowed,” Shenk says. After some deliberation they let her through. With tires built for the terrain, she followed packed snowmobile trails to the town of Minturn, about 20 miles away. Then she turned around and rode back up to the pass.

Jackson Rodriguez (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni) won Monday's second stage of the Vuelta Mexico, a 205km route from De Huajuapan to León-Puebla. Canadian Andrew Pinfold (OUCH-Maxxis) finished second while young American Peter Stetina of a composite U25 American team leads the Most Aggressive category of the eight-stage event.

Sid Taberlay (Sho Air-Specialized) and Krista Park (NoTubes-Magura) claimed victory at the Bonelli Park cross-country race in San Dimas, California on March 1. The race was the opening round of the inaugural US Cup, a 13-race series of mountain bike races across the United States. The race was also the first event of the Kenda Cup West, the seven-race West Coast half of the US Cup. The race opened with motorcycle rider Jason Britton, star of Speed Television’s show “Super Bikes,” riding a wheelie at the head of the men’s field through the neutral start on his stunt motorcycle.

Sitting on a plane headed back to Spain after a weekend of racing and a day spent pre-riding Paris-Roubaix sectors, I’m pretty sure that classics season is now officially open. The blister on my hand, right where the ring finger creases as I type, is a good reminder. Yep, pave is in no way easy on the body. My fingers, and the slight ache that run through them as they roam the keyboard would be reminder number 2. Moving on to other contact points with the bike; well, yeah, I’ll be reminded tomorrow.

Dutch rider Steven de Jongh will miss the upcoming spring classics due to a painful muscle tear that will require surgery.   The Quick Step veteran was unable to defend his title at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last weekend because he thought he was suffering from tendonitis dating back to a nasty crash at the Tour of Qatar in January.   Further tests Tuesday, however, revealed that he has a torn bicep femoris muscle, the team reported.   De Jongh is scheduled for surgery on Friday at the Herentals Clinic in Belgium. He will be sidelined for at least six weeks.  

Chris Hoy, Britain's four-time Olympic track-cycling gold medalist, announced on Tuesday he was withdrawing from this month's World Championships in Poland because of injury. Hoy, who has suffered complications following a hip injury sustained when falling off his bike in the keirin final of the Copenhagen leg of the World Cup in February, said: "I'm hugely disappointed that I'm not going to be riding in the Worlds."

Press Release: The Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association is pleased to announce the 2009 Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show. This showcase event will highlight some of the best of talent in the country, both from Oregon's rich bicycle community and further afield. In addition to the builders, the Oregon Handmade Bicycle show will feature select bicycle industry businesses. This two day event is scheduled for Halloween weekend- Saturday October 31st and November 1st, 2009. Saturday night will feature a Halloween costume party with food and beverages supplied by HUB

Change is just what Robbie McEwen needed. His move to Katusha for a two-year deal with the start-up Russian squad has put the fire back into the veteran Australian sprinter. Not that it’s ever gone away, but McEwen didn’t have his best season in 2008, coming off just five wins and getting blanked in the grand tours. McEwen will see more support in the sprints with Katusha and he already has two wins under his belt before the end of February.

Team Saxo Bank is expecting big things in this year’s Paris-Nice and brings a stacked squad that includes candidates for stage wins as well as a shot at the GC for the season’s first major stage race. Headlining the team’s GC hopes will be Fränk Schleck, winner of a stage at the Tour of California last month, while Olympic silver medalist Gustav Larsson has a chance to win the opening time trial for the “Race to the Sun,” set for March 8-15.

Dear Lennard,
You may want to do a little better research when answering these questions next time because both of your CO2 answers were completely wrong.

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USA Cycling Junior National Team member Jacob Rathe (Hammer/CMG Racing) started his 2009 campaign by topping the men’s Pro/1/2 f

With a grassroots movement that continues to flourish, a handful of pro races to show off and national championships in two disciplines being fought out on its turf, the Pacific Northwest looks to be a hotbed of cycling again in 2009. The local peloton will shift into high gear March 1 when the nearly 30-year-old Banana Belt Series hits the roads around Henry Hagg Lake, about a half hour west of Portland. Banana Belt promoter Jeff Mitchem says he expects anywhere from 350-500 participants for each of the three series races, depending on the weather.

Price: $80 Weight: 117 grams Sizes: EBB Shells 68 x 55mm Colors: Red, blue, silver, black Web site: www.ninerbikes.com Do you rely on an eccentric bottom bracket (EBB) for proper chain tension on your single speed, internally geared hub, or tandem? If so the new Niner Bio-Centric EBB may come as a relief to your current creaking and ovalized EBB shell woes.

More than 1,700 people attended Sunday's final day of the fifth annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Indianapolis, bringing the weekend’s total to almost 6,500. Exhibitors commented on Saturday’s huge crowds, and many shared the feeling that this was the best NAHBS ever. Awards for the best bikes on display were announced near the close of the show.

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Lance Armstrong’s road map back to the Tour de France continues to take shape. Astana team officials confirmed to VeloNews that Armstrong is scheduled to race Milan-San Remo (March 21), Vuelta a Castilla y León (March 23-27) the Giro di Trentino (April 22-25), the Giro d’Italia (May 9-31) and the Tour de France (July 4-26).