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Lance Armstrong's defamation trial ended Thursday after charges were withdrawn by Italian cyclist Filippo Simeoni. Armstrong also withdrew his defamation action against Simeoni, the lawyer for the Tour de France great said. Neither Armstrong nor Simeoni was at the court in Latina, near Rome. "The case is over after both actions have been withdrawn," lawyer Enrico Nan said. Simeoni brought defamation charges against Armstrong following an April 2003 report in the French newspaper Le Monde. In the article, Armstrong contended that Simeoni had agreed to testify against doctor Michele

Di Luca, last year's Flèche and Amstel winner, will only ride at Liège this coming week before aiming at the Giro

Hammer tops the podium in Bordeaux

Hammer gave it all in the gold-medal round

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Foundation rep outlines support for cyclingEditor:Your recent interview with Gerard Bisceglia (see part one and part two) made some accusations about the USA Cycling Development Foundation. I am one of the initiators of the foundation and I would like to shed some light on the foundation

George Hincapie won’t face surgery after all. The 32-year-old Discovery Channel rider crashed twice in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix, injuring one wrist and his right shoulder, but an exam Tuesday found that an operation would not be necessary. Doctors determined that the crash resulted in a third-degree separation of Hincapie's shoulder as well as a severely bruised wrist. His shoulder will be taped and placed in a sling until he can resume riding. "I was happy to hear that I will not need surgery," Hincapie said from his home in Greenville, South Carolina. "I will be off the bike for about

Britain's rich array of track-cycling talent is preparing to battle their Australian, French and Dutch rivals at the world championships beginning Thursday in Bordeaux, France. At last year’s world’s in Los Angeles, Britain's track team dominated the competition with four gold medals, and six medals in total. And at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, they showed that once again they are on form. Riders from Scotland, England, Wales and even the Isle of Man got to fly their national flag on the games’ podium. But both Australia and France have a thing or two to

Last week, USA Cycling chief executive officer Gerard Bisceglia discussedhis termination from the post with former VeloNews news editor CharlesPelkey. (see "Exit Interview: Bisceglia speaks" Part1 and Part2). At the time, we extended a similar invitation to a representativeof USA Cycling or its board of directors.Bisceglia's replacement, Steve Johnson, who was moved into the CEO postfrom the chief operating officer's spot, accepted our invitation and discussedhis new position, his assessment of the current state of the organizationand his hopes and expectations for cycling's

Hincapie after his craash

Dear Readers, Well, I just got back from Sea Otter, and I’m sure you’ve read my review of the SRAM road group. There were lots of other cool things there, including pieces of the new XTR and lots of new mountain bike stuff from SRAM, Avid,Hayes, RockShox, Fox, Magura, Cat Eye, and many others. But one thing remained the same – my mailbox filling up with letters on the subject of wheel rotational weight and what difference it makes when climbing. The first time around, I published a letter saying it made almost no difference. The next time we revisited, I published letters saying it was a big deal.

Just a few minutes before six am Saturday morning we departed Zurich andstarted on a four and a half hour drive to Cadolzburg, Germany for the“Frühjahrspreis des RSC Fürth”. Cadolzburg is in Bayern Germanynear Nürnberg. For once we left not only on time but ahead of schedule.It was the first race I’ve don’t this year where we didn’t drive to therace the day before. So it was a change in thinking to just out ofthe car after the long drive and get on my bike and race.The race had only one climb which we went through four times, it wassteep and on cobbles. The start finish is on the middle of

Peter Van Petegem’s Davitamon-Lotto team has lodged a complaint with the UCI over their rider’s disqualification in last Sunday's Paris-Roubaix. The Belgian, who finished third behind winner Fabien Cancellara (CSC) and Leif Hoste (Discovery Channel), was disqualified along with Hoste and Discovery teammate Vladimir Gusev after the trio ignored a barrier at a railway crossing and continued racing without waiting for the train to pass. In its complaint, Davitamon argues that the group riding behind Van Petegem, containing ProTour leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step), also of Belgium — who was

Boonen and Van Petegem in Sunday's Paris-Roubaix

Introduced at last year’s Interbike trade show, SRAM formally rolled out its new road group at Sea Otter this week, giving media and others the chance to actually ride what the once-little company is using to take on the giants of the component industry. The company is actually introducing two new road groups: the top-of-the-line Force group and the price-point Rival. Both share the same design on all components, with the Force group getting extra touches like carbon fiber lever blades, a magnesium lever body, and titanium gears and bolts. A pair of Force levers, for example, weighs in at

After four years in the post, USA Cycling chief executive officer, GerardBisceglia, was fired last week by board president Jim Ochowicz. Biscegliawas replaced by the organization's chief operating officer, Steve Johnson,who is also the executive director of the USA Cycling Development Foundation.Bisceglia agreed to sit down with former VeloNews news editor,Charles Pelkey, and discuss his time at the head of the national governingbody, the reasons behind his sudden departure and what he sees as the challengesand opportunities facing the sport of cycling in the United States. In Part1 of

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.What goes around...Dear Gerard,You raised my eyebrows when you seemed surprised by not receiving ananswer to why you were fired. The occasion should have reminded you ofmy dismissal a year ago when the exact same thinghappened to me. When you, and your immediate office, refused to

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced Sunday that Philadelphia?s 22nd annual International Cycling Championship on Sunday, June 11, will continue with the help of a $400,000 state investment. "For more than a generation, the world?s best cyclists and their fans have flocked to Philadelphia to enjoy this great athletic competition. And, it pumps $15 million into the local economy," Governor Rendell said. "Losing it was not an option because it means so much to the Delaware Valley. It would be like Boston losing the Boston Marathon." "Pennsylvania is proud that it could help this

For the second consecutive year four racers took convincing wins in their respective events. In the downhill, under clear skies, 2005 Sea Otter omnium winner Jared Graves (Yeti-Fox) won by nearly three seconds over current DH world champ Fabien Barel (Kona-Les Gets), while Tracy Moseley (Kona-Les Gets) defended her 2005 Sea Otter DH title. Later in the afternoon, the temperature dropped and a steady rain greased the mountain-cross course. Undaunted, reigning world champions and Team GT riders Brian Lopes and Jill Kintner took comfortable wins in the men’s and women’s races,

The Rival road group.

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

The prototype... now all you have to do is shrink it.

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Tech Talk: Mr. Zinn rides SRAM's new road groups

Bisceglia at the Tour of California route announcement

Lopes

Kintner

Saul Raisin remained in a coma Sunday in a French hospital and Crédit Agricole team officials were cautiously optimistic the 23-year-old could see improvement this week. “His condition hasn’t changed, but it’s stable, and that’s good in a situation like this,” Crédit Agricole team manager Roger Legeay told VeloNews before the start of Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. “Every day he is stable, it’s better,” Legeay continued. “Thursday was the critical day. It was very bad and every day from that point is better if he does not become worse. We can only hope.” Raisin crashed in Tuesday’s first stage at

Tom Boonen has been riding like an unstoppable freight train all year, and it may have been another freight train that denied him a shot at a successive win in the toughest of all the Spring Classics. The world champion has been knocking off wins (12 so far this year) almost as fast as some of his fans pound down Belgian beers, but the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday became a proving ground for another rising star.

Just the second Swiss victory in 10 editions of Paris-Roubaix. An American’s dreams of victory turned nightmare by a broken fork. And three of the top five finishers disqualified for riding through a train crossing while the gates were down. All in all, an epic Hell of the North, and Graham Watson was there to capture the action.

Great Britain’s Liam Killeen (Specialized) has spent the first months of 2006 proving that, when he’s on form, few athletes can stand in his way. In March, he scored a big win at the March Commonwealth Games in New Zealand. Last week, he finished third at the World Cup opener in Curaçao, And on Sunday, Killeen scored a decisive victory in the Sea Otter Classic cross-country. "I never really felt that in trouble during the race," said the muddy Brit after finishing. "I’m really happy with my early season form at the moment. It’s all coming together." It was another Commonwealth rider —Chris

Raisin celebrated his first professional victory at the 2006 Tour de Langkawi

Cancellara crosses the line alone in Roubaix

Hincapie crashed after a mechanical

Boonen and company saw their chances derailed by a passing train

Hincapie's bike

Through the throngs of fans

And out in the open

Cancellara hoists the winner's trophy

No rain today – but that doesn't mean it will be easy

Troisvilles

Nicolas Portal (Caisse d'Epargne) and Stephan Schreck (T-Mobile) were part of an early escape

Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) takes the lead

Hincapie took his turns, despite an earlier crash that hurt his hand

A second crash took him out of the race for good

Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel)

And then Cancellara, solo

Hoste, Van Petegem and Gusev charging toward the finish

Pardon me, boys, is that the Paris-Roubaix choo-choo?

Ahead, Cancellara had plenty of time to celebrate

The effort and relief are etched into his face

Hoste and Van Petegem battle for second, not knowing they would be disqualified

Rock on, Fabian

Killeen washes the taste of a disappointing short track out of his mouth wiith a win in the cross country

Dahle-Flesja was passing the semi-pro men before the day was over

After four years in the post, USA Cycling chief executive officer, GerardBisceglia, was fired last week by board president Jim Ochowicz. Bisceglia was replaced by the organization’s chief operating officer, Steve Johnson, who is also the executive director of the USA Cycling Development Foundation. Bisceglia agreed to sit down with former VeloNews news editor,Charles Pelkey, and discuss his time at the head of the national governingbody, the reasons behind his sudden departure and what he sees as the challenges and opportunities facing the sport of cycling in the United States. In this, the

Saul Raisin’s condition remains unchanged two days after surgery to relieve pressure from a ruptured cerebral edema, according to the Crédit Agricole team physician. Dr. Joel Menard told AFP that the pressure on Raisin's brain was "stable, just above normal," and that doctors at the hospital in Angers hoped to be able to decrease the amount of drugs being given him. Meanwhile, Raisin’s uncle, Phil, told The Dalton Daily Citizen in Georgia that his parents, Jim and Yvonne, arrived in Paris on Friday. “They have seen Saul,” Phil Raisin said. “They’re doing as good as possible under the

It’s the question American George Hincapie has had to answer over and over again in the days leading up to Sunday’s 104th Paris-Roubaix: How do you beat Tom Boonen? "We just have to have as many guys as we can, for as long as we can, and make Quick Step work and not give them a free ride," Hincapie said of his Discovery Channel team’s simple strategy. Hincapie knows what it feels like to come close to winning the Queen of the Classics — his second-place finish to Boonen at last year’s Paris-Roubaix was his top result in a string of five top-10 finishes in five attempts — but he still

It may be almost Easter, but day two at the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca Raceway felt something like Christmas — a stroll around the grounds on Friday was all about the boys and their toys. Subaru-Gary Fisher racer Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski was feeling a little bit under the weather, but nevertheless took time to explain the development process behind his new Race Day Pro Caliber full-suspension bike. Giant may have had the least-attainable bike in the pits (it was more prototype than production), but Adam Craig seemed happy with it. He was also able to shed a little light on the new XTR

After 31 laps on the challenging Laguna Seca raceway, after innumerable attacks by riders from all over the world on dozens of teams, three friends from the same town in Tasmania ended up taking the first three places in the SRAM Sea Otter men’s professional road race. Already having wrapped up the king-of-the-mountains competition several laps earlier, Jelly Belly’s Matty Rice timed his last-lap move perfectly, replacing Caleb Manion, his teammate and longtime friend from Launceston, Australia, at the front and rolling across the line alone with a few seconds to spare over another friend

World Champion Brian Lopes (GT Bicycles-Oakley) and France’s Sabrina Jonnier (Monster Energy-Ironhorse-Madcatz) won Saturday afternoon’s Sea Otter dual slalom race under sunny skies and light winds. The afternoon’s light winds played a key roll in changing course conditions, drying and hardening the once-muddy route and adding speed to riders’ times. The men were running in the mid-30-second range, while the women put in times just slightly slower. Despite the finale of the men’s pro NRC road race and the SRAM invitational dirt jump contest running at the same time, the dual slalom was well

After years in the private sector, Bisceglia describes his time at USA Cycling as the most enjoyable of his career.

It will take brains and brawn to beat Boonen

Proud papa Travis Brown and his brown 69er

Fisher's Race Days

They come in pink, too

The Anthem Composite

Lookin' good

The hydro-formed seatstays on Brown's 69er

Kabush is running narrow 1.9 Larsen TTs

Groovin', on a Friday afternoon

Before (front) and after