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Vintage bike photo from the 30s. Hand printed from found negative.

Cycling in Lucca, Italy

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. It’s fall and a young woman’s mind turns to … cyclo-cross? D. Lawson sent in a terrific shot of a young rider taking on her first ‘cross race. Nice. Katie Compton may have to watch out for this one. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of our new Coors Classic DVD. Meanwhile, go ahead and take a look at our latest gallery, decide what you like and let us know

Former Cofidis rider Cristian Moreni has been banned for two years fora failed doping test during this year's Tour de France, the Italian CyclingFederation (FCI) announced on Thursday. The 35-year-old former Italian champion testedpositive for testosterone during the 11th stage of a drug-tainted 2007Tour that saw pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan alsosent home in disgrace. Moreni immediately acknowledged his guilt after testing positive withouteven requesting that his B sample be tested. His actions resulted in his entire team withdrawingfrom the Tour. He was later

First 'Cross Race

Thursday News and Notes: Moreni gets two years; Tour goes to Monaco

Paradise Pedalers in Key West, Florida 2007

George Hincapie well protected at the ToM

2007 Tour de Courage - Phil Ligget

Caution - Lansing, IL ChiCrossCup

On Top - Spruce Knob

Hunter Pronovost running "the Hill"-Cheshire Cross07

River Trail Wenatchee WA

La Ruta Finisher/Kevin Perry

Mikey-O

The Silver hurts the most

Who needs synchronized swimming?

The Art of the Clavical Fracture

Little Miss Horner (yep, Chris' girl) at Bend BMX

LeMond on Block Island

Riding the edge

T-Mobile rider finishing the Solvang TT - 2007 Tour of California

Tim Clark Charging Sierra Road

George cooling down and Levi warming up - 2007 Tour of California Solvang TT

T-Mobile rider finishing the Solvang TT - 2007 Tour of California

The writing on the wall said it all. Okay, the writing wasn’t actually on a wall — it was on a chalkboard mounted above a urinal, in the lobby men’s room of the Hotel Boulderado in downtown Boulder, Colorado, where the entire 2008 Slipstream-Chipotle squad held its first official gathering November 7-16. Nevertheless, the writing on the chalkboard in the men’s room perfectly summed up both the vision of America’s newest big team and the mood of its recent camp: “GO SLIPSTREAM. Here’s to a healthier year in cycling in 2008.” Boulder may be among the most cycling-friendly cities in the U.S.,

Minnaar to ride alongside Peat, RennieFormer world downhill champion and two-time World Cup champ Greg Minnaar of South Africa has signed a two-year deal with the Santa Cruz Syndicate team. After four years with Team G-Cross/Honda, Minnaar has decided to race on the Santa Cruz V10 bike next year, alongside fellow World Cup racers Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie. Honda announced the end of its G-Cross program in October. "Racing for Team G-Cross/Honda for the past 4 years was an amazing experience,” Minnaar said. “ It's clear that the Syndicate is driven by people who love to race. We are

White House deputy "drug czar" Scott Burns blasted U.S. sports leagues Tuesday for failing to adopt World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standards and indicated their leaders were enablers for dope cheats. Burns, the U.S. government representative to last week's Madrid WADA meeting, picked apart the National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball excuses for ignoring WADA. "They don't want to sign on because it's tough and it's specific and there are consequences and it will be monitored and cheaters will be caught and

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: Festive Slipstream-Chipotle camp wraps up in Boulder

Dinner, silent auction and big hopes for 2008.

Taylor Phinney and his role model.

Donald, Friedman and Millar

Gift bags for all... and argyle cake.

The intensity of cyclocross means the discipline has its own nutritional demands.

Italy’s Liquigas is turning its back on defending Giro d’Italia champ Danilo Di Luca and will rebuild the team for 2008 with a youth movement that includes seven new riders. With Di Luca’s contract not extended following a tumultuous season (see below), the Italian ProTour team will refocus its efforts with the arrival of classics/sprinter Daniele Bennati, Enrico Franzoi and five other younger riders. Di Luca won the Giro and Lìege-Bastogne-Liège, but saw what looked like a lock on his second ProTour title in three years when he was banned for three months by Italian officials for links to

Katie Compton is on a crusade in the motherland of ’cross. She won round three of the Cyclocross World Cup in Pijnacker, The Netherlands on November 3. Daphny Van Den Brand, winner of the previous round in Kalmthout, Belgium, was second by almost a minute. This past weekend, Compton again put her stamp on an international field at the third round of the Superprestige Series in Gavere, Belgium. At the world cup, Compton won, but in Gavere, she dominated, taking first by a hefty 2 minutes and 46 seconds.

Jared Bunde, a 31-year-old member of the GS Mengoni Cycling team, accepteda two-year doping ban by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Tuesday after testing positive for the banned substance clomiphene. Bunde, a member of the GS Mengoni Cycling team, tested positive July 28 at the International Cycling Classic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His two-year ban began October 15, the day he accepted a provisional suspension. As a result of testing positive for the anti-estrogenic drug, Bunde forfeits all results since July 28, including his win in the Masters National Track Championship, Points

Bennati has had a string of impressive wins in grand tours this year.

Compton’s winning ride

Rabobank’s Sven Nys sets the bar on the cyclocross course; therefore many look to his equipment choices. He rides Colnago C50s with Shimano Dura-Ace groups and WH-7801-C50 wheels with Dugast Typhoons 34c tires. with his name on them. Brakes by Spooky

Shimano makes a special 46-tooth outer ring for its sponsored ’crossers. Nys’ inner ring is a standard 39-tooth ring.

Nys’ bikes use a sealed cable system from BBB. A sealed system is of the utmost importance for ’cross in Northern Europe. Mud coupled with ultra frequent power washing can destroy a standard set of cables in the matter of a race.

Dugast puts the world championship stripes and the owner’s name on these 34c Typhoons.

Lars Boom’s second bike sits along with a gaggle of Rabobank’s spare wheels.

At the world cup in The Netherlands, Legg snapped a shot of the Italian national team mechanics making coffee. This is the electric Moka model from Bialetta and can be bought at Williams Sonoma for around $100.

Enrico Franzoi (Lampre-Fondital) rode Fulcrum’s Racing Light carbon wheels with 32c Dugast Rhinos at the muddy world cup in The Netherlands.

A Fidea mechanic works on a team bike, a Ridley prototype with an integrated seat mast. Also notice the green tinted sidewalls on the Challenge Grifo tires. The tint is special for the team, but the tires’ treads are also on production models.

rides Ridley’s house-brand 4ZA brakes, however, the mechanics do add a custom barrel adjuster to the right cable stop.

More Fidea Ridleys with integrated masts. These are Petr Dlask’s bikes.

A tighter shot of the new seat masts. The feature is rumored to be standard equipment for 2009 consumer models.

Bart Wellens (Fidea) has his own rack; two of the bikes have integrated masts, the closest doesn’t. They also sport the team issue tires; the closest has Challenge’s Grifo XS and the others sport standard Grifos.

Another shot of the Belgian champion’s Ridleys.

Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl), winner of World Cup #2, rides a titanium Merida equipped with SRAM Force components.

Katie Compton (SpikeShooter) warming up for the third round of the 2007 World Cup...

... and winning Gavere.

Compton uses Enduro’s ceramic pulleys in her Campagnolo Record rear derailleur.

Ending months of speculation, Kazakh ProTour team Astana announced Fridaythat it had signed American Chris Horner for 2008. The move, which putto rest rumors that Horner was on the verge of signing with U.S. continentalsquad Rock Racing, will see Horner ride alongside Tour de France winnerAlberto Contador as well as compatriot and U.S. national champion LeviLeipheimer. The signing also raised more than a few eyebrows, given Astana’sscandal-plagued 2007 season. After two seasons with Predictor-Lotto that saw Horner take stage winsat the Tour of Switzerland and Tour of Romandie — as well as

If Alejandro Valverde was hoping for a quiet off-season, he was wrong. Representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency were expected to meet Monday with Court of Arbitration for Sport officials in connection with an effort to try yet again to secure a racing ban for the beleaguered Spanish rider for alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal. Officials from both the UCI and WADA said last week during the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid they were “considering their options” about what to do with Valverde, who they insist is linked to the alleged blood doping

Horner says the Astana offer came as a surprise.

Horner will bring his unique style to Astana.

Costa Rica’s Federico “Lico” Ramirez (BCR-Pizza Hut) and American Susan Haywood (Trek-Volkswagen) took overall wins at the 15th annual La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain-bike stage race in Costa Rica. It was Haywood’s first visit to La Ruta, while Ramirez, also an accomplished road racer, became the only person to claim four La Ruta titles. Both riders took three stage wins en route to overall victory. After the race Ramirez said he would be back to try for number five. Central America’s largest bike race concluded on Saturday with the 125km fourth stage from the mountain hamlet of

Rain, 30-degree temperatures, and a course greased so slick with mud that racing turned cartoonish at times caused words like "real" and "'cross race" to commingle during Sunday’s fourth round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross near Trenton, New Jersey. Sloping hairpin turns that posed little threat during Saturday's dry conditions turned treacherous, and running them became faster than risking wipeouts. Defying the weather and the gossip that he can't race in mud, Ryan Trebon (Kona–YourKey.com) took his second victory in as many days.

Ramirez rollin' it

The final sprint

Crossing the Rio Pacuare

Dietsch takes a dip

Trebon, not a mudder? Guess again

Gould wins, but not without suffering

Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how . . .

After a month of political maneuvering, speculation and more than a healthy dose of good old-fashioned rumor mongering, the World Anti-Doping Association did as expected on Saturday and elected former Australian Finance Minister John Fahey as the organization’s president for the next three years. Predicted opposition to Fahey’s candidacy by European members of the WADA Foundation board of directors resulted only in formal abstentions by four members and no vote by Russia’s representative on the panel. The board also elected International Olympic Committee medical commission head Arne

Georgia Gould (Luna) and Ryan Trebon (Kona – Yourkey.com) claimed their first U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross victories of the season Saturday at Mercer County Park. Fit and fast, both Gould and Trebon rode races marked by power, technique and perhaps a little luck on a course that required rhythm, balance and acceleration. An interesting mix of twists and turns forced racers to stitch together angles and "highways" for an interesting race; a gigantic sandpit the size of three volleyball courts and eight 12-inch vertical steps made sure to drain them of any reserved energy.

Fahey meets with reports after his election on Saturday.

Gould nails it

Plenty of challenges on an interesting course.

Trebon and Wicks built an early advantage

Johnson in pursuit

Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of competitive cycling from your friends at VeloNews.com.

VeloNews Podcast 34 - Charles Pelkey at the 2007 WADA Conference, cyclocross interview with Tim Johnson plus the latest on the women's Team Advil squad for 2008.

Fat-tire racers in Southern California probably recognize the name Manuel “Manny” Prado — the 26-year-old wrenches at the Rock N’ Road Cyclery in Mission Viejo and is a staple on the California state mountain-bike series. Each year when the California series and the National Mountain-Bike Series draw to a close, Prado — a native of Costa Rica — finishes each season out by racing his homeland’s largest cycling event, the La Ruta de los Conquistadores. Prado immigrated to the United States in 2001 to pursue his passion for freestyle BMX competition. He earned an appearance on ESPN’s X-Games