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The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

Saul Raisin - the 25-year-old American climber who nearly died from a brain hemorrhage after a high-speed crash last April – continues to defy expectations. This week, Raisin joined his Crédit Agricole teammates for the team’s preseason camp along France’s Cote d’Azur and is laying plans for a comeback to racing this season. “I’ve just been surprising everyone, including myself on how well I am doing,” Raisin told VeloNews. “The doctors can’t believe it. Statistically, I should be dead or in a wheelchair. At first I just wanted to be able to live a normal life again. Now I think I can race

With the big squads represented in the break, the main field settled in for an easy ride.

... but it was this combination that worked.

McCauley and crew made an early dig...

O'Grady was hoping for another TDU win, but at 26 minutes back, this year's race is now just for training.

Menzies relishes his win.

The attacks shattered the lead group with less than 10km to go.

Former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis has pleaded for cycling to get its house in order, or face losing further credibility in the eyes of an increasingly suspect public. The CSC team manager led his Danish-based team to the top of the ProTour rankings last year, despite losing his star rider, Ivan Basso, following the release of allegations from a doping investigation in Spain. Basso, last year's Giro d’Italia winner, was released by CSC. After Italian sporting authorities cleared the Italian ace, who was tipped as Lance Armstrong's successor, he has since moved to Discovery

Australian sprinter Mark Renshaw announced his aims for the five-day Tour Down Under stage race by winning a 50km inner-city criterium in Adelaide, Australia on Tuesday. The on-form Credit Agricole rider got the better of sprint heavyweight Robbie McEwen in a tight bunch finish to continue his sizzling early season form. The criterium is classified as the TDU’s “prelude,” and does not count toward the Tour’s overall classification. Hilton Clarke, of Navigators, finished second just ahead of SouthAustralia.com rider Simon Clarke, a promising 20-year-old who is no relation. Early in the race

Questions about cutting carbon, shifting problems, chain length and more

World champion Paolo Bettini skipped training in Spain on Tuesday as a precaution after smashing his left knee into his handlebars during a ride Monday, but team officials were quick to say it won’t keep the Grillo off his bike for too long. The Quick Step-Innergetic captain donned his rainbow jersey and rode for about 10 minutes during the team rollout Tuesday morning to pose for pictures for the assembled media, but quickly returned to the team hotel to rest the knee. “It’s nothing serious, but we don’t want to take any unnecessary risks,” said team spokesman Alessandro Tegner. “It’s

While professional road teams are blowing the dust off their bikes and drowsily congregating for early-season training camps, the international cyclo-cross circuit is reaching its boiling point. With less than two weeks until the UCI world championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, the pecking order in European ‘cross is in its final days of firming up, and North America’s top riders have taken different approaches to preparing for the final push. Over the past several years the "Christmas ‘Cross" series from late December through early January has become something of a "must" race for all

LOS ANGELES, January 16, 2007 – Joining previously announced DiscoveryChannel Pro Cycling Team, Team CSC, Predictor-Lotto and Health Net ProCycling Team, 14 additional teams, including U.S. teams Toyota-United ProCycling Team, Jelly Belly Cycling Team and Colavita/Sutter Home Presentedby Cooking Light Team, have been confirmed for the 2007 Amgen Tour of Californiaby AEG, promoter and operator of the professional cycling race.  The650-mile, eight-day stage race, modeled after the Tour de France, willfeature 18 of the world’s top professional teams racing from San Franciscoto Long Beach

Renshaw surprised even himself with the win.

A fast summer day in Adelaide.

Robbie's new kit.

Bettini will take Tuesday off and make a decision on Wednesday

Trebon is back Stateside training after suffering a nagging illness

Veterans Robbie McEwen and Stuart O'Grady are among the favorites whenthey saddle up for Australia's Tour Down Under on Wednesday. Sprint king McEwen is well known for his exploits at the Giro d'Italiaand his three points jersey wins at the Tour de France. But McEwen, whowill debut his Predictor-Lotto team's new pink and black jersey this week,has big obstacles to overcome if he hopes to extend his record tally of11 stage wins at this five-day home race. The Belgium-based Australianfailed to win any stages last year, when the speed of Allan Davis, ridinghere for the UniSA

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery has been posted, along with a special year-end gallery, featuring contest winners from throughout 2006. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of ourmost recent contest. Take the time to wander through that gallery and see if you agree or disagree with our choice of winners this week. This time around, we found Jeff Sakacsi’s “Hillsboro USGP,” nicely captures the frantic environment of a muddy day mired in the middle of the field at a ‘cross race. Congratulations Jeff. Nice work. Please drop us a note at

USA Cycling has released the dates for the inaugural Mountain-Bike Racing Calendar (MBRC), which features competition in three individual categories: cross country, gravity and ultra-endurance. Cross country events include cross-country, short-track, time-trial and stage races; gravity includes downhill, four cross, dual slalom and Super D; and ultra endurance includes 100-mile, 12-hour, 24-hour and marathon cross-country races.The calendar, modeled after USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC) on the road side, features 53 races at 37 individual events. The total prize purse for the 53

McEwen won last year's prelude criterium, but didn't add to his string of 11 TDU stage wins.

Hillsboro USGP

Twenty-three-year-old Darren Lapthorne claimed the biggest success of his career to win the 163km men's elite road race at the 2007 Australian Open Road Championships in Bunninyong, near Ballarat, Victoria, on Sunday. "It's the happiest day of my life," said Lapthorne who is studying a Bachelor of Business at RMIT in tandem with pursuing his cycling career. "It is an unbelievable moment for me and I'll never forget it." Lapthorne crossed the line well clear at the end of 16 laps in a time of 4hr16min18sec with his Drapac Porsche teammate and Barcelona Olympian, Robert McLachlan,

German prosecutors are slated to compare blood samples from former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich who has been accused of doping and sporting fraud, the weekly magazine Focus reported. Investigators in Spain have agreed to send samples from bags of blood seized in apartments owned Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, allegedly the head of the blood-doping and drug ring revealed by Spanish police in the so called Operacion Puerto investigation last May. German investigators plan to compare the results against a sample submitted by Ullrich in September. The tests could finally settle whether bags in

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme doesn’t go to many team presentations, but he found time in his schedule to travel to Mallorca this weekend to be there for the unveiling of a re-vamped T-Mobile squad. The Tour leader lauded the team’s dramatic house-cleaning following alleged links between Jan Ullrich and Operación Puerto. Prudhomme said T-Mobile’s latest efforts to reshape the team, with increased internal doping controls and a strong emphasis on clean racing, is just the tonic to help regain cycling’s credibility. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood joined a

World No. 1 Sven Nys (Rabobank) won the 10th and penultimate round of the UCI’s World Cup of cyclo-cross in Nommay, France, on Sunday. Nys solidified his grip on the overall standings of the World Cup and the world points classifications with the win. Nys finished ahead of recently crowned Belgian champion Bart Wellens and Dutchman Gerben De Knegt. The race was dominated from the start by Rabobank teammates Nys, De Knegt and Dutchman Richard Groenendaal. The trio got an early gap, forcing Wellens to form a quick alliance with Frenchman John Gadret and Czech rider Petr Dlask. The chasers

The Tour director is making a point of showing support for T-Mobile's new direction

Prudhomme speaks with reporters

Embattled Tour de France champion Floyd Landis says he his riding withoutpain for the first time in four years, following his hip operation lastSeptember. Physician Brent Kay said that Landis, who suffered a fracture at theneck of his femur in acrash four years ago, has reclaimed top form for the first time sincethen. "He has regained full strength, power and range of motion and is completelypain free," Kay said. "His one-leg power tests now show that the new hipis actually stronger than the other side. "With normal length restored to his femur and the elimination of hischronic pain, Floyd

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

Olympic and Commonwealth Games track star, Katie Mactier and Wesley Sulzberger claimed top honors in the women’s and U23 men’s races at the Australian Open Road Championships in Bunninyong, near Ballarat, Victoria on Saturday. The 31-year-old Mactier, the 2001 road champion, out gunned eleven rivals, including the reigning Olympic and reigning Commonwealth Games road Champions, to win the title in a time of 3hr10min35sec ahead of 2003 U23 Olympic Distance Triathlon World Champion, Nikki Egyed, 24, with Mactier's Victorian teammate Emma Rickards third. "When you come out and take a win

The ghost of Jan Ullrich has been fully exorcized and a reborn T-Mobile team is boldly riding into the 2007 season without the franchise rider that carried the team to greatness for a decade. The downfall of the 1997 Tour de France champion and the ensuing housecleaning that followed Ullrich’s expulsion ahead of the start of last year’s Tour was officially closed in Saturday’s team presentation of T-Mobile. Out is talk of the winning the Tour and in are choice words about teamwork and clean competition. With 13 new riders and five new staff members, T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton introduced

Even bigger things are expected for T-Mobile this season as eight new riders and an all-female management staff carry the team’s ambitions into 2007. Following on the heels of last year’s success in its inaugural season at international competition, the women’s team expects for even more victories this year. Back are Kim Anderson, Judith Arndt and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg. Five up-and-coming racers join established stars Oenone Wood, Kate Bates and Chantal Beltman for the season. “If we can achieve what we did last year, we’ll be satisfied,” said Teutenberg. “We’ll always be at the front at all

Landis has ridden with hip pain since his 2003 fracture

Cipollini may be facing a big bill from the tax man.

American Bob Stapleton heads a new post-Ullrich T-Mobile squad that emphasizes teamwork

The new T-Mobile's mantra for '07

T-Mobile for '07 includes a well-established women's program and a re-vamped men's team.

Arndt, Teutenberg, Wood, Bates, Beltman... who wouldn't want to ride for this team?

Over the course of the week several staff and riders from the Spanish ProTourSaunier Duval-Prodir team have been in Mali, West Africa, to help inauguratethe ambitious “100years for a million trees” re-forestation project as a way of markingthe 100th anniversary of the program's title sponsor.We've received several written reports from VeloNews editorialdirector John Wilcockson. Paris-based photographer Glenn Myrent was alsothere to document the events of the week and has been kind enough to sharesome of his images with VeloNews.com. The week was highlighted by a racebetween seven of

In an unusual step, Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has been summoned  to appear before the French anti-doping agency (AFLD) on February 8, the organization's president Pierre Bordry told AFP on Friday.The 32-year-old American won the Tour de France last July, due in no small part to a remarkable effort on the 17th stage of the race.

The Malian riders used steel frames, 12-speed bikes and European race clothing for the Fatoma-Mopti road race.

Most of the local riders put on their souvenir Saunier Duval T-shirts over their cycling jerseys before lining up for the 60km race.

Mali’s Adama Toula and Saunier Duval’s second-year Spanish pro Arkaitx Duran crossed the line together as joint winners of the race.

Post-race interview for Toula, who competed in only two single-day and two stage races in 2006.

One of the locals was later treated for road rash by Saunier Duval team doctor Maria Sagasti.

From the air, a good view of the deforested terrain that will receive the million trees to be planted by Planète Urgence to mark Saunier Duval’s company centennial.

At Fatoma, Saunier Duval team manager Mauro Gianetti (right) and directeur sportif Joxean Fernandez Matxin met the village’s 102-year-old elder in his home.

One of the plantation sites at Daladougou, near Fatoma.

The Eucalyptus saplings to be planted arrived by donkey cart.

Schoolgirls from Fatoma helped with the inaugural plantings.

Three of the schoolboy volunteers take saplings to the holes dug earlier by farmers for the tree-planting operation.

Getting ready to plant the first trees.

Each hectare of trees will get water from hand-dug wells, some of which will be more than 100 feet deep to reach the water table.

Matxin gets help in planting one of the first saplings.

. At the end of the hot morning, the participants in the first ceremonial plantings trek back along a dried up riverbed.

Discovery Channel rider Tom Danielson, winner of stage 17 at last year’sVuelta a España, is putting his name behind a 12-race junior’s seriesorganized through Colorado’s American Cycling Association. Danielson iskicking off the series with a fundraiser to be held January 17, in Boulder,Colorado, emceed by former Coors Classic race director Michael Aisner andfeaturing former 7-Eleven pros Andy Hampsten and Ron Keifel aswell as 1984 Olympic gold medalists Alexi Grewal and Connie Carpenter and the seemingly ageless mountain-bike star, Ned Overend.It’s not the first time Danielson, twice a

With the holiday season officially over, cyclists are back to work or school and planning ahead for the coming race season. Perhaps you ate and drank your way through December’s seemingly endless string of parties and events, with both your training volume and frequency in a state of consistent decline. Because of these calorically challenging dilemmas, mid- January often greets many cyclists with an extra and unwanted layer of adipose fat. But no need to panic, there is plenty of time to get your diet and nutrition plan in order for the 2007 season. Weight, fat, and goal settingFirst take

USA Cycling on Thursday announced the five-rider roster of Americans slated to ride in the elite men’s category at the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, on January 28 in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium. Three of those riders met automatic qualification criteria, while the remaining trio earned discretionary picks. Ryan Trebon (Kona), Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Barry Wicks (Kona) met the requirements for automatic qualification having earned a top-50 spot on the UCI’s international cyclo-cross rankings. Trebon also captured the national title at last month’s national championship

Los Angeles, CA., January 11, 2007…Kirk Willett, a former professionalcyclist and well-known team director, has been appointed Team Directorof the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team. Willett will join HarmJansen on the frontlines, to handle team logistics, day-to-day operations,race strategy, and overall management of team personnel.A seasoned professional, Willett is recognized on the racing circuitfor his tactical skills, logistical expertise and his ability to quicklydiscern the advantage in the field, helping lead his teams to prominentwins.“Kirk is a natural competitor,” said Team Owner Sean

The International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT) has reversed its month-old decision to exclude the Discovery team from its ranks. In December, the group voted to strip Discovery of its membership over the team’s signing of Italian Ivan Basso, who is implicated in the Operación Puerto inquiry, according to a source that attended the meeting in Brussels. Lat Thursday, with Discovery director Johann Bruyneel present, the group opted to reverse the December decision. “After a long discussion, the voting members of the group have opted not to exclude Tailwind Sports (Discovery Channel)

Everyone- including this New Year’s celebrant in the Ukraine-should ease up a bit after the holidays.

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. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside

2007 AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CURRICULUM RELEASED TO CALIFORNIAEDUCATORS FOR 4TH-6TH GRADE INSTRUCTIONEndorsed by Governor Schwarzenegger, Curriculum Contains LessonstoEncourage Students to Live Healthy Lifestyles and Practice BikeSafetyLOS ANGELES, January 9, 2007 – In preparation for the highlyanticipated return of the Amgen Tour of California professional cyclingroad race this February, a specially developed classroom curriculum hasbeen distributed to fourth- through sixth-grade instructors and studentsin the 12 California "host" cities selected for the 650-mile race. The

Veteran Erik Zabel said Wednesday that his old teammate Jan Ullrich and others should be permitted to ride at the ProTour level rather than wait for a flawed Operación Puerto case to move forward. Speaking at the Milram team presentation in Germany on Wednesday, Zabel said it was unfair for riders to languish in a legal purgatory, given the absence of hard evidence that they had doped. “As long as there is no formal evidence accusing any of them of doping, what is the purpose?” he said. “It appears that all that (investigators) have to work with are rumors, innuendo and assumptions. As long

Mopti, Mali - Two 20-year-old bike racers linked hands, one black, one white, as theyraised their arms in a symbolic gesture of victory and cooperation Tuesdayafternoon in the West African republic of Mali. Arkaitx Duran, a second-yearSpanish pro with Saunier Duval-Prodir, and Adama Toula, a farm worker fromSikasso in southern Mali, were the breakaway winners of the Fatoma-Moptiroad race that launched Saunier Duval’s ambitious environmental projectto plant a million trees in this sub-Saharan country in the company’s centennialyear.This was not a typical season opener. But it was one that made

[Watch Video]

Zabel - here winning the final stage of the 2006 Vuelta - has his eye on winning world's in Stuttgart

New Yorkers Raise Money by Raising Their Heart Rates - The Davis Phinney Foundation and The Michael J. Fox Foundationhost a high-energy spin event at the Copacabana -NEW YORK – The Davis Phinney Foundation, in conjunction withThe Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, is pleased to announce“Join the Parkinson’s Peloton,” a three-hour spinning session led by MasterSpin Instructor, Josh Taylor. The fundraiser will take place on January27, 2007 at the Copacabana night club (560 W 34th St) from 1-4 pm. Top-of-theline Star-Trac bikes are being generously donated by the event’s

Bamako, Mali — The Niger, the biggest river in West Africa, is more than 4000km long.For a third of its length the Niger cuts a giant swathe through the nationof Mali. On Tuesday, the kilometer-wide waterway served as the backdropto a very unusual bike race at the bustling river port of Mopti. Most ofthe starters would be from Mali, a country that is so impoverished thatits 11 million population includes only 60 or so cyclists with the meansto compete at a national level.Two dozen of them will be taking on seven Saunier Duval-Prodir teamprofessionals in a road race to launch the UCI ProTour

Any chances of a deal between T-Mobile and Alejandro Valverde may have been derailed Monday as Spanish news reports suggest that the Illes Balears rider, too, has been implicated in the Operación Puerto affair. A spokesman for T-Mobile on Monday denied suggestions by Valverde’s agent that the team was prepared to pay 3 million euros to buy out the rider’s contract with his Spanish team. Early on Tuesday, the Spanish newspaper ABC reported that documents seized from Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes showed a cryptic reference to “Valv,” followed by “Piti,” the name of the rider’s dog. Fuentes was once

Questions regarding Hincapie's broken steerer and slipping carbon seatposts.

Well so far it's been quite the eventful cyclo-cross season. Racing the UCI events, having the bikes stolen, the wonderful support I received from sponsors and friends, a new sponsor (sort of, more on that later) and something that I still can't believe actually happened, a dry, fast cyclo-cross nationals in Providence, Rhode Island! While racing in the mud can be a lot of fun, I’ve decided the dry fast courses are much better as I’ve become a bit delicate after living in Colorado. I really enjoyed not having to wash the chamois three times afterwards, and waking up the next morning

The UCI has filed a complaint with the European Commission alleging that organizers of cycling's three biggest races have conspired to sabotage the ProTour series. The move is the latest chapter in the long running dispute between the sport's ruling body, which launched the ProTour in 2004, and the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In a statement Tuesday the UCI asserted that the three tour organizers are acting as an illegal monopoly. "The UCI has today decided to prepare an official complaint which it will lodge with the European Commission, against the