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Discovery Channel isn’t going to win the Vuelta a España, but it looks likely the team GC is theirs. The American unit started Friday’s road stage holding a 15:21 lead to Astana. Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel said the team classification reflects just what the squad is all about in the post-Lance Armstrong era. "It’s a prestigious classification and I think it’s a reflection of the image we’re giving in this Tour of Spain that we’re a very diverse team, we can win different things, we don’t have a clear leader, that’s something we want to fight for to Madrid," he said. They have

Irish rider Nicolas Roche, the son of former world, Giro d'Italia and Tour de France champion Stephen Roche, will be one of Crédit Agricole's new recruits for next season, the team said Friday. The French outfit will also wave goodbye to aging veteran Jaan Kirsipuu, one of four riders who will be replaced by Roche, French duo Christophe Kern and Christophe Laurent and Italian Angelo Furlan. Kirsipuu, 37, is one of the elder statesman of the peloton having notched up an impressive career tally of more than 120 victories including stages in the Tour de France. Also leaving the Pro

The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team will investigate former team lieutenant Frankie Andreu's admission that he used EPO in preparing for the 1999 Tour de France, team officials announced Friday. In a statement released by the team, officials said lawsuits were possible as a result of Andreu's admission of doping to the New York Times and asked for probes by the International Cycling Union and US Anti-Doping Agency. "Team management will be investigating this issue and considering all legal options and trust that the relevant authorities (USA Cycling, USADA and the UCI) will be

This evening we left the olive groves and arid countryside for the concrete and bumper to bumper traffic of Madrid… and it actually feels good. Three weeks of hotels, pedaling, pasta, bus transfers and the same routine is now coming to an end and we are in our last hotel and the final finish line is only a flutter of pedal strokes away. The last couple of days have been good for the team but long for the peloton. The stages were never flat but quite hilly to mountainous and it seemed we always had a gusty wind blowing up our noses and across our cheeks. Sadly, we rarely had it on our backs.

Every cyclist's worst fear was realized for Jon Dechau on the evening ofSeptember 13. Dechau, 33, was killed after being struck from behind bya motorist. The accident occurred in Lima, New York, about 20 miles southof Rochester.The Livingston County sheriff’s office said that Dechau was riding westbound on the shoulder of route 20 approximately two feet to the right of the white line. A sheriff’s spokesman said a westbound vehicle driven by Sharon Cameron, 61, crossed the white line and struck Dechau from behind at approximately 45-50 mph, and Dechau died at the scene. Cameron could not

Arrieta wins

Astana controlled the bunch

Vino' holds the gold

CSC tried the old attack-into-the-crosswind gag

Andalucia

Vino' on the job

Services slated for Dechau

The Kazakh one-two punch took the fight out of the Spanish mountain goats in Thursday’s grueling summit finish at La Pandera during the Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov delivered the knockout blow in the 18th stage to take firm control of the leader’s jersey with only three days left as Astana teammate Andrey Kashechkin won the stage and slipped into third overall. Vino’ did what he does best, attacking archrival Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with about 6.5km to go in the brutally steep La Pandera climb to widen his lead to 53 seconds. "I would have preferred to win the Tour

Americans have often used the Vuelta a España to bounce to bigger things and Tom Danielson is certainly hoping that’s the case after winning Wednesday’s dramatic 17th stage. Dave Zabriskie, Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong all enjoyed Vuelta success before advancing toward more important triumphs in their respective careers. Armstrong finished fourth overall in the 1998 Vuelta in what was a glimpse of his potential to eventually win a record seven consecutive Tours de France. It was during that 1998 Vuelta performance that Johan Bruyneel would help convince Armstrong that he could win

The World Anti-Doping Agency can only watch and wait as the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency considers Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' request to have the case against him thrown out, WADA president Dick Pound said Thursday. "I think we have to wait and see what happens," Pound said in a teleconference from Montreal, where the WADA executive committee will meet on Saturday. "We're kind of a monitoring agency in these things. This is a UCI process. Pound said that USA Cycling's "procedure is to punt to the national anti-doping agency, which in this case is USADA. USADA will

Cycling’s three major grand tours looked poised to rock the ProTour boat yet again. The heads of cycling’s most important races are meeting this weekend in Madrid ahead of important meetings next week that coincide with the world championships. Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme arrived at the Vuelta on Thursday while Giro d’Italia director Angelo Zomegnan is expected to fly to Madrid on Saturday. “We are here to bring together the ideas of the Vuelta, Giro and Tour ahead of the meetings in Salzburg,” Vuelta race director Victor Cordero told VeloNews. “We have to clarify the

Tyler Hamilton, whose two-year ban for blood doping is due to end on September 22, is now facing another investigation, USA Cycling said today (AEST). A statement from the US federation said it has received information from the International Cycling Union (UCI) "regarding Tyler Hamilton and his alleged involvement in 'Operation Puerto', along with a request to move forward with disciplinary action". "Operation Puerto" was the Spanish doping affair that saw 13 riders, including Italy's Ivan Basso, Germany's 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and Spain's Francisco

Eddy Merckx to Autograph Copies of Cycling's Golden Age at Interbike Boulder, CO, September 13, 2006 — Cycling legend Eddy Merckx will autograph copies of Cycling's Golden Age: Heroes of the Postwar Era, 1946-1967 at Interbike. Merckx, who wrote the foreword to the book, will sign books on Wednesday, September 27th from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the VeloNews booth # 3359. Featuring previously unpublished vintage photographs, trophies, race-worn jerseys, and other invaluable cycling artifacts from The Horton Collection, Cycling's Golden Age offers a fresh appreciation of the

German authorities secured samples of former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich's DNA when they raided his Swiss residence Wednesday, according to a report released Thursday. Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung said in an advance release of its Friday edition that authorities plan to compare the German rider's DNA with frozen blood seized at a Madrid clinic as part of a doping investigation that forced Ullrich and eight other riders to withdraw from this year's Tour. Authorities could not immediately be reached to comment on the report. On Thursday, Germany's Federal Crime

Two former members of the U.S. junior national cycling team are settlingfederal lawsuits after contending their coaches injected them with steroidswithout their knowledge.Gregory Strock and Erich Kaiter were completing a settlement agreementwith USA Cycling and former coach Rene Wenzel, a lawyer for the riderssaid in a court filing late Wednesday. U.S. District Judge John Kane onThursday gave both sides until Sept. 27 to file papers dismissing the case.Attorney William Senter, who represents the defendants, confirmed thesettlement but said terms were confidential. John Pineau, an attorney

The one-two Astana punch

Vinokourov added to his advantage over Valverde...

... and was joined by compatriot and teammate Kashechkin

They proved to be a formidable pair...

...putting another 32 seconds into Valverde.

Danielson says if the climb had been longer, he might have made it back up to Vinokourov.

Kaisen leads the escape...

...while Valverde's Caisse d'Epargne boys give chase.

Passing through Jaen.

Merckx to autograph copies of 'Cycling's Golden Age' at Interbike

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.The truth... the whole truthDear VeloNews,Thanks to Frankie for opening this box, now please find the courageto spill the contents. When did you do it? How often? Other drugs? Whogot them for you? Who else did it? Did the team know? Did Lance know? Wasit encouraged? How much did it help?

Tuesday’s thrilling 17th stage of the Vuelta a España was a lesson in conviction. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) stormed into the race leader’s gold jersey on the strong belief that he could simply will his way to overall victory while stage winner Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) buried two weeks of frustration with the joy of his biggest pro win. "I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was perhaps even more special because the beginning of the race was such a disaster," said Danielson, who’s jumped from 12th to sixth overall in two days. "So many people lost faith in me and

Raids were carried out Wednesday in private houses and offices in Germany and abroad in the framework of a crackdown on doping in cycling, the Bonn prosecutor's office announced. "In total, 10 private houses and offices were raided in Germany as well as overseas," the office said. "These raids follow the investigation of a complaint lodged in Bonn for fraud after the investigations by Spanish authorities into people suspected of having had access to banned products to improve their performances in cycling." The German daily Focus reported Wednesday that one raid took place in

Tom Danielson won’t win this Vuelta a España, but his dramatic stage victory in Wednesday’s 159.2km 17th stage from Adra to Granada bolstered his belief that someday he might. The 28-year-old finally delivered the big victory that everyone has been expecting from him since he came to Europe to race in 2004 with Fassa Bortolo. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with Danielson at the finish line in Granada (portions of this interview are from the post-race press conference). Here are excerpts of what he had to say: VN.com: This is the win you’ve been looking for since

Tom Danielson came into the Vuelta with big ambitions, but he struggled a little in the first week, unable to find his potent pedal stroke in the mountains, and losing time to his rivals on terrain where he usually excels. He persisted, kept his head together, and today he achieved a big objective with an impressive stage victory on one of the Vuelta's toughest days. Two days ago, on the rest day, we rode the first climb of today's stage: a 17-kilometer ascent from the coast to an altitude of 1300 meters (4265 feet). As we climbed the mountains in training one thought persisted-if

Danielson gets the stage . . .

. . . and Vino' gets the gold

Vino' and Danielson rocket toward the finish

Danielson and Martinez working the earlier break

Paulinho and Danielson in the break

Kash' goes up the road

Valverde attacks

Valverde puts Sastre in the hurt locker

Vino' on the march

The race leader got no help in the hunt

Two former U.S. Postal riders admitted taking EPO in preparation for the 1999 Tour de France, the first of seven one by their teammate Lance Armstrong, the New York Times reported Tuesday. In a story posted on its website, the newspaper said Frankie Andreu, a now-retired lieutenant of the U.S. Postal Service team, and another rider who did not want his name disclosed both admitted wrongdoing in interviews with the Times. "Everybody's afraid to talk because they don't want to implicate themselves but there are guys out there who love the sport and who hate doping. They are the guys

With the futures of Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia uncertain for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Tuesday’s victory by youngster Igor Anton in the wet and mountainous stage 16 couldn’t have come at a better time. The 23-year-old counter-attacked an elite group of six leading riders through pounding rain with 4km to go in the 145km stage to win his first professional race. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) sprinted to second place, picking up a valuable time bonus to further tighten his grip on the overall lead with just five days left of the 2006 Vuelta. "Today was a lot more than we could

Following news reports that he admitted to the use of EPO early in hiscareer, former U.S. Postal team, rider Frankie Andreu released the followingstatement explaining his reasons for his admission. Turning the sport around.As hard as it is, sometimes putting something on the line is the onlyway to help. My confession of taking EPO when I was younger is not meantto drag anyone down but to raise awareness of the problems that existedand still exist. I don't have to tell you this because in the last fewyears some big profile names have brought this to all of our attention. I took EPO to help

Gerolsteiner rider David Kopp has been forced to pull out of the German national squad for the world road race championships after crashing heavily in training on Monday. The 27-year-old had been named in a nine-man team for the September 24 road race in Salzburg, Austria alongside veterans Erik Zabel and Andreas Klöden on Monday. However he has now been ruled out for at least three weeks with a fractured wrist, according to Gerolsteiner. Kopp will now be replaced by one of four substitute riders: Christian Knees (Milram), Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner), Stephan Schreck (T-Mobile) and Marcel

The attorney for Floyd Landis is questioning the accuracy of the positive testosterone tests attributed to the Tour de France winner and asks that doping charges be dismissed. In a letter sent to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, attorney Howard Jacobs disputed the accuracy of the carbon isotope ratio tests performed on Landis' urine sample at a lab in France. Jacobs also argued that the analysis of a different test, the testosterone-epitestosterone analysis, "is replete with fundamental, gross errors," including mismatched sample code numbers. Jacobs said the positive finding on the backup

A year ago Thomas Frischknecht ended one of cycling’s longest streaks, becoming the first foreign rider to triumph at Costa Rica’s famed La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race. Fast forward 12 months, and the Swiss legend will try to make it two in a row in November when he returns to defend his title at one of the world’s toughest stage races. Among the Swisspower rider’s chief challengers at La Ruta’s 14th rendition will be Colombian Leonardo Páez and American Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen). Páez is currently No. 1 in the UCI’s marathon rankings, while Bishop is coming off a

San Juan, Puerto Rico – This year’s Tour of Puerto Rico (UCI 2.2) promised to be a longer, harder and – its promoters said – a much more organized race. Unfortunately, the more than 100 riders and 17 teams who were scheduled to start the four-day, five-stage event on Thursday will never know. At noon Tuesday, the Puerto Rican Cycling Federation held a press conference to announce the race had been cancelled. Alexis Cruz, federation president, said the race organization failed to gather the $30,000 needed to cover expenses and prizes. “The Tour cannot occur,” Cruz said. “It’s a financial

Following news reports that former U.S. Postal team rider, Frankie Andreu admitted to the use of EPO early in his career, his former teammate Lance Armstrong released the following statement charging the New York Times with efforts to impugn his reputation: Today’s article in the New York Times was a blatant attempt to associateme and implicate me with a former teammate’s admission that he took bannedsubstances during his career. The recycled suggestion that former teammatestook EPO with my knowledge or at my request is categorically false anddistorted sensationalism. My cycling victories are

Andreu - seen here at Paris-Nice in 2000 - said his brush with EPO use was limited, but wanted to come clean to help the sport.

A sweet, if slightly soggy victory

Vinokourov is now in second on GC, but that 1:42 might be a tough hurdle.

The climb up the Calar Alto is among Europe's great climbs.

Danielson is riding back into form - and the top-10

On the way to the Atlantic

Will there be a La Ruta repeat

Bishop was 5th in 2005

Coast-to-coast racing

Cuesta drives hard for Sastre... but they couldn't shed Valverde.

Then, Sastre tried on his own...

...and again.

Stage 1 profile

Stage 2 profile

Stage 3 profile

CSC turns up the heat

Martinez is closing in on the climber's jersey.

.. but there was no interest in seeing an early break get anywhere.

Landaluze works to bridge the gap...

Big win for Euskaltel's new guy.

Discovery Channel scored an important milestone last week when Egoi Martinez won the 11th stage into Burgos. With Janez Brajkovic’s run in the Vuelta’s gold jersey, the team has won a stage and held the leader’s jersey in all three of this year’s grand tours. That’s motivating stuff for a team that long grew accustomed to wearing the leader’s jerseys at the end of the season’s grand tours. Times have certainly changed for Discovery Channel following the retirement of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel is far from nostalgic, however.

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis blames his positive doping test on the French laboratory that examined his sample, according to a story in a Pennsylvania newspaper published Sunday. In a story posted on the website of the Intelligencer of suburban Philadelphia, Landis confirmed plans to ask Monday that the result be thrown out because of "contradictions" between his "A" and "B" samples. "On Monday we'll submit a request for the case to be dropped because, based on the 'A' and the 'B' sample, there are too many contradictions for the two to be the same sample," Landis

USA Cycling has announced the elite teams that will represent the United States at the 2006 UCI Road World Championships September 19-24 in Salzburg, Austria. In the elite men’s division, the United States qualified the maximum nine riders in the road race and will field a team consisting of six UCI ProTour veterans and three domestic-based pros. ProTour riders Chris Horner (Bend, Ore./Davitamon-Lotto) Fred Rodriguez (Emeryville, Calif./Davitamon-Lotto), Christian VandeVelde (Boulder, Colo./CSC), Tyler Farrar (Wenatchee, Wash./Cofidis), Patrick McCarty (Allen, Texas/Phonak), and Guido Trenti

There are six days to go in the Vuelta – five if you don't count the last stage into Madrid, which is essentially a parade. Nonetheless, on today's rest day we are still resting, napping and lounging around with our legs up, as the three days ahead of us are some of the hardest of the twenty one we will have raced. Yesterday, the stage was controlled, the peloton lethargic in the strong headwind, and the final outcome one we could have all predicted: a sprint finish. The day was, however, a long one as the race started early so that we could fit in an afternoon plane and bus transfer

American Jill Kintner (GT) had the 2006 four-cross World Cup title sewed up before she even set foot in Schladming, Austria, for the finals. It was a good thing — a nasty crash at the Jeep King of the Mountains finals in Beaver Creek, Colorado, left the 24-year old two-time world champ with a shredded shoulder. The injury kept Kintner out of the race, but allowed her to do some reporting for VeloNews.com.—Editor The dream team did it again, as Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier (Monster-Iron Horse) took wins Sunday at the final round of World Cup downhill racing in Schladming, Austria. Jonnier

Bruyneel is overseeing some big changes at Discovery.

Brajkovic could be the new star of the future.