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We’ve posted the submissions of our reader-submitted Sea Otter Photo Gallery and encourage you to take a look. Take the time to wander through and see if anything strikes your fancy. Let us know what you think by dropping us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.com and we’ll take your views into account when we name a winner later this week. This also gives us the opportunity to announce our second event-specific contest here at VeloNews.com and encourage viewers to send in new photos from this week’s Tour de Georgia. Again, our rules are slightly different than our usual contest, so be sure to

Rebellin dreams of one moreTwo years ago, Davide Rebellin was riding the best wave of his career, surging to an incredible treble that included a sweep of the Ardennes classics with back-to-back wins at Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. This year, a banged-up Rebellin is dreaming of winning just one. A crash at the Tour of the Basque Country earlier this month left the Gerolsteiner captain with some injuries to his ribs, but it´s not stopping him of aiming for more Ardennes glory. “I´d love to win another, because it would serve as a kind of confirmation,” Rebellin

Like a good real-estate agent, Lars Michaelsen knows that location is everything – especially when it comes to the waning moments of a bunch sprint. While some of the race's top sprinters were missing from the end game, the longtime CSC pro outgunned American Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Aussie Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly) on Tuesday to win the 128.9-mile gallop from Augusta to Macon on day one of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia.

With its shorter distance and steeper finish, the Flèche Wallonne is a perfect transition from last Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race and next Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Flèche is only 202km, compared with the Amstel’s 253km and Liège’s 262km, and that shorter distance sometimes gives early breaks a better chance of survival, but the finish on the infamous Mur de Huy (a kilometer at 9.5 percent, with two bends topping 19 percent in the middle) gives the Flèche its defining feature. The past two years, Amstel winners Danilo Di Luca (2005) and Davide Rebellin (2004) have also won the Flèche,

It’s been nearly six years since former junior national team rider Greg Strock charged that his coach and other team officials had doped him without his consent in the early 1990s, and it will be at least a few more months before a jury hears arguments in the case. On Tuesday, the matter made its first appearance in a courtroom as a U.S. District Court judge heard arguments on defense motions to dismiss. Strock, now a medical doctor and a member of the faculty at the University of Indiana Medical School, joined former teammate and fellow plaintiff Erich Kaiter in Denver as attorneys argued

Ace shooter Casey Gibson was on hand Tuesday as the Ford Tour de Georgia kicked off in Augusta ... here's what he sent home.

Rebellin had a great run in '04

Race Finish

Greg Strock (r) consults with a member of his legal team outside the Federal Court House in Denver

Wenzel (c) with attorney Reid Kelly (r) and USAC attorney William Senter speak to reporters outside the Federal Court House in Denver

Olson on his own

Michaelsen on the podium

What could rival an autograph from Discovery Channel's Viatcheslav Ekimov?

How about James Brown?

The peloton marches through Georgia

Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) and Floyd Landis (Phonak) mind each other

Jackson Stewart (Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada) gets a little face time for the sponsor

Janez Brajkovic (Discovery Channel) gets some lunch

Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) chases

J.J. Haedo (Toyota United) is a blur when he lights it up

It’s almost difficult to believe that a year has passed since last year’sTour de Georgia, which will be remembered not only for an aggressive raceseparated by nine seconds between Americans Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimerand overall winner Tom Danielson, but also for the pre-race press conferencethat brought the world the news that Lance Armstrong would retire after attempting a historic seventh Tour de France victory. In Armstrong’s swan song American race appearance, the defending 2004Tour de Georgia champion had an admittedly sub-par time trial and rodein support of his young teammate

Danielson looking to repeat without the world's best domestique at his side

Tour de Georgia: Top Americans looking for victory on home soil

Tour de Georgia: Top Americans looking for victory on home soil

The road up Brasstown Bald will again be decisive

Stage 4 - From Dalton to Dahlonega

Theo Bos made it look easy in a daring showdown against Craig MacLean to win his second match sprint world title in three years. MacLean’s brawn was no match for Bos’s pounce. The big Dutchman sprang away from the Scot after a cat-and-mouse game in two heats to win the men’s sprint title in Sunday’s final day of action at the world track cycling championships in Bordeaux, France. "This world title comes at a high level because all the riders coming off the Commonwealth are in really good shape, so this means a lot for me," said Bos, who’s been nicknamed by the Dutch press as the "Boss of

Many experts predicted that Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race would end in a bunchsprint up the climb to the finish on the infamous Cauberg hill in Valkenberg.The experts were wrong, and after a blizzard of attacks in the final 60km,CSC’s Frank Schleck emerged from a 10-man break with 10km to go and scoredhis first-ever classics victory. “It never hurts to attack,” said Schleck, who is the first rider fromLuxembourg to win a classic in more than 50 years. “I saw that [Sergei]Ivanov attacked, I saw that [Paolo] Bettini attacked, so I decided to takemy chance.”

Friedman and Huff get a trial by fire in the Madison

Schleck picked the right time to attack

Bos does it again

It was Bettini's chase of Wesseman that set Schleck for the win

Michael Boogerd and his Rabobank teammates missed the bus this time.

Wesseman managed to hold on for second.

Vande Velde returns to the peloton

On the Cauberg

Great Britain was fastest in morning qualifying for the men´s team pursuit while the upstart Americans finished 12th on a day when they were hoping for more. The Brits stopped the clock in 4:04.074, relegating Australia to second place in 4:04.403. The Dutch were third and the Ukraine fourth to secure spots in the medal rounds on Saturday evening. The Americans – featuring Mike Creed, Mike Friedman, Danny Pate and Brad Huff – posted a time of 4:14.952. It was well short of their goal of 4:09, but faster than the team´s previous best of 4:16 at the Los Angeles World Cup race. “We have the

Members of the U.S. men´s pursuit team on Saturday morning raced with an homage to Saul Raisin emblazoned on their helmets in the qualifying round. In a show of solidarity with the injured Raisin, the team wrote, “Raisin Hell” on their racing helmets. “We´ve been thinking about him all week,” said team member Mike Creed. “It´s hit everybody pretty hard.” Raisin, 23, is showing signs of improvement after coming out of a coma earlier this week. Raisin crashed in the Circuit de la Sarthe and nearly died when he suffered a brain hemorrhage. Vande Velde rides with eye on GiroChristian Vande

It took race judges several minutes to decide what French veteran Jerome Neuville already knew – that he won the men´s 15km scratch race in a photo finish. For Neuville, a former roadie who turned to the track to win two world titles in the Madison, his narrow victory over Argentina´s Angel Colla capped a dramatic race marked by a daring breakaway that held out to the end. “It was a long race and I didn´t believe it until the end, even at the line,” Neuville said. “I am so glad I didn´t retire after the Athens Olympics. At 30, people don´t want to see progression, but results. I had a lot

Australia took a nail-biter to win the men’s team pursuit in a pitched battle against arch-rival Great Britain in Saturday’s action at the world track cycling championships. The Brits were fastest in qualifying, but the Aussies clawed back with an impressive victory against the team – racing as England, not Great Britain - that beat them on their home track in Melbourne last month at the Commonwealth Games. "This is the sweetest world title of my four," said Peter Dawson after the Aussies won in 4:01.491 to the British team’s 4:01.527. "The battle was going back and forth and it came down

Olympic champion Paolo Bettini is the hot favorite to win Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, the eighth event in the 2006 UCI ProTour. The Italian has never won this challenging Dutch classic, but he came in third on his last appearance at the race two years ago, and he has won most of the world’s other hilly classics: Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2000 and 2002, the Clasico San Sebastian in 2003, the Championship of Zürich in 2001 and 2005, and last October, the Tour of Lombardy. At age 32, Bettini is at his peak. His climbing strength has improved over the years, his sprint is better than ever (as he

Mike Creed readies for the team pursuit

The Aussies blazing along

Bettini, 32, is at his peak

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.Does that make us ... uhhhh... Fair and Balanced?Dear VeloNews,After your articles about former USA Cycling CEO Gerard Bisceglia (seepartone and parttwo) my thoughts were of never joining such an organization.The passion in his words left me feeling that we lost a vital part of USACycling

Germany's Robert Bartko will defend his world pursuit crown against Jens Mouris of the Netherlands at the world track cycling championships in Bordeaux, France, on Friday evening. Bartko, who celebrated the birth of his second child on Thursday, clocked 4:23.115 in his heat to seal the fastest time in qualifying and thus secure his final spot against Mouris who had timed 4:24.045. Britain's Paul Manning, the Commonwealth champion in the 16-lap, 4000-meter event, will race for the bronze medal against Frenchman Fabien Sanchez. Bartko is a two-time winner of the individual pursuit,

When does a classic become a classic? That question has often been asked about the Amstel Gold Race because it wasn’t founded until 1966. That’s 72 years after the oldest of the classics, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and even 30 years after the youngest spring classic, the Flèche Wallonne. But now that the Dutch race has reached its 40th anniversary, most people in the sport agree that Amstel Gold (which is actually "a sturdy, full-flavored bock beer" brewed by Heineken’s Amstel brewery in Maastricht) is finally a true classic. That certainly wasn’t the case with the first edition. Original race

Is it just me, or has it been April Fool’s Day all month long? It seems like every time I go online to check the news, the headlines are straight out of The Onion. In some cases, they’re not at all funny, but are equally as hard to fathom. Just in the past 10 days, a report was published in the science journal Nature on fossil findings that supposedly prove the evolutionary link between fish and land animals. Another report claims that an early Christian manuscript has surfaced after 1700 years including the only known text of what is known as the Gospel of Judas, which postulates that the

Chris Hoy started last but finished first in the men’s kilometer time trial to end an exciting day of racing in the second day of competition at the 2006 world track cycling championships. The British rider was fastest at all the splits to relegate Australian Ben Kersten to silver and crowd favorite Francois Pervis to bronze. Hoy won in 1:01.361, more than a half-second faster than Kersten in 1:02.085. Pervis was third at 1:02.696. Despite a healthy pedigree in the dramatic kilo, Hoy wasn’t so sure he still had it him coming into Bordeaux after disappointment at the recent Commonwealth Games.

The 2006 Tour de Georgia kicks off on Tuesday in Augusta, and VeloNews.com will be there as North America's only hors classe (2.HC) professional cycling stage race begins its grueling 600-mile-plus journey toward the finish April 23 in Alpharetta. The six-day, six-stage race will return to the Georgia host cities of Macon, Fayetteville, Rome, Dalton, Dahlonega, Blairsville/Union County, Brasstown Bald Mountain/Towns County, and Alpharetta. New host cities for 2006 include Chickamauga/Walker County, Cumming/Forsyth County and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tune into VeloNews.com for continuous

Officials remain cautiously optimistic Saul Raisin can experience a full recovery after the 23-year-old Georgia resident pulled out of a coma earlier this week. Roger Legeay, sport director at Crédit Agricole, said Raisin has been able to move both his arms and legs and that doctors are expected to remove the breathing apparatus possibly as soon as Saturday. "The critical part is past," Legeay told VeloNews on Friday. "Now we are waiting to see how his recovery comes. We don’t know how fast the recovery will be, but we know it will be a long time." Raisin crashed April 4 in the first stage

It’s a rainy morning at San Jose International airport, and more thana few skinny, tan-lined travelers are sporting the Sea Otter hangover look.It’s an easy look to spot — the sunspots under the eyes, chapped lips andthat familiar blank bicycle-overload stare are dead giveaways. But thisyear an additional telltale sign is there — huge rings of dried, chunkymud still clinging to pants, shirts and shoes. Yep, the month of rain thatbattered NorCal in March turned every inch of the Otter into a muddy, shoe-eating quagmire. The slop was darn thick too. It found its way intomy pockets, pant legs,

Bartko clocks 4:23.115

Boogerd has been top 10 at Amstel for seven consecutive years

Say what?

Barry smiles through the pain

Brad Lewis, 1968-2006

Rock on, man

Moninger makes the funny papers

Tune in to VeloNews.com for Ford Tour de Georgia

A-Hoy: The Brit opens his nation's gold-medals account

The footwear of choice

Jenny Copnall prays to the mud god

Craig never fell ... instead, the mud came to him

American cyclist Saul Raisin appears to be making progress toward recovery after medical staff removed him from a ventilator allowing him to breathe on his own Raisin emerged from a coma on Wednesday after suffering the effects of a life-threatening crash in a race in western France. Raisin, one of the Crédit Agricole team's up and coming riders, was placed on the ventilator a week ago to take pressure off his body, and improve his chances of recovering from the hemorrhage he suffered Team manager Roger Legeay said that the signs are good and that friends and family are beginning to

Sarah Hammer gladly traded bagels for a gold medal Thursday to win the first American track title in 10 years in the women’s individual pursuit. Two years ago, Hammer was burned out and left racing for a taste of the real world. That meant waking up at 5 a.m. – not to go on a training ride, but to work a bagel shop in Colorado Springs while she considered her immediate future. In January last year, she decided that cycling left a better aftertaste than reality and returned to competition more mature and focused. "I’m blown away," Hammer said after winning in 3:37.227. "It’s not so hard

After Tom Boonen rounded out the first half of the spring classics season by winning the GP Schelde near Antwerp on Wednesday, he said he was looking forward to some vacation time before building up toward a green-jersey bid at the Tour de France. While the current UCI ProTour leader (see standings below) puts up his feet by the pool at his home in Monte Carlo or in Spain’s Canary Islands, his co-leader at Quick Step-Innergetic, Paolo Bettini, will be coping with harsher weather (and the reality of racing) in the hills of the Netherlands and Belgium. This Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, next

The French team gave something for the packed house to cheer about in a riveting victory over Great Britain in the men’s team sprint in Thursday night at the world track championships. Led by Gregory Bauge, Mickael Bourgain and veteran Arnaud Tournant, the French relegated defending world champions Great Britain into runner-up status as the fans’ enthusiasm seemed to inject the French with energy. "It’s very satisfying to win at home because this team is very young and no one expected much of us," Tournant said. "This will boost the morale for the team for the rest of the weekend." The

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