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Sunshine and blue skies marked Sunday's finale to the 14th annual John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun Stage Race, the Landis Cyclery Downtown Capital Criterium in Phoenix. Attacks and breaks were the order of the day in both men’s and women’s races, run on a 1.6km, figure-eight course at Wesley Bolen Plaza, but nothing stuck. In the 70-minute men’s crit, Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe’s) proved best of the bunch, taking the win ahead of Emile Abraham (AEG-Toshiba-JetNet) and Wes Hartman (Targetraining). The 40-minute women’s crit went to Laura Downey (America’s Dairyland), who outkicked

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.Fox covers fishing and poker, but cycling? NahEditor:I wasn't able to watch the taped coverage of the Tour of California last night and assumed I'd be able to catch up on it this morning. I was at the Fox News web site and thought for sure they'd have something on it. Their

The Tour of California hit the roads north of San Francisco on Monday, heading out of Sausalito to cover a scemic route up the coast and into Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County. Toyota-United's four-time Argentinean champion, Juan Jose Haedo savored his new team's first-ever victory. By winning Sunday's prologue time trial, local star Levi Leipheimer made certain that he would be dressed perfectly as he rode into his home town. Photographer Casey Gibson was there from start to finish.

Tennessee District RR

Haedo scores a big win for the brand-new Toyota-United Pro team

The men's podium

Downey and Webb duking it out

Leipheimer salutes the hometown crowd

Leipheimer basks in the glow of his hometown support

Rolling along the coast

Julich dances on the pedals

Another type of wheeled transportation altogether

Gerolsteiner keeps a short leash on the bunch

The hometown hero

A modest Haedo downplayed his stage victory

The peloton rides past seaside fans.

Coming down to Muir Beach

Gerolsteiner was there to protect the race leader

Big crowds in Santa Rosa

Haedo makes it look easy

Haedo earns his team's first victory

Leipheimer spends another day in the leader's jersey

The big names of American road racing made their message loud and clear at Sunday’s opening day of the Amgen Tour of California. Led by Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer — one of a handful of homegrown stage racers being touted as hopefuls to take the torch from the recently retired Lance Armstrong — American riders swept the top-five of the 1.9-mile prologue in scenic San Francisco.

Mendefera, Eritrea (AFP) - Nearly 100 brightly dressed riders set out this weekend on the first stage of the sixth annual Tour of Eritrea, the cycling mad east African nation's premier sporting event. In a competition known as much for athletic prowess as oppressive heat and obstacles like rock-throwing baboons and malingering camels along a blistering course, the riders left the capital on Saturday on the nine-day race. Professionals and amateurs, Eritreans and foreigners are competing in this year's tour as they have in the five previous ones, all legacies of the Italian colonial

Stage two of the 14th annual John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun Stage Race was a day for the sprinters to shine. The Trek Road Race near Casa Grande, run on a rolling 16-mile loop with 470 feet of climbing per lap, saw Geri Mewett (Hincapie Sports) take the victory in the men’s 89-mile race. Curtis Gunn (Team Successful Living) and Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe's) were second and third in the same time. Time-trial winner Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) finished in the bunch and held onto his overall lead. In the 57-mile women’s race, Erin Mirabella (Bicycle Johns) outkicked Miranda Duff

TOC

Riders take on the heat and rough roads in the first stage of the Tour of Eritrea

Mewett takes the victory

Mirabella's win

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Leipheimer gets congrats from the Guvernator

Leipheimer had this win in mind from the day the route was announced.

Bobby J takes on Telegraph Hill

Zabriskie finished the day nine seconds off of Leipheimer's pace.

Landis finishes in fourth

Hincapie ensures an All-American podium

Pain and Gain: Leipheimer gives it his all.

Tour Stage 1

Landis at the start

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Stage Four Map

Cannery Row start

Health Net preps

Stage 5 map

Simoni in Stage 5

The idea is not new. In fact, there was a Tour of California held as long ago as 1971. And in the three decades since then, various proposals have come and gone. One of them, which had the State of California’s backing, even got as far as an organizer being hired and a course being approved. But the race announced by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) last March 25 finally had all the elements required to put this second Tour of California on the road. Clearly, if an event is going to succeed there has to be a need for it. That need is just as pressing today as it was in 1971, when

The 14th annual John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun Stage Race got under way outside Phoenix on Friday, though the sun failed to make an appearance. Despite windy, chilly and dry conditions, 930 riders turned out for the opening Buckeye Time Trial, a 12-mile race at Sun Valley Parkway, west of Phoenix. Tom Zirbel (Priority Health Cycling) took the opener in 29:25. Curtis Gunn (Team Successful Living) was second at 33 seconds slower with defending champion Ryan Blickem (Targetraining) third at 39 seconds. In the women's race, Andrea Ratkovic (B1 Rocks) took top honors with a fast

Belgian Gert Steegmans (Davitamon) won his second stage of the Tour de l'Algarve on Saturday and donned the leader’s yellow jersey. Steegmans outsprinted Germans Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner) and Thomas Ziegler (T-Mobile) to claim the fourth stage, a 174.5km leg between Lagoa and Portimao. The fifth and final stage will be a 183.4km run between Vila Real Santo Antonio and Alto de Malhao à Loulé. Stage1. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon, 174.5km in 4:39:26 (37,469 km/h)2. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, same time3. Thomas Ziegler (G), T-Mobile, s.t.4. Markus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner,

The 16 teams that will be racing the inaugural Amgen Tour of California were presented Friday during a fund-raising gala in Sausalito. The evening featured dinner, dancing, a fashion show and a silent auction, with the proceeds to benefit Trips for Kids, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Bikes for Kids. Photographer Casey Gibson was on hand to capture the moment.

The 2006 edition skips the northern mountains - but the coastline near Big Sur will make a stunning backdrop

Monterey's Cannery Row is no stranger to bike racing, having hosted road and mountain stages of the Sea Otter

The Four Amigos: Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie and the McCormack brothers, Mark and Frank

Frankie Andreu discusses the new Toyota-United Pro cycling team

The Discovery Channel squad

Which would you have bid for: a photo from 'Easy Rider,' autographed by Dennis Hopper, or a photo of Lance Armstrong?

The fully stocked Peloton Lounge

A colorful, rolling postcard for the State of California begins Sundayin San Francisco, ending a week later, on February 26, in Redondo Beach.Along the route — which will also highlight Marin County, Big Sur, SanLuis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks — a who’s-who list of topAmerican cyclists will begin their racing seasons fighting to win the inauguralAmgen Tour of California, an event that has quickly emerged as the topUCI stage race in North America. Sixteen teams comprising 128 riders from more than 25 countries willtackle the 600-mile tour. Among the athletes scheduled to compete

Team TIAA-CREF, America’s youngest professional cycling team, ridesinto Chipotles across California to greet fans as they compete in the Tourof CaliforniaWhat: Team TIAA-CREF, America’s youngest professionalcycling team dedicated to developing the next generation of cycling champions,will ride in to three Chipotle restaurants in San Francisco, Monterey andSanta Barbara as they seek victory at Amgen’s Tour of California.Owned and managed by Slipstream Sports, a sports marketing and developmentcompany led by Jonathan Vaughters, former number one-ranked U.S. cyclist,Team TIAA-CREF features some

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.Applause for Bergman’s confessionEditor:This might sound crazy, bit I actually sat at my computer this morning and applauded. I didn't applaud for Tom Boonen or Carlos Garcia Quesada and their victories at the Ruta del Sol or for any of the other victorious cyclists featured by

Uruguayan Alvaro Tardaguila has accepted a two-year suspension after a positive doping test, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday. Tardaguila tested positive for EPO and an anabolic agent, USADA said. The suspension is retroactive to Oct. 17, 2005. USADA handled the case because he tested positive at an event in the United States, the Downer Avenue leg of Superweek in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he rode for UPMC. Tardaguila was disqualified from that event, where he finished third, and from all subsequent races. He retains his victory in the Tour of Uruguay, which he won in March 2005

Liberty Seguros unveiled its lineup for the season Friday — without disgraced three-time Vuelta a España champion Roberto Heras, but with new team leader Alexandre Vinokourov. The Kazakh moved to the Spanish outfit from Germany's T-Mobile for the 2006 season after having spent several years overshadowed by perennial Tour de France contender Jan Ullrich. "Vinokourov arrives at Liberty with the ambition to lead the dream of the whole team, to climb the top step of the podium in Paris, and we are working towards that goal from day one," said Liberty manager Manolo Saiz. "Last season is

Simoni is one of two Giro winners racing at Amgen

Leipheimer and Landis are just two of many top U.S. riders to take on the Tour of California

Dear Readers,Recently, we had a letter from MC in Kentucky (See Law of the Land), who wroteI've Googled, and I’ve searched the Kentucky Legislature site, but the only Kentucky "laws" I can find dealing with bikes on the road are about lights, reflectors, etc. I can't find anything about cars having to pass bikes with 3 feet of clearance (which appears to be the "universal standard")…I called the local city police chief: "I'm not aware of any regulations for bicycles in Kentucky, other than the requirement for a helmet." I called the County Sheriff's office: "There are no laws

The UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) has refused to authorize the Trophy of the Grand Tours proposed by the organizers of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. In a press release issued Thursday, the council said the proposal by tour organizers ASO, RCS and Unipublic "does not respect the principles of road-cycling reform as introduced by the UCI," takes a counter-productive financial approach and demonstrates "a lack of responsibility towards cycling as a whole." The UCI insists that the three grand-tour organizers operate within the framework of the ProTour as they did in 2005:

Spain’s Carlos Garcia Quesada (Unibet.com), won the Ruta del Sol on Thursday. The fifth and final stage, a 172.6km leg between Olvera and Seville, went to Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who finally took his revenge on Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), who had beaten the world champion in their last two matchups. Roger Hammond (Discovery Channel) was third. In the final overall, Garcia Quesada took the win over countryman Rodrigo Garcia (Kaiku) with his brother, Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Andalucia-Paul Versan) placing third and collecting the King of the Mountains prize. Petacchi took the points jersey

Editor’s note: When America’s biggest bike race, the eight-day Amgen Tour of California, starts this weekend in San Francisco, some of the world’s leading riders will be starting their 2006 seasons at the head of major ProTour teams. In the current issue of VeloNews, you can read detailed profiles of two of these men: Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie and Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie. Here on velonews.com, we are featuring three of the other major contenders. We began Tuesday with an in-depth interview with Phonak team leader Floyd Landis; Wednesday's's installment featured

Last season was a marquee year for mountain biking’s elder statesman, Thomas Frischknecht. The 35-year-old Swiss grabbed a historic victory at Costa Rica’s La Ruta De Los Conquistadores, won his second consecutive marathon world championship and finished the year as the No. 7 ranked rider in the world. That’s pretty impressive for a guy who was the runner-up to Ned Overend at the inaugural world championships back in 1990. And he’s not done yet: Frischknecht is preparing for yet another season racing on the fat-tire circuit. A guy who has spent 17 years in a sport and made the world

The long, lightweight Rogers has the time-trialing skills and climbing potential to be a serious contender

Boonen and Petacchi lock horns once more

Frischi is gearing up for another winning season

Dear Monique,I had heard recently that sports drinks are bad for our teeth and cancause dental erosion. Obviously we need to use sports drinks when we trainand race. Is this a valid concern and what can we do about it?JBDear JB,Thanks very much for your question. Obviously it is best for your dentalhealth to limit sugar in your daily diet. However, when it comes to trainingand racing, easily digested and readily absorbed sports drinks with severalcarbohydrate sources are essential to replace fluid and fuel during longerworkouts.The link between consumption of sports drinks and dental health

Editor’s note: When America’s biggest bike race, the eight-day Amgen Tour of California, starts this weekend in San Francisco, some of the world’s leading riders will be starting their 2006 seasons at the head of major ProTour teams. In the current issue of VeloNews, you can read detailed profiles of two of these men: Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie and Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie. Here on velonews.com, we are featuring three of the other major contenders. We began yesterday with an in-depth interview with Phonak team leader Floyd Landis; today's installment features Gerolsteiner leader

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.Hamilton coverage biased, lacks integrityEditor:Your recent article regarding Tyler Hamilton asked if readers agreed with the CAS decision. Although I am no longer a VeloNews reader, I do not agree with that decision. But that is to be expected. I openly admit my bias towards Tyler, as I

Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) once again showed world champion Tom Boonen his heels en route to winning the fourth stage of the Ruta del Sol on Wednesday. Boonen (Quick Step) held on for second ahead of Aussie Graeme Brown (Rabobank) in the 162.1km stage between Ecija and Ronda. Spain’s Carlos Garcia Quesada (Unibet), remains the overall leader ahead of Rodrigo Garcia (Kaiku), who was briefly slowed by a crash involving several riders, and García Quesada's brother, Adolfo (Andalucia-Paul Versan). Thursday's finale, a 172.6km run between Olvera and Seville, seems likely to