News

This year's race to the sun will be a tough one.

Tech Report: It’s only February, but look at all the new stuff

Oscar Freire looks pensive before his first race since winning the Vatenfall Classics in August. Plagued by back problems, the three-time world champion said he's riding without pain again.

Freire squirts past the right side of the peloton to win Sunday's Mallorca Challenge opener. He's hoping to regain his form after missing world's for two years running.

Riders spin by with Mallorca's towering cathedral in the background in Sunday's opening stage. The cathedral dates back to the 14th century and is one of the largest in Spain.

The Cat. 2 Coll de Soller will be one of the steep climbs featured in Tuesday's and Wednesday's climbing stages. This year's route includes 15 rated climbs and cuts through the spectacular Tramuntana mountains along Mallorca's rugged

Dutch veteran Michael Boogerd is still going strong. VeloNews spied the big-toothed classics star leading Rabobank on an intense training ride along the mountainous rugged coastline Saturday.

Who says the peloton hasn't gone international? Astana is the first top-level pro team registered in Kazakhstan.

The brother and sister of Isaac Galvez were overcome with emotion in a special homage to the late Illes Balears rider ahead of Sunday's start. Galvez died in a crash during a track race in November. He won two stages in last year's Mallorca C

David Millar is in Mallorca, working to hone his TT skills

February 13, 2007: This week’s issue of VeloNews includes a 54-page guide for the 2007 Sea Otter Classic, to be held April 12 – 15, 2007. The Sea Otter Classic is a four-day ‘Celebration of Sport’ welcoming enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels, from toddler to senior, recreational rider to world-class pro athlete. The festival hosts a non-stop schedule of events-- road, cross-country and gravity events for amateurs and professionals, road and mountain bike tours for non-competitive riders, and also features the world’s largest outdoor consumer bike exposition. In addition to planning

Can he make another run at the climber's jersey?

Montréal-Boston Tour route set for August

Mancebo found a place to land.

T-Mobile's Patrik Sinkewitz is happy to be back at Mallorca. The team decamped here for more than two weeks in January and Monday's start was loaded with German fans. Mallorca's population includes 20 percent German-speaking residents.

Peter Van Petegem made his Quick Step-Innergetic debut on Sunday. The Belgian classics tough-man will be the team's wild-card during the northern classics this year, playing joker to Paolo Bettini and Tom Boonen.

Reigning world mountain bike champion Gunn-Rita Dahle enjoyed the action Sunday. She will stay for nearly a month in Mallorca to prepare for the 2007 season.

Jose Luis Chechu Rubiera doesn't look too concerned that sponsor Discovery Channel is leaving at the end of the 2007 season.

2006 Milan- San Remo winner Filippo Pozzato, in his new Liquigas kit, was hanging with a few of his old Quick Step buddies.

Santi Perez in his new Relax kit.

Calvente hopes he and the Agritubel team get invited to the Tour

Danielson gets ready to roll

The Danielsons look to be enjoying the warm AZ weather

Danielson in the desert

Local TT stud Drew Miller recovering after his effort, and heading out on the course to check out Tommy D’s ride

Danielson off to a strong start

Kristen lines up

Hall of Fame seeks nominations

Our latest reader-submitted PhotoGallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. We had a tough time picking a winner this week, we can assure you. There were two images that stood out in our minds and we kept going back and forth. Fortunately, it was a letter from a reader that settled the question for us. As reader Erin Hinnov remarked, “I like the stark imagery of the White Rim photo, but the story about Josh brought me to tears. If I had to go with just the artistry of the photos, I vote White

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,

International Olympic Committee officials have rebuked World Anti-DopingAgency (WADA) chairman Dick Pound for comments critical of cyclist LanceArmstrong, according to newspaper reports. The Los Angeles Times and New York Times reported thatthe IOC Ethics Commission censure was dated February 2 and came followinga complaint filed in 2005 by the American, a seven-time Tour de Francewinner."It's not common that the IOC comes out and issues a reprimand or awarning about one of their members at all. This is as close to a censureas it could get," Armstrong told the New York Times, calling

In the 20 years that the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame has existed, morethan 100 individuals have been inducted — both in person or posthumously.Their names vary from 1899 world sprint champion Major Taylor to three-timeTour de France winner Greg LeMond. And now you can nominate your favoriterider for consideration in the “class of ’07.” The main requirements are that nominees be U.S. citizens and have notraced for five years — so that rules out nominating shoo-ins like LanceArmstrong and Marty Nothstein for another few years. There are actuallyfive categories of competitors eligible for the

White Rim Trail - Canyonlands National Park Utah

Josh

Schumacher wants to exploit his strengths

The bike in Malaysia is more tool than anything else...

... and racing is still something of a novelty.

Will he race?

Giant-Asia takes the team prize.

Loddo adds another check to his win column

The final stage takes the peloton through...

The peloton rolls off for an 80km closer to a 10-day tour

... an assortment of Kuala Lampur neighborhoods.

Mayo is sporting a new kit this year

Langkawi's dedicated crew celebrates another edition

Elite USA Cycling Coach Presents Base Building Clinics in Santa CruzThomas Chapple will discuss early-season training techniques fromhis new bookBoulder, CO, February, 2007 - This February, elite USA Cyclingand Ultrafit coach Thomas Chapple will discuss the concepts of base trainingin Santa Cruz, CA. Cyclists often think that preparing for next seasonmeans piling on the miles, but long rides at high or even medium intensitiestoo early in the season can actually do more harm than good. In his comprehensiveguide BaseBuilding for Cyclists: A New Foundation for Endurance and Performance,Chapple

Tinkoff gets its first win

Saturday's ride appears to have given the boys from Giant Asia a lock on the team title

No one was conceding anything to Charteau on Saturday.

The Mosque at Putrajaya

Serpa and Rujano keeping cool

Lange took a flyer in the last kilometer.

Anthony Charteau maintened his hold on the jersey Saturday.

Charteau closing in on Langkawi title as Tinkoff gets its first-ever win

Charteau closing in on Langkawi title as Tinkoff gets its first-ever win

The Tinkoff boys were active all day

Dean leads the chase

Press Release - Base Building Clinics in Santa Cruz

SRAM issues road brake recall

French media have reported that American Floyd Landis has declined a U.S.Anti-Doping Agency request to release remaining urine samples from lastsummer’s Tour de France for additional testing. Landis, who is scheduled to appear before a USADA panel in May, hadbeen asked to permit the release of remaining B-samples for tests to detectthe presence of exogenous testosterone. Landis tested positive for an elevated testosterone/epitestosteroneratio following his spectacular come-from-behind stage17 victory at the Tour. The win ensured his overall title at the Tour,but that win was called into

Hincapie may wear stars-and-stripes again in '08, but the globe won't be there.

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,

USA Today reported Friday that the Discovery Channel is expected to drop its title sponsorship of the cycling team that bears its name at the end of the 2007 season. The decision not to renew the team’s contract at the end of a three-year contract comes only days after the firing of company CEO Billy Campbell, a strong advocate of the team sponsorship, on Monday of this week. Campbell, who helped push the television network’s initial co-sponsorship in 2004, also pushed the company to assume full title sponsorship in 2005, when the U.S. Postal Service ended its support for the team. The

Floyd Landis blasted the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Friday regarding the agency’s efforts to subject cleared doping samples from last Tour de France to additional testing. Landis tested positive for an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone ratio after winning stage 17 of the Tour last July but has challenged the handling of the sample and testing conditions at the French national anti-doping laboratory (LNDD) at Châtenay-Malabry, which processed the dope test. In a statement issued Friday, Landis said he was responding to a report in the French sports newspaper l'Equipe

Serpa likes the climb at Genting, although he might have appreciated it more had it been longer.

Gianni Savio congratulates the day's winner and vows to keep fighting

Walter Pedraza stayed with Serpa as long as he could

Serpa recovers and watches the clock

A short stage, with a killer finish

Up, up and away....

Serpa and new Asian GC leader Ghader Mizbani

'I try to go as long as I can until I blow,' explained Duggan

Charteau keeps the jersey

Serpa wins at Genting, but Charteau battles to hold Langkawi lead

Landis, on his way to doping control after his stage 17 win

VeloPort: The concept is there - voters will decide if the money will be.

Press Release - Tour of Missouri organizers release race details

Wide-open roads - One big advantage the Rocky Mountain West has over California

This year, the team has skipped Langkawi to focus on a single training camp for the entire squad.

They must like cycling in Albuquerque: No one at the hotel even complained about this.