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Craig and Co. were nearly a minute down

. . . as was Ausbuher

But the Belgians went to work, and Nijs was soon up front . . .

. . . which is where he stayed

The podium

If you look at his record, you can tell that Johnson loves these conditions

Bessette is unstoppable this year

At the start

Johnson never looked back

McQuaid

Up we go

Dlask was one of the early animators . . .

Gone but not forgotten. I guess that’s as good a way as any to describe seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who, three months after he walked away from his racing career, is still the most-talked-about cyclist in the world. At Thursday’s 2006 Tour de France route unveiling, Armstrong went nearly unmentioned in a 10-minute highlight video recap of the '05 Tour — an omission Tour officials admitted was not accidental, given investigations into Armstrong’s alleged EPO use at the 1999 Tour. Even in his physical absence, Armstrong’s presence was felt throughout the Palais de Congres in

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.Radios for the fans, tooEditor:Radios must stay, and of course helmets. The sport of cycling must evolve with the rest of the modern world if it expects to maintain any kind of media presence and network coverage. Technology is a fact of life now and you can either lead or get run over by

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. — Ecclesiastes 3:1 For the first time since 2000, Lance Armstrong wasn’t the star of the show as Tour de France organizers unveiled the 2006 route on Thursday in Paris. The seven-time Tour champ, who was stateside preparing to host this weekend’s edition of NBC’s "Saturday Night Live," played only a bit part in a short highlight video prepared for the annual ceremony in Paris — and Tour organizers said that was not a simple oversight. "Of course, I cannot pretend this is just accidental," Patrice Clerc,

Landis knows what challenges he'll be facing in next year's Tour

Is Armstrong ready for prime time?

Armstrong and Crow on 20-20

Radio Armstrong

The Zero G crank

Watson displays the Touareg's tail section . . .

. . . and the sound gear hidden within

Vestal and his goods

Campy gets BIG

Kabush's Turner prototype

Lausanne, Switzerland (AP) - Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen was among five candidates nominated Thursday for IOC membership. Also put forward by the IOC executive board were: International Tennis Federation chief Francesco Ricci Bitti; Beatrice Allen, vice president of Gambia's national Olympic committee; Nicole Hoevertsz, secretary general of Aruba's Olympic committee; and Prince Tunku Imran, president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia. The five will be up for election to eight-year terms at the International Olympic Committee assembly in Turin on the eve of the Winter

Just in time for the announcement of the route for the 2006 Tour de France, VeloPress's annual wrap up of the Tour is now ready for delivery. "The2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell," by John Wilcocksonand Andrew Hood, tells the fascinating story of Lance Armstrong and hisride to his history-making seventh-straight victory. But this plot encompasses21 teams and 188 other riders battling for stage victories and hoping tounseat the American champion. VeloNews reporters Wilcockson and Hood provide a detailed accountof the action in each stage, capturing the color and character of

Bruyneel Reaction to 2006 Tour De France Route Announcement While Lance Armstrong may be retired from professional cycling and focusing on his future away from the sport, his apparent influence on Johan Bruyneel remains as relevant now as it did when he was winning seven Tours de France. Following today's grand unveiling of the 2006 Tour de France route in Paris, the Discovery Channel team's sports manager left the Palais de Congres still smarting from what was widely perceived as a slap to Armstrong's legacy by Tour organizers during its route presentation. However, Bruyneel

2006 Tour route unveiled

Leblanc and heir-apparent Christian Prudhomme outline the 2006 Tour route

Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich - Who will this Tour favor?

Bruyneel: Felt targeted

The Tour will hit the Galibier next year

Some remember Armstrong this way...

... and others remember this.

VeloPress Book Selection: The 2005 Tour de France

2006 Tour route unveiled

A final showdown? It sure made for an exiting finish last time.

A chance for Ullrich to strut his stuff?

Luis Leon Sanchez generates between 500 and 550 watts in this position

Minor tweaks have further refined Sanchez's position

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 story behind that photoHello,Becky Brandt's dad here. Becky is at school right now, so I am writing in on her behalf. She took that photo at the WORS Ultimax Challenge in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on October 9th of this year. It was the citizen/beginner race in the area simply called

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Calvin Straathof, PresidentToll Free: 1-800-700-4797Victoria, B.C. October,  2005 – Team Giga-Bike is presentinga “Day in Yellow with Dave Zabriskie” on Saturday, November 19, 2005. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be one of thirty cyclists tojoin professional racer Dave Zabriskie on a brisk and scenic 50-km rideduring the annual Team Giga-Bike fundraising ride in Victoria, B.C. TeamGiga-Bike offers you a rare opportunity to ride shoulder-to-shoulder withthe fastest Tour de France stage winner in history while supporting yourlocal Vancouver

Will this Tour be decided in the mountains?

Cipo' won four stages in a row in '99. The last was here in Thionville

Riis will be in the CSC team car on Hautacam this time around

PRESS RELEASE: Remembering Tom CuthbertsonSanta Cruz, California - Friends and relatives of longtime SantaCruz resident and cyclist, Tom Cuthbertson, the author of “Anybody's BikeBook” plan to honor him with a memorial bike ride and fundraiser on November13.The ride is scheduled to leave Santa Cruz’s SprocketsBike shop (1420 Mission St.) at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 13,2005. Cuthbertson, who died of cancer on October 10, began work in thebike business at that shop in 1969, when it was known as the Bicycle Center.Cuthbertson had a big influence on cycling in Northern California andwas

Health Net extends sponsorship for three years.Oakland, CA – On the heels of the most successful season everby a domestic professional cycling team, Health Net and Momentum SportsGroup have reached a three-year agreement to continue sponsorship of theHealth Net Pro Cycling Team.“In its three years of existence, the team has continually built uponits successes,” said Dave Anderson, Chief Sales Officer for Woodland Hills,CA-based Health Net. “In that same time, we’ve also seen excitement forthe team growing within the Health Net family. Team Health Net has notonly created external marketing

Leblanc and Prudhomme will unveil the 2006 route on Thursday

What we do know: The rest is just speculation

Miguel Martinez

PRESS RELEASE: Remembering Tom Cuthbertson

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

Italian cyclist Dario Frigo received a six-month suspended sentence and 12,000-euro fine Monday for doping during the 2001 Giro d’Italia. The former Paris-Nice and Tour of Romandie winner was forced to pull out of the 2001 Giro, while in second place overall, after Italian police found drugs in his hotel room following the San Remo stage. Judge Paolo Luppi also handed down similar sentences on riders Giuseppe Giuseppe Di Grande and Alberto Elli after the duo were found guilty of using banned substances found after police and drug squad officers raided the hotel rooms of all competing teams

It's an annual event that even armored car drivers now fear. VeloSwap attendeeson Saturday, October 22, drained some $175,000 cash from ATM machines at the National Western Complex in Denver because they had quickly run out of money snapping up deals from the hundreds of vendors selling an incomparable selection of bikes, parts, accessories and clothing. It's no surprise since over the course of its 17-year history, VeloSwap has developed a reputation as the place to go if you need a variety of cycling items as varied as a vintage-condition still-in-the-box Campagnolo Gran Sport

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.He blames it on MarioDear Velo,I've been following JohnWilcockson's stories with great interest the last few weeks. Istarted following bike racing just before the start of the "English" invasion,so they are bringing back lots of fond memories.The other thing I've noticed is

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now up for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of ourmost recent contest. Becky Brandt’s “Uh-oh this is gonna hurt” received the same initial reaction from nearly everyone we showed it to: “OUCH!!!” Even though the equipment – and probably the photo itself – are decidedly old school, the shot captures the precise moment that poor rider’s day went to the dogs. (We hope he did better than we suspect that he did.)Congratulations, Becky! Contact us and you win a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes

Hoy on his way to winning the last Olympic kilo gold awarded

Cunego in Japan. Healthy again?

Frigo on his way to court this summer in France

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

Backstedt is synched with his pacer and ready to roll

Vanlandingham has the arm strength to swim an Xterra

The self-contained Exposure

They make a helmet-mounted model, too

The Viking attacks

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.Trecker off base on BekeEditor:I wanted to reply to Mike Trecker's comments about Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke's overturned doping offense. (See Thursday’s Mailbag: "Repeat until caught, then lie"). Mr. Trecker makes it seem that Beke was guilty, found a loophole, and now seeks

I met Kyle Strait for the first time this past summer at the World Cup race in Angel Fire, New Mexico. The 17-year-old freeride phenom had just completed his final downhill run, finishing with a respectable 4:47 on the dusty, rocky course. I had heard about Strait’s heroics in freeride competitions, but considering the deep talent pool at Angel Fire (Greg Minnaar, Chris Kovarik, Fabien Barel, to name a few), his run, while smooth and solid, wasn’t exactly memorable. It turned out to be good for 21st place, about 13 seconds off Minnaar’s winning pace, and, to be honest, it slipped out of my

On starting the "Inside Cycling" column earlier this year I said that my first goal would be to give you a basic story of road racing in "English-speaking" countries. Not a complete history, but the stories behind the "firsts" — first road races in the various countries, first riders to compete in major competitions (such as world championships, classics or tours), and then the first to achieve significant results in those events. Regarding the biggest race of all, the Tour de France, I’ve written about the pioneers from Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. The first to finish

Another dream season for Nijs?

Saunier Duval team boss Mauro Gianetti and Simoni

Gerdemann at this year's Tour of Switzerland

Four hours of Rampage in a tin