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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in a report issued early because of news leaks, has given the fight against drugs in this year's Tour de France a cautious endorsement but noted testing procedures included "weaknesses." The WADA Independent Observers report from the Tour de France published Monday said that since the doping scandal featuring the Festina team rocked the 1998 Tour, "things have changed for the better," but added that "weaknesses" in the testing procedures "can help potential cheats to bypass the system or help them find ways to assist their defense." The report was made

"You're entering a world of pain." – John Goodman in "The Big Lebowski.” Big John wasn’t talking about cyclo-cross. He was talking about bowling. Specifically, he was talking about shooting a fellow bowler for allegedly crossing the foul line during league play. But he could have easily been talking about this past weekend’s Brecktobercross, where I would’ve been happy to cross any line, foul or otherwise, if someone would have been kind enough to shoot me. I hadn't raced any sort of bicycle in nearly three years, so a cyclo-cross at 9800 feet was probably not the ideal venue for my big

Tour de France runner-up Jan Ullrich said Sunday he is set to make a decision on his cycling future with three cycling teams interested in securing the services of the Olympic champion. The German rider, 29, has become disillusioned with the Bianchi team - where he is captain - and looks set to move onto pastures new with former employer Telekom and an unnamed team rivaling Bianchi for his signature. "Before I go on holiday for a few days I will clarify my sporting future," Ullrich told his official homepage www.janullrich.de. "There are a lot of offers on the table so I will examine them

Following the news that the Saturn division of General Motors would be withdrawing from pro cycling at season's end, Schroeder Iron has announced that it, too, will be leaving the sport at the end of this month. “After careful consideration, I have decided to end my association with pro cycling with the close of this 2003 season,” said team owner Frank Schroeder in a press release issued Sunday. “The stresses to my business and to my family have been too great this year, and it would not be wise for me to stay involved for 2004 and beyond.” Schroeder, who told VeloNews earlier this year

The speedy Valverde storms past the two breakaways

Heras attacked, shadowed by Cardenas, who refused to work

Heras's move put Nozal into some difficulty, but not nearly enough

Petacchi, just a touch faster than Fast Freddy

Aitor Gonzalez gives up and goes home

Lunchtime for the leader

Joachim joined the break

Telekom on patrol: Julich and his teammates worked to set up Zabel.

Getting ready to race the clock

Last year's winner calls it a day

Heras had a great time trial, but trails Nozal by more than five minutes

Leipheimer was the top American in ninth

Heras would prefer to fight this one out in the hills

Nozal does it again, taking a tighter grip on the leader's jersey

TT specialist Millar finds himself denied again

Dear Bob,Last week, a city commissioner in our town was quoted as saying that“there is no constitutional right for bicycles to use the streets of thiscity—cyclists may ride only at the pleasure of government.”Is he right, or is he just blowing smoke?P.H.KentuckyDear P.H.;Constitutional law is the playground of law professors, not humblebicycle lawyers. Understanding the typical U. S. Supreme Court decisionis about as easy as reading Latin backwards, and usually makes about asmuch sense.The most common deskbook for municipal lawyers says that while “reasonablemunicipal regulations for the

Driving the train... Posties break things up.

Petacchi's win was not the big story of the day.

Happy to help: Nozal made the cut

Acoss the open plain

The day's first escape went early

Mauri at the Vuelta.

Etxebarria and Gonzalez were caught with 500 meters to go

Landis joined what might have been a winning move

The day's only rated climb threw a wrench in the works for some.

Nozal: Still the man to beat.

The last hurrah? Chris Horner wins in San Fran'

Just days after celebrating victory in San Francisco’s T-Mobile International, riders on the Saturn Cycling team have been told that they may well be without jobs in 2004. In a conference call with riders late Wednesday afternoon, Team Sports manager Tom Schuler said that the program’s major sponsor, the Saturn division of General Motors, will end its sponsorship at the end of the year. Saturn, whose 12-year involvement in American cycling makes it the longest-running major team sponsor on the domestic scene, had been rumored to be ending its support for its elite men's and women's team

They even get their own lights!

Savior of the planet?

La Vuelta de Barry: At the beach

La Vuelta de Barry: At the beach

La Vuelta de Barry: At the beach

Taking care of business... no flash, no signals, just a win.

Did I really beat him?

Nozal: Still golden

Valverde showed his quality today

Osa on the attack

Finally finished, Horner could celebrate

Barry was racing to win

A party on the Streets of SF - Postal launches a vicious, but ultimately ineffective, attack.

Dahle rides solo to the World Cup win

World champ Meirhaeghe shows it was no fluke

The four-cross course was so deadly that Carter was forced to ride it in his undies

Jonnier took second and the overall

Rennie's third place was good enough to claim the Cup

Who'da thunk it? Nozal maintains his lead

Teammate Rodriguez wins the stage

Beltran's in striking distance, but says Heras is the man

A revitalized Gonzales on the attack

Perez leads an assault on the front-runners

Vinokourov, signing autographs for attractive, adoring fans.

95 degrees in the shade

Fraser (1) after the crash

Team Genesis-Scuba’s Candace Blickem, Sue Palmer-Komar and Iona Wynter.

Ken Ilegems, Telekom mechanic, puts the touch on team bikes. “We didn’t bring 27-tooth cogs,” Ilegems said. “The team rode the course today, and now we are looking for them.”

Coffee with the rainbow club

Friday's escape.

Nozal still up there.

Perez, Beltran and Cardenas

Fixing the 4-Cross

I had an incredible week between the two mountain-bike world championships. It was very hectic, but I enjoyed every minute of being the marathon world champion. I can't really say I was recovered perfectly, but I had big motivation to give it all again in the cross country. Unfortunately, my race went wrong before it even started. The UCI was too lazy to update the world-ranking list after the marathon world championship, which had a huge impact for me. With my points from the marathon I should have been ranked as the best Swiss rider and started in the first row. Instead, I was 11th,

Frischy had a bad start and a disappointing finish in the cross-country ... but he's still the marathon world champ

That hurt!

Millar's time stood up to all but one

Gonzalez rode well, but couldn't match Millar and Nozal.

Landis finished in 30th at 4:33

Galdeano was expected to end the day in gold

Two-time Vuelta winner Alex Zülle (Phonak) finished 13th