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He's Baaaack. Gragus will be in Philly

The first VeloNews Bro Tour criterium standings are out aftertwo events, the Athens Twilight and the Tour of Somerville, with PrimeAlliance’s Jonas Carney and Diet Rite’s Tina Mayolo-Pic leading the way.The winner in Somerville, New Jersey, and third in Athens, Georgia, Carneyleads a trio of Mercury riders: Derek Bouchard-Hall, Gord Fraser and GraemeMiller, with his Prime Alliance teammate Dave McCook in fifth place. Inthe women’s standings, Mayolo-Pic’s pair of second-place finishes was enoughto put her ahead of Somerville winner Laura Van Gilder (Trek Plus) andAthens champion Ina Teutenberg

Before the fall: Evans begins to show signs of fatigue before Hamilton's first attack.

Passo Gardena, the day's first climb

How long in Pink? Will Savoldelli keep the jersey after Saturday's time trial?

The winning move. Perez, however, didn't have it today.

Today's profile

Fat-Tire Flyer: Evans is the new man in charge

Perez attacked the slopes of the Fedaia and went on to take the stage.

Another Giro Police raid

Up, up, up and up some more...

Casagrande makes his case to the press

Number 38 was not the big story of the day

It was supposed to be an uneventful day

That podium moment

One of the 205 riders who took on Houffalize.

Still in the jersey: Heppner holds a 48-second lead over a surprising Evans

Fullana heading to victory.

The opening climb.

Alexander couldn't quite catch Fullana.

Blatter makes her way up Houffalize's toughest climb.

Hamilton smokes 'em

Sauser wins his dream race.

The first climb of the day.

Paulissen leads the way early.

The Belgian fans were out in force.

Meirhaeghe is one of the fan favorites.

Deep ruts could make things tricky on Sunday.

Martinez is still big in mountain biking.

Dunlap would probably take issue with this display.

The long and lonely road: Lotz on his own

At the end of a long day in the saddle.

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a line. Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. Say it ain’t so, Brooke I am a former team member on the team Brooke manages. All I can sayis, I am horribly disappointed. (see Blackweldersuspended) Last year while competing with Brooke in the Women's Challenge, I commentedto friends and family about what an amazing

Find Roland's rainbows.

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a line. Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. Test results aside, thank you, Brooke Dear VeloNews, This is in response to Brooke Blackwelder's email (see "Blackwelderresponds to USADA suspension"). I was sorry to hear about her positive test -- I wish there were morepressure on the supplement industry to fully disclose

Champagne don’t make me lazyCocaine don’t drive me crazyAin’t nobody’s business but my own. -- Taj Mahal Cycling seems to have taken a speed-wobble into an endless “TwilightZone” loop, a hallucinogenic Mobius comic strip written by William Burroughs,drawn by M.C. Escher and colored by Owsley that we have to keep ridingover and over, like some Spinning® class in Hell. Trying to write about the sport these days feels like bobbing for silverfish in a septic tank on "The Ricki Lake Show" while a defrocked Catholic priestbelays you with his arms locked around your waist. The bad news

He went, but not willingly.

Things DO go better with coke... like watching the Tour de France on TV.

Yes, there was a bike race today and Denis Lunghi won

Police on Thursday hauled off all six Mapei riders competing in the Tour of Belgium to be tested for banned products in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, after a suspect ampule was discovered in one of the riders bags on Wednesday. The detentions come hard on the heels of another drug scandal for Mapei after Stefano Garzelli was thrown out of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday after testing positive for the banned diuretic Probenecid. The swoop took place as the riders crossed the finishing line of the first stage of the Belgian. The six riders are Italian Eddy Ratti, who discovered the suspect product in

Simoni towed Casagrande in the closing kilometers and then beat him at the line.

Those last kilometers...

Steve Zampieri and Renzo Mazzolini

Perez

Still in control: Heppner did better than many would have expected.

Idaho cyclist Brooke Blackwelder (Team Goldys) has been suspended from the sport for eight months following a final ruling on a case stemming from a positive drug test at last year’s Hewlett-Packard Women’s Challenge. According to a statement released by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), a three-member arbitration panel from the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that there was enough evidence to show that Blackwelder had violated doping rules by using a banned anabolic steroid. Blackwelder, 34, tested positive for

McEwen now turns his attention to France.

Simoni fans don't care if their hero is under fire.

VeloNews.com values your opinions and welcomes your letters. If you runacross something in the pages of VeloNews magazine, hear of something inthe world of cycling or see something on VeloNews.com that causes you towant to express an opinion, dropus a line.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to thisaddress, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.Blackwelder responds to USADA ruling and suspensionDear VeloNews(see "Blackwelderreceives 8-month suspension") Funny thing, for the last three yearsI've spent countless hours developing a women's team

Green Beret Sgt. Gene Vance Jr., an avid cyclist who had worked at a West Virginia bike shop before being called up for duty in Afghanistan, was killed May 12 when his Special Forces unit came under fire. He was the first member of the West Virginia National Guard to die on active duty since World War II, according to The Associated Press. On March 4, another soldier-cyclist, Army Sgt. Phil Svitak, 31, of Clarksville, Tennessee, was among seven Americans to die when enemy fighters targeted two Chinook helicopters in separate attacks. Bruce Summers, owner of Whitetail Cycle & Fitness, said

Garzelli started the day uncertain of his fate.

Piccoli leads the escape

Mountain biking took centerstage over the weekend with the openinground of the 2002 World Cup in Madrid. Alison Dunlap made an impressiveseason debut wearing her rainbow jersey with her new Luna kit, finishingsecond behind turbo-charged Marga Fullana. Dunlap said she´sgoing for the overall title this year."I want to win the World Cup because it´s something I´venever done before, so this is a good start."It´s an even better start considering Fullana, who´s terrifiedof flying and doesn´t like to stray too far from Spain, won´tbe racing any of the North American World Cup stops.Susan Haywood

The $500,000 Mike Walden Velodrome officially opened earlier this monthin Rochester Hills, Michigan.Designed by velodrome master Dale Hughes, paid for by private donations,built by volunteers and subsequently donated to the city, the 200-meteroutdoor track in Bloomer Park is Michigan’s first since a predecessor inDetroit, built in 1969 by Walden, shut down in the early 1980s.The new track “is exciting to ride,” said spokesman Leonardo Gianola.“Our old velodrome in Detroit, the Dorais Velodrome, was a 333-meter trackwith angles of 8 to 24 degrees. The MWV is 13 to 44 degrees, which makesit

Following a major overhaul to its mountain-bike ranking software during the offseason, the UCI has finally released an updated set of cross-country standings. And just as they did at the end of 2001, Bart Brentjens and Barbara Blatter continue hold down the No. 1 spots. In the rankings released May 16, Brentjens had an 18-point lead over second-place occupant Jose Antonio Hermida, with Canadian Roland Green moving past Miguel Martinez into third place, 32 points back of Brentjens. Martinez is now fourth, with Roel Paulissen in fifth. Paulissen made the most significant jump, climbing into

Heartbreaker: Guidi was caught with just 2.5km to go.

Neben and Hughes on the attack

Fullana climbs towards the win.

Dunlap took second in Madrid.

Brentjens takes round one.

Mavic's Aaron Walker helps set up Tinker's lights for the night ride

Green settled for second.

The Le Mans style sprint, Saturday at high noon.

Juarez, during one of his fresher laps Saturday

Words of encouragement ring through the hills of Laguna Seca.

24-hour racing is serious business. Just ask Fred Flintstone, here.

Solo effort. Verbrugghe had plenty of time to celebrate.

A Family Affair: Tinker Juarez with his pit crew: sister Yvonne Roblero (left) and mother Rose Juarez.

What goes up must come down

24 Hours of wavering Adrenalin

Millward

Davidenko and Obee

Vogels

Heppner takes over the jersey

Lombardi takes the stage