News

Di Luca

Colum now leads by 1 second

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.In the end, what do they win?Is this drug use and abuse ever going to end?I want to think that, yes, it will end sometime...I just wonder with what face these cheaters will look at their grandsonsand say: "I won that race," when deep inside (or not so deep) they

Domo Farm Frites’s troubled cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke and his personal coach have been charged with possession of drugs in Belgium, after police discovered a substantial stash of doping products during a Wednesday night search of his home. The Domo-Farm Frites team quickly fired Vandenbroucke after news of the search became public. Following the arrest of his French trainer, the infamous Bernard Sainz, Belgian police conducted a search of Vandenbroucke's home and found a variety of banned performance-enhancing and other substances, a prosecutor's office spokesman in Termonde,

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.It's all about winning, right?Editor;How come you have so many readers that think nobody in the pro pelotondoes drugs?The plain and simple truth is everyone does drugs!!! Its called"competitive advantage."Ask yourself would you not create a competitive advantage

Does this look familiar? Pettachi makes it three straight

Vandenbroucke

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. What goes around comes aroundEditors,Regarding the Ibisbankruptcy:Karma, Roger, Karma.Michael SylvanSeattleP.S.  My most sincere condolences to Scot Nicol and all the goodpeople who worked at Ibis.  Your bikes were beautiful, and the companyitself did not deserve this

Representatives of the Société du Tour de France and the mayor of Paris are in preliminary negotitations over the possibility that next year’s centenary edition of the Tour de France will both start and finish in the French capital. Thus far, no agreement has emerged, but, if successful, the arrangement would mark the first time in 40 years that France’s grand tour began and ended in Paris. – Copyright AFP 2000 A new Postal Pedal with Lance in Mind? It looks like this year's Tour de France may mark something of a first... the first time Lance Armstrong puts some new pedals on his

Petacchi outsprinted a stellar field.

The 2002 Luna Chix mountain-bike team was officially unveiled this week in Calistoga, California. And though the collection riders — Alison Dunlap, Marla Streb Kelli Emmett and Gina Hall — weren’t news, a late addition to the team was announced by an almost-live video greeting. The newcomer was Czech Republic rider Katerina Hanusova, who attended the event remotely from her home in Truckee, California, just after returning from Salt Lake City. Hanusova was in Utah representing her country in cross-country skiing. She and her team took fourth place in the 4x5km relay last week. This was

Ibis LLC, the maker of Ibis bicycles, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on February 21 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Northern California Division. Founded by Scot Nicol in 1981, the company moved to Sonoma County in 1983, where it manufactured bikes for the next 18 years. Last year, in a bid to cut the rising cost of Northern California wages, Ibis entered into a co-production arrangement with Strong Frames of Bozeman, Montana. “As the cost of living has increased here, we decided that we cannot provide living wages any more,” Nicol told the North Bay Business Journal in 2001. “Our workers

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.Letters for MondayFabio and others like him are an inspirationDear editors:I was quite moved by your articleon Fabio Selvig, the racer run down by an oil truck in Massachusetts,in no small part because it parallels the stories of some close friends.Sabine Pater, tibia,

Germany's 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich is one of 47 people whose files have been handed over to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Corriere dello Sport reported Saturday. Over 100 people - snared in the 2001 Giro d'Italia police dragnet - are under formal judicial investigation by Florence magistrate Luigi Bocciolini. However while charges in the courts will be a long drawn out affair the sporting disciplinary process by CONI's anti-doping czar Giacomo Aiello will be a lot quicker and could be concluded within weeks. Bocciolini has now transmitted 47 dossiers to

Following a final meeting between organizers and promoters, NORBA has made a few small changes to this year’s national championship series schedule. The series will kick off May 9-12 at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. This is a week earlier than originally scheduled, a move that was made to avoid a conflict with a World Cup event in Madrid. The dates for the NORBA in Durango have also been changed. After going back and forth between several weekends, the dates are now finally set for August 1-4. Here’s a look at the full schedule for both the NORBA and World Cup

Friday Feature:Near-Fatal Accident Can’t Break an Athlete’s Spirit

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.No more dope (articles)I love the sport of road cycling, and all the Zen it represents in myworld. I have a comment I would love to share with my favorite cyclingmagazine...Some Thoughts:1.  Why as nobody written about the still record VO2 Maxlevels Armstrong recorded

Think you’re having a bad day? Well, Seven-sponsored multi-sport athleteFabio Selvig’s story will help you keep things in perspective. Hit by anoil truck while riding his bike and subsequently given virtually no hopeof living, Fabio can teach us all a lesson or two about what’s really important.BackgroundIn September 2000, then 33-year old Fabio Selvig had just returnedto a job in high-end sales at nationally renowned bicycle retailer BelmontWheelworks of Belmont, Massachusetts. At the time, Fabio was an active,successful multi-sport competitor, averaging 15 hours of training a weekand racing

Euskaltel's Txema Del Olmo was hit with a three-year ban from competition in France by the Council for the Struggle Against Doping (CPLD) after testing positive for erythropoietin EPO, it was announced in Paris on Friday. Del Olmo failed a urine test for the red-blood-cell-boosting drug EPO during the 2001 Tour de France prologue. The ban applies only in France as CPLD is a French organization with no power to impose international penalties. "The analysis taken at Chatenay-Malabry and complying with the detection method of the national laboratory for doping tests revealed the presence

With a total of four world junior titles to her name, Britain’s Nicole Cooke has taken the next step and signed a professional contract, joining forces with the Italian Dela Pragma-Colagno team, which is based near Bologna. Cooke currently holds the rainbow jersey as reigning world junior champion in three disciplines: time trial, road race and mountain bike. Still just 18 years old, Cooke has been heavily recruited by pro teams for the past year. "I've taken my time in finding a team for this year but I know that I've made a great choice," Cooke said. "I will be basing myself in

SRAM Corporation announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to purchase RockShox Inc, a deal expected to be finalized by mid-March In a press release issued on February 19, SRAM president Stan Day said the acquisition will contribute to his company’s goal of “being the most valuable supplier to the industry." "We believe that our new larger organization with full product lines in drivetrain, suspension, and brakes will better serve our customers,” said Day. “The timing is perfect as issues of supply chain management are a top priority to bike factories and aftermarket distributors

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.A big Thanks! to those who make North American racing specialDear Editor;I would like to thank - and invite others to thank- in this public forum,a long neglected key player in the world of bike racing: Host Housing Families.It would be nice to hear from other racing

Italian prosecutors say they will now investigate cyclist Gianluca Bortolamifor alleged misrepresentation and false testimony after he gave evidenceTuesday in the trial of accussed doping mastermind Dr Michele Ferrari.After Bortolami had given his account of events Tuesday to the courtthe prosecutor, Giovanni Spinosa, requested that the minutes of his testimonybe sent to local investigators who will decide whether to take action.Bortolami's evidence contrasted strongly with testimony presented lastweek by FilippoSimeoni who became the first cyclist to admit he was knowingly dopedby the

Jeanson set a standard in the TT

John Leiswyn

Valley of the Sun does attract a crowd

Jeanson

Tuft and Wherry

Navigators at work

We don't know why they parked there either

Time to pack up and head home

Desert Solitare

Kent Bostick still crankin'

Bodrogi and Virenque got things started

Bartoli and Jalabert drive an escape.

A new uniform; a familiar pose

With the finish line in mind, Acqua e Sapone worked to set up their top sprinter

Bartoli

Filippo Simeoni broke professional cycling’s so-called code of silence Tuesday when he testified in an Italian courtroom that he had taken banned products, including EPO, under the direction of Dr Michele Ferrari. Ferrari, currently on trial in Bologna, stands accused of allegedly administering banned substances to athletes under his supervision. The 30-year-old Simeoni, now riding for Acqua e Sapone, told the court in Bologna on Tuesday that Ferrari had offered detailed instructions on the use of substances and how to avoid triggering positive test results. Simeoni was a client of

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in the pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causes you to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.TUESDAY LETTERSSimeoni should be applaudedHi VeloNews-ers,Filippo Simeoni is a hero in my book, because he's broken the very unethicalcode of silence among cyclists (see "Cyclistbreaks code of silence in Ferrari trial"), which pre-dates Coppi andBartali.

Tafi turns the tables.

A Hindu temple.

A young fan.

The ringgit.

Italian cyclist Gianluca Bortolami is set to appear as a witness on Tuesday when the trial of alleged doping mastermind Doctor Michele Ferrari resumes in Bologna. In evidence already submitted to investigating magistrates Bortolami, the 1994 World Cup winner and last year’s Tour of Flanders champion, blames former Festina soigneur Willy Voet for the discovery of vials of EPO found in his possession. Voet’s 1998 arrest was the trigger for the now-infamous Festina affair that nearly resulted in the cancellation of the Tour de France that year. Prosecutors, however, point to Ferrari’s medical

The official TDL bikes.

A warning to careless drivers.

A big crowd at the downtown criterium.

Part of the post-race show at Stage 7.

Remnants of a palm-oil plantation.

Carl Swenson traded in his knobby tires for cross-country skis Saturday in a run for a gold medal at the XIX Winter Olympic Games. The professional mountain-bike racer came up short of the medal podium – he finished 37th in the men’s 30km freestyle mass start – after he said his legs “tightened up.” ”It was a disappointing day. I just seized up and I couldn’t recover,” Swenson said after racing on the challenging, high-altitude course in the shadow of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains south of Park City. “My muscles were tight and I ran out of energy.” More than 15,000 fans packed the course as

Munoz gets a lift from the Mapei team.

Brown gets his second stage win.

Riders pass by the Petronas towers.

Munoz does a lap with his country's flag.

McEwen

Hunter spends his last moments in yellow.

Tafi after the killer climb.

Hesjedal in suffer mode.

McEwen continues the early-season roll

Munoz and George.

It’s that time of year again. We need to update our files andlet people know just who is riding with and for whom and what businesses are good enough to sponsor a bike team. To do that, we needyour help.If you would like your team roster included in our soon-to-be-updatedlist, please send it, using the following guidelines, to Rosters@7Dogs.com.Please follow the example offered below as closely as possible,listing riders according to category. Place any professional riders ontop of the team roster and then follow with other categories in descendingorder.The Joint Chiefs (Pentagon City,

We really suck.At least that's what some of you tell us. Others can't wait forthe newest issue of VeloNews, the latest on-line race reports ora dripping-with-detail tech report from Lennard Zinn. Love us or hate us,we want hear you vent.Drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com and we'll start posting a representative cross-section of the mail we get.Be sure to put the words "letter to the editor" in the subject line orwe may dump it along with the ton of SPAM that we get every day.Remember that we reserve the right to edit your letter for clarity andlength. Please be aware that we

The peloton rolls towards Petaling Jaya.

Mapei keeps the pace high.

Tafi helps Hunter chase back on after a puncture.

Salomone explains his win.

D'Hollander hung on -- just barely -- for the win.

Hesjedal cools off after Stage 7.

The Malaysian tifosi.

On this course, the start counted for everything.(All photos from Friday practice)

... because once on dirt, things narrowed quickly