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Piepoli drives an elite group

With two low-risk escapees ahead, Saunier kept tabs on anyone else that tried to get away.

Piepoli provided a lot of power

Di Luca charges off near the top of the Izoard.

Simoni tried a couple of digs on the lower slopes of the Izoard.

One of the top cyclists of the past 15 years, Erik Zabel of Germany, admitted on Thursday that he had taken the banned blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) while competing for German team Telekom in 1996. "I took EPO in 1996 but I stopped taking it after a week because of secondary effects," a visibly emotional Zabel told a press conference. "It was my only experience with doping in my whole career." The Telekom team was a major force in 1996, when one of its riders, Bjarne Riis of Denmark, won the Tour de France. Zabel, one of the world's leading sprinters, said he was unsure what

Greetings Bob,Coming from Germany and now cycling in Atlanta, mostly as a commuter, I havethe following question: Would you know of an insurance I could enroll in that covers two example situations:Aa car hits me and my bike - I am injured, the bike is damaged and the driver does not have insurance (does happen, yes ...).I cause an accident (my fault) and the car crashes into something - driver is hurt, car is damaged, I am fine.Any info would be very much appreciated - thank you very much!RegardsC. L.Georgia Dear C.L.,Your question could not be more timely! This Memorial Day weekend marks

OLYMPIC CYCLIST TEACHES KIDS ABOUT CYCLING AND TEAMWORKColorado Cyclist Erin Mirabella Debuts Children's Book AboutBike RacingBoulder, CO, May, 2007 - VeloPress is pleased to announce thepublication of Olympic cyclist Erin Mirabella's first children's book,Gracie Goat's Big Bike Race. The book is now available at VeloGear.comand will be available in bookstores throughout North America in June 2007. Inspired by Mirabella's own Olympic experiences, Gracie Goat's Big BikeRace addresses teamwork and facing one's fears with a creative and lightheartedtouch that

It’s over — for now. After nine long days that gyrated wildly between mundane and melodramatic, the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing concluded Wednesday with lawyers from both sides making impassioned closing arguments. Lead USADA prosecutor Richard Young said it was a case of simple science that should lead the three-person arbitration panel to rule against Landis, and find him guilty of using synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France. The Landis side countered that the results produced at the French national anti-doping lab were completely unreliable, and that anything but a

Petacchi wins the drag race

Press Release - Olympic cyclist teaches kids about cycling and teamwork

The aftermath of an ugly crash at the line

Bettini hasn't had a lot of luck in this Giro.

Buffaz on the attack.

Noe was grateful for an easy day in the saddle.

Not exactly a frantic chase, the peloton gradually picked up the pace and got their man when they needed to.

Petacchi nails it.

Stage 12. Can you blame anyone for leaving?

German rider Danilo Hondo said on Tuesday he was abandoning his legal fight against a two-year suspension for doping and would concentrate on resuming his career next year. "There are too many uncertainties to continue with legal appeals," Hondo said. "I am now going to wait for the end of my suspension. I'm sure I can ride for another three or four years." His ban ends in January 2008. Hondo, 33, who rode under a Swiss license for the Gerolsteiner team, was suspended after he twice tested positive for the banned stimulant carphedon during the Tour of Murcia in Spain in March 2005. He

Irmiger is improving on the international scene.

Michael Rasmussen hasn’t raced a mountain bike since the 2001 world championships, when he flatted 2km from what looked like an all-but-certain second world title. Since switching to the road, the Dane has evolved into one of the most consistent climbers in the peloton, winning back-to-back best-climber’s jerseys and a stage each year at the 2005-06 Tours de France. For 2008, Rasmussen will be taking another stab at the fat tires in a bid to earn a spot on the Danish Olympic team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. “I just received my mountain bike from Colnago yesterday at my bike

My 14-year-old-son riding the porcupine 4X4 trail, Moab, Utah

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery 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 could probably come up with any assortment of artistic and aesthetic reasons for naming this week’s winning photograph. Hey, some of you might even buy it. Bottom line, though, is that after a week of tawdry doping news, the thought of heading to Moab with our young son had a lot more appeal than did a picture of some top-of-the-heap pro’ bike racer racing to the line for a paycheck. Sorry. So we’re naming Matthew

What’s more important, character or science? That was the principal question on the penultimate day of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing, and could be the crux of whether or not Landis is found guilty of using synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France. In one corner was USADA attorney Matt Barnett, who used most of Tuesday’s morning session to attack Landis’s integrity, wondering about the spate of doping offenses on his Phonak team, why he’d penned a hateful Internet post directed at Greg LeMond, and what motivated him to stand by when his business manager made a

German doctors Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid, implicated in systematic doping by a former Telekom team cyclist, were suspended on Tuesday by their employer, the University Hospital Freiburg. "This measure was taken in consultation with the two interested parties: it is provisional, the time for the independent commission of inquiry to make its conclusions known," the hospital said in a statement, adding that they were ending their association with the team that evolved out of Telekom, T-Mobile. Heinrich and Schmid ended their association with T-Mobile after revelations by a former

Piepoli held off some powerful climbers.

'Chicken' wants to race the road and the trail in Beijing

Di Luca reeled in and ultimately passed the young Schleck

Noè wasn't feeling too grumpy after the stage finish.

This was the second long break for Hincapie in this Giro

Liquigas put a lot into the chase

Parra tries to hold off the inevitable...

Piepoli makes contact first.

A good day for Saunier Duval

Hincapie has been busy.

The escapees

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If Floyd Landis is cleared of charges that he used synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France, Monday could go down as the arbitration-hearing version of stage 17. Bolstered by scientific testimony from a pair of defense side experts, the Landis team appeared to poke significant holes in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s allegation that he cheated his way to victory on the Champs-Elysees. Landis had been scheduled to take the stand on the seventh day of this nine-day hearing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, but his turn didn’t come up until late afternoon, and the

Napolitano nails it at the line in Lido Di Camaiore.

Milram worked hard to deliver Petacchi to the line.

The piano ride up the Passo del Cerreto

The break never posed a big threat

Pinotti enjoyed another day in the lead.

What does tomorrow hold for Pinotti?

Zabriskie has won stages in each of the grand tours.

King Jesse

Landis looked calm and confident

Amory said he didn't think the results confirmed that doping occurred

Young tried backing down Amory

Meier-Augenstein said that based on what he had seen he 'would not have great confidence in the results'

Still in pink

Petacchi may prefer Monday's stage

Arvesen celebrates, as Bettini comes close again

Premont

Plaxton

Gagne now leads the series

Bettini has been trying to get in a break all week.

Hincapie was up there with teammate José Luis Rubiera

Once over the day's second climb, the group worked to keep its lead

T-Mobile worked to keep the gap to a minimum

Saunier Duval lends a hand with the chase

The leaders hit the Ferrari test track

Arveson has reason to celebrate.

Quick Step puts the hammer down.

American Aaron Olson

José Luis 'Chechu' Rubiera

Floyd on the stand

Catlin provides his perspective

“Everybody cheats. I just didn’t know.” — Dennis Christopher as Dave Stoller in “Breaking Away” Remember the scene in “Breaking Away” when the evil Team Cinzano rider stuffs a pump into goofy Italophile Dave Stoller’s spokes and shows him what big-time bike racing is really all about? That’s what happened Thursday in the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. Unless I miss my guess, a whole bunch of bright-eyed contributors to the Floyd Fairness Fund suddenly found themselves sprawled in a muddy ditch alongside this race to the bottom, stunned by the revelation that the 2006 Tour de France

Floyd Landis took the witness stand in his own defense Saturday, saying that Greg LeMond misinterpreted his words and that he had nothing to do with a phone call his business manager made to the three-time Tour de France champion on the eve of his testimony at Landis’s arbitration hearing. Landis also denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs, and said his 2006 Tour victory was the product of hard work and determination. “It’s a matter of who I am,” said Landis during direct questioning from attorney Howard Jacobs, who concluded by asking Landis to explain why the three-man arbitration

Petacchi gets a second win.

Hincapie, before Saturday's start in Spoleto

Ah, for the good old days, when people just upshifted their rivals on hills or stuck pumps into their spokes

No way were these guys gonna get away.

Pinotti gets another day in pink.

Heading for the day's only hill.