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Abbott en route to a flowery stage win

Say, is that Steven Spielberg over there?

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

Millar hopes for a peachy Georgia

Ekimov has been Discovery's lucky charm this season

Pozzato has gotten off to a strong start in 2007, winning Het Volk

A talented climber, 2006 winner Amber Neben may benefit from the return of Oak Glen, but she’ll still have her hands full in her efforts to repeat at Redlands.

This year, the road to Oak Glen will feature a couple of Cat. 2 climbs as a warm-up for the big haul.

For Evans, Paris-Nice was an early season test. Now he aims for the Ardennes Classics

Neben picks up where she left off last year

Men's winner Svein Tuft guts it out on the climb.

Chris Baldwin is looking for the finish line near the top of the climb.

Kim Anderson works up a sweat warming up for the prologue

Former Natl Champion Kathryn Curi returns to racing after a tough year recuperating from an accident.

Ben Jacques Maynes is a blur as he tops the climb.

Riders head for the top of the climb and the end of a difficult prologue.

Tilford...

... and Rogers. These guys aren't doing the Master's race, by the way.

The Ancient Cyclist, at the Red Zinger Boulder to Breckenridge road race, an event in which he was not forced to don cycling shorts

Farrar has recovered from the cold he had at Paris-Nice

Holczer says the ProTour worth fighting for

The Radar Black Hero

Oakley compiled a media kit including a Sharpie permanent marker and a lens blank to illustrate the prowess of its new hydrophobic lens coating

We scribbled on the lens blank with the Sharpie, and you can see that the ink beaded on the coated side (left) of the lens

When we wiped the lens the ink came off the coated side very easily. Not the case with the uncoated side. Even pressure was applied on both sides of the lens with a dry tissue

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. Kevin Dillard’s shot of the Off-road section of the Poolesville Road Race reminds us just how cool road racing can be… especially when it goes back to its roots and hits a bit of dirt. It’s a terrific shot, Kevin. Congratulations. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of our new Coors Classic DVD. Meanwhile, go ahead and take a lookat our latest

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced Tuesday that it has made a request to take up civil action involving Spain's Operación Puerto scandal. On March 12, the presiding judge in the criminal case threw out the case on the grounds that Spain had no law specifically barring the use of doping products or methods for sporting competition at the time alleged infractions occurred. State prosecutors appealed that decision two days later. Last year's probe uncovered an alleged doping network said to involve 58 cyclists out of a total of 200 athletes. Revelations implicating top

Poolesville Road Race off-road section

No matter how they're feeling, you can't write either one of these guys off.

VeloGear Warehouse Clearance Sale in Boulder on Saturday, March 24Boulder, CO, March 16, 2007 — VeloGear, the cycling and triathlongear retailer, will hold its annual Warehouse Clearance Sale in Boulderon Saturday, March 24 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Prices will be slashedup to 75% off VeloGear’s extensive inventory of apparel, jerseys, books,DVDs, posters, jewelry, and home décor. The clearance sale will make room for VeloGear’s new spring merchandise,which is on sale now at www.VeloGear.com.VeloNews subscribers will receive the VeloGear Spring/Summer Cataloginside issue 6 in

VeloGear Warehouse Clearance Sale in Boulder on Saturday, March 24

K-Force carbon handlebar

Despite the confusion, de Goede takes the win.

Contador takes the stage and the overall

Contador claims the mantle as next big Spanish hope

A course profile is worth 1000 words

Rebellin had a feeling this was gonna happen

Voeckler lays down the law

Paulinho in the escape

Danielson and Disco' get busy breaking legs

Contador attacks

Grinding it out and taking time

Sanchez chases

Horner lends a hand in the pursuit

The final podium

Toyota tops the podium

Contador on the march

Rebellin chasing

Contador and Sanchez working it

Sanchez takes the win

Sanchez wins

Rebellin's tired — but so are a lot of folks

Sanchez savors the moment

Danielson and Leipheimer in the break

Gerolsteiner chases

Dear Bob,I always enjoy reading your column. Lately though, I haven’t seen your column, which has been kind of disappointing for me. Where have you been? Are you still writing your column? I hope so.Anyway, last weekend, I had the pleasant surprise of seeing you speak at the Seattle Bike Expo. During your talk, you mentioned something about traffic citations while riding your bike counting against your driver’s license. Can you explain more about this? I find it hard to believe that I could lose my driver’s license for something I do while riding my bike.D.R.Seattle, WashingtonDear

Legally Speaking - with Bob Mionske: Points is Points

Popo' hangs on to win by 14 seconds over the raging pursuit

Grabsch leads the break

Rebellin had to fight to keep the jersey

Gerolsteiner on the job

Zabriskie takes a pull

Horner and Predictor-Lotto lend a hand to the chase

Popo' was the leader on the road at one point

The artist currently known as Brintoni

The former directeur sportif of the old Belgian Lotto team is one of 19 connected with the now disbanded outfit due in court later this month on charges ranging from fraud to doping. Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke and his wife, Lotto's secretary in 1997, could face fraud charges in connection with “irregularities” in accounts detailing the distribution of sponsorship monies from the Belgian national lottery, a judicial source revealed on Thursday. Frederique Barbich, spokesman for the local magistrate's court, confirmed that several may be facing criminal charges in the case. "The 19

VeloGear teamed up with VeloNews magazine illustrator David Brintonto create LesHéros du Vélo, a large-format wall calendar of Brinton'sillustrations for 2007. The illustrations are Brinton's personal tributeto the legends of cycling and feature twelve great riders of the twentiethcentury, including The Cannibal, the Badger, and the Eagle of Toledo. Thecalendar is now on sale for just $9.95 at VeloGear.com. In December, VeloGear asked cyclists to submit photos as part of a contestto promote the 2007 Les Héros du Vélo calendar. The contestbrought in more

A weary Contador exults in victory

The break

The man to beat?

Thierry Marichal is being investigated for using and selling Pot Belge the volatile mixture of heroin and amphetamines.

Beautiful scenery, but a tough day in the saddle

Boonen loads up for the day's work

Danielson, meanwhile, was sweating on behalf of Contador and Leipheimer

And Pellizotti? He was watching that jersey slip off his shoulders

Moinard and Casar shelled Muravyev going over the Cote de Chabrits

Then it was Valjavec, Contador and Rebellin fighting it out for the win

Contador gets it

Megan and Gu