News

They may disagree about much, but Prudhomme, McQuaid and Lefevere agree on the doping question.

Bono takes the stage

Savoldelli holds the overall lead, but just barely

The break rolls

Pinotti goes it alone

Bono and Beppu chase

Kabush and Vanlandingham hit the line at the same time last year

Peterson takes the win on a softening tire

Bausch defies the women of Webcor

O'Neill wasn't worried

Abbott keeps that pink jersey

In recent weeks, American Floyd Landis leveled several serious charges against staff and testing procedures at the French national anti-doping laboratory - National de Depistage du Dopage at Châtenay-Malabry- alleging that samples and data have been mishandled throughout the nine-month probe of the doping case stemming from an apparent testosterone positive following his victory on stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France.

T-Mobile suspended team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich on Thursday in the wake of allegations made by a former soigneur that the pair was involved in doping practices during the 1996 Tour de France. T-Mobile general manager Bob Stapleton said the doctors would be suspended while Germany’s University of Freiburg – with which both Schmid and Heinrich are associated – conducts an independent review of the allegations. “After discussion with doctors Heinrich and Schmid, we have mutually agreed to discontinue their personal provision of medical service during the course of these

The day before last week’s Flèche-Wallonne, a high-powered group met in Charleroi, Belgium, to discuss how to handle the latest developments in the ongoing Operación Puerto doping inquiry. Among those in attendance were UCI ProTour manager Alain Rumpf; Christian Prudhomme, chief of Tour de France organizers Amaury Sports Organization; and Quick Step-Innergetic’s Patrick Lefevere, president of International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT). An announcement was promised before last Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège; however, it never came. But Rumpf had a moment to chat with VeloNews in the

McQuaid - seen here at a recent anti-doping conference in Montreal - has a big job ahead of him.

UCI ProTour chief Alain Rumpf

McEwen celebrates at the line

Crosbie gets his 15 minutes

And where did you ride today?

Milram drives the chase

The pileup

The podium

Abbott rides into the lead

O'Neill is enjoying his return to the podium after a tough early season

Munoz takes the stage

The Code 5 lever

The Code 5 caliper

Italian cyclist Michele Scarponi has agreed to give a DNA sample to the Italian Olympic Commitee (CONI), which is investigating whether he may be connected to last year’s Operación Puerto doping scandal. A CONI statement said Scarponi had been called to the hearing "following the reopening of the investigation into Operación Puerto.” “He is suspected of having violated article 2.2 of the World Anti-Doping Code on the use and attempted use of illegal substances or methods,” the statement continued. After spending 90 minutes at CONI headquarters in Rome, the former Astana rider, now with the

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Pereiro has his eye on July

Fothen takes the sprint

Savoldelli holds onto the jersey

Defending champ Cadel Evans says the early going suits teammate Chris Horner to a T

The Vivid long-travel, coil-over rear shock

The Monarch 4.2, RockShox’s high-end rear air shock

The new X.0 rear derailleur

The Noir, in single-speed with chain guard

The Stylo 3.3 Team crank is Truvativ’s workhorse crank

Juicy's carbon lever

Horner says the legs are coming around

The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering relaxing its regulations to give the US Anti-Doping Agency a stronger voice in the fight against drug abuse in sports. Dick Pound, chairman of WADA, said Monday a proposed amendment to the World Anti-Doping Code's gag rule would make it easier for USADA to respond publicly when it believes athletes are making false or misleading statements about an ongoing probe. "If something is completely nonsense where someone is challenging evidence by saying there is no reliable test for X and there is, then it would be nice to be able to say the test is

Kreuziger races to second on the day

Ivan Basso said Tuesday that he is "at peace" with himself ahead of his Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) hearing on doping allegations that may well decide his future as a cyclist. Basso, last year's Giro d’Italia winner and a pre-race favorite for the 2007 Tour de France, quit Discovery Channel on Monday noting that ongoing suspicions on him were damaging the team and its hunt for a new title sponsor. The decision has ruled him out of defending his Giro title in less than two weeks time, and has likely ruled him out of the Tour de France for the second year running. The 29-year-old

The podium

The Freiburg justice department will investigate charges that two lead doctors from the T-Mobile cycling team gave cyclists performance-enhancing drugs, according to Thursday's edition of Suddeutsche Zeitung. Wolfgang Meier, the Bavarian prosecutor general, said his department was taking very seriously accusations made by a former masseur of the team, Jef d'Hont. D'Hont claimed the two doctors, Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich, supplied the team with EPO during the 1996 Tour de France, which was won by then-team member Bjarne Riis. "The information available to us has

Joe's Ridge

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. This week’s winning photograph had us wondering why we’re sitting behind a desk pining for time on the trails instead of heading to the desert. Take a look at “Joe’s Ridge” by Perry Brown. You can imagine a day’s worth of riding if you follow that line with your eye. Dang… enough with imagining. We’re going riding! Nice work, Perry. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work out the details and we’ll send

Romandie - here led by Liberty's Alberto Contador (now with Discovery) - is a good opportunity for Giro-bound climbers to test their legs.

Cadel Evans took the overall title in 2006

The new XT — plenty of choice for 2008

The new BL-775 brake lever incorporates Servo-Wave technology

The ST-M775 Dual Control lever does as well, both feature radial master brake cylinders.

Shimano’s new RD-772 is called the Shadow rear derailleur for its narrow profile.

Shimano’s new HB-M776 20mm XT hub hub can be purchased alone or in complete wheelset.

The new FC-M770 Hollow Tech II crank has a carbon reinforced steel middle chainring.

The new XT cassette has pins that extend rearward to catch a chain before it damages spokes in the event of an over shift.

The XT PD-M770 pedals look like XTR except for their logo and powder coat.

Savoldelli gets off to a fast start in Romandie

Danielson: 'Hey, look, man, there goes your race'

As defending Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso awaits a hearing on his alleged involvement in Spain’s Operación Puerto doping affair, news reports on Monday suggest that another 49 cyclists may be implicated in new documents seized in the year-old investigation. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, a new 6000-page dossier from the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes implicates a new crop of clients in a scandal that has already ensnared several top riders, including Basso and 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich. The Puerto scandal erupted in May of last year when police uncovered an alleged

Beleaguered Italian rider Ivan Basso has removed himself from his two-year contract with the Discovery Channel team at his own request just days ahead of a hearing before the Italian Olympic committee for alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping investigation. Basso requested to meet with sport director Johan Bruyneel and general manager Bill Stapleton on Sunday. In a press release issued Monday, Basso said the decision to leave the American team was his.

Tyler Hamilton will start next month’s Giro d’Italia—at least, that’s what his Tinkoff Credit System management insists in the face of growing pressure to suspend riders linked to the Operación Puerto doping scandal. The names of both Hamilton and new addition Jörg Jaksche showed up in police documents released by Spanish authorities last May, but Tinkoff officials denied reports in the Italian media that the team has sidelined the two riders ahead of the May 12 start of the Giro. “For me, Tyler and Jörg can start the Giro. Stories that they are suspended are not true,” Tinkoff general

Basso has asked for and been granted his release from Discovery

Ramsey takes the overall

Munoz wins the final stage

Rabobank's three-time world champion Oscar Freire was relaxed at the start.

Schumacher gets a gap

Liège-Bastogne-Liège - A view from the start

Liquigas and Quick Step remember last week and put on a big chase.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège - A view from the start

Schumacher finally bridges to the leaders

DiLuca has to be among the favorites

His gamble paid off

World champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) said he's recovered from the food poisoning that saw him vomiting from the bike at Fleche.

Di Luca decides it's now or never

Riding in his last LBL, Rabobank's Michael Boogerd is hoping for a good result.

Anthony nails the sprint

CSC rider Frank Schleck learned Saturday that he broke a vertebra in his fall at last Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, but he's riding anyway.

left to right: Christopher Jones, Javier Zapata, Nathan Bowman