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The United States Mountain Bike Team swept the elite women's podium and collected a total of eight medals - two of them gold - at the Continental Mountain Bike Championships in Nequen, Argentina, on Sunday. In a major step towards securing the maximum number of start positions at the 2008 Olympic Games for the U.S., Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho/Luna) led the elite women's contingent with a win in the 24-kilometer race ahead of silver medalist Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass./Kenda-Seven) and bronze medalist Willow Koerber (Horseshoe, N.C./Subaru-Gary Fisher). Heather Irmiger

Boonen had a hectic but successful year as world champ

Millar hopes to take the jersey all the way to Nice

Millar's old time-trial position was good enough for victory

Young Kreuzinger nearly stole the victory

Joly slotted into third

Leipheimer was the top American in sixth

Valverde looks good for the win with only one stage remaining

The Operación Puerto blood-doping inquiry has been dropped due to a lack of evidence that a crime was committed under Spanish law, the Spanish press reported Saturday. Spanish daily El Mundo said Judge Antonio Serrano had dismissed the case, ruling that “there was no law that penalized doping practices under Spanish legislation at the time this case was begun.” The reports said that while Serrano had determined that blood doping occured, there was no evidence of the practice harming riders' health. That was the requirement under previous Spanish law for charges to be filed against

Last year's rivals for the overall: Landis, Sanchez and Vila

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,

The Union Cycliste Internationale launched its latest initiative in its battle to eradicate doping from the sport. Labeled “100% Against Doping,” UCI president Pat McQuaid said the aim of the new program is to “chase all drug-using cheats from cycling,” a which has suffered from nearly a decade of uninterrupted doping scandals. "Our objective is clear - to give cycling the best anti-doping program in the world," said McQuaid. "Only clean riders should win; those who cheat should be caught; those considering trying to cheat should be discouraged. Together we can eliminate doping from our

Boulder, Colorado – Inside Communications announced today the appointmentsof a new Publisher, Editor and Advertising Sales Director for its flagshippublication, VeloNews. Andy Pemberton has been promoted from InteractiveBrand Director to Publisher. Ben Delaney has been promoted from ManagingEditor to Editor. And Kevin Burnette has been promoted from Senior AccountExecutive to Advertising Director.As Publisher of VeloNews, Pemberton is leading the largest and mostsuccessful competitive cycling magazine. He will be responsible for businessdevelopment, sales and marketing for the entire VeloNews

Hincapie, after riding 100 miles with a broken arm.

UCI officials and riders discuss the wind in Murcia

Brown wins

Race leader Cooke

French cycling federation president Jean Pitallier is calling for former UCI president Hein Verbruggen to completely remove himself from the leadership of cycling’s international governing body. Pitallier told the French sports daily L’Equipe that Verbruggen, who still holds influential positions on the ProTour council and as a UCI vice president, is largely responsible for the current crisis in professional cycling. Verbruggen, noted Pitallier, was the driving force behind the creation of the ProTour, the top-tier race schedule that is now at the center of a major dispute between the UCI

Trips for Kids National Signs its 50th Local ChapterAnother community gears up to take inner-city kids mountain bikingSAN RAFAEL, Calif.  – March, 2007 – Trips for Kids Nationaltoday announced a significant milestone with the formation of its 50thchapter - Trips for Kids Rochester, New York.Rochester, New York-based Friends Helping Friends is now the newestTrips for Kids chapter in North America. Like all Trips for Kids chapters,Friends Helping Friends will provide underserved youth a chance to experiencethe joy and challenge of mountain biking in the woods, something inner-citykids

USA Cycling announced on Thursday its selection of riders who will representthe United States at the 2007 UCI Track World Championships in Palma deMallorca March 29-April 1.Headlining the roster for the women’s squad is defending world championin the three-kilometer individual pursuit, Sarah Hammer (Ouch Pro Cycling). Hammer captured the world title last year in Bordeaux, France – the firstfor an elite American track rider since 1996 – where her mark of 3:37.227in the gold-medal final was just fast enough to edge Olga Slyusareva (RUS)for the rainbow jersey.This year, Hammer will have her

Leipheimer comes to Paris-Nice with momentum from California.

Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 6, 2007)—USA Cycling has paid out more than $260,000 to Local Associations based on 2006 license sales with another $59,000 expected to be distributed. USA Cycling has agreements with 33 Local Associations that represent 85% of its road, track and cyclo-cross racing members. "The Local Associations do a terrific job managing the racing and recruiting new members in communities across the U.S.," said USA Cycling chief executive officer, Steve Johnson. "It's only natural that we invest a significant portion of our members' license fees back into the

Red Five Sports Group, the organizer of the U.S. Open Cycling Championships, has announced the appointment of John Eustice as Executive Director for the U.S. Open Cycling Championships to be held in Williamsburg and Richmond, Virginia, and broadcast nationally via the NBC network on April 7, 2007. Mr. Eustice is a cycling expert whose company, Sparta Cycling, has produced over thirty professional races in addition to providing technical consulting to many others. His Univest Grand Prix is a live television production and is listed on the USA Cycling Pro Tour calendar. The race is celebrating

2004 Murcia winner Alejandro Valverde says this year's edition may not suit his talents

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,

Floyd Landis Is Coming To Bicycle Village Westminster!Bicycle Village in Westminster, Colorado, will host a special appearanceby 2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis and the Floyd Fairness Fund(FFF) will be in Denver for a FFF Town Hall as part of a national tourto discuss Landis’ efforts to attain a fair hearing in his fight against doping allegations.• Town Hall Q&A with Floyd and the Floyd Fairness Fund (FFF)• Exclusive Free Autograph Session Sponsored by Bicycle Village andGiro• Silent Auction• Admission $35 at the door benefits the FFFFloyd Landis Town Hall Fairness Fundraiser

March, 2007  - You are invited to view an NBC documentary ofthe 2004 Race Across America (RAAM) to celebrate VMG Cycling, a Boulder–based team that will be racing in this year’s RAAM. The screening will also serve as a fund-raiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation. Date:  March 15, 7:00PMLocation:  First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, CO, 182015th St., Oerter Hall - entrance located at the west end of the buildingAdmission:  Free, but a donation to the Davis Phinney Foundationis requested

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 7, 2007) - Terry Madden, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) since its creation in April2000, submitted his resignation to the USADA Board of Directors duringits March 1-2, 2007 meeting in Colorado Springs. Madden will continueto lead the anti-doping agency through September 2007.“Terry has been instrumental in the creation and successful developmentof USADA,” said Board Chair Dr. Ralph W. Hale. “Under his leadershipUSADA has become the recognized standard for national anti-doping agencies.While we understand his decision to leave this

Hannegraaf was left frustrated and angry by the solution offered on Monday.

Sánchez

Our latest reader-submitted PhotoGallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. Like this week, we received a wealth of images from the Tour of California, among them Melanie Chang’s beautifully composed black-and-white image of Priority Health’s Scott Zwizanski taking on the San Francisco prologue. We would, however, be remiss if we failed to credit the humor of Karen Bauer’s “Road Hazards.” Nice timing, Karen. Congratulations to both of you. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work

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,

Scott Zwizanski ToC2007 Prologue

Road Hazards

Klöden and Vinokourov at this year's team camp in Mallorca

McQuaid and Clerc

Is the Madrileño poised for a breakthrough season?

Boonen takes the win

Boonen and Nuyens driving the chase

A big turn-out for the opening round of Belgian classics

Pozatto nails it in the final meters

Boonen was hoping to add Het Volk to his palmarès

O'Grady and Flecha almost made it

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,

"Races are like films. You need actors to make them happen. The teams have all the actors, and without us there are no races." — pro-teams president Patrick Lefevere The drudgery of a daily newspaper job is starting to look pretty good these days, and not just because the PETA contingent in the VeloNews.com audience objects to my habit of running a cute little puppy or kitty through a blender with some yogurt and fresh fruit so I can have a delicious protein shake for breakfast. Next weekend’s Paris-Nice is in turmoil, with the grand tours and the UCI locked in an infantile squabble that

It looks like UniBet isn't the only team wondering what the heck is going on in cycling.

Clerc and McQuaid shoot for break

Contador

Boulder, CO, March 1, 2007 - VeloNews magazine is designing thenext generation of our famous cycling training diaries and we want inputfrom you.  If you've ever used the VeloNews Training Diary, chancesare you have ideas to make it better. We're looking specifically for cyclists who have used the VeloNews Training Diary in the past. If this is you, this is your chance to voice youropinion about how you want to track your training.Fill out our online survey to help us design the training diary. The survey should take you 15 minutes or less, and the first 50 respondents will

Quick Step-Innergetic team manager Patrick Lefevere is poised to file suit against Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws for a series of articles it published about doping in the team, Belga news agency reported Thursday. In January Het Laatste Nieuws published a series of articles accusing Lefevere of complicity in doping at his team, citing blood-boosting drug EPO and cocaine as the drugs in circulation. The paper published its accusations through several anonymous sources. "No one will ever again see me in the same light they did before January,” said Lefevere. “The damages are

Jufre Pou gathered some critical data in California, even if it cost him a little time in the TT

A brave new world: Piles of data and the tools with which to analyze them.

Press Release - Help Design a New Cycling Training Diary

Tour de France Director Christian Prudhomme (L) and general director of ASO, Patrick Clerc

UCI president Pat McQuaid, in happier times.

Floyd Landis and Tom Danielson battle on Brasstown Bald in the 2006 Tour de Georgia

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,

DBC Events Announces “The Boulder Cup” Television ProgramAirs March 3 on Altitude Sports & EntertainmentFebruary 24 (BOULDER, Colo) DBC Events announced today the broadcastdate of “The Boulder Cup”television program, a recap show of the cyclocross race of the samename held last fall in Boulder, Colo.The 30 minute broadcast will air March 3 at 5:00 pm MT on AltitudeSports & Entertainment.Cyclocross has its roots in racers trying to maintain fitness in thecolder months by riding off-road andrunning over barriers. This niche sport has grown into the fastestgrowing segment of bicycling in

Petacchi is closing in on his old form

Sevilla is back

The near-universal reaction to Patrick O’Grady’s latest Foaming Rant about Jan Ullrich was a big thumbs-down, the general sentiment being that if anyone should be dope-tested, vilified and hounded out of the sport forever, it should be our acerbic editor at large. A representative sample follows. Tune in Friday as O’Grady takes on a basket of puppies and kitties with a ball-peen hammer. —Editor Karmically bankruptEditor:Way cold. I hope you're tutoring blind orphans in your spare time because otherwise your karma bank is gonna be way upside down after that number. I'm not an Jan

Our latest reader-submitted PhotoGallery 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, we kept checking out Jesper HV Lauritsen’s “Fighting uphill,” a picture that captures that intensity of racing one-on-one with the guy who might be beating you for a podium spot or 55th place. Jesper’s shot seemed to tell that story for us. Nice shot, Jesper. 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

Bettini narrowly edges Gerald Ciolek in San Luis Obispo

George led an epic chase... with a broken arm

Merckx says Ullrich's retirement 'a sad way to go out'

Bennati - here winning stage 2 at the Tour of the Mediterranean - is starting his season with a bang.

Fighting Uphill

Complete Coverage - Amgen Tour of California

Valenciana gives the Astana team a chance to try its legs.

Ullrich insists he did nothing wrong

Innocent or guilty, Ullrich closes a spectacular career on a sad note.

Ullrich struggled to stay at fighting weight, providing comedic fodder for a certain cartoonist

Embattled German cycling star Jan Ullrich, a former winner and five-time runner-up of the Tour de France, announced his retirement from cycling on Monday. Ullrich was one of dozens of cyclists implicated in an alleged doping network in Spain last year, which forced him out of competing in last year's Tour de France along with many other top riders. The 33-year-old, the only German to win the world's most prestigious bike race, claimed Monday he never once cheated in his career. "Today I'm ending my career as a professional cyclist. I never once cheated as a cyclist," said

"Unlike [Lance] Armstrong, [Jan] Ullrich doesn't have the killer instinct. He's not obsessed. It's too bad. Because if you mixed the professionalism of an Erik Zabel with the talent of a Jan Ullrich, you'd have an Eddy Merckx." — T-Mobile team manager Walter Godefroot after the 2004 Tour de France Jan Ullrich has finally hung up his bibs, saying he never cheated despite pernicious rumors to the contrary, most of them coming from the Operación Puerto inquiry, apparently headed by a Spanish graduate of the Inspector Clouseau Close Cover Before Striking School of Earning Big Pay

But once the chase was on, the escapees were pulled back

Leipheimer finished in the bunch to take the final overall title

The pace wasn't exactly killer

Leipheimer takes the overall

And away we go

Basso leads Discovery on the circuits