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At first, as he rolls a half-full glass of beer between his hands, Alejandro Valverde simply smiles on hearing the question. Then he responds: “Of course I want to win the Tour de France. But first I have to finish one.” With that, Spain’s greatest rider in a generation falls into an infectious laugh. There’s not much that can throw Valverde into a bad mood these days. And rightly so. At 26, the compact climber/sprinter is coming off the best season of his already prolific career. When

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside

Change in the weatherChange in the weatherSomethin’s happening here. — "Change in the Weather," by John Fogerty Like everyone else, we had plans for the holidays. But ours got put on ice. Seriously. Colorado got a stone-cold one-two punch this year — a solid, snowy smack upside the head just before Christmas, followed by an icy uppercut going into New Year’s. No need for a 10-count on this one, ref’, I ain’t getting up. Not until all these freakin’ penguins stop dancing through my head. Normally, I’d be bitching about this (surprise, surprise). Herself and I had intended to drive south to

Winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The complete 2006 Awards appear in the latest issue of VeloNews

Page came back strong in Middelkerke after a startling Azencross

The end of the year always provides us with the opportunity to look backover the past season and choose those people and events that stand outin our own minds. What follows is more of what we, as editors of VeloNews,saw as the highlights of the domestic road scene in 2006. See if you agreeand take the time to read our complete 2006 awards in the latest issueof VeloNews. BEST WEEK OF RACING: From the prologue finishing atop San Francisco’sCoit Tower to the final circuits in Redondo Beach a week later, the inauguralAmgen Tour of California set the bar high for American racing. ProTourstars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEVeloPress Launches Base Building for CyclistsNew Book Helps Cyclists Maximize Early Season Training Boulder, CO, December 28, 2006 - Just in time for the wintertraining months, VeloPress is pleased to announce the release of BaseBuilding for Cyclists: A New Foundation for Endurance and Performance.Cyclists often think that preparing for next season means piling onthe miles, but long rides at high or even medium intensities too earlyin the season can actually do more harm than good. In a comprehensive guideto early-season training, elite USA Cycling coach Thomas Chapple

Canadians Mike Garrigan, Kyle Douglas, Tara Ross and Greg Reain have all qualified for and plan to attend the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium on January 27-28, 2007. As the Canadian Cycling Association doesn't provide any funding for the national cyclo-cross team, riders must cover their own airfare, accommodations, meals, equipment expenses and even their national-team jerseys. We, the Friends of Canadian Cyclo-cross Racers, have seen the commitment that it has taken for these riders to qualify and get there, and we hope to take some of the financial burden

Lance Armstrong announced Thursday that he will not be racing the Leadville Trail 100 mountain-bike race in Colorado. "Lance had a scheduling conflict come up and he regrettably cannot participate in the event," said Mark Higgins, the seven-time Tour de France champion’s manager. Armstrong's successor as Tour champion, Floyd Landis, also has expressed interest in racing the Leadville 100. But the event carries a NORBA sanction, which means Landis would not be able to compete should he be suspended for a positive testosterone test at the 2006 Tour, unless organizers decide to proceed

New in 2006, the Amgen Tour of California offered up some amazing racing

The complete 2006 Awards appear in the latest issue of VeloNews

Press Release - VeloPress Launches Base Building for Cyclists

Press ReleaseTour of Utah hires Executive Director, Changes Dates SALT LAKE CITY (December 27, 2006) – America’s toughest bicyclerace has restructured its management committee to include a newly formed501(c)(3), a board of directors and former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilsonas Executive Director to steer the race to the next level.The race has also changed its date of operation. The 2007 race willfeature eight stages and will run June 30 through July 7. The race wasformerly set to run August 12-19.Since last year’s race, ownership has been transferred to Utah CyclingPartnership, Inc. dba

Greg Henderson strikes a familiar pose

The complete 2006 Awards appear in the latest issue of VeloNews

The end of the year always provides us with the opportunity to look back over the past season and choose those people and events that stand out in our own minds. What follows is a list of what we, as editors of VeloNews, saw as the highlights of the domestic road scene in 2006. See if you agree and take the time to read our complete 2006 awards in the latest issue of VeloNews. COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Health Net-Maxxis rider Greg Henderson broke his hip at the McClane Pacific Criterium on March 4, but initial x-rays missed the fracture. Henderson continued racing until an MRI revealed the

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside

How do you choose a North American Female Cyclist of the Year in a season when Kristin Armstrong, Sarah Hammer and Jill Kintner all won world championships? The answer is, we didn’t. Instead, VeloNews chose to honor all three for their remarkable accomplishments and brought them together in November for a photo shoot. During a few hours together on a warm, sunny day in Dana Point, California, the women discussed, among other things, cycling’s most fashionable accessory: the rainbow jersey. Armstrong, the world time-trial champ, and Hammer, the world individual pursuit champion, rode together

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now up for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of ourmost recent contest. Take the time to wander through that gallery and see if you agree or disagree with our choice of winner. We especially appreciated the composition of Brent Blythe’s “Eki in da House,” an up-close look at one of the peloton’s most unstoppable characters. Nice work, Brent! Brent, your photo will be automatically entered into a special year-end photo contest, featuring each of the winners from this year’s galleries. We’ll have

Sarah Hammer on her way to the rainbow jersey

2006 VeloNews Awards: North American Female Cyclists of the Year

Eki in da house

Yeah, we know. This was a strange year to select some of the winners of the VeloNews Awards, and no category produced a more debatable outcome than top North American man. We chose Floyd Landis, the embattled former Phonak rider who stands accused of cheating his way to victory at the Tour de France. Here’s why. It’s not about whether we believe Landis is guilty or innocent. Whatever the outcome of the yet-to-be-resolved charges that Landis used testosterone on stage 17 of the Tour, he outperformed his fellow Americans, including George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer, throughout the rest of

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside

Landis rides into Paris

For more on our 2006 awards, see the latest issue of VeloNews.

London (AP) - Justin Gatlin and Floyd Landis made headlines for their sporting achievements in 2006. They were bigger news when they were caught in the year's biggest doping scandals. Gatlin, who equaled the world record in the 100 meters, and Landis, who won the Tour de France, had positive tests for testosterone revealed within 48 hours of each other at the end of July. The Americans were the tip of an expanding range of collared takers of banned drugs. For the first time, a professional darts player, Britain's Robbie Green (marijuana) tested positive. There was also Australian

Landis's Stage 17 attack ranks among the most decisive in Tour history. Will it remain so once the hearings are over?

Tom Danielson joins Carmichael Training Systems for Spring Trainingin Southern California!Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) – the Official Training Authorityfor the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team – is pleased to announce a veryspecial guest at our first 2007 Spring Training Camp (January 27 – February2) in Buellton California: Discovery Channel pro and Tour of Spain stagewinner TomDanielson!Join CTS this spring in Buellton, California and spend a week ridingwith Chris Carmichael and his world-class coaches on the same roads theDiscovery Team uses for their pre-season training camp. 

ATLANTA, Ga. (December, 2006) – For the first time in the five-yearhistory of the Tour de Georgia, premium hospitality packages andindividual tickets will be available for purchase online.  Race fansand corporate clients can now enjoy special reserved access to the YellowJersey Club. A variety of price points are available for full weekand daily passes, all providing exclusive amenities and benefits.The Yellow Jersey club is the official hospitality venue for the Tourde Georgia, America’s premier professional cycling event and rolling festivaltaking place April 16-22, 2007. This reserved

Gully may be retired, but he still plays a role in 'cross

These days, the alleged humorist Patrick O’Grady is generally confined to soiling the virtual sandbox here at VeloNews.com, where subscriptions are not at risk. His "contribution" to VeloNews the magazine normally consists of an editorial cartoon so severely downsized over the years that its mostly masters-age, easily enraged audience can’t read it without an electron microscope. Nevertheless, once a year the belligerent bog-trotter is freed from his digital dungeon to present the O’Grady Awards, and for this we are heartily sorry. — The Editors Just How Many Fools Are There On This Hill?

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside

VeloNews has made some controversial choices in its 19th annual awards issue. The magazine’s 2006 International Cyclist of the Year is Spanish revelation Alejandro Valverde, the overall champion of the UCI ProTour, while the top North American awards go to embattled Tour de France champion Floyd Landis and the three U.S. women who won world championships in 2006: Kristin Armstrong (road time trial), Sarah Hammer (track pursuit) and Jill Kintner (mountain bike four-cross). “No category produced a more debatable outcome than top North American man,” said VeloNews editor Kip Mikler. “Whatever

Fresh off some excellent performances at U.S. cyclo-cross nationals, Euro ‘Cross Camp IV riders have begun assembling in Belgium to tackle the busiest stretch of the European cyclo-cross season. The enduring vision of the camp is to prepare the best U.S. riders for the world championships in late January and to offer key race experience to the younger riders. Sixteen riders will attend this year’s camp based on their performances at nationals and during the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. Elite national champion Ryan Trebon (Kona), Barry Wicks (Kona), Jeremy Powers (Jelly

Iraq's Olympic cycling coach was killed after gunmen kidnapped him from his home in the latest attack on one of the nation's sports figures, officials said. Family members identified the body of 48-year-old Mahoud Ahmed Fulayih at the central morgue in the capital on Monday, two days after he was abducted, said Hussein al-Amidi, the acting secretary general of Iraq's National Olympic Committee. He said Fulayih was kidnapped three days after he returned with the cycling team from the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. The team did not win any medals there. “We lost another one. He is

Former U.S. cyclo-cross champion Jonathan Page has signed a short-term contract with the Belgian cycling-product company Morgan Blue. The contract runs from December to March 1, 2007. Page will race the European Christmas Series, which runs from December 23 through January 8, then continue racing every weekend thereafter until the 'cross season concludes in late February. At that time, Page will be free to renew with Morgan Blue or find another sponsor. His kit and bikes will also sport the logos of longtime sponsors Cervelo, Adidas, Mavic, Cyclocrossworld.com and Shimano. "I'm

VeloNews No.1 - 2007

Post-masters'-race facial expression. So close, but yet so far

The nationals course was a thing of beauty

This is Troy Wells, but that is not Cristal and this is not 'MTV Cribs'

'Cross-themed ales are becoming more and more common. Amen

The last race of the year

This T-shirt has already got me thinking about next season

Press Release - Coors Classic DVD now available nationwide

Landaluze on his way to winning a stage at this year's Tour de France

Michael Aisner and VeloGear Produce the Definitive Red Zinger/Coors Classic 3  Disc DVD SetBoulder, CO, December 20, 2006 - VeloGear is pleased to announcethe release of RedZinger/Coors Classic: Where It All Began, an 8 hour, 3 disc DVDset which commemorates the race that launched American cycling. The DVDis available now through VeloGear.com and major bicycle industry distributors. Nearly thirty years after its first race, the Red Zinger/Coors Classicis available on DVD. VeloGear has teamed with race producer Michael Aisnerto present 8 hours of rare television coverage and documentary

Cycling Science Symposium and ExpoDownloadBrochureBoulder, Colorado - The Serotta International Cycling Instituteis proud to announce the First Annual Cycling Science Symposium and Expo,January 21-24 in Boulder, CO. This 3 ½ day event will bring togetherpremier cycling scientists, bike fit professionals and leading bike fitindustry manufacturers for what will be an outstanding educational andnetworking opportunity.“The symposium marks the first time cycling scientists, bike fit professionalsand industry manufacturers will be together in the same location with acommon goal of enhancing

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writers are encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submitting authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positions of VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, Inside

USA Cycling announces discretionary picks to world's 'cross teamColorado Springs, Colo. (December 20, 2006)-USA Cycling announcedtoday discretionary nominations to the team that will represent the UnitedStates at the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hooglede-Grits,Belgium January 27-28.Twelve athletes were named Wednesday after five automatic nominations- Danny Summerhill (Centennial, Colo./TIAA-CREF-Clif Bar), Jamey Driscoll(Jericho, Vt./FiordiFrutta), Jesse Anthony (Beverly, Mass./Clif Bar), KatieCompton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike) and Georgia Gould (Ketchum,

Just another typical cyclo-cross fan.

Sage advice: a young crosser and his dad discuss the race

Junior 15-16 winner Luke Keough

Lees McRae college narrowly escaped with the collegiate crown

Show the yougin's how it's done - The men's 65+ podium

Fashion statement: The mullet is making serious inroads into the 'cross scene

Team Successful Living Presented by Parkpre USA Finalizes Roster for2007The Team Enters Sophomore Season with Young International TalentVentura, CA, December 18, 2006 – Successful Living pro cyclingteam announced today their 2007 roster including seasoned veterans andinternational talent lead by Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Hegg. 2007 marksthe second season for the team under Russ Dalbey’s Successful Living banner.“With the help of our new co-director Gianluca Caliari, we were ableto develop a combination of young international talent and seasoned pros”said Steve Hegg. “Our latest European

'cross stars of the future

STROMATION reveals with multiple images of the same sequence climbing a steep hill how much more body extension is available to me than that I am utilizing.

Jeremy Powers had his own cheering section

SIMULCAM shows not only differences in turnover rate and timing of individual movements, but variations in body position and relative speed as well. Here, Engen (R) virtually passes me, using more knee compression, quicker kick off each ski.

Before Danny Summerhill took the elite junior title, he had some barrier issues on lap 1

SPLIT SCREEN analysis shows the more forward position (R) of Engen’s hips over his feet relative to the more “back seat” position I’m utilizing (L).

Photographer Brian Vernor next to some of his prints at the Hub bike shop

THE ANGLES TELL THE STORY Engen (R) gets more power with full and direct extension on the kick through his entire body and more glide and stronger setup for the next push with a more acute angle at the ankle than I have (L).

Todd Wells showed some love for recently suspended mountain biker Jason Sager

Kerry Barnholt

Vinokourov will be riding on a ProTour squad in '07

Driscoll and fans

BJM: Ben Jacques Maynes had a rough go this weekend, and ended up with his share of carnage

Hey, that is that a cheesehead or did someone resurrect PacMan?

An old, rusty Bianchi frame makes a perfect cowbell

RAGBRAI 2005

Movie Night at Boulder's University Bicycles

Former Coors Classic Communications director Susan Eastman-Walton and Andy Hampsten

Race announcer Dave Towle and King Phinney

Alexi Grewal, Dale Stetina and Coors Light director Len Pettyjohn

USAC board president Jim Ochwicz and Jonathan Boyer