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Spanish riders Jesus Hernandez and Alberto Contador were the first of some 50 cyclists linked to the Operación Puerto blood-doping scandal to appear in court, legal sources in Madrid said Tuesday. Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, suspected of masterminding a vast blood-doping network in cycling, football and other sports, will be among those heard following the police raids in Spain just before the Tour de France in July earlier this year. Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and defending Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso are among several cyclists suspected of working with

The Discovery Channel cycling team has responded to the December 8 decision by the International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT) to exclude the team from its membership over its signing of Italian Ivan Basso, implicated in the Operación Puerto inquiry. In a similar move in October, IPCT excluded Manolo Saiz's Active Bay company, a decision that was confirmed by a formal vote during the group's December 8 meeting in Brussels. The Discovery Channel's response follows. — Editor The International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT), a business group developed to represent the

Just over a year ago the grand-tour organizers, ASO, RCS Sport and Unipublic, announced a new race series based on their three events in an attempt to destabilize the UCI ProTour. The plan was quietly withdrawn when the 20 ProTour teams and the ProTour Council voted against it. Now the Tour-Giro-Vuelta group is taking another tack, announced Tuesday. The news release starts: “All their attempts at rapprochement with the Union Cycliste Internationale having ended because of the refusal of the latter to return to an open sporting model, and not wanting their events to be part of a closed

Cross-country racers Max Plaxton and Marie-Héléne Prémont, both of whom ride for Rocky Mountain-Business Objects, have been named Canadian cyclists of the year, according to Canadiancyclist.com. Canadiancyclist.com polls its online readers each year for the awards. The polls were open for two weeks, and software prohibited voters from voting more than once. More than 2000 individuals took part in this year’s voting, which ended December 11. Plaxton, 21, began his 2006 campaign after struggling through illness in 2005. A native of Tofino, British Columbia, he had a strong early season in

USA Cycling on Tuesday announced the winners of its annual “Club of the Year” competition. Of the 1905 USA Cycling-sanctioned clubs in the United States, nine were chosen this year for recognition in three overall divisions and six special categories. The San Diego Bicycle Club earned the Division I Club of the Year distinction, while the Skylands Cycling Club in Sussex, New Jersey, was designated Division II Club of the Year and Team DRT/Deep Blue in Wilmington, Delaware, took home the Division III award. Division I is defined as having 76 or more members, while Division II clubs have

Alberto Contador - seen here after a stage win at the 2006 Tour of Romandy - was among the first cyclists to testify in the Puerto case.

South Korea racing to the win and an Asian record

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

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 have to admit that we’re total saps at times and that could be why we fell for Helen Powers' “Young fan at cyclo-cross race November, 2005.” As the subject's father - and husband of this week's winner notes, "what kid doesn't like ringing cowbells and eating bagels?" We don't know any. Anyway,nice

2007 USA CYCLING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR ANNOUNCEDMore than 650 National Titles in Road, Track, Mountain Bike, BMXand Cyclo-cross on the LineColorado Springs, Colo. (December 11, 2006)— More than 650 nationaltitles will be on the line next year as USA Cycling announced its 2007National Championship Calendar Monday.The 13-race calendar offers an opportunity for competitive cyclistsof all ages, abilities and disciplines to compete for a coveted stars-and-stripesjersey that signifies a national champion.  In 2007, USA Cycling willfeature national championship events in the five recognized

Young fan at cyclo-cross race Nov 2005

VeloNews Photo Contest: A new winner and a new gallery

Lee speeds to victory

Nys looks to be on track to win the Superprestige, the World Cup, the Belgian national title and World's. What's left?

The soon to be infamous Dam Run-up

Jon Card (Cane Creek) celebrates his win

Anne Schwartz (Flying Rhino Cycling Club) collects her fourth straight win

Sachs wins the Illinois title

Bessette

A decision made at a special meeting of the International Professional Cycling Teams (IPCT) group on Friday could threaten the future status of the Discovery Channel team. The group voted to exclude Discovery from its membership over its signing of Italian Ivan Basso, who is implicated in the Operación Puerto inquiry, according to a source that attended the meeting in Brussels. However, the vote does not mean that the American team loses its UCI ProTour license, which enables it to race in all of the ProTour events. The IPCT, a business group chaired by Quick Step’s Belgian team manager

Phinney signs autographs

The teeming hordes at University Bicycles in Boulder

Screening the new Coors Classic DVD

From right, Steve Tilford with Andy Hampsten and Hampsten's 10-year-old daughter Emma

From left, Thomas Prehn, Marianne Martin and John Bowen, a former Boulder Spoke amateur racer turned Boulder radiologist

Alexi Grewal obliges a fan

Len Pettyjohn and Kent Fonda, the former program manager for the Coors Light team, now doing private advertising and marketing in Colorado

Fans kept Phinney scribbling

Basso and Bruyneel

Spain's sporting media has reacted quickly to reports from the French newspaperLe Monde that claimed four top Spanish football clubs were linkedwith Dr Eufemiano Fuentes who is alleged to have masterminded a vast blood-dopingnetwork.The four clubs in the firing line are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Real Betisand Valencia.Fuentes denied the Le Monde report, which was written after oneof the newspaper's reporters procured documents containing allegationswhich have as yet been unfounded. However in a separate interview with the newspaper Fuentes claimedthat Barcelona, the current

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

Former Coors Classic competitors, team personnel, race officials and media from all over the country descended on the University Bicycles store in Boulder, Colorado, Thursday night, for the launch of a new DVD that chronicles the complete 1977-88 history of the pioneering stage race. The store was an appropriate location for the launch, being only a half-mile from the North Boulder Park circuit that nearly always hosted the finish of the Classic. Photo contestWe noticed a lot of you brought your cameras to the Coors Classic DVD release bash, which inspired us to declare a special photo

Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle announces Pro Continental statusand roster for 2007Boulder, CO, December 6, 2006 - In a bold move upward for 2007,Team TIAA-CREF not only becomes Team Slipstream p/b Chipotle, but movesup a big notch into the UCI's Professional Continental category. The team'sunique cross-Atlantic schedule consists of racing the USACycling ProfessionalTour, the European Continental Tour and hopefully a few ProTour wildcardstarts. This schedule will prove challenging but rewarding for both ridersand sponsors.“We are happy to be growing - and growing at a rate that

VeloNews Chosen to Produce Official Amgen Tour of California GuideFor immediate release:December 6, 2006 Boulder, CO – The Amgen Tour of California, North America’spremier professional stage race, has chosen VeloNews to produce its officialevent guide. Hitting the roads from February 18-25, the 2007 event willbe even bigger than the 2006 inaugural race, which saw an estimated 1.3million spectators watch the eight-day stage race. The 2007 Amgen Tourof California will again host 16 professional teams, headed by the world’stop UCI ProTour teams CSC and Discovery Channel, which are making the

Bettini winning stage 2 of the 2006 Vuelta a España

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.Steve Tilford: The man, the myth, the old guySteve,You raised the bar man! (see "Dunkedbut undaunted, Tilford wins KLM 'cross") All of my old stories racing just got smaller. How fast I used to bejust got a

100 years for a million treesA new humanitarian project for Saunier Duval´s 100th anniversary.The team raced the 2006 season in support of the 30 fundamental HumanRights around the world. Next year is the team´s main sponsor 100thanniversary, and the SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR team will celebrate it in a remarkableway as a token of their gratitude to Saunier Duval, which is not only supportingthe team but cycling in general as well. Is there any better way to doit than becoming involved in an initiative aimed at saving our planet?The project, to be carried out thanks to the support of

Los Angeles, CA., December 6, 2006 — The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team and United Bicycles, LLC, today announced an exclusive sponsorship and licensing agreement with Fuji Bicycles/Advanced Sports Inc., (ASI) manufacturer and distributor of Fuji Bicycles, a global brand with over 40 international distributors. As part of the multi-year agreement, the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team will be racing on Fuji carbon frames with graphics and design featuring Toyota-United colors. The Fuji-United bicycle will be the official team issue bicycle of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling team during the

It's just that riding fast was the only way he knew how to stay warm.

Wednesday's Mailbag: Tough old guy; Friends in faraway places

Last year's stage 4 takes the peloton along the coast

The 2007 Fuji-United Team Issue bike

The 2007 route

This load needs the heavy-duty cycle

Chow time

Gilberto Simoni made his mark on the 2003 Giro on the Monte Zoncolan.

The Monte Zoncolan marked the final attack from the once-great Marco Pantani

Locked and loaded

The best pre-race food in the world

Snow plus sun equals mud

Yuck

A clean bike is a happy bike

Hagiwara celebrates at the finish

Tilford took a dunking but kept on clunking

Weary and half-frozen, Tilly collects the win

Thomas sets off on her own

Sue Butler (River City Cycles) shadowed Melissa Thomas (Maxxis) for the first half of the women's UCI race

Schneider and Murphy duke it out

Into the drink . . .

. . . out of the drink . . .

. . . and back in the race

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. Larry Rosa’s shot from a ‘cross race at Golden Gate Park nicely captures that “YEHAW!” element of cyclo-cross. Nice work, Larry! Drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.com to work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes of Cycling." And while you’re at it, tell us a little more about

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 Spike professional cycling team has lost its title sponsor, according to director Bill Ramsay. Ramsay’s Cody Racing Inc. and Biotest Laboratories, both of Colorado Springs, Colorado, had a three-year contract to support the pro track-racing team, according to Ramsay. But Biotest chose to exercise its dissolution option on November 30, and Ramsay is scrambling to find a new title sponsor to rescue his program, which has signed secondary sponsors and athletes for the 2007 season. “This decision has left the best sprint athletes in America without the professional team and commitment they

Golden Gate Park

The winner gives a thumb's-up as he crosses the line

Boulder, CO – For the 11th consecutive year Sea Otter Classic, LLChas partnered with VeloNews to produce the Sea Otter Classic Official Program.With nearly 10,000 participants and 50,000 spectators, Sea Otter is knownas the largest participant cycling competition and festival in the world.As such, the distribution of the Program will be enormous at 110,000 copies. “The Sea Otter Classic Official Program is a fantastic product foradvertisers to showcase their brand,” said VeloNews Advertising DirectorNick Ramey. “Huge distribution coupled with VeloNews’ unmatched editorialcoverage offers

Ullrich plans a birthday business excursion to the States

Basso poses before a map of the 2007 route

The map

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.USADA chief off base on missed testEditor:[USADA General Counsel Travis] Tygart said. "Arguably, her first violation - missing a post-race test - might not even have been a violation in the U.S." Tell that to Jason Sager and Cale Redpath, who both missed tests at the Deer Valley NORBA,

Our foaming rantist enjoys the benefits of chiropractic

Trebon may get to avoid the mud a few times next year

Jesse Anthony will be the other 'crosser on Kodak

The 2006 Vuelta winner says he remains confident that he'll be racing ProTour events with or without a ProTour license.

Tilford

Card

So I had to go see a chiropractor in New York, and they're different to osteopaths, chiropractors, because of the spelling. And they crack your bones, that's what they do, they crack your bones! And they take X-rays, but it’s pointless, because whatever is wrong with you — "You've got a bad back, I'm gonna crack your bones." "You've got diphtheria, I'm gonna crack your bones." "Your head's come off! I'm gonna crack your bones." "It looks like your mother! I'm going to crack your bones."— Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill Anybody out there have a bad back? No,

Come to the Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVD Release Party and RiderReunion!Michael Aisner and VeloGear Produce the Definitive Red Zinger/Coors(r)Classic 3  Disc DVD Set Boulder, CO, November 30, 2006 - VeloGear invites you to theRedZinger/Coors Classic DVD release party and rider reunion to be heldat University Bikes on Thursday, December 7 beginning at 6:00 p.m.Finally, the Red Zinger/Coors Classic is available on DVD! VeloGearhas teamed with race producer Michael Aisner to present 8 hours of raretelevision coverage and documentary footage re-mastered in a 3 DVD set.Order the DVD today at

Cycling is on the menu as the 15th Asian Games kick off Friday in Doha, Qatar. The games officially begin with opening ceremonies choreographed by David Atkins, artistic director for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. By the time the Asian showcase ends on December 15, the 16-day games in this Arabian Gulf country will have brought together 10,500 athletes. The 39 sports range from traditional pursuits such as athletics, swimming and baseball to more obscure ones such as the Indian rural pastime of kabaddi and the centuries-old Malay ball game of sepak takraw, which is similar to volleyball