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Eddy Merckx to Autograph Copies of Cycling's Golden Age at Interbike Boulder, CO, September 13, 2006 — Cycling legend Eddy Merckx will autograph copies of Cycling's Golden Age: Heroes of the Postwar Era, 1946-1967 at Interbike. Merckx, who wrote the foreword to the book, will sign books on Wednesday, September 27th from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the VeloNews booth # 3359. Featuring previously unpublished vintage photographs, trophies, race-worn jerseys, and other invaluable cycling artifacts from The Horton Collection, Cycling's Golden Age offers a fresh appreciation of the

German authorities secured samples of former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich's DNA when they raided his Swiss residence Wednesday, according to a report released Thursday. Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung said in an advance release of its Friday edition that authorities plan to compare the German rider's DNA with frozen blood seized at a Madrid clinic as part of a doping investigation that forced Ullrich and eight other riders to withdraw from this year's Tour. Authorities could not immediately be reached to comment on the report. On Thursday, Germany's Federal Crime

Two former members of the U.S. junior national cycling team are settlingfederal lawsuits after contending their coaches injected them with steroidswithout their knowledge.Gregory Strock and Erich Kaiter were completing a settlement agreementwith USA Cycling and former coach Rene Wenzel, a lawyer for the riderssaid in a court filing late Wednesday. U.S. District Judge John Kane onThursday gave both sides until Sept. 27 to file papers dismissing the case.Attorney William Senter, who represents the defendants, confirmed thesettlement but said terms were confidential. John Pineau, an attorney

The one-two Astana punch

Vinokourov added to his advantage over Valverde...

... and was joined by compatriot and teammate Kashechkin

They proved to be a formidable pair...

Danielson and Martinez working the earlier break

Paulinho and Danielson in the break

Kash' goes up the road

Valverde attacks

Valverde puts Sastre in the hurt locker

Vino' on the march

The race leader got no help in the hunt

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.The truth... the whole truthDear VeloNews,Thanks to Frankie for opening this box, now please find the courageto spill the contents. When did you do it? How often? Other drugs? Whogot them for you? Who else did it? Did the team know? Did Lance know? Wasit encouraged? How much did it help?

Raids were carried out Wednesday in private houses and offices in Germany and abroad in the framework of a crackdown on doping in cycling, the Bonn prosecutor's office announced. "In total, 10 private houses and offices were raided in Germany as well as overseas," the office said. "These raids follow the investigation of a complaint lodged in Bonn for fraud after the investigations by Spanish authorities into people suspected of having had access to banned products to improve their performances in cycling." The German daily Focus reported Wednesday that one raid took place in

Danielson gets the stage . . .

. . . and Vino' gets the gold

Vino' and Danielson rocket toward the finish

Cuesta drives hard for Sastre... but they couldn't shed Valverde.

Then, Sastre tried on his own...

Two former U.S. Postal riders admitted taking EPO in preparation for the 1999 Tour de France, the first of seven one by their teammate Lance Armstrong, the New York Times reported Tuesday. In a story posted on its website, the newspaper said Frankie Andreu, a now-retired lieutenant of the U.S. Postal Service team, and another rider who did not want his name disclosed both admitted wrongdoing in interviews with the Times. "Everybody's afraid to talk because they don't want to implicate themselves but there are guys out there who love the sport and who hate doping. They are the guys

...and again.

Following news reports that he admitted to the use of EPO early in hiscareer, former U.S. Postal team, rider Frankie Andreu released the followingstatement explaining his reasons for his admission. Turning the sport around.As hard as it is, sometimes putting something on the line is the onlyway to help. My confession of taking EPO when I was younger is not meantto drag anyone down but to raise awareness of the problems that existedand still exist. I don't have to tell you this because in the last fewyears some big profile names have brought this to all of our attention. I took EPO to help

Stage 1 profile

The attorney for Floyd Landis is questioning the accuracy of the positive testosterone tests attributed to the Tour de France winner and asks that doping charges be dismissed. In a letter sent to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, attorney Howard Jacobs disputed the accuracy of the carbon isotope ratio tests performed on Landis' urine sample at a lab in France. Jacobs also argued that the analysis of a different test, the testosterone-epitestosterone analysis, "is replete with fundamental, gross errors," including mismatched sample code numbers. Jacobs said the positive finding on the backup

Stage 2 profile

A year ago Thomas Frischknecht ended one of cycling’s longest streaks, becoming the first foreign rider to triumph at Costa Rica’s famed La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race. Fast forward 12 months, and the Swiss legend will try to make it two in a row in November when he returns to defend his title at one of the world’s toughest stage races. Among the Swisspower rider’s chief challengers at La Ruta’s 14th rendition will be Colombian Leonardo Páez and American Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen). Páez is currently No. 1 in the UCI’s marathon rankings, while Bishop is coming off a

Stage 3 profile

Following news reports that former U.S. Postal team rider, Frankie Andreu admitted to the use of EPO early in his career, his former teammate Lance Armstrong released the following statement charging the New York Times with efforts to impugn his reputation: Today’s article in the New York Times was a blatant attempt to associateme and implicate me with a former teammate’s admission that he took bannedsubstances during his career. The recycled suggestion that former teammatestook EPO with my knowledge or at my request is categorically false anddistorted sensationalism. My cycling victories are

CSC turns up the heat

Andreu - seen here at Paris-Nice in 2000 - said his brush with EPO use was limited, but wanted to come clean to help the sport.

Martinez is closing in on the climber's jersey.

A sweet, if slightly soggy victory

.. but there was no interest in seeing an early break get anywhere.

Vinokourov is now in second on GC, but that 1:42 might be a tough hurdle.

Landaluze works to bridge the gap...

The climb up the Calar Alto is among Europe's great climbs.

Big win for Euskaltel's new guy.

Danielson is riding back into form - and the top-10

On the way to the Atlantic

Will there be a La Ruta repeat

Bishop was 5th in 2005

Coast-to-coast racing

Brajkovic could be the new star of the future.

View from the Bench: Injured Kintner covers World Cup gravity finals

Tour de France winner Floyd Landis blames his positive doping test on the French laboratory that examined his sample, according to a story in a Pennsylvania newspaper published Sunday. In a story posted on the website of the Intelligencer of suburban Philadelphia, Landis confirmed plans to ask Monday that the result be thrown out because of "contradictions" between his "A" and "B" samples. "On Monday we'll submit a request for the case to be dropped because, based on the 'A' and the 'B' sample, there are too many contradictions for the two to be the same sample," Landis

USA Cycling has announced the elite teams that will represent the United States at the 2006 UCI Road World Championships September 19-24 in Salzburg, Austria. In the elite men’s division, the United States qualified the maximum nine riders in the road race and will field a team consisting of six UCI ProTour veterans and three domestic-based pros. ProTour riders Chris Horner (Bend, Ore./Davitamon-Lotto) Fred Rodriguez (Emeryville, Calif./Davitamon-Lotto), Christian VandeVelde (Boulder, Colo./CSC), Tyler Farrar (Wenatchee, Wash./Cofidis), Patrick McCarty (Allen, Texas/Phonak), and Guido Trenti

Bruyneel is overseeing some big changes at Discovery.

Förster snags the win

Rodriguez crossed ninth, Horner 21st

Garcia's solo was doomed

Valverde and the other favorites can smell the finish line

Carlstrom and Garcia enjoying their moment in the sun

The long and winding road

Is Millar coming close to his old form?

By a hair: Cancellara was but a fraction of a second back.

Danielson improved his GC position by a bit

Kashechkin lost ground to Valverde

Valverde held his own and then some

Sastre held on to third on GC

Floyd Landis’s solo Stage 17 victory at the Tour de France at Morzine-Avoriazeasily ranked as one of the most mythic comebacks in the history of cycling.This stage win and Floyd’s subsequent Tour de France victory confirmedthe vibrancy of American cycling après Lance.Of course, all that changed when Floyd’s positive test for testosteronewas revealed. Now the elation turned to horrendous disappointment and disbelief.The issue of Floyd’s Tour win is hardly a closed book; Floyd may well stillprevail and I hope that he does.Regardless of the outcome, though, the damage has been done to the

French anti-doping chief Pierre Bordry has branded the number of cyclists taking authorized doping products on the Tour de France as “suspicious.” Bordry said in comments to be published in Saturday's edition of Le Monde newspaper that 12 of the 13 cyclists who tested positive for banned substances at this year's Tour had a "Therapeutic Use Exemption" (TUE) to permit their use of otherwise-banned substances. Most commonly, riders have prescriptions for Salbutamol and other asthma drugs, which are banned because the drugs improve a user's ability to breathe. World Anti-doping

German prosecutors charged Friday that former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has been taking banned substances since 2003. Ullrich was sacked by his T-Mobile team and kicked off the Tour this year after being implicated in a doping probe launched in Spain. In July, German officials took up the investigation, which linked Ullrich to tainted Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, and now they seem convinced that Ullrich, who continues to protest his innocence, is guilty. "Since 2003 unauthorized products were bought by Ullrich," said a spokesperson for Bonn prosecutors. "These are not

Floyd Landis’s attorney Howard Jacobs said Wednesday that he intends to request the dismissal of the doping case against client based on “inconsistencies in the testing protocol and methodology” used to show that the 2006 Tour de France was positive for testosterone. Jacobs said he will file a formal request with USADA on Monday, September 11 asking that the anti-doping agency drop the allegations against Landis and cease further disciplinary action. In a press release issued Friday, Jacobs’s office noted that upon “review of 370 pages of documentation provided by the LNDD laboratory at

'If you don't take risks, you don't win,' says today's winner.

Coming into Cuenca.

Boogerd and crew tried to make a go of it...

Valverde tightened his grip a bit on Friday

The biggies were not about to be left behind

..until the peloton decided it was time to chase

Quick Step leads the chase

Milram in pursuit

Astana presses the chase

Valverde enjoys another golden moment

Rolling along the Spanish roads

Paolini salutes

More than 50 cyclists implicated in Operación Puerto could be hauled before a Spanish court to give testimony, if the prosecution gets its way. Prosecutors have asked a Spanish judge to call riders connected to an alleged blood-doping ring headed up by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes to give testimony, Spanish daily El País reported Thursday. Riders would be required to take an oath to tell the truth in court or face possible perjury charges. Otherwise, riders implicated in the Puerto case are not facing any legal sanctions in Spain because the nation has no anti-doping laws. More than 50

Dear Bob,I don't remember if you've covered this question. This has come up a number of times in our club lately. Is it legal to ride across an intersection in the crosswalk? Are you considered a pedestrian or bicyclist if you are hit by a vehicle while riding your bicycle across an intersection in the crosswalk? Tucson, Arizona, has a number of crosswalks, with their own crossing lights, that are situated in the middle of the blocks and some in our club claim that you must walk across rather than ride across. Quite a few people have been killed in these crosswalks by vehicles not