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Taking third on the day, Lagutin now leads the Triple Crown standings

Menchov Takes It: The 2005 Vuelta winner narrowly edged the hard-charging Moreau

Leipheimer has the lead

Johnson at the front fot Health Net

Zabriskie, with race leader Gilbert and KOM leader Joly, finished 50th

Ina makes these things look easy

Mayo moved past Landis, who took the final stretch at a moderate pace

Like Trenton... with a hill

Menchov narrowly beat a hard-charging Moreau, but he did.

Moreau set an early tempo on the climb

Teamed up with Moreau, Mancebo could make trouble in coming days.

The early break seemed doomed from the start

Sevilla wants to make an impression as Tour selection nears.

Great form - Zabriskie's form matches his strength

Landis got a big boost by Wednesday's ride

Third-place Leipheimer is in good position, too.

Valverde comes in 9th

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.A matter of perspectiveDear Editor:My route to work is eleven miles of rural roads and trails, and oneof the bonuses of the ride is being able to brag to my colleagues aboutthe various "hazards" I encounter. Usually it's a 25-mph headwind, oftenit's ornery redwings, sometimes

Whew. That was a busy three weeks. For those of you who missed it, there was a ton of bicycle racing going on over the past few weeks, and much of it was on those heavy bikes with fat tires that them hippies ride around on dirt. The UCI mountain bike World Cup hit the meat of its season, with five big events in the last month. First, the world’s best cross-country racers hit the dry, dusty, urban course in Madrid on May 14. A week later they were in Belgium, splashing around in the freezing rain and hub-deep mud at Spa Francorchamps. Another week saw the endurance crew in the Scottish

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEVELONEWS RELEASES 2006 OFFICIAL TOUR DE FRANCE GUIDEBiggest Ever Guide Available Now from Velo® GearBoulder, CO, June 7, 2006 — With less than a month to go beforethe July 1 start date, VeloNews has just released the OfficialGuide to the 2006 Tour de France. The Official Guide is a licensed collaboration with the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) and offers an insider’s look at the world’s most prestigiousbike race. This year’s guide features:Exclusive interviews with Tour hopefuls Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Dave Zabriskie,

Frischy -cross-country's Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going and going and going and...

Adam Craig

Erwin Bakker at Angel Fire

Der Kaiser a.k.a. Jan

Zabriskie again showed that he is among the world's best time trialists

Basso and his CSC domestiques were not the only ones riding Monte Bondone on compact chainrings. Among others were the Bouygues Telecoms...

...although it may not do well...

... and some Euskaltel-Euskadi riders (inexplicably using FSA compact chainrings on Shimano compact cranks); Euskaltel-Euskadi's Anton Luengo Celaya stuck with a 39-53, though.

... in an encounter with a Hummer inyour local WalMart parking lot.

Carlos Sastre's TT rig. Riding the identical bike, Basso turned in a strong performance, finishing second only to Jan Ullrich

Them's the breaks... and sometimes an early break succeeds

Little man, big solid wheels. A potato chip in a crosswind?

The break built up a substantial advantage, but only Gilbert was able to hold it.

Leonardo Piepoli may be tiny, but don't mess with his big friend, Mario Cipollini.

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn: A Giro Gallery

Gerolsteiner's chase came a bit too late

Millar won't be racing until July

...but he's not fighting off-season weight issues, is he?

Barry and Hincapie are both back after injuries

Michael Rasmussen relaxing after the time trial... not his favorite event.

Milram has a friend watching over things

Basso fans come in all shapes and sizes

Now you know where they get those delicious cuts of beef from.

You may recognize this as Maxwell Smart's Vespa helicopter.

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn: A Giro Gallery

Who thought this one up?

Ivan Basso thoroughly trounced the field to the mountaintop finish of Monte Bondone using a 36-52 in front and an 11-23 in back.

Vespa did make a car, too...

Editor's Note: We began corresponding with Major Jason A. Bryan during the Giro d'Italia. Bryan, a fan of VeloNews.com's Live Coverage, is currently deployed to Iraq.As you can see from Bryan's most recent e-mail, the major is a cyclist, a fan of the sport and a guy just trying to maintain his legs despite some rather unusual obstacles.The perimeter is 18.5 km. My goal for June is 1000 km, which means many, many 18.5 km intervals. I’ve been riding a lap every morning and night to steadily eat away at the target. It is way too hot now to even think about riding during the

It's all in the details. Below you'll find links to each stage of the 2006 Tour de France. Each page contains maps and details of the course. LIVE COVERAGE LINKSTAGE DETAILS LINK Prologue - July 1Strasbourg (7.1 km) Stage 1 - July 2Strasbourg > Strasbourg (184.5 km) Stage 2 - July 3Obernai > Esch-sur-Alzette (228.5 km) Stage 3 - July 4Esch-sur-Alzette > Valkenburg (216.5 km) Stage 4 - July 5Huy > Saint Quentin (207 km) Stage 5 - July 6Beauvais > Caen (225 km) Stage 6 - July 7Lisieux > Vitré (189 km)

Tune in every day throughout the Tour de France for live, up-to-the-minute coverage of all 21 days of the world's greatest sporting event. VeloNews.com will continue its long tradition of providing insightful commentary throughout the final three hours of each stage, including interviews from the starting line, observations from current and former pros and updates from our reporters in the field. Check in with VeloNews.com every day at 8:00 a.m. (Eastern time in the U.S.). There will be a link right off the front page. LIVE COVERAGE LINKSTAGE DETAILS LINK Prologue - July

Vinokourov wants to race

Work Vehicle

Major Bryan, in his team kit...

Wegmann nails it

With sprinters' teams nipping at his heels, even an 18-minute lead wasn't enough for Nicolas Inaudi

Voeckler on the attack, wih Wegmann on his wheel.

Zabriskie and Landis

Spring in France

... and dressed for a day at the office.

Course Details

We know that it’s been a while since our last weekly contest and we’ll try to get these back on track, folks. 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. Of all of the submissions several of us – and many of you – kept coming back to Kenneth Alan’s “Work Vehicle,” a nicely composed tribute to the bikes some of us actually use to earn a living. Congratulations Mr.

Course Details

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.Drug-raid stats astoundingEditor:After reading the articles regarding the recent Liberty Seguros drug bust I was completely surprised by the magnitude of the findings. Found were more than 200 containers of blood and a few thousand capsules of EPO. Are that many riders risking their

Zabriskie dons the first yellow jersey of the Dauphiné

Hincapie took the runner-up slot

O'Grady slotted into third

A surprise winner for sure

At the start

Sayers on the attack

Toyota at the front

McCormack celebrates his win