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UCI president Hein Verbruggen said Friday no action would be taken against Lance Armstrong following the recent allegations of doping against the American cyclist. Armstrong, who retired after his seventh consecutive Tour de France victory in July, has been accused of using banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) by French sports daily L'Equipe in an article two weeks ago which showed details of 1999 drugs tests. Armstrong has vehemently denied the allegations, and said he is prepared to make a comeback from retirement just to spite the French organizers of the world's toughest

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.‘Piss off the French’ by ignoring TourEditor:If Lance Armstrong wants to "piss off the French,” he should consider riding the Giro and the Vuelta in 2006, bypassing the Tour de France completely. Given the massive media coverage the follows him on and off the bike, the other two grand

09/09/2005: UCI DECLARATION : 1999 Tour de France samples analysisAs we announced on Monday, August 29, 2005, the Union Cycliste Internationale(“UCI”) is undertaking an investigation into the recent press reports fromFrance. The article published by the French newspaper L’Equipe concernedtesting apparently conducted by a French laboratory of urine samples fromthe 1999 Tour de France. Our initial investigation has identified a greatmany issues and we are in the process of gathering the information we need.The UCI is currently unable to express any judgement on these cases, asit does not have

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong celebrated a legal victory and a UCI statement of support Friday, capping a busy week that included his engagement and hints at a 2006 comeback. A UCI statement said no action would be taken against Armstrong over claims by the French sports daily L'Equipe that his 1999 urine samples tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). "Lance is encouraged," said Bill Stapleton, an attorney for Armstrong. "They seem to be conducting a meaningful investigation and they seem to be asking the right questions." The UCI

Sanchez celebrates

Baranowski and Steels hit the deck

Heras gets medical attention after the fall

Stage 13: One bump at the end could shake things up a bit

Meandering through the vinyards of Rioja, the stage should have been an easy one for all concerned

Painful... but how serious is it?

Who else?

Pasamontes spent a lot of time on his own.

Hoping to help Zabel, Aldag takes a pull

The peloton starts to pick up the pace...

Dear Bob;I read that a bicyclist in California was arrested for failure to produce identification. Are cyclists required to wear ID while riding? Can you explain what legal issues are involved?RJSouth Carolina Dear RJ,So, you read about the case where, as the dissenting judge observed, a bicyclist “was sentenced to a prison term for the trivial public offense of riding the wrong way on a residential street.” Should you be worried? The dissenting judge is. Was a bicyclist actually sentenced to prison for riding against traffic? “Well,” Justice Brown wrote in her dissent, “not exactly.” The

Once again, Petacchi

A clean freerider from Banshee.

Orange has been pursuing a folded sheetmetal theme. Orange’s Michael Bonney reports that the bikes may be available in the U.S. next year, pending negotiations at Interbike.

Not the bike to take home to Mom.

Richi’s production machines are just as exotic-looking as this downhill prototype…

…including this one…

…and this one.

PARIS (AP) - Lance Armstrong plans to train with his team this winter, increasing speculation he will end his retirement and attempt an eighth straight Tour de France win. “It's definitely an open possibility, I know he is on the bike," Discovery Channel team director Johan Bruyneel told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. “He absolutely wants to be part of the training camp in December and wants to get fit to compete with the guys there," Bruyneel said, adding that Armstrong can decide to return as late as February. When Armstrong retired in July after his

A two-wheel drive exercise bike, we’re told. Well... sure, why not?

Menchov believes he can keep that jersey all the way to Madrid

Nox always builds clean rigs.

Saturday's Stage 14 is gonna be a tough one.

Rotwild’s bikes have become more conservative over the years, but the company is still delivering great value.

Impromptu set-ups pop up all over the Eurobike courtyard.

Hot Chili is offering more cross-country designs these days.

Felt fenced off a small BMX arena.

The suspension adjustability on this Nicolai is almost endless.

The Felt Girls attracted an audience, too, with a long line of guys jostling to pose with them.

Nicolai’s suspension designs are fascinating…

Inside the hall, Felt put this concept on display, inspired by the Bonneville streamliners of the fifties.

…as is the machine work.

This cross-country Onion rig has some nice details.

Stage 12

For the Meccano set, there’s this girder structure from Onion.

Or you can have it all with the Onion Berg.

Danielson and Beltran eventually lost contact with the lead group

Mancebo and Garcia Quesada fought to regain position

While most eyes have been turned to the Vuelta a España thismonth, the smaller six-stage Tour of Britain (August 30–September 4) featuredsome of the most competitive racing the European continent has witnessedin 2005. When all was said and done, only 40 seconds separated the race’stop six finishers. Although the Tour of Britain does not carry ProTour status, a handfulof peloton's top squads, including T-Mobile, CSC, Quick-Step and MrBookmaker,did send riders. Present were some heavy hitters, including reigningworld time trial champ Michael Rogers and Belgian strongman Nick Nuyensof

Hail Britannia: Zajicek enjoyed his time at the Tour of Britain

Heras, Sastre and Menchov were almost inseparable on Tuesday

Pena and Pereiro joined the day's long break

Menchov did exactly what he had to.

The chase didn't begin in earnest until the penultimate climb

Hushovd has enough

Tuesday's stage offered a heavy dose of climbing

After Beloki blew, Scarponi picked up the job at the front

Laiseka goes on the attack.

Sastre gets company when he tries

Verbrugghe's had a great Vuelta

And then there were three

Mancebo goes for it

Scarponi gives chase

Andorra to E. E. Aramón Cerler, (186.6Km)

Menchov continues to lead

Danielson at today's finish

Osa's crash took him out of the break and out of the Vuelta

Danielson fought hard to stay in the front group

It's still a tight race between Heras and Menchov

Liberty drives the chase

Quesada, Mercado and Sevilla fighting to stay in contact

The unstoppable Dahle led from start to finish

The ES's front hub...

Up Taylor they go

A light brake, but designed well enough not to make you nervous about stopping

... and a cool new rear hub.

Rodriguez chasing, first on his bike . . .

AX works its magic on the crankset, too

The Pace RC40

. . . and then on a spare after a dustup with a moto