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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.Savoldelli the stoicEditor:Have you ever seen an athlete as stoic as Paolo Savoldelli? This guy seems to lack any kind of emotion. He seems so cold-blooded (in agood way). Lance Armstrong describes George Hincapie as "fingers in the nose" because his demeanor never changes whether

Reports have recently surfaced that Tyler Farrar (Health Net-Maxxis) has signed with Cofidis for the 2006 season, but the subject of those reports says that it’s news to him. “Actually that is all a big misunderstanding,” Farrar told VeloNews. “It all came out of a mix up in the translation from a French Web site. The reality is that [a Cofidis team representative] had said he had offered me a spot for 2006, and everyone took that to mean that I had signed for 2006. I have not signed with Cofidis.” Farrar, the current U.S. U23 national time trial and criterium champion, recently finished

Petacchi snags win No. 3

A short but soggy day in the saddle

Savoldelli got wet like everybody else . . .

. . . but the Discovery Channel leader clung to the lead going into Tuesday's rest day

The Stelvio takes no prisoners

Wow, McCormack snatched the stage and GC from Navigators on a cold, miserable day in CT.

McCartney clocking in for the day's shift

Discovery takes the front

Atienza, Parra and Osa

Cunego and Laverde

Parra gets his second stage

Hey, Barry, this is just like Boulder!

Vande Velde had lots of company on his birthday ride on Sunday

Baldwin and Davidenko chasing McCormack, but they are down to three chasers with about 3 laps to go.

McCormack fights back to take Tour of Connecticut

Bryan Smith had a long breakaway, and the field suffered in the rain until the last 50 k.

Parra does it again

A cheeky Tim Duggan rides to the front of the peloton and waves at them to come along

Basso had another appalling day in the saddle

A canopy of trees made the day beautiful, but didn't keep out the rain.

Di Luca, meanwhile, showed his strength once again

With one lap to go, only Grishkin and Davidenko are left in the chase, and the gap is getting bigger.

Savoldelli cramped, but hung onto his lead

Tim Johnson leads the peloton up one of the beautiful climbs in the rain.

Parra solos away to his second stage win

Chris Baldwin (Navigators) and Geoff Kabush (Jittery Joe's) bridging to the break with about five laps remaining

Race leader Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) cornering

Tim Duggan (TIAA-CREF) on a solo

Davide Frattini (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Baldwin in the break

Jittery Joe's rider Craig Wilcox's bike with sheared off carbon fork, after hitting another rider on the descent

Savoldelli goes it alone

The Navs' Oleg Grichkine leads the peloton

Savoldelli leads Simoni

Mark Walters (Navigators) suffers on the climb

Savoldelli in pink

Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe's) heads down the descent

Basso struggled in the finale

Dominique Perras (Kodak-Sierra Nevada) earning the best climber's jersey

Cunego and Simoni on the attack

Davidenko winning again, and looking glad to have the race over

Zabriskie labors on Basso's behalf

The podium: Davidenko, Frattini and Baldwin

Passa Gardena - what a view, eh?

And here's another postcard

Barry and VeloNews diarist Vande Velde

Bettini in the break

Parra on the podium

The submissions continue and we've posted another new Photo Gallery., the fourth one this week. As you know our winner from last week's contest was "Ace assaultsHogpen," by Ronnie Fields, an excellent shot that reflects both great composition and creative "dark room" work in PhotoShop. Congratulations to Ronnie Fields, who will receive a signed copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes of Cycling." As we said, it was a difficult choice and there were several photoswe thought worthy of mention. Our list of honorable mentions includes:Jay Christy's "Giro d'Italia 2004: Stage 4,

An early crash has everyone sorting out bike parts

After Thursday’s mountainous throw-down, it looks as though the Giro d’Italia is coming down to a two-man battle, eh? Funny, for all the hype built up around the double-pronged danger of Lampre’s Damiano Cunego and Gilberto Simoni, the winners of the past two years, it’s now CSC’s Ivan Basso, a rider who has never won a grand tour, wearing the maglia rosa. While the Giro is far from over, it appears Basso is the strongest man in the race, with only Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli, the 2002 Giro winner, able to hang with him in the mountains. And while no one wins a grand tour by luck,

Grishkin and Haedo hassle for the same space

Fassa's fast man does it again

.... with Davidenko and Artacho waiting behind

Who is that man in the plain white jersey?

Navigators on the front with two to go . . .

Basso enjoys a day in the pink

. . . and Davidenko wins

Going up

Hey, mate... are those mountains up ahead?

Schnyder goes for a little free publicity

McEwen and friends in a happier moment, before the sprint was lost, the law called and his ticket for home punched

That's one packed peloton

McCartney bellies up to the rolling Discovery bar

Fassa finishing fast

Baldwin leads his Navigators mob through a corner with five laps to go

Davidenko early in the race, looking relaxed

Tim Johnson rippin' it early on

Geoff Kabush airing out his sideburns

Mayo is taking things more slowly this spring

Savoldelli gets the stage . . .

. . . and Basso gets the shirt

A fine day for a bike race

Cunego had a disastrous day

Basso, Savoldelli and Simoni showed their strength

Joachim on the move

Savoldelli came around at the right moment