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And so does Cunego . . .

. . . en route to the overall lead

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 real issueEditors,Whether or not Tyler is guilty or innocent of blood doping is not thereal issue.The bottom line is that the test has not been scientifically validated.Nor, from any of the statements I've found or the press coverage I've read,does WADA claim that it is. On

Here is just a small reminder that the Outdoor Life Network will broadcasta two-hour summary of the best and biggest stage race in America, the Dodge Tour de Georgia this Sunday, May 1, starting at 5:00 p.m. (eastern time in the U.S.) (Not to spoil the surprise ending, but we think the kid from Colorado did pretty well.)

America’s “breakthrough” professionals in the early 1980s, Greg LeMond and Jonathan Boyer, both developed their stage-racing skills at Colorado’s Red Zinger Bicycle Classic, which became the Coors Classic in 1980. No other bike race in the United States has had so much influence on the sport. Not only did it develop riders, it brought new ones into the sport, provided untold publicity (local, national and international), and made Boulder one of the epicenters of American cycling. While it was the race that was responsible for all those important developments, it was the man behind the race —

Popovych at Paris-Nice

Al Capp's Joe Btfsplk

Cunego en route to victory

Botero seizes the lead

The peloton sails along

Inside Cycling: Aisner and the Coors Classic

Attorneys representing the U.S. Olympic Committee’s former medical director have subpoenaed a series of documents they allege contain the names of hundreds of athletes whose positive dope tests have been covered up by Olympic officials. Doctor Wade Exum, who until his “forced resignation” in 2000 served as the USOC’s director of drug control administration, filed an employment discrimination suit against his former employers in federal court that summer. A federal appeals court has since ruled that the case was not one that fell within the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary and so the

American Lance Armstrong’s retirement from competition could be short-lived - though his next potential adventure may be on four wheels instead of two. The six-time Tour de France winner is bidding for a seventh yellow jersey in the July 2-24 race, after which he will retire from cycling. However, the 33-year-old Texan has been offered the chance to compete in the Dakar Rally, which will be held next January, alongside NASCAR driver Robbie Gordon. "I received an e-mail from Robbie Gordon two months ago offering me the chance to drive car number three in the next Paris-Dakar," Armstrong

Exum addresses a Denver press conference in 2000

Petacchi takes the stage and the overall lead

Landaluze takes a flyer

Ravaioli and Rosseler

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.Keeping the faithDear Editor,I am responding to the article about Tyler's innocence or guilt by Fred Dreier (see "AFred's Eye View: Questions, questions, questions"). Why is it thata guy who finishes the 2003 Tour with broken collarbone all of a suddenthinks, “Geez, I think

An anonymous e-mail sent Tuesday afternoon quietly marked the end of an era in modern cycling. At 38, and definitely a pedal stroke or two past his prime, Mario Cipollini – the Lion King, Ruler of the Sprints and the Master of Kitsch – said it was time to hang up the cleats. “Announcing my withdrawal less than two weeks before the Giro d'Italia is a painful but honest decision. The public will understand," said Cipollini in a statement released by his team, Liquigas. "Maybe, an ‘old man’ like me, who has given a lot to cycling and has also received a lot, has to recognize when is the

Casey Gibson hits the finish line

Cipo' makes a splash at the '99 Tour

At the 1993 Tour de France

Cipollini cultivates his fan base at the Giro

Winning in Qatar

Who else?

Pereiro

Savoldelli: A difference of 0.23 seconds

Cipollini wins at this year's Tour of Qatar

Celebrating the new record at the Giro.

It’s Sunday, a dreary and rainy afternoon. It’s far too wet for an enjoyable ride and a modest crowd of local cyclists has turned out to watch a delayed broadcast of Liège–Bastogne–Liège at north Boulder’s Amante coffee shop. Although the television is blaring Alexander Vinokourov’s exciting win, a quick eavesdrop into surrounding conversations reveals a more interesting buzz. The drama of the race is not exactly the subject for today’s talk, and familiar reoccurring questions bounce between conversations.Do you think he really did it?He couldn’t possibly have…but could he have?Do you

LVDB winner Cavaliere with Bisbee Mayor Ron Oertle

The dynamic duo on the way up La Redoute

Rebellin didn't get to repeat any of his three wins from last year

Voigt makes his jump...

Absalon is back on track for another good year

One-Two punch: Fraser and Henderson take the sprint for Health Net

Tafi's racing career is coming to a close

Armstrong and another soon-to-be-retiree at the start

Pate and Tafi tried to animate the day

Vino' had lots of time to celebrate.

Vino' beats Voigt to the line with a nicely timed charge through the final turn.

Discovery locked it down

... and Vinokourov decides that this one needs to be followed

On the Côte de St. Roch (1km at 11.2 percent)

T-Mobile wisely sends Wesseman (r) into the day's first break

Di Luca didn't make the cut on Sunday, but holds the ProTour lead

Landis and Armstrong were all smiles at the start

Image Files Fleche Wallone/Liege-B-L

But once the gun fired, Discovery went after Landis's jersey with a vengeance ... here, Cruz and Danielson are shown working together

Fog

Zabriskie was in the thick of things until the final kilometers

Go Lance

And youngsters Lowe and Raisin continued their struggle for the best young rider title

VeloNews

Image Files Fleche Wallone/Liege-B-L

Clearing up

map6

The venue at the Spa Francochamps Formula One circuit outside Liège

Image files - Tour de Georgia Stage 5 and 6

As you can see, some parts look better than others ...

Image files - Tour de Georgia Stage 5 and 6

... while other parts look even worse than others

Rogers photo

Tom Danielson, Lance Armstrong, and Christian Vande Velde: Is Tom ready to Tour?

Image files - Tour de Georgia Stage 5 and 6

Danielson rode off the front and stayed there, seizing the stage and the overall lead

Leipheimer tagged along with Danielson, but couldn't hold the pace in the finale

It’s always nice going to Paris. Even in January, when the trees are bare, the tables and chairs of sidewalk cafés are chained up, and cold breezes make you turn your collar up as you walk along the Champs-Élysées. It was on that famous avenue, at a lunchtime reception in a swank hotel, that the 1981 Renault-Gitane professional cycling team was presented to the media. The star attraction, of course, was Bernard Hinault. The Frenchman was at the height of his fame, the newly crowned world champion, and eager to win a third Tour de France after knee tendinitis forced him to quit the race in

Landis fought valiantly, but was outmanned and outgunned on Brasstown Bald

DENVER (AP) -- A top lawyer for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday that the organization stood behind the test that led to Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton's two-year suspension for a blood-doping violation, the first case based on the test designed to detect blood transfusions. An independent panel of arbitrators voted 2-1 to suspend Hamilton for receiving another person's blood, the Colorado Springs-based agency announced earlier this week. Hamilton tested positive for doping on Sept. 11 during the Spanish Vuelta. Hamilton has consistently denied any doping violation and