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Despite teasingly suggesting the contrary, logic says Lance Armstrong will be only in one place come July. Everyone expects him to line up July 2 for the 19km time trial from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile in France’s Vendee region for the start of the 92nd Tour de France. After a history-making six consecutive victories, a run at the seventh seems a no-brainer, but Armstrong’s “will he or won’t he” has become cycling’s equivalent to “who shot JR?” Everyone seems to have a theory, but no one really knows. Those close to the Texan, however, insist he’s truly undecided about whether

From the era of snub-nosed cars and dirt roads, of cyclists wearing goggles over their eyes to keep out the ubiquitous dust from the roads and racers wrapping spare tires over their shoulders and across their backs in a figure-eight, a lone U.S. rider enjoyed success as a professional on the roads of Europe. Joseph Magnani of Illinois raced professionally from 1935 to 1948 on French and Italian teams. He was so ahead of his time that few in his homeland knew of him. In the 1947 world championship professional road race in Reims, northeast of Paris and famed for its champagne vineyards,

Born in Illinois, Joseph Magnani made his mark in the European peloton of the 1930s and '40s

Magnani's win at Marseille-Nice sparked interest in the American

Magnani posing with friends, teammates and his future wife, Mimi

Paris-Nice 1938

A club of young riders visits the grave of the Italian cycling star on Monday

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: My Funny Valentine

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: My Funny Valentine

Baguet takes the win

Carlos García Quesada still has the jersey

The appeal of the Ruta del Sol

García Quesada kept a close eye on the other favorites

García Quesada is in a solid position after Monday's stage

The six-man break looked promising, but was caught in the closing kilometers

Hincapie tries his hand in the escape

Before I launch into my special Valentine’s Day column, I’ve got to ask – did anyone else watch The Grammy Awards last night? Obviously I did, which is why I’m typing away after midnight on a Monday morning instead of sleeping. But since I once fancied myself a music journalist in a past life, I have to point out a few of the highlights from a not-bad broadcast — even if it did dish up an agonizing live performance of “Free Bird” by the remaining members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sorry, but what year is this? Best acceptance speech: Kanye West, winner of best rap album for “The College Dropout.”

Nationwide Alert: Senate Bill Threatens California TrailsA U.S. Senate committee will vote this Wednesday, Feb. 16, on a reintroducedWilderness bill that would ban mountain biking from 170 miles of singletracktrails in Northern California. Mountain bikers nationwide are urged toask their senators to delay action on the bill until suitable compromisesare reached and bicycling is accommodated. Your call is especially importantif your senator is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committeelisted below.Senate Bill 128 (S. 128), the Northern California Coastal Wild

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.Thompson, Twain, Mencken and . . . O’Grady?Editor:I thoroughly enjoy O'Grady's foaming rants. One of the reasons I subscribe to VeloNews is that he's in it. A touch of Hunter S. and a hint of Twain, shades of Mencken, riding a 1970 Raleigh Pro. Dave EvansMadison,

Quesada

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) performed a total of 8,051 doping control tests in 2004 in 69 Olympic, Paralympic and Pan American sports, including 7,630 domestic tests, USADA Chief Executive Officer Terry Madden announced today. Out-of-Competition (OOC) testing comprised approximately 58 percent (4,447) of the domestic tests USADA conducted in 2004. USADA conducted 526 tests in cycling during 2004. “We reached our goal of increasing the number of out-of-competition tests in 2004,” said Madden. “More than 90 percent of U.S. athletes consistently provide their whereabouts

CSC helps Voigt add to his lead in the Tour Med

And he causeth all . . . to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; And that no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

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.Rights versus responsibilitiesEditor:Neal Rogers did a really great job of pointing out the crap that some employers want versus the rights of citizens (see “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: Who draws the line between rights and responsibilities?”). For one job I had to sign an agreement that I

While British and Irish cyclists were making breakthroughs in Europe’s top road races during the 1950s and early 1960s, North Americans were still very much in the twilight zone of world cycling. There were many reasons why road racing remained undeveloped on this side of the Atlantic; but one big reason was apparent in the very name of the body that controlled the sport in the United States, the Amateur Bicycle League of America (my italics). Professional cycling was anathema to the ABL, which was founded by a group of New York cycling clubs in 1920 to counteract alleged corruption in the

Number, please

Voigt wins again

Art Longsjo at Somerville

Bobby Julich and the CSC gang on the march

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.Say 'cheese'Editor:Here's the man, David Clinger, riding on a sunny day in the Santa Monica Mountains. Shane V. Luncinski(pictured next to Clinger in photo No. 2)Canoga Park, California That’s it? Big dealEditor:Boy, am I ever disappointed. Judging from the deafening geshrei

Armstrong to tell all in chat with OprahSix-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong reportedly will announce whether he’ll try for No. 7 on Friday’s “Oprah Winfrey Show.” Armstrong and rocker Sheryl Crow will join Oprah for their first interview together, according to a press release. Also on the agenda: The superstar couple shares how they first started flirting and why Crow is now writing love songs. Armstrong opens up about being a single father and Oprah asks, "Do you want to have more children?" Oprah challenges Lance to a bike race (with a few conditions). Crow debuts her new

Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to write about two American riders who have found themselves at odds with their domestic road teams over matters that aren’t strictly related to their jobs. In Matt DeCanio’s case, Ofoto-Sierra Nevada released him for expressing an admittedly controversial view of drug use in cycling. As for David Clinger, Webcor told him that his new full-face Maori-style tattoo was not an image the team cared to be associated with. I’m not going to weigh in with my opinion on either case - at least, not in this week’s column - primarily because I wrote the

Dear Readers,Today’s column is the first of a three-part series written by attorney Bruce Epperson. Whether you are a triathlete, bike racer or just interested in bikes, the business/legal history of the bicycle is a rich one.– Bob MionskeThe Monopoly Machine, Part 1 "For a decade afterward came the wonderful battles of bicycle patents. All along Pope extended this department, and practically was in the position of a Czar of the business. . . Pope was largely hated and the Columbia was called the monopoly machine." - Bicycling World, 1902 Starting in 1879, the infant bicycle industry was

The athlete . . .

. . . and the artwork

Health Net-Maxxiss Mike SoPro Jones jumps on the anti-doping/body-art bandwagon: He advises that his self-decoration cost three bucks for the markers, took three minutes to apply and less than one to remove

Gilbert outkicks the bunch

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Who draws the line between rights and responsibilities?

Voigt hangs onto the lead

Joseba Beloki has ambitious plans for 2005

Team Ford-Basis

Valverde wins at Mallorca for the second day in a row

Voigt hangs on for the win

The break

Gerolsteiner chases

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.Clinger’s phiz sparks a quizEditor:Let's break the David Clinger situation down to a level that all can grasp with a quick quiz: 1. Professional cycling is mostly:A. A sportB. A businessC: A fun way to get a tan2. To pay bills a pro cycling team depends on:A. Donations from other

Ford-Basis Women's Cycling Team is officially announcing its roster for the 2006 season today. "I realized how late I was in posting our 2005 Ford-Basis team announcement, so I decided to be the first to post a 2006 announcement," says team director Nicole Freedman. "This legally binds our sponsors to another season, correct?" Five riders return to the Ford-Basis cycling team. Freedman (Boston, MA), the 2000 US Olympian and two-time U.S. national champion, continues to mentor the developing squad. "And this is how to wear a training bra," she has been heard to encourage after a race.

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.Cultural respect and Maori tattoosEditor:Facial tattoos have specific meanings for Maori, and the designs are based on the spirituality of family and ancestors. Getting a moko knockoff in Argentina is about as culturally respectful as having the Stars and Stripes tattooed on your butt by

Editor’s note: In his new weekly web column, VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood takes you behind the headlines. This week he looks at Mario Cipollini’s comeback attempt, how Bobby Julich helped secure Dave Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde contracts at Team CSC, and Graeme Obree’s remarks on Lance Armstrong’s talk of making a run at the world hour record. Check back each Tuesday for more. Will the Lion King roar again?Mario Cipollini couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the 2005 season with his stage victory last week in the Tour of Qatar. After two lackluster seasons, a

Monterey, California — MotionBased Technologies and Sea Otter Classic, the most celebrated cycling festival in North America, have teamed up to provide athletes with detailed course descriptions to train for races. Riders simply strap on their GPS devices and they’re instantly empowered with online performance analysis and mapping. The 15th annual Sea Otter Classic will be held this year on April 14-17, 2005, at the Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, California. “We’re excited to partner with MotionBased Technologies,” says Frank Yohannan, president and CEO of Sea Otter Classic. “By

Marco Pantani: The Legend of a Tragic ChampionEdited by John Wilcockson For Immediate Release: On February 14, 2004, Italy’s most recent Tour de France champion Marco Pantani died alone in a hotel room at the Adriatic beach town of Rimini. He was only 34 years old. Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who lost to Pantani in two stages of the 2000 Tour, said: “I had deep respect for Marco. Cycling has indeed lost a great champion and a great personality.” Some 30,000 fans attended the funeral, to remember a man who they affectionately nicknamed The Pirate for his bandanna-covered shaved

The Lion King has roared once already in 05, in Qatar

Valverde scores one for the home team

Tankink and Pozzato on the Poggio

PRESS RELEASE: Marco Pantani: The Legend of a Tragic Champion

TEMPE, Arizona - Do you believe that you can ride a bicycle the 494 miles from San Diego to Flagstaff, Arizona, in 24 hours? This year, the organizers of the Insight Race Across America aim to make everyone a believer. While history tells us that the Insight Race Across America (RAAM) is the same to ultra-distance cyclists as the Tour de France is to road racers, recent years have brought significant changes to the organization of the world's greatest ultra-cycling challenge. First was the Corporate Challenge that emerged in 2002, making it a realistic prospect for weekend warrior teams

1. What is RSS?RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is an easy way to keep up with your favorite news. An RSS feed contains headlines and links to full news stories. If you click an RSS link, you will see XML (or eXtensible Markup Language) code in your browser. This is to be expected, since you do not view RSS content through a browser. You view the headlines through an RSS news reader. 2. What are RSS Readers?RSS news readers are small software programs that aggregate RSS feeds and display the story information. They allow you to scan headlines from hundreds of news sources in one

Mancebo, seen here at the 2004 Tour of Germany, is looking to France this year.

Mancebo (r) with co-captain Alejandro Valverde at last weeks team presentation

Freire does it again

If I could go through it all again,the slender iron rungs of growing up,I would be as young as any,a child lostin unreality and loud music.   –Robert Traill Spence Lowell, Realities These crazy kids today, with their mouthy web sites and Maori tattoos. They got no respect, do they? And that stuff they call music – why, it’s just noise. There has been no end of the old viewing-with-alarm lately, thanks to the madcap antics of Matt DeCanio and David Clinger. Once clean-cut, happy young men, the kind a lucky team director could feel good about taking home to meet the sponsor, they

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.Webcor’s decision on Clinger’s tattoo is shockingEditor:I am shocked by Team Webcor's stand against David Clinger and his choice of "artistic expression.” (see Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Webcor gets a new look – one it's not happy with") I was surprised that a clean-cut,

Boulder, Colorado – Tuesday, February 8, at Boulder’s Flatirons Theater, Boulder-based cyclists star in “Pro: The Movie”. “Pro” is a feature-length film shot at the 2004 US Professional Road Cycling Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Boulder riders Scott Moninger, Chris Wherry, Dan Schmatz, Michael Barry, Will Frischkorn, Mike Jones, Greg Henderson, Alex Candelario and Jonas Carney play substantial roles in a movie that offers an insider’s view of the biggest cycling event in North America. Racing legends Andy Hampsten (winner of the 1988 Tour of Italy), Nelson Vails (silver

A federal court jury in Minnesota last Friday concluded that a New York manufacturer violated the terms of a contract when the firm dropped Greg LeMond’s name from a line of mass-market bicycle accessories sold in Target stores. The jury awarded LeMond a total of $3.46 million dollars in what the three-time Tour de France winner said was a “very conservative” estimate of potential royalties that he would have earned had PTI Holdings Inc. properly marketed the brand and honored the contract for its full 10-year term. “I think it was a fair judgment,” LeMond told VeloNews Monday. “I mean,

Brown wins the final sprint

Discovery riders Mike Creed, Patrick McCarty, and Michael Barry look forward to the finale

Yellow jersey Cox takes a corner early on

The peloton passes the Abdul Samat, a former palace in downtown KL

Headed for home

The peloton charges towards the line in the heat in Putra Jaya

A base jumper pops his chute over the start line at the base of the KL

Ryan Cox in the leaders jersey near the top of the first climb

Walters leads the chase over the first climb

The massive Putra Jaya mosque near the finish

American cyclist Will Frischkorn will moving into a team leadership role as he joins newly crowned national champion Ian Macgregor in heading up Team TIAA-CREF in 2005. Sponsored by Fortune 68 financial services company TIAA-CREF, the team begins its second season with a full slate of the country’s most exciting young up-and-coming riders. Frischkorn, who comes to TIAA-CREF after serving as a key teammate for Chris Horner at Saturn, is widely recognized as one of the country’s top talents. An accomplished rider at only 23, Frishkorn has won stages in the Ronde de L'isard and the Tour

The final circuit race