News

The chase kept the break in check

Hamilton before this year's Olympic road race in Athens

A Giant day: Craig, Llanes and Decker all took national titles Saturday

Lopes leads the men's mountain cross

John Tomac leaves the mountain cross podium after presenting the winners with medals

Even though he’s facing a two-year suspension after testing positive for banned blood transfusions, Tyler Hamilton vows his racing days aren’t over yet. In an exclusive interview Saturday, Hamilton told VeloNews he “will race again” despite an admittedly uncertain future. The Phonak rider has staunchly defended his innocence against what officials say is the first positive to result from a new test designed to detect illegal transfusions. Because of the ongoing investigation, Hamilton declined to address specific question regarding the case, but he said he remains confident that he will

Perez makes his move

José Gutierrez managed to stay away

Postal's Cruz was in the day's early break

On the Puerto de Cotos

Jimenez jumped with 15km to go, but Gutiérrez fought back

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced Friday that Joseph D’Antoni of Raleigh, N.C., an athlete in the sport of cycling, tested positive at the Track World Cup Qualifier on Feb. 26, 2004. He tested positive for recombinant human Erythropoietin (rEPO), a prohibited substance under the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), which is the international federation for the sport of cycling. rEPO is a synthetic hormone that stimulates the body’s production of red blood cells thereby increasing oxygen transport and aerobic power. D’Antoni, 27, accepted a two-year

The Mail Bag 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.Do you trust the test?Dear Editors,The letter by David J. Heard is right on the mark (see "Wednesday'sMailbag"). From my own experience as a biological scientist I canattest to the variable nature of many antibody based assays.I have read the paper by Nelson et al. and I think it is nice

This update is coming to you from Haven Hamilton. I'm Tyler's wife. I wantedto post a note of appreciation to all of you who are standing behind Tylerand I during this very difficult ordeal. The outpouring of support hasbeen overwhelming and is appreciated more than you can imagine. Tyler isinnocent of the charges against him and we will do everything we can, withevery resource we have to make this clear.I have known Tyler since 1996 and we have been married for almost sixyears. When I met him he was a neo-pro bike racer who competed primarilyin the United States. Back in the day, we had no

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SRAM Corporation and Truvativ are pleased to announce that SRAM hassigned a Definitive Agreement to purchase Truvativ.  The transactionis expected to close by mid October.Stan Day, the President of SRAM said,  "Truvativ is a great companywith a remarkable track record of growth and innovation.  SRAM isexcited to bring the Truvativ Team and products into our organization. Cranksets and bottom brackets complete SRAM's drivetrain product line."Micki Kozuschek, the President of Truvativ said:  "Truvativ wasat a crossroads to eithermake a complete drivetrain ourselves or team

Zaballa's effort pays off

Heras and the rest of the key players finished a safe 6:25 back

JHK had time to inform the crowd it was his third national XC title

Pascual Rodriguez takes Vuelta win; Heras still in charge

Hamilton at Wednesday press conference

It’s that time of year again, when the rumor mill starts spinning with tales of trades and transfers. And while the majority of domestic teams aren’t yet ready to make any official announcements yet, there appear to be a few “done deals” that should have a profound effect on next year’s North American road racing calendar. Sources indicate the biggest shakeup is taking place on the Colavita Olive Oil squad, as a pair of GC contenders, Will Frischkorn and Nathan O’Neill, as well as star-sprinter Ivan Dominguez are all reportedly moving on to different programs. Again, nothing’s yet been

The B-sample taken from Olympic time-trial champion Tyler Hamilton at theVuelta a Espana earlier this month as come back positive, his Phonak cyclingteam announced Thursday.The team also reported that the B-sample for similar doping test bythe International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier in Athens was negative.Phonak said it was setting up a scientific board to check the validityof testing methods because of the apparently conflicting results shownby the IOC's procedure, and the one used by the Union Cycliste Internationale(UCI) in Spain.Hamilton has been suspended from racing by the Phonak

Tyler Hamilton's Olympic gold medal may be safe after the International Olympic Committee dropped disciplinary proceedings against him, but the Phonak rider could still face a two-year ban from cycling based on evidence of blood doping at the Vuelta a España. The IOC announced Thursday that it had dropped disciplinary proceedings against the Olympic time trial champion, begun after "an adverse analytical finding" on his A sample from the Athens Games, taken on August 19 in Athens. Tests on the B sample, taken the same day, proved "non-conclusive" because testers inadvertently placed the

McCartney

Where it all started: Ferguson and Wherry coming back from a surf at the Health Net team camp in January

The Mail Bag 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.It's all about the fiduciary responsibilityEditors,I was distressed to see that one of your readers thought that SCA isoff the mark with the Armstrong inquiry. First of all, they launchedtheir investigation after the Tour instead of before the Tour simply becauseif he had not won they

American Olympic time-trial champion Tyler Hamilton has been suspended by the Phonak team and will be thrown out unless he is able to prove he is innocent of blood doping charges, the Swiss team said Wednesday. "If Hamilton is not able to prove his innocence, then the contract will be cancelled effective immediately," Zurich-based Phonak said in a statement on its Internet site. The statement, which was released before the results of a second doping test sample were known, also announced the Phonak team leader's suspension until the proceedings on the charge are completed. The 33-year-old

Cardenas wins the stage...

... but Heras and especially Perez made the day's biggest gains...

... at Valverde's expense.

The break got away early... and shrank all the way to the finish.

Liberty had chase duty for the day

Once into the climb, the peloton continued to shrink.

Perez now sits in second

Cruz joins the day's big move

Hamilton at the Vuelta

Phonak’s Tyler Hamilton, who won the Olympic time trial gold medal last month, said he was totally innocent of the charge of blood doping after it was revealed on Tuesday he had become the first athlete to test positive for it. The 33-year-old faces a two year ban after testing positive after winning the Tour of Spain's eighth stage time trial on September 11 and he pulled out of the Tour six days later apparently due to stomach problems. Hamilton's Swiss Phonak team confirmed the positive result and news of the second sample is expected within 48 hours. However Hamilton insisted he was

Heras: Still in charge... barely

Lance Armstrong is suing an insurance company over a $5 million bonus supposed to have been given for winning the Tour de France, the Dallas Morning News reports. The lawsuit - filed in Dallas Count on Tuesday by Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Inc., which owns the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team - reportedly asked that SCA Promotions Inc. fulfill the contract. The company told the newspaper that it is withholding payment until it has been given some reassurance that Armstrong has not used performance-enhancing drugs as alleged in the book "L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance

Prescott, AZ – Inside Communications, publisher of VeloNews and other sports magazines, has teamed up once again with the Thunderhead Alliance for a celebrity event that will benefit Thunderhead’s 50 States, 50 Cities Project for bicycle advocacy. On Friday October 29th at La Strada – Top of the Plaza in downtown Chicago, Graham Watson, world renowned bicycle race photographer, will entertain guests with stories and the very first viewing of his 2004 race season photographs, 38 floors above Lake Michigan as guests enjoy hors d’oeuvres and a four course Italian dinner. Maxxis International

The Mail Bag 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.Drugs aren’t a black-and-white issueEditor:It is a shame that any professional cyclist feels compelled to use controlled substances to aid their performance. However, the harsh reality is that it is likely rampant in the pro ranks. If you were to take two athletes of equal physical

The Ford Cycling Women’s Mountain Bike Team will be hosting two events for women during the US Nationals at Mammoth Mountain on September 23-26. The first, a Last Minute Race Cram, will be held Friday, September 24, at 7:30 p.m. at McCoy Sports in the Village at Mammoth. This one-hour-long talk will cover topics such as nutrition, visualization, warm-up, tool kits and more. Joining the discussion will be the technical staff from Shimano Service. The second Ford event will be a Sunday morning recovery spin beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the start/finish area on the mountain. This easy 45-minute

The last couple of days have been for the climbers, the pure climbers, with one hard day in the mountains followed by a 29.6km uphill time trial. And on both days, Santi Perez of Phonak dominated the stages winning with ease and boosted himself into the first three overall Two weeks into a three-week race and everyone on the team is getting a bit homesick. We have been together for nearly three weeks straight now, as we arrived at the start in Leon three days before the race began, and we are ready for a change of pace, a change in diet and a change in schedule. The morale is still good, and

Heras plans to fight to the end

(l-r) Felice Gimondi, Marino Basso, Mario Cipollini, Fiorenzo Magni, Vittorio Adorni, Gianni Bugno, Ercole Baldini, Francesco Moser, and Maurizio Fondriest

One of the streetlights for Milan's auto-free zone

It says Fulcrum, but it's a Campy

Look's new pedal

Yes that's an American on the XC podium.

Valverde rode a stunning TT, nearly swiping the jersey

Perez may start thinking in terms of the overall

Perez does it again

Heras escaped with the jersey – but just barely

Vino' had the best time for a good, long while

Perez took off on the final Cat. 1 climb and held off the chase on the descent

A mountainous menu

Perez saw his chance and took it

Landis lost more ground today

Heras and a resurgent Valverde dueled on the ups and downs

Nozal was doing a job of work for Heras once again

But the day belonged to Perez

Petacchi drives to No. 4

Race leader Heras relaxes going into Saturday's mountain stage

The break was doomed from the start – but a guy's gotta try, right?

The peloton kept the break on a short leash on this largely flat stage

And after the usual leadout, Petacchi collected his fourth win of his Vuelta

When you’re engrossed in the cycling world most of the time, a few pop-culture items sometimes slip through the cracks. But, leave it to David Zabriskie to spark some Guns N’ Roses research and discussion in the VN editorial department. Following his epic 160km solo stage win in the Vuelta, one of Zabriskie’s post-race comments was “I had a Guns N’ Roses song in my head. I’m not sure which one, though. It’s the one where he says, ‘They can’t catch me, I’m innocent.’” First came the frantic scramble over the “N”. For the record, it’s not “Guns ‘N Roses” or “Guns N Roses”; it’s Guns N’

The Mail Bag 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.‘Meirhaeghe speaks’ interview stunkEditor:Gotta say, I couldn’t be more disgusted with your magazine – at least, since I decided to stop buying it until it took a more progressive role in helping the sport solve its doping problem. That interview with Filip Meirhaeghe just stunk. How

With little fanfare, the Union Cycliste Internationale has ordered a radical change in mountain-bike racing, announcing that in 2005, cross-country racers will no longer be responsible for fixing their own mechanical problems during the World Cup and world championships. The word came down during the recently concluded world championships in Les Gets, France, when UCI mountain-bike coordinator Régis Alexandre told VeloNews associate editor Jason Sumner: “We can't accept that the best rider in the world with a lot of sponsors can lose a race just because of a puncture.” Beg pardon? The

San Francisco is one of the most culturally diverse, cosmopolitan cities in North America, and environmentally, it is one of the most beautiful as well. For a cyclist, the beauty of San Francisco is having all the conveniences of a big city, plus great riding to boot. With T-Mobile sponsoring the Grand Prix in San Francisco, I came early to take part in a few media and sponsor events, and managed to squeeze in some enjoyable training each day. We would head towards the Golden Gate Bridge on the Embarcadero, roll across the bridge and then ride up Mount Tamalpais or along the bike path after

Dear Bob,I had my bike stolen yesterday from the enclosed parking garage in my office building. It’s operated by a local company that runs several lots in the San Francisco area. It was locked up to a bike rack bolted to the floor about 30 feet from the lot attendant’s shack. The attendant, by his own admission, watched it happen and didn’t try to stop the guy or call the cops. He said that “customers park at their own risk.” It was a $4000 bike. (I commute in 26 miles one way, so I’m not about to ride a clunker.) Can I sue the building owner or the lot operator?S.M.California Dear S.M.,This

Heras charges off toward a stage win and the overall lead

Valverde

Thursday's Eurofile: Valverde recovering; So is Trenti; Menchov low-key

The gutsy Landis finally slipped back a bit on Thursday

Heras didn't plan to win – but did it anyway