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For a guy who spends the month of July under the klieg lights of the Tourde France, Jan Ullrich’s preparations for the Tour are largely unknown.In fact, apart from a plethora of pre-season interviews arranged at hisT-Mobile team’s Spanish training camp back in January, followed by hisonly pre-Tour clash with Lance Armstrong reported en masse by the Germanmedia at the Tour of Murcia in March, Ullrich’s plans for his annual July rendezvous with the Tour have mostly fallen below the radar. The 30-year-old German looked good at his training camp, having alreadyspent two months of alternating his

The harder and longer the race, the more Levi Leipheimer likes it. And the 30- year-old Rabobank rider thinks he’ll really like the 2004 Tour de France. With the first serious mountains not coming until the climbing finish to La Mongie in stage 12, Leipheimer figures he’ll be firing on all cylinders just in time for the Tour’s decisive moments. “Each grand tour I’ve done, I’ve always been better in the third week,” Leipheimer told VeloNews. “It’s a strong point for me and I like it if the final week of the Tour is the most difficult. It favors me.” Leipheimer has made a mark for himself

Hamilton - Too nice to beat Lance?

On the bike, Hamilton is as tough as they come.

Hamilton - Too nice to beat Lance?

Hamilton - Too nice to beat Lance?

Vande Velde may be headed back to the Tour

Ullrich has spent much of 2004 training outside of the public eye.

Voeckler tops in France

Leipheimer - He loves a tough race

Leipheimer will be Rabobank's sole GC man at the '04 Tour.

I’ve heard it said that it doesn’t matter if you win by one secondor five minutes, so long as you win. At the end of the day, being victoriousis more important than your margin of victory; but no one involved in LanceArmstrong’s bid to win a sixth Tour de France wants to experience anythinglike last year. Lance’s preparation for the 2004 Tour de France has beenfocused on building a substantial lead over the competition; we have nointention of repeating the “too close to call” scenarios from last summer. In a stage race, distancing yourself from your rivals is critical forreducing stress and

Coach Carmichael: Tailoring nutrition to training

Carmichael and Armstrong have put the emphasis on training quality rather than quantity.

Peat pounds the tricky course

Jonnier: Second no longer

Jonnier does the double

Prokop didn't care for the course — but he won anyway

When Lance Armstrong finished the 2003 Tour de France, even though he wonthe race for the fifth year in a row, he was full of doubts. Not much went right for him last year. His marriage broke up; he headed into the Tour with a gastro-intestinal infection picked up from his son; he developed sciatica from using new cleats in his shoes; and then he fell in the mass pileup on stage 1. And that was just the beginning. After that came the rubbing-brake-pad incident on the Col du Galibier, his near-crash at Gap, dehydration in the first time trial, and his fall at the foot of Luz-Ardiden. That he

New Graham Watson book documents Armstrong career in photos

Jersey winners Cooke, Armstrong, Virenque and Menchov on the 2003 final podium.

Gerard Vroomen, Phil White and Ivan Basso in the MIT wind tunnel.

Riis and Basso study the data.

Colby Pearce and Colby Pearce

Armstrong - Ready for No. 6

June 25, 2002USA Cycling's board of directors named retail and food industry executive Gerard Bisceglia as the organization’s new chief executive officer on Tuesday, replacing Lisa Voight who left the post in May. Bisceglia, 52, most recently president of Shogun Express, a restaurant management firm in Scottsdale, Arizona, was national sales manager for the Southland Corporation’s 7-Eleven chain when the firm ventured into cycling sponsorship in the 1980s. Bisceglia served as a trustee on the board of U.S. PRO from 1997 to 2001. During a Tuesday conference call, the USA Cycling board

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 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 it ain't so, DavidVeloNews,It is sad to hear that David Millar has used banned substances (see“Paper reports that Millar admits to doping”). I was really rooting for him when his chain skipped in last year's Tour. The fact that he admitted

Just in time for his attempt at a sixth consecutiveTour win, Rodale is set to release in July “Lance Armstrong: Images ofa Champion,” a 208-page volume chronicling the Texan’s extraordinary career,with images from renowned cycling photographer Graham Watson and photocaptions and commentary provided by Armstrong. While Watson’s decade of race photos takes center stage, the true gemscan be found in revealing testimonials written by five-time Tour winnersMiguel Induráin and Eddy Merckx, as well as U.S. Postal team director Johan Bruyneel. The photo album focuses on Armstrong’s

YELLOW JERSEYThe yellow jersey — or maillot jaune — is worn by the overallrace leader, the rider who has covered the overall distance in the leastamount of cumulative time. Time bonuses (12 seconds for winning a roadstage, six seconds for winning an intermediate sprint) are deducted, andtime penalties (for infractions like dangerous riding or accepting pushesfrom spectators on the climbs) are added to riders’ stage times beforecalculating their GC (general classification) times.A major change this year is that there will be a limit on the time lostby any team (and consequently by each rider

"I am afraid to add up all of the money we have spenton the development of this bike,” says Phil White, one of the two foundingowners of Cervélo. White is speaking about the R2.5, the carbon bikeon which Team CSC won three Tour stages in 2003, including Tyler Hamilton’sepic solo stage 16 win. Those stage wins, and even the presence of Cervéloat all on a top Division 1 pro team, may be a surprise to those accustomedto seeing Tour victories only from bigger companies or long-establishednames. To White and his partner, Gerard Vroomen, however, it is merelythe culmination of many years of hard

Although the official announcement of the USA Olympic track squad wasn’t made until Friday morning, that didn’t stop TIAA-CREF from throwing a celebratory gathering for team rider/manager Colby Pearce in Denver on Wednesday evening, 36 hours ahead of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s approval of USA Cycling’s nominations. Pearce will contest the Olympic points race based on his third-place finish in the overall World Cup standings. His highlight of the 2004 season came in the season’s final World Cup in Sydney, where he took a gold medal. A bronze in the fourth round of the World Cup also

Gutierrez and Hamilton at the Dauphine

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 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 Americans never cheat?Editor:Is it my almost-European persecution mania or am I right in the impression that some of your correspondents believe that European cyclists are all dirty drug users and all American riders are clean,

Lennard Zinn does it again! With the release of "Zinn’s Cycling Primer: Maintenance Tips and Skill Building for Cyclists" American cycling's übergeek brings our favorite pastime to a new level.Zinn,the author of the best-selling "Zinnand the Art of Mountain-Bike Maintenance" and "Zinnand the Art of Road Bike Maintenance," takes a comprehensive approachwith an understanding that successful, enjoyable cycling depends on a hostof factors, including a well-tuned bicycle, a balanced and healthy bodyand the proper interface between the two.Zinn takes the reader through the essentials of bicycle

The late Charles Bukowski and friend

Still Postal's main worry

Six returning riders from last year’s Tour de France team will line up for U.S. Postal Service to support Lance Armstrong in his quest to win a record sixth Tour. There’s an added emphasis on strength in the mountains as Armstrong will be looking to get all the support he can in a decisive second half of the race, which starts July 3 in Liège, Belgium. “We will have a very strong team in the mountains, stronger than last year,” said U.S. Postal Service sport director Johan Bruyneel in a team press release. “We have six riders from last year and two new guys. Lance is confident he has a

Aiming for six.

Aiming for six.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) banned Australian cyclist and former world junior champion Mark French for life on Monday over doping offenses, including the trafficking of banned substances. French, 19, was found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month of trafficking gluco-corticosteroid and equine growth hormone and was handed a two-year suspension. Trafficking, however, attracts a lifetime ban under AOC rules. The AOC noted that the lifetime ban, the first time such a penalty has been imposed, could be reduced to a minimum of eight years if French gave evidence

A French judge on Monday rejected a bid by attorneys representing Lance Armstrong to insert a denial of accusations of doping published in a book released last week. Armstrong, 33, seeking a record sixth consecutive Tour de France in July, has vowed to take legal action over the new book "L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong" which alleges he used banned drugs. Armstrong's lawyer Christian Charriere-Bournazel told AFP on Monday he had filed an appeal of the ruling. "I am very disappointed," he said. "I don't share the court's view." Charriere-Bournazel said he hoped the

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 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.O’Grady isn’t a puppetEditor:Patrick, thank you for not joining the "Lance is a cycling god" chorus of the press (See "Friday's foaming rant: Shooting the messenger). Being a cyclist and a racing fan I have enjoyed watching Lance win the Tours

French in better times.

Ullrich won the TT and took the overall by a single second

Rowney bows out with a win

Sydor skips the cross country and rules the short track

No one even came close to Pruitt

Minaar bounced back from an early miscue to win

Olson closes out Beauce with a win

Armstrong and Thorburn worked up front as T-Mobile controlled the chase

Thorburn said she was feeling the effects of winning Thursday's time trial

An early break went in the men's race

But McCartney has a habit of attacking such breaks

The break which hesitates has lost ...

Brozyna put the hurt on the field in defense of his leader's jersey, working with countryman Romanik

... as had Horner, who was not at all happy about it

Tuft had an early go with a small group, only to be caught at the base of Megantic

The Poles went to work on the final grind

O'Neill seems to have left last year's injury behind him ... way behind him

Race leader Brozyna finished third on the day and retains his yellow jersey

Koerber scores a breakthrough victory

As did Killeen

Meanwhile, Green was happy to simply finish

The winner — McCartney, once again, with a late solo attack

Armstrong scores the stars and stripes

Athens bound

Walsh and another famous Irishman

Questioning the accuser - We speak with “LA Confidential” author David Walsh

Totschnig

Kintner got the jump from the gate

Robinson just rode like he rides

Fresh off the announcement that the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, will be hosting a road racing series this summer, I summoned up an interview that I’d conducted last month with Rick Sutton, GaleForce Sports Marketing’s chief operating officer and Sea Otter race organizer, regarding the future of motorsports venues in North American bicycle racing. Pieces of the interview made it into my VeloNews story on the Sonoma NORBA National in issue 10 (”Work in Progress: Solid infrastructure not enough to draw crowds to NORBA National at Sonoma speedway”), but I present it to you here in

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 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. This reader believes LanceEditor:I find the almost evangelical fervor with which some readers have come to the defense of Lance’s character a little distressing. The reasoning, if cited, for this faith is not, in my view, supported by what

David Walsh declines to answer when asked if he truly believes thatLance Armstrong has used performance-enhancing drugs. The Irishman, co-author of the just-released “LA Confidential — TheSecrets of Lance Armstrong,” suggests that "it is not relevant what I think. (Pierre Ballester and I) have done what journalists are supposed to do: we have asked questions. Many, many people have helped by providing answers. We then write a book and the reader gets the chance to make up his or her own mind. What matters is the evidence of those who worked and rode with Lance Armstrong. The people who have