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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

With the greatest spectacle in cycling just around the corner, VeloNews is pleased to announce the publication of its 2004 edition of the Official Guide to the Tour de France. Published in cooperation with the Société du Tour de France, the Official Guide puts everything you need to know about the race in one handy place for the month of July. The Official Guide includes detailed rider profiles of all the top American pros, including Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, Bobby Julich, Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie, who discuss their preparations for the Tour and their view of the race. The

Marblehead, MA. – The Tyler Hamilton Foundation (THF) today announced that it will host a live viewing of stage 13 of the Tour de France on movie screens across the United States. Scheduled for Saturday, July 17, 2004, the nationwide fundraiser’s two lead sponsors are Outdoor Life® Network (OLN®) and Regal CineMedia™. The event will be presented in nineteen Regal Entertainment Group (REG) movie theatres, and marks the first time that U.S. cycling fans will be able to view a live European cycling race on high-definition screens. For a complete listing of cities and Regal Entertainment Group

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.John AdamsArgument in Defense of the [British] Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials [December 1770] Okay, how many of you out there have read “LA Confidential – The Secrets of Lance Armstrong?” Raise your hands. Nobody? Not a single, solitary one of you? Then shut the hell up about it already. Didn’t a teacher ever smack you down for trying to bluff your way through a question about a book you hadn’t read? Never heard the old saw

Pound noted that as of Thursday, the UCI was the last holdout IGB

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

Zabriskie smoked 'em

Julich is having his best year since '98

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.A warning!?!?!?Dear USCF, USADA and AAA/CAS:Thank you so much!I cannot express enough joy and gratitude when I finally heard thatCanadian cyclist, Genevieve Jeanson, was given a mere warning and smallfine after she failed to show up for a drug

Vermaut moved to Lotto after his Postal stint

Walker eventually rid himself of the two young guys

Tilford does his best to drive the chase

Elken and Walker

Taylor was getting dropped on the climbs

The hills did their part to sort out the race

The Olive Oilers did their part to close the gap

Lance Armstrong was confident he had found a sponsor his son Luke could endorse when he took the stage to announce that Discovery Communications would assume the title sponsorship of his U.S. Postal team in 2004. “My son would be very proud of me for standing up here with a T-Rex,giving a press conference,” Armstrong said, gazing at the skeletal tailof the life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex reproduction that dominates the lobbyof Discovery’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Perhaps more important to cycling fans than Luke’s approval, Armstrongconfirmed that, unlike the T-Rex and the

Dominguez takes GP Beauce opener

O’Reilly in 2000

Lance Armstrong was on hand at the Discovery Channel world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Tuesday to announce Discovery Communications' deal to take over title sponsorship of his U.S. Postal squad in 2005. But it wasn’t questions of a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal that generated the most heated questioning at the ensuing press conference. At the post-announcement media event, questions inevitably surfaced about “L.A. Confidential,” a new book by award-winning London Sunday Times sportswriter David Walsh and former L’Equipe cycling writer Pierre Ballester. The book,

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.Kids these days! Hello VeloNews, I just thought that I should tell you about something that happened today that normally would not happen to a cyclist. I live and train in Colorado Springs and I was coming back from a long four-hour Sunday

Snowshoe, WV - Team Yeti showed incredible strength and depththis weekend as it won the men's and women's pro 4x, took 3rd and 5th inthe STXC, and 5th place in the downhill.Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend was Ross Milan, a Coloradonative who has been a dominant force on the Colorado race scene for thelast few years, had a breakthrough race winning the men's 4x over someof the biggest names in the sport. "I've have always known I had the potentialto get on the podium at a national event, but I am stoked that it was afirst place finish," said an elated Milan after the race.Milan

Lance Armstrong, seeking a record sixth consecutive Tour de France in July, has vowed to take legal action over a new book about him which alleges he used banned drugs. Tailwind Sports, owner and operator of Armstrong's US Postal Service Cycling team, said Armstrong, 33, will begin libel proceedings against the authors and publishers of "L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong." "Lance Armstrong utterly denies ever having taken any performance-enhancing drugs," a statement said. "Accordingly, Lance Armstrong has instructed his lawyers to immediately institute libel

The United States Anti-Doping Agency announced Monday that a three-member panel of the American Arbitration Association /North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) arbitrators has found that Rona’s Geneviève Jeanson committed a doping violation when she failed to appear for a drug test at this year’s Flèche Wallonne World Cup in Belgium. A member of the 2000 Canadian Olympic team, Jeanson received a public warning and was fined 500 Swiss Francs. Jeanson, 22, failed to appear for a doping control test at the request of the Union Cycliste International (UCI) following the race in

BERKELEY, Calif., June 14, 2004 — Sheryl O’Loughlin, 37, has beennamed CEO of Clif Bar Inc., the first time the privately-held energy andnutrition foods company has had a CEO outside of the original founder.Founder Gary Erickson, who had held variously the co-CEO and CEO post since1992, will continue his involvement in the company, becoming more activein new product development, package design and disseminating the company’sunique story.As owners, Erickson and his wife Kathleen (“Kit”) Crawford will continueshaping the long term vision of Clif Bar Inc. as well as direct involvementin

Monday's EuroFile: Vino' out of Tour; Hunter scores win in Switzerland

Euskaltel kept the gap down to managable levels

A ride in the woods

Armstrong

Horillo leads

Levi takes a gamble

Moncoutié joins up

Phonak emerged as the top squad

Armstrong at the Dauphiné Libéré

Mayo stays in yellow

Armstrong has always denied doping

O'Grady had another fine day at the Dauphiné Libéré

O'Grady with Casar

O'Grady is king for the day

Mayo is tops for the week

Hamilton's crash required two bike changes and a hard chase

The imposing countryside

Basso and Rasmussen work together

Basso's dropped chain cost him

Three sprints, three wins for McCook

The one that almost got away: Wohlberg, Saunders and Eiken

The stage podium: Abraham, McCook and Saunders

Hannos takes the day's fourth intermediate sprint over Grain and Jennifer Eyerman (Red 5 Racing)

Rasmussen grabs a win for Rabobank

Erstwhile teammates Armstrong and Hamilton, safely back in the bunch

Hincapie and O'Grady set off on their own

And why shouldn't they be smiling? Sevilla and Hamilton are second and third overall

Definitely not smiling is Peña, who is pulling the group along

In the bunch, meanwhile, Mayo is unconcerned

Sorry, Cooke old man, we're not sticking around for the sprint

Smile for the folks back home ...

Snack time for the lads

And then it's straight back to business

While Cooke leads the chase

O'Grady gets the win ahead of Hincapie

And later, he gets something even sweeter

Speaking of sweet, Mayo hits the scales so he can collect his weight in candy

Best not eat too much, Iban, or that jersey will get a little snug

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.Here’s to more miles for DavisEditor:My respect to the fine tribute written by Lennard Zinn in his article “Riding with Davis.” I traveled to Tuscany to ride with Andy Hampsten and Mark Mahan, who also guides for the Carpenter-Phinney group,

And why shouldn't they be smiling? Sevilla and Hamilton are second and third overall

O'Grady outkicks Hincapie in stage 5