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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.April's greatest hitsDear VeloNews,The broken record spins again, and once more the tune is "George Hincapiedoesn't get enough support from Postal" (see "Monday'smail bag" and "Wednesday'smail bag"). It hits the Top-Ten every April. C'mon

After four weeks off, there’s still a lot to catch up on, such as, why is Krispy Kreme developing a low-sugar donut? For the health-conscious? Um, excuse me, it’s a donut. Reminds me of the vegan “donuts” you get with a vegetarian breakfast on the airplane (not that they ever serve breakfast on a plane anymore, or that I would ever admit to eating a vegetarian airline meal). If anything, in this age of downsized super-sizing, shouldn’t the donut industry strive to be the last bastion of truly fattening, bad-for-you eating? Here in Boulder, a new place has opened up with a sign out front

Having not been to the Sea Otter since 2000, I was quickly reminded why this event is such a success: It’s fun! Cyclists in general are crazy. Whether we ride mountain bikes, road bikes or go flying down the dual slalom course, we all have one thing in common – we love to ride our bikes and just can’t get enough of it! This is why Sea Otter, which claims to be “the most celebrated bicycle festival in North America,” is the perfect gathering for us wacky two-wheel addicts. It has something for everyone. When I was here last, I was racing on the road with Team Saturn. That year we worked hard

pe-des|trian (pi des´tre an) adj. lacking interest or imagination; prosaic; ordinary and dull … n. one who goes on foot.Webster’s New World College Dictionary Happy Day After Income Tax Day. I hope that, unlike me, you aren’t cowering in a corner of a suddenly empty living room with your shredded undies puddled around your ankles, wondering if you’ll ever be able to sit on a saddle again without sliding all the way down to the top tube. Hold on a second – don’t start composing that nasty letter to the editor yet. I’m not going to rail against The Leader’s much-ballyhooed tax cuts and their

Jammin' with Julie: Back in the dirt at Sea Otter

Bisaro en route to the first major win of her pro mountain-biking career

McGrath was having some fun out there, including jumping waterbars

Dunlap's front derailleur tripped her up short of the finish, but she held onto the overall lead

Frischknecht is enjoying his first-ever stint in the Otter's leader's jersey

The Mud Stud appears regularly in the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer and Industry News

Bessette gambles ...

... and the gamble pays off

Roland Green managed to build a 30-second lead after attacking at the halfway mark

Godfrey's pursuit work helped

Armstrong went all out

The women's super XC peloton.

“Whoever said life was fair? Life is not fair.”Lt. Colonel S.G. Rogers, USMC ret.Oft-used saying, 1975 to 1990 Growing up, one of my father’s favorite mottos — right up there with “We hate waste,” and “Because I said so” — was to remind my sister and me that life is, indeed, not fair. Somewhere early on I must have seemed exceptionally unclear on the concept, because the Lt. Colonel, known as “Major Dad” to my apprehensive high school buddies, made it a point to remind me of this any time I felt I had been the victim of a grave injustice. “Whoever said life was fair?” the Marine of the

Mr. Rogers' neighborhood: Fair? Not even close.

Zabriskie and Reich

Swiss Power: Frischknecht takes the win

Dunlap kept Redden in check

Vicenza, April 14 2004 – Campagnolo’s complete wheels are renownedfor their lightness, smoothness, sturdiness and reliability. A reputationachieved thanks to the quality and performance of the Nucleon low-profilewheels introduced in 1999. Research conducted on a fully integrated projectencompassing rims, spokes and hubs, resulted in the creation of ideal bicyclewheels that are reactive during short sprints yet nevertheless comfortableeven on long rides. Basing itself on these already solid foundations, Campagnolo soon expanded its wheel collection, presenting two new low-profile models

Spain's world road race champion Igor Astarloa could be set to leave Cofidis after he was told Wednesday he can leave the embattled French outfit, who have suspended all racing amid a doping investigation, if he wants. "If he wants to join another team we'll let him go," said the manager of France's top cycling team, Alain Bondue. Bondue added that 28-year-old Astarloa, who was recruited from the Italian Saeco team at the end of last season before winning the world title in Canada in October, had not requested a move. It has been reported however that other teams have made the Spaniard

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@7Dogs.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Monday, Monday....To Editor and the Monday Bunch:I refer to the "Monday Bunch" as the group so quick to complain aboutGeorge Hincapie’s lack of support in exchange for Tour success.I'm pretty sure that had George won or placed and one of those

Scheldeprijs organizers presented Museeuw with a diamond encrusted award on Wednesday.

Belda: Generalized doping does not exist in cycling.

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Laser alignment? Who are all those Cardsharps?

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Laser alignment? Who are all those Cardsharps?

Bouyer

Credit firm Cofidis, sponsor France's top cycling team, lost its claim for damages on Tuesday when a court dismissed the firm’s lawsuit against the sports daily L'Equipe, which last week published extracts of judicial statements into alleged doping. The newspaper's lawyer said the court ruled the daily had not drawn any definitive conclusion about doping and was not bound by the laws of confidentiality. The team, which includes world champions David Millar of Britain and Igor Astarloa of Spain, has pulled out of all competition while its sponsor reviews the situation. Sacked former Cofidis

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@7Dogs.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Almost there… yet againDear VN.com,Poor George Hincapie. If only U.S. Postal would give the classics teamequal priority as its Tour de France team. It seems that every year Georgerides great at Paris-Roubaix, only to find himself all alone at

Hammond had a good Sunday

The Rookie

Cooke took the points jersey at 2003

Alessio's Magnus Backstedt triumphs on the Roubaix velodrome

Without Museeuw, Backstedt and the others knew they had a shot.

Aldag

Mayhem in the Arenberg Forest

Kirsipuu tries his luck

Hincapie saw his chance and went for it.

Museeuw launched the winning move, but....

Who knows what would have happened if those tires had held?

The cobbles start at Troisvilles

Museeuw revisits the pavé he knows so well after three wins in the Hell of the North

Defending champ Van Petegem test-drives the cobbles

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@7Dogs.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Regarding ManzanoEditors,The current situation in cycling has gone from bad to worse, and notjust because new allegations of drug use have surfaced.If true, these revelations are certainly shocking, more for their boldprevalence than any "I can't

The Olympic aspirations of Britain's top cyclist David Millar could be under threat after he was directly implicated Friday in the doping scandal which has engulfed France's top team Cofidis. A potentially damaging report in L’Equipe newspaper claims that Millar, the world time trial champion who will bid for Olympic track gold in the Athens velodrome this summer, has been actively involved in doping and works closely with a shady doctor from the Spanish Euskaltel team. The Cofidis doping affair was exposed in January when police, who had for months tapped the phones of several team

If it’s on the Internet, it must be true. So, when a recent “What’s ahead on VeloNews.com” item listed “Notes From the Road with Bryan Jew” as a regular Friday feature, one thing was painfully obvious to me. I’d failed in an attempt to make the VN.com editor forget about my column by going into hiding for a month. And sure enough, it was confirmed when the “Are you doing a column this week?” e-mail hit my in-box the other day. So, after a four-week hiatus, I’m back. No truth to the rumors that I’ve been in rehab to kick a junk-food habit. In fact, for part of that time I was off at Redlands,

American track rider Walker Starr has been prevented from taking part in round three of the UCI Track World Cup Friday in Manchester, England, after an abnormal result from a random blood test, according to official sources. Starr, from San Diego, had been scheduled for the scratch race. He has been barred from competition for 15 days, in accordance with UCI rules. Pre-competition or random blood tests focus on a rider's hematocrit level (the volume of red blood cells in the blood); a reading over 50 is an indicator, although not proof, of the use of banned blood boosters. Thirty five

Menchov rinses off with a little bubbly

L'Equipe faces a lawsuit over today's coverage

Herbold can not only handle a bike better than most, he can also tell the guys in engineering how to improve it

To Herbold, the nuts-and-bolts of suspension can be the most fun

Tomac isn't afraid to do a little hands-on work to improve product

Obree in 1995 after winning the individual pursuit at world’s in Colombia

CSC's Bobby Julich is among four Americans contending for the overall in the Basque Country

Menchov celebrates his stage win

Ullrich is content to build slowly toward his date with Lance Armstrong

While working on a story this week about Webcor Builders women’s team rider Christine Thorburn for our upcoming VeloNews issue No.7, I dialed up Quark’s Lyne Bessette to get a comment or two about Thorburn’s surprising third-place overall finish at Redlands. And along with getting the quote material I was looking for from the recent Redlands winner —“I was impressed by her amount of fight,” Bessette said of Thorburn’s second-place finish on the Oak Glen climb. “I knew that she was a good climber, but I was surprised that she could hang on that long.” — what surprised me was the voice that

Scots cyclist Graeme Obree has abandoned his bid to reclaim the world hour record held by England's Chris Boardman. Obree, who held the record before Boardman set his mark of 49.441km under new rules in 2000, told AFP of his decision after a test ride on Sunday at the Manchester velodrome suggested he was too far away from record-breaking fitness. Obree, 38, has been retired from top-level cycling since 2001. He called off Sunday's test after 12 minutes in which he averaged 47 km/h, significantly below the pace required to break Boardman's record, established on the same track on October

Map Gent-W 04

cobbles

cobblegif

Hincapie is ready for Sunday

Wind early in the day set the tone for the entire race.

Are you getting a theme here?

ruffcobblegif2

image files - April 7+

image files - April 7+

Fleche Map

Eyes