Road

The French team AG2R has been granted a four-year ProTour license for 2006. The team was denied a ProTour ticket last season, but has bolstered its roster since, signing Spaniard Francesco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau. "One of my qualities is never not to doubt," said director Vincent Lavenu. "Last year, we could not obtain a license, but we continued by building something solid. This is a formidable reward." The announcement means that French squads account for five of the 20 ProTour teams. Spain is next best represented, with four teams, followed by Italy with three. Teams of the 2006

Giro d’Italia organizers are still holding firm to their bid to conclude the 2006 edition with a split-stage. Days after the 2006 route was announced earlier this month, the UCI shot down organizers’ plans to hold a morning time trial and an afternoon road stage on the Giro’s final day, citing rules that ProTour events can’t have split stages. Organizers, however, insist their plan still has merit because the Giro isn’t likely to be part of the ProTour in 2006. "The rules only apply to the ProTour," Giro race director Angelo Zomegnan told Tutto Bici. "The ProTour rules don’t allow

The UCI has upheld positive dope tests against Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras and vehemently rejected complaints about its testing procedure. In a statement released late Friday, the UCI expressed its "full satisfaction with the way the procedures relating to this case were carried out and reaffirms its unconditional confidence in the method used to trace EPO." Heras tested positive for erythropoeitin after the 2005 Vuelta's 20th-stage time trial. On Friday a Spanish laboratory detected EPO in his second B sample. The 31-year-old Spaniard, who faces a two-year ban, insisted he

Spanish cycling is reeling following the confirmation that Roberto Heras tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO in samples taken in the penultimate stage of the 2005 Vuelta a España. After the results of a counter-analysis conducted Monday by Spain’s Consejo Superior de Deportes were announced Friday, Heras – who will likely be stripped of his 2005 Vuelta crown and faces a two-year racing ban – charged that the test is flawed and promised a lengthy legal battle to clear his name. Heras is the most successful Spanish rider of his generation, winning the Vuelta a record four times

Chances of a clear resolution to the Roberto Heras doping case seemed lost after doubt and uncertainty over Heras’s counter-analysis was raised this week in Spain. On Wednesday, Heras and his legal team demanded that charges that he used the banned blood booster EPO en route to winning the 2005 Vuelta a España be dropped after follow-up tests were inconclusive. Anti-doping authorities stuck by their guns, however, insisting that further tests were required to fairly conclude if EPO can be identified in Heras’s urine sample taken on the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta. Officials

I got the galvanic corrosion and buzzin’ bottle boss bluesDear Lennard,I have a carbon frame road bike, and one of the water bottle bosseshas come loose. This makes for an irritating buzz, on any ride, and,I can't tighten the bolt sufficiently enough to stop the water bottle cagefrom bouncing a bit. Is there any type of epoxy, or other glue likesubstance that I can use to secure the boss?DaveHere’s an answer to your question from carbon guru Craig CalfeeMost carbon frames use aluminum Riv-nuts for water bottle bosses.The problem is that aluminum and carbon fiber don't get along well,

Levi Leipheimer, captain of the Gerolsteiner team, says he is one of "five or six cyclists" that can win the 2006 Tour De France. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong retired after his victory last year and Leipheimer, sixth in this year's Tour, insists he is capable of following in his compatriot's footsteps. "I want to get on the podium at the Tour de France," said Leipheimer in a story from Agence France Presse. "I certainly think I am one of five or six riders capable of succeeding Lance Armstrong." Leipheimer, 31, showed his class by winning the 2005 Tour of

Four-time Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras and his attorney cried foul on Wednesday after a Spanish laboratory said there had been a delay in the analysis of his B sample from the 2005 Vuelta's 20th-stage time trial. Heras, whose A sample tested positive for EPO after that penultimate stage, has maintained his innocence, arguing that there had been a mix-up in the laboratory and that he was confident of being cleared. During a press conference Wednesday, Heras told the Reuters news agency that the lab was "unable to reach a conclusion." "I expected a negative test, but what has

UCI president Pat McQuaid says the sports governing body is considering putting a double circuit in place to try to resolve the ongoing conflict concerning the ProTour. McQuaid's predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, introduced the ProTour in the autumn of 2004 to help modernize and better organize the often-hectic professional cycling calendar. But it met with resistance from race organizers — including the ASO (Amaury Sport Organization), whose portfolio of events includes the Tour de France — who believe the reforms were rushed in too quickly and without their input. McQuaid, who took over

Jan Ullrich and his T-Mobile teammates are hoping a military-style training camp in the Austrian Alps will deliver stronger results in the coming season. T-Mobile recently concluded a team meeting that included two-and-a-half days of team-building exercises in the snowy mountains. Team members hiked through heavy snow, built a rope bridge across a canyon and prepared meals together. "We went into a lot of these challenges, thinking we would never manage it," Ullrich said on T-Mobile’s web page. "But everybody weighed in, so that we devised the right strategy to achieve our goals. It was

German rider Danilo Hondo should find out in two weeks if an appeal against a one-year doping ban is successful, his lawyer said Tuesday after a lengthy hearing with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Hondo, who has a Swiss racing license, was handed a one-year ban by the Swiss Olympic association in June after he tested positive for carphedon, a banned stimulant, twice during the Tour of Murcia in Spain in April. The 31-year-old won two stages in that race, following up on his second-place finish behind Alessandro Petacchi in the prestigious, season-opening classic Milan-San Remo in

Now all Roberto Heras can do is wait. On Monday in Madrid, technicians conducted the counter-analysis on urine samples taken from the four-time Vuelta a España champion in the penultimate stage of this year’s race. The anti-doping test will confirm or clear Heras of charges he took the banned blood booster EPO en route to winning the 2005 title. On the advice of his lawyer, Heras waived his right to witness the procedure. In his place were two observers acting on his behalf: José María Buxeda, a member of his legal team, and Italian chemist Giuseppe Pierraccini, a specialist in the EPO test

Perhaps no doping test in Spanish racing history has as much at stake as Roberto Heras’s counter-analysis scheduled for Monday in Madrid. Many observers say the fate of the four-time Vuelta a España champion – who is facing allegations he used the banned blood-booster EPO en route to his 2005 victory – could have major impacts on the entire Spanish cycling community. Not only is Heras’s legacy and reputation at stake, but the credibility of cycling also hangs in the balance for many sport fans. If the follow-up tests on urine sample confirm the presence of EPO – and results are expected to

With bright sunshine and near-tropical heat, the Aloha spirit was alive and well Saturday in Santa Cruz, California, at round 5 of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. Hosted by the Northern Californian Velo Bella team, the final round of the Surf City Cyclo-cross series wasn't exactly a day at the beach - unless you count the weather, which inflicted mid-80s temperatures on a field more accustomed to snow, mud and bitter cold than to sweat, salt and baking heat. Instead of slick ice, racers were met with technically challenging loose and dry conditions, steep climbs and

An ambitious Jan Ullrich hinted Thursday he wants to win both the Tour de France and the Tour of Germany in 2006. Speaking via a video feed during the presentation of the 2006 Deutschland Tour, Ullrich said the nine-day, 1400km course better suits his style than the mountainous 2005 version, which saw Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) take the overall. "I rate the German tour almost as high as the Tour de France," Ullrich said via video during the presentation of the 2006 Deutschland Tour. "After finishing second this year, next time I want to win it." The 2006 German tour – featuring two

Attorneys for Roberto Heras promise they’re ready for a fight if a counter-analysis scheduled for Monday confirms the four-time Vuelta a España champion used the banned blood-booster EPO. Andreu Garriga, the attorney for four-time Vuelta a España, is promising a lengthy legal battle if tests come back positive. “We will enter judicial and sporting (actions) and will support it with all the available resources,” Garriga told the Spanish daily AS. Heras is denying allegations that he used EPO en route to a record fourth Vuelta crown in September. Spanish cycling has been rocked following

Ask your average die-hard cyclo-cross fanatic to comment on the burning social, political or economic issues of the day and you may not get much of a response. Ask, “Tubular or clincher?” and you’re bound to get an earful. Of course, much of what you hear is as likely to confuse as to enlighten. Old-school Euros will, without a doubt, defend their motto, “Tubulars or death!” North American racers with a mountain-bike background will thoughtfully explain that the tubular's advantages can be matched by superior rubber technology and the advanced tread patterns of today’s clinchers. No

The UCI’s ProTour Council shot down plans for a final split-stage proposed as part of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, saying rules don’t allow for more than one stage to be held a day in ProTour races. On Saturday, Giro race organizers announced the route for the 2006 edition that included a final stage with a morning 11km time trial on the Ghisallo climb and a 116km road finale into Milan. The decision came after sharp criticism from the Italian cycling riders federation as well as other riders, who insist the 2006 Giro finale was too demanding after such a long and challenging course. Giro race

Oh happy days again. I’m glad to be back in Belgium this winter racing `cross. I am actually stoked to be here, but I wasn't so hot on the ass kicking I received this weekend at the Pijnacker World Cup in The Netherlands. The legs just haven't really wanted to turn over lately, but that is bike racing and I am sure things will turn around shortly. That’s the hope anyhow. Jeremy POOOWERS! (as the French like to say) and I decided we would head down to Chateau Bernard last Friday to do a C2 race there. It was kind of a long drive at 800km, but as they say, “When in France I guess you

Hi Monique,Now that coffee has been recommended as a good source of antioxidants, in moderation, of course, do you have any information regarding how the decaffeinating process may affect the antioxidant effect of coffee?LW Dear LW,As you are aware there was a recent headline grabbing study, which was actually presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society this past summer. This study received widespread attention and Americans were informed that coffee is the number one source of antioxidants in the American diet. As is often the case, this study begs that we once again “read the

A cyclist operates on an entirely different calendar than do most people. Two weeks ago, my year began as I started training again. At Christmas, when everyone else is relaxing, raising a glass in front of the tree, enjoying time away from work, we’ll be back on our bikes getting ready for team training camp, which begins only a few weeks into January I woke up the morning of November 1st to find a training program in my e-mail inbox. That month off my bike had passed a whole lot quicker than the last month of the season in which I raced a very fast Vuelta and a miserably cold

With a host of common – and not-so-common – questions already answered in earlier Technical Q&A columns, I've been asked to touch on a few other topics now and then. In that vein, I will take this opportunity to tell you about the Gran Fondo Campagnolo, a very difficult mass-participation race I did for the third time this past June. The Italian Gran Fondo is a mass-participation event, but it is distinct from mass-participation rides here in the U.S. in that it is a race, and everyone wears a timing chip on his or her leg. The Triple Bypass in Colorado, for example (which I also did

Jan Ullrich will decide by next week whether or not he will start the 2006 Giro d’Italia. The 1997 Tour de France champion is still undecided about his racing schedule, but T-Mobile sport director Rudy Pevenage said Ullrich ought to ride the Giro. “He should ride it, for him it would be good,” Pevenage said. “It’s one of two options to get ready for the next Tour, either the Giro or the Tour de Suisse. He needs to decide soon.” Casero hangs it upSpanish veteran Angel Casero ended his career Sunday with a victory in the Criterium Internacional de Ciclismo de la Comunidad Valenciana. Igor

Rabobank’s Sven Nijs easily won the third round of the UCI’s cyclo-cross World Cup in Pijnacker in the Netherlands on Sunday. Nijs rode away from his Dutch Rabobank teammate Richard Groenendaal and fellow Belgian Gerben De Knegt, after the trio moved off the front of the field early in the race. The win represents yet another in the Belgian’s recent domination of the discipline. Nijs, winner of cyclo-cross’s “triple crown” – Belgian national championship, world championship and overall World Cup title – won the first two rounds of the World Cup this year, taking the opener in Kalmthout,

It’s going to be a climber’s paradise in the 2006 Giro d’Italia, with a return to such hallowed ground as the fearsome Mortirolo, the Gavia and a final-day showdown with a climbing time trial on the Madonna del Ghisallo. Giro organizers have delivered an innovative, if somewhat controversial course that blends the best of the Giro’s colorful legacy and the novelty of a split stage on the final day. The 89th edition of the corsa rosa features 21 stages, five summit finishes, a team time trial and three individual time trials in a battleground already being hailed as the most challenging Giro

Organizers on Saturday unveiled the course of the 2006 Giro d'Italia, the 89th edition of Italy's most prestigious cycling race, starting in Belgium to pay homage to the victims of a 1956 mine disaster. The first of the 21-stage grand tour will be a 6.2km individual time test in Seraing. The second of four Belgian legs will end in Charleroi-Marcinelle, where 136 Italians were among 262 miners who perished following an explosion and fire in a coal mine. Paolo Savoldelli, this year's Giro champion, did not attend the unveiling ceremony in Milan but organizers said he was expected

David Millar is poised to return to the professional ranks this summer in what’s sure to be one of the most-watched and controversial comebacks in recent cycling history. Nearly two years after admitting he used the banned blood-booster EPO, Millar has signed a deal with the Spanish team Saunier Duval and is expected to start to the 2006 Tour de France just days after his two-year ban concludes June 23. Speaking to The Times, Millar said he wants his comeback to prove a point. "I want my comeback to be credible and inspiring, for me and for others and for younger kids. I owe that to

The official presentation of the 2006 Giro d’Italia isn’t until Saturday, but riders are already protesting against leaked reports of a possible split stage on the final day. The Italian riders’ union got wind of a unique finale – with a climbing time trial and a road stage for the final stage of the season’s first grand tour – and it’s something they don’t like at all. “We perfectly agree with the rules of the (UCI) forbidding half-stages in grand tours, all the more reason for the last days of a race like the Giro d'Italia at the end of a tough week,” ACCPI president Amedeo Colombo

Johan Bruyneel confirmed that George Hincapie will be “a protected rider” for Discovery Channel in the 2006 Tour de France as America’s top pro team moves into the post-Armstrong era. Hincapie’s dramatic stage victory in the Pyrénées in July has raised expectations that the classics strongman could morph’ into an overall Tour contender, an idea that Bruyneel has been cautiously nurturing since the conclusion of this year’s Tour. “George will be one of our protected riders for next year’s Tour de France. He is able to finish in the top-10 in the overall classification and he's a rider

The immediate fate of four-time Vuelta a España champion Roberto Heras lies in the outcome of a counter-analysis scheduled for November 21. Heras faces a two-year racing ban and loss of his record fourth Vuelta crown if the follow-up urine test comes back positive for EPO. The Spanish rider continued to declare his innocence despite a test result from the penultimate stage of the Vuelta that revealed the presence of the banned blood booster. “I am completely sure that I am innocent and all I can do is wait until the second analysis to prove it,” Heras told Spanish television outside his

Solving the solvent questionDear Lennard,Thanks for the recent notes regarding carbon fiber and solvents/lubrication.I wonder if you could recommend a safe way to remove old tubular cementfrom carbon rims. If you have already addressed the issue, can you pointme in the right direction?ScottDear Scott,This is one of those questions that warrants an answer straight fromthe horse's mouth. I sent off your question to a few carbon rim manufacturersand got these responses back.LennardAnswer from HedAcetone, a stiff plastic bristle brush, and a lot of time arewhat you use to get the cement off a

Roberto Heras is denying allegations he took the banned blood booster EPO and expressed his confidence that a follow-up test will prove his innocence. On Monday, his Liberty Seguros team suspended the four-time Vuelta a España champion after traces of EPO were found in a urine sample taken after the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta. “It was a surprise to me when they told me,” Heras said on Spanish radio. “It was a shock, but we are convinced that it’s been a laboratory error. There can’t be any other reason. My lawyers are already working on the issue.” The UCI notified the team

Thomas Voeckler – the plucky Frenchman who soared into the yellow jersey in the 2004 Tour de France – couldn’t quite repeat the drama this year. By his own admission, the 26-year-old’s season fell far short of the expectations he had for himself. “I am disappointed with my season, but I knew it would be difficult to repeat the success of a year ago,” Voeckler told Ciclismag. “I would have liked to have had better results, but I couldn’t pull it off, though there were races when I was in the hunt.” The Bouygues Telecom rider enjoyed a breakout season in 2004, winning a stage in the Route du

Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) wasted no time winning his first race in the rainbow, winning Saturday’s Amstel Curaçao Race in the Caribbean. Of course, the criterium on the Dutch Antilles is hardly in the same league as Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders, but a win is a win, even when it doesn’t really count. The 25-year-old Belgian was decked out in a full-body white team jersey with the rainbow stripes he earned in Madrid in late September in full display. Boonen finished ahead of Giro d’Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) while Dutch rider Peter Weening (Rabobank)

Whoa! Yes, friends — after watching the first few riders shoot down Malibu’s twisting Tuna Canyon during Saturday’s Red Bull Road Rage time trial, all this reporter could offer up was a dumbfounded, Keanu Reeves-like expression. Whoa-HUH! My declaration of disbelief grew louder as riders dialed in their lines and technique around the 40-something sharp turns dotting the two-mile, 2000-foot drop. The average times during the preliminary round of the time trial were in the five-minute range. But by the second round, riders posted times nearly 20 seconds faster, approaching rocket-like

American Colby Pearce took the silver in the 30km points race on Saturday during day two of the UCI track World Cup in Moscow. The TIAA-CREF rider, from Boulder, Colorado, scored 27 points to secure the runner-up spot behind Argentina’s Sebastian Cancio, with 32 points. Petr Lazar of the Czech Republic was third with 24. In other action, Australia easily won the team pursuit; Stefan Nimke of Germany won the sprint; Natalia Tsylinskaya of Belarus took the 500-meter time trial; and China’s Lee Meifang con the individual pursuit. UCI World CupMoscow, RussiaNovember 5MenTeam pursuit1.

Two former champions regained their titles at the Canadian national cyclo-cross championships Saturday at the Hardwood Hills Mountain Bike Centre, 90 minutes north of Toronto. Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) won the women's title, after an absence of two years, and Peter Wedge (Kona-Les Gets) took his seventh Canadian title after his streak was snapped at six last year. The streak continuesBessette remains unbeaten in North America this season, with the nationals being her ninth consecutive win, and making her a strong contender for the world championships in Holland

It might not come as a real big surprise that Michael Rasmussen was less than thrilled at the presentation of the 2006 Tour de France. The rail-thin Dane likes mountains, not time trials and - save for a wicked trio in the final week in the Alps - the 93rd Tour will be more about the race of truth than scampering up steep roads. “It’s a different Tour,” Rasmussen told VeloNews. “It favors the time-trial specialists and there are only three mountain-top finishes.” Rasmussen, 30, electrified the Tour last year, going on the attack early to secure the King of the Mountains jersey and win a

What are those pedals?It seems that lastweek’s column sparked a bit of interest in the pedals we hadmounted on the Zero G crankset. Well, those are M2 Racer’s ORB pedals andthe pair weighs in at just 99 grams. Fabricated from 6/4 titanium, theORBs feature 15 degrees of self-centering float. Their $228 price is wellwithin the ballpark for high-end titanium spindled pedals. The ORB is among a host of ultra-light M2 Racer products. Thecompany’s range includes a 43-gram saddle, a 69-gram seat post and a 6-grambottle cage. To highlight what a complete package of M2 Racer componentscan do, the

Alejandro Valverde knows that if he wants to win the Tour de France someday, he needs to work on his time trial. Toward that end, Valverde has joined several key Illes Balears teammates in Italy this week for tests that should help improve his performance against the clock. For Valverde, known best for his attacking panache and climbing credentials, it’s the only way to better his chances of a break-out performance next July. Valverde knew he had his work cut out for him when he looked at course details during last week’s Tour presentation in Paris “For me, with so many kilometers of time

It’s been a long, long, long season. Now that it’s over, life has been chugging by very slowly and I’ve been happy to soak it all in. This is my first off-season in Europe, since Leah and I decided that we wanted to stay in Girona this year and experience a little different lifestyle during my annual downtime. Living here makes trips to European destinations very easy and worthwhile. Solidifying friendships and actually living a semi-normal life is a good change of pace here in Spain, albeit somewhat slower than what I am used to. My relaxed days now include golf in the afternoon, mountain

Gilberto Simoni was all smiles at last week’s presentation of the 2006 Tour de France. Sitting next to compatriot Ivan Basso, Simoni won’t be among the frontline favorites for overall victory in France, but surely will be in his favored Giro d’Italia. The two-time Giro champion confirmed he’ll be back to try for a third title in Italy and will probably race the Tour, but with the idea of hunting a stage victory rather than fight for the overall. “The Tour is always difficult, it doesn’t matter how the design the course. The Tour is the Tour, so you can’t say too much, it’s always the

Hi Monique:I have a question about measuring my Resting Metabolic Rate. I wouldlike to make some adjustments to my nutrition plan this winter. When itcomes to measuring my RMR, can I simply wear a heart rate monitor for a24 hour period to determine more accurately how many calories I burn ina given day? Isn't this method more accurate than using a formula?CD Dear CD,The upcoming winter season is definitely a great time to not only restand have some changes in your training program, but also to lose some bodyweight and body fat, and to incorporate some new foods and recipes intoyour diet.

Can Simple Green cause chains to crack?

Do you recommend compact cranks for climbing?

I'm a tall rider and my foot hits my rear derailleur, what can I do?

Team CSC signed up two more experienced hands in Volodymir Gustov and Iñigo Cuesta to round out its 2006 roster with 30 riders. The top ProTour team penned deals with Gustov, 28, and Cuesta, 36, on the recommendations of current team members. Team captain Ivan Basso had good memories of Gustov during their stint together at Fassa Bortolo while Carlos Sastre put in the good word for compatriot Cuesta. “Obviously, I'll listen when our top guys make suggestions for new riders and that’s been the case with these two final additions to the team,” said Team CSC boss Bjarne Riis in a statement.

Do cranks flex, or is it the bottom bracket and frame?

Add Thor Hushovd to the name of stars making an early season trip to Australia for the 2006 Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. The winner of the green points jersey at this year’s Tour de France will join Crédit Agricole teammates Laszlo Bodrogi, Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and Frenchman Patrice Halgand for the season opener. It is the first time the Norwegian sprinter has raced in Australia's premier road event and ensures the sprints will be hotly contested in 2006. Hushovd, who pipped Australians Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen, for the prestigious green jersey in July, also claimed

Last week, I left you with a thought from Greg LeMond after Frenchman Laurent Fignon won the 1983 Tour de France: “We all thought it was kind of a fluke.” Had LeMond, then 22, started that Tour, he might well have won it. He was two months older than Fignon, who was his teammate, and LeMond would have gone into the race with much better results, including victories at the 1982 Tour de l’Avenir and 1983 Dauphiné Libéré. Backing up that theory was the manner in which LeMond continued the 1983 season, winning the world championship and then the Super Prestige Pernod title (see “Inside Cycling,”

George Hincapie, the only rider to be part of Lance Armstrong’s seven consecutive Tour de France victories, could be a dark horse candidate for the 2006 Tour podium if he steps into the team leadership role for Discovery Channel. While the details on who will lead Discovery in the post-Armstrong era are still to be decided, Hincapie said the 2006 Tour route will be like all the others. “The Tour is always hard,” Hincapie told team spokesman Dan Osipow on paceline.com. “We always expect the Tour to be hard wherever they take you. Even if it was up in Holland on dead flat roads, it would

[nid:33141]With remnants of Saturday’s unexpected blizzard melting away under a balmy afternoon sun, Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) ran her season win streak to eight and Ryan Trebon rode a daring and impressive solo to win Sunday’s fourth stop of the 2005 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, the Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Gloucester.

Every stereotype is grounded in at least a little bit of reality. And the tired old stereotype about the variable nature of New England weather proved all too true in Saturday’s Michelob ULTRA Gran Prix in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the third stop of the Crank Brothers US Gran Prix of Cyclocross.

The UCI - stung by the strong anti-doping message from ASO president Patrice Clerc during Thursday’s 2006 Tour de France presentation – has cut off ProTour talks with cycling’s most important race. UCI president Pat McQuaid, who sat uncomfortably through Thursday’s presentation in Paris, notified Tour de France officials Friday that ProTour talks are now tabled. “You decided to remove the conditions of serenity and without pressure for the ProTour negotiations,” McQuaid wrote in a letter, adding cycling’s governing body was “surprised” and “indignant” about the anti-doping discourse offered

Zero Gravity is stepping up both its component development and its support for the sport in 2006, signing a three-year deal to co-sponsor the Jittery Joe’s road team and bringing a new crank project to market. Regarding last week’s sponsorship deal, Jeff Stewart, Zero G’s director of sales and marketing, said the boutique brake manufacturer has been "super happy with Jittery Joe’s." "We really have a great relationship with them. We put products on their bikes and get real world feedback," Stewart continued. As for the new Zero G cranks, which debuted at Interbike, Zero Gravity hopes to

American Floyd Landis announced Friday that he will prepare for next year's Tour de France by competing in the Giro d’Italia in May for the first time. "I hope that it will be a perfect warm-up for the Tour", said Landis, a leader on the Swiss-based Phonak team. "I'll begin my training in the United States and continue it in Europe from January. I'll check out the Tour (de France) route in June." Landis’s announcement comes a day after the route of the 2006 Tour de France was announced in Paris and two weeks prior to the announcement of the Giro route. The American finished in

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong made a stinging reply to the latest put-down by Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc over doping accusations against the American star. Leblanc said Thursday that he felt "disappointed and let down by Armstrong", who retired last July after his seventh consecutive victory in the gruelling stage race across France. Allegations by the French newspaper L'Equipe claimed Armstrong used the banned hormone EPO (erythropoietin) in 1999 during his first Tour triumph, claims Armstrong has denied while the International Cycling Union

Whenever a dominant Tour de France champion like Lance Armstrong retires or is absent because of injury, the vacuum is nearly always filled by at least one, probably two, very open, exciting editions of the race. That should be the case in 2006, which might recall the dramatic Tours of 1987 and 1989 (post Bernard Hinault), or 1997 and 1998 (post Miguel Induráin). Perhaps that’s why the Tour organizers, ASO, have chosen for the emblem of their 2006 edition a yellow jersey pulled into the hexagonal shape of France by six gloved hands. Figuring out whose grip is the strongest on that yellow

The speculation is over. Some of it was right, much of it was wrong. Either way, the organizers of the Tour de France on Thursday unveiled the route of the 2006 race, officially kicking off the post-Armstrong era at France's national tour. It will be the first Tour since 1999 not to feature seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, who is now retired, but the American was nonetheless a hot topic despite the presence of several of his potential successors. Ivan Basso, of the CSC team, was present and was largely favorable to a race route which will feature the two traditional individual time

Paris (AP) - Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc has predicted an exciting 2006 race in the absence of Lance Armstrong and taken another shot at the seven-time champion. Leblanc announced the 2006 Tour route Thursday, with the notable points being the absence of a team time trial, the return of L'Alpe d'Huez, and the matter of which rider takes the start line in the No. 1 jersey now that Armstrong has retired. “It is a classical, well-balanced course. There are five wonderful mountain stages,” Leblanc said. “It is a change of era. A period of long domination is over. There

The expansive Palais des Congrès came to life just as soon as the dimmed lights were turned back up following a slick, highly produced introduction to the 20-stage, three-week route of the 93rd Tour de France. No team time trial, longer-than-usual individual time trials and a wide-open race without the presence of dominator Lance Armstrong were among the many topics on the tongues of cycling’s elite that gathered for the annual autumn rite. VeloNews reporters Ben Delaney and Andrew Hood culled these reactions from the main protagonists. Here’s a sampling of what was said: Floyd Landis

A crowd of 2000 poured into the cavernous Palais des Congrés in Paris Thursday for details on the 2006 Tour de France route, but the race’s directors first gave them a lecture on doping. In fact the majority of the early presentation focused on combating the problem in order to preserve the sport’s integrity. “We hope and pray that we can solve not only the problem of doping, but also the suspicion, which severely damages the sport,” said Patrick Clerc, president of Tour organizer ASO. “Doping remains the number one enemy.” After showing a 2005 Tour highlights video, Clerc and Tour

Lance Armstrong wasn’t at Thursday’s 2006 Tour de France presentation, but the recently retired seven-time champion was still on everyone’s mind. Riders talked of a wide-open race without Armstrong’s dominating presence while race organizers tried not to talk about him at all. Armstrong, who is in New York preparing to host this week’s edition of "Saturday Night Live," chose not to attend the annual ceremony in Paris. If he wanted to relive moments of past glory, he didn’t miss much. The American was largely ignored in a slickly produced 10-minute highlight film to introduce the 93rd

The 2006 Tour de France could well be called a tour of western Europe,with stages venturing into Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland and Spain.Long heralded as an international event, the Tour begins this year in thetown of Strasbourg, arguably a symbol of European reunification.Home of the European Parliament, Strasbourg first hosted a Tour stagein 1919 following the Treaty of Versailles, which returned Strasburg andthe surrounding Alsace region to France from German control.This isn’t Strasbourg’s first time hosting the Tour’s start, either.In 1953, the year the green jersey competition

Alberto Contador of Liberty Seguros has been hailed in Spain as the rider most likely to bring back the stage-racing glory days of Miguel Indurain. If such a thing is even possible, it may well be that Contador is the man to do it. And if not him, it may well be his younger teammate Luis Leon Sanchez. Able to climb as well as time trial, Contador is a big prospect for team director Manolo Saiz, who gave him his first pro contract with ONCE in 2003 and just signed him again for an extended contract. Contador, 22, and Sanchez, 21, made the trek from Spain to Boston in late September, with

Speculation about the route for the upcoming Tour de France is always high in the days before it is officially announced. This is particularly so this year because for the first time in eight years the Tour will start without its dominant champion. So the layout of the 2006 Tour course, to be announced Thursday, will play a much bigger role in determining what type of rider will emerge as the successor to Lance Armstrong. Will the course favor a time trialist like Jan Ullrich, a climber like Ivan Basso, experienced challengers like Levi Leipheimer, Francisco Mancebo or Alexander Vinokourov,

The route for the 2006 Tour de France will be unveiled Thursday in a glittery ceremony in the Palais des Congrès in Paris. That is, if the leaks appearing in the European press don’t ruin the surprise before then. What’s officially known is that the 93rd edition of the French national tour will run from July 1st to the 23rd, with a 7.5km prologue along the Rhine in Strasbourg to get the party started. A road stage starting and finishing in Strasbourg on July 2 will dip into Germany. Beyond that, reports in a variety of European newspapers have the Tour route pushing north into Holland and

Olympic kilometer champion Chris Hoy is planning an attempt on Arnaud Tournant’s world kilo' record in 2007, The Scotsman reported Monday. Tournant became the first man to record a sub-minute time in the kilometer track event when he clocked 58.875 seconds at 3,658 meters altitude in La Paz, Bolivia in October 2001. “Bolivia is the only place to do it,” Hoy told The Scotsman newspaper. “It needs to be at altitude because it’s just not feasible to try at sea level.” Hoy said first he’ll try to win the kilometer title at the Commonwealth Games and the world championship in 2006, events

Magnus Backstedt said he’s ready for his attempt to break the derny-paced world hour record set for next week on the Welsh track of the Newport Velodrome. "I am in peak form," Backstedt said in a Liquigas-Bianchi team report. Training is going well, and he’s meshed well with his pacer, Britain’s Spender. The 2004 Paris-Roubaix champion is hoping to break the mark of 66.114km set by Dutchman Matthé Pronk. Backstedt is one of the largest riders in the peloton and said his power will be the deciding factor in the record attempt. While Pronk managed 140 pushes on the pedal per minute, Backstedt

Gilberto Simoni will ride the 2006 season with Spanish ProTour team Saunier Duval. The two-time Giro d’Italia champion announced his decision at a press conference Friday morning in Italy. Simoni, 34, said the team will secure him a place in the season’s most important races. Simoni was the focus of interest from several teams in the wake of the collapse of the Sony Ericsson team, which evaporated last week and left a dozen riders looking for a job. Simoni drew offers from Unibet.com and Naturino-Sapore, two continental teams looking to break into the 20-team ProTour league. But Simoni

Two-time Giro d’Italia champion Gilberto Simoni is the flavor of the month these days as teams compete to sign the 34-year-old veteran. Just a day after Belgian continental team Unibet.com announced it was trying to lure Simoni, the Spanish wires were reporting that Spanish ProTour team Saunier Duval has also made an offer. Simoni had penned a deal to ride with Giancarlo Ferretti in 2006, but Sony Ericsson – touted as title sponsor of the team – pulled out of the deal, leaving Simoni and a dozen others without contracts. Simoni has had no trouble capturing the attention of the top teams,

Russian Pavel Tonkov announced his retirement from professional cycling. Tonkov, 36, won the 1996 Giro d’Italia and was one of the most successful Eastern European riders to break into the pro ranks following the fall of the Iron Curtain in the early 1990s. “The moment has arrived to say enough is enough with racing,” Tonkov told Europa Press. “I’m sure my future will be in cycling, where I will try to put my experience at the disposition of young riders.” Tonkov was born in 1969 in the Russian town of Ichevsk and won the world junior championships in Bergamo in 1987, which soon became his

Spanish continental team Comunidad Valenciana will pass on trying to make a jump to the ProTour in 2006. According to an interview in the Spanish sports daily AS, team officials say the ProTour demands are simply beyond their budget. “They demand that we considerably increase our budget to enter the ProTour and at this moment we’re not ready to do it,” said team manager José Luis Aznar in AS. “We saw what happened to Giancarlo Ferretti and we’ve opted to remain prudent and wait one more year.” The announcement comes as a surprise as Comunidad Valenciana has been one of the most vocal critics

Can I just have the new crank?Dear Lennard,I have an older Serotta Legend with 9 speed Dura-Ace and I wonderedif I can replace the crank set-up to the new stiffer 10 speed without compatibilityissues as I would like to leave the 9 speed rear end as is. Seems likeI remember Velo doing an article on this subject last year but I have forgottenthe particulars as to efficiency and effectiveness.GeorgeDear George,I have done it, and it works fine.LennardLong legs and lots of climbingDear Lennard,I'm 6 foot 4 with a 36-inch inseam and I prefer to run 180mm cranks. I also ride a lot of

Center-pull cantilever brakes, once common on mountain bikes, are now completely gone from the racing circuit. However, as summer winds down, the leaves turn and cyclo-cross bikes come out of hiding, the center-pull cantilever can once again enjoy the spotlight. To understand what makes a good cyclo-cross brake, you first have to understand some of the intricacies of cantilever geometry, lever ratios and the whole idea of mechanical advantage. At the most basic level, a brake and its lever must be matched in terms of mechanical advantage. A prime example is a linear-pull brake (the

Riders and staff are scrambling to try to find new jobs in the wake of news last week that the Sony Ericsson deal to take over the sponsorship for Fassa Bortolo fell through. The mobile communications giant issued a terse statement Friday saying it had no intention of sponsoring a professional racing team despite news that Italian manager Giancarlo Ferretti had already penned more than a dozen riders to long-term contracts. Ferretti was on the verge of tears when he told La Gazzetta dello Sport that an intermediary had misled him and others in believing that a multi-year, multimillion

Before Saturday’s Tour of Lombardy, which was celebrating its centennial, Olympic champion Paolo Bettini was totally relaxed, chatting with friends and signing autographs for the fans who gathered at the start in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Asked by RAI television how he saw the day going, the 31-year-old Quick Step-Innergetic team leader said he would see how things went, follow the wheels, and maybe go for the final sprint. More than six hours later, on the misty lakeside in Como, Italy, he was there for the final sprint, but he didn’t just "follow the wheels." Bettini exploded the race on the

Ace cycling shooter Graham Watson was on hand as the inaugural ProTour wrapped up with the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday - here's a sampling of what he saw through the lens.

The new Sony Ericsson team headed up by cycling legend Giancarlo Ferretti looks to be on the verge of collapsing. The veteran Italian team manager is reportedly in Sweden for emergency meetings with Ericsson officials after it was learned that high-level officials were threatening to pull the plug on the recently announced six-year deal to sponsor the team. In fact, the mobile communications giant couldn’t have put it more bluntly Friday on its web page. “There have been a number of press reports across Europe speculating that Sony Ericsson will sponsor a cycling team. Sony Ericsson can

When the Tour of Lombardy was first held in November 1905, bike racing was in its infancy. The Tour de France had just been held for the third time, while the Giro d’Italia was still four years away from its first edition. And the only one-day classic being organized on an annual basis was Paris-Roubaix, which had been held 10 times. The first Giro di Lombardia was held on an almost flat loop, starting and finishing in the region’s capital, Milan. The winner, in a long solo break, was a solid local with slicked-back straight hair, Giovanni Gerbi, who covered the 230km course in a little over