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T-Mobile worked to keep the gap to a minimum

Saunier Duval lends a hand with the chase

The leaders hit the Ferrari test track

Arveson has reason to celebrate.

Still in pink

Petacchi may prefer Monday's stage

It was a bike stab to turn the page on a year of suffering. Alessandro Petacchi jammed his bike across the line in Saturday’s seventh stage to win for the second time in a week and officially close the book on his long comeback from injury in last year’s Giro d’Italia. The Milram rider timed his move perfectly to win a high-octane sprint on the Mugello race circuit ahead of Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and Paolo Bettini (QuickStep-Innergetic) by a half-wheel length.

George Hincapie is enjoying his first crack at the Giro d’Italia. The American national champion sat on the hood of the Discovery Channel team car Saturday morning as he soaked up the sights ahead of the start of the 254km seventh stage. The hilltop town of Spoleto was bathed in pink for the partenza and Hincapie was clearly digging the scene. “I am really enjoying the Giro,” Hincapie told VeloNews. “The racing is good but it’s a lot more relaxed here than the Tour. This is just what I needed.” Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that Hincapie’s never raced the Giro during his

“Everybody cheats. I just didn’t know.” — Dennis Christopher as Dave Stoller in “Breaking Away” Remember the scene in “Breaking Away” when the evil Team Cinzano rider stuffs a pump into goofy Italophile Dave Stoller’s spokes and shows him what big-time bike racing is really all about? That’s what happened Thursday in the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. Unless I miss my guess, a whole bunch of bright-eyed contributors to the Floyd Fairness Fund suddenly found themselves sprawled in a muddy ditch alongside this race to the bottom, stunned by the revelation that the 2006 Tour de France

Floyd Landis took the witness stand in his own defense Saturday, saying that Greg LeMond misinterpreted his words and that he had nothing to do with a phone call his business manager made to the three-time Tour de France champion on the eve of his testimony at Landis’s arbitration hearing. Landis also denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs, and said his 2006 Tour victory was the product of hard work and determination. “It’s a matter of who I am,” said Landis during direct questioning from attorney Howard Jacobs, who concluded by asking Landis to explain why the three-man arbitration

Petacchi gets a second win.

Hincapie, before Saturday's start in Spoleto

Ah, for the good old days, when people just upshifted their rivals on hills or stuck pumps into their spokes

No way were these guys gonna get away.

Pinotti gets another day in pink.

Heading for the day's only hill.

Quick Step puts the hammer down.

American Aaron Olson

José Luis 'Chechu' Rubiera

Floyd on the stand

Catlin provides his perspective

The UCI is poised to appeal the Floyd Landis and Ivan Basso doping cases if stiff racing bans are not handed out. UCI president Pat McQuaid said Thursday cycling’s governing body would likely challenge anything less than two-year racing bans to the Court of Arbitration of Sport for the beleaguered Tour de France and Giro d’Italia champions. “We have to wait and see the evidence that comes forward, but if we don’t agree with the ruling, the UCI would appeal,” McQuaid told VeloNews. “If we think the evidence doesn’t support the decision, we can appeal it to CAS.” The Landis hearing opened

Danilo Di Luca called this one. Secure in his leader’s jersey at the end of Thursday’s stage to Frascati, the Liquigas rider said that Friday’s stage – with three moderate to tough climbs spread along the route – would be a prime opportunity for a break-away effort to succeed and perhaps relieve him of the pressure of defending the maglia rosa for a while. Right, on both counts.

Landis' friend and business manager Geoghegan admits to calling former Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, pretending to be his abusive uncle.

The rumors have been floating around for months that “Urko” — one of the infamous codenames found in the Operación Puerto dossier — could belong to Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro. No one dared touch it except a few anonymous web sites until Il Giornale, an Italian newspaper in Milan, published a story Wednesday without naming sources linking Pereiro to bags of blood with the pseudonym found in police raids last May. An angry Pereiro blasted the allegations Friday and said he would quit cycling if he’s forced to provide DNA samples to prove his innocence. “I have never spoken with Eufemiano

Day five of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing started with a public admission of witness harassment and continued with a heartfelt doping confession by a suspended pro cyclist. In between it was more of the less sensational — but likely more critical — scientific testimony that will likely determine whether Landis is found guilty of using synthetic testosterone to win the 2006 Tour de France. The hearing continues Saturday with Landis himself scheduled to take the witness stand. If he beats the rap, he’ll hold onto his Tour title. Otherwise he faces a two-year racing ban, plus an

Editor's Note: Denver-based attorney Antonio Gallegos is in Malibu, California, this week to observe the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. Gallegos works for the firm of Holland and Hart, concentrating in commercial litigation and government investigation. He is also an avid cyclist and is developing a sports law practice. At the end of each day Gallegos will be providing VeloNews.com with analysis on what happened and why. Here's his take key moments from the fifth day on the Pepperdine University Campus. Today’s evidence was pivotal for both USADA and Landis as testimony from USADA

Both Laverde and Pinotti had reason to smile.

Laverde quickly showed he was the strongest in the day's successful break.

Liquigas simply wanted to keep the margin small and no one else wanted to chase.

The peloton hit the summit of the Terminillo seven minutes after the escapees did.

The quintet worked together, until....

... Laverde put in a big dig on the final climb.

Pinottii gets the jersey, but for how long?

IRMS Supervisor LNDD, Doctor Corinne Buisson, testifies on Friday

Papp explains why cyclists use testosterone

Antonio Gallegos

How can I duplicate my position on a new bike (more tips)?

No one seemed particularly happy with the finish of the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday - except the guy who won it. Gerolsteiner’s Robert Förster emerged at the front of a mad dash through a frightening closing kilometer at the end a 173-kilometer stage from Teano to Frascati to score the second Giro stage victory of his career. Overall race leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) finished comfortably in the main field to hold on to his 26-second advantage over teammate Franco Pellizotti on general classification.

Tyler Hamilton’s status with Tinkoff Credit Systems appears doubtful in the wake of his departure from the team just days before the start of the90th Giro d’Italia.

Tinkoff folded to pressure from Giro organizers over Hamilton’s alleged links to the Opera?ion Puerto doping scandal and dropped him from what would have been Hamilton’s first grand tour since he tested positive for homologous blood doping in the 2004 Vuelta a España.

In the tech world, there’s always something newer, lighter and lustier right around the corner. In the marketing world, thousands of dollars are spent to create a good buzz at just the right moment to drum up sales for the new stuff without cannibalizing sales of a company’s existing product. Recently, SRAM may have gotten its tech and marketing wires crossed, as a 42-page document detailing its yet-to-be-released, top-end road group, Red, began circulating on the Internet well ahead of SRAM’s planned launch. When SRAM unveiled its Force and Rival groups in April of 2006, company spokesmen

Editor's Note: Denver-based attorney Antonio Gallegos is in Malibu, California, this week to observe the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. Gallegos works for the firm of Holland and Hart, concentrating in commercial litigation and government investigation. He is also an avid cyclist and is developing a sports law practice. At the end of each day Gallegos will be providing VeloNews.com with analysis on what happened and why. Here's his take on the third day of an arbitration hearing that is expected to last up to 10 days. Landis’s attorneys spent nearly the entire day cross-examining

Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) currently sits atop the UCI’s men’s cross-country rankings with 435 points, 15 points more than second-place ranked Roel Paulissen (Cannondale-Vredestein) of Belgium. The Canadian enjoyed a 12th place finish at the World Cup cross-country opener, held April 21 in Houffalize, Belgium. Most of Kabush’s points have come from his early season undefeated streak in the Western Hemisphere UCI races. Kabush won the March 11 Pan American championships in Villa la Agostura, Argentina, the April 15 Sea Otter Classic and the opening three rounds of the National Mountain

LeMond testified under oath that Landis implicitly admitted to doping during a phone call. LeMond also testified that he received what he characterized as a threatening phone call from a member of the Landis team on the eve of his testimony.

Editor's Note: Denver-based attorney Antonio Gallegos is in Malibu, California, this week to observe the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing. Gallegos works for the firm of Holland and Hart, concentrating in commercial litigation and government investigation. He is also an avid cyclist and is developing a sports law practice. At the end of each day Gallegos will be providing VeloNews.com with analysis on what happened and why. Here's his take on a wild fourth day on the Pepperdine University Campus.Testimony from three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond provided some TV-style

Following his startling testimony on day four of the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond held an impromptu press conference in the hallway outside the courtroom. Here’s what he had to say. On the threatening phone callThe guy who threatened me last night, as I was leaving [the courtroom today], admitted that he called me and the tried to apologize. I plan on pursuing this through the police. It was a real threat and it was very, I hate to say it, creepy. I think it shows the extent of who he is. On

Förster earns the second Giro stage win of his career.

Oleg Tinkov at the Giro

Another day in pink. Di Luca says he's ready to give up the jersey... for now.

Making the boss happy. Ignatiev and Buffaz try another Jacky Durand immitation.

Buffaz was tired after trying the same thing earlier in the week.

so Ignatiev goes it alone...

but the teams of Petacchi and McEwen had other ideas.

Bernucci and Sella give it a go

Bettini, recovered from the bruising he got on Wednesday, only had an errant shoe to worry about.

Georgia Gould

Mary McConneloug

Kabush is sitting on top of the world (rankings)

LeMond said he was surprised when Landis called him last August.

Landis listens to LeMond's testimony on Thursday.

Landis's attorney quickly fired Geoghegan after the business manager admitted making the call.

Three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond said he was threatened by a member of the Landis team on Wednesday night.

Claire Frelat

Antonio Gallegos

The defense focused on Frelat's handling of samples, but...

...Ayotte said Landis's sample would have been positive, no matter where it was tested.

Danilo Di Luca repeated his victory atop the Montevergine climb from 2001 in Wednesday’s rainy and crash-marred fourth stage, but things have changed a lot for “The Killer” since those heady days six years ago. Back then, Di Luca was the hot, emerging star who everyone predicted would one day win the Giro d’Italia. Other than come close with fourth overall in 2005, Di Luca has never delivered on that promise.

On a day when the International Tennis Federation announced it would send drug test samples taken from the upcoming French Open to the WADA accredited lab in Montreal instead of the Laboratoire National du Dépistage du Dopage outside Paris, the LNDD’s credibility faced more harsh scrutiny on the other side of the Atlantic as the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing rolled on in Malibu, California. While the ITF claimed its decision to swap labs was a question of finances — and not of competence — the Landis defense team continued to make its case that the LNDD wasn’t fit to test samples from

Di Luca wins back the jersey, too.

The Amalfi Coast, beautiful and getting there was half the fun

Narrow roads kept the pace low early in the stage... or maybe they were just checkin' out the view

Di Luca credits his team's big effort.

Bettini fought back and stayed in the race.

Popovych lost 34 seconds... not insurmountable

Brutt was on the attack again.

Pérez Cuapio went with 8km to go...

... the attack caused Piepoli and others to give chase.

Di Luca shows who's boss