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Farrar at this year's Cofidis presentation

McQuaid visits the Tour de Langkawi

McQuaid congratulates the Tour's jersey holders

Charteau has a four-minute buffer on GC

Argentine Maximiliano Richeze earned an impressive win at the end of the second stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday, edging out a hard-charging field at the end of a 166-kilometer stage between the Malaysian cities of Kangar and Kulim. Richeze, who along with his Ceramiche Panaria teammate, Ruben Bongiorno, were pipped at the end of Friday’s opening stage by Italian Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia), fought hard in the final 250 meters to fend off a big group of strong sprinters, earning both the checkered flag and the overall leader’s jersey.

Scroll through the list of winners from past 11 editions of the Tour de Langkawi, and there are only a few names that really jump off the page. There is the Discovery Channel’s Tom Danielson, who turned his 2003 win of the Malaysian national tour into a ProTour contract with Fassa Bortolo in ’04. Fellow American Chris Horner is also there, but he endured a sizable gap between his 2000 Langkawi victory and a return to the European peloton in 2005. Indeed, while the early-season stage race has always attracted major league talent — Tafi, Vinokourov, Bettini and Landis are names that have

Richeze makes it look easy

George, at Thursday's presentation, knew he had his work cut out.

"Cycling in the News" is a regular service of VeloNews.com. Readers, reporters and friends are encouraged to send links to current stories about competitive cyclists and cycling that appear in the mainstream media. If you come across a news item that you believe may be of interest to other VeloNews readers, we would be grateful if you choose to send it to rosters@InsideInc.com.Wheels on ice: Slip-sliding and loving itThe New York TimesThe mass perforation of Brownie Lake began at noon, when eight rolling tires, thousands of shiny screw tips and the fast-pumping legs of four bike riders were

To say it’s been a difficult past two years for Simon Donnellan would be an understatement. The Brit’ turned resident of Malaysia has been at the center of a Tour de Langkawi firestorm, which saw the race on the brink of cancellation before being rescued by the Malaysian government. Donnellan first became involved with the 10-day event while working as a radio engineer for The Events Group, a U.K.-based sports management company that helped run the race during its formative years. He then made a move he probably now regrets, agreeing to buy the event from its local organizers in late 2004.

Belgian Wilfried Cretskens (Quick Step) was crowned winner of the Tour of Qatar after the sixth and final stage on Friday. Tom Boonen, Cretskens's compatriot and teammate, won the 134km stage between Sealine Beach and Doha. Indeed, Boonen won four of the tour’s six stages. But the overall win went to 33-year-old Cretskens, the first tour success of his career. The one stage the former world champion failed to win, on Thursday, saw Cretskens leapfrog him into the leader's jersey and maintain a lead of more than two minutes. "Today was a very special day," said Cretskens. "The team

Ex-Phonak team manager John Lelangue blasted Floyd Landis in an interview with AFP and said he feels personally “betrayed” by the American Tour de France winner. In one of his first public interviews since the collapse of the Phonak team following the Landis doping case, a bitter Lelangue expressed his confidence in the anti-doping controls, adding that the American shouldn’t count on any support from him. “I suffered an enormous deception, a true human betrayal on the part of Landis,” Lelangue told AFP. “I told him at the time that I believed the tests and I believed the results and that

Italy’s Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia-Serramenti) provided a sizzling start to the 12th edition of the Le Tour de Langkawi when he charged to the line to claim the first stage on a day when Malaysia’s first continental team, LeTua Cycling, grabbed two top-10 slots in the overall classification Friday.

French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour has called for the postponement of next week's French anti-doping agency (AFLD) hearing into the case of Floyd Landis until the American cyclist has appeared before the U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Lamour said that he was speaking as vice-president of the world anti-doping agency (WADA) and not in his capacity as French sports minister. "It's wiser to await the hearing of Landis by the USADA," said Lamour. "It's not a recommendation but an opinion. It's more productive to focus on the American hearing (scheduled for March)

UCI chief Pat McQuaid says the organizers of Paris-Nice are violating international cycling rules by refusing to invite one of the 20 ProTour teams to its event, and charged that Amaury Sports Organization has hopes of "breaking" the UCI’s ProTour series. The UCI has threatened to bar ASO from running its race, which is sanctioned by the UCI and can be held only if the organizer respects all UCI rules and regulations. "The UCI will not budge on a matter of rules and the legitimate rights of teams and riders," said McQuaid from Malaysia in a telephone interview with AFP. "I hope the

American and international anti-doping officials on Friday disputed assertions by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that the league will be unable to test players for human growth hormone until a better test is developed. Goodell, speaking during the NFL’s “state of the league” address on Friday suggested that American professional football leads other sports in drug testing, but said he doubted the league would be able to test for HGH because “there is no reliable test right now." Goodell’s claim, however, was disputed by Travis Tygart, chief counsel at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, who said

Track sprinter Stephen Alfred accepted an eight-year suspension from competition this week after testing positive for exogenous testosterone or its precursors and for human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). Alfred, 39, showed an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio in an out-of-competition test conducted by USADA on May 28, 2006. Follow-up tests indicated that the testosterone imbalance resulted from the presence of exogenous testosterone.

Simon Donnellan

Cretskens takes the yellow jersey

The bunch smells the barn

Loddo takes the first stage

Malaysia's LeTua team is the focus of a lot of local attention

The Tour is only a part of Malaysia's big tourism push

Welcome to Malaysia

Loddo in the leader's jersey

Pre-race rubdown

Alfred at a World Cup Track competition in January of 2006

On Tuesday, the United States Anti Doping Agency cleared mountain bikers Cale Redpath and Alice Pennington of any wrongdoing, months after the two athletes accepted one-year suspensions for no showing at post-race doping control tests during the 2006 season. According to USA Cycling, the decision was made because both athletes were reserves in their respective tests. The automatic selected and random selected athletes were on hand to be tested at both races, meaning Redpath and Pennington would not have actually been tested. The decision to reinstate their eligibility was made after a

If the rest of the 2007 Tour de Langkawi comes off like Thursday’s team unveiling, it’s a safe bet that the scandal-scarred race has put its past troubles in the rearview mirror. Following a year in which financial uncertainty and in-fighting between controlling factions put the event’s future in doubt, the Malaysian national tour popped the cork on its 12th edition during a pomp-and-circumstance filled ceremony along the boardwalk of the posh seaside Awana Hotel on the island of Langkawi. “It will difficult to make people forget the issues of unpaid debts that the race faced in the past,”

American classics hope Tyler Farrar will be staying with Cofidis through the end of his contract this season and won’t be joining Discovery Channel - at least for now. Farrar’s name was linked to the American team last week when he appeared on a list of Discovery Channel riders for the 2007 season. The 22-year-old admitted he’s spoken with Discovery Channel representatives, but denied he was poised to leave the French team just as the 2007 season kicks into gear. “I was just as surprised as everyone else. I was at the Cofidis team presentation and someone pulled out a copy of Het Laatste

Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet (Predictor-Lotto) won the fifth and penultimate stage of the Tour of Qatar on Thursday. Van Avermaet beat home German Marcel Sieberg and Frenchman Stephane Poulhies in a sprint finish to the 156km stage between Al-Zubarah and Mesaieed. Fellow Belgian Wilfried Cretskens (Quick Step), who was part of the race-deciding 10-man breakaway, took the race leader's jersey from teammate and compatriot Tom Boonen, who finished 20th, more than two minutes down, along with the main chasing pack. Tour rookie Van Avermaet was overjoyed with his stage win. "It's my

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who has been linked to a damaging Spanish doping inquiry, has agreed to submit to a DNA test in an effort to clear his name. "I want this affair to be sorted out quickly so that I can get back on my bike," Ullrich was quoted as saying by his agent Wolfgang Strohband in an article published by Bild. On Tuesday, Bonn prosecutors said they wanted to compare samples in Switzerland with those from blood seized by Spanish authorities during Operacion Puerto from properties owned by the infamous Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Ullrich has agreed to

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has threatened to stop Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) holding the upcoming Paris-Nice, unless it respects the rule that states all 20 ProTour teams start every race on the ProTour circuit. The race is sanctioned by the UCI and can be held only if the organizer respects all UCI rules and regulations. According to several team managers at Doha, where the Tour of Qatar is taking place, the UCI has sent a letter to all the ProTour teams telling them that ASO's decision not to invite Unibet.com to Paris-Nice could see the French organizer banned from

Large crowds will greet the competitors of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California when the race kicks off with a short, intense time trial through the streets of San Francisco. The first rider will leave the start ramp in front of the Ferry Building at Pier 1 at 1 p.m. for the 1.9-mile prologue stage sponsored by Union Bank of California. After a fast ride down the Embarcadero, riders will make a sharp left onto Bay Street for a steep climb up Telegraph Hill. It will take most riders somewhere between five and six minutes to complete the painful effort. Last year Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer

Starting on the northern side of the San Francisco Bay, Stage 1 will cover almost 100 miles from Sausalito to Santa Rosa. The stage, sponsored by Herbalife, begins with a climb from Mill Valley up to Mt. Tamalpais State Park before turning toward Muir Beach. The course mirrors Stage 1 of the 2006 race all the way to Valley Ford, but after that it follows a longer, more difficult route into the finishing town of Santa Rosa. This year’s route will head further north to Bodega Bay and then turn onto Coleman Valley Road, a landmark climb in Northern California. That climb will provide

The pleasant roadside views of Sonoma County wineries will mark the start of Stage 2, but the scenery will soon be forgotten when the peloton hits a major climb just 12 miles into the race. The ascent of the steep Trinity Road climb followed by a treacherous descent toward more wineries in Napa Valley will be sure to break up the field. After that, the peloton will continue east toward Sacramento. Riders will pass Lake Berryessa, then head through Davis, known as one of the best cycling towns in the U.S. With a quick turn to the north, the route will then follow the Sacramento River to the

After a neutral start with parade laps through Stockton’s revitalized downtown area, the peloton will head west through California’s farmlands. Riders will travel through Tracy and then encounter Patterson Pass, a new climb in this year’s race. Following Patterson Pass, they’ll pass through the city of Livermore before connecting to a climb up Calaveras Road. This long, constant grade, which was also used in the 2006 Amgen Tour of California, leads to the most difficult climb of the race, the Category 1 (most difficult) Sierra Road climb in San José. After completing this KOM (King of the

The remarkable views of Stage 4 will make it a favorite for riders and spectators alike. Beginning in Seaside with a short neutral lap and traveling along a similar route to last year’s Stage 4, the peloton will head south on scenic Highway 1 where the mountains and redwood forests flank the PacificOcean. At more than 130 miles long, and with three KOMs, this is the longest stage ofthe race and will test the riders on consistently hilly and technical terrain. The six-hour day will take the riders through Big Sur and past Hearst Castle before shifting inland toward the finish at the

The quaint Danish village of Solvang has become a cycling destination and serves as the host city of many ProTour team training camps each winter. At only 14.5-miles long, the Stage 5 time trial in Solvang is an ideal location for spectators to view the race. Conveniently, the start and finish are located just two blocks apart. The route will highlight some of the most beautiful areas and towns of Central California, winding through quaint towns, vineyards, farms and one short but steep climb. Shorter, flatterand faster than last year’s time trial, Stage 5will be a challenging test for the

This could be the pivotal stage of this year’s Amgen Tour of California. Stage 6 is not only long, at 105 miles, but it features four King of the Mountain climbs, two sprints and a demanding finishing circuit in Santa Clarita. With this year’s individual time trial being less selective than last year’s, there could be several contenders separated by just a few seconds at this point in the race. After a start in view of the Santa Barbara shoreline, Stage 6, which is sponsored by Health Net, will be the last chance for a solid favorite to emerge before the circuit race finale in Long Beach.

The Stage 7 circuit race is flat and fast, and sure to be a favorite with spectators. This is where the sprinters will come to the fore, as the pack races 10 laps around a circuit course in downtown Long Beach. Sponsored by Amgen, the stage includes part of the famous Long Beach Grand Prix course used for CART races. These roads are wide and fast. Views of San Pedro Bay and the Pacific Ocean will be visible for the entire course, with a backdrop of the famed Queen Mary in the bay. Course designers expect a hard sprint to the finish. Just like with the grand tours of Europe, a win on the

Where are you spending your off-season?

George may have his work cut out for him this year.

Farrar will keep his Cofidis kit for '07

Van Avermaet takes his first win as a pro

Boonen deals with a balky bike

Cretskens enjoys a moment with another Belgian who knows a little something about winning races

Ho, hum - you race by one desert fortress, you've raced by them all

Amgen Tour of California - Prologue

Amgen Tour of California - Prologue

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 1

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 1

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 3

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 3

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 4

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 4

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 5

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 5

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 6

Amgen Tour of California - Stage 7

At its customary pre-season training camp in Solvang, California, the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team opened the doors of the Royal Scandinavian Inn to the media on Monday and Tuesday for an opportunity to meet the team’s riders. In lieu of an official team presentation, which will be offered via video on the team’s Web site, thepaceline.com, team representatives arranged one-on-one interviews with print, Web and video journalists in Solvang, a small Danish settlement in central California. Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, a part owner of the team, was in attendance at

Led by 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, the Discovery Channel CyclingTeam is heading into the 2007 season with high hopes. The team is now holdingits traditional pre-seasontraining camp in Solvang, California. Earlier this week, the team openedits doors to reporters and photographers. VeloNews photographerCasey Gibson was there to capture the scene.

Come the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the entire episode could make ideal fodder for one of NBC’s sappy vignettes about struggle and sacrifice. But right now Mike Friedman is ready to put his ordeal with dangerous blood clots, doping innuendo and an aborted spring racing campaign behind him. The 24-year-old just wants to race his bike and build on a promising debut season in 2006 where he finished top American at the International Championship in Philadelphia, and won a pair of U.S. national track titles. “People hear blood and they immediately think drugs,” lamented Friedman, who last

[Watch Video]

Belgian Tom Boonen dominated Australian Graeme Brown in a bunch sprint to win an explosive fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar on Wednedsday. Quick Step’s Boonen thus picked up his third individual stage win in as many days after a mainly flat 139km of racing between the Camelodrome and the Gulf of Doha. Brazilian Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) finished third behind Rabobank’s Brown, who on Monday was accused of causing mayhem in the bunch sprint during which Predictor-Lotto’s Tom Steels crashed and was left with a broken collarbone. Boonen will take a 27-second lead over teammate Steven De Jongh

Sastre focusing on Tour-Vuelta doubleTeam CSC’s Carlos Sastre believes he can aim even higher at the Tour de France and is taking aim at the final podium for the 2007 edition. Fourth overall in last year’s Tour as well as at the Vuelta a España, the Spanish climber said he’ll skip the Giro d’Italia to focus on preparing exclusively for the Tour before rebounding for a run at the Spanish tour. “I will work for victory in both the Tour and the Vuelta,” Sastre told Spanish journalists. “These are the most important races for me and I’d honestly like to shine.” The decision will end Sastre’s

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To say that the decision to sign Basso was not without controversy is an understatement. Will the gamble pay off?

Leipheimer has made adjustments in his 2007 plan.

Beppu with the recently retired Ekimov

Not many places better for early season training

Cruz toys with a new ride

Och' with Sean Yates

Planning the day's ride

Armstrong still has a big investment in the team

Ivan Basso is attracting his fair share of attention in Solvang

Tony Cruz and Ekimov lead an early morning ride.