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Leipheimer gets congrats from the Guvernator

Leipheimer had this win in mind from the day the route was announced.

Bobby J takes on Telegraph Hill

Zabriskie finished the day nine seconds off of Leipheimer's pace.

Landis finishes in fourth

Hincapie ensures an All-American podium

Pain and Gain: Leipheimer gives it his all.

Tour Stage 1

Landis at the start

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Stage Four Map

Cannery Row start

Health Net preps

Stage 5 map

Simoni in Stage 5

The idea is not new. In fact, there was a Tour of California held as long ago as 1971. And in the three decades since then, various proposals have come and gone. One of them, which had the State of California’s backing, even got as far as an organizer being hired and a course being approved. But the race announced by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) last March 25 finally had all the elements required to put this second Tour of California on the road. Clearly, if an event is going to succeed there has to be a need for it. That need is just as pressing today as it was in 1971, when

The 14th annual John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun Stage Race got under way outside Phoenix on Friday, though the sun failed to make an appearance. Despite windy, chilly and dry conditions, 930 riders turned out for the opening Buckeye Time Trial, a 12-mile race at Sun Valley Parkway, west of Phoenix. Tom Zirbel (Priority Health Cycling) took the opener in 29:25. Curtis Gunn (Team Successful Living) was second at 33 seconds slower with defending champion Ryan Blickem (Targetraining) third at 39 seconds. In the women's race, Andrea Ratkovic (B1 Rocks) took top honors with a fast

Belgian Gert Steegmans (Davitamon) won his second stage of the Tour de l'Algarve on Saturday and donned the leader’s yellow jersey. Steegmans outsprinted Germans Robert Förster (Gerolsteiner) and Thomas Ziegler (T-Mobile) to claim the fourth stage, a 174.5km leg between Lagoa and Portimao. The fifth and final stage will be a 183.4km run between Vila Real Santo Antonio and Alto de Malhao à Loulé. Stage1. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon, 174.5km in 4:39:26 (37,469 km/h)2. Robert Förster (G), Gerolsteiner, same time3. Thomas Ziegler (G), T-Mobile, s.t.4. Markus Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner,

The 16 teams that will be racing the inaugural Amgen Tour of California were presented Friday during a fund-raising gala in Sausalito. The evening featured dinner, dancing, a fashion show and a silent auction, with the proceeds to benefit Trips for Kids, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Bikes for Kids. Photographer Casey Gibson was on hand to capture the moment.

The 2006 edition skips the northern mountains - but the coastline near Big Sur will make a stunning backdrop

Monterey's Cannery Row is no stranger to bike racing, having hosted road and mountain stages of the Sea Otter

The Four Amigos: Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie and the McCormack brothers, Mark and Frank

Frankie Andreu discusses the new Toyota-United Pro cycling team

The Discovery Channel squad

Which would you have bid for: a photo from 'Easy Rider,' autographed by Dennis Hopper, or a photo of Lance Armstrong?

The fully stocked Peloton Lounge

A colorful, rolling postcard for the State of California begins Sundayin San Francisco, ending a week later, on February 26, in Redondo Beach.Along the route — which will also highlight Marin County, Big Sur, SanLuis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks — a who’s-who list of topAmerican cyclists will begin their racing seasons fighting to win the inauguralAmgen Tour of California, an event that has quickly emerged as the topUCI stage race in North America. Sixteen teams comprising 128 riders from more than 25 countries willtackle the 600-mile tour. Among the athletes scheduled to compete

Team TIAA-CREF, America’s youngest professional cycling team, ridesinto Chipotles across California to greet fans as they compete in the Tourof CaliforniaWhat: Team TIAA-CREF, America’s youngest professionalcycling team dedicated to developing the next generation of cycling champions,will ride in to three Chipotle restaurants in San Francisco, Monterey andSanta Barbara as they seek victory at Amgen’s Tour of California.Owned and managed by Slipstream Sports, a sports marketing and developmentcompany led by Jonathan Vaughters, former number one-ranked U.S. cyclist,Team TIAA-CREF features some

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. 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.Applause for Bergman’s confessionEditor:This might sound crazy, bit I actually sat at my computer this morning and applauded. I didn't applaud for Tom Boonen or Carlos Garcia Quesada and their victories at the Ruta del Sol or for any of the other victorious cyclists featured by

Uruguayan Alvaro Tardaguila has accepted a two-year suspension after a positive doping test, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday. Tardaguila tested positive for EPO and an anabolic agent, USADA said. The suspension is retroactive to Oct. 17, 2005. USADA handled the case because he tested positive at an event in the United States, the Downer Avenue leg of Superweek in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he rode for UPMC. Tardaguila was disqualified from that event, where he finished third, and from all subsequent races. He retains his victory in the Tour of Uruguay, which he won in March 2005

Liberty Seguros unveiled its lineup for the season Friday — without disgraced three-time Vuelta a España champion Roberto Heras, but with new team leader Alexandre Vinokourov. The Kazakh moved to the Spanish outfit from Germany's T-Mobile for the 2006 season after having spent several years overshadowed by perennial Tour de France contender Jan Ullrich. "Vinokourov arrives at Liberty with the ambition to lead the dream of the whole team, to climb the top step of the podium in Paris, and we are working towards that goal from day one," said Liberty manager Manolo Saiz. "Last season is

Simoni is one of two Giro winners racing at Amgen

Leipheimer and Landis are just two of many top U.S. riders to take on the Tour of California

Dear Readers,Recently, we had a letter from MC in Kentucky (See Law of the Land), who wroteI've Googled, and I’ve searched the Kentucky Legislature site, but the only Kentucky "laws" I can find dealing with bikes on the road are about lights, reflectors, etc. I can't find anything about cars having to pass bikes with 3 feet of clearance (which appears to be the "universal standard")…I called the local city police chief: "I'm not aware of any regulations for bicycles in Kentucky, other than the requirement for a helmet." I called the County Sheriff's office: "There are no laws

The UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) has refused to authorize the Trophy of the Grand Tours proposed by the organizers of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. In a press release issued Thursday, the council said the proposal by tour organizers ASO, RCS and Unipublic "does not respect the principles of road-cycling reform as introduced by the UCI," takes a counter-productive financial approach and demonstrates "a lack of responsibility towards cycling as a whole." The UCI insists that the three grand-tour organizers operate within the framework of the ProTour as they did in 2005:

Spain’s Carlos Garcia Quesada (Unibet.com), won the Ruta del Sol on Thursday. The fifth and final stage, a 172.6km leg between Olvera and Seville, went to Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who finally took his revenge on Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), who had beaten the world champion in their last two matchups. Roger Hammond (Discovery Channel) was third. In the final overall, Garcia Quesada took the win over countryman Rodrigo Garcia (Kaiku) with his brother, Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Andalucia-Paul Versan) placing third and collecting the King of the Mountains prize. Petacchi took the points jersey

Editor’s note: When America’s biggest bike race, the eight-day Amgen Tour of California, starts this weekend in San Francisco, some of the world’s leading riders will be starting their 2006 seasons at the head of major ProTour teams. In the current issue of VeloNews, you can read detailed profiles of two of these men: Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie and Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie. Here on velonews.com, we are featuring three of the other major contenders. We began Tuesday with an in-depth interview with Phonak team leader Floyd Landis; Wednesday's's installment featured

Last season was a marquee year for mountain biking’s elder statesman, Thomas Frischknecht. The 35-year-old Swiss grabbed a historic victory at Costa Rica’s La Ruta De Los Conquistadores, won his second consecutive marathon world championship and finished the year as the No. 7 ranked rider in the world. That’s pretty impressive for a guy who was the runner-up to Ned Overend at the inaugural world championships back in 1990. And he’s not done yet: Frischknecht is preparing for yet another season racing on the fat-tire circuit. A guy who has spent 17 years in a sport and made the world

The long, lightweight Rogers has the time-trialing skills and climbing potential to be a serious contender

Boonen and Petacchi lock horns once more

Frischi is gearing up for another winning season

Dear Monique,I had heard recently that sports drinks are bad for our teeth and cancause dental erosion. Obviously we need to use sports drinks when we trainand race. Is this a valid concern and what can we do about it?JBDear JB,Thanks very much for your question. Obviously it is best for your dentalhealth to limit sugar in your daily diet. However, when it comes to trainingand racing, easily digested and readily absorbed sports drinks with severalcarbohydrate sources are essential to replace fluid and fuel during longerworkouts.The link between consumption of sports drinks and dental health

Editor’s note: When America’s biggest bike race, the eight-day Amgen Tour of California, starts this weekend in San Francisco, some of the world’s leading riders will be starting their 2006 seasons at the head of major ProTour teams. In the current issue of VeloNews, you can read detailed profiles of two of these men: Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie and Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie. Here on velonews.com, we are featuring three of the other major contenders. We began yesterday with an in-depth interview with Phonak team leader Floyd Landis; today's installment features Gerolsteiner leader

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. 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.Hamilton coverage biased, lacks integrityEditor:Your recent article regarding Tyler Hamilton asked if readers agreed with the CAS decision. Although I am no longer a VeloNews reader, I do not agree with that decision. But that is to be expected. I openly admit my bias towards Tyler, as I

Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) once again showed world champion Tom Boonen his heels en route to winning the fourth stage of the Ruta del Sol on Wednesday. Boonen (Quick Step) held on for second ahead of Aussie Graeme Brown (Rabobank) in the 162.1km stage between Ecija and Ronda. Spain’s Carlos Garcia Quesada (Unibet), remains the overall leader ahead of Rodrigo Garcia (Kaiku), who was briefly slowed by a crash involving several riders, and García Quesada's brother, Adolfo (Andalucia-Paul Versan). Thursday's finale, a 172.6km run between Olvera and Seville, seems likely to

Belgian cyclist Frank Vandebroucke on Wednesday won an appeal to the Belgian supreme court in Brussels, overturning a judgment that he pay a 250.000-euro fine for possession of doping products, according to his lawyers. Last June, an appeals court in Ghent had ordered the fine, saying that Vandenbroucke "was to be judged as a drug addict, not as a doped sportsman." It was a first for a high-level athlete facing doping charges in Belgium. On Wednesday, the higher court overturned the judgment, finding the lower court’s reasoning "insufficient," said Me Luc Deleu, one of Vandebroucke’s

Editor’s note: We received the following as an e-mail from former Jelly Belly rider Adam Bergman, who began serving a suspension for EPO on July 27, 2004. The e-mail was prefaced with the statement: "If you could put this out in your publication it would mean a lot to me. This has been a long time coming, but I know it is the right thing to do." After speaking with Bergman to confirm that he was indeed its author, we agreed to publish it as an open letter. He declined to elaborate, saying: "I'm not going to answer anything else right now, I just wanted to get that out there." Almost two

Hunter Allen and Dr. Andrew Coggan will present material covered in their new book, "Training and Racing with a Power Meter," at Fast Splits, one of New England’s leading multisport training and retail centers. The event is scheduled for 7-8:30 p.m. Friday, March 3, at the Fast Splits location in West Newton, Massachusetts. Allen and Coggan will discuss the benefits of training with power and explain basic theory and techniques. Using real-life power meter data, they will review case studies and show how power meter data reveals strengths, weaknesses, and what kind of rider a cyclist can

Boulder, Colo. - The Colorado Premier Training-Colnago (CPT-Colnago) cycling team is preparing to start its first race of not only the year, but ever. This weekend?s event in which the team will compete -- the Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Phoenix, Ariz. -- will be the new Colorado-based team?s inaugural race. The three-day stage race, to be held Feb. 17-19, is often referred to as the unofficial kickoff to the domestic pro cycling season. Seven of the team?s 10 members will line up at theValley of the Sun event not only to show off the new team but also to prepare for upcoming races on

The organizers of the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday announced the initial roster for the race, which begins Sunday in San Francisco. Sixteen teams comprising 128 riders from more than 25 countries will tackle the inaugural tour, which concludes February 26 in Redondo Beach. Among the athletes scheduled to compete are two winners of the Giro d’Italia — Gilberto Simoni (Prodir-Saunier Duval), 2001 and 2003, and Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), 2002. Also taking the start will be three of the top-10 finishers in last year’s Tour de France — Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), sixth;

After winning the Tour of Germany, Leipheimer is training harder than ever

Petacchi wins another

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Hruska in a break

Joachim was active, too

As were VDB and Hruska once again

Milram gets busy

Boonen in his stylish world-champ kit

The rivals have one more duel slated for Thursday

'I did it': An open letter from Adam Bergman

Editor’s note: When America’s biggest bike race, the eight-day Amgen Tour of California, starts this weekend in San Francisco, some of the world’s leading riders will be starting their 2006 seasons at the head of major ProTour teams. In the current issue of VeloNews, you can read detailed profiles of two of these men: Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie and Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie. Here on velonews.com, we will feature three of the other major contenders, starting with this in-depth interview with Phonak team leader Floyd Landis. Floyd Landis, the American leader of Swiss team Phonak, is

The much-anticipated battle of the sprinters finally materialized in stage 3 of the Ruta del Sol on Tuesday as Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) pipped world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step) in the final dash to the line. Petacchi took the 174.1km stage from Cabra to Cordoue in just under four hours, with Boonen second and Graeme Brown third in the same time. Spaniard Carlos Garcia Quesada (Unibet) retained the overall lead. Stage1. Alessandro Petacchi (I), Milram), 174.1km in 3:52:582. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step, s.t.3. Graeme Brown (Aus), Rabobank, s.t.4. Baden Cooke (Aus), Unibet, s.t.5.

The 2005 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, pumped millions of dollars into the area economy, according to a recently released economic-impact report. "The Sea Otter Classic has become one of our area’s major events, enhancing Monterey’s tourism business in our off-peak season," says Julie Armstrong, marketing communications director for the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. "With 69 percent of the audience coming from outside our local market, it not only brings in new revenue but helps in the marketing exposure of our destination." The report, prepared by Fredric

Paris-Nice will be on the tube March 5 as OLN kicks off its cycling coverage for 2006. "Cycling continues to be an important part of OLN programming," said OLN president Gavin Harvey. "With Lance Armstrong’s retirement, fans are eagerly waiting to see who will emerge as the sport’s next star. Through our coverage of the spring classics, we will be able to chronicle the drama leading up to, and including, the Tour de France." Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll will host OLN’s Sunday cablecasts, which will include the classics, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour; Discovery Channel Team news;

After straying from the usual question-and-answer format a couple of times recently, I have been encouraged to continue to mix things up a bit, so I’ll do it again today. This column does involve a technical question, one I have pondered considerably of late, so I thought I would share it with you, since I may not be the only one considering it. One of my favorite things to do in the summertime is to go on long road rides in the mountains. However, we all eventually get the message — sometimes subtly, sometimes not — that perhaps we are not as young as we think we are, especially when it

Landis feels more comfortable as Phonak's leader

Petacchi outkicks Boonen . . .

. . . and collects the winner's kisses

Quesada holds onto the leader's red jersey . . .

. . . while Boonen rides with a diamond in his helmet

Montoro just ahead

Joachim in a break

Mikhail and Bernucci, too

Vasquez and Peiro on the prod

Hoste in the final escape

Milram moves to the fore

And VDB heads the chase