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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

The birthday-ride profile

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 can follow Millar’s leadEditor:I am saddened for Tyler Hamilton and all those who continue to believe an innocent man was convicted of a crime. Science and the Court of Arbitration for Sport have determined what most non-Kool-Aid drinkers have suspected — that Hamilton was guilty

Spanish rider Manuel Lloret (Comunitat Valenciana) grabbed the first win of his career in the second stage of Spain's Ruta del Sol on Monday. Lloret won in a long breakaway, slipping away from Santos González Capilla (3 Molinos Resort) to win the 157km stage from La Guardia to Jaénin 3:48:19, while the main bunch came through more than six minutes slower. Despite the margin, the breakaway was no threat to the contenders for the overall. Carlos García Quesada (Unibet.com) collected the leader's jersey from brother Adolfo García Quesada (Andalucía-Paul Versan), who slipped to third

French veteran Cyril Dessel (Ag2r) collected the overall victory in the 33rd Tour Méditerranéen after finishing safely in the main bunch in Sunday's 111km finale, which started and finished in San Remo, Italy. Italian Elia Rigotti (Milram) snagged the final win in a stage that hit much of the route of the Milan-San Remo classic, crossing ahead of Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Caffita) and teammate Erik Zabel. A breakaway was reeled in on the Poggio, one of the classic climbs of Milan-San Remo, bringing together a big group for the final sprint. Dessel was the first Frenchman to win the Tour Med

Lloret takes the win

Where did you ride today, and did it look anything like this?

Boonen: Good guys wear white

The peloton rolls along

Beltran and Gonzales

Calvente on the march

Dominguez has a dig

Gonzales and Dominguez

T-Mobile all lined up

Quesada

High speeds, paving bricks and torrential rain were not the right combination for Sunday’s final stage of the 11th Tour de Langkawi. The final-stage criterium was called early after multiple crashes and rider caution split the 102-strong peloton on the ninth of 18 laps of a 3.1km circuit in downtown Kuala Lumpur. The stage winner’s first prize went to Spaniard Angel Vallejo of Relax-Gam, who was on a solo break when “rain stopped play,” while South African David George took overall victory in the 10-day race by 1:52 over Italian Francesco Bellotti of Credit Agricole.

A three-member arbitration panel from the International Court of Arbitrationfor Sport has unanimously rejected the appeal of American Tyler Hamilton, upholding his two-year suspension for a blood doping violation at the 2004 Vuelta a España.

Olympic champion Paolo Bettini says the upcoming Tour de France will be more interesting without the dominating presence of seven-time champion Lance Armstrong. With Armstrong retired, Bettini said the race will have suspense it didn’t during Armstrong’s unprecedented seven-year run. "That Lance won't be there is good for the spectacle," Bettini told the Spanish daily Marca. "Before you could only aspire for second place, but now there will be at least 10 riders that go for it, riders who can win. The race will have less control, there will be unthinkable battles that weren’t imaginable a

As expected, South African David George easily maintained his leadership of the 11th Tour de Langkawi on Saturday, with just one day remaining in the 10-day race. He cruised to 19th place on the completely flat 16.2km course, 77 seconds slower than the stage winner, Ukrainian Sergiy Matveyev of Panaria-Navigare.

Hamilton was found guilty of blood doping after samples submitted after this Vuelta time trial on September 11, 2004 indicated the presence of another person's blood.

With the overall leaders already focused on Saturday’s crucial time-trial stage that will decided the podium in this year’s Tour de Langkawi, the sprinters were expected to fight out the shortest road stage on Friday. Instead, the rain came tumbling down on a hot, muggy afternoon and French opportunist Sébastien Hinault gave Crédit Agricole its second stage win of the 10-day race.

When American professional road cycling was in its formative years in the early 1980s (see “Inside Cycling,” February 3, 2006), two of the first events to be sanctioned by the U.S. Professional Racing Organization were the USPRO Criterium Championship and the Tour of America. The first championship race, held with limited success in June 1982 at Baltimore, Maryland, was due to be repeated 12 months later, while the ambitiously titled stage race was set to debut in mid-April that same year on a route between Virginia Beach and Washington, DC. Both events announced $100,000 purses — which was a

Phinney wins in Baltimore

Baltimore drew a strong field.

Stephen Roche and Jonathan Boyer

Phinney leads Bauer through a turn

Phinney remained aggressive all day...

.. and gets the title.

Dear Readers;Recently, S.S., an attorney in Tennessee, drove into his garage whilehis bike was still attached to his roof rack, and his insurance companyrefused to pay his claim (see "Isit my garage or my car that's at fault?"). I received several interestingresponses to that column from readers, which I shared in last week’s column(see“Garagev. Roof Rack, Part II”). That column prompted even more commentsand suggestions from readers, as well as additional insights about theinsurance industry from industry “insiders,” so this week, we’ll revisitthe case of the Garage v. Roof Rack et.

Once again, the sprinters’ teams didn’t make it at Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi. After being 11 seconds short of catching an eight-man break on Wednesday, they fell short by seven seconds on Thursday’s 188.2km stage 7 from Muar to Kota Tinggi won by Italian journeyman Elio Aggiano of team LPR. South Africa’s David George retained the yellow jersey with three days remaining in the 10-day race.

Turin, Italy -- Olympic gold medal speedskater Chris Witty will carry the U.S. flag at the opening ceremony of the Turin Games. The 30-year-old Witty won gold while setting a world record in the 1,000 meters at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. She won silver and bronze medals at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. "It's an amazing team to be part of, but to lead them into the opening ceremonies, I'm thrilled and I can't imagine a bigger honor than this," Witty said. Witty, a native of Waukesha, Wis., also was in the Summer Olympics, competing in track cycling at the 2000 Sydney Games --

Roberto Heras says he will appeal the two-year racing ban Spanish racing officials handed down Wednesday, saying he will fight to defend his name and honor against charges he used the banned blood booster EPO. Heras's legal team are considering challenging the ruling both in the Court of Arbitration in Sport as well as Spanish civil court, claiming there were inconsistencies in the testing procedure that could have triggered a false positive. "It's not difficult to imagine my discomfort with this federation resolution and the truly indefensible position that I am in," Heras said in a

Heras will appeal his suspension

MT. HOOD, OR (Immediate Release) -- In just four short years theMt. Hood Cycling Classic has grown from a popular regional event to a stagerace with national implications. Having received NRC status from USA Cyclinglast year and again in 2006, the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, presented byFull Sail Brewing, will modify its format and add a new stage to the alreadygrueling competition. “Last year the event attracted 475 riders, including some of North America’sbest racers – Scott Moninger, Eric Wohlberg, Sven Tuft, and Ryan Trebon,”comments event director Chad Sperry.  “This year we will

No one had an easy day on Wednesday’s stage 6 at Le Tour de Langkawi, which resulted in a tight win for one of eight breakaway riders, Laurent Mangel of AG2R. The 24-year-old Frenchman from Burgundy attacked the break in the final kilometer and just hung on to beat the fast-closing Aussie neo-pro Gene Bates of Team LPR, with a second Frenchman, Yohann Le Boulanger of Bouygues TÈlÈcom, in third.

Wide-open Paris-Nice routeHoping to live up to its name as the "Race to the Sun," Paris-Nice organizers revealed a 2006 route that skirts the snowy Massif Central and avoids summit finishes in an attempt to avoid course closures that have plagued recent editions. Instead - with seven stages and an opening prologue - the 2006 edition will drive down the Rhone Valley in search of good weather. Organizers from the Societe du Tour de France have also removed a long time trial to ensure what they hope will be a fight right to the finish. Following recent tradition, the course will open with a

The Spanish Cycling Federation on Wednesday stripped apparent winner RobertoHeras of his 2005 Vuelta a España title and suspended him for twoyears for testing positive for EPO after the 20th-stage individual timetrial at last year’s Vuelta. The punishment, handed down by the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC),means that Heras' 2005 Vuelta title goes to Russia's Denis Menchov of Rabobank.The 31-year-old Heras failed the test for EPO after the 20th stage,an individual time trial between Guadalajara and Alcala de Henares, onSeptember 17.Heras was fired by his Liberty-Seguros team after

PRESS RELEASE - Mt. Hood Classic bigger than ever

The veil of secrecy surrounding the new domestic United Pro Cycling road team was lifted Tuesday morning with the announcement of the team’s title sponsor, Toyota Motor Sales USA, as well as its team roster, equipment sponsors and unique brand of marketing and revenue initiatives. Coming off a team training camp in Thousand Oaks, California, team owner Sean Tucker was expected to introduce the new squad at a press conference at ESPN Zone in New York City’s Times Square. City sports commissioner Ken Podziba was also expected to be on hand, to welcome the team. An appearance on ESPN2’s “Cold

Those dang stripped threadsDear Lennard,What if anything can be done when the threads of a bottom bracket shellon an aluminum insert are stripped? I have not seen the bike firsthandbut I am trying to help someone out. They say that there is not enoughmaterial to cut new threads in. I assume that a tap has been runthrough already with no success. Is there any hope? I don't knowwhich side is stripped but if it is the non-drive side I can assume itis less critical. Is there a bottom bracket that will work better in thiscase?This is an old Look carbon time trial frame.JasonDear Jason,You

Colombian rookie José Serpa, 26, was racing as an amateur two weeks ago. Now, just five days into his career as a professional with the Selle Italia-Diquigiovanni team, he has won two stages of the Tour de Langkawi — including Tuesday’s prestigious ascent to Genting Highlands. Serpa’s two stage wins have impressed the whole race entourage, including Ed Beamon, Navigators Insurance team manager, who told VeloNews that “Serpa would surely be the race favorite had he not missed the break on the first day.”

The new Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team is led by reigning USPRO champ Chris Wherry

The team recently completed it's training camp near Malibu.

Dominguez knows what his role will be.

The Bike

Co-director Harm Jansen plans another day in the saddle

Training and a little PR work in California

Cruz comes over from Discovery

Friedick comes over from the Jelly Belly squad.

Wherry

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now up for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of ourmost recent contest. Take the time to wander through that gallery and see if you agree or disagree with our choice of winner. We especially liked Bart van Schendel’s “Training ride in Voss Norway,” which reminds of the pleasures of a good winter training ride, no matter how cold it is. It’s something you have to experience to appreciate… and not something the Texans, Georgians or Floridians among you will commonly agree with us

Traditionally, the infamous ascent to Genting Highlands in Malaysia — the “Alpe d’Huez of Asia” — is the decision-maker at the Tour de Langkawi, now in its 11th year. For the first time this year, the giant climb is coming in the middle of the 10-day race, rather than toward the end.

Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) won for the second day in a row in the Mallorca Challenge a day after Oscar Freire (Rabobank) returned to action following an eight-month break from racing. Freire lined up in Sunday’s start for what was his first day in the saddle since undergoing surgery last June to remove a painful cyst that forced him out of last year’s Tour de France and the world championships in Madrid A cautious Freire skipped Monday’s second leg of the Spanish race while Galvez’ teammates did excellent work to hold off Olympic champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) in the 159km race. For

VeloNews Photo Contest: A new winner and a new gallery

Galvez repeats in Mallorca

Spring in Mallorca

American Saul Raisin (Crédit Agricole) won the third stage of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia on Sunday. In a sprint finish South Africa's David George took second and teammate Darren Lill finished third. Raisin won the 150.6-kilometer (93.4-mile) stage in four hours three minutes and 55 seconds. Richeze, Maximiliano (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) leads the overall standings.Results - Stage 3
1. Raisin, Saul (USA), Credit Agricole 4h03:55
2. George, David (RSA), South Africa
3. Lill, Darren (RSA), South Africa, at 17

Ceramica Panaria-Navigare finished one-two in stage 2 of the Tour de Langkawi as the race leader delivered a teammate to the line for the victory. Argentinian sprinter Ruben Bongiorno won the 164.7km stage from Tanjung Malim to Sitiawan after a leadout from countryman Maximiliano Richeze, the winner of Friday’s first stage, who took second and successfully defended his yellow jersey. Steffen Radochla (Wiesenhof) took third.

Los Angeles, (AFP) - Seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong and Grammy-winning rocker Sheryl Crow announced they were separating Friday five months after getting engaged. "After much thought and consideration we have made a very tough decision to split up. We both have a deep love and respect for each other and we ask that everyone respect our privacy during this very difficult time." they said in a joint statement. Together for more than two years, Armstrong, 34, and Crow, 43, announced their engagement last September two months after the Texas cyclist scored his record

A few weeks ago, at a dinner in Boulder hosted by USA Cycling, I got talking with Davis Phinney, the man with more road race wins to his credit than any other American cyclist. Davis was recalling just one of the 300-plus victories he scored in a combined amateur and pro career that extended from 1977 to 1993. The win he was most animated about came in a rather special race at Baltimore in 1983, the second annual USPRO Championship. Phinney was racing for the U.S. national team that day because UCI rules then decreed that amateur racers could only compete against pro teams when an event had

A round of applause, please, for USA Cycling, which announced last week that it had created the permanent position of director of collegiate cycling. Anyone involved in bike racing at the collegiate level in this country knows the value of collegiate clubs and racing conferences. Collegiate cycling provides an entry point into the sport; a social group for making lifelong friends and riding buddies; and a place for athletes to challenge themselves, maybe even launch into the pro ranks. I know I would not be writing this column had I not joined the cycling team at UC Santa Cruz. Another

World champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the Tour of Qatar on Friday after capturing the fifth and final stage, a 151km run between Al Thakira and Doha. The Belgian rider, who also won the first three stages, sprinted to the final victory ahead of Germany's Erik Zabel (Milram), and Italy's Fabrizio Guidi (Phonak). The 25-year-old Boonen was deprived of a clean sweep this week only after Austria's Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux) took Thursday's fourth stage. Boonen credited the weather with an assist in what appeared to be an easy victory. "Because of the wind, which

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.Equipment donations help young ridersEditor:I am from West Virginia, and am familiar with the Clay County Mountain Mudmashers (see Wednesday’s Mailbag: "West Virginia has ups and downs, but still plugging along"). And although Mr. Wayne wouldn't mention it, I will gladly toss this

A court in the east German town of Greiz on Friday fined a teenage female motorist for a crash that left Australian cyclist Amy Gillett dead and five of her teammates injured. The 19-year-old woman was fined 1440 euros and had her driving license revoked for eight months for causing the crash in July. Gillett was training with the Australian women's cycling team when the car hit her group. The rider from Ballarat, Victoria, who was 29 when she died, had taken up competitive cycling in 2000, having rowed for Australia at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Gillett was married to world champion

Argentinian neopro Maximiliano Richeze (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) won the first stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Friday. The 23-year-old Argentinian edged Erki Putstep (Ag2r), Takeshi Miyazawa (Japan) and Steffen Radochla (Wiesenhof) in a sprint finish, claiming his first professional victory in his first race as a pro.

February 2, 2006: This week’s issue of VeloNews includes a 40-page guide for the 2006 Sea Otter Classic, to be held April 6 – 9, 2006. The Sea Otter Classic is a four-day ‘Celebration of Cycling’ welcoming enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels, from toddler to senior, recreational rider to world-class pro athlete. The festival hosts a non-stop schedule of events-- road, cross-country and gravity events for amateurs and professionals, road and mountain bike tours for non-competitive riders, and also features the world’s largest outdoor consumer bike exposition. In addition to planning