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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

Lausanne, Switzerland (AP) - Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen was among five candidates nominated Thursday for IOC membership. Also put forward by the IOC executive board were: International Tennis Federation chief Francesco Ricci Bitti; Beatrice Allen, vice president of Gambia's national Olympic committee; Nicole Hoevertsz, secretary general of Aruba's Olympic committee; and Prince Tunku Imran, president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia. The five will be up for election to eight-year terms at the International Olympic Committee assembly in Turin on the eve of the Winter

Just in time for the announcement of the route for the 2006 Tour de France, VeloPress's annual wrap up of the Tour is now ready for delivery. "The2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell," by John Wilcocksonand Andrew Hood, tells the fascinating story of Lance Armstrong and hisride to his history-making seventh-straight victory. But this plot encompasses21 teams and 188 other riders battling for stage victories and hoping tounseat the American champion. VeloNews reporters Wilcockson and Hood provide a detailed accountof the action in each stage, capturing the color and character of

Bruyneel Reaction to 2006 Tour De France Route Announcement While Lance Armstrong may be retired from professional cycling and focusing on his future away from the sport, his apparent influence on Johan Bruyneel remains as relevant now as it did when he was winning seven Tours de France. Following today's grand unveiling of the 2006 Tour de France route in Paris, the Discovery Channel team's sports manager left the Palais de Congres still smarting from what was widely perceived as a slap to Armstrong's legacy by Tour organizers during its route presentation. However, Bruyneel

2006 Tour route unveiled

Leblanc and heir-apparent Christian Prudhomme outline the 2006 Tour route

Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich - Who will this Tour favor?

Bruyneel: Felt targeted

The Tour will hit the Galibier next year

Some remember Armstrong this way...

... and others remember this.

VeloPress Book Selection: The 2005 Tour de France

2006 Tour route unveiled

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 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.The story behind that photoHello,Becky Brandt's dad here. Becky is at school right now, so I am writing in on her behalf. She took that photo at the WORS Ultimax Challenge in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on October 9th of this year. It was the citizen/beginner race in the area simply called

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Calvin Straathof, PresidentToll Free: 1-800-700-4797Victoria, B.C. October,  2005 – Team Giga-Bike is presentinga “Day in Yellow with Dave Zabriskie” on Saturday, November 19, 2005. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be one of thirty cyclists tojoin professional racer Dave Zabriskie on a brisk and scenic 50-km rideduring the annual Team Giga-Bike fundraising ride in Victoria, B.C. TeamGiga-Bike offers you a rare opportunity to ride shoulder-to-shoulder withthe fastest Tour de France stage winner in history while supporting yourlocal Vancouver

Will this Tour be decided in the mountains?

Cipo' won four stages in a row in '99. The last was here in Thionville

Riis will be in the CSC team car on Hautacam this time around

A final showdown? It sure made for an exiting finish last time.

A chance for Ullrich to strut his stuff?

Luis Leon Sanchez generates between 500 and 550 watts in this position

Minor tweaks have further refined Sanchez's position

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

PRESS RELEASE: Remembering Tom CuthbertsonSanta Cruz, California - Friends and relatives of longtime SantaCruz resident and cyclist, Tom Cuthbertson, the author of “Anybody's BikeBook” plan to honor him with a memorial bike ride and fundraiser on November13.The ride is scheduled to leave Santa Cruz’s SprocketsBike shop (1420 Mission St.) at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 13,2005. Cuthbertson, who died of cancer on October 10, began work in thebike business at that shop in 1969, when it was known as the Bicycle Center.Cuthbertson had a big influence on cycling in Northern California andwas

Health Net extends sponsorship for three years.Oakland, CA – On the heels of the most successful season everby a domestic professional cycling team, Health Net and Momentum SportsGroup have reached a three-year agreement to continue sponsorship of theHealth Net Pro Cycling Team.“In its three years of existence, the team has continually built uponits successes,” said Dave Anderson, Chief Sales Officer for Woodland Hills,CA-based Health Net. “In that same time, we’ve also seen excitement forthe team growing within the Health Net family. Team Health Net has notonly created external marketing

Leblanc and Prudhomme will unveil the 2006 route on Thursday

What we do know: The rest is just speculation

Miguel Martinez

PRESS RELEASE: Remembering Tom Cuthbertson

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

Lynn Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) and Ryan Trebon (Kona) won the Wooden Wheels Cyclo-cross on Saturday. The race at A.I. DuPont’s Granougue estate near Wilmington, Delaware, part of the Verge Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross Series, was a slippery, muddy mess. Bessette took the lead by the end of the first lap, accompanied only by Maureen Bruno-Roy (Independent Fabrications). Idaho’s Georgia Gould (Kona Bikes) got a slow start, but made steady progress through the field, working her way into second place and then setting off after Bessette. As the last lap began, the light rain that

Italian cyclist Dario Frigo received a six-month suspended sentence and 12,000-euro fine Monday for doping during the 2001 Giro d’Italia. The former Paris-Nice and Tour of Romandie winner was forced to pull out of the 2001 Giro, while in second place overall, after Italian police found drugs in his hotel room following the San Remo stage. Judge Paolo Luppi also handed down similar sentences on riders Giuseppe Giuseppe Di Grande and Alberto Elli after the duo were found guilty of using banned substances found after police and drug squad officers raided the hotel rooms of all competing teams

It's an annual event that even armored car drivers now fear. VeloSwap attendeeson Saturday, October 22, drained some $175,000 cash from ATM machines at the National Western Complex in Denver because they had quickly run out of money snapping up deals from the hundreds of vendors selling an incomparable selection of bikes, parts, accessories and clothing. It's no surprise since over the course of its 17-year history, VeloSwap has developed a reputation as the place to go if you need a variety of cycling items as varied as a vintage-condition still-in-the-box Campagnolo Gran Sport

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.He blames it on MarioDear Velo,I've been following JohnWilcockson's stories with great interest the last few weeks. Istarted following bike racing just before the start of the "English" invasion,so they are bringing back lots of fond memories.The other thing I've noticed is

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. Becky Brandt’s “Uh-oh this is gonna hurt” received the same initial reaction from nearly everyone we showed it to: “OUCH!!!” Even though the equipment – and probably the photo itself – are decidedly old school, the shot captures the precise moment that poor rider’s day went to the dogs. (We hope he did better than we suspect that he did.)Congratulations, Becky! Contact us and you win a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes

Hoy on his way to winning the last Olympic kilo gold awarded

Cunego in Japan. Healthy again?

Frigo on his way to court this summer in France

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

VeloSwap mania hits Denver

Reigning world champion Sven Nijs (Rabobank) took the opening round of the cyclo-cross World Cup Sunday, beating fellow Belgian Bart Wellens by 42 seconds in Kalmthout, Belgium. Czech `crosser Peter Dlask took third, outsprinting Belgian Erwin Vervecken and Tom Vannoppen just a few seconds behind Wellens. Out of a group of nine riders to slip off the front of the filed early on in the race, only Dlask and Wellens could respond to a powerful acceleration by Nijs. Dlask faded back as after he was forced to change bikes due to a mechanical. Wellens himself encountered troubles and changed

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

Backstedt is synched with his pacer and ready to roll

There’s no ProTour in the mud. Unlike its counterpart on the road, cyclo-cross is sticking with the World Cup format, which kicks off this Sunday in Kalmthout in Belgium. After experimenting with the number of races and length of the schedule the UCI has finally settled upon a 10-race series that wraps up January 22, in Hoogerheide in the Netherlands, a week before the world championships in Zeddam. Half of the World Cup races will be in Belgium (three events) and Holland (two). The remainder will be spread out among the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France. It makes

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

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.Trecker off base on BekeEditor:I wanted to reply to Mike Trecker's comments about Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke's overturned doping offense. (See Thursday’s Mailbag: "Repeat until caught, then lie"). Mr. Trecker makes it seem that Beke was guilty, found a loophole, and now seeks

I met Kyle Strait for the first time this past summer at the World Cup race in Angel Fire, New Mexico. The 17-year-old freeride phenom had just completed his final downhill run, finishing with a respectable 4:47 on the dusty, rocky course. I had heard about Strait’s heroics in freeride competitions, but considering the deep talent pool at Angel Fire (Greg Minnaar, Chris Kovarik, Fabien Barel, to name a few), his run, while smooth and solid, wasn’t exactly memorable. It turned out to be good for 21st place, about 13 seconds off Minnaar’s winning pace, and, to be honest, it slipped out of my

On starting the "Inside Cycling" column earlier this year I said that my first goal would be to give you a basic story of road racing in "English-speaking" countries. Not a complete history, but the stories behind the "firsts" — first road races in the various countries, first riders to compete in major competitions (such as world championships, classics or tours), and then the first to achieve significant results in those events. Regarding the biggest race of all, the Tour de France, I’ve written about the pioneers from Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. The first to finish

Another dream season for Nijs?

Saunier Duval team boss Mauro Gianetti and Simoni

Gerdemann at this year's Tour of Switzerland

Four hours of Rampage in a tin

Irmiger swaps Tokyo Joe's kit for Subaru-Gary Fisher come '06

Vanlandingham has the arm strength to swim an Xterra

The self-contained Exposure

They make a helmet-mounted model, too

The Viking attacks

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,

Team Ford-Basis Comes to a CloseAfter three successful seasons sponsoring the Ford-Basis Women’s cyclingteam, Ford and Basis will be leaving women’s cycling.The team was founded in 2002 as a developmental team aimed at helpingup-and-coming riders progress towards the 2008 Olympics. The team recruitedprimarily top collegiate cyclists. Each season, as the riders adjustedto the professional ranks, the team saw increasing success.  2005saw the team's achievements reach new heights, with the squad earning eightprofessional victories and over 20 podium placings.Said founder Nicole

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.Discs, are they okay or not?Dear VeloNews,I've seen allusions to a lifting of the ban on disc brakes for `cross bikes in a couple of places, (most recently the article by Matt Pacocha), but is this for real? I've Googled and looked on the UCI website, but have found nothing. While

World sport's main arbitration body CAS on Thursday confirmed it had accepted an appeal by Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle who tested positive for a banned substance at the 2004 Athens Olympics. CAS said the track rider, who came third in the women's points competition to hand Colombia an historic Olympic medal in the sport but was then disqualified, can now keep her Olympic bronze medal. Calle tested positive for a banned stimulant, heptaminol, which she said was contained in a medicine. The 35-year-old had protested her innocence saying she had taken paracetamol for a

Simoni has options

Workhorse: Aldag was a tireless team player

A big year for Liquigas

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

Brussels, Belgium (AP) - Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke is suing the World Anti-Doping Agency and two drug labs, seeking 185,000 euros ($221,000) in damages after his 18-month doping suspension was lifted due to doubts over the accuracy of his EPO test. Beke's lawyer, Johnny Maeschalck, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that the athlete had sought an amicable settlement with WADA. "We received a negative answer from WADA," Maeschalck said. "We had at least hoped to be able to discuss the issue but we were rejected." Beke, the 2003 Ironman runnerup, won an appeal in August

Paris (AP) - A United Nations treaty to fight doping in sports was unanimously passed Wednesday by the 191 UNESCO member states. The treaty, however, will not be enforced until 30 member governments ratify it. Then, only those that have ratified the accord will be bound by it.The International Convention Against Doping in Sport, which would require regular doping tests and common penalties, seeks to draw governments into what has long been mainly the domain of national sporting federations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is hoping the treaty will be put