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Ullrich is hoping to keep this color combination going through July, as well

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.A mistake of Olympic proportionEditor,I can't believe the kilois being dropped from the Olympic games in favor of BMX!Is this decision absolute? I've got nothing against BMX.In fact, I raced BMX as a kid before I grew up and raced on thevelodrome. What are the tree-trunk-legged

Francaise des Jeux's Bradley McGee won the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Monday ahead of Italy's Mirko Celestino and Patrik Sinkewitz of Germany. German star Jan Ullrich, who stayed tucked away in the peloton, kept hold of the yellow jersey after the end of the 154km stage from Abtwil to St. Anton. The 29-year-old McGee, a member of the Australian Olympic team pursuit gold medal winning team in Athens in 2004, also gave his team its second win of this year's race following Austrian Bernhard Eisel's victory in the opening stage. McGee said he was delighted with

Ullrich stays in yellow

The Dauphiné Libéré has been a race of reckoning for many. While Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Santiago Botero and Alexandre Vinokourov have clearly demonstrated they’re in top form, other big names have failed to leave any impression at all. One name lost deep in the daily result sheet is Spanish climbing sensation Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros), who hasn’t finished well in any of the big climbing stages. “There’s no reason to panic yet,” insists Heras, 52nd overall at 33:29 back. “There’s still a month to go before the Tour. I don’t come here to do anything in

George Hincapie put an emphatic exclamation point on what’s been a fête américaine during this year’s Dauphiné Libéré, winning Sunday’s exciting finale after a dramatic two-man breakaway with Discovery Channel teammate and protégé Yaroslav Popovych. Basque bomber Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) hung on during the fast-paced 128km seventh stage to claim the 57th Dauphiné crown by a slender margin of 11 seconds to Santiago Botero (Phonak) while Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) finished third overall at 38 seconds back for his first major podium since his breakthrough at the 2001 Vuelta a

T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich, riding for the T-Mobile team, won the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland in Weinfelden on Sunday, a 36km time trial. Ullrich, using a new bike, edged Australian duo Bradley McGee and Michael Rogers by 15 and 18 seconds respectively. Many of the fans lining the course in this German-speaking canton of northern Switzerland were dressed in T-Mobile pink to show their support for Ullrich. Bernhard Eisel, who won the opening stage on Saturday, finished well off the pace in Sunday's time trial. "Naturally I'm happy. I was wondering if I'd be able to

PARIS (The Associated Press) - Jose Beyaert, the 1948 Olympic gold medalist in road racing and a longtime coach of Colombia's national team, died Saturday, his family said. He was 79. Beyaert died in a hospital in the western city of La Rochelle, where he had been treated a month for various health problems, said his son, also named Jose Beyaert. At the 1948 Olympics in London, Beyaert won a bronze medal in the team time trial for France as well as his gold in road racing. He was well-known in Colombia for winning that nation's tour in 1952. Beyaert stayed in Colombia for most

More than 3000 spectators came out in sweltering heat and humidity of Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, to watch Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) of nearby Chateau Richer, and Victoria's Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) win the2005 Canadian National Mountain Bike titles on Sunday against some of thestrongest fields ever assembled for a national championships. In past years, the national championships have often been missing key Canadian stars. Usually, it is because they have been pre-selected for international events (including last year’s Olympics), and the program they have put

STILLWATER, Minn. (June 12, 2005) -- Twenty-six seconds is all that separated Webcor Builder’s Christine Thorburn from Quark Cycling Team’s Tina Pic. That’s about as much time as it took to crest Chilkoot Hill, a short climb at a grade of 20-percent that the riders had to tackle 13 times in this final stage of the Great River Energy Bicycle Festival’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. With eight turns, the 1.5-mile course also provided ample spots for breaks to sneak away out of sight. Thorburn’s team was determined not to let either of those affect who wore the general classification leader’s

STILLWATER, Minn. (June 12, 2005) – A spent Shawn Milne rolled through the finish line of the last stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, gasping for air after climbing the 20-percent grade Chilkoot Hill for the last time. “Today was a day you just talk with your legs, and obviously John’s spoke louder,” the Navigator Insurance rider said. For all the talk that transpired over the last two days between Milne and Health Net/Maxxis’ John Lieswyn over the way the leader’s jersey changed hands between the two of them, on Sunday everything was left on the road. Midway through the Stillwater

By George! Hincapie wins another at Dauphiné; Landaluze takes overall

Botero kept up the pressure...

That sprint got him the points jersey.

...but Landaluze held his own.

Leipheimer and Armstrong on the move.

Ullrich wins Swiss tour TT

The dynamic duo

The final podium

A one-two punch... a later, Armstrong takes third

The closing circuit in Sallanches

The hardest stage of the 57th Dauphiné Libéré turned into a proving ground with a month to go to the Tour de France. The difficult, five-climb sixth stage capped by the hors categorie Joux-Plane climb high in the French Alps revealed three key points: Lance Armstrong is right on track for the Tour; Santiago Botero will be a man to reckon with come July; and Iñigo Landaluze might have just enough gas in the tank to take the overall victory. Results are posted Botero won his second stage in four days after reeling in the day’s main breakaway in the 155km march across the French Alps and then

Austria's Bernhard Eisel (Fdjeux.com) won a sprint finish in the first stage of the Tour of Switzerland here on Saturday and then thanked Australian teammate Baden Cooke. Eisel finished ahead of Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Austrian Peter Wrolich (Gerolsteiner) following the 170km stage from Schaffhausen, but it was sweet revenge for Cooke over Olympic champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step). Bettini launched the sprint finish, but Eisel, having insider knowledge that Cooke was not at his best, was able to claim victory with Bettini fourth and Cooke sixth. "Before the stage, it

Cycling Australia said Saturday it was surprised and disappointed at the decision of the sport's world governing body to axe the men's kilometer and the women's 500m race from the Beijing Olympic program. The two events were removed from the program for the 2008 Games to make way for the Olympics debut of BMX, the UCI said on Friday. "All federations were invited to make submissions to the UCI and this is certainly the first we've heard that the track time trial events were being targeted for removal from the Games program," Cycling Australia chief executive Graham

Lance Armstrong is thinking about more than just winning his seventh straight Tour de France title. The cyclist also is considering his future with rock star Sheryl Crow. Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer to win his first Tour in 1999, said he will retire after this year’s race, ending one of the greatest careers in cycling. Next up, a life with Crow and more kids? “Yeah. Sheryl and I are very happy. To me, when you have a relationship, you’re happy and in love, children are a natural part of the equation,” Armstrong told The Associated Press on Saturday after completing a stage

RED WING, Minn. (June 11, 2005) – Maybe a day’s delay helps puts things in perspective. Or maybe it was just the stage win talking. A day after losing the leader’s jersey in a wreck in the last three laps of the Minneapolis Downtown Classic, Health Net/Maxxis’ John Lieswyn was far less critical of race leader Shawn Milne of Navigator Insurance after the fourth stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. In fact, he was downright complimentary. “I’ve got to hand it to Shawn,” he said, describing how Milne organized a chase in the last four laps of the circuit at the Red Wing Road Race to catch

Botero takes his second win of the Dauphiné

Armstrong, Vino' and Gomez

Armstrong and Leipheimer gauging their efforts

Hary was hospitalized after a high-speed crash

Landaluze clings to that jersey, carrying a lead of less than a minute into Sunday's finale

Botero and Moncoutie

Vino' dueling with Landis

A beautiful afternoon in the Alps

Botero hopes he isn't peaking too soon

Mercado leads the escape

Hincapie and Armstrong on the ascent

Landaluze, too, had to measure his efforts

Up from Lac de Annecy

An epic breakaway in the 219km march across the foothills of the French Alps turned the Dauphiné Libéré upside down. Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer fell out of the overall lead – and fell off his bike in a high-speed crash – while Spanish rider Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel-Euskadi) slipped into the maillot jaune after hanging on as part of a 13-man breakaway. Results are posted It was Axel Merckx (Davitamon-Lotto) who took full advantage of the rollercoaster race across the torrid hills from Vaison-la-Romaine, in the shadow of Mont Ventoux, to Grenoble in the shadow of the Alps. “What I did

Jan Ullrich will fine-tune his preparations for next month's Tour de France by racing the Tour of Switzerland, which starts on Saturday. The 31-year-old T-Mobile captain, who has finished second five times in the Tour de France, is still dreaming of repeating his 1997 Tour win. And six-time winner Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel), who is competing in this week's Dauphiné Libéré in France, has once more designated Ullrich as his major rival for a seventh and final Tour victory. A major factor in whether Ullrich repeats his 2004 overall victory here will be his performance in the

ADELAIDE, Australia -- Former world keirin champion Jobie Dajka, suspended for four months last year for lying to a doping inquiry, faces a longer ban for assaulting the Australian cycling track team's head coach. Dajka said Friday that Cycling Australia had recommended a possible four-year suspension. Dajka has admitted assaulting coach Martin Barras and said he regretted doing so. He testified at a tribunal hearing Friday. Dajka, the 2002 keirin world champion, was suspended and dropped from the Olympic team last year when it was determined he had lied to a doping inquiry. He was

Health Net-Maxxis is riding a big wave of momentum, and John Lieswyn shot the curl on Thursday. The veteran rider and former champion of the Nature Valley Grand Prix overcame a deficit of more than two minutes to catch a break of 16 and then kept motoring to win the second stage of the Minnesota race, the 92-mile Mankato Road Race. It marked the fourth consecutive road-race win for Health Net, by four different riders. “It was a team victory of the greatest magnitude,” Lieswyn said. “Right now, it feels like we have a V-8 under the hood.” Lieswyn shared the spotlight with teammate Tyler

The latest Photo Gallery in our continuing photo contest has now been posted for your viewing pleasure. Last Week's WinnerWe’ve awarded a copy of Graham Watson’s Landscapes of Cycling to Steve Conli, for his stunning photo “Buffalo Stampede Antelope Island Utah 2004." Thank you Steve and congratulations. We'll be sending you a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapesof Cycling. This Week's ContestThe announcement of a winner also signals the start of a New Contest, so go ahead and take a look at the Gallery from this round.From all of the submitted photos, we will chose one

When Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis labored up Mont Ventoux on Friday, battling for the leader’s jersey at this year’s Dauphiné Libéré, their presence emphasized how far American cycling has come in this sport once dominated by Europeans. But the current generation of English-speaking riders is not the first one to produce contenders at the Continent’s leading stage races, especially the Dauphiné. In the early 1980s, America’s Greg LeMond, Australia’s Phil Anderson, Britain’s Robert Millar and Ireland’s Sean Kelly all won stages or challenged for overall victory at the

Phonak lends a hand to the chase

Rebellin drives the pursuit for Leipheimer

Leipheimer took a nasty spill on a fast descent

Landaluze and Mazzoleni chase Merckx

Whose wheel will Landaluze follow on Saturday?

Why, Armstrong's, of course

But Vinokourov is still in the hunt, too

Rebellin, who fought in vain to save Levi Leipheimer's jersey in Friday's stage of the Dauphiné Libéré, will not be riding this year's Tour

Leipheimer saw his jersey slip away . . .

. . . onto Landaluze's shoulders

VeloNews Photo Contest: A new winner and a new gallery

Lieswyn takes the stage

Thorburn rounds the final corner and heads for the line

Doctor's say a diagnosis of Epstein-Barr Virus has gone a long way toward explaining Damiano Cunego's less-than-stellar performance at this year's Giro d'Italia and also put his Tour de France plans in doubt. The 2004 Giro d'Italia champion, who has 18 career titles, will undergo further examinations at Milan's Raffaele hospital on June 20 to determine whether he can compete next month in France. The virus may explain the 23-year-old's disappointing performance for Lampre at this year's Giro in which he finished in 18th position, 24 minutes behind champion

Alexandre Vinokourov might not be the most exciting rider off the bike, but it’s what he does on the bike that’s so enthralling. Attacking is what the shy, soft-spoken man from Kazakhstan does best, not giving pithy quotes to the European cycling hacks that must crane their necks to hear what he has to say. The T-Mobile rider let his actions speak louder than his mumbled words in Thursday’s 182km fourth stage of the Dauphiné Libéré when he followed an attack from Belgian climbing phenom Wim Van Huffel (Davitamon-Lotto) to claim victory on the fearsome slopes of Mont Ventoux. “I made the

Dear Bob,I am a triathlete and do my bike riding with a training partner. We ride side-by-side a majority of the time. Last week when we pulled over at a convenience store a trucker told us we were breaking the law by riding “two abreast.” Is he right?AlbertDear Albert,Anyone who rides with a fellow cyclist is faced with a decision about how to arrange themselves on the roadway. I would guess most reader-no matter what state they live in- ride side by side a majority of the time. This is the best way to pass the sometime monotonous miles (of course there is nothing monotonous about riding

An officiating error and a late-race crash combined to shake up the men’s standings in the Nature Valley Grand Prix on Friday. Shawn Milne (Navigators Insurance) won the Minneapolis Downtown Classic and collected the leader’s jersey after a lap counter that read 2 for two laps gave him an unexpected edge over a small lead group confused about just when stage 3 of the NVGP was supposed to end. Milne sprinted for the line when the lap counter should have read 0, but his sprint turned into an attack when race officials began ringing the bell signaling the final lap. “I went for it, but I

Leipheimer keeps the jersey

Armstrong is focusing on July

Jakshe was among the strongest in the break

Landis, fifth on the day and fourth overall

Van Huffel on the go

Vinokourov and Gomez follow...

Milne wins a confusing crit

Teutenberg outkicks the bunch

A second is not very long, but less than one tick of the second-hand has cost Levi Leipheimer two important victories inside four days of racing at the Dauphiné Libéré. The 31-year-old lost Wednesday's windy, demanding 47km individual time trial to Santiago Botero (Phonak) by a narrow 0.70 seconds. That bitter disappointment comes after losing Sunday's prologue to compatriot George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) by an even more slender 0.17 seconds. So why was Leipheimer smiling after standing atop the podium in sunny Roanne? Because he was wearing the overall leader's jersey, and

Lance Armstrong unveiled a new time trial bike this week at the Dauphiné Libéré that he hopes will catapult him to a seventh Tour de France crown. Following its track record of developing new technology in time for Armstrong's annual summer Tour assault, Trek rolled out the new "TTX" time trial frame utilizing a cutting-edge software design program used to develop Ferrari racing cars and sail boats. "We turned six months of development into five weeks," said Trek's Scott Daubert, adding the project didn't get the green light until right after the Tour de Georgia in April. "We

Botero is enjoying the usual post-T-Mobile surge

Armstrong: On track for Tour No. 7?