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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.Lament for NYC raceEditor:It is very disappointing to hear that the NYC championships have been "postponed.” It was a wonderful race. This is another example that Mayor Bloomberg and his office are only interested in sport and the Olympics as an excuse to bully the city into building the

Cyclist Randy Dreyer of Chapel Hills, North Carolina, has accepted a two-year suspension for using a prohibited stimulant, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday. Dreyer tested positive for phentermine on August 22, 2004, at the USCF-USPRO Criterium Championships in Downers Grove, Illinois. Phentermine is a prohibited stimulant under the USADA Protocol and the rules of the Union Cycliste International (UCI). Dreyer, who had been provisionally suspended since November 1 of last year, accepted USADA's decision Monday. The suspension will be retroactive to November. Dreyer also forfeits

The competition for the maglia rosa has been tight throughout the Giro d'Italia, and it should reach a climax on Saturday during stage 19, one of the most challenging mountain stages of the race, finishing in Sestriere. With Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) and José Rujano (Selle Italia-Colombia) dropping race leader Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) and edging a little closer to the lead in Thursday's mountaintop finish, and then Savoldelli regaining the lost time in Friday’s time trial, it is hard to predict who will have the lead in Sestriere. Although CSC’s Ivan Basso lost

Well, Ivan has sure proved himself over these last two days, hasn’t he? We had a great team meeting on Thursday morning and we decided that we’re still here to fight and that we were just going to take the bull by the horns that day and not let anyone else dictate the race. Sure it makes sense for us to say that, but you have to admit, after last weekend, it’s something of an act of faith for the guys to believe that, but they did. Really, we were kinda going into the unknown on Thursday. Ivan said he felt good, which was a good sign, but still it means that the other guys really have to

Basso rides to his second consecutive stage win

Taking third, Savoldelli padded his lead going into Saturday's crucial mountain stage

Zabriskie raced his stars-and-stripes skinsuit into third on the day

Is Simoni still within stricking distance?

Karpets has been picked to play a big role for Illes Balears at the Tour. He showed why on Friday.

Basso showed fine form

Once dominant in time trials, Serhiy Honchar could only manage sixth

Dario David Cioni takes fifth

Fothen showed great form on Friday

Ivan Basso won’t win this year’s Giro d’Italia, but a stage victory high in the Italian Alps sent a warning shot to anyone thinks the 27-year-old Team CSC leader gives up easy. Basso doggedly refused to quit despite ceding 40 minutes to what were his fellow overall contenders up the mighty Stelvio last weekend and then roared back to the winner’s circle Thursday with an emphatic solo win in the 194km 17th stage. “I never considered quitting the Giro. I came here to win and when my physical problems wouldn’t allow that to happen, I had to change my focus to winning a stage,” said Basso, who

Third brake lever on CSC’s TT bikesDear Lennard,From the UK - watching the TT at the Giro on Eurosport the other day I noticed CSC were running what seemed to be a third brake lever on the aero’ extension. Can you give any insight to this, as there is nothing on the team website - i.e., would it be wired up like a 'cross lever? Why hasn't anyone done it before and so on?Stuart Dear Stuart,A number of people wrote me about this. A lot of people with sharp eyes out there! Yes, David Zabriskie and Ivan Basso placed 1-2 using Cervelo P3s (one aluminum, one carbon) with a second

Stupidity: stu·pid·i·ty n1. lack of intelligence, perception, or common sense2. extremely rash or thoughtless behavior I have a cartoon on the corkboard above my desk that I look at nearly every single day. Drawn by the great New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan (BEK), the scene features a man and woman standing at a cocktail party, holding martinis. “I was reading somewhere that people are stupid,” the woman tells her companion. For some reason I’ve always loved that cartoon. Maybe it’s because of the absurdity of one person telling another person that she’s read a book, written by a

After the second Giro d’Italia rest day, the competitors were eager to race in stage 16. From the start, the pace was very high and groups of riders were flying off the front. Race leader Paolo Savoldelli’s Discovery Channel teammates had their work cut out for them, as they could only afford to let riders go up the road if they posed no threat to the maglia rosa. The team was forced to chase, and with the help of Fasso Bortolo, which preferred to keep the bunch together for sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, they managed to keep the riders in check until Discovery allowed a group with the right

Basso flies to the finish

CSC's Cervelo P3 with a third brake lever

The right lever cable loops around, up the left extension tube, down the right one and through the third lever to the brake caliper

Dede and Michael Barry

Dede and Lennard Zinn

Carpenter/Phinney camper Tracey Adams with Connie Carpenter

A track bike, with its clean lines, sans brake levers and cables, is a thing of beauty - unless you've never ridden a fixed gear down a steep hill

Basso bounces back to win

Di Luca loses ground

Savoldelli held onto the lead, but by a slimmer margin

Cunego and Lampre marshal the chase

Schleck and Basso storm onto the final climb

Garate and Savoldelli woked together to minimize the damage

Halgand and Sutherland helped break things up on the Madonna del Colletto

Basso seems fully recovered, no?

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Dede's Diary: Touring around the Giro

Simoni and Rujano scoot out of the gruppo maglia rosa

It’s amazing to think a Frenchman hasn’t won a stage in the Giro d’Italia since Laurent Jalabert did so in in Lumezzane in 1999. That’s a sign that,France isn’t the cycling powerhouse it used to be.That the Giro had truly become a national tour that attracted little attention beyond the Alps.Some combination of the twoIt may be the third choice, since both factors are probably a little true, but the Giro is growing in stature and French cycling seems to be slowly on the rebound. A whole new crop of young French riders are making their presence felt in the peloton. Wednesday’s 210km

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.Photo contest recalls love of cyclingEditor:After reading countless letters about this doping scandal and that, my feelings for cycling have become twisted. Seeing all the beautiful photographs sent in as part of your contest reminded me why I love cycling. It’s not about Lance, Tyler,

WASHINGTON -- Athletes in the four major US professional leagues would be subject to the same two-year bans for a first positive drug test now handed out to Olympic athletes, under legislation proposed Tuesday that would put the sports' steroid policies under the White House drug czar. Arizona Sen. John McCain joined fellow Republican Tom Davis of Virginia, the House Government Reform Committee chairman, and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman of California in introducing the Clean Sports Act of 2005. It's the second recent bill that would establish minimum, standardized steroids policies

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve received several e-mails from people asking whether I’m alive. So it’s clear, I am way overdue with a report. The last month or so has been rough, both physically and mentally. Three-quarters of the way through April, while racing here in Bern, Switzerland, in a 1.9.1 UCI race, I had a bit of misfortune. On the last lap, while trying to move up through a corner, I found myself staring at a median and a pole, straight ahead. I tried to move to the right to avoid it, but the field had spread out too much in the turn and there was nowhere to go. A second after

MONTEREY - Sea Otter Classic LLC announces the departure of its chief operations officer/chief marketing officer Rick Sutton. Sutton spent 13 years with Sea Otter Classic LLC and leaves to become the vice president of retail sales at Specialized. Rick Sutton said about his shift: "As I change my focus from helping cycling events grow to helping Specialized dealers grow, the Specialized president, Mike Sinyard, has provided me the time to smoothly transfer my knowledge and responsibilities, ensuring that Sea Otter and Cougar Mountain will continue to prosper. And I am confident that the

Le Mevel celebrates his win

Zabel the cover boy

Savoldelli rides safely in the bunch

Schleck, Bonnaire and Le Mevel ride in the lead group

The favorites spent a relatively quiet day, crossing more than 22 minutes behind Le Mevel

The top-three will battle it out in the coming days

Talabardon leads the big group that got away at 100km

Discovery had an easy day of it.

Gymnastics and bike racing don't mix

Collegiate racing does its best to ensure that a wide number of racers have shots at coming home a winner. With eight individual races, four team time trials, an individual omnium title and a team omnium title at stake, the collegiate national road championships –held this year in Lawrence, Kansas (the cultural capital of the state, I’m told) – provided chance after chance for racers to stand atop a podium. Still, at the race banquet, I watched as the same individuals were called up to claim their respected team and individual titles. Now cycling, by its nature, is a sport that offers its

Julich, Rodriguez, Ventoso among 200 to compete in 2005 Wachovia SeriesNorristown, PA - May 24, 2005 - Threshold Sports LLC on Tuesdayreleased the official roster for the 2005 Wachovia Cycling Series professionalmen’s races.The 2005 event boasts the largest field in the race’s 21 year historywith 200 competitors, and 23 teams. American riders will look to Sunday’smain event for the opportunity to win the 2005 Wachovia USPRO Championship.Riders earn the right to don the jersey by finishing as the highest placedAmerican in the grueling 156-mile race.Riders to watch throughout the three race

The Tour Baby! News UpdateFor Immediate ReleaseULTIMATE JERSEY RAFFLE -  2003 USPS TdF TEAM SIGNED JERSEY TOBENEFIT THE LAFOjai CA (May 16, 2005) – Scott Coady, the creator of The TourBaby! the hilarious and inspiring tale of his adventures following theentire Tour de France, has an incredible on-line event to benefit the LanceArmstrong Foundation; a donation-based raffle for a 2003 USPS Team jerseywith the entire TdF team’s signatures including Lance Armstrong!  Only 300 tickets will be sold and Scott reports selling 70 in the firsttwo days they were on offer.   All the details are at:

Can this Giro d’Italia get any more exciting? Just hold on to your Gucci sunglasses, because it will. With five days remaining and five riders bunched within two minutes of leader Paolo Savoldelli, the 88th Giro promises to be nail-biting right to the end. “With the stages we have left, it truly is still an open race,” said two-time champion Gilberto Simoni after a morning spin on the Giro’s final rest day Tuesday. “The mountain stages are very difficult and I’m sure the time trial will be important, but I think the final mountain stage will be the kicker. It’s going to be a great show for

It's good to sit down and count your blessings every now and then. Well, starting with yesterday, the real blessing came in the form of the first 50km of the stage being bagged. That decision definitely had a good impact on moral, especially after what happened on Sunday. On Monday morning, we woke up to pouring rain and, at 7000 feet, the prospect of riding downhill for 40k, after an 11-kilometer climb, was just depressing. We were preparing for the worst, but God bless the peloton's Italian Mafia. The Italians just made it clear: “Hell no, we won't go!” It would have been

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

Mara Abbott

Brooke Miller

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

A Fred's-Eye View: The 1st ever FEVCCA's

Coming up on Thursday

Coming up on Saturday