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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. Keep up the fight, TylerEditor:I believe Tyler. A rider of his determination and grit has more credibility. I hope that his appeal will bring out the justice and credibility of his claims. In the meantime, I hope he can maintain the will to keep training and believing in himself. Go

Winning at Huy was unexpected, said Di Luca

Voigt was aggressive from the start

Kashechkin goes for it

The Mur de Huy

Di Luca takes over the ProTour lead.

Di Luca timed his move perfectly

Wolrich - really it is - takes the win

The chase

Tafi gets encouragement from his director

Eki drives at the front

Start List - 2005 Tour de Georgia* Under-23Discovery Channel1. Lance Armstrong USA2. José Azevedo POR3. Michael Barry CAN4. Antonio Cruz USA5. Tom Danielson USA6. Viatcheslav Ekimov RUS7. Jason McCartney USA8. José Luis Rubiera ESPDS Johan BruyneelPhonak11. Niki Aebersold SUI12. Aurélien Clerc SUI13. José Enrique Guitierrez ESP14. Robert Hunter RSA15. Floyd Landis USA16. Tomasz Nose* SLO17. Sascha Urweider SUIDS René SavaryCSC21. Bobby Julich USA22. Christian Vande Velde USA23. David Zabriskie USA24. Andy Schleck* LUX25. Brian Vandborg DEN26. Lars Bak DEN27.

Maps, Profiles and info Tour de Georgia

Racing legend Eddy Merckx said he perfectly understands Lance Armstrong’s decision to retire at the end of this summer’s Tour de France. It’s an inevitability that every professional racer faces. “To stop or continue racing, it’s always a personal decision,” Merckx told Het Nieuwsblad. “I’m not going to judge him. It’s easy to understand that things are harder for him, with everything that he’s suffered to get to this level.” Like many, Merckx agreed that Armstrong had the physical attributes to continue if he wanted to. Merckx said Armstrong could have easily transformed himself into a

The Dodge Tour de Georgia, the biggest stage race of the 2005 domestic road-racing season — with what is arguably the most competitive field in North American history — is set to begin Tuesday morning in Augusta, Georgia. Marked by appearances from American ProTour team leaders Bobby Julich (CSC), Floyd Landis (Phonak), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and defending champion Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel), the race will again serve as an early season stage racing test, with the state of Georgia as the backdrop. It’s no overstatement to describe Lance Armstrong’s decision to return to

After what was more leisurely stroll than bike race, it was Phonak's Robbie Hunter taking the first stage of the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia on Tuesday. Hunter charged to the front at the end of the 128.9-mile stage that started in Augusta, taking the win in downtown Macon. Jelly Belly's Ben Brooks took second, with Italian Michele Maccanti (LPR) in third.

Cold-setting (that means bending to you and me)Dear Lennard,I ride a 1980's vintage Klein Quantum with an 8-speed rear. ShouldI be able to get the frame adjusted to fit a wider 9- or 10-speed wheel?BrianDear Brian,Were this question about a steel frame, it would be not be a problem,but no, you cannot adjust an aluminum frame permanently without damagingthe frame. But you can flex the stays to put in the wheel each time youdo it without hurting the frame. You just can't make fast wheel changes.However, cold-setting an aluminum rear end so that it holds 130mm rearspacing rather than the

Tyler Hamilton expressed dismay Monday after USADA handed down a two-year racing ban for illegal blood transfusions. It’s a charge Hamilton continues to vigorously deny. “It caught me completely by surprise,” Hamilton told Rick Sadowski of the Rocky Mountain News. “Not for a second did I think it was going to turn out this way. The bottom line is an innocent athlete was suspended from competition. You could say it’s a victory for USADA, but I think it's better to say it's a tragedy for all athletes. I'm innocent.” He can return to competition April 17, 2007, but he forfeits all

The UCI ProTour has reached a turning point in its opening season. Behind us are the early (cold) stage races and the flat-landers’ spring classics. Now come the two hilly Ardennes classics (with a different set of characters, even from last Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race), followed by the summertime stage races: Switzerland’s Tour de Romandie next week; Italy’s Giro and Spain’s Tour of Catalonia in May; followed by the French Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour of Switzerland in June; and all culminating with the Tour de France in July. Like the races, the winners have also come in waves. First there

Map Stage 1

Profile Stage 1

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Julich has had a great early season...

...but Armstrong remains a big favorite in any stage race he enters.

Bobby Julich

Bobby Julich Stage 1

Lance Armstrong Stage 1

Parade Lap - Stage 1

Race Start Stage 1

Saul Raisin

Andrea Tafi

TIAA-CREF plotting and planning at the start Stage 1

One of the few fast moments in Tuesday's stage

Hunter takes slooooooow Georgia opener

Bowman gets sage advice from team guru Jonathan Vaughters

For Tafi, it may seem like retirement started early...

Armstrong had a safe and easy day

Profile Stage 2

Map Stage 2

Phil and Bob ready for commentary

Bus Stage 2

Kabush

Image files - info Tour de Georgia

Image files - info Tour de Georgia

VN View

Street2

Steven

Finish

Julich

Navs

Rudy Pevenage, the Belgian sport director and trainer who’s worked with Jan Ullrich since his amateur days, says his German pupil is in his best form since he won the Tour de France eight years ago. “He’s made great progress since January. He’s had his best preparation for the Tour de France since 1997,” Pevenage told the German wires. “We did a lot of quality work in Tuscany in February and March. Jan has got good base miles in his legs.” Just a year ago, Ullrich was forced to not start Flèche Wallone after being behind in his training due to illness and being overweight. This season has

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. Forget the jerseys – study the ridersEditor:I offer a friendly tip to all these VeloNews readers who are still wondering who won the Roubaix 'cause everyone's little outfits look so similar: Stop looking at the jersey, people, and pay attention to the rider! George is the big

Initially choking on his words, six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong dropped the bombshell Monday afternoon that the cycling community has been speculating on for years: that after a bid for an attempt at an unprecedented seventh Tour de France victory, the 2005 Tour will be his last. Flanked by his Discovery Channel team director and longtime advisor Johan Bruyneel at a pre-race press conference for the Dodge Tour de Georgia, Armstrong wasted no time announcing his decision to retire on July 24th, the final day of the 2005 Tour. After sitting down, Armstrong cleared his

In a split decision, a three-member arbitration panel from the American Arbitration Association/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (AAA/CAS) has ruled that former Phonak star Tyler Hamilton is guilty of homologous doping - transfusing another person’s blood - and ordered the 34-year-old American suspended from competition until April of 2007. The panel handed down the maximum sentence for a first-time doping offense, ordering that Hamilton begin serving that suspension on Monday and forfeit any results earned on or after the date of his positive test, September 11, 2004, the

Ullrich during the third stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe, April 7th.

Armstrong plans to say goodbye to cycling at the end of the '05 Tour.

The end of an era: Armstrong to retire after '05 Tour

Olympic hero or doper? Two-thirds of the review panel votes for the latter.

Consistency has never been a problem for Australian gravity racer Jared Graves, but until Sunday morning the Yeti-sponsored rider was lacking the standout win to add to the national titles and string of downhill podiums he has accumulated the past few seasons. On Sunday Graves edged out British downhill star Steve Peat (Team Orange) and world champion Fabian Barel (Kona-Les Gets) to take the downhill race at the Sea Otter Classic. Barel’s Kona-Les Gets teammate, three-time British downhill champion Tracy Moseley, won the women’s downhill race. Power, pacing and the right choice of gear were

American racer Chris Horner (Saunier Duval-Prodir) will be forced to sit out the upcoming Dodge Tour de Georgia, as well as next month’s Giro d’Italia, due to a broken hip. The hairline fracture on Horner’s left hipbone occurred at stage 2 of Tirreno Adriatico on March 10th. After returning to the U.S. following Setmana Catalana, where Horner finished 16th overall, an initial MRI revealed the fracture. At that time, he was told he could continue training on the painful injury, and that it should be healed in time for next week’s Tour de Georgia. But soon after, a panel of experts reviewed

Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton is expecting an arbitration decision in his blood doping case as soon as Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. With the decision - and a possible two-year suspension - imminent, Hamilton continued to deny wrongdoing. "I didn't blood dope, that's for sure," he told the newspaper. Hamilton presented his case in late February and early March to hearing conducted by a three-member panel of the North American Court of Arbitration for Sport and the American Arbitration Association. Rumors have abounded for the past seven days, with many

After sucking on the fumes of Alessandro Petacchi all week, Aussie sprinter Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) finally got a stage victory in a hard-fought battle in the final day of the 42nd Vuelta a Aragon in Spain. Petacchi, a winner of two stages in the five-day Aragon race in his return to racing since Milan-San Remo, faded out of contention in the heated final sprint more than a minute back on a gradually climbing finish to Illueca at the end of the 139km stage. Davis, who finished second twice to Petacchi earlier this week, showed off some strong finishing skills on the deceptively steep

On Saturday, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) followed up his pre-race promise to ignite a mid-race afterburner by flaming out feet from the finish line of the short track. Sunday, few thought the 28-year old Canadian would be brash enough to make a another pre-race promise, but before the 36-mile long cross country, Kabush announced that he had a similar battle plan. “I’ve come in third and second this week. I’m going to take risks and either win it or go down trying,” said Kabush, who decided to run an unconventionally skinny pair of tires, weighing only110 grams, on the course. “It’s a risk, but

You can’t help but feel the anguish of Michael Boogerd. Although he did win the Amstel Gold Race in 1999, by narrowly outsprinting Lance Armstrong, Rabobank’s lanky Dutchman has since been the runner-up no less than four times. The cruelest of those second places came on Sunday, when the latest man to beat him to the line was Danilo Di Luca, the revitalized Liquigas-Bianchi team leader who last week won the Tour of the Basque Country.

Start List for the 40th edition of the Amstel Gold Race(as of Saturday April 16, 2005) * = ReserveProTour TeamsGerolsteiner1. Davide Rebellin (I)2. Andrea Moletta (I)3. Ronny Scholz (G)4. Fabian Wegmann (G)5. Peter Wrolich (A)6. Markus Zberg (Swi)7. Heinrich Haussler (G)8. Thomas Ziegler (G) * Marcel Strauss (Swi) * Beat Zberg (Swi)Davitamon-Lotto11. Serge Baguet (B)12. Leon Van Bon (Nl)13. Johan Vansummeren (B)14. Aart Vierhouten (Nl)15. Christophe Brandt (B)16. Bjorn Leukemans (B)17. Axel Merckx (B)18. Preben Vanhecke (B) * Mario Aerts (B) * Koos Moerenhout (Nl)Quickstep21. Kevin De Weert

For struggling racers, figuring out the logistics of getting to a far-off start line can be every bit as challenging as the race itself. Travel and accommodations present the two most crucial elements in race planning, and a perceived lack of either can make the difference between a result and “what could have been.” With ridetimes.com, one racer has developed what he hopes will help alleviate this scenario for North American bike racers: a centralized database of host housing and carpooling for events across the country. Kevin Hankens, the founder of ridetimes.com, saw the need for a

To celebrate the 40th edition of the Amstel Gold Race, the Dutch organizers are hosting this weekend as many of the past winners as could come. Among those who could accept the invitation are the inaugural 1966 winner Frenchman Jean Stablinski, now a septuagenarian, and the event’s most prolific winner, Dutchman Jan Raas, who won the race five times between 1977 and 1982. The Amstel champion who has traveled the farthest, literally from halfway around the world, is 1983 winner Phil Anderson. “This is the first time I’ve been back since I retired,” said the bronzed Aussie, who’s growing his

A few weeks ago, organizers of the Sea Otter Classic road stage race decided to change the course on the final road stage in hopes of sparking more action for a climactic finale. That objective was achieved, and if the final stage was much more difficult than in years past, that’s just fine with overall winners Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) and Kristin Armstrong (T-Mobile). For each, Saturday’s arduous final stage, which took riders from the start at the Laguna Seca Raceway into the surrounding hills of Fort Ord, overlooking California’s Monterey Bay, proved decisive. For the

After an ambitious off-season spent training and racing down under in the Australian summer, Aussie Trent Lowe (Subaru-Gary Fisher) entered the 2005 season expecting early victories. After a slew of podium finishes and near-wins at the two opening NORBA nationals, Lowe finally snagged his first win of the season at Saturday’s Sea Otter Classic short track. “This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole year. I came over here in really good form and I came so close to Geoff (Kabush) so many times,” he said. “I think this is showing that my form is starting to come back. The work of the summer

Rebellin hopes to repeat his 2004 Amstel victory

Ollerenshaw and the Health Net boys were in good shape up front . . .