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The peloton slows for a nature break

Boonen dons the leader's jersey

Zabriskie had an early go

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 Phil Marques’s “Another Dam Race stage 1 1999.” Nice composition and a great shot from a superb perspective. Congratulations Phil! Once you thaw out, drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.com to work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes of Cycling."Go ahead and

USA Cycling has earmarked more than $50,000 for the 2006 Elite Mountain Bike Performance Stipend program. The initiative is aimed at rewarding off-road athletes with incentives and support to compete at the highest level of international mountain bike competition. The 2006 mountain bike season marks the beginning of the two-year Olympic qualification period during which countries accumulate points towards its nation’s overall ranking – the deciding factor in how many start spots a country receives at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. USA Cycling created the stipend program as one of

Julich's European season so far: One start, one win

Another Dam Race stage 1 1999

Boonen sprints into the overall lead

Runner-up Kashechkin

Third-placed McGee

Fourth-placed Contador

Boonen finished fifth

Vaugenerard took eighth

Steegmans crossed ninth

Landis just missed the top 10, finishing 11th

Julich dons the leader's jersey

Or Gonzales, seizing the lead

Gonzales on the podium

Boonen is everywhere.

Garcia Quesada takes the victory

Gutierrez hits the finish too late to keep his yellow jersey

Caisse d'Epargne working it

Cunego and Gonzales

Martinez on the front

Lampre chasing

VDB and Vino'

Valverde, Hruska and Gutierrez

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Especially if you're Garcia Quesada and winning a stage

Hruska

Markus Fothen

Van den Broeck

Vicioso . . .

. . . and the victor

Cross-country pros rejoice, your prayers have been answered. USA Cycling is putting up more than $33,000 this year so that the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series can actually award prize money in the pro men’s and women’s cross-country races for 2006. And with the prize money also comes the awarding of UCI points. The NORBA series has awarded neither since 2002. Here’s the skinny:Prize money and points will be available at six of the seven NORBA National races in 2006. Because the NORBA No. 5 in Sonoma, CA (July 14-16) conflicts with the Canadian national championships, it will not offer

Millar joined teammate Gilberto Simoni at the Saunier-Duval presentation.

José Iván Gutiérrez now has the overall lead

Runner-up Vino'

Third-placed Rich

Valverde slipped to sixth overall, more than a minute back

Santos Gonzales moves into second on GC

Bernabeu slots into third overall

Gomis

Beppu leads

Julia and Ramirez

Lampre on the front

And Valverde on the attack

The Force crank

The brake-shift lever

The rear derailleur

Dear Bob,Riding by that corner in Los Altos Hills where Dan Plummer was killed (CyclistKilled In Storm ID’d) caused me to wonder who, if anybody, was responsible for that Eucalyptus tree on the corner of Natoma and Black Mountain roads. Would a falling branch be considered an “Act of God,” or is the landowner responsible for any and all wayward branches. Often times the cities restrict cutting down “Heritage” trees with diameters over 12 inches. How might that factor into the equation?Sincerely,S. R. California Dear S.R.;You know, we all try to be conscious of riding safely, but what happens

Valverde is a big draw in Spain this year

Valverde at this year's team presentation

No. 1 for Valverde

The lead goes to Vicioso

A short stint in the yellow jersey for Haussler

Sorry, no sunflowers today

Gonzales has a go

Beppu and Ramirez

. . . and scores both the stage and the leader's jersey

Veneberg and Perez had a go

Caisse d'Epargne leads the bunch

Just rolling along

Valverde and VDB

Menchov and Vino'

Cunego

The rear derailleur

The shifter

Julich atop the final podium at Paris-Nice 2005

Haussler profits from disorder in the finale . . .

Former U.S. PRO Championship winner Thomas Prehn will host a presentation on racing tactics at Sonoma Restaurant in Washington, D.C. The event is Sunday, March 5 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The event is part of a Mid-Atlantic Race Clinic produced by D20 cycling teams including M Street Racing, NCVC, Team Snow Valley, Artemis, DC Velo, and others. Admission is free and open to the cycling community. Attendees receive a discounted dinner and may win door prizes. The clinic will draw on the insights of Prehn, local elite cyclists Ryan McKinney and David Osbourne, and USCF officials. They will

Sella en route to winning a stage of the 2004 Giro

Ullrich's training is spot on, says Pevenage

Cycling's governing body the UCI has conceded that a leak by one of its own staff was the source of information that formed the basis of a newspaper article alleging that seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong was a drug cheat. Last August French sports daily L'Equipe carried a front page story headlined "Armstrong's Lie" suggesting the Texan had used the illegal blood booster EPO (Erythropoietin) during his first Tour win in 1999. The L'Equipe story charged that traces of banned blood booster EPO had been found on six different occasions in Armstrong's 1999

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.If TV coverage was poor, print was worseEditor:We've all been spoiled by OLN's Tour de France coverage, which seemed to take generations to achieve. We all remember CBS's coverage back in the 1980s, and watched it grow, like a child, into the fab’ coverage we get each July.

The Union Cycliste Internationale has suspended the manager of its health department for leaking Lance Armstrong drug tests results. The results formed the basis of a newspaper article alleging that seven-time Tour de France champion was a drug cheat. Last August French sports daily L'Equipe carried a front page story headlined "Armstrong's Lie" suggesting the Texan had used the illegal blood booster EPO (erythropoeitin) during his first Tour win in 1999. L'Equipe said traces of EPO had been found on six different occasions in Armstrong's 1999 urine samples by

Chadwick up front

The peloton rolls through the start area in Redondo Beach.

Olson takes the point