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Filippo Simeoni broke professional cycling’s so-called code of silence Tuesday when he testified in an Italian courtroom that he had taken banned products, including EPO, under the direction of Dr Michele Ferrari. Ferrari, currently on trial in Bologna, stands accused of allegedly administering banned substances to athletes under his supervision. The 30-year-old Simeoni, now riding for Acqua e Sapone, told the court in Bologna on Tuesday that Ferrari had offered detailed instructions on the use of substances and how to avoid triggering positive test results. Simeoni was a client of

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in the pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causes you to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.TUESDAY LETTERSSimeoni should be applaudedHi VeloNews-ers,Filippo Simeoni is a hero in my book, because he's broken the very unethicalcode of silence among cyclists (see "Cyclistbreaks code of silence in Ferrari trial"), which pre-dates Coppi andBartali.

Italian cyclist Gianluca Bortolami is set to appear as a witness on Tuesday when the trial of alleged doping mastermind Doctor Michele Ferrari resumes in Bologna. In evidence already submitted to investigating magistrates Bortolami, the 1994 World Cup winner and last year’s Tour of Flanders champion, blames former Festina soigneur Willy Voet for the discovery of vials of EPO found in his possession. Voet’s 1998 arrest was the trigger for the now-infamous Festina affair that nearly resulted in the cancellation of the Tour de France that year. Prosecutors, however, point to Ferrari’s medical

The official TDL bikes.

A warning to careless drivers.

A big crowd at the downtown criterium.

Part of the post-race show at Stage 7.

Remnants of a palm-oil plantation.

Tafi turns the tables.

A Hindu temple.

A young fan.

The ringgit.

Munoz does a lap with his country's flag.

McEwen

Carl Swenson traded in his knobby tires for cross-country skis Saturday in a run for a gold medal at the XIX Winter Olympic Games. The professional mountain-bike racer came up short of the medal podium – he finished 37th in the men’s 30km freestyle mass start – after he said his legs “tightened up.” ”It was a disappointing day. I just seized up and I couldn’t recover,” Swenson said after racing on the challenging, high-altitude course in the shadow of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains south of Park City. “My muscles were tight and I ran out of energy.” More than 15,000 fans packed the course as

Munoz gets a lift from the Mapei team.

Brown gets his second stage win.

Riders pass by the Petronas towers.

Munoz and George.

Hunter spends his last moments in yellow.

Tafi after the killer climb.

Hesjedal in suffer mode.

McEwen continues the early-season roll

It’s that time of year again. We need to update our files andlet people know just who is riding with and for whom and what businesses are good enough to sponsor a bike team. To do that, we needyour help.If you would like your team roster included in our soon-to-be-updatedlist, please send it, using the following guidelines, to Rosters@7Dogs.com.Please follow the example offered below as closely as possible,listing riders according to category. Place any professional riders ontop of the team roster and then follow with other categories in descendingorder.The Joint Chiefs (Pentagon City,

We really suck.At least that's what some of you tell us. Others can't wait forthe newest issue of VeloNews, the latest on-line race reports ora dripping-with-detail tech report from Lennard Zinn. Love us or hate us,we want hear you vent.Drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com and we'll start posting a representative cross-section of the mail we get.Be sure to put the words "letter to the editor" in the subject line orwe may dump it along with the ton of SPAM that we get every day.Remember that we reserve the right to edit your letter for clarity andlength. Please be aware that we

The peloton rolls towards Petaling Jaya.

Mapei keeps the pace high.

Tafi helps Hunter chase back on after a puncture.

Salomone explains his win.

D'Hollander hung on -- just barely -- for the win.

Di Biase (r) blasts by Galli.

The lead peloton heads for home.

Hesjedal cools off after Stage 7.

The Malaysian tifosi.

On this course, the start counted for everything.(All photos from Friday practice)

... because once on dirt, things narrowed quickly

Through the woods

No barriers, but this hill forced most to run

The grounds of the Sacramentskirche were closed to all but riders and cameras.

Ferrigato took the lead from the red-hot McEwen

Three-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and seven of his U.S. Postal team cyclists have rejected a call to appear before a Paris drugs' tribunal. Sources in Paris close to the 15-month investigation into possible misuse of doping agents by the American team that Armstrong had rejected the summons which had called on eight U.S. Postal riders to appear as "witnesses" in the investigation. The probe was launched in November 2000 to determine whether US Postal had broken laws relating to the use of drugs or incitement to use them, after a French television crew filmed team staff

Brown nips Hunter.

The peloton rolls by.

Hunter shows the effects of the day.

The aftermath of a crash.

The TDL cavalcade.

France's Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) will be out for three weeks after breaking his right collarbone in the season-opening "La Marseillaise" Grand Prix in Aubagne, in southern France, on Tuesday.The race organizers said Moreau, who was fourth in the Tour de France two years ago, fell as he came around a downhill bend during the 144km race. Moreau, 30, was due to undergo an operation on Wednesday. The former Festina rider suffered the same injury two years ago at the start of the 2000 season, when he broke his collarbone in the early season Etoile de Besseges. Tuesday's 144km

Hunter and Salomone head for home.

Hesjedal with a post-race smile.

The trip to the top of Genting could include a trip through the clouds.

Di Biase after his win on Monday.

Tafi feels the effects of the climb.

The group makes the trip up Fraser Gap.

A ferry heads to the island of Penang, which sits in the Indian Ocean.

Salted fish in the market at Lumut.

Hunter meets his fans at Tapah.

Downtown Ipoh, site of Stage 3's finish.

Heading out with the family.

Racing along a plam-tree lined road.

The rules of visiting a mosque.

Johnson's 13th-place equaled the best by an American.

The Belgians, led here by Nijs, were one big happy family.

Degano (left) takes the sprint.

Tafi drives the break.

Leboucher collected her second rainbow jersey in Belgium

Dunlap missed the podium by one spot.

The women's podium

Happy Happy Belgians. Flemish fans celebrate the home team sweep.

De Clerq crosses the finish line.

Fans at 60 mph.

Looking down on the finish of Stage 2.

The next generation.

Box seats.

Timing transponder.

Jesse Anthony gets a good luck kiss from Mom before the start in Zolder.

Pauwels

Is that bat in your hand or are you just happy to see Verhagen? Dutch fans celebrate a win over rival Belgians

Hunter celebrates his win.

(from left to right: A shocked Commeyne, Verhagen and Trunschka

Hunter and Tafi after another successful day in Malaysia.