Letters to Cyclingnews - August 21, 2008

Here's your chance to get more involved with Cyclingnews. Comments and criticism on current stories, races, coverage and anything cycling related are welcomed, even pictures if you wish. Letters should be brief (less than 300 words), with the sender clearly identified. They may be edited for space and clarity; please stick to one topic per letter. We will normally include your name and place of residence, but not your email address unless you specify in the message.

Please email your correspondence to letters@cyclingnews.com.

Levi Leipheimer's Bike
John Fahey and Jacques Rogge on doping
Cycling out of the Olympics
Team Australia helmets
Scott-American Beef excluded from Vuelta
Doping & money
U-23 National Championship RR fiasco
US Cyclists and masks
World Road race championships national quotas

Levi Leipheimers Bike

I was watching the Olympic TT yesterday and am wondering whether Levi Leipheimer’s bike is actually legal. The tip of his handlebars (tri bars) seem very close to being above the height of his saddle, Due to the Regulations that UCI imposed to make sure superman was not to be used. Is his position ok?

John Carroll

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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John Fahey and Jacques Rogge on doping

Those outside of Australia might not know that Mr Fahey had a long history as a conservative politician – he was a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for nearly 12 years, and was the NSW Premier for 10 days (yes, 10 days) in 1992. After that he was, for some time, the Minister for Finance in the Howard (Federal) Government. So he is clearly a politician.

Like Dick Pound, Mr Fahey is also a lawyer. I for one am glad that Mr Fahey seems show a little more restraint than Dick Pound seemed capable of showing.

My problem with the quote that Liam Downing attributes to Mr Fahey is not the accuracy but what Mr Fahey is said to have said. The focus is on “restoring confidence to the sporting public”. Who comprises the “sporting public”?

If the competitors are the “sporting public”, then great and I support Mr Fahey and WADA 100%, as long as Mr Fahey treats all sports under “his” watch in an even handed manner. As a racing cyclist I like to think that those I race against are not doping, and I am sure the pros have a similar perspective. A level playing field is needed.

But I think that the “sporting public” that is of most concern to Mr Fahey and his WADA/IOC friends are the spectators. That sits a little uneasily. Why are the interests of those who watch sport more important than those who compete?

Money really does ruin sport.

Regards

Brian Glendenning
Newcastle, Australia

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Cycling out of the Olympics

Only cycling and weightlifting have drug cultures? How ridiculous, we only need to look at the statistics to see that many Olympic sports are plagued with drug problems. We only need to look at historical data from other sports results to see that Cycling at the Olympics is in fact a relatively clean sport.

Doping positives in sports for the last 3 Olympics:

What this small sample of data seems to suggest is that sports with a high profile professional circuit tend to catch their cheaters outside of Olympic competition, simply due to the ability to test large numbers of sports-people all year round.

Sports that lack an all-year, high profile competition tend to have more doping positives during the Olympic games. This is a simple economies of scale equation, Cycling has a high profile around the world, and as such generates large amounts of money from advertising, and as such can afford to test athletes on a very regular basis. Weightlifting on the other hand, draws much less income from sponsors, and as such is not able to afford regular testing on athletes.

It seems that there are sports which tend to never catch anyone and are praised by the IOC for their "clean" record. For example, we know that during the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1988 Olympics, East Germany won 38 Gold in Athletics, 38 Gold in Swimming and 33 Gold in Rowing due to their systematic use of Anabolic Steroids. None of their athletes were caught even though testing for anabolic steroids was already possible, attested by the fact that Weightlifting caught 7 athletes for the use of Anabolic Steroids at the 1976 games. Swimming has seen a total of only 42 doping cases in its entire history (cycling had 21 in 2007 alone), 12 of these being known by admission of the athlete years after the events, however many more cases have become public after the fact. This seems to infer that Swimming is not interested in catching its cheats, just breaking world records as this is what draws a crowd (Perhaps this has been best on display in the last few days in the pool in Beijing?).

Ejecting sports from the Olympics, due to their perceived "drug problems" outside of the Olympics is very naive, especially when the two sports on mention have historically been the best at catching their cheats and trying to keep their sport clean.

The words of WADA chief, John Fahey, perhaps best sum this whole thing up, "I think weightlifting understands, as cycling understands, that there is a huge risk for both those sports if the cheating is continued and continued to be exposed."

It seems like he wants us to stop exposing the cheaters for our sports continued commercial success. Keep up the good work Cycling and Weightlifting, we may be putting our commercial interests at risk but our competition will be all the better for it.

Daniel Davis
Alice Springs, Australia

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Team Australia helmets

If the sometimes helmetless riders on the Australian Olympic team meant to send any message at all, it could be that helmets are not a very important part of cycling safely.

John Forrest Tomlinson
New York City, NY, USA

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Team Australia helmets #2

Quoted: "I have just seen a photo of team Australia doing a practice ride on the Olympic road course - only 2 of the 5 are wearing helmets! What example does this send to the junior cyclists who look up to these guys as role models?"

A practice ride by professionals on a closed course featuring paved roads...maybe these Aussie's are taking an enormous risk? Or maybe every time a cyclist is "caught" on a bike without a helmet there should be an attached message warning of grave harm if ever duplicated. Give them a little more credit and a little less responsibility for others presumed actions.

Joshua Laichas
Cincinnati, Ohio

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Team Australia helmets #3

It was a practise ride so it was probably at a very relaxed pace with plenty of room on the road but I do remember thinking that if Stuey fell off with not even a hat on like Rogers and Lloyd he would have a nasty bit of road rash.

I very much doubt however that any kid would look a that picture and say "their not wearing a helmet why should I?" If a person doesn’t have sense enough to wear a helmet then I don’t think their brain is worth protecting

Richard Hinsliff
Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Scott-American Beef excluded from Vuelta

From what I can gather I think they only really go after a TEAM if it looks like the team was part of the doping practices. Astana and SD both looked like it was a team thing rather than an individual act. This I feel is where the organisers are drawing the differences.

Richard Hinsliff
Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Doping & money

According to Sports Illustrated the top ten earners in sport took home a staggering $276 million dollars between them in 2007, just over 9 times the total of $30 million spent worldwide on anti-doping tests according to TheAthlete.org. Can we really expect to mount a successful campaign against drugs in sport with such paltry resources? When you consider that in 2007 alone English footballer Steven Gerrard earned approximately fifteen times the average lifetime salary for a citizen of the United Kingdom maybe it’s time for sport as a whole to reconsider its priorities.

I’d like to see a percentage of money diverted from professional sportspersons salaries, sponsorship deals, match fees and bonuses towards an international fund for drugs testing in sport. For example, taking basic salary alone the English Premier League could raise $27.8 million a year towards doping funds by taking a ten per cent cut from the 11 first team players of each of the twenty teams and still leave each of them with an average salary of $1.13 million a year.

I’d also like to see sponsors being required to contribute by paying a proportion of any sponsorship deal towards such a fund. After all, it’s in their interest to sponsor clean athletes. Just imagine how much could be raised if Coca-Cola paid a fraction of a cent for every bottle or can sold towards a fighting fund for drug-free sport?

The only way to eradicate drugs cheating in sport is through effective, thorough, and regular programmes of testing, and this will cost money; money that clearly isn’t there in sufficient amounts through public funding models such as that used by WADA. Sponsors, organizations and individuals profit hugely from sport, it’s now time for them to take responsibility and invest a fraction of that profit in overcoming the seemingly endemic problem of doping.

Aaron Cripps
Swindon, UK

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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U-23 National Championship RR fiasco

As someone who was pulled from the main field, I can say that we were warned about a 3 minute road closure leniency rule at the start. But, my team and I were lead to believe that this applied to racers more that 3 minutes outside the Caravan (aka OFF the back). Pulling riders in contention for a top 15 is pretty ridiculous, and with this being my first year out of junior cycling I had hoped to at least finish the 120 miles with a high placing.

My team and I invested a lot of money and time in last weekend, and it was a shame the racing had to end like it did. At the very least USAC and the race promoter should issue an apology. USAC should not renew with the promoter for next year and officials should find a more suitable host city for 2009 (aka some less crowded roads that can be managed by the local PD).

Case in point: if USAC and its affiliated promoters are strapped for cash and personnel to run even the smallest local races, why set our national championship in Anaheim (where expenses are even more outrageous)?

Zach Williams
San Rafael, CA

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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U-23 Championship Road Race fiasco #2

Hi. Sadly, Leslie, this occurrence is all too common. All too common. I have had it happen to me, I have had my junior athletes pulled from a race in this fashion, and so on. Welcome to officiating in the U.S.

When I raced in Italy, we had a train of cyclo-tourists behind our racing pack of riders, even on a difficult course, and no official said one word to them. I guess this is the difference between cultures that have road racing as a part of their culture, and are less repressed than ours, also.

Regis Chapman
Soda Springs, CA USA

Saturday, August 16, 2008

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US Cyclists and masks

Alex,

You crack me up. If you travel to China frequently (as you say) you would know that within the Chinese culture saving face is a big deal. You, as many other North Americans should be more sensitive to cultural idiosyncrasies when travelling. You might be looked upon more favourably as a nation if you did, especially when abroad.

Now, why not just wear the masks once outside the terminal and exposed to the "real" air. I'm sure no one would have a problem with that. Getting off a plane with masks on seems a tad ridiculous to me. Will they compete at their track events with them on too? Now that would be something to behold.

Hilary Vaughan
Calgary, Alberta

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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World Road race championships national quotas

David McCann blasts the UCI for not permitting all the teams at the World Championships to have the same number of riders. I can see that at both the Olympics and the World Championships the organisers might find themselves on the horns of a dilemma:

Welcoming the participation of a range of countries
Keeping fields down to a reasonable size
Rewarding those countries with the best results in the lead up to the event

In view of this, what caught my attention in the cyclingnews.com story is the fact that the UCI's odd selection process could mean that Iran qualifies 6 riders for the men’s RR, while countries like Sweden, NZ and Kazakhstan, all of which have strong and successful cycling cultures, only get three riders each.

No disrespect to the dedicated Iranians who have worked hard all year long winning races in Asia to qualify 6 riders, but I wonder if any of them are able to finish the race in the front bunch? By contrast, the USA, which also only gets 6 riders, could probably enter 6 racers capable of winning the Worlds, on their day:

Leipheimer
Hincapie
McCartney
Vande Velde
Rodriguez
Horner

I sincerely hope that cycling in Iran gets a major boost as a result of their disproportionate representation at the World Championships.

Will Hallahan
Perth WA

Friday, August 15, 2008

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World Road race championships national quotas #2

I couldn’t agree more that cycling is a team sport. However, as there is no way that all nations can participate with teams of nine riders, there has to be some rules and regulations to limit and define team riders. The problem is that this will never be fair as weaker nations will also have smaller teams and therefore lower chances to win, so winners are likely to come always from a few select national squads (the usual suspects).

Luckily, there was Fabü’s bright spot with his bronze medal in the Beijing men road race. He was alone, on his own and with no team!

Theo Schmid
Zurich, Switzerland

Friday, August 15, 2008

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Recent letters pages

Letters 2008

• August 21: Levi Leipheimers Bike, John Fahey and Jacques Rogge on doping, Cycling out of the Olympics, Team Australia helmets, Scott-American Beef excluded from Vuelta, Doping & money, U-23 National Championship RR fiasco, US Cyclists and masks, World Road race championships national quotas
• August 19: Therapeutic Use Exemptions - please explain, Carlos Sastre, Riccò confesses to using EPO, Lance and the doping debate, Cadel Evans and the Beige Jersey, Bring back bonus seconds to liven le Tour, Crank Length formula, Thank you, Confused
• August 14: Cycling out of the Olympics, U-23 Championship Road Race Fiasco, Phil Liggett encounter, WADA chief John Fahey, Moreno, John Fahey and Jacques Rogge on doping, Beijing Road Race, World Road race championships national quotas, Scott-American Beef excluded from Vuelta, US Cyclists and masks, Team Australia helmets
• August 7: Riccò confesses to using EPO, Carlos Sastre, Contador, A question for Susan Westemeyer, Confused, Lance and the doping debate, Accountability and cycling teams, Crank length formula, Bring back bonus seconds to liven le Tour, Yet another...Manual Beltran, ASO, doping and Astana
• July 31: A bike by any other name, Accountability and cycling teams, Andy Schleck "killing moves", Anti-doping chief calls Tour tests a success?, ASO, doping and Astana, Bad blood, Boycott le Tour and Olympics, Carlos Sastre, Bring back bonus seconds to liven le Tour, Canadian eh! Ryder Hesjedal, Cleaning up cycling, a suggestion, Confused, Crank Length Formula
• July 25: Confused, Consistency please, Damages paid, Dave Russell passes away, David Miller on Riccò, Do you believe?, Doping, ASO vs UCI, what is going on?, Evans to wear number one in Tour, How does Andy Schleck "kill all the moves"?
• July 24: Gerrans, One question & two predictions about the Tour, A bike by any other name, ASO, doping and Astana, Beating a dead horse, but..., Boycott le Tour and Olympics, Cascade Cycling Classic accident, Cleaning up cycling, a suggestion
• July 17 - Edition 2: The effect of time bonuses, Cascade Cycling Classic accident, Confused, Boycott le Tour and Olympics, Alison Starnes diary, Is McQuaid interested in Cycling at all?, More involvement needed from CPA, Teams ditch UCI, Yet another...Manual Beltran, LeMond: Cycling doesn't need UCI, Dave Russell passes away
• July 17 - Edition 1: Tour mountain cats, Is Pereiro getting a bum wrap?, Popovych! Where the bloody hell are you?, Evans' team-mates, Evans to wear number one in Tour, Poor quality of competition, Tour climbs, What if…, Riccó uses outdated bike in ITT, Fabian Wegmann's electronic Dura Ace problems?, Hushovd's Look, Stage 10 coverage was a treat!, Tour de France accident, EPO is back on the menu boys!, Consistency, please
• July 15: Tour de France: Stage 3 - The Badger is back!, Thor Hushovd's Look, Riccó uses outdated bike in ITT, Boycott le Tour and Olympics, Astana and the Tour, Romain Feillu, Cascade Cycling Classic accident, LeMond: Cycling doesn't need UCI, Tour de France accident, We Might As Well Win Review, Evans shoe covers, Pure climbers, Why on earth Danielson?, Historical information, Stefan Schumacher loses yellow, Sylvain Chavanel, Yet another...Manual Beltran, Stage 10 coverage was a treat!
• July 10: Stefan Schumacher, LeMond: Cycling doesn't need UCI, Excellent article - ASO v's UCI, Insulting comment, Romain Feillu, Pure climbers are they a thing of the past?, Evans and shoe covers, Evans to wear number one in Tour, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Experience with UST Mountain Tires, Boycott le Tour and Olympics, Astana and the Tour, Riders stuck in the middle, Oval bars, Landis decision
• July 4: WADA, Inconsistent Lab Analysis, and Landis, Rabobank and the Tour, ASO and past Tour winners, Landis decision, Teenager mauled by bear in Anchorage, Evans to wear number one in Tour, Experience with UST Mountain Tires, iPods while riding, Erik Zabel, Oval bars, ASO's hidden agenda, Joe Magnani, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Giro, ASO's world domination, Ban Boonen?, A Hollow Tour Victory
• June 26: ASO's hidden agenda, ASO's world domination, Ban Boonen?, Gilberto Simoni, Giro d'Italia, iPods while riding, Oval bars, Tour without minimum bike weight rule?, What about Friere
• June 19: ASO and the Vuelta, ASO's world domination, Ban Boonen?, Ban Boonen? Beware the inquisition, Boonen, Boonen vs. Petacchi, Boonen's Tour exclusion, Giro d'Italia, iPods while riding, Oval bars, Road rage incident, Tom Boonen exclusion from Tour de Suisse
• June 13: Tom Boonen and his nose, Apologies from Montreal, Chantal's Philly win, Gilberto Simoni, Boring first week of Grand Tours?, Giro d'Italia, iPods while riding, ASO and the Vuelta, Road rage incident, Astana chain choice
• June 5: Apologies from Montreal, Astana chain choice, Bennati and race radios, Race radio?, Gilberto Simoni, Giro winner, Good result in road rage court case, Helmets in the Giro, Lemond vs. Armstrong, Millar, No, no, you can't take that away from them, Oval bars, Review error, Ricardo Riccò, Road rage incident
• May 29: Bennati and race radios, Helmets in the Giro, Review error, LeMond vs. Armstrong, Losing something in the translation, Millar, Petacchi, Race radio?, Road rage incident, Weight work on the bike
• May 23: Road rage incident, How much will it take?, Paralysed cyclist, Fausto Exparza, David Millar, Basso gets a contract, Weight work, CAS and Petacchi, Shortest TdF, Petacchi & Piepoli
• May 15: Sydney road rage incident, Steegmans lashes out at UCI, Steve Hogg's article, World Cup #3 XC, Where is Chris Horner, Slipstream, Astana and Le Tour, Giro stage 5!, US time trial Champion?, Basso gets a contract, Race radios, CAS ruling on Petacchi, Hamilton's integrity? Dude!, Weight work
• May 8: Race radio?, Ridiculous ruling, What a farce!, CAS ruling on Petacchi, Basso gets a contract, Hamilton's integrity? Dude!, French riders had to give up their jerseys?,
• May 1: Race radio?, Basso gets a contract, Advise needed for Alpe D'Huez, LeMond vs. Armstrong, Bottles, Scars of war, ProTour in Russia! China? Ahem... America?, LeMond's 1989 TdF, Mayo?, Stuart O'Grady Team CSC Cervélo R3 Paris, Have any French riders had to give up their jerseys?
• April 25: Just shut up and ride, ProTour in Russia! China? Ahem...America?, Bottles, LeMond's 1989 TdF, New format for the Vuelta? , Scars of war, LeMond v. Armstrong, No tour for Astana #1, Rock Racing rip off #1, Advise needed for Alpe D'Huez, Stuart O'Grady Team CSC Cervélo R3 Paris
• April 18: Just shut up and ride, USA Track Cycling, Paris-Roubaix, Little Indy 500 - Women's Race Article, Stuart O'Grady Team CSC Cervélo R3 Paris-Roubaix, What's happening to road tubeless?, Thanks Cyclingnews, Bottles, Just think?, Tour of Georgia - Lame, Colavita, No tour for Astana, Clever tactics by McQuaid expose ASO, Suggestions for the little bullies, Rock Racing rip off, LeMond Vs. Trek
• April 10: Suggestions for the little bullies, Pat McQuaid, Clever tactics by McQuaid expose ASO, Just think, Trek vs. LeMond, Rock Racing rip off, Homepage overhaul, Some praise, USA track cycling, Team car order just the first gamble, Come on Greg & Lance, LeMond vs. Armstrong
• April 3: Pat McQuaid, April fools, Carbon Wrap-It System, Sylvain Chavanel, Astana vs. Rabobank vs. Slipstream Chipotle, Cadel Evans, Clever tactics by McQuaid expose ASO, Colavita, Let VDB ride?, Race radios, Rock Racing rip off
• March 27: Riccardo's manner of professionalism, Rock Racing rip off, Chavanel's Paris - Nice shoes, Cadel Evans, Cadel Evans at Paris - Nice, Let VDB ride?, ASO vs. Astana, ASO vs. UCI help me with my memory, Astana vs. Rabobank vs. Slipstream Chipotle, Police kill cyclists,"PRO"cycling teams
• March 20:"Pro"Cycling Teams, AIGCP does have a choice, ASO vs UCI help me with my memory, ASO vs. Astana, Chavanel's Paris - Nice shoes, Kevin van Impe's doping control, Cadel Evans at Paris - Nice, Hamilton, Operacion Puerto, and the ToCA, Paris - Nice: What it could have been, Police kill cyclists, The Astana affair, UCI hypocrisy
• March 13:"Pro"Cycling Teams, ASO vs. Astana, ASO vs. UCI, ASOh well, UCI'll see you later, Cycling fans must let their voices be heard, Denounce ASO's actions for what they are, Hamilton, Operacion Puerto, and the ToCA, Knife between the ribs?, Paris Nice, Police kill cyclists, British track sprinters' helmets?, Rock Racing and Michael Ball, The Astana affair, The real ASO problem, Tour and ASO, UCI - very bad poker players, UCI hypocrisy.
• March 6: Zirbel and the"ride of his life", British track sprinters' helmets, Hamilton, Operacion Puerto and the ToCA, Three grand tours or five monuments?, Rock Racing and Michael Ball, Pro cycling is dead, Paris - Nice, Knife between the ribs?, Doping and the Tour, Astana, the ASO and the UCI, ASO vs. Astana, The Astana affair, ASO vs. UCI vs. AIGCP vs. the non existent riders, The real ASO problem, Denounce ASO's actions for what they are, Sponsorship code of ethics, Where are the other ProTour teams?, ProTour vs. ASO
• February 28: ASO vs. Astana, Passion and sponsorship, Crash or crash through, Pro cycling is dead, Why we must have the ProTour, Rock Racing and Michael Ball, ToC and Rock, The hidden message behind banning Astana, ASO is killing cycling, ASO could be right, The real ASO problem, UCI - draw a line in the sand, ASO has lost the plot, The Astana affair, Astana and ASO/RCS, the Astana decision, Operacion Puerto, Old rider classification
• February 15: Doping controls, Tour of California moving up!, Why I love the Tour of California, Operation Puerto, Astana rejected by ASO, Boycott ASO, ASO - stop the madness, Tour de France, ASO is wrong to exclude Astana, Astana, ASO, and the NFL, Tour de Farce, The hidden message behind banning Astana, Astana exclusion, ASO is killing cycling, Astana out of Tour, ASO has lost the plot
• February 8: Lampre doping controls, Grand Tour Monopoly?, Giro selections, Slipstream Qatar, Allan Davis, Sheldon Brown, Dick Pound to head CAS?, Find out who's leaking lab results, Rock racing
• February 1: UCI vs. Grand Tour war, Best wishes to Anna, The incident, Rock racing & Starbucks, Rock racing Rocks, Rock racing, Landis in NUE, Lance is the best of all time, Sinkewitz logic, Astana for 08 Tour?
• January 25: Rock racing, Time to draw a line in the sand, ASO vs. UCI ProTour, UCI vs. Grand Tour war spills over to European federations, Readers' poll stage races 2007, Cyclist of the year, Team High Road's black kit, Lance is the best of all time, Landis in NUE, Toyota-United abusing USAC team rules?
• January 18: Cadel Evans - returns to training, Cyclist of the Year, DOPING - time to draw a line in the sand, Hincapie in T-Mobile kit, Lance is the best of all time, Readers poll: best stage races 2007, Rock racing, Speaking about Lance, Toyota-United abusing USAC team rules?
• January 11: Armstrong on Landis, Cadel Evans - returns to training, Hincapie in T-Mobile kit, Ivan Basso - why no tough questions?, Reader Poll, Rock & burn racing, Speaking about Lance, Sydor's consistency, The 'Bruyneel philosophy', Toyota-United abusing USAC team rules?
• January 5: Great day for cycling, Sydor's consistency, Hincapie in T-Mobile kit, CA awards misses national series, Thank you, Ivan Basso - why no tough questions?, Cadel Evans - returns to training, Helmets belong on heads, Armstrong on Landis, Will there be a Tour of Missouri?, Roberto Heras, Speaking about Lance, Mayo's B Sample

Letters 2007

• December 27: CA awards misses national series, Armstrong on Landis, Vinokourov's sentence, Vinokourov, Cadel Evans - returns to training, Mayo's B sample to get B test
• December 14: Sydor's consistency, George Hincapie, Helmet straps must be cinched a bit too tight, Will there soon be a sample"C"test?, ProTour, Vino's joke of a suspension, Mafioso McQuaid, Obee and Health Net, Mayo's B sample to get B test, Campagnolo offers its own 'red' shifter, T-Mobile's withdrawal a blow to Jaksche
• December 6: Tschüss T-Mobile, Anquetil, Mayo's B sample to get B test, T-Mobile drop out, Obee and Health Net, Stefano Zanini
• November 30: Anquetil,Mayo's B sample to get B test, Stefano Zanini, Rider's passport, Betting, Jonathan Page, Wake up!!, T-Mobile drop out, Bike design originality
• November 23: Remembering Jacques Anquetil, Done looking back, Mayo's B sample to get B test, Cross crank, Rider's passport, Blood passports and humanity, Fothen's comments on Bettini, Nathan O'Neill , Sinkewitz, Rasmussen blood values, Sponsorship strangeness, Dick Pound better understood, Bike design originality,
• November 16: Nathan O'Neill, Rasmussen blood values, The Crocodile Trophy, Sinkewitz, Drug testing procedures, Rider's passport, The drug issue, Bike design originality , Sponsorship strangeness, Selfishness will ruin cycling
• November 9: The Crocodile Trophy, A little bit of bias here?, Rider's passport, Kasheckin, Positive tests, Drug testing procedures, Marco Pinotti: Engineering a new path, Bike design originality
• November 2: What does this mean?, Le Tour 08, Mayo's B sample, Bike design originality, Trimble, UCI says Mayo case not closed, Drug testing procedures ... and false positives, Kashechkin: controls violate human rights, Drug testing procedures, Mayo, UCI, Kashechkin, et al... Great, now it's coming from both ends, Positive tests, Why even bother with B samples then?, Mayo's positive EPO test, Falling barriers
• October 26: Rider passports & Cadel Evans, Drug testing procedures ... and false positives, Iban Mayo's false positive, Iban Mayo and Landis, Armstrong on Landis, Mayo's B sample, UCI turns Mayo's case into a debaucle, Great...now they hand pick the results, No justice for Mayo, UCI says Mayo case not closed, Bike design originality, 2006 Tour de France, A bad week for cycling, A fitting end to the season
• October 19: 2006 Grand Tour trifecta!, 2006 Tour de France, A fitting end to the season, Armstrong on Landis, Bike design originality, doping in cycling, Doping numbers, Paris-Tours testing mishap, UCI and the lack of testing!, Vino's other Tour stage win, The absolute best?
• October 12: Armstrong on Landis, Bike design originality, Cycling drama, Doping is unfair; but so is discrimination, It’s not doping that's..., Landis case - everyone's a loser, Length and cost of the Landis case, R & R, The Landis decision, Tour of America
• October 5: Cycle drama, It's not doping that's"killing"the sport, Why is VAM a benchmark, Tour of America, The Landis decision, DYNEPO, Worlds, Rock & Republic's CEO Michael Ball, Please explain, Giuseppe Guerini, FICP
• September 28: Tour of America, World champion zany-ness, The Landis decision, ASO v UCI, McQuaid vs ASO vs the riders, Please explain, Why is VAM a benchmark, Giuseppe Guerini, Menchov felt betrayed by Rasmussen, ProTour and Le Tour, Where is the due process
• September 21: Astana's future and Bruyneel, Bruyneel's afterlife, Floyd Landis decision, Why is VAM a benchmark, Lifetime bans, Menchov felt betrayed by Rasmussen, Ungrateful Levi, Spanish cycling, Where is the due process
• September 14: Astana & Bruyneel, Cycling vs. soccer, Cycling will survive, Floyd Landis decision, LeMond's comments, Menchov felt betrayed by Rasmussen, Ungrateful Levi, Why is VAM a benchmark?
• September 7: Cycling vs. soccer, Floyd Landis decision, UCI, ASO, LeMond, et al who cares? Riders, Lawyers in the Landis case, LeMond's comments, Riders taking the fall?, US Postal/Discovery R.I.P.

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