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Letters to Cyclingnews - September 18, 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.

Armstrong come back
All round classification
Madiot's need to explain himself
Does doping work?
Exciting racing!
Contador and the Vuelta
Lance on Astana?
Say it isn’t So Lance!
ARD not looking forward to Armstrong return
Guilty by association
Garzelli
Scott Spark project bike

Armstrong come back

To say I am ambivalent about the impending return of Lance Armstrong to the ranks of professional cycling is an understatement. As an avid fan, I would be perfectly happy if he stayed at home in Texas.

However, if he is coming back, and he has every right to ride as long as he follows the rules, I suggest that Team Astana is not the team he should ride for.

Astana already has more accomplished Grand Tour GC riders than any other team. Putting Lance on this team would eliminate his primary competition before the race starts. I have great respect for Johan Bruyneel, but I find it hard to believe that he would not sacrifice the chances of Levi, Contador, Klöden and everyone else to make "history" once again. With Sastre going to a weaker team, Evans still saddled with limited support in the mountains and the Schleck brothers still years away from being ready, would this really be competing against the best?

If they would have him, I suggest he ride with Columbia or CSC.

Columbia is the winningest team in the world, has an anti-doping program second to none and has no real GC hopes on its roster. The fact that the sponsor is US based does not hurt either. Plus Lance gets to ride with his long time pal George Hincapie. If that won't fly, CSC is next best option. They are the strongest team in the world but just lost their true GC hope. They have the team structure to support a world class return the peloton.

Best of all, Armstrong on either one of these teams, would set up an absolute must see Tour de France. Who could not be excited by the possibility of Contador/Levi/Bruyneel battling tooth and nail with the "Comeback" on the roads of France?

Mike Giunta
Simsbury, CT, USA

Friday, September 12, 2008

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Armstrong come back #2

I was interested to see your report that scientists were debating. Why? Science is a fact based exercise and there are no facts to test. Any discussion on the physicality of a cyclist only tells a small part of the story. A discussion on Armstrong's results needs to evaluate all of the factors that led to Armstrong's domination besides his weight loss and resulting increase in power to weight ratio, and his exceptional oxygen uptake. To analyse his results you must consider the extraordinary lengths he went to such as weighing every piece of his food intake, constantly measuring his power output, constantly phoning around to understand his opponents state of mind, the microscopic attention to detail with the bike and aerodynamics, a well-drilled and dedicated team, faultless tactics, not to mention his mental domination.

The percentage difference in physical ability between the top men is small; Armstrong was intelligent enough to give himself the advantage not only by addressing all of the other factors, but focussing on those that were critical to winning - time trialling and climbing. These are the two most critical elements of the TdF, hence Armstrong's focus on power to weight and aerodynamics. Mind you, we could still pick holes in his TT technique, but I have seen few better in the pro peloton.

It would do cycling a good service at this point in time for Cyclingnews to publish facts and not speculation, as someone else has just written, you are not a tabloid. By the way, I am neither an Armstrong supporter nor antagonist, just like to deal in facts and real evidence.

John
Sussex, UK

Saturday, September 13, 2008

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Armstrong come back #3

What a dreadful idea it is for Lance Armstrong to "return" to competitive racing.

Quite apart from the obvious hostility he'll be facing from the peloton for upstaging younger riders on whatever team he signs with, he'll face as much or more from the European press over the doping issue and other matters; and for what?

If he's sincere about returning to cycling to help fight cancer (rather than merely increasing the value of his endorsement contracts), he should instead train for the Race Across America (RAAM). Unlike overtly commercial races like the Tour, the RAAM is dominated by charitable teams. Armstrong's participation would massively raise the event's profile and promote competitive cycling in the U.S. Best of all, the record-holder for fastest cross-country time in the race is held by Pete Penseyres, who was 43 at the time. Armstrong would have several years to compete himself up to that level.

Andrew Hirsch
Akron, Ohio, USA

Saturday, September 13, 2008

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Armstrong come back #4

One can't help wondering if Lance Armstrong's return is driven in part by the commercial concerns of his sponsors and US tour organizers. The week before his announcement the Tour of Georgia announced financial difficulties and the likelihood of cancellation for 2009, yet Armstrong explicitly subsequently said it is one of the five races he will ride. I find it hard to believe that Lance is so mis-informed.

Stephen Chenney

Sunday, September 14, 2008

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All round classification

It is called the Combination Classification. The scoring is based upon your standing in the three classifications. GC, Mountains, and Points classification.

Contadors' score is 3 for GC, 6 for points, and 5 for mountains, hence his score is 14. 3 + 6 + 5 = 14.

Usually the winner of the GC wins this competition.

I believe this is the second silliest competition in a bike race, trailing by a large margin the Giro competitions like the Expo Milano 2015, FUGA Cervelo, and Azurri D' Italia. Does anyone have a clue about these?

David Thompson
Ogden, Utah, USA

Thursday, September 11, 2008

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Madiot's need to explain himself

"Lance Armstrong has to explain himself about what happened in 1999," says Marc Madiot. Before pointing fingers, perhaps Madiot could explain his defence of drug cheats when he appeared on the French TV channel TFI on 21 November 1989, where his comment in respect of disclosures by Didier Garci of widespread drug use in the peloton was: "This is a typical comment from a guy who was never any good."

Lauren Stuart
Edinburgh, UK

Friday, September 12, 2008

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Does doping work?

"People want to see records broken, they want to see winners, and they want to see inhuman feats."

Nope, I actually want to see a great competition between sportsmen. What I love seeing is a sportsman (or woman) giving the best performance of their lives, whether they win or not. Great moments in cycling in recent years? How about Voigt giving the stage to the climber he had shadowed up the climb? That is true class.

There will always be a winner, I don’t give a damn about records, and I do not want to see inhuman feats. Cycling, at least in Europe and South America has always been a peoples sport. The fans could get close to the stars, chat, and get autographs. They could ride the same or similar gear, and ride the exactly the same roads and compare themselves to/pretend they are the pros. There are very few sports where this is possible. Personally I think that aiming for the US market is the worst thing that could happen to cycling as US sports are the antithesis of what cycling has always represented.

The best thing that happened to cycling recently was the tightening of rules about equipment, sport should be about the athletes not the equipment.

Kim Shearer

Sunday, September 14, 2008

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Does doping work? #2

Who cares, can't we just drop this issue. It is really getting silly; if an athlete chooses to cheat it’s on his/her shoulders. I’m getting sick of people complaining about doping; let’s talk about cycling for once!

Tom Ahlrichs
Boise, Idaho, USA

Friday, September 12, 2008

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Exciting racing!

I don’t know about anyone else, but for me yesterday (Wed., Sept 11) had two of the most exciting/nail biting bike races in recent memory. First, the gapping of Valverde at the Vuelta and then the relentless attacks against Christian Vande Velde and his Garmin-Chipotle team by mostly Team Columbia at the Tour of Missouri. Wow; fantastic reporting by the Cyclingnews.com folks.

Norman Davis

Friday, September 12, 2008

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Contador and the Vuelta

Well, what a crappy turn of events for the Tour. Today the hero of the Tour got handily beaten by both Contador and Leipheimer. It sort of diminishes Sastre's accomplishments in July.

No disrespect meant! Sastre was the best of the field in the Tour, but we'll always wonder what could have been; I hate the ASO now!

Manolo Oliveras

Saturday, September 13, 2008

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Lance on Astana?

I think it would absolutely rock to have Lance ride with Alberto, Levi, Andreas and Chechu.

It would force the hands of ASO a bit more to include the team next year, although hopefully there is some major outcry after Astana goes 1-2 in the Vuelta. It really taints Sastre's victory in my book.

But the really exciting thought and ultimate pay back for excluding the team in '08 would be for them to sweep the podium in '09. They did 1-3 in '07 without Lance. Maybe that is more of the reason for ASO excluding them this year. It must irk them a bit that Johan has dominated the race for so long. Payback is sweet!

Dirk Medema

Monday, September 15, 2008

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Say it isn’t So Lance!

Sean Jones your letter was so ridiculous it should not even be dignified with a response. However I cannot help myself.

Let me guess you are one of those people convinced that 911 was a government conspiracy. To think that the UCI or ASO would manufacture a positive doping test against Lance Armstrong is ludicrous. If they were to do this it would almost surly be the end of cycling as we know it. The magic and spirit of cycling which Lance has had a major hand in creating would be tarnished for life. It would be 100 times more damaging than any other cyclist doping scandal in history. To think that cycling's governing body's would deliberately do this to the sport that they love just as much as any other cyclist is crazy all to settle a score with someone who "Has beaten them at their own game".

Jack Hudson
Qld, Australia

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

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ARD not looking forward to Armstrong return

"The return of Armstrong is obviously not a credible action in the struggle for a future without doping," said Ganz. He explained that ASO is keen to have the commitment of German television due to the historically strong support of German riders at the Tour by the public back home. "Our word has weight. For the French, the German market is more important than many others," he added.

I’m still waiting for definitive proof that Armstrong doped from credible sources rather than from a sensationalist newspaper. Sounds like someone is still bitter that the American dominated all the stars the German’s had to throw at him. Then it turns out their biggest star may have been the biggest offender. Pretty ironic…

ASO, maybe it’s time to find another channel to support the Tour for German fans.

If Armstrong does sign with Astana then he’ll go through the same rigorous testing everyone else on the team is going through above the usual testing. So detractors should embrace his return. The current state of testing should finally clear or bury Armstrong. Because of that both sides should be happy to see him coming back! From a business perspective, I’m sure behind closed doors the ASO is happy to see him back just for the increased viewer ratings they’ll reap.

Gary
Daly City, CA, USA

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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ARD not looking forward to Armstrong return #2

If I read the article titled ARD on Armstrong return correctly, we have a German TV network clearly stating that it will exert what it sees as its considerable influence on the TdF organizer, ASO, to preclude Lance Armstrong from starting in the 2009 TdF based on an adverse view the TV network has of Armstrong that is, at least in part, based on a story published in a French newspaper. I may be overly simplistic, but that is just plain wrong.

I do not know whether Armstrong doped or not, but until he is proven, by a reliable process, to have doped I will assume he did not. He is entitled to hold an International Race Licence. He might be denied a start in the world’s largest professional bicycle race because an entity the organizer of the event hopes to have a commercial arrangement with has indicated it will dictate who is to start and who is not to start.

This is the heart of the dispute between ASO and UCI last year. The riders and teams ought to have stood their ground with both UCI and ASO. It will be very interesting to see what ASO might do.

I won’t be buying that BMW I was thinking of buying…

Brian Glendenning
Newcastle, Australia

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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Guilty by association

I’m sick of all the negativity surrounding the return of Lance Armstrong. Everyone seems to have an opinion, what a shame it seems to be whichever opinion has been handed to them recently by some other cynical disbeliever who never rode a bike.

Lance Armstrong is the most drug tested athlete on the planet. Lance Armstrong never returned a positive drug test. So he’s innocent then? Apparently not! It seems that circumstantial evidence is enough to convict these days. Several top 10 riders in the Tour during the Armstrong years have since tested positive and that seems to be enough to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that LA must have doped too. Roberto Heras and Floyd Landis doped and that seems to be enough for everyone to suggest Lance as one time teammate must have doped too.

Why are we not picking on George Hincapie too? Because he never won the Tour. David Millar is held up as a hero for speaking out against doping. Excuse me? Millar doped, got caught, cracked under police pressure and squealed. Lance’s return is not welcomed by the media who want to leave the ‘shady controversial Texan’ in the past. ‘This is not what the sport needs’ they say. Remind me again why? Because he dominated a bike race in an era when a bunch of other guys who raced him took drugs!

Fair enough, but should we not also victimise everyone else who raced between 1999-05? I’m confused, this is the same sport that celebrates Tom Simpson each time a race climbs the Mont Ventoux right? Erm… perspective please? Bjarne Riis is fine to lead the CSC team to the Tour de France 2008 title from behind the wheel of the team car. Let’s see whether Saunier Duval get barred from participating in next year’s Tour in the wake of the Ricco affair.

The cycling industry thrived on Lance Armstrong for years. More bikes got sold, more people watched races, more magazines got sold, TV deals got bigger, sponsors were attracted to the Sport. Today I read that German Television are going to tell ASO they are ‘not amused’ by Lance Armstrong’s comeback antics. Pardon me? Lance Armstrong may not be to everyone’s taste, but when will this end? When a hero to millions and an inspiration to millions more has been destroyed. When a cancer charity doing more to tackle the disease than any government has been reduced to ruin? Then all those people intent on victimising a legend can congratulate themselves for a job well done and really celebrate. Truth is, they’ll have accomplished nothing and the world will be worse off for their efforts.

Now, surely these people have something more important to do than be part of a pointless witch hunt.

Dave Shephard
Fleet, UK

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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Garzelli

Correct me if I am wrong but why does there seem to be almost nothing written about Stefano Garzelli on your site? He just won the GP Wallone and there is barely a peep about him. He is one of the very few riders who is both competitive in the grand tours and regularly wins some rather substantial one-day races. On top of that, he is not exactly the youngest rider in the pack. It seems that he is one of the few old school riders left standing, er- pedaling. Assuming he is clean, he should get much more praise than he does.

Cory Thompson
Arizona, US

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

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Scott Spark project bike

Hi Kevin and Graham,

Thanks for the letters and both of you make valid points. However, I should probably clarify a few things:

* We didn’t post a total price for our Project Bike not because it would have been too expensive to mention, but rather because the nature of the frame-up build meant a real-world price was nearly impossible to quote. A shop would generally apply some sort of discount to a complete build like this and very few consumers would simply go out and purchase each of the components at full retail. When you consider that the new ’09 Spark LTD retails for almost US$12,500 and its DT Swiss XRC 330 carbon rims alone cost about US$1,000 (our entire ZTR Race wheelset is ‘only’ US$950), we dare say that our build is likely quite a bit less expensive when all is said and done. Our apologies for not clarifying that in the article text but even if this came out to US$7,000 (a veritable bargain in comparison), we agree it’s still an exorbitant amount of money to pay for something that will likely get slammed into the ground more than once in its lifetime.

* Weight: Keep in mind that our quoted Project Bike weight also includes a bottle cage. Ok, at 30g, it’s not much but that brings the difference to more like 170g or so which, in weight weenie terms, is akin to jettisoning a boat anchor. Given that our bike would likely be cheaper, or at worst roughly the same cost, as the stock LTD, we think we did ok. Not to mention that the 630mm-wide riser bar is far more usable in the real world than the 600mm integrated flat bar that Scott specs on its LTD and our bike’s saddle also uses more durable titanium rails instead of the stock LTD’s carbon ones. Kevin, you in particular can probably imagine how either of those changes might affect your descending on the rock section at Hall Ranch! Ouch.

* Tires: yup, those Schwalbes were certainly fragile where we tested them but to be fair, our environment is fairly extreme in the grand spectrum of trail terrain. Riders that don’t have to deal with as many sharp rocks would likely fare reasonably well with these and these things would be as good as gold in the Midwest. As for the WTB Wolverines that we swapped to, we easily could have gone lighter and perhaps should have for this article. Our Wolverines were 570g apiece; Michelin’s XCR Dry2 (with which we’ve had excellent experiences) is only about 480g each. The smaller casing would have meant that we had to be a little more careful in picking lines and whatnot but they still probably would have been the better compromise overall and would have only added 100g to our build.

* Cheesecake: Give up cheesecake? Blasphemy! We love cheesecake (boy, do we love cheesecake). But yes, omitting that and other such items would undoubtedly be more cost effective than going to such lengths to build what we did but it wasn’t our intention to be economical. The purpose of our Project Bike was to see how light we could go on a bike without crossing that delicate line between weight and durability/performance. When you consider guys like Christophe Sauser uses aluminum brake caliper bolts (that are loaded in shear, no less) and World Cup-level DH racers run only three rotor bolts, there’s clearly some interest out there for dropping grams.

Would someone in the ‘real world’ do a build like this? Though you’re not likely to see scores of them at your local trail head this isn’t far off from what others have already done and, if anything, is far less extreme than some examples we’ve researched. Either way, we agree that this Project Bike probably isn’t terribly close to mimicking what many of you have to deal with (i.e. real budgets) so future ones will definitely be more cost and value oriented. If you’ve got an idea that you’d like to see us explore, feel free to drop us a line at tech@cyclingnews.com.

James Huang
Technical Editor, Cyclingnews.com

Saturday, September 13, 2008

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Recent letters pages

Letters 2008

  • September 18: Armstrong come back, All round classification, Madiot's need to explain himself, Does doping work?, Exciting racing!, Contador and the Vuelta, Lance on Astana?, Say it isn’t So Lance!, ARD not looking forward to Armstrong return, Guilty by association, Garzelli, Scott Spark project bike
  • September 12: Does doping work?, Scott Spark ultralight bike, Cadel stays with Silence-Lotto?, Vuelta, Giro, Tour triple, All round classification, Editorialising / opinion within articles, Do it twice or until you get it right, Olympic mountain biking, Say it isn't so Lance!, Armstrong come back, BMX....That's all?
  • September 4: BMX....That's all?, Olympic mountain biking, Cadel stays with Silence-Lotto?, Head tube logos at Olympic Games, Fabio Baldato's premature retirement, Does doping work?, Cadel Evans and the Beige Jersey, Team Australia helmets, British track team's Olympic Games medals Pro cycling sponsorship
  • August 29: BMX, Carlos Sastre, NRC Calendar, U-23 Championship road race fiasco, Therapeutic use exemptions - please explain, Phil Liggett encounter, John Fahey and Jacques Rogge on doping, Aussie Allan Davis?, Pro cycling sponsorship
  • August 28: US cyclists and masks, Cadel, Cadel Evans and the Beige jersey, Levi Leipheimer’s Bike, Doping, Team Australia helmets, Lance and the doping debate, British Olympic track medals, BMX....That's all?
  • August 22: Spanish federation questions Leipheimer's bronze, Hushovd's Look, Cadel's Injury, NRC Calendar, Phil Liggett encounter, British Olympic track medals, Therapeutic Use Exemptions - please explain, Truvativ HammerSchmidt, Carlos Sastre, Cadel Evans and the Beige Jersey
  • 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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