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Letters to Cyclingnews - July 13, 2007
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.
Fair doping tests
Tyler Hamilton
Tour downright exciting!
Stuttgart(?) Worlds
Rocketing Robbie v tormented Tommy
Armstrong's comment to ASO
Petacchi out
LeMond and mitochondria myopathy
Intestinal Problems
Incentive for doping
Imagine...
UCI agreement
Does the UCI test for blood transfusions?
The real heroes
Bicycle options
Fair doping tests
I've been thinking about writing this letter for sometime. It really bothers me to see how bad an example WADA is as an anti doping champion. My perception at least is one of a witch hunt. As a former member of the US military and drug enforcement team member I can attest that doping controls can be done in a way in which the rights of the individual and the needs of the community can be upheld.
Unlike WADA the US military is not normally looking for performance enhancing use rather drug abuse or steroids use at the most, so our tests are not nearly as difficult as what WADA is attempting. However, if the WADA test is scientifically accurate and reproducible then certainly the rights of the athletes can be better secured.
Drug use in the US military will result in at least the fining, loss of rank and discharge of the abuser but could result in 10 years or more confinement. Obviously the military is held to a much higher level of proof of guilt than WADA.
When I was running drug controls our procedures included:
1) Samples are treated as evidence and chain of custody rules must be followed. Any break in the chain and all samples are discarded. Each sample carries a unique ID. Only the drug enforcement team will be able to cross reference names to numbers.
WADA or the individual agencies should create a separate department that contracts out for testing. The testing department has over-site over the testing labs. No lab should be able to discern from the sample batch whether it was an out of competition or in competition test. No one other than the testing department and the individual athlete and team should know the result until and unless the B sample is positive. This would remove the possibility of lab leaking results.
2) There are no B samples in a US military test; the service member can request a second test of their original sample.
Any B sample test should automatically be conducted at an alternate site. Should the B sample be returned negative both sites should undergo testing and document review.
3) Included in the sample batch are at least one known positive and one known negative sample. If either sample is returned incorrectly identified all returned results are invalid. This also resulted in the possible desertification of the lab which at the very least was forced to undergo rigorous testing and document review.
This is the one thing that WADA, in my opinion, should do over any others and will go a long way in resulting in a trust that the results are accurate. The labs must be held accountable for their errors.
Mike B
San Diego, USA
Thursday July 5 2007
Tyler Hamilton
With his team mates Danilo Hondo finally on an agreed full suspension, and Jörg Jaksche spilling his guts for the world, what is up with the final musketeer, Tyler Hamilton?
Tyler has gone deep, and there has been no communication from him. Has Tinkoff terminated his contract? Is his non-racing a money issue, or is there really still some drug issue at hand?
Even playing Devil's advocate, and saying Tyler did blood dope, didn't he serve that suspension? Wouldn't Operation Puerto not apply to Hamilton, unless there was evidence he doped after 2004? Wouldn't a further suspension on Operation Puerto information be double jeopardy?
Curious minds would like to know what's going on in this case.
Scott Baldwin
Santa Ynez, CA, USA
Monday, July 9 2007
Tour downright exciting!
Let's hope Dick Pound, and all the sponsorship naysayer’s are watching this years Tour! Let’s hope they see the exciting new stars like Feillu, Napolitano, Cavendish, and Lagadnous showing their faces, young stars like Cancellara, Stegmanns, and Boonen establishing their reputations and established stars like McEwen, O’Grady and Zabel sustaining theirs.
Despite all our doping scandals, what a great turnout at the side of the road in England, Belgium & France it has been so far! This is great news for the peloton.
The UCI needs to keep moving forward with anti doping programs, and swallow some pride and get all teams and organizers on its side!
Allez Allez Allez le Tour!
Allan Daigneault,
Montreal,Quebec,Canada
Wednesday July 11 2007
Stuttgart(?) Worlds
If federal politicians in Germany are concerned only with scoring PR points in the wake of the Jan/Telekom/Jaksche/etc doping furore, I'm sure plenty of other countries would be more than happy to host the World championships.
Should he succeed in his bid to show off his moral superiority by axing the Stuttgart event, perhaps Herr Schauble and/or his party will compensate Stuttgart for the expenses incurred in soliciting its successful Worlds bid and lost revenue from hosting the event?
Steve Power
New London NH, USA
Friday July 6 2007
Rocketing Robbie v tormented Tommy
It’s hard to believe this one. I am sure Tom is a nice guy but…
‘Tom Boonen (Quickstep - third): "I did a good sprint, I am not disappointed, but the speed was really high in the last kilometre. I was well-placed in the front group, but McEwen arrived at the back [of our group] at a speed slightly higher than ours. When he is launched like that it is practically impossible to beat him as the sprint started very close to the finish. McEwen is faster than anybody else in the world in the last 50 metres.”
Then again he might have rephrased these comments had he viewed the footage before hand.
As far as I could see Robbie did the absolute classic of classic Robbie McEwen’s, sneaking into the front at the final few hundred meters on his own. In today’s situation his train team was probably totally knackered after getting him back to the back of the peloton, let alone having the luxury of actually doing a lead out like Boonen & the other sprinter’s had.
Robbie pulled out into the wind at the start of his sprint at a long way out (not 50m Tom) & just slayed ‘em.
“When he is launched”!? Tom, mate, he launched himself, as far as I could see on the other side of the planet.
Races like today will always emphasize why the Tour is great & always will be, no matter what ever else happens in the lead up to the race each year.
Cheers Dermot
Bright Albury
Victoria 3741 NSW 2640
Monday July 9 2007
Armstrong's comment to ASO
Three cheers for Lance Armstrong for nailing Prudhomme and ASO for their hypocrisy. I am genuinely amazed that it has taken so long for a prominent person in cycling to point to the national blinders of this man and his organization.
Prudhomme and ASO seem intent on condemning for eternity any rider who crossed the line as long as they are not French. Almost as intolerable is the quiet acquiescence of the scandal-mongering cycling press that seems to celebrate the opportunity to write about this misbehaviour (and unsubstantiated accusations of it). It brings to mind the reaction of a shark who noticed that a drunk just fell off a boat.
This is the first time in 25 years that I am almost unable to feel enthusiasm for the Tour. I think many others share this sentiment, and for a similar reason.
John R Petrocik
Friday, July 6 2007
Petacchi out
So now Petacchi is out of Le Tour and suffers a 1-Year ban, maybe an overreaction? As doping is the scourge on cycling today, I think Petacchi who possesses a certificate to use Salbutomol for allergies should not have been suspended at all!
CONI, WADA and USADA should all be after the hard core dopers first & foremost.
Our western society in everyday life get to use many substances outside EPO,
Aranesp and Steroids to cope with ailments and sicknesses, athletes should be
no different!
That said Petacchi needed to still appear before CONI to explain. We need to get rid of the health risk doping, like the aforementioned substances, while putting things like corticosteroids (used to treat skin irritations), Salbutomol and others used for allergies and asthma as well as ephedrine used for colds and sinus irritations on the backburner.
Petacchi is just a pawn to show something is being done but is entirely misdirected.
Should an amnesty on suspensions be available for those who admit to EPO, and steroid use, but stop abusing, be put in place, with a lifetime ban there after should they be caught in the future?
Cycling and doping offences need to be reset to zero, with huge suspensions for serious offences, and short suspensions or fines for minor ones. Does anyone remember that Gianni Bugno was suspended for Caffeine?
Allan Daigneault
Montreal,Canada
Thurday July 5 2007
Petacchi out #2
This latest 'scandal' involving Alessandro Petacchi’s alleged high Salbutomol levels is completely trivial and takes the doping issue to the ridiculous. And for CONI to recommend a one year ban is like sending someone to jail over a parking offence!
As an asthmatic racing cyclist myself, and many others will testify, taking a puff or two, or four, does absolutely nothing to improve performance other than being able to breathe properly. If I have a slight cold or virus, my asthma does 'play up', and I need to have the extra puffs to avoid an asthma attack. Who knows how many puffs will take them over the UCI's limit?
In this situation, which may have been similar to Petacchi's experience on that day, what do you do: have an asthma attack or have a 'puff' and be sure your health will not be jeopardised. Having asthma as a cyclist is a disadvantage, as to make a huge effort be it climbing, time trialling or in a breakaway situation you need your respiratory system functioning properly. It is the non-asthma sufferers who have the advantage.
If Petacchi goes down for one year over this, it is an insult to all cyclists who are asthma sufferers. I know rules are rules, but the penalty is a joke. For the amount he was over, surely a month is sufficient. Take the example of footy players who are only suspended for a week or two for belting an opponent. Let's hope sanity prevails, just like it did to Pedro Delgado's similar case at the 1988 Tour de France.
Grant Edmonds
Melbourne Vic, Australia
Thursday July 5 2007
LeMond and mitochondria myopathy
I sympathize with Greg. I've had difficulties in my sporting and professional activities and it's been hard to diagnose the causes. A physical sickness can combine with other factors so that the effort to unwind the symptoms to arrive at the root cause takes a long time.
A person like Greg, in the public eye, has to explain himself even as the chapters continue to unfold, so of course he would have to revise his story as it progresses - in order to tell the whole truth.
The guy has seen and done more than most people and I consider myself lucky to have been able to follow his story as it has unfolded over the decades. I think he's been straight with himself and with the public, I think he has contributed a great deal to the sport and to his community at large. I think Greg deserves our congratulations - I wish there were more sportsmen with his balls and more fans to see it.
Sven Lohse
Sterling, MA, USA
Tuesday July 10 2007
LeMond and mitochondria myopathy #2
Matt is spot on in his observation. I remember LeMond blaming his hunting accident for why he was never as strong as when he won the 1986 Tour. I have always been a fan of Greg LeMond, but I sometimes think he embarrasses himself by speaking out about things that don't really concern him. He seems to be a little bitter to not go down in history as the greatest American cyclist ever.
What he should think about is Lance looked up to him as his idol at the start of his career, also LeMond had to contend with three great Tour riders, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon and Miguel Indurain.
Bernard Hinault was idolised by the French and could do no wrong. A French mechanic supposedly sabotaged LeMond's bike before the Saint-Etienne Time-Trial by fiddling with his brakes.
Laurent Fignon didn't make LeMond's life easy in 1989 having just won the Giro and probably riding on the best form of his career.
Then along came Miguel Indurain the greatest Tour rider apart from Armstrong, who put LeMond into difficulty in 1990 and managed to de throne LeMond in 1991.
Lance Armstrong is a legendary Tour rider but what was his competition, a usually over-weight out of shape German by the name of Jan Ullrich who was possibly more gifted than Armstrong; but never realised his potentially when competing against the American. Armstrong's only other competition was the French media and public, because they couldn't stand for an American to beat them seven times, now eight times straight.
Greg LeMond should go down as an all – time great, but please Greg stop saying too much.
Maurice Bellert
Canberra, Australia
Tuesday July 10 2007
Intestinal Problems
I am an avid sports fan, following a lot of professional codes and disciplines around the world and I am perplexed as to why road cycling seems to be so drastically afflicted by 'intestinal bugs'.
I cannot think of another sport where athletes seem to drop out of events in such numbers. And I don't understand why it doesn't also affect their team mates, who surely stay in the same hotels and eat/drink the same fuels.
Is there some mystery surrounding the metabolism of professional road cyclists
that eludes me?
Mat
Melbourne Australia
Monday July 9 2007
Incentive for doping
First of all, your logic is wrong. Getting dropped on a long climb is an incentive to train harder, to climb better. It is not related in any way to taking illicit drugs and risking one's health or career.
Second, you cannot eliminate time limits. This is not because of the difficulty of keeping the roads closed to traffic for hours on end, which is a legitimate safety concern for riders. You must remember it is a race. Allowing riders to go at a snail's pace all day would give them an unfair advantage over riders who put forth the energy to race the previous stage.
Ask Mayo about climbers getting dropped on flat stages. It is not as easy as you may think it is. Riders in a long breakaway suffer greatly the next stage, whether flat or uphill. The rules are the rules for good reason.
Timothy Shame
USA
Wednesday July 11 2007
Imagine...
As loyal readers of cyclingnews.com here in the US, my friends and I want to applaud your efforts to make pro cycling a drug-free sport. In the wake of each additional bust, it is hard not to become increasingly disenchanted.
Being somewhat of a dreamer, I soon began to wonder how much better pro cycling would be if it were free of doping. While one of my favourite songs (“Imagine” by John Lennon) was playing in the background, I soon found myself replacing some of his brilliant lyrics with my own not-so-brilliant ones to express my personal hope for change in professional cycling. I wrote them down for you here. Enjoy!
Imagine there’s no doping it isn’t hard to do no EPO or steroids and no Belgian mix too imagine all the cyclists racing absolutely clean you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one I hope someday we’ll wake up to a new dope-free peloton imagine no syringes nary a blood bag or vial no need for secret doctors no more lies or denial imagine winning a stage race without cheating as your means you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one I hope someday our “heroes” will form a dope-free peloton.
Sam Johnston
Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Friday July 6 2007
UCI agreement
Perhaps we could add another clause to the UCI
anti doping charter:
- should any publication associated with the A.S.O. publish allegations concerning
any 'non negative' cyclist drug test before the athlete in question is informed,
the A.S.O. will agree to pay all costs associated with the defence of said cyclist
and in the event of his/her exoneration, publish a full page apology and pay
the equivalent of one year's advertising revenue to the fund of said cyclist's
choice.
I wonder if anyone in that organisation knows what side their bread is really buttered.
Mat Ashton
Melbourne, Australia
Monday July 9 2007
UCI agreement #2
I was about to compose a letter when I saw that Paul Hurdlow had already drafted it for me. Congratulations Paul on a quality letter.
The only thing I would add, and perhaps this can be taken as rather tongue in cheek, but the insertion of some form of language that prohibits members of the various organisational bodies charged with governing cycling from working for their own narrow vested interests as opposed to the sport as a whole would, in my opinion, be a great idea.
Maybe if a "fit and proper" test were to be included it would make some of these power hungry individuals take notice. Just ask yourselves - how many times over the last few months have the various heads of these organisations made statements that just left you bewildered at the stance they are taking, given it is clearly to the detriment of the sport as a whole, as well as being against the principle of plain and simple decency.
David Beever
UK
Tuesday July 10 2007
UCI agreement #3
I have to admit that I was a bit amazed by Mr. Weigand's rant about signing
the new doping contract. Although he compares the anti-doping statutes of athletics
to anti-doping clauses of his postal job, he is simply wide of the mark on many
counts.
To begin with, the USPS is not interested in preventing its employees from using performance enhancing drugs. The USPS is worried about preventing its employees from using illegal drugs such as heroine and cocaine. In fact, I'd bet the USPS would be ecstatic to have one of its employees using performance enhancing drugs to boost their efficiency on the job although, not exactly a likely scenario.
WADA isn't trying to combat poppy growth in Afghanistan; it is trying to keep a level playing field in sports. The anti-doping clauses of the various jobs are two different programs trying to eliminate two different kinds of doping problems.
That being said, I am sure most riders, regardless of their status as dopers, would be equally appalled by heroine use in the peloton. Nevertheless, they have some legitimate issues with the current athletic anti-doping process. If you are a clean rider you have nothing to fear, except perhaps a false positive.
The Landis Case has revealed wide ranging problems with quality control, standards for accreditation, and a secretive, closed system that rewards compliance with the WADA line and makes it almost impossible for a rider to prove his innocence without bankrupting him or herself.
That makes it seem downright suspicious that the UCI wants to take away a riders salary, the very thing that a rider needs to get lawyers involved in a putative system riddled with politics.
Out of curiosity, if WADA falsely accuses an athlete, will they give him an entire years salary as punishment? Will they reimburse him for lost endorsements?
I don't think anyone is impressed with WADA at the moment. If we really want clean riders, then we also need clean, transparent, and accountable doping controls. Just ask Petacchi.
Eric E Greek
Columbus, GA, USA
Monday July 9 2007
Does the UCI test for blood transfusions?
Does the UCI actually test for the presence of all of the banned substances listed in their ‘Anti-Doping Rules’? While they are obviously catching some riders with banned substances in their blood, I have not heard of anyone since Tyler Hamilton at the 2004 Olympics getting caught transfusing their blood at doping controls.
Are they actually testing riders for blood transfusions at ProTour events? Although there will always be those who try to break the rules, the results of the ProTour events can only be trusted if the UCI actually uses effective tests for all of their banned doping products and banned doping methods.
There have been many true statements made by pro cyclists saying that they have never taken any performance enhancing drugs (Armstrong, Landis, Basso, Ullrich). These statements say nothing about tampering with your blood. If it is illegal, then test for it and make this beautiful sport an example of fair play to aspiring athletes and to the international sporting community.
Hopi Martin
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Friday July 6 2007
The real heroes
To Bob Hutch, I certainly do ride, and I understand as well as anyone what Lance has given to the sport, as well as what he did not give to it.
All indications are that he wanted to do more – he would have been at Paris-Roubaix in his last year, if not for pressure from the team, and he did take the chance of winning the Dauphine before what turned out to be his “worst” Tour (my favourite though) in 2003.
In the end, though, his single-minded focus on the Tour de France made him less interesting to watch anywhere else, because you knew he was under pressure to give less than his maximum. Let’s just chalk this exchange up to traditional South City head-butting and agree to disagree.
Jeffrey Jones
South San Francisco, CA, USA
Tuesday July 10 2007
Bicycle options
I am 197 cm tall (6'5") and back in 1987 I bought a Viner frame with Columbus tubing. After a couple of months I had a big crack in my head tube so the bike shop kindly replaced it with the same and a couple of months later I cracked the replacement frame in the exact same position.
I have never returned to Viner, even though I like the concept of riding a bike with heritage, I hope Viner now makes a better bike that caters for the larger rider now,
Steve Brooks
Melbourne, Australia
Monday July 9 2007
Recent letters pages
Letters 2007
- July 5: Tour de France boring!, The real heroes, The flying Scotsman, Signing the contract, No Zabriskie?, Lemond and mitochondria myopathy, Incentive for Doping, Bicycle Options, Anti-doping charter, Sale of the century
- June 29: "The Flying Scotsman",Cancellara,The real heroes, Categorised Climbs, Tour for Devolder and Zabriskie?, Tour de France, boring!,Nationalistic pride, Anti Doping Charter, Bicycle Options, Doping, Doping Coverage - Enough already..., Who dopes? Who doesn't? Who cares!
- June 22: Anti Doping Charter, The real heroes, Basso's "suspension", Categorized climbs, Bicycle options, Greg LeMond and record ITT's, It is about us!, Finding the clean winner of the TdF?, Tour de France, BORING!, Prudhomme and the 1996 Tour farce, Riis, the '96 Tour and Prudhomme, Amnesty for doping..., Cycling, doping....???, Who dopes? Who doesn't? Who cares!
- June 15: Bicycle options, New Trek Madone, A week of confessions, Cycling - not yet a real professional sport, Di Luca's finest win..., Three Tour wins for Ullrich?, Ullrich getting screwed, Giro fever, Amnesty for doping offenses, Greg LeMond and record ITTs, Is drafting a known doper cheating?, Let's sort this mess out, Doping hypocrisy, Cycling, doping....?, Prudhomme and the1996 Tour farce, Simoni goes 1850 meters / hour
- June 8: Di Luca's finest win, Simoni goes 1850 metres / hour, What ever happened to Iban Mayo?, Andy the Dandy, Three Tour wins for Ullrich?, Ullrich getting screwed, Percentage of pros with asthma, Amnesty for doping offenses, ling - not yet a real professional sport, Doping and cycling, Greg LeMond and record ITTs, Meaningless defense, We are out of denial - Let's look forward
- June 1, part 1: A thought for cycling's true heroes..., A cunning plan, A great opportunity for the UCI, Admissions of guilt, Let's have some real confessions, Amnesty is the way forward, Suggestions for an amnesty, Amnesty, Amnesty or punishment?, ASO's double standard, Tour Clowns, Bjarne Riis, Bjarne Riis confession, Riis must go, Riis, Basso, Zabel, et al..., Repairing the Magenta Express, Tip of the iceberg, Riis and winning the tour on EPO
- June 1, part 2: Confessions?, Honour - Seemingly rare in cycling, How deep do you go?, Who do we give it to?, A week of confessions, Peer pressure, Mind boggling hypocrisy, Pro cycling - Sometimes you make it hard to love you, Meaningless defence, Riding with Lance, Lucky Lance, Cheating by proxy, LeMond trying to tear down US riders , So, if Floyd is right..., Thank you Floyd, Floyd Landis hearing, Mr. Young's closing arguments, Something more important..., What ever happened to Iban Mayo?, Percentage of pros with asthma:
- May 23: Landis case live coverage, LeMond a true champion, Questioning LeMond's motives, LeMond trying to tear down US riders, Saint LeMond, Landis and his character, Landis has made cycling a joke, Landis had his drink spiked?, Landis in a corner, Landis polygraph?, Landis' disclosure of information, The quality of Landis' character, Landis' behaviour, Joe Papp
- May 18: Armstrong can defend himself, Di Brat, Chris Hoy's world kilo record attempt , Hoy in sixty seconds, What ever happened to Iban Mayo?, Hypocrisy of the cycling world, Italian Reactions to Basso, Who's telling the truth?, Basso + Ullrich = Armstrong?, Basso still a legend, Simoni vs Basso, Basso, Landis etc The new mafia?, Landis to ask UCI to boot Pound, Vinokourov to claim second in '05 TdF?, Percentage of pros with asthma, Unibet at Dunkerque
- May 11: An attempt at doping?, Almost as bad as Ullrich, Basso admission, Hats off Basso, Basso still a legend, Basso's attempted plea bargain, Basso and Discovery, Discovery's PR, Basso vs Simoni , Truth and Reconciliation Commission, A means to an end, Hypocrisy of the cycling world, Vinokourov to claim second in '05 TdF? , New Puerto plan, Where is the Puerto money?, Time to start re-stating race results, The morals and math of cycling, Chris Hoy's world kilo record attempt , Unibet at Dunkerque, Davide Rebellin
- May 4: Call that a race?, Reflecting on Schumacher's win, Pose with Landis, at a price, Danielson should leave Discovery, Davide Rebellin, The year of the clean Classics?, Basso and Discovery, Basso this, Landis that, Ullrich the other..., Basso, DNA and whatever else, Basso's DNA, Say it ain't so, Johan, Let's cut them some slack!, Armstrong, head and shoulders above?, Landis, Armstrong vs the Lab, It's not all about the Tour!, Puerto Affair
- April 27: The year of the clean Classics?, David Rebellin, Call that a race?, Reflecting on Schumacher's win, Danielson should leave Discovery, Inspirational O'Grady and those cobbles, L'Equipe does it again!, Tour de France speaks out, The morals and math of cycling, Basso and Puerto, Puerto, part deux, Gilberto, you were right!, Landis, Armstrong vs the Lab, Pose with Landis, at a price?, Taking blood, Gent-Wevelgem and the Kemmelberg, Gent-Wevelgem and water bottles
- April 20: Stuey wins Roubaix, O'Grady Rocks!, An Aussie in Arenberg, Deep-dish carbon versus the cobbles, Gent-Wevelgem and water bottles, Unibet/FdJ/Lotto - Help!, U.S. Open Cycling Championships, Racing in America, Retesting Floyd's B-samples, Taking blood
- April 13: Thoughts on Flanders, Crashes at Gent-Wevelgem, Gent-Wevelgem and water bottles, What about that loose water bottle?, T-Mobile one-two, Popo for the Classics, Racing in America, U.S. Open Cycling Championships, Unibet/FdJ/Lotto - Help!, French hypocrites?, Bjarne Riis, Floyd Landis 'B' sample fiasco, Taking blood, Ullrich DNA match
- April 6: April Fools, Ullrich DNA match, Taking blood, T-Mobile and Puerto, The song remains the same, Ullrich and Hamilton, Tyler Hamilton and flu, Unibet and access into France, Bjarne Riis, Popovych, The death of irony, Armstrong boring?, Ullrich/Armstrong comparisons
- March 30: Basso wind tunnel testing, Bjarne Riis, Riis' response, Drugs in other sports, Dominquez at Redlands, Armstrong boring?, Ullrich/Armstrong comparisons, Popovych - the new Armstrong?, ASO wildcard selections, ASO-UCI split, Boys atop the sport, Cycling at two speeds, Puerto shelved, Tyler Hamilton.
- March 23: Popovych - the new Armstrong?, A few years ago, Tyler Hamilton, Operación Puerto not complete, Puerto shelved, ASO-UCI split, Drugs in other sports, Basso wind tunnel testing, Water bottle and cage sponsorship, Bates' article on Jan Ullrich, Ullrich's retirement, The current state of cycling
- March 16: Don Lefévère, Lefévère tries to reinforce omerta, Spring fever, Ullrich's retirement, UCI has no power, Puerto shelved, Who's been taking what?, ProTour a flawed competition?, UCI-Grand Tour organizer dual!, ASO-UCI split, ASO needs to see benefits in ProTour, Sponsorship, drug use and dinosaurs, The current state of cycling, New Pro Cyclist Union, Congratulations to Unibet, Unibet situation, Unibet.com marketing, Tour of California mistake
- March 9: ASO - UCI split, UCI has no power, UCI vs. ASO, UCI vs. the world, ProTour and contracts, The Unibet fiasco: is it that bad?, Unibet and French law, Unibet situation, Pete Bassinger's Iditarod Trail record ride, Bates' article on Jan Ullrich, Ullrich's retirement, Tour of California expenses, Discovery's profile in Europe, Discovery's reasons for pulling sponsorship, Floyd's big ride
- March 2: Ullrich's retirement, Altitude tents and EPO, Home-made altitude tents, Tyler Hamilton and drug testing, The agony of Unibet?, Discovery's reasons for pulling sponsorship, Discovery's world upside down?, Upside down Disco solved, Tour of California mistake, Graeme Brown, Hats off to Dick Pound?, Grand Tours, who really cares?, ProTour and contracts, ProTour vs wildcards, RCS' decision, UCI vs. the world, Floyd's big ride, Asthma everywhere
- February 23: Altitude tents and EPO, Tour of California mistake, Chavanel's training regime, Discovery's reasons for pulling sponsorship, Discovery's world upside down?, Tyler Hamilton and drug testing, Grand Tours, who really cares?, The Unibet fiasco: is it that bad?, A solution to the Unibet situation, UCI and the ASO, UCI vs. the world, Will the fight never end?, Paris Nice and others, Pro Tour and contracts, RCS decision, Hats off to Dick Pound, Armstrong owes Dick Pound nothing, Graeme Brown, Asthma everywhere, The sorry state of pro-cycling
- February 16: T-Mobile, Adam Hanson and doping, Unibet's new jersey, Double standards for Unibet?, RCS decision, A letter to ASO, Hamilton and Tinkov, Discovery Channel, Asthma everywhere, Bart Wellens' comments at the cross worlds, Best moment?, Crowd control at the cross worlds, Doping reconciliation, Get into 'cross racing, Pound still wants answers from Armstrong, The sorry state of pro-cycling
- February 9: Unibet show they won't be put down, Double standards for Unibet?, Unibet's new jersey, Asthma everywhere, Bart Wellens' comments at the Cross Worlds, Crowd control at the Cross Worlds, Jonathan Page's mechanic beaten, Cheers to Bradley Wiggins, Bradley Wiggins' comments, Jaksche lashes out, Get into 'cross racing, Le Tour was created to sell newspapers, The stakes are too high, Doping reconciliation, Best moment of 2006?, Ivan Basso interview, Ullrich's DNA sample, Ullrich to Relax-GAM?, Ullrich partners with sports-clothing company, Still love to ride, My perfect state of mountain biking, A terrible model for cycling
- February 2: The sanctimonious need to be taken out back, Confidentiality of test results, Oscar Pereiro cleared, Cyclo-cross reader poll results, Fairness in Operation Puerto?, Riders' nicknames, Doping reconciliation, Help for Floyd Landis, Museeuw's insults, Sven Nys, The Floyd Fairness Fund, The sorry state of pro-cycling
- January 26: Drug testing methodologies, Museeuw the PR man, Museeuw's insults, Johan Museeuw and Tyler Hamilton, Sven Nys, Conduct in the pro peloton, McQuaid unhappy with Pereiro, Put doping in the correct context, Moreau wins 2006 TDF, Who wins the 2006 Tour now?, Drapac Porsche's exclusion from the TDU, Bike sponsorship, Compact geometry, The Floyd Fairness Fund
- January 19: Drapac-Porsche and the TDU, Bettini to win the Ronde?, Frame geometry, Phil Liggett's recently stated views, Prudhomme's zealotry, 3 cheers for Christian Prudhomme, Deutschland Tour, 3 cheers for Saunier Duval, Dick Pound, Fairness in Operation Puerto?, Do the maths, The Floyd Fairness Fund
- January 12: Dick Pound, Just 'Pound' him, Pound casts doubt on Landis, Pound comments, The Dick and Pat Show, McQuaid starts cultural polemic, Why the Pro Tour model will never work, The Floyd Fairness Fund, Riders' union, Cyclo-cross reader poll results, Danny Clark - an inspiration, Allan Peiper, Do the maths, Peter Van Petegem's secret, Justice and America, Lance in Leadville, Tubeless road tires
- January 5: Danny Clark - an inspiration, Legal standards and cycling, Peter Van Petegem's secret, Lance a no show for Leadville, Cyclo-cross reader poll results, Do the math, A fair trial, Tubeless road tires, Manzano's polygraph test, Blind trust in implicated riders, A terrible state of affairs, Armstrong's credibility - the conspiracy theories, Best ride ever
Letters 2006
- December 29: Lance in Leadville, Leadville Trail 100, Manzano's polygraph test, British Cycling and the Tour de France, Tell me, what's the problem?, "Disco" team?, Presumption of innocence, Landis and the Landaluze case, Landis' defense fund, American culture, Armstrong's credibility, Back room politics and the IPCT
- December 22: Scott Peoples, Hypocrite?, Landis and the Landaluze case, Landis' defense fund, Rumours and innuendo, Bjarne Riis interview, Enough already, Back room politics and the IPCT, Armstrong's credibility, American culture, Bjarne's ignorance factor, Deutschland Tour and Denmark Tour, Operation Puerto and the UCI
- December 15: A totally predictable situation?, Armstrong's credibility, Deutschland Tour and Denmark Tour, Back room politics and the IPCT, Holczer and others, Holczer and the Discovery exclusion, Bjarne's ignorance factor, Can't we all just get along?, DNA safety, Floyd Landis on Real Sports, Genevieve Jeanson, Mark McGwire, Operación Puerto bungled...deliberately?, Operation Puerto and the UCI
- December 8: Genevieve Jeanson, Floyd Landis on Real Sports, Deutschland Tour, Bjarne's ignorance factor, USADA does it again, Labs and testing, Astana denied ProTour license, Isaac Gálvez, McQuaid, Question about DNA testing, Le Tour de Langkawi 2007
- December 1: Hamilton, Isaac Gálvez, USADA does it again, Bjarne's ignorance factor, Shorten the Vuelta?, Vuelta short, shorter, shortest, Labs and testing, Ullrich to CSC, Clean up cycling's own house first, Fed up with doping, Strange sponsorships, What about Leipheimer?, French anti-doping laboratory, Basso agrees to DNA testing, Basso to Discovery, What's going on behind the scenes?, Graeme Obree
- November 24: Graeme Obree, What about Leipheimer?, French anti-doping laboratory, Basso agrees to DNA testing, Basso to Discovery, Richard Virenque, UCI are the problem, What's going on behind the scenes?
- November 17: Saiz and Tinkoff, Countdown to the 2007 Tour, Improving the reliability of testing, Basso to Discovery, Cycling and DNA testing, Forgetting Tom Simpson, Operación Puerto and national federations, Refusing DNA testing - an admission of guilt?. Reverse blood doping, Richard Virenque, What's going on behind the scenes?
- November 10: Forgetting Tom Simpson, Tour Route, Basso to Discovery, Cycling and DNA testing, What is DNA testing?, Refusing DNA testing - an admission of guilt?, Jan Ullrich, Operación Puerto and national federations, Reverse blood doping, What's going on behind the scenes?, Comments on McQuaid
- November 3: Tour Route, Return of a real good guy, Cameron Jennings, Future Australian ProTour team, Neil Stephens, 2007 Tour Intro Video Snub, Richard Virenque, Reverse blood doping, Comments on McQuaid, Marc Madiot, Who's more damaging?, What's going on behind the scenes?, Wada & Cycling's Governing Body, UCI and Doping, The Pope of Cycling and the Spanish Inquisition, Refusing DNA testing - an admission of guilt?, Put up or shut up!, DNA, its so ‘easy', DNA Testing In Cycling
