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Letters to Cyclingnews - August 19, 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.
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
Therapeutic Use Exemptions - please explain
Today's Cycling News mentioned that 76 of the 180 riders who started the Tour De France had a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). Does this mean that one of the pre-requisites for becoming a professional cyclist is that you've got a pre-existing medical condition that requires permanent medication? Now I've been enlightened, I'm all the more impressed with the efforts of these guys, knowing that they're all so sick! A quick poll of my office colleagues has shown that, on average, we're healthier than a TdF cyclist.
This sounds like a problem we had in Sydney recently, with city workers fraudulently acquiring disabled parking permits so they could get free parking all day. Apparently, it's pretty easy to persuade a doctor you've got a bad back and can't walk from the public car park to your office.
Stephen Murray
Sydney, Australia
Friday, August 8, 2008
Carlos Sastre
Tom, you need to watch the stage up the Alp again. If it weren't for Vande Velde, Evans would have never caught back on to anyone's wheels. While I commend his tenacity in pursuing his goal of a TDF win. He clearly didn't have it in the last week of the Tour. No fitness, no team, and the only tactic he seems to know.
Sastre utilized superior team tactics coupled with the hard fact that Evans and Menchov are better at the TT he threw it on the line and attacked on the hardest stage to put some time into Cadel. Evans should have done the same if he wanted to take that last step up the podium.
Travis Sevilla
Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Carlos Sastre #2
I agree with Jack from Mildura as far as Cadel Evan's is concerned.
Since when did personality matter so much in sport? Evan's tells it like it is and does not do the PR crap that others do. Some people always think he has another gear in reserve but I tend to think that he doesn't. He is a clever rider who makes the most of his ability. I don't understand the constant criticism. One good time trial and he would have won the Tour. I doubt that that still would have stopped the silliness.
Ian Sharp
Wollongong, Australia
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Carlos Sastre #3
Is it me or all the letters defending Cadel Evans and his wheel sucking ways from Australia? I watched the Tour and figured that Cadel would not win it from the start. The man just doesn’t attack.
As for the comments that he lost the tour on the Alpe d’Huez that is true, he did lose it there. Why? Because he did not respond to Sastre’s attack. He probably assumed he could gain time back in the time trial, just like he probably thought that last year. CSC did a “reverse Lance” they attacked on the last mountain and held the lead (which they had gotten a few days before) until the end. And VdV did attack on the Alpe, only to be caught by the Schlecks, it was the previous days stage where he crashed on the descent into the finish that he lost time and a higher GC position
Chris Wright
Dover, NH
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Carlos Sastre #4
Tom,
I believe your allegiance to Australia has altered your ability to watch a race objectively. Evans on stage 6 had attached himself to Valverde's wheel while Valverde went off in pursuit of a stage win versus "dirty Riccò".
Valverde went from one side of the road to the other all with Evans trailing as if they were two riders on a tandem. Evans never once attempted to come around Valverde for the stage win. He was doing what he does best, wheel-sucking in his attempt to avoid losing seconds to Valverde. On stage 1 he was doing the same but he just couldn't follow Valverde's uphill sprint to be able to ride his wheel. I'm sure if he could've he would've.
Mark
Detroit
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Carlos Sastre #5
In regards to Mitch's letter about Jeff's comments.
Just go look at Lance Armstrong stage wins and you will see that he attacked. Granted in a few of the key stages he was not always attacking, but to lump Cadel Evan' and Lance Armstrong' style together is not very smart.
Take off your Australian coloured glasses and your feelings may not get in your way of judgement.
Brooks Doughtie
Cary, NC
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO
Response to Michael Bauman and all the other "immaculate conceptions"
Guys let me start by saying I'm disappointed in Ricardo Riccò and anyone who dopes, but let’s not get too precious about it. Its just sport; these men have not murdered anyone.
People cheat! And trust me some do worse. The world will always have cheats but don’t hate them and don’t let them take away from the sport you like. I'm confused about the whole concept of "taking the tour back." When was it ever clean? Please tell me? Read any history of the Tour and you will find cheating. History books romanticise about a by gone era of men secretly catching trains or getting lifts in cars, and we find it fascinating. Asking the Tour and sport in general to be clean is like saying we will stamp out drugs in society!
You’re setting yourself up for disappointment. We must continue to be strict, and we should remove the riders in question. But don’t hate them for it, instead you should feel sorry for them; sorry they have let all these people down and have to carry around that shame. Let’s not make such a big deal out of it. Make a big deal out of the racing and don’t be so judgemental. None of us are perfect, I'm sure we have all done some bad things once or twice in our lives. As for the companies who pull sponsorship they are kidding themselves aren't they? Most CEO's would sell their souls to turn a dollar.
Greg Reynolds
Sydney
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO #2
Dear Dr. Bauman,
With regard to your skepticism I say… Well… Good riddance. Don’t let the door hit ya’ where the good lord split ya’. What else is there to say? A true fan of the sport would see this mess for what it truly is… a transition period. It is a journey to becoming the only, truly, transparently clean sport there is. No other sport is doing what cycling is doing and if they were… boy would you see the cockroaches scatter. They are not doing it however, so we have the illusion of clean sport with all the other sports.
Honestly, do you think an American Football player that weighs in at almost 300lbs, whose body is pummelled daily, could still beat most people in the 100 meter dash without some chemical assistance? You are naive sir. When the dust settles after all of the scandals I will know that I am watching a truly clean sport while others are watching a farce. Cycling is doing something… the others are not. ‘Nuff said.
We fans of cycling don’t need you right now. You do not see the forest for the trees.
I have been riding a bike seriously since 1988. I was 14 years old. I became a cycling sports fan a year later in 1989 when I was lucky enough to catch the final Tour de France time trial… Lemond vs Fignon = Legendary!
My love for the sport goes deep. Yours does not.
Ciao,
Warren Beckford
Bloomfield, CT, USA
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO #3
Bravo to Dr. Michael Bauman for a letter that tells the truth and nothing but the truth. The whole peloton has an omerta of silence. The top riders must dope to win or be better than they are. 2 in 10 chances of getting caught; I say those are good odds.
Domenic Scali
Montreal, Canada
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO #4
Dr. Bauman,
I watched and enjoyed the Tour this year. I'll admit I'm new to the sport and really only got into it around 2004 or so. Still, I love it, follow races as much as I can, and have come to enjoy the comforting pain of riding.
I wanted this Tour to be free of positive tests or admittances of cheating. But I also knew that it wasn't likely. Still, watching the riders push themselves, cheating or not, made me love my bike even more. I didn't view it as something left in a toilet.
Which leads me to a quote from a television show: "What do you do when you can't do nothing, but there's nothing you can do? I guess you do what you can." Those men raced and did what they could. If a person used drugs to help and didn't get caught, then that's something that they'll have to reconcile with themselves at some point. To the ones that didn't, they can be proud of their accomplishments. There will always be a cheater as long as humans compete. I don't like the idea, but I for one am not going to give up something that I enjoy because some don't have the same morals and ethics I do.
As for only rooting for yourself, maybe you should look into triathlons?
Tyler
Savannah, GA
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO #5
Dr Buaman,
In response to your letter to cyclingnews, I would just like to say that if you don't want to watch cheaters on TV you had better turn it off all together. Football, Baseball, NASCAR, The Olympics, Tennis, all sports suffer from cheaters. What's different about cycling is that they are actively catching the offenders. So what's better, not to knowing who's cheating or catching them? The only reason you hear so much about dopers in cycling is because they are getting caught through vigorous testing.
If you are going to test, you are going to expose the cheaters. Feel free to watch sports that don't test, so you can feel more "comfortable" watching them.
Sue Bauer
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO #6
I couldn't help but notice that one of the major sponsors of the Tour de France on Versus was Levitra, certainly a performance enhancing drug. Not that I condone drug use, but I look at our society (all of us) that expects pharmaceuticals to change our lives for the "better", and feel that this is maybe a bit hypocritical.
John Kopp
Nipomo, CA
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Riccò confesses to using EPO #7
Well all I can say is that I honestly believe the sport can not be cleaned up. How can you clean something that has never been clean to begin with? The Tour organizers are fooling themselves.
Marco Maggi
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Lance and the doping debate
Zabel admitted to using EPO for a week – Riis had a fairly brief period of competing at the top of the TdF before disappearing in an earlier testing regime – Lance was at the very top for seven years and operated under a far stricter regime – bogus comparisons say more about the letter writer than the athlete being questioned.
Craig Mitchell
Friday, August 8, 2008
Lance and the doping debate #2
I believe Mr. Leyser’s statements shed light on an issue much larger than Lance Armstrong’s achievements and whether or not they were chemically induced. Being a father of three boys, I am sickened by the growing movement in sports, academics and society in general to “average out” greatness. Youth sports no longer have winners and losers, everyone gets a trophy for participation, same in talent shows, science fairs, beauty pageants, etc. I think the true issue here does not even involve Lance, but rather a need by so many mediocre detractors to scrape the top off of human achievement so that the great peaks are pulled down closer to the masses. To quote a line from my son’s favourite cartoon “when everyone is super, no one will be.”
Personally, I will risk cheering for a doper if he shows spirit, if he is later proven to be dirty, it’s easy enough to strike him from memory, because our only other option is to watch a bunch of athletes ride together all day to the finish to avoid scrutiny from Mr. Leyser and others who insist on judging humanity through a socialist lens and refusing to believe that anyone can be born, or work to make themselves, better than the next guy.
I remember sitting through years of truly dominant performances of Miguel Indurain in the Tour, but since he was a quiet man, no one ever casts doubt on his accomplishments, but let an American man with a personality and a voice do the same, and all the negative test results in the world cannot slow the slinging of accusations.
Finally, the argument that years of testing aren’t enough proof that Lance was clean is getting old. I don’t care how they do it in Canada or France; in America you’re innocent until proven guilty. I don’t accuse my wife of having an affair because she is sexy, or my banker of being a thief because he is wealthy or my doctor of cheating in medical school because he was the top of his class, rather, those are the attributes that attract me to each. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same.
Henry Corley
SC, USA
Friday, August 8, 2008
Lance and the doping debate #3
Peter,
Yes, I do believe that Lance was “5-10% better clean than all the Euro drug taking competitors”. Besides the fact that Lance never once tested positive in his career (nor did any of his team-mates), his post-cancer Tour performances were incredibly consistent (excluding 2003, when a multitude of things went wrong for him). His winning margins: 1999: 7:37, 2000: 6:02, 2001: 6:44, 2002: 7:00, 2004: 6:19, 2005: 4:40 (second smallest margin).
There were no fluctuations in performance that are expected from a doper, especially when you consider that drug testing was improving every year, and the EPO test was available starting in late 2000. As a multiple stage winner and yellow jersey holder during his dominant years, he knew he would be tested more than anyone else during the Tour, not to mention all the unannounced out-of-competition tests. Please, if you have any evidence against this man, bring it forward immediately or else stop trying to denigrate his accomplishments.
Steve Greene
Colorado, USA
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Cadel Evans and the Beige Jersey
To all the Cadel bashers out there, I pose this simple question. If the Yellow Jersey and other race leader’s jerseys are based on time, what makes you believe you have to win a stage to earn the jersey?
I am sure there are many great champions who have never won a stage of a particular race, but left with the winner’s jersey on their back. I don't hear you bashing Contador for his lacklustre, wheel sucking performance in the Giro.
Check the race rules before you start bashing. No where in any rule book does it state you have to win a stage to validate the race leaders jersey. It simply says the rider with the best overall time is declared the race leader or winner.
The next time you start to criticise Cadel or any other rider for not winning stages. Ask yourself this question, why aren't you wearing the maillot jaune?
David Thomspon
Ogden, Utah
Friday, August 8, 2008
Bring back bonus seconds to liven le Tour
In regards to Ben Foxworth's bonus seconds idea; that is stupid. So you want to bring back "excitement" to the Tour by allowing time bonuses. Yet in the most crucial time of the Tour, you don’t want the GC guys to contend for those seconds on the intermediate sprints?
You can’t have it both ways, either the time bonuses are put in across every stage or there shouldn’t be time bonuses at all!
Brooks Doughtie
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Crank Length formula
Quenton,
The rider height is used when addressing the population as a whole, and because the length of these letters are limited to 300 words the scope is a bit limited. To give a bit further explanation though, dividing one's height by phi (1.618033...) gives the approximate length of one's "energetic leg". By that I refer to the distance from the point in one's core where movement revolves around down to the bottom of the foot.
Generally, the body’s energetic centre is slightly above the navel, though it must be noted this point is constantly shifting as we move, and it can vary widely with pathological conditions. To crosscheck against the initial formula stated (height / phi / pi / 2), and especially for the morphological exceptions amongst us, while standing perfectly upright one may measure from just above the navel down to the foot, then divide by pi and further divide by 2 to get the crank length.
For reference, the initial question posed that brought about this formula was "Given a standard bicycle frame and no previous knowledge of commonly excepted and distributed crank lengths, how would one figure out the optimal crank length for Leonardo's Vitruvian Man?" This prevents back-calculating, as most crank length formulas circulating appear to have done, and it prevents arbitrary numbers from being used.
This formula isn't so important to those males of average height, which is currently about 176cm in the US with a standard deviation of about 9cm. For the rider that is 182cm tall and wishes to use a 172.5mm crank instead of a custom made 179 or standard 180mm crank because they want to spin at 100rpm instead of 96rpm, I say have at it. The real utility here is for those in the population who are more than 1 standard deviation shorter or taller than the average adult male. Those within those deviations have the world built around them anyway!
Joe Wiley
Canyon Lake, CA
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thank you
Hey Cyclingnews,
I have queried the forum a couple of times and on both occasions, Steve Hogg
has been kind enough to answer. You highlighted his last answer to me as the
Anatomy of Bike Position feature. While I enjoyed the read, it posed me more
questions than I had answers. After I had done cogitating I wangled a business
trip to Australia, took the bike and hooked up with Mr Hogg. What can I say?
The man is a genius.
Someone get him to the States. God knows that cycling here needs him.
I wanted to say a big thank you to Cyclingnews for bringing him to our attention. And no, he doesn’t know that I have sent this mail. To him, I'm just the American guy who visited a few weeks back.
Thank You
John Athelstane
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Confused
A couple of questions/thoughts...
Because a professional cyclist tests positive for blood doping, EPO, testosterone etc once in his career, does that mean that he has always doped?
If all top athletes illegally enhance their performance (not just cyclists) does that mean that people like Chris Boardman, Paula Radcliffe, Steve Redgrave, Magnus Backstedt who all well respected and seemingly honest athletes in Great Britain are all cheats as well despite no one ever really challenging their integrity?
Seth Kay
Whitstable, England
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Confused #2
Andrew Steele wrote "...in the same Tour Lance Armstrong was also caught in the time trial by his 5 minute man, Miguel Indurain. Yet he was able to become a world beating time trialist in later years; amazing."
Hmm. Indurain was an astoundingly good time trialist going for the yellow jersey. In contrast Armstrong was at the Tour to be a good team-mate and go for a stage win from an escape. In these circumstances it would be both foolish and irresponsible to go nuts in a time trial.
By all means take a pop at Armstrong but this comment just shows a rudimentary ignorance of the sport.
Mark Brunning
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Recent letters pages
Letters 2008
- 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.
