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Letters to Cyclingnews - January 11, 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.
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?
Armstrong on Landis
Armstrong and everyone else on Landis:
I have and always have doubts about the level of “evidence” brought forth by all these labs. In my very humble opinion, it really depends on the riders themselves. If I were at the racing level and subject to both in and out of competition testing, I would surely have a third sample taken and tested at a lab of my choice. I am sure the rider’s organization could provide a recommendation of a laboratory which could provide some level of protection.
Jim Mattix
Friday, January 4, 2008
Cadel Evans - returns to training
I have to agree one hundred percent. Not only has Cadel been exceptionally successful with consistency, what about Levi? Hot shotting is not always the way to win; but it is the best way to be a flash in the pan.
Kimberly Grassedonio
Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Hincapie in T-Mobile kit
Re Mark Merill's letter of 21 December: "The High Road Sports kits are going to be pretty much all black. I saw the mock-ups at Hincapie Sports."
Men in black for a team whose main sponsor just left in disgust and which is now on a drug-free mission? Is that really a good idea? I would be the first to agree that most team strips constitute serious fashion crimes but an all black strip surely triggers all the wrong associations.
Catherine Hammon
London
Friday, January 4, 2008
Ivan Basso - why no tough questions?
I believe Mr.Burton is completely wrong when he says that "journalists are not part of the doping problem". Doping scandals make for great headlines, and sell papers, and so journalists are often guilty of reporting not just on positive doping tests, but on rumours, false accusations, positive A samples when the B sample has not been tested, etc.
Of course, it is cycling fans that are buying and reading such articles, and so we have our part in the doping problem. That doping topics continually dominates the letters page of cylingnews.com suggests us cycling fans are downright obsessed with doping topics, so journalists are merely feeding us what we crave.
Rob Found
Canada
Friday, January 4, 2008
Ivan Basso - why no tough questions? #2
I agree with Mark's sentiments- despite the 'feel good' story about supporting charity and helping those in need we all need to remember that Basso has dragged the sport of cycling and all of its followers through the mud and lied and deceived us all- what is charitable about that??? He even signed with Discovery knowing full well that if the truth got out he would tarnish all those around him even more.
So for all those that think he is a lovely father/husband and charitable person, just remember he is a big part of the reason cycling is treated as the scapegoat it is, why the sport is struggling to find sponsors, why riders are having to retire prematurely or accept lower wages, why riders have to now have a biological passport, and why riders can't even use an asthma puffer without speculation being cast at them. Thanks alot Ivan
Tim Lee
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Reader Poll
It's hard to quarrel with the results of your reader poll, but you know, the race that really fascinated me last year was the Tour of Qatar. Scheduled in January, rated 2.1, it's hard to believe that the European riders would take it seriously - but they were just killing each other out there.
It's like a bunch of Belgians got off the plane, looked around, said "it's flat, it's windy, let's go." Which stage was it, when Milram called their boys back from the break and did a team time trial to try to bring Petacchi up to Boonen? And they couldn't do it. 58.5 km run off in the first hour! That's war. And the photos - the peleton cruising past an oil refinery cheered by one guy on a camel - were as surreal as the racing.
Phil Koop
Toronto, Canada
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Rock & burn racing
What a mixed emotion one gets from watching the Rock Racing carnival tent collapse. In the current atmosphere of riders running off good sponsors and fans by behaving like crack addicts, it’s a welcome change to find a sponsor willing to dole out huge sums of money on a B-squad domestic pro team. On the other hand, it’s hard to watch a potentially good sponsor be so oblivious to the management of a sports team that he treats pro riders like an unstable little league coach and pisses in the water of product sponsorship that all of the remaining domestic teams then have to drink from.
Michael Ball’s comments read like a transcript of the “Apprentice”, one can’t help but mistake his bravado for a contestant attempting to impress Trump and not get voted out of the boardroom. Maybe I am naďve to the ways of “big business” and things are likely different in the realm of high fashion, but how this guy stumbled across success with this management style is baffling. This could be a case study film for business school students to learn the pitfalls of micro-management; “When Fashion Designers Fire Their Experienced DS, Antagonize Sponsors, Hire Addicts and Plan to Race in Events Above Their Ranking Gone Bad”…the title might need work, but you get the point. Where in the world does a seamstress find the nerve to threaten Steve Hed with building a new, better, faster, nicer wheel because he didn’t get the sponsorship he wanted??? Aside from Dale Earnhardt, Steve Hed is probably the only human born with the ability to see air, add to that decades of experience on the cutting edge of aerodynamics, and Ball is going to outdo him with a knack for colour coordination and a slick logo on a ball cap? But I’m forgetting his “win or you’re fired” philosophy, I’m sure Ball can simply demand that the air part for his wheel or else.
Hopefully the decent riders, staff and sponsors that got tangled up with this mess will cut their losses and pull out now, the others can ride the ship down and hopefully not come back.
I’m sorry that in these tough times of cycling that some clueless nut comes along with a big wallet and complete lack of respect for tradition and partnership in this sport, maybe if we all collectively tell him to pound sand he’ll take his global domination management style and move on the world of cricket or synchronized swimming. I’ve personally never heard of his clothing line, but I’ll be sure to wear good-ole’ traditional Levis to the next race I enter…hmm, speaking of Levi, now that’s class, in cycling or jeans.
Henry Corley
SC, USA
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Speaking about Lance
The shear ridiculousness of this guy’s reasoning is absolutely incredible / absurd. He might as well go buddy-up with Dick Pound and all of the other witch hunters out there whose basis for determining who is clean and who isn’t is winning bike races. I wonder if Austin ever won a bike race…if he did, then obviously he cheated. Sound logical? I didn’t think so.
Just because the other guys cheated has zero relevance on whether or not a winner cheated. I feel sorry for those poor souls who view every winner as a cheater; they’re missing out on the sport.
Don’t win anything; if you do then Austin believes you’re a doper.
Will Fyfe
Huntsville, AL, USA
Friday, January 4, 2008
Speaking about Lance #2
Well then, Austin McTavish, I choose to be naive. As a breast cancer survivor, I can believe and appreciate that Lance would avoid putting anything questionable in his system after coming so close to dying. Cancer survivors question EVERYTHING we ingest because we'd prefer to avoid a repeat of the surgeries, the chemo, the radiation, the completely crappy business of dealing with cancer.
The biggest thrill of my life as a cycling fan was seeing Lance pull the peloton over the Cat 1 Hog Pen Gap during the Tour de Georgia in 2005, working for his teammate Tommy D's victory. Thousands of cancer survivors are inspired by Lance's career and we believe he raced clean. If that's naive, then I'm willing to stand up and be counted as such.
Patrice Hawkins Sigmon
High Point, NC, USA
Friday, January 4, 2008
Speaking about Lance #3
So what about Miguel Indurain. He won 5 Tour de France’s in a row is 6'2 and 175 pounds. That seems impossible that someone that big could beat a doped up Pantani. Therefore you must be naive to believe it could be done.?
What about LeMond riding at over 54km/hr to win the 89 Tour by 8 seconds. Only dopers could ride that fast right?
Eddy Merckx won over 500 races. He even rode away solo at the very beginning of a 200k road races. Must have be using drugs his whole career to manage such feats?
I really don't believe any of those riders doped to win and I don't think Lance had to dope to win either. I'm not naive to believe some riders are just more talented and train harder than others.
For now without any proof of a positive then Lance won fair because he trained harder and raced smarter than the competition.
Dave
Iowa, USA
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Speaking about Lance #4
Well Mr. McTavish, I for one choose to be naive. Lance Armstrong was tested repeatedly over a seven year period, and never once tested positive. Deal with it.
I find your attitude the most damaging of all in cycling: "If you test positive, you're guilty. If you test negative, you're still guilty but you got away with it."
At which point, the most important question of all becomes, "What does it take for a professional cyclist to prove his innocence?" Obviously, in your eyes, the is no way.
At which point, we might as well just close down the entire sport, because the inference is now that EVERY professional cyclist is doping.
Syke
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Sydor's consistency
Great stuff, a few years ago I nominated Allison Sydor for the BC Sports Order of BC and she won. What a lady. She likes her coffee too.
Nipper Kettle
Friday, January 4, 2008
The 'Bruyneel philosophy'
In your feature The 'Bruyneel philosophy' (Cycling News, January 5, 2008) Bruyneel was quoted as admitting that whilst Discovery's signing of Basso was a 'mistake', this 'mistake' was made because Bruyneel "didn't know Basso". An astonishing thing to say given that even the most casual observer of the 'sport' of professional cycling would have been perfectly aware of Basso's situation at the time. Bruyneel is also quoted as saying "I also do not know Andreas Klöden". This sounds as though he is already trying to cover himself in case a few skeletons fall out of Klöden's closet and he is forced to 'let him go' as well.
By far the most intriguing comment from Bruyneel's was the claim that the 'new' Astana was "not a copy of Discovery Channel. The general situation of the sport does not allow this." Now whatever did that mean? What has changed since the days of Discovery, other than a more determined effort being made to prevent doping?
Howard Peel
East Yorkshire, UK
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Toyota-United abusing USAC team rules?
Have I slept through what should be considerable controversy, or am I the only person who is disappointed that the Toyota-United UCI continental team has signed 2 professional downhill racers and a BMX racer to their squad? I can see that it is within the purview of USAC's rules, but let's be honest; the three of them aren't going to be at any events except for perhaps Sea Otter. I doubt they are getting paid at all, and none of them have ever even held USAC road racing licenses as far as I can tell. But they are American and under the age of 28... balancing out the Aussie/Kiwi veteran team.
Michael Ball is certainly the infant-terrible of this young year, but what the heck does Pettyjohn think he's up to anyway? There are plenty of Cat1's in this country that deserve contracts. Maybe the Toyota-United squad should start an Antipodeans registered team if they intend to primarily race in North American with a team from the other side of the planet? And what does it say about the interdisciplinary devaluation of fellow professional cyclists when the Shanbag and Riffle have confirmed for 2008 are a sham?
I'd love to hear the teams spin on this, but more importantly I'd love to see some deserving Cat1's in their place...
Mickey Denoncourt
Pelham, Ma
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Recent letters pages
Letters 2008
- 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.
- August 31: LeMond’s comments, Farewell De Peet, Cycling needs a Norma Rae, Vino & human rights?, Cadel was robbed, Floyd Landis decision, Market beliefs, Sinkewitz Positive.
- August 23: Biting the hand that feeds you, Cadel was robbed, Congratulations to grand tour organizers, Cycling needs a Norma Rae, Discovery folding, Drugs and cycling, Fewer ProTour teams, Floyd Landis decision, Petacchi’s asthma, Science of doping, Sinkewitz positive, Tailwind withdrawal, The good news...., Unibet, what a shame, World’s exclusion, Vino:"a clear violation of human rights"?,
- August 17: Dying from within..., Cadel was robbed, Biting the hand that feeds you, Discovery folding, Astana-Tour cover-up?, Christian Moreni, UCI may lose it all, Drugs & cycling, Aussie proTour team, Valverde and the worlds, Klöden: are things getting out of control?, Congratulations to grand tours organizers
- August 10: Smarter Drug Testing, Cassani and Rasmussen, Bruyneel: take doping seriously, The dubious Disco boys, Spanish ethics, Who's to blame for doping?, Untrustworthy authorities, Insurance for pro riders, Science of doping, It's working?, State of cycling, Less mountain stages, Positively false, Sinkewitz positive, Team suspensions, Tour ethics, Vino response, Editorials call for ending Tour, Revoking le Tours jerseys, LeMond, the voice crying out in the desert, WADA vigilantes
- August 3, Part 1: What about team suspensions?, WADA vigilantes, Vino response, Vino excluded, but why the whole team?, Unanswered questions, Tour de France doping"scandals", State of cycling, Spanish ethics and the A.C. joke, Sinkewitz positive, Secondary testing?, Editorials calling for ending Tour, Rasmussen's location, Quality control and anti doping, Positively False, McQuaid: not the Godfather of cycling, Less mountain stages
- August 3, Part 2: LeMond, the voice crying out in the desert, Le Tour, L'affaire Vino, It’s the culture, IOC questioning cycling in Olympics, Greg LeMond is not surprised, Greg LeMond, German TV, Due process, Evans v Contador - the real margin of victory, Doping, the media and the MPCC, Doping, Evans, Dope tests and the tour, Different perspective on doping, David Millar, Cycling revolution, Cadel was robbed, Bruyneel a 'man in black'?, Another drug test result leaked, Andy Hampsten
- July 27 Part 1: 80's style back in fashion?, A great few days for cycling, Vino excluded, but why the whole team?, Another drug test result leaked, ASO discretion in administering Tour justice, Astana in stage 5, Astana’s tactics, Bad day for Australia, Bloody dopes, Cadel Evans, Catching Vino is good news, Conspiracy?, David"what a joke"Millar, Doping, Doping controls, Tour ethics, German TV, LeMond, the voice crying out in the desert, How many big bastards in the peloton?
- July 27 Part 2: How will cycling survive, Kazahkstan Pie, Kessler's lie, Landis and lie detector, Landis testing, Le maillot jaune is gone, LeMond and mitochondria myopathy, The'Vino' scene, Losing time and bouncing back, Losing my religion, Moreau, No, not Vino, Out of season testing and baseline tests, PED's, Revoking le Tours jerseys, Petacchi out
- July 20: What about team suspensions?, Tyler Hamilton, Stuttgart Worlds, Sinkewitz positive, Petacchi out!, Bad day for Australia, Kessler's lie, Landis and lie detector, LeMond and mitochondria myopathy, Intestinal problems, Greg LeMond, the voice crying out in the desert, Fair doping tests, Drug testing and sequence of recorded results, Revoking le Tours jerseys, Advice for Stapleton and Sinkewitz, Astana in stage 5, Crashes, bike changes & team cars
- July 13: 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,
- 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 Lefévčre, Lefévčre 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
