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Letters to Cyclingnews - August 17, 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.
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
Dying from within...
I think that this is an appropriate description of the sport of cycling. The more riders who continue to compete using illegal means is further decaying the vital supports which hold this great sport together. It’s a shame that those who have the greatest impact on the sport fail to realize they alone are to blame for the great demise of the sport we all come to love so much. Cycling.
Professional cyclists are the ambassadors of our sport in the eye of the media and the public. When everyone hears about something happening in cycling, you can be sure that the headlines are being made by the professionals. They are the level that future generations of athletes hope to reach and are the idols of all the fans and spectators who admire them for their ability.
What then is there to admire in a cheat, a liar or a dead athlete? All of these things are true to athletes who use performance enhancing products. They cheat in their sport by using banned substances. They lie to the officials, fans, and fellow competitors who think that everyone is competing on a level playing field. Death is an all too grim reality of those who use blood doping products and other illegal performance boosting substances. That is why they are illegal in the first place, to protect riders from the avoidable consequences of overdosing, which can happen very easily.
I have heard many reasons from athletes who say they “need” to use illegal performance enhancing products. I can tell you right now they are all excuses. Pros say that the race organizations make the courses too hard and only by using doping products can they finish the races, let alone have a good performance. If the race is too hard, don’t do it, petition for a reconstruction of the event. It’s a simple idea I think. Then there is the “everyone is doing it” approach. That’s ridiculous; I don’t believe it for a second. I believe that yes many riders have doped, do dope, and will continue to dope for years. But I honestly believe that there are plenty of clean riders out there that help to give cycling it‘s good name.
Disgraceful is the only word I can think of that can describe cheating cyclists. They are a disgrace to their team, sponsors, to themselves, and to their father’s name. They should be ashamed for bringing a bad name to all of those people who supported them and helped get them to where they are today. But most of all, they bring a bad name to the sport of cycling.
I pray that through the good faith of people everywhere cycling will still continue. From the solitary fan standing to watch the Tour de France pass by his house, to the “suit” behind every proTour team that cuts the check giving the riders the support they need. I hope all the riders will come to their senses someday. I hope everyone has the same hope I have; the hope for a clean sport!
Ryan Rodriguez
Chico, California
Wednesday, August 8th 2007
Cadel was robbed
Further to your letter Bill, I would like to know how Levi Leipheimer managed such an awesome final time trial; after all it's not something that you can conjure up after a mediocre tour. Contador has been implicated in operation Peurto and the whole scene surrounding current or ex Discovery riders is very suspicious.
I don't know who to believe in any more, but Cadel rode a very intelligent race, and was pushed to the limit by Contador and Rasmussen.
What do we know at the moment? The Lantern Rouge could end up the winner for all we know.
Andy C
UK
Thursday August 9 2007
Biting the hand that feeds you
While the news that the Discovery Channel Cycling Team would be disbanded doesn't trouble me, a certain Mr. Lance Armstrong's comments about the situation came as nothing short of an annoyance.
First, contrary to the general thought driven by newcomers to the sport: Discovery is not the Tour de France. Discovery didn't even "make" the Tour de France. Just as La Vie Claire, Systeme U, and Banesto were, Discovery was but one team in a very long line of teams to compete and win in the Tour. The Tour will thrive with or without a single, one team, just as it will thrive without a single, one rider.
Second, in a recent article reporting the disbanding of the Discovery Channel Team in the New York Times, Lance Armstrong was quoted as saying, "clearly things need to improve on many levels, with a more unified front, before you would see us venture back into cycling." Isn't it interesting that in the same week where T-Mobile reaffirmed their involvement in professional cycling and in Susan Westemeyer's report on Cyclingnews.com stated "We want to accompany cycling and support it in its effort to become a cleaner sport" that Armstrong slapped down cycling and essentially blamed Tailwind Sports' inability to obtain a sponsor on the very sport Mr. Armstrong made all of his fame and fortune? Isn't this akin to biting the hand that feeds you, Mr. Armstrong?
If Armstrong were truly committed to the world of competitive bicycle racing and honouring the instrument of his success, Tailwind would put their efforts toward rebuilding and cleaning up the sport, not verbally running away from it; team or no team.
Dillan Ballard
Arlington, Virginia
Friday August 10 2007
Discovery folding
The team that just won the biggest cycling race in the world had to dissolve due to difficulty in securing a sponsor. This, in a nutshell, is the state of cycling economics today.
On the other hand, with a proliferation of absolute top level riders with no contracts, this would make for a very interesting signing period.
Rudyard Josef L. Ganuelas
Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Friday August 10 2007
Discovery folding #2
To use an 'Americanism' - What a load of baloney! "We're just not comfortable asking for someone to invest that kind of money in this environment."
Are we supposed to believe that Bruyneel and Co. won't all run off and find good jobs with other teams in the 'European' Peloton?
Tailwind have always been masters of spin and public relations but I don't think anyone is swallowing their story this time. Admit it guys, an 'American' sponsor couldn't be found and a European sponsor is not interested in a team that only wants to win one race per year. Regardless of how big that race may be.
Congratulations on a fantastic ride guys, you added a lot of professionalism and pizzazz to the sport. It's a shame Armstrong pissed all the Europeans off (both by winning so often and by his attitude); you may have been on the start line next year if he didn't.
Mat Ashton
Melbourne
Saturday August 11 2007
Astana-Tour cover-up?
So on the day Vino miraculously recovers from his injuries and all-too-human efforts to win the TT, he tests positive for homologous blood doping. He is tested because he won the stage; nobody else on the team is tested.
You are the team director, aware that your entire team -- or some substantial part of it -- is doing autologous blood doping, which is undetectable. So if Vino gets caught, it can only mean one thing: his banked blood got switched with another rider's.
What's the one thing you can do to persuade the world that this is reported as "an isolated incident" and not as team-sanctioned doping? Well, you've got to ensure that the rider whose blood Vino got, and who presumably got Vino's blood by mistake, doesn't test positive, too. But if you don't know who that rider is... you have to pull the entire team out of the race.
Voila. The very next day, Astana leaves the Tour.
The complication is that cyclingnews.com reported that Tour officials "asked" Astana to withdraw and Astana agreed. Are Tour officials part of the cover up?
I'm not given to conspiracy theories, but when I read that "The news hit the French Grand Tour like a bag of bricks and some people speculated that organisers of the Tour, the ASO would decide to stop the show..." and ASO president Patrice Clerc saying, "I have never thought to stop the Tour," suddenly one can see a motive for complicity.
Perhaps the investigative reporter David Walsh might turn his attention to this line of inquiry.
Jack Beaudoin
Bowdoinham ME
Saturday August 11 2007
Christian Moreni
Christian Moreni tries to blame his positive testosterone test on a natural plant-based paste, which I know nothing about. He then mentions he was in possession of Andro Max (containing androstenedione) which is a testosterone pro-hormone on WADA's banned list. Possession of a banned substance is, in a sporting court sense, equivalent to taking that substance. He thus correctly received a 2 year ban, both for the positive test and the possession of banned hormone preparations.
The other 'natural' or homeopathic testosterone boosting pastes he describes are a tempting trap for many athletes wanting to push the limits of legality. Moreni obviously didn't do his research prior to purchasing these products or prior to formulating his excuses.
Warren Jennings
Cairns Australia
Monday August 13 2007
UCI may lose it all
I believe that the fans support cycle racing. We do not like the doping but we certainly understand how riders could be moved to try anything in their dedication.
I believe that the doping regulations must not only be based on science but handled fairly and indiscriminately. Doping regulations are supposed to protect the long term health of riders who can lose perspective simply because they're young and ambitious.
They are also to maintain a standard of performance based strictly on the limits of the human body and mind. Those that are dedicated train the hardest and are naturally the most gifted should be the winners and not someone with the best doctor.
But based on these standards UCI, WADA and ASO are desperately wanting.
Perhaps it is time for racing to fall back to strictly national levels.
Americans don't need European racing managed by those who are so willing to spoil their own bedding. And European cycling fans certainly don't need bias for or against their riders which has plainly been the case.
Perhaps if we simply turn our backs on UCI, ASO and their silly bickering and all of the money falls out of pro racing we can come back again in a decade and build an organization based on love of the sport and not love of who knows what?
Tom Kunich
San Leandro
Monday August 13 2007
Drugs & cycling
I have practiced sports for the past 37 years. Ski, Snowboard, Skateboard (1980 national Runner up), Tennis, Mountain Climbing, Rock Climbing, Water skiing, Surfing (1987 national Champion) and Mountain Biking among others.
In 2003 I bought my first road bike and fell in love with this sport. I actually did L’Étape du Tour in 2005, what an experience.
Never once I have taken any sort of drug to enhance my performance, and I don’t think that anybody will do it unless it is within the sport.
I am a true believer that drugs have always been around cycling, so it annoys me when they take it all out on the riders, because I am also convinced that everybody involved in cycling, the UCI, ASO, LeBlanc, Wada, Sponsors, Doctors, team managers etc are well aware of the fact that drugs are a part of cycling.
To my understanding it is money that is to blame in the end. There is a lot of money involved in this sport and not necessarily for everyone, so there is a lot of temptation just to get there.
I race locally (amateur) and most of the riders are ex pro. Guess what? Yes, there are drugs. Can you believe this?
I have never won a race and probably never will but the peloton knows I am clean and in that ‘race’ we are a growing group way ahead of the pack.
This is a cancer that is stuck deep in the roots of cycling so unless we get serious about it we will never get rid of it.
We have the tools to clean up the act so let’s use them seriously.
Long live cycling
The most romantic and demanding sport I have ever practiced.
Claudio Izzo
Santiago, Chile
Monday August 13 2007
Aussie proTour team
I just heard the news about an Australian proTour team and just wanted to encourage the Australian or Australasian business community to get on board.
Come on Qantas, BHP Billiton, or even combine the efforts of the SA/AIS .com squad and use that as a feeder group into the pro tour squad.
Whatever the make up it would be fantastic to see Robbie, Cadel and Rogers going to the 2009 TdF as joint team leaders, with back up from Stewy (super domestique and Classics leader) along with Hansen, Davis, Cooke etc, what an awesome team and I for one can’t wait.
Carl Hogg
Adelaide SA
Tuesday August 14 2007
Valverde and the worlds
How wonderful, after a summer of discontent and accusations, confessions and positive (maybe) tests, we now have the organizing committee of the World Championships stating that Valverde is not welcome at the worlds because he has been “implicated”. Who does Susanne Eisenmann think she is?
Has he been found guilty? No
Has he tested positive? No
Has his team been suspended? No
Why can he not be innocent until found guilty, like Klöden?
Oh yes, he isn’t German!
Does racial prejudice not apply in sport?
Peter Davies
Lancashire, UK
Wednesday August 15 2007
Klöden: are things getting out of control?
I think it is safe to say that just about everyone - fans, sponsors, and the cyclists themselves - want to see the sport cleaned up. Steps taken in that direction are, in general, a good thing for the sport. With that in mind, I was disturbed by the news story regarding Andreas Klöden ("Klöden’s uncertain future" 8/15/07).
In the article, German news magazine "Spiegel" alone with Christian Frommert apparently alleged that Klöden didn't deny that he has doped vociferously enough. So now, if you don't scream that you haven't doped, you are somehow suspect? Come to think of it, not one rider in the pro peloton has taken out an ad in my local newspaper proclaiming that he is anti-doping.
Klöden is not under investigation and hasn't tested positive: "guilt by association" is the new standard in the sport. Asking an entire team to leave the Tour de France because of one rider's doping test was one thing...but this new standard ala Klöden is absurd.
WARNING: The statements in this letter show some (perhaps misguided) "faith" in a rider's word and the current testing process. Please forget that you ever read this if Klöden tests positive for doping within the next few months.
Stephan H. Andranian
Wednesday August 15 2007
Congratulations to grand tours organizers
A big congratulations needs to go out to the Grand Tours organizers. Their combined efforts have greatly contributed to running off a sponsor who really wanted to be a part of bicycling, Unibet.com.
Here was a sponsor willing to invest large sums of money in our sport at a time when most sponsors are running away. It is truly unfortunate to lose such a willing participant in our sport at such at time for what amounts to very stupid reasons.
They bent over backwards to make the organizers happy, removing their name from their kits so that they did not offend the laws of France. But the organizers weren't happy. Now, they are gone. What will the organizers do now to bring another sponsor in?
What will they do to compensate the riders and staff who are out of a job? It's really sad when they allegedly act in the best interest of the sport.
James A. Busalacchi
Alhambra, CA, USA
Wednesday August 15 2007
Recent letters pages
Letters 2007
- 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
