An independent investigator says Lance Armstrong should be cleared of any suspicions in the blood doping allegations raised by L'Equipe magazine last fall.

At the same time, the Dutch independent investigator said the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the French testing laboratory acted improperly and unethically in the way it handled the specimens. ...   more »

On any long distance bicycle tour, lodging could easily be the biggest expense. When you're at home, you don't think twice about taking a hot shower after your 50-mile ride, plopping down on your soft couch or taking a nice nap in front of the TV.

Do that on a long bike tour and you'll soon be taking out a second mortgage on that home. Here are 8 suggestions from that harshest teacher of all, personal experience, and things I've read about touring on the cheap. ...   more »

Now that the Giro d'Italia is behind us, I'd like to find out who you think will win the Tour de France. Check out the poll at right. ...   more »

Italy's Ivan Basso officially won the Giro d'Italia bike race Sunday, wearing the overall leader's pink jersey for the past 14 days.

This was no squeaker; Basso won by 9-minutes 18-seconds over his closest challenger Jose Gutierrez of Phonak. Gerolsteiner cyclist Robert Forster won the final stage in Milan in a bunch sprint at the finish. ...   more »

This publicity photo strikes me as one of the most bizzare I've seen in a while. In light of the Giro d'Italia, it's maybe something that could have been composed by filmmaker Frederico Fellini.

To publicize Lance Armstrong driving the pace car Sunday for the Indianapolis 500, Armstrong posed next to the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 he'll drive. Behind him, 33 Indy race car drivers stood astride their Trek bicycles. ...   more »

In case there was any doubt, Italy’s Ivan Basso showed the peloton that he’s in charge of the 2006 Giro d’Italia bike race.

The leader of Team CSC not only won another mountain stage, his third, on Saturday, but added at least a minute to all his challengers. ...   more »

The so-called Google Earth Community must have a lot of cycling fans. They've already composed each stage of the 2006 Tour de France onto Google Earth.

I remember seeing some of these bike race route maps appear midway through last year's Tour, not long after Google Earth was released. The hackers got an earlier start this year and have added lots of features. ...   more »

Spectators on most difficult uphill finish on the most difficult day of this year's Giro d'Italia bike race witnessed two separate battles on Friday, about a 2 1/2 minutes apart.

Juan Garate (QuickStep) beat breakaway companion Jens Voigt (Team CSC) at the summit of Passo di San Pellegrino after the pair battled back and forth all the way up the mountain. ...   more »

A doping scandal that has ripped apart the Liberty Seguros pro cycling team could leave scores of cyclists' careers in a shambles.

The Associated Press reports that Spanish investigators have found a list with more than 100 names of cyclists who received services from sports physicians who have been arrested in the doping round-up. ...   more »

Police arrested a San Jose man in connection with a string of smash-and-grab bicycle shop burglaries in California's Silicon Valley.

It's the second time this week that authorities made news by breaking up a major bike theft ring; two thieves in Texas are heading to long prison terms for a three-year bike shop crime spree in a half dozen western cities. ...   more »

A five-man breakaway battled to the finish Thursday as Stefan Schumacher won his second stage in the Giro d'Italia bike race.

Italy's Ivan Basso held onto the overall leader's pink jersey for the 11th day, and edged closer to winning the first half of his Giro - Tour de France double. If he wins both classics, he'd be the first cyclist since fellow countryman Marco Pantani did so in 1998. ...   more »

Remember Don Adams as Agent 86 and his shoe phone? "Would you believe" that Nike and Apple have formed a partnership to create a shoe that talks?

Retired cyclist Lance Armstrong was on hand in New York City recently to present the Nike+ running shoe. ...   more »

Overall leader Ivan Basso didn't contest Leonardo Piepoli's final sprint to the finish on a cold and rainy Plan de Corones on Wednesday, as the Italian cyclist for Saunier Duval won his second stage at the Giro d'Italia bike race.

While it was touted as the toughest stage of the 2006 Giro, the teams convinced organizers to go around the snowy Passo delle Erbe before the race started; and snow atop the Plan de Corones prompted a further shortening of the race on that trecherous final climb. ...   more »

Two bicycle thieves are facing long prison terms after stealing nearly a million dollars worth of bicycles and other sporting goods from shops in five Western cities and selling them on eBay.

Their three-year crime spree ended when police in Richardson, Texas, tracked them down through their eBay accounts. Many of the bikes have been recovered by store owners as they still bore their pricetags. ...   more »

Ivan Basso's singular winning effort against all challengers on the 10-mile climb to Monte Bondone's Giro d'Italia finish on Tuesday is drawing more comparisons between himself and Lance Armstrong.

Italian TV commentators could only say, "Lui è fuoriclasse, stesso Lance Armstrong" ("He is unequalled, like Lance Armstrong"), according to CyclingNews. ...   more »

Paolo Bettini broke his dry spell at the 2006 Giro d'Italia bike race with a sprint win in Brescia.

The QuickStep cyclist's win didn't threaten anyone at the top of the overall classification, as Ivan Basso held onto the leader's pink jersey for the 8th day. ...   more »

I remember reading some how-to articles about bicycle touring before my friend Bruce and I took off on our cross-country bicycle trip in 1984. Quite a few things I didn't learn until we got out on the road and talked to other cyclists or bike hosts, like the Cookie Lady or Lazy Louie, or experienced first hand.

Here are my suggestions you might not always find in a how-to bike tour book:

Keep clean, especially your most tender parts. Cycling shorts are a heated petri dish for bacteria ...   more »

Giro d'Italia bike race leader Ivan Basso finished nearly 8 minutes behind stage winner Luis Laverde on Sunday, but that margin did nothing to threaten his hold on the leader's jersey.

Laverde, a Colombian on the Ceramica Panaria-Navigare team, and Francisco Perez attacked the 11-man breakaway that had an 8-minute gap over the peloton. Laverde timed his sprint to beat Perez at the line, while the rest of the breakaway arrived 7 seconds later. ...   more »

Italian cyclist Ivan Basso put more time on his rivals for the overall lead as the Giro d'Italia entered the first mountain stage of the final week on Saturday.

Leonardo Piepoli of Saunier-Duval crested the towering Colle S. Carlo with Basso, but the Smiling Assassin let Piepoli take all the risks on the descent to win Stage 13 by 44 seconds. ...   more »

Now that you've done your part by cycling to work for National Bike to Work day, wouldn't you like to get paid for it?

Back in March I wondered why bicycle commuters couldn't get a tax break similar to the ones bestowed on hybrid car owners. There are two bills in Congress that go further than that. One bill submitted in the Senate in April would enable employers to pay bicyclists up to an extra $105 a month, tax free.   more »

A pair of crashes on steep descents helped decide the finish for a breakaway at the Giro d'Italia bike race.

Spanish cyclist Joan Horrach of Caisse d'Epargne won the 106-mile stage from Livorno to Sestri Levante on Friday as Ivan Basso arrived seven minutes later with his overall lead safely intact. ...   more »

German cyclist Jan Ullrich used the Giro d'Italia on Thursday to tell us he's ready for the Tour de France.

Ullrich won the 31-mile individual time trial from Pontedera to Pisa and back again, beating the closest finisher, current Giro leader Ivan Basso, by 28 seconds, and everyone else by more than a minute. ...   more »

When the Los Angeles-based Ditty Bops say they're taking their show on the road, they're talking about a long-distance bike tour.

The girl band duo is known for their love of bicycles; now they're combining the tour to promote their new CD -- Moon Over the Freeway -- with a cross-country bike ride. ...   more »

Smash-and-grab thieves broke into three bicycle stores in the Silicon Valley area in the past few weeks.

A total $44,000 worth of bicycles and bike gear has been stolen in the burglaries -- 2 the night of April 28 and one on May 3. ...   more »

It doesn't seem to happen often, but sometimes the cyclists in a breakaway beat the peloton. It helps if the lead group contains about 20 bike riders, as it did Tuesday in Stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia bike race.

After sitting in the breakaway all day, Franco Pellizotti of the Liquigas team attacked on the uphill finish in Peschici and sprinted over the finish. Although he moved up from 32nd place, displacing 4th place Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery), Team CSC's Ivan Basso still holds the overall lead. ...   more »

President Bush received gifts valued at more than $17,000 last year, but the most expensive was a Trek mountain bike.

The commander in chief of Peloton One received a $5,474 mountain bike from John Burke, president of the Trek Bicycle Corporation. Bush also received two pairs of cycling shoes, valued at $515, from the Trek Nike Cycling Division. ...   more »

The Erie Canal in New York state may have been known as Clinton's Folly when it opened in 1825, but the canalway has turned into a boon for cyclists and those who cater to them.

Nearly 250 miles of canal route towpaths between Buffalo and Albany has been paved for cyclists, who spend between $100 to $300 a day during their visits, according to the state Canal Corporation. ...   more »

Make a note, Paolo Bettini: Don't raise your arms to celebrate a win unless you come in first.

QuickStep's sprinter struck the celebratory pose crossing the finish line for Stage 8 at the Giro d'Italia bike race, but it was Tomas Vaitkus of AG2R who won the stage. Giro favorite Ivan Basso keeps the leader's pink jersey, with little change in the overall classification. ...   more »

They way that Ivan Basso scampered up the final climb in Stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia leaves little doubt why he's favored to win the bike race this year.

Basso -- what's he called, the Smiling Assassin -- is a strong climber and has adopted the high revolution spinning style of Lance Armstrong. Also, Basso rides for an excellent team -- Team CSC -- with one of the best managers, former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis. ...   more »

The leading contenders in this year's Giro d'Italia bike race climbed the overall standings in the longest stage on Saturday, and the first in the mountains.

Serguei Honchar took the overall leader's pink jersey back from T-Mobile teammate Olaf Pollack as last year's winner Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery) and favorite Ivan Basso (Team CSC) climbed into second and third place overall. ...   more »

"You need female companionship sometimes, but this is another person. And that's too bad because you have to deal with another person. ...

"I've had many little affairs. Now, it's more complicated: I'm 66, and on a bicycle, and I sleep in a tent ..."   more »

Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle is closed to cars for 10 weekend days this spring and summer. Bicyclists can ride the scenic route between Mount Baker Beach and Seward Park -- an 8-mile round trip -- on selected Saturdays and Sundays beginning today.

This is not a place for hammer heads who are trying to set a personal best time trial. Think of getting the family out on their bikes; see and be seen; make new friends. ...   more »

Australian sprint specialist Robbie McEwen won his third stage of the Giro d'Italia bike race Friday, the 11th of his career.

The Davitamon-Lotto cyclist sat on Tomas Vaitkus's wheel as the peloton raced to the finish in Forli, then drove past him in the last 100 yards to take the win. Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) finished second, and took the overall lead from teammate Serguei Honchar. ...   more »

I always get a little distracted this time of the spring. It seems that no matter what I'm doing, a part of my brain is spinning around to remember what I was doing at this time in 1984.

That's the year my friend Bruce and I took leaves of absence from our jobs and began a cross-country bicycle trek on May 13. ...   more »

A 58-year-old Virginia farmer has finished his cross-country bike tour from San Diego to St. Augustine from the seat of a recumbent bicycle.

Why a recumbent? Chris Parish, left, says it eased the strain on his neck and arms, which suffer from arthritis. Also, it's the bike he got in a trade for a bale of hay. Why did he do it? "A lot of people ask me that, and I have no good answer." ...   more »

The top 10 racers in the Giro d'Italia bike race are mostly cyclists from Team CSC, T-Mobile, and Discovery after those three teams finished 1, 2, 3 in Thursday's team time trial.

The biggest benefactor of Team CSC's 1-second win over T-Mobile and 39-second margin over Discovery was Ivan Basso, who moved up to fifth place, 11 seconds behind current race leader Serguei Gonchar of T-Mobile. Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher, bike race leader for the past two days, dropped to 8th place, 31 seconds back. ...   more »

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 14,000 Schwinn Deluxe Bicycle Child Carriers.

If you own one of these carriers, you should stop using it immediately. The CPSC says if the unit is not fully seated on the rack, the plastic guide tabs on the carrier can break, causing the seat to fall off the bike. ...   more »

World cyclist Heinz Stucke is back in the saddle again after his bicycle was stolen earlier in the week. An unidentified person found his stolen bicycle in a park in Portsmouth, England, and notified police.

The 66-year-old German has been travelling around the world since 1962 -- 44 years. The only thing more amazing than that feat is that he's done it all on the same bicycle. ...   more »

"At the moment I would say it has to be (Ivan) Basso. However it is tough to say what could happen in the coming six weeks. ... I originally picked (Jan) Ullrich to win the Tour de France but he seems to be behind again. If he's only five kilograms overweight that's pretty good for him but I don't understand him, he has so much to gain. I don't know if he loves the bike or not but he could be the biggest sporting star in Germany." ...   more »

The record-setting around-the-world bicycle life-journey of Heinz Stücke has come to a dead stop in Portsmouth, UK, where his bike was stolen this week.

This is not any old bike. This three-speed is the one Stücke has ridden to nearly every country on Earth since he embarked on the 335,000 journey from his home in Germany in 1962. ...   more »

Sprint specialist Alessandro Petacchi, who leads active cyclists for stage wins at the Giro d'Italia bike race, is sitting out the rest of the three-week tour of Italy with a broken kneecap.

The "Ale-Jet's" departure left the field open to Davitamon-Lotto's Robbie McEwen, who won his second stage Tuesday, the fourth and final stage of the race in Belgium. German rider Stefan Schumacher retained his 13 second lead over Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) for the overall lead. ...   more »

Rainy weather and slick pavement created some costly accidents in Monday's stage of the Giro d'Italia bike race, but it all worked out for German cyclist Stefan Schumacher.

The cyclist for Gerolsteiner won Stage 3 in the Belgian city of Namur after taking the lead in the final half-mile. His win gave him a 13-second lead over Paolo Savoldelli, the Discovery rider who had to give up the leader's pink jersey. ...   more »

Bicyclists will ride in slow-moving groups in more than 120 US cities and 6 other countries on Wednesday, May 17, in memory of fellow cyclists killed or injured on public roads.

The Ride of Silence honors those who have died, raises awareness about cycling and reminds motorists to share the road.

There are no entry fees to participate in one of the silent processions. There are no T-shirts, no sponsors and no brochures, says the Ride for Silence website. It remains largely a grassroots effort. ...   more »

Last year the sprinters let super-sprinter Alessandro Petacchi's Fasso Bortolo team lead them to sprint finishes at the Giro d'Italia bike race; now it's "Ale-Jet's" new Team Milram leading the charge.

And like last year, the sprinters in Sunday's Stage 2 used their own tactics and speed to beat Petacchi to the finish. ...   more »

Discovery Channel cyclist Paolo Savoldelli kept himself in the pink leader's jersey Saturday by winning the 3.8-mile prologue in the Giro d'Italia.

The Italian cyclist on the US-based pro team won the three-week bike race around Italy last year for the second time. His 11-second win Saturday gives him the stage and general classification lead in the race that ends May 28. ...   more »

Trek is recalling 4,500 helmets made in China under the brands Anthem C Elite and Anthem C Elite WSD, reports the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Although no injuries have been reported from use of these helmets, the CPSC says they do not comply with CPSC safety standards for impact resistance and an injury could result in an accident. ...   more »

The 23-year-old American pro cyclist severely injured in a bike racing accident in early April is back in the US at a rehabilitation hospital.

Saul Raisin is walking with assistance, his parents report on his blog, and has a healthy appetite. The cyclist from Dalton, Georgia, dictated a message on the Saul Raisin Racing blog: ...   more »

Take a deep breath; the spring warm-ups are behind us and the first of the three-week classics, the Giro d'Italia bicycle race, begins Saturday and runs through May 28.

After the opening four days in distant Belgium to commemorate Italians who died in a coal mine accident there 50 years ago, expect the hill climbers to shine as the organizers mapped out five mountaintop finishes once the race returns to Italy for its final 17 days. ...

You can follow the 89th Giro d'Italia bicycle race, which begins Saturday, by watching live video streaming on the Internet on most days over the next three weeks.

A couple of cycling websites offer up-to-the-minute updates, as well as race summaries and results. Video reports are also available -- in Italian -- at the Gazzetta dello Sport's Giro official website. You can use Babelfish to translate the rest. ...   more »

Lena: "Oh Ole, did you hear that Lars got a new bike for Helga?"

Ole: "Oh Lena, what a lucky trade for Lars!" ...   more »

Time: Monday morning. The place: Orlando, Florida.

The challenge: Negotiate morning traffic to arrive at Orlando City Hall first on a 7-mile commute from Lake City Park in Maitland. ...   more »

A 57-year-old former phys ed teacher has finished her 800-mile ride from Evansville, Indiana, to Eunice, Louisiana.

It's not a bike ride that follows any established bicycle routes. But it was the most direct route from Becky Jones' home to the small Louisiana town that nearly doubled its population with evacuees from last fall's hurricanes. ...   more »

How are you going to celebrate your 100th birthday? Clair Duckham went for a bike ride.

The 100-year-old resident of an assisted living center in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, hit the road stoking a tandem on a 5-mile ride through nearby Wheaton. ...   more »

See a lot more folks on their bicycles today? Yes, it's spring, and it might be a beautiful day where you live. It could also be people bicycling to work for National Bike to Work month.

With gasoline prices hovering at $3 a gallon, I can't think of a better time to suit up for a ride. ...   more »

You won't want to forget this one. Thirty years ago marked the first of the TransAmerican bicycle tours that coincided with the celebrations surrounding the Bicentennial year.

This summer the Adventure Cycling Association is throwing birthday bashes in several cities to celebrate the year that 4,100 cyclists took to the road to prove that two wheels are better than four. ...   more »