Back in May, I asked Biking Bis readers who they thought would win the 2006 Tour de France. Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich received three-fourths of the votes. With those two heavy favorites out of the race, I'm posting another quickie poll at right. Here are some top contenders ...   more »

The two favored contenders in the the 2006 Tour de France have been thrown out in shame, caught up in a blood doping probe that started in May.

Ivan Basso, looking for his first Tour de France win, and Jan Ullrich, hoping to fulfill the promise he showed as a young Tour winner in 1997, will be watching the Tour from the sidelines this year.

The decision came less than 24 hours before the three-week race is set to begin. It changes the whole complexion of the race, and could help propel Americans like Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie to the front of the pack. ...   more »

I didn't know much about bicycles -- I'm still not what you'd call a gear head -- when I bought my first set of wheels back in 1977.

With $150 in my wallet and a copy of the latest Consumer Reports in my hand I marched into Big Wheel Bikes down by the canal in Washington DC and bought that year's recommended bicycle -- the Fuji Dynamic 10. ...   more »

This could be a very different Tour de France than the bike race we envisioned just a few days ago. Favorites Ivan Basso, left, and Jan Ullrich have been named in media reports among the patients of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor who is the focus of the Operacion Puerto drug probe in Spain. Eurosport says Thursday that the cyclists were identified by sources for Cadena Ser radio. ...   more »

Lance Armstrong won't be cycling shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the Tour de France peloton in July; he'll be crunched in a mass of more than 8,000 RAGBRAI cyclists.

The retired Tour de France champion has confirmed he'll ride in one or more days of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa that runs July 23-29. ...   more »

If you want some insight into what cyclists talk about in the peloton, check out the Dave Zabriskie Podcast at MissingSaddle.com.

His latest installment, discovered by TdF Blog 2006, talks about Russian cyclists and their mullets.

Further, the Salt Lake City native is featured in Bicycling magazine with Phonak team leader Floyd Landis. Zabriskie interviews Landis in the piece. The CSC rider shares an apartment with Landis in Girona.

Expect great things from both cyclists at the Tour de France, which starts Saturday.

(Updated July 29 -- Astana-Wurth gets green light to race -- CyclingNews) Tour de France organizers are seeking to ban the Astana-Wurth cycling team from the bike race this year after published reports link several members to a blood-doping probe in Spain. ...   more »

Forty-five bike trails in 36 months. That's the goal for New Orleans bicyclist Larry Lagarde.

Lagarde plans to ride these bicycle trails, review them and tell about his adventures at his website RideThisBike.com.

Right now, Lagarde has links to more than 40 bike trails worldwide at his website. His personal bike tour will enable him to add his own perspective on the bike trails and routes. ...   more »

True or false, proven or unproven, this is going to be a huge distraction to German cyclist Jan Ullrich and some other cyclists in the Tour de France.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais reports that documents found in a raid during the Operation Puerto blood-doping probe relate to Ullrich, the winner of the 1997 Tour de France and a favorite this year.

Says Ullrich: "That has nothing to do with me." ...   more »

Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond told French newspaper L'Equipe on Sunday why he testified against Lance Armstrong in a recent arbitration hearing.

"I was forced to testify, because Lance had threatened me. ... He threatened my wife, my business, my life. His biggest threat consisted of saying he would find 10 people to testify that I took EPO. Of course, he didn't find a single one." Armstrong says the charge is ridiculous.   more »

You can always leave that heavy tent and sleeping bag at home on your next bicycle tour if you don't mind parting with some cash. Many bed and breakfast inns are promoting themselves to bicycle tourists as they offer secure bike storage, big breakfasts, laundry facilities and bike trail maps.

I had assumed that most innkeepers would get their knickers in a bunch if I dragged my bike onto the porch and marched into the lobby dripping with sweat, my clothes streaked with chain grease.

That apparently isn't the case for 101 inns ...   more »

This is the story that will never die: Did he or didn't he?

The French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Lance Armstrong told doctors treating him for cancer in 1996 that he had taken the blood-boosting agent EPO and other drugs -- this before he won his first Tour de France victory in 1999. The sources -- former friend, teammate and OLN cycling commentator Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy.

An attorney for Armstrong immediately rejected the allegation, citing an affidavit from one of Armstrong's doctors. The seven-time Tour de France champion also rejected the report, calling it absurd. ...   more »

Now that the last of the Race Across America cyclists have straggled across the finish line in Atlantic City, mountain bikers are leaving Roosville, Montana, for the Great Divide Race at noon Friday.

While the RAAM racers gain our admiration by cycling 3,042 miles cross-country in 9 or 10 days, consider what the Great Divide racers try to accomplish:

With no support or team members, the mountain bikers race from the Canadian to the Mexican border. They cross 2,490 miles of mountain terrain carrying their own gear for cooking, camping and bike repair. The route comprises 200,000 feet of climbing. ...   more »

Consumers should stop riding bicycles that use the Specialized SW carbon stem with magnesium faceplate, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warns.

The carbon stem, manufactured in Taiwan for Specialized Bicycles Components, has a magnesium faceplate that holds the handlebar in place. The faceplate can break, causing the handlebars to come off the bicycle. ...   more »

Bill Cook's blog of his upcoming bicycle tour looks like it could be a good read.

Cook is a retired journalist who is leaving Thursday on a 7-week TransAmerica bike tour with 40 other cyclists. At 70, he's the second oldest on the trip; another fella is 73. ...   more »

Searing desert heat; stiff Kansas winds; long grades and steep hills; and night after day after night cycling is coming to an end for the bicyclists in the Race Across America.

The teams started rolling across the finish line at the Boardwalk in Atlantic City on Monday, 3,042 miles and about 5 1/2 days after leaving Oceanside, California. The solo riders began coasting across the finish line last night, nine days after leaving the West Coast. ...   more »

The female duo Ditty Bops currently making their way cross-country by bicycle isn't the first band smitten by the bicycling bug.

A love of the bicycle caused German band Kraftwerk to whither creatively for 17 year before reuniting a couple of years ago to create Tour de France Soundtracks.

The love of bikes and cycling has united the Ditty Bops for their road trip. ...   more »

Three Americans are assigned to help Italian cyclist Ivan Basso win the Tour de France bike race for Team CSC this year.

It's at least the second time in the Tour de France for all three. They are Bobby Julich  (right), Christian Vandevelde and the third American ever to wear the yellow jersey, David Zabriskie.   more »

Lance Armstrong is not letting the controversy over last year's doping allegations die quietly.

In response to a report that concluded the World Anti-Doping Agency acted irresponsibly in the mishandling of urine samples from the 1999 Tour de France, Armstrong is seeking discipinary action against WADA chief Dick Pound. (Updated June 22) ...   more »

Note to top contenders in the 2006 Tour de France bike race: Der Kaiser is back.

German cyclist Jan Ullrich is this year's Tour de Suisse champion, winning on the strength of his individual time trial ride on Sunday after staying near the top of the standings through the mountain stages in recent days.

The team leader for T-Mobile won the 19-mile time trial from Kerzers to Bern by 22 seconds over second place finisher, Cadel Evans of Davitamon Lotto. ...   more »

I may be nothing more than a recreational bicycling hack, but my style of cycling has more in common with elite racers in the Tour de France than those competing in the Race Across America.

Basically, my rides begin and end on the same date and in the same time zone. Not so the RAAM, which is passing through Missouri and into Illinois on Saturday. Cyclists who started this race on Sunday in California stay on their bikes as long as possible without sleep on their way across the continent to Atlantic City, New Jersey.

They are a completely different breed. Race reports from RAAM writer Danny Chew are so bizarre they can't be fiction. Consider ...   more »

The Discovery Channel and Gerolsteiner pro cycling teams named their Tour de France squads Friday, and Americans lead the lists for both.

George Hincapie, left, is leading the Discovery team and Levi Leipheimer, right, heads the Gerolsteiner squad. Both have competed in the Tour de France many times.   more »

It looks like all the leading Tour de France contenders are having their way with different bicycle races. Floyd Landis, Ivan Basso, and Levi Leipheimer each have dominated at one or more contests this spring.

Now it's Jan Ullrich's turn in the Tour de Suisse, his final tune up for the Tour de France beginning July 1. After struggling toward the end of the Giro d'Italia in May, Ullrich has been pressing on the climbs. He's come up short of stage victories, but he gained third place overall on Thursday and held that on Friday. (Updated Saturday, June 17) ...   more »

It's been slightly more than two weeks since Spanish authorities sprung a trap that netted a bicycling team manager, the assistant director of another team, a doctor, and several others in a blood doping probe. Looking at the news so far, it's striking how many cyclists not implicated in the probe have fallen victim in the run up to the Tour de France because of their association with some teams. ...   more »

Joe Bowen, a very fit Kentucky cyclist, pedaled off on a 14,000-mile bicycle tour last spring to visit nearly every state in the US -- a second time.

Bowen was repeating a bicycle trek he took upon his discharge from the Air Force in 1967 when he left Lompoc, California, and bicycled through 46 states before returning home to eastern Kentucky.

Now, at 63, Bowen is returning home again ...   more »

Lance Armstrong may be retired, but the Outdoor Life Network is still working around the clock to broadcast live and replayed bicycle racing from the 2006 Tour de France.

The OLN TV's live coverage usually begins daily at 8:30 a.m. (ET) daily, including weekends, and concludes about 11:30 a.m. (ET). Coverage for some of the longer bike race stages in the mountains begins 30 to 60 minutes earlier ...   more »

There's a lot of bad mojo in bicycle touring, even if you're riding in the best of the supported cross-state week-long bike rides.

Yesterday I wrote about some avoidable, and unavoidable, bad things that can mar an otherwise idyllic bicycle ride. Here are some more problems that might arise, and how to prevent or deal with them.

1. Help! My luggage is lost!    more »

You have to take the bad with the good, and that certainly goes for week-long, cross-state bicycle tours.

Whether there are 200 or 2,000 cyclists on these organized bicycling events, don't be surprised if a few things don't go to your liking. It takes years for the organizers to work out the kinks, and even then things crop up that nobody could expect. Plus, there are plenty of annoyances over which they have no control ...   more »

Now that you've congratulated yourself on a satisfying 45-mile weekend bicycle ride, read this:  At 9 o'clock Sunday morning 35 solo cyclists left Oceanside, California, for a 3,052-mile cross-country ride that they hope to finish in 8 or 9 days in Atlantic City.

The Race Across America (RAAM) -- billed as the world's toughest bicycling endurance event -- hit the road Sunday for the 25th time. ...    more »

A killer combination of cycling skills in the time trial and mountain stages paid off for American Levi Leipheimer who won the week-long Dauphiné Libéré bike race on Sunday.

The 32-year-old leader of the German Gerolsteiner team earned the championship without winning a single stage, but finishing among the top four (all Americans) in Wednesday's time trial and then staying near front in the following mountain stages. ...   more »

Spanish climbing specialist Iban Mayo rose out of two years of bicycling obscurity to win Saturday's 96-mile stage of the Dauphiné Libéré bike race.

Meanwhile, American Levi Leipheimer increased his overall margin in the week-long race which ends Sunday by finishing just one-and-a-half minutes behind Mayo, who sits in 15th overall. ...   more »

How long can Levi Leipheimer hold onto the yellow jersey at the Dauphiné Libéré bike race, which ends Sunday in Grenoble?

On the combined strengths of his time-trial abilities and climbing skills the leader of the Gerolsteiner team leader has achieved and retained the yellow jersey for two days without winning a stage. And more mountains loom in the distance. ...   more »

The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team will throw its best bicycle racers at the peloton in the first half of the Tour de France, then support whoever is in the top position.

Unlike past years when the team rode in support of Lance Armstrong from Day One, Johan Bruyneel said, this year the team will remain flexible. ...   more »

Levi Leipheimer rode into the yellow jersey atop Mount Ventoux at the Dauphiné Libéré bike race on Thursday.

The Santa Rosa, California, resident climbed into the overall lead by finishing just 15 seconds behind stage winner Denis Menchov. Together with Christophe Moreau, the three attacked the peloton on the climb with Leipheimer setting the pace most of the way. ...   more »

American cyclists swept the top four positions in Wednesday's 27-mile individual time trial at the Dauphiné Libéré bike race.

David Zabriskie repeated his prologue win on Sunday by finishing in 52 minutes and 48 seconds. He was followed by Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie.   more »

Once again there's horrifying news from Mt. Everest. It's bad enough that some 14 climbers have died trying to reach the summit of Earth's highest peak this year. What's worse is that some were merely abandoned by their fellow climbers on the way to the summit.

Maybe it's too many years as a Boy Scout, but I just can't understand that mentality.

How many times have you seen a cyclist at the side of the road fiddling with his or her bike. "Everything all right?" "Need anything?" "You OK?" ...   more »

"I never expected to pull off a stunt like that."   more »

Today is June 6, 2006. Also known as 6/6/06, or just plain "666" -- the day from hell. I've had my share of days from hell, but many people are expecting some major calamities on this one.

Imagine, I thought, if you were to bicycle on Highway 666 on 6/6/06. 

I remembered Highway 666 from the cross-country bicycle tour my friend and I took in 1984. I dove into my box of tattered maps and soon located the New Mexico map. Inspecting closely, I found the devilish red line marking Highway 666. ...   more »

German cyclist Fabian Wegman won Monday's 128-mile stage, while American cyclists David Zabriskie and George Hincapie survived in the top 5 overall at the Dauphiné Libéré bike race.

While Wegman won for Gerolsteiner, it was Nicolas Inaudi who provided the heroics. The French bicyclist for Cofidis attacked barely one mile into the race and held the lead for 117 miles before he was caught. ...   more »

Back in the early '80s I took a solo bicycle tour down a portion of the Natchez Trace in Tennessee down into Alabama. I didn't keep a journal on my down-and-back bike tour, but I have a few vivid memories:

-- Singing to myself as I pedaled along a little-used two-lane road through beautiful rolling countryside ...   more »

American David Zabriskie rode into the yellow jersey Sunday for the prologue of this week's Dauphiné Libéré bike race.

Finishing less than 2 seconds behind in the 2.5-mile prologue was George Hincapie, another American favorite. Still another American finished in the top 10 -- Floyd Landis -- at 9th. ...   more »

Biking Bis readers picked Ivan Basso by a wide margin as the most likely cyclist to win the Tour de France bike race that begins July 1.

The Italian cyclist who handily won the Giro d'Italia in May received 59% of the votes. If  the Team CSC leader does win the Tour, he'll be the 13th cyclist to win both events, the last being fellow Italian Marco Pantani in 1998. ...   more »

A California cyclist has published his memoirs from a 1992 cross-country bicycle tour in the book, "Bicycling Beyond City Limits."

Michael Foley and five other young bicyclists from Chico met each other at a weekly ride and decided to embark on the journey. The 55-day bike tour took them across 10 states and 3,300 miles from Chico to Santee, South Carolina. ...   more »