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French prosecutors have reportedly launched a preliminary investigation against the Astana cycling team to examine syringes belonging to the squad during this year's Tour de France. L'Equipe newspaper reported Tuesday on its Web site that prosecutors opened the case after "the discovery of several suspicious syringes in a container given by organizers to all the teams in order to collect the medical waste." Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and third-place finisher Lance Armstrong rode with Astana on this year's Tour. The Spaniard is still under contract with the Kazakh-funded team, but the Texan left to launch his own squad,...

A 16-year-old boy who tried to rob another youth with a pellet gun was in critical condition late Thursday when his intended victim pulled out a real gun and shot him in the head, police said.

Illegal immigrant held in death of Tulsa cyclist By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer Published: 9/2/2009  2:24 AM Last Modified: 9/2/2009  5:05 AM State troopers arrested an illegal immigrant Tuesday in the hit-and-run death of a longtime bicyclist and clinical psychologist, authorities said. Roberto Salvador Alvelais-Torres, 28, is accused of striking Beverly Jean Duffield, 74, of Tulsa with a sport utility vehicle and then driving away, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said. Duffield was killed Tuesday morning while riding her bicycle near U.S. 75 and the 1700 block of Southwest Boulevard — an area where she was known to ride frequently....

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. -- A group of 17 bicyclists were written tickets for failing to stop at a stop sign, all at the same time. Prairie Village police have cracked down on a group of bicyclists they had warned about following traffic rules. Police said they had tried to educate and warn the riders in several groups of bicyclists in recent months. On Aug. 13, 17 bicyclists from a much larger group were stopped when they allegedly ran a stop sign at 79th Street and Belinder. Police said the entire group of bicyclists numbered over 30. "All laws apply equally...

PHOENIX — Prosecutors have charged 23-year-old Phoenix resident Timothy M. Kissida with using the Cash for Clunkers program to ditch his BMW after a fatal hit-and-run crash. Phoenix police say Kissida was driving his light blue BWM 325i shortly after midnight on Aug. 8 when he hit bicyclist Charles Waldrop. The 52-year-old was riding home from work and his bike had lights and reflectors.

OGDEN -- Was it a friendly group bicycle ride through downtown Ogden or a confrontational melee that included obstructing traffic, assault, obscenities and alcohol? Depends on who you talk to. Numbers vary from 35 to 70, but a large group of cyclists, referred to as Critical Mass, was taking a monthly ride to celebrate cycling and assert their rights to the road on Friday when Ogden police say things got out of hand. Four individuals were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and public intoxication. Matt Hasenyager, owner of Skyline Cycle and one of the bicyclists, said...

In a city known for its aggressive drivers, flummoxing street layout, confusing rotaries and overall rudeness on the road, what is a cyclist to do? Boston, long known as a minefield for bicycle riders, is feverishly working to shed that reputation by creating bike lanes, installing bike racks, restoring bike paths and urging residents to switch from horsepower to pedal power. Plans to link the city’s existing bike paths and create a bike-share program are also in the works. One already exists for city employees. “The grand plan is to change the culture, which is an incredible task,” said Nicole...

SEATTLE -- An Everett mother says she's outraged over a weekend protest full of naked cyclists. The group was riding along the Seattle waterfront Friday night wearing nothing but smiles to expose some of the dangers they face. But not everyone was smiling. "I looked and there were naked men with their genitals hanging out," said Marcy Hayes, who was there with her 6-year-old daughter Ashland. "I'm yelling at my daughter to look away." Hayes says she and her daughter walked out of the Seattle Aquarium and right into the path of a pack of cyclists and all their nakedness....

I fancy myself open-minded and easygoing, which is why I was disturbed at my behavior last week when a pair of cyclists, riding side-by-side, blocked a lane of traffic and slowed my car to a speed that fell between trotting and brisk skipping. I laid on the horn, something I normally wouldn’t do, while my passenger, a generally subdued gentlemen and an avid cyclist himself, yelled at them to get out of the way. Discuss COMMENTS (41) It was only the next day that I realized the reason for my aggressive behavior. I was annoyed with these two because they...

Lance Armstrong moved level with Fabian Cancellara at the head of the overall standings after helping Astana to a team time-trial success on stage four of the Tour de France. Cancellara, of Saxo Bank, retains the yellow jersey going into tomorrow's fifth stage but Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour, was able to wipe out a 40-second deficit on the roads of Montpellier. Astana posted a time of 46 minutes and 29 seconds to win the 39km stage, with Garmin-Slipstream finishing second 18 seconds back and Saxo Bank third, a further 22 seconds behind. Alberto Contador, Armstrong's team-mate, moves...

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) — Lance Armstrong surged within a second of the Tour de France lead after his Astana squad won Tuesday's team time trial in a dramatic finish. Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team narrowly kept the yellow jersey lead following the fourth stage, a 24.2-mile ride in and around Montpellier. Astana needed to beat Saxo Bank by more than 40 seconds for Armstrong to take the yellow jersey. The seven-time champion started the stage in third place, and Astana exactly matched that 40-second deficit. Cancellara's team finished third. "That's Swiss timing," Cancellara said, laughing. "Time is...

Today is day one! Armstrong riding. Astana is back! Predictions? Other comments? Does someone have the ping list from last year?

Starke to St. Augustine, Fl.: The end of the tour, a lift across a bridge, a TV interview Monday June 15, 2009, 60 miles (97 km) - Total so far: 3,301 miles (5,313 km) I did it, folks. Citrus Heights, Ca., to St. Augustine, Fl., clear across the cotton-picking United States of America by bicycle at age 82, more than 3,000 miles in less than three months. I was on the road at 7:15am., wanting to beat the heat and get this job done. The ride itself was routine, considering the miles I've ridden. But at mid-morning things changed. A...

PARIS -- France's anti-doping agency said Friday it will not seek sanctions against cyclist Lance Armstrong over a dispute with a drug tester, ending speculation that he could be barred from the Tour de France. The AFLD agency said in a statement that it "decided to take into consideration the athlete's written explanations" and will not open disciplinary procedures. The anti-doping agency has said the American cyclist did not fully cooperate with a drug tester who showed up at Armstrong's home in France to collect blood, urine and hair samples on March 17. Armstrong had said he feared the agency...

ACTON - Cycling fans from near and far gathered along Soledad Canyon on Saturday to see cycling champions, including seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, compete in a stage of the Amgen Tour of California. In Stage 7 of a 750-mile race that started in Sacramento, cyclists rolled out at noon from Santa Clarita, wound through Soledad Canyon into Acton and then turned right on Aliso Canyon Road en route to Angeles Crest Highway and a ride over the San Gabriel Mountains to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. About 1:15 p.m., more than a hundred spectators watched the pelaton,...

Pull your brakes. Put your foot under. No, under. Set the pedal. Now release the brakes...” Most people remember learning to ride a bike. It is easier when you are 5 and not wearing a full hijab. It is also easier when small boys are not whizzing past on mini-BMXs laughing at you as their parents, on the way to Saturday morning shopping, stare and mutter under their breath. The participants in Britain's only known Muslim women's cycling club are having their weekly lesson in a small park close to the East London mosque. “Most have never ridden,” says Erika...

Ramirez's program is part of a growing number of veterans hospitals across the United States making cycling a permanent part of their trauma recovery programs, according to Road 2 Recovery, a national program whose mission is to raise money to support cycling at military and VA locations.

♦ RACE PREVIEW ♦Ciao Italia! Tour organizers were forced to get out their atlases & scramble to come up with a detour when the original route they had planned for today out of Digne-les-Bains over the Col de Larche was deemed too risky for the riders after a recent avalanche created the hazard of ongoing rockslides. So this morning's starting line has been moved north to the charming town of Embrun, considered by many to be an architectural gem, perched on the shores of lovely Lac de Serre-Ponçon. The good news for the riders is that the revised route for...

♦ ♦ ♦ RACE PREVIEW Stage 14 would appear to be yet another one of those ostensibly flat transitional days which may nonetheless conceal a few challenges within the route. The first 50km out of Nîmes stretches across the flat Rhône delta before threading through some gentle Provençal hills along the way to the Durance Valley. It's only in the final 50 km the riders start meeting some real foothills of any consequence, including two moderate CAT 4 climbs, but the whole course from start to end will have taken the peloton from nearly sea-level at Nîmes to alt.735m...

♦ ♦ ♦ Although today's stage is billed as a flat transitional route through the Languedoc-Roussillon which could have been tailor-made for sprinters (and for back-of-the-pack team sponsors who expect to get their money's worth in the form of publicity during breakaways on stages like this), it won't exactly be a midi vacation for the cyclists. There'll be three CAT 4 climbs as the tour wends its way over to the Alps by skirting both the Mediterranean coast and the hot, craggy foothills & parched plateaus of the Massif Central in the very heart of ancient Roman France. And in...

~~~<>~~~ Covering 104 miles on a mostly downhill route (there's an altitude loss of 500 metres from start to finish) from Lavelanet to Narbonne, stage 12 should be a good day day for the sprinters, however the first intermediate sprint is not until well into the stage - after 76 kilometers. Everybody else should get another day to recover from the Pyrenees in preparation for the Alps which loom ahead. Cadel gets another day to defend the yellow & everybody else gets to try their luck at a breakaway if they're up for it. From Bicycling Magazine: "The escapees...

~~~<>~~~ Stage 11 of the Tour takes the riders on a hilly, twisting 167.5km route from Lannemezan to Foix. Skirting the foothills of the Pyrenees along a picturesque route the Tour has never taken before, there's only one notable climb today - the first-category Col de Portel after 97.5km - so the stage should favor a breakaway rather than a sprint finish as Australia's Cadel Evans tries to defend his yellow jersey. ~~~<>~~~ LANNEMEZANFOIX

Do The Test: http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Hartford (WTNH) _ The last Friday of each month has been designated as "Bike to Work" day by the Central Connecticut Cycling Alliance. Cyclists met this morning at JoJo's Coffee Shop in Hartford to kick off the 2008 initiative. Throughout the year commuters are encouraged to leave their cars at home and bicycle to work to provide benefits of air quality improvements from reduced automobile exhaust and reduced traffic for their community and the state of Connecticut. Individuals also benefit from bicycling to work with improved health and saving money for fuel.

After 10 days in the yellow jersey, Michael Rasmussen appeared to have beaten back all challengers in his pursuit of the top spot on the Tour de France's final podium in Paris this coming Sunday. On Wednesday, he handily dispatched his nearest challenger - Discovery Channel's Alberto Contador - winning the Tour's most difficult stage and adding to his already-formidable lead as the race made its final trip into the mountains. But Rasmussen was apparently unable to defeat the growing skepticism surrounding his performance and his behavior over the past few months. On Wednesday evening, when the Dane should have...

PAU, France -- For just a moment Tuesday, David Millar, a former world champion, one of the most respected riders in the peloton not only for his skill pedaling a bike but his candor off it, was reduced to being a fan. A devastated, disillusioned, stricken fan by the side of the road. Millar, like everyone else gathered in the big ballroom serving as the Tour de France headquarters on the second rest day of the race, had been broadsided moments before by the news that Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive for a banned blood transfusion Saturday, the day he...

The tour is about to begin.

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) -A tip for all potential arbitration witnesses out there: Never take the mike after Greg LeMond. The three-time Tour de France winner stole the show at the Floyd Landis hearing Thursday during a short, explosive bit of testimony filled with talk of sexual abuse, blackmail and backstabbing that led to the on-the-spot firing of Landis' business manager. It was Landis who asked for this hearing to be public, though he couldn't have expected a scene like this to break out. And though it's hard to know what impact these blockbusters had on the arbitrators, it will be...

The Tour and the Truth Let's begin with a hearty round of congratulatons to Charlie Engle and the two other guys who just ran all the way across the Sahara. Sure, it's a stunt run, and Charlie's a whore for publicity, but it's an absolutely amazing feat. Well done. Onward. A ho-hum transitional stage at the Tour of California yesterday. Today marks the move southward, with a push from Stockton to San Jose. For those who know their California topography, this is a push from the low-lying regions of the Sacramento Delta, back toward the coastal mountains that will define...

A man who police say used wires, broken bottles and nails to wage an eco-terrorism campaign against Lubbock cyclists could spend time in prison. David G. Knape, 62, of Lubbock staged at least a year-long campaign against unsuspecting cyclists, according to police reports. He stretched wires between trees at "neck level" and put nails and glass in the pathway of cyclists. "This could kill someone," said Dewayne Wallace, an avid cyclist whose friend was flung from his bicycle and cut across the neck by one of the wires. Wallace spent months looking for Knape, who now faces two felony charges...

Report: Lab in Landis case made 'administrative error' on 'B' sample Nov 15 10:49 AM US/Eastern Report: Lab in Landis case made 'administrative error' on 'B' sample PARIS (AP) - The French anti-doping lab that tested American cyclist Floyd Landis' urine samples made an "administrative error" when reporting its findings on his backup "B" sample, the French newspaper Le Monde reported Wednesday. The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory gave the wrong number in its report about Landis' second sample. Tests on the rider's two samples indicated that Landis had elevated levels of testosterone in his system...

Ivan Basso said he Thursday he feels "reborn" after signing a two-season contract with the Discovery Channel cycling team. A season stalled: Basso, seen here locking up the Giro in the 20th stage into Aprica, had hoped to win the Tour de France as well. The 28-year-old Giro d'Italia winner is expected to take the central spot in the team once occupied by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. "It's the ideal team for me," Basso told the Gazzetta dello Sport website on Thursday.

After two trying months marked by doping allegations, an assault on his reputation and his father-in-law's suicide, Floyd Landis doesn't wish for a stirring comeback so much as the simpler things in life. At this point, he will settle for a good night's sleep, free of pain. To help reach that goal, Landis had hip-replacement surgery last week. With his rehab under way, the 30-year-old American who won this year's Tour de France won't rule out a return to competitive cycling. "Things have been up and down for me," Landis said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'll...

September 25, 2006 'A total maniac'     We had hoped that conservative commentator Laura Ingraham would be the one to finally provide a rare peek into President Bush's mountain-biking world, which for whatever reason rotates in secrecy.     Mr. Bush invited the popular syndicated Washington-based radio host along for this past Saturday's two-hour-plus bike ride atop the dusty trails of the Secret Service training facility in suburban Maryland -- although, as usual, there wasn't a single sighting of the presidential trekkers.     "Of course it was OTR," Miss Ingraham told Inside the Beltway afterwards, feeding us the presidential code for "off-the-record."

September 12, 2006 NEW YORK (AP) -- Two of Lance Armstrong's former teammates said they used a performance-enhancing drug when they were getting ready for the 1999 Tour de France, according to a newspaper report. Frankie Andreu, a 39-year-old former team captain, and another teammate who requested anonymity because he still works in cycling, told The New York Times they used EPO in preparation for the 1999 race, when Armstrong won the first of his seven titles in cycling's biggest race.

Updated daily. Woman with terminal cancer cycling across USA, online diary.

Landis' Former Team Shutting DownPOSTED: 10:06 am EDT August 15, 2006 UPDATED: 10:32 am EDT August 15, 2006 ZURICH, Switzerland -- Floyd Landis' former cycling team will shut down at the end of the season. Phonak owner Andy Rihs said Tuesday that he has been unable to find a buyer for his team since Landis, this year's Tour de France champion, was busted for doping. "I've had to do something I've never done in my whole life: Give up," Rihs said. The Swiss hearing-aid firm had already decided to pull its sponsorship because of doping issues. American company iShares, a...

By Debbi Farr Baker UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM 1:46 p.m. August 16, 2006 SAN DIEGO – David Witt, the 57-year-old father-in-law of embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has died, authorities said Wednesday. Witt was found dead in his car Tuesday afternoon in a North Park parking garage, according to his friends. An investigator with the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office confirmed Witt's death but said the cause was still under investigation. San Diego police reported that a man had committed suicide Tuesday afternoon in a parking garage in North Park. The man was found at 3:14 p.m....

The controversy surrounding Floyd Landis is actually different then other controversies over illegal steroid use for one major reason: Both his blood and urine has been tested eight times (three blood tests) throughout the French de Tour. These other tests combined are more significant and telling then the single sample test found with an abnormal T/E ratio. As it stands, Landis' single positive test is just a distraction that sheds little light on the truth of any illegal drug activity on his part. To get any benefit out of an anabolic agent it must be used over weeks, not hours...

Posted on Sat, Aug. 05, 2006 In Armstrong's cycling world, paranoia and fear reign The Dallas Morning News By Michael Grabell and Cathy Harasta DALLAS - Lance Armstrong rose to sporting power in a world where paranoia ruled. He had his meals delivered in a blue cooler during his final Tour de France for fear of sabotage. His team drove miles to dump its trash, knowing that the moment it threw something away, someone else would pick through it. And former cyclists still active in the sport were so worried about the power the seven-time tour winner wielded that they...

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' backup urine sample confirmed high levels of testosterone, cycling's governing body said Saturday, raising the prospect that he could lose his title. Following the results of the "B" sample, Landis was expected to be fired by his Swiss team, Phonak, which had suspended him pending the results. He also faces a two-year ban from USA Cycling, which is responsible for sanctions against the American rider. "The analysis of the sample B of Floyd Landis's urine has confirmed the result of an adverse analytical finding notified by the Anti-doping laboratory of Paris on 26th July,...

PARIS -- Tour de France winner Floyd Landis of the United States will learn at 5 a.m. ET on Saturday whether a test on his B sample confirms a positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone. "We will release a statement tomorrow," an International Cycling Union (ICU) spokesman said Friday. Saturday's announcement would cap a wild two weeks of accusations, speculation and denials, the latest of which is that dehydration might have caused Landis' elevated testosterone level. "Maybe a combination of dehydration, maximum effort," said Jose Maria Buxeda, one of Landis' Spanish lawyers, after testing began Thursday on the...

CHATENAY-MALABRY, France Testing began Thursday on Tour de France winner Floyd Landis' backup doping sample, and one of his lawyers reiterated he expects it, too, will show elevated testosterone levels. However, Landis is "certain he hasn't ingested any prohibited substance," said lawyer Jose Maria Buxeda. "He knows there is a natural explanation to the (initial) finding. "He's pretty sure we will be able to prove, if this result is confirmed, that it is due to natural causes, to a natural reaction of his body, either (normally) or in the circumstances he was in that particular stage." The result of the...

On his first day back home in California, the Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, awaiting test results that will determine his future, yesterday hired Howard Jacobs, a lawyer who has represented a host of athletes in cases involving performance-enhancing drugs. On Saturday, the result of drug tests on the second of Landis’s two urine samples will come back from the French lab that tested his first sample last week. That initial A sample came back positive for an abnormal ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. It also tested positive for traces of synthetic testosterone, which means that the testosterone had...

Family: Title will be stripped LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Family and friends of Tour de France champion Floyd Landis expect him to become the first cyclist ever stripped of the sport’s most-sought-after title over doping allegations.But even in the face of damaging new details, they are clinging to hope the Farmersville native has naturally high levels of testosterone and will be proven innocent — title or no title. “The bottom line is the truth,” said Tammy Martin, a family friend who has served as their spokeswoman. Martin said she and the Landises, who have stopped granting interviews, anticipate the Tour...

Landis test shows he was three times over limit MICHAEL BUTCHER IF THE result of the B sample expected today of Floyd Landis's urine confirms the A positive, he is likely to become the first Tour de France winner to be relieved of the title. The International Olympic Committee laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry also carried out a carbon isotope test which confirmed that the testosterone present in Landis's body was not a product of his own system, but was synthetic. In other words, it was administered. The lab also revealed the massive dose of testosterone in the winner's system. The test...

The managers of Germany's ZDF said Thursday the public television network might cease broadcasting the Tour de France in reaction to winner Floyd Landis testing positive for testosterone. "We signed a broadcasting contract for a sporting event, not a show demonstrating the performances of the pharmaceutical industry," ZDF editor-in-chief Nikolaus Brender said. "We are going to think about our future as broadcaster and maybe refuse to broadcast this event." Even before the race started on July 1 it was engulfed in doping controversy, with top German contender Jan Ullrich, his T-Mobile teammate Oscar Sevilla and Italian Ivan Basso among nine...

Just heard this on the radio. Reuters reporting. No link yet

AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) - A rider in the Tour de France tested positive for doping, the sport's governing body said Wednesday. The UCI said it wouldn't disclose the rider's name, team or nationality pending completion of the testing process. "The UCI received today a report of the anti-doping laboratory of Paris stating an adverse analytical finding following an anti-doping test carried out at the Tour de France 2006," the statement said. ***snip***

Lance Armstrong says the Discovery Channel team has been so impressed by Floyd Landis that it wants to sign him. With only one rider finishing in the top 20 of the Tour de France, Discovery could use Landis' leadership. ''We've always been interested in Floyd; he's a damn good rider,'' Armstrong told The Associated Press. ``We would take Floyd back. We've pursued him for some time now.'' From his room at the Crillon hotel in Paris, Armstrong watched Landis step onto the podium -- the third American to win the showcase event, a year after Armstrong's seventh and final title....