Category: Racing

It's official: Landis vs. Armstrong in Leadville 100

This is like one of those fantasy matches: “What if Satchel Paige pitched against Ichiro,” or “What if Johnny Unitas' Baltimore Colts took on Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts?”

The Floyd Landis camp issued a press release Tuesday that their guy is going to get on his mountain bike and race in the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race, scheduled Aug. 11, 2007, in Leadville, Colorado.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong had already agreed to ride in Leadville. This sets up a challenge between two Tour de France winners in a slightly different contest.

Who's missing? Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, of course. Wouldn't that be a wild contest? …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/12/19/its-official-landis-vs-armstrong-in-leadville-100/

2007 Vuelta a Espana route announced

If you like to witness cyclists struggling on mountain stages, you'll need to check in early with the 2007 Vuelta a Espana.

Instead of opening with a week for the sprinters, the three-week-long Tour of Spain — September 1-23 — boasts a mountaintop finish on the difficult Lagos de Covadonga on the fourth day.

In all, the Vuelta route announced today boasts seven mountain stages, four mountaintop finishes, and two time trials as it spins for 2,009 miles clockwise …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/12/13/2007-vuelta-a-espana-route-announced/

Lance Armstrong “replacement” says drug use in cycling is rampant

Florida cyclist A.J. Smith had his moment in the sun last year when he won the Discovery Channel pro cycling team's so-called Race2Replace contest in August.

Now the 25-year-old cyclist who won the promotional honor to replace Lance Armstrong on the Discovery team at the USPRO Time Trial Championships in Greenville, S.C., last September is getting back into the sport after quitting six years ago.

He's riding for the Herbal Life/Bike America Racing Team …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/12/07/lance-armstrong-replacement-says-drug-use-in-cycling-is-rampant/

2007 Giro d'Italia bike race route announced

Think pink this May when the 2007 Giro d'Italia bicycle race begins its three-week contest for the winner's pink jersey.

Ivan Basso, now a cyclist on the Discovery Channel pro cycling team, is looking to repeat his championship from last year when he was a member of Team CSC. Once again, the bike race is touted as one that favors the climbing specialists.

As last year's Giro d'Italia started in Belgium to commemorate Italians killed in a mine disaster in that country, the first three days of the 2007 Giro will be raced on the island of Sardenia …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/12/04/2007-giro-ditalia-bike-race-route-announced/

Tyler Hamilton's curious statement clarified

American cyclist Tyler Hamilton has clarified a statement attributed to him last week when he signed up for a one-year contract with the Tinkoff Credit Systems pro cycling team. He writes on his website:

“I would like to clarify up-front, that an unauthorized translation of the Tinkoff team's initial press release issued in Italian on Friday, the 24th, has misinterpreted a quote from me. Although we notified the responsible parties of their error, and it was initially corrected, the quote has since been republished incorrectly. Given this confusion, the Tinkoff team has released a statement in response to the miscommunication.” …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/27/tyler-hamiltons-curious-statement-clarified/

Tyler Hamilton signs Tinkoff deal with curious statement

American bicycle racer Tyler Hamilton officially has inked a deal with the new Italy-based Tinkoff Credit Systems team, which is focused on a run at the 2007 Giro d'Italia bike race.

In making the annnouncement, the 35-year-old cyclist issued an interesting statement regarding “mistakes” that's been quoted a couple of different ways.

According to the Associated Press:

“Mistakes have been made and the price I had to pay …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/24/tyler-hamilton-signs-tinkoff-deal-with-curious-statement/

2007 Tour de Georgia bike race route announced

Mark your calendars. The Tour of Georgia bike race returns next spring, offering seven days of bicycle racing from April 16-22, 2007.

The bike race kicks off on a Monday in Peachtree City, located just down the road from Atlanta. After heading south to Macon, the 600-mile race continues its clockwise route toward the mountains in North Georgia, before finishing with a circuit race on Sunday in Atlanta.

Major American and European teams are expected to compete, as the race has a 2.HC rating ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/21/2007-tour-de-georgia-bike-race-route-announced/

Cycling movie coming to a theater near you

While we wait for the Lance Armstrong movie to begin shooting, the amazing story of Graeme Obree — “The Flying Scotsman” — comes to the screen.

Obree twice broke bicycling's world hour record, once in July 1993 and again in April 1994. But why do these achievements rate a movie? He battled more than wind resistance and pain to set the world records.

His success is all the more incredible because he always raced as an amateur, without major sponsorships. He also constantly tussled with authorities at the Union Cycliste Internationale who rejected his aerodynamic riding positions and equipment, once informing him of rule changes …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/15/cycling-movie-coming-to-a-theater-near-you/

Tyler Hamilton signs with — (fill in the blank)

American cyclist Tyler Hamilton confirms that he's signed with a cycling team for 2007, but won't say who it is.

The newly minted Euro cycling team Tinkoff Credit Systems earlier had made overtures to Hamilton. CyclingNews makes the possible connection, but Eurosport flat out reports it as a done deal. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/14/tyler-hamilton-signs-with-fill-in-the-blank/

Bogus e-mails and public hearings; Floyd Landis case stumbles on

(Updated) The latest news of the weird concerning the doping case against American cyclist Floyd Landis is that someone has hacked into the French lab's servers and is sending bogus e-mails.

French police are investigating the virtual break-in after fake e-mails from the Chatenay-Malabry lab near Paris were sent to other anti-doping groups, such as WADA, the IOC, UCI, etc. The e-mails questioned the lab's responsibility in the Landis doping case and attached internal documents.

Although this is probably an outside job, it gives credence to the speculation that the lab isn't run as tightly as it should be. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2006/11/14/bogus-e-mails-and-public-hearings-floyd-landis-case-stumbles-on/