The Oregonian Chronicles the Ricco Fallout

        Portland-based cyclewear company Castelli has been burned by the Riccardo Ricco doping bust and the Saunier-Duval team's subsequent withdrawl.  Maybe if riders read this, they'd start thinking about their sponsors.

Castelli-sponsored team withdraws from Tour de France
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com - Portland,OR,USA
Cycling apparel maker Castelli celebrated Riccardo Ricco's Tour de France
victories earlier this week by hanging a banner outside its US headquarters

in ...

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1216437911181720.xml&coll=7

then again, maybe not.

SciAm gets doping wrong

They call the column 60-Second Science.  More like 60-Second research.  Sloppy.  I'm sure you'll spot the errors.

Italian cyclist cut from Tour de France for doping
Scientific American - USA
Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco today was pulled from the Tour de France
after he tested positive for the banned substance EPO, a hormone that

boosts oxygen ...

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=italian-cyclist-cut-from-tour-de-fr-2008-07-18

The Tour de France is coming to...Alpe d'Huez

Surprised?  Of course not.  But The Alpedhueznet site takes it like no one has seen the Tour before.  But since it's an English-language site about skiing, maybe not.

Tour de France is coming! Landis in 2006
AlpedHueznet.com - Alpe d'Huez,Isere,France
The 95th edition of the Tour de France is in full swing and heading towards
Alpe d'Huez. Stage 17 of the legendary race is due to finish in resort

next ...

http://www.alpedhueznet.com/whats_new_article.php?id_whats_new=3638&id_back=1

Sporting News delivers the Tour Light

Maybe this is how the Tour should be delivered.  Maybe it's how all sports should be delivered.  This appears to be the thing that amazes the reporter the most, "I didn't catch his name, but a rider actually split his bike in two hitting a road sign in a traffic island. Naturally, despite somersaulting off the bike and onto asphalt, he got up, grabbed a new bike, and finished the stage without complaint."

Your Stage 12 Tour de France Update
SportingNews.com - USA
First, to get this all out of the way again: the Tour de France still
exists. Thank you, and proceed to the rest of the post. Oh, just your

leisurely stage ...

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/8862/your_stage_12_tour_de_france_update

Robbie Hunter Blasts Teammate for Doping

Guess Duenas won't be sending him a holiday card this year.  Hunter's comments are rare; few people are willing to criticize a teammate, even a soon-to-be ex-teammate who will probably never race pro again.  Use the link in the article to get Robbie's comments on his blog.  They're even more unusual.

Hunter blasts Tour de France cheats
The Times - Johannesburg,Gauteng,South Africa
South African sprinter Robbie Hunter has lashed out at his Spanish teammate
Moises Duenas, who was booted out of the Tour de France after testing

positive ...

http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=804516

Web in France Magazine highlights doping

Didn't know there was an "English-language online magazine about France, for Anglophones who love French travel, culture and French news."  Striking that this was their first TdF article of the year.  The last article they did, last year, was on Rasmussen doping.

Tour de France loses a third leading cyclist to drug charges
Web in France Magazine - Miami,USA
On the Tour de France, gendarmes are becoming almost as numerous as
competitors. An Italian rider who has already won two stages this year,

Riccardo Riccò ...

http://www.webinfrance.com/tour-de-france-loses-third-leading-cyclist-to-drug-charges-718.html

CVV checks in with the Tribune

Christian Vande Velde continues contributing to his hometown paper.  He gives a few nice illustrations of what riding the Tour is like.  My favorite may be "But passing out on the massage table and waking up in a pool of drool is the sign of a good nap."

Tour de France diary: Surviving the grind all mental
Chicago Tribune - United States
By Christian Vande Velde | Special to the Chicago Tribune NARBONNE, France
- Christian Vande Velde is still just 38 seconds off the pace after Stage

12; ...

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/international/cs-080717-christian-vande-velde-tour-de-france,1,5197929.story

Finally! Someone asks Allen Lim about Floyd

Many would say this takes bravery.  The American press hasn't done it.  But when the person is Paul Kimmage, you realize he's almost hard-wired to ask.  We should be glad he did.  In it, we also learn that Lim was a pretty good bike racer himself.

Allen Lim rides the slipstream

Times Online- Paul Kimmage

It is almost two years since the American Floyd Landis soared clear of the pack to win the 17th stage of the Tour de France. And it is almost two years since I first set eyes on Allen Lim. We were both in Morzine that afternoon and watched the final kilometres of Floyd's epic ride from the same vantage point...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/paul_kimmage/article4322625.ece

AFP on Ricco Positive Test

Good to see the story that most other MSM outlets will be using.  One thing that comes up and hasn't been reported in the cycling press, is that Ricco has a high hematocrit reading.  He might be one of those riders who gets special dispensation from the UCI.

Ricco fails drugs test on Tour de France
AFP -
So for the sake of our team and the Tour de France we have made this
decision. We can't act as though nothing has happened, we have to accept

the reality. ...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gmZR3tBs4K57qFMoEQMAIn5HD7VQ

LA Times: doing the tour/olympics double

This is just a blurb in the LA Times. Wonder why they bothered.
Yes, it's difficult to do the double, but others have done it in the
past. There's also a hint that this might be the end of Hincapie's
career

Tour de France/Olympics double
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
Cyclists are struggling with that decision during these three weeks of the
Tour de France. While the Tour is the biggest race of the year, especially
for ...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/07/tour-de-franceo.html

Tour de France Should inspire the use of...bicycles

Yes, it's obvious.  But many don't see the connection.  The source is a Korea-based Citizen Journalism site.

After Oil - Bicycles

OhMy News--Korea

Turn on the Tour de France and let the inspiration (and perspiration) begin

by Nicholas Van Der Leek

"Modern bicycles, based on technological innovations from the late 19th century, remain the most efficient means of human transportation ever invented." --William P. Ancker  It is not a gimmick, it is not radical, but it also is not what most people have in mind when they think of "alternative energy." Yet it should be....

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=7&no=383069&rel_no=1

CVV checks in with the Chicago Tribune

And flacks some burrito action.

TOUR DE FRANCE JOURNAL
Chicago Tribune - United States
By Christian Vande Velde | Special to the Chicago Tribune After 10 stages
and more than 46 hours of racing, Lemont cyclist Christian Vande Velde
enjoyed a ...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/cs-16-vandevelde-tourjul16,0,3503732.story>

Clothing Company jumps on V bandwagon

Castelli cycling clothing's majority owner is in Portland, Oregon.  Since they sponsor Saunier-Duval, they've been hanging banners out the company window.

Castelli's turn to celebrate Tour de France win
The Oregonian - OregonLive.com - Portland,OR,USA
... anchored by water bottles, first appeared Monday at Castelli's US
headquarters not long after Ricco's team took the lead in the Tour de

France. ...

http://blog.oregonlive.com/playbooksandprofits/2008/07/castellis_turn_to_celebrate_to.html

Chris Carmichael on the mafia-racing link

Never thought of Carmichael as a writer, but he, or his ghost, turned in this nugget: "A mountain stage is like a knife fightŠ close-contact, personal, and brutal."

Rest Day: Inside the Tour de France Turf War
Examiner.com - USA
The Discovery Channel team, and the US Postal team that preceded it, was
the dominant family at the Tour de France for seven years from 1999-2005,
...

http://www.examiner.com/x-439-Tour-De-France-Examiner~y2008m7d15-Rest-Day-Inside-the-Tour-de-France-Turf-War

Roberto Heras, doper, linked to Moises Duenas, doper?

This might be a stretch, but they both come from the same Spanish town.  Don't know why the bloomberg reporter mentioned it, but it's a new twist.

Second Tour de France Rider Tests Positive for EPO (Update1)
Bloomberg - USA
By Alex Duff July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Spanish rider Moises Duenas was
withdrawn from the Tour de France by his team after testing positive for

banned drug ...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aCZcTR.tpOhg&refer=europe

The Tour de France is 2/3 Over

THat is the sailing TdF is 2/3 over.

Tour De France Sailing Race
ScubaWeb - Italy
From the Channel to the Atlantic Ocean, the twenty-seven competitors of the
Tour de France Sailing Race have already sailed two thirds of their trip.

...

http://www.nautica.it/service/notizie.htm?2008-07-247

Cadel Evans Blog?

This blog is so short and so lacking insight it's hard to believe they even contacted Cadel for this thing.  It's as if they cut and pasted random sentences from TV interviews. 

Cadel Evans:The target is the Maillot Jaune in Paris

15 July 2008 | 9:53

Ever wondered what it's like to be the Tour de France favourite? Well Silence Lotto's Australian star Cadel Evans offers SBS his daily thoughts on his journey to Paris - now wearing the famous overall race leader's yellow jersey as the great race takes a break after the stage from Pau to Hautacam.

http://tdf.sbs.com.au/tdf2008/blog/index/b/22

and

http://tdf.sbs.com.au/tdf2008/blog/article/a/810/h/The-target-is-the-Maillot-Jaune-in-Paris

Australia's SBS picks Menchov and Sastre

Here's an odd report from Australias SBS.  They broadcast the Tour, but aren't giving any special props to their homeboy leading the race. 

Rest day wrap: Spaniards plot the Maillot Jaune's demise
Special Broadcasting Service - Australia
The riders are no doubt enjoying the first of two regulation rest days of
the Tour de France, a special time that in the past was spent filling up

blood ...

http://www.sbs.com.au/article/108095/rest-day-wrap-spaniards-plot-the-maillot-jaunes-demise

Eurosport publishes fabulist epistles

Eurosport tries spicing up their Tour coverage by imagining the letters top Tour riders are sending home--that is if they're actually putting pen to paper, affixing a stamp and sending it via post.  As with all comedy, this humor isn't for everyone.

Tour de France - Blazin' Saddles: Wish you were here
Yahoo! Eurosport - London,UK
Finally I win a stage on the Tour de France. I thought this year, no,
because Ricco is attacking all the time, but Cobo and me, we tell him to

let us go ...

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/16072008/58/tour-de-france-blazin-saddles-wish.html

Bangkok Post: Rasmussion smarting from TdF Eviction

Seems like the cycing world has already forgotten.

Danish cyclist Rasmussen still hurt over Tour de France eviction
Bangkok Post - Thailand
Copenhagen (dpa) - Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen, who was thrown out of
the 2007 Tour de France, has not seen any of the broadcasts from this

year's race ...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/sportsplus/sportsplus.php?id=128876