Free Republic

By • Published: Jul 20th 2010 2:31 PM EDT Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador buried the hatchet over Monday’s controversial chain-drop, but promise to fight to the death up the Col du Tourmalet on Thursday. Schleck and Contador hugged each other behind the podium presentation following the close of Tuesday’s stage and say that their friendship is intact despite the hubbub of Contador’s actions on the Port de Balès. “(Alberto) came to apologize to me, that means a lot,” said Schleck, who wears the best young rider’s white jersey. “That shows he’s a champion and that he has character.” Contador...

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,...

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...

This updated story corrects an earlier mistranslation of a key quote. - Editor Tour de France winner Alberto Contador on Monday launched a stinging attack on teammate Lance Armstrong, saying relations between the two were tense throughout the race. "My relationship with Lance is zero. He is a great champion and has done a great Tour, but on a personal level I have never had a great admiration for him and I never will," the Spaniard told a news conference in Madrid. Contador won the Tour on Sunday with a comfortable lead over his rivals. His Astana teammate Armstrong, a...

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

Another day in the Massif Central with a nice, fast finish.

Tour de France Winner’s Team Will Disband By IAN AUSTEN The cycling team of Lance Armstrong and this year's Tour de France winner Alberto Contador said Friday that it will disband after failing to replace the Discovery Channel as its sponsor. The announcement came at roughly the same that Contador held a news conference in Spain to deny the doping allegations that plagued him even before his victory last month. In normal circumstances, a Tour de France win should have assured the continuation of the Discovery Channel squad which is owned by Tailwind Sports, a company based in Austin, Texas,...

The Tour de France was rocked by news that Astana's battered team leader, Alexandre Vinokourov, tested positive for a homologous blood transfusion after Saturday's time trial in Albi. L'Equipe reported on Tuesday afternoon that the Kazakh's blood had shown evidence of a transfusion from another person with a compatible blood type in an analysis done in the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory. The positive test was later confirmed by the Astana team. Upon receiving the news, the Astana team suspended Vinokourov and quit the Tour de France, according to a statement which read, "According to the ethical code of the Astana Cycling Team,...

Rest day today.

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...

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.