- After allegations that current World Champ Paolo Bettini supplied Patrick Sinkewitz, and his refusal to sign the "Commitment for a New Cycling" agreement, Germany is trying to bar him from riding in the World Championships road race on Saturday. Signing the agreement is voluntary; Bettini is said to have signed a version which stated that he was not involved in O.P. and that he would provide DNA if requested. Also, Sinkewitz's lawyer has stated that he did not refer to Bettini during procedures related to Sinkewitz's positive doping control in June.
- The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled yesterday that it could not bar Alejandro Valverde from competing Saturday, either. The Spanish Secretary for the Sport Jaime Lissavetzky was pleased with the decision, stating that it was important to safeguard the presumption of innocence. Australian Allan Davis and Czech Rene Andrle were cleared to race under the same decision.
- Veteran racer Inigo Cuesta completed his 14th consecutive Vuelta this year. This ties a record, which he hopes to beat next year, before retiring.
- CSC has wrapped up the Pro Tour team title for the year. Danilo DiLuca is on top of the individual ratings, but may not last long, given doping allegations.
- The organizers of the Giro will announce details about the route of the 2008 race in December.
- Still no definite news about the "Tour of America". I'm getting more and more doubtful.
- Missing The Point: Andrey Kashechkin is planning to protest his positive out of competition test from August on the grounds that they violated his privacy, as he was on vacation and "didn't want to be disturbed."
Some of you probably took advantage of the long Labor Day weekend to take a long bike ride (not me, I had a nasty cold). Floyd Landis took a long ride, too, participating in the Shenandoah Moutain 100 . Reports are that he got to the race early, hung out with the locals , chewed the fat , had some beer and signed some autographs. He hung around after the race as well. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, he got third place in a very tough race. I have to agree with Harlan Price (who took 2nd place at the SM100) that Floyd must love the sport if he keeps showing up at events like Leadville and Shenanhoah Mountain. Maybe he picks up a little bit of press coverage, but these are fringe events that the mainstream media largely ignore. Some may say that he is schmoozing fans, but that's not going to help his trial end in his favor. Sounds to me like he's just an ordinary guy who loves to ride hard and party hard afterwards. He hasn't gone into hiding, he's up front,...