Dear Mr. Arokiasamy,
I just got what I assume is the first draft of your new press release; thanks for sending it my way.
I’ve got to say, Frank, this sucker needed work.
Luckily for you, I — in addition to being an Award Winning Blogger (2008 Weblog Award, “Best Sports Blog in the Whole World” [...]

As the most profitable race promoter in pro cycling, Amaury Sport Organisation wants to dictate how the sport is run. Thats why for the past three years ASO and its surrogates have resisted substantive changes in cycling, particularly those changes involving the elite-level ProTour, which all other parties have embraced. ASOs insurgency has now come to a head in its bid to independently promote next weeks Paris-Nice. And it appears that this time it has made one step too many. The Paris-based ASO part of Groupe Amaury, a media empire that publishes the most profitable French newspapers, including sports daily LÉquipe has expanded considerably in recent years.  read more »

Tour of America organizers decided this week to postpone the inaugural coast-to-coast race until September 2009.

Since the original announcement of the Tour of America in September 2007, Aqu executives and staff members have met with cities along the proposed route, potential sponsors and race teams, as well as staff members of USA Cycling and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport"s governing bodies.

"After we announced the Tour of America last fall, we hit the ground running to make the event happen in 2008," said Frank Arokiasamy, president of event organizer Aqu Inc. "We want to work with USA Cycling and UCI to establish this event as a compliment to the major international races, and at the same time not conflict with established races in the United States. Overall, we want to make sure the Tour of America strengthens the sport of cycling and the race calendar. In addition, potential sponsors and route cities have expressed strong support for a fall 2009 race."  read more »

By day, I work at a high-end bicycle shop that happens to be two blocks from the bustling Pike Place Market, Seattle’s cruise ship terminals, and the neighborhood meth-dealers. Needless to say, we get a WIDE range of people coming...Mark V

WOODSTOCK, Georgia Starting in March, leading sports nutrition and supplement manufacturer Dedicated Athlete will break new ground in the fight against illegal doping, unveiling a first-of-its-kind program that allows customers to make direct donations to the non-profit Cycling Ethics Foundation. The progressive program will be run through Dedicated Athletes revamped online store, www.DedicatedAthlete.com , where customers will be able to contribute to the anti-doping fight simply by clicking on the appropriate button on the checkout page.  read more »

Organizers for the Amgen Tour of California confirmed yesterday the participation of 28 women's teams in the first Amgen Tour of California Women's Criterium presented by the Redwood Regional Breast Center. As a new component to the 2008 Amgen Tour of California professional road cycling race, the Womens Criterium will bring the thrill of professional womens cycling to fans in the hours before the mens finish in downtown Santa Rosa. Using portions of the Stage 1 mens finishing circuit in Santa Rosa, the newest addition to the National Racing Calendar (NRC) promises to be an exciting and historic event for racers and fans alike. Held on Monday, Feb. 18 during the Amgen Tour of California, the Women's Criterium will consist of a field of 125 riders competing for more than $10,000 in prizes.  read more »

Over the past two weeks in American cycling the final pair of representatives to the U.S. Pro Board of Trustees were elected, USA Cycling began accepting invitations for Club of the Year, Americans won two golds at the UCI Road World Championships, the USA Cycling Junior National Team wrapped up its final European trip of the season, the 2009 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars were announced, the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships went off in California, new NRC and Mountain Bike Promoters Summits were announced, the cyclo-cross national calendar continued, coaching clinics approached and much more....

The second annual USA Cycling BMX National Championships are slated for Saturday, March 29 in Desoto, Texas. Several top hopefuls in the newest Olympic sport will compete for a national title and for points to qualify for the BMX squad that will be headed to Beijing in August. Along with the elite level stars, BMX athletes from age five and up will battle for the stars-and-stripes jersey in both the challenge and cruiser classes as well as the chance to qualify for the team that will represent the United States at the 2008 BMX World Challenge in Taiyuan, China.

• 11:48 AM: Good day...and welcome to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the fifth stage of the 2008 Tour of California. Today's time trial is going to be a very decisive stage. With the leader's jersey still within the grasp of several riders, we'll see quite a few people giving it their all today.
• 11:50 AM: The first riders upRiders will start in reverse order of the G.C. Here are the first five riders up, starting at 12:00 PST:
  1. Bryce Mead (USA), Jelly Belly, 12:00:00
  2. Roman Kilun (USA), Health Net Maxxis, 12:01:00
  3. Scott Tietzel (USA), Jelly Belly, 12:02:00
  4. Scott Nydam (USA), BMC, 12:03:00
  5. Michael Creed (USA), Rock Racing, 12:04:00
• 11:54 AM: With the heavy hitters starting at 1:35 PSTHere's where the top ten sit on the G.C.

The 2008 USA Cycling Junior, U23 and Elite Road National Championships continued on Friday with the women's combined U23 and elite women's road race, as well as the women's junior 17-18 event. Brooke Miller scored a win the the elite race by outsprinting Tina Pic at the line, while Kacey Manderfield was crowned U23 national champion as the highest placed U23 rider in the field. In the junio women's 17-18 race, Anna Young took home the championship.