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Best of luck to Rock Racing.
Richard Glover
Seattle Washington

No it doesn't
Dear Velo,
At a time when pro cycling is amidst the darkest days of doping, it seems like nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt on the part of Ball to hire riders with such checkered pasts. The only good it serves is to add contrast to the great things being done by Vaughters and his Slipstream crew to keep cycling headed towards a clean future.

We don't need Ball.
Christophe Noel
Prescott, Arizona

Change or die
Dear Velo,
Too all those readers and responders that come out negatively against Rock Racing saying the peloton doesn't need them, piss off. The peloton needs Rock Racing like the NBA needs Mark Cuban. Both Mark Cuban and Michael Ball are loud, brash, not afraid to voice their opinion, and big spenders. They are the type of owners all athletic leagues need to grow and adjust. They won't always do the right thing, but you can rest assured they are going to do something and that “something” is going to stir the pot.

Unless a thing has attained perfection, it must change and adapt to survive. The peloton is far from perfect, the last couple years has proved that.
Jason Mukavetz
Phoenix, Arizona

Frankie's departure
Dear Velo,
Frankie Andreu should be seen as a great barometer of the situation in cycling.

He is a great rider, who has paid his dues in all the major and minor races. He has finished nine Tours de France, an impressive record.

He has seen it all in cycling. For him to leave a team, you gotta know something is not right.

I am not saying any of the Rock Racing guys (currently) dope, but the mentality that might find them using new improved methods is not inconceivable in the future, if the win-or-be-fired mentality sticks.
And to not consult the guy behind the wheel, who has seen it all, before hiring riders (some of which he has ridden with or against!) is insane.

I hope Frankie finds a solid team. Let’s hope it’s a team that is about winning with cycling talent, management, and commitment.
And if fashion is factor, throw Frankie in that argyle, which a lot of us who pay attention are starting to really embrace. He would fit in well.
Nate Hawkins
Nashua, New Hampshire

If only he were a cyclist
VeloNews,
Roger Clemens just gave his interview in which he publicly admitted to "eating Vioxx like skittles," having Lidocaine injections and some other much stronger painkiller injected immediately before a World Series game. He didn't see a single problem with those admissions, nor did his interviewer, like the steroids were performance-enhancing but the painkillers were not. There's obviously no standard or benchmark for the use of painkillers in Major League Baseball.

Now, if you're average professional cyclist admitted to all these injections or had been caught via drug screenings using these products, exactly how long would he/she be suspended from the sport?

Cycling is damned if it doesn't test and damned because it does.
Tom Boynton
Annapolis, Maryland