Bicycle Racing

The Amgen Tour of California cycling race, which begins Feb. 17 in Palo Alto and ends Feb. 24 in Pasadena, will carry out doping controls more stringent than those used at the Tour de France last summer.

Bob Stapleton is investing more than $10 million of his own money to sponsor a cycling team that was kicked out of the Tour de France last summer. He has named it Team High Road. "We want to be transparently drug-free," Stapleton said. "I still believe in this sport even when it's not easy." Team High Road is one of four teams racing in this year's Amgen Tour of California that have committed nearly $500,000 each for doping programs that go beyond those of the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Michael Ball, seller of blue jeans, renter of two Malibu mansions and employer of a chef from Spago, is founder and owner of Rock Racing, a new-age cycling team filled with twitchy, tattooed rebel riders who are shaking their fists at the autocratic leadership of a sport Ball feels is destroying itself by a doping witch hunt. Ball also says with exclamatory profanities that Rock Racing will be the savior of cycling.

Michael Ball, the owner of cycling team Rock Racing, decided not to register Tyler Hamilton, Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla in the Amgen Tour of California, which begins today in Palo Alto. Ball had hinted Saturday morning that he would either compete with the eight-man team of his choosing or not race at all after the three riders were not approved for entry. All three have been linked to a Spanish doping investigation.

Levi Leipheimer will take the yellow jersey into today's final race of cycling's Amgen Tour of California after a wild sixth stage Saturday that ended with Brazil's Luciano Pagliarini claiming victory although Britain's Mark Cavendish crossed the finish line first. "It's not like a win with hands up," said Pagliarini, who was awarded the win about half an hour after the race. "I was second but I am the first. I am so sorry about Cavendish. But for me, I'm real happy."

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Saturday was shaping up as the biggest day in Mike Day's BMX racing career, and he wasn't about to spend it alone. "I went through my phone book in my cellphone and pretty much called everyone in there," said Day, who had to recharge his phone battery twice to get through the list. "Just to kind of even it out a little bit and know that I had some friends here." About 100 people responded, coming by caravan down to the U.S.

If Michael Ball, the chief executive of Rock Racing, has his way, cycling fans will see more skulls and crossbones at future races. In the last year, Rock Racing, known not only for its cryptic logo but also for its three team members allegedly linked to an ongoing doping investigation in Spain, has had trouble getting all of its riders into races.

Inside the San Diego Air and Space Technology Center wind tunnel, while a steady rain fell outside, Lance Armstrong was dripping wet and pedaling hard. "The seat is five inches too high," Armstrong said and bike technicians came running with screwdrivers and furrowed brows. Armstrong squinted to look at numbers that measure his pedal cadence, his oxygen intake, his calorie burning. He was here to re-perfect his bicycle form. His competitive urge? That is just fine.

Levi Leipheimer won the Amgen Tour of California's opening prologue Sunday, riding emotionally from the flat streets at the Embarcadero and straight uphill 1.9 miles to Coit Tower. Burdening him during his ride of 4 minutes 49.050 seconds were the expectations put on the shoulders of the 33-year-old veteran whose team, Discovery Channel, will soon be without a sponsor and whose sport, cycling, has been pierced with a flood of bad news and controversial drug testing results.

Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso has admitted involvement in cycling's Spanish doping scandal and is cooperating with sports authorities. The Italian rider "widely acknowledged his responsibilities" in connection with Operation Puerto and offered "full cooperation," the Italian Olympic Committee said Monday. Basso's lawyer, Massimo Martelli, said his client decided to "spill the beans because it was not possible for him to live out his passion, his work, cycling, in this way."