Dear Readers,

Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of professional cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com.

Once again I'm filling in for Senior Online Editor Charles Pelkey, who is due back from Africa early next week.

It was a busy week in pro cycling, both on the road and in the public-relations offices of various organizations, where several newsworthy press releases were issued.

First, for the road:

Tirreno-Adriatico - a key tune-up for tomorrow's Milan-San Remo classic and a prestigious race in its own right - concluded Tuesday. CSC's Fabian Cancellara celebrated his 27th birthday by wrapping up the overall win at T-A while Milan-San Remo favorites Alessandro Petacchi and Oscar Freire took stage wins. Other Milan-San Remo contenders, such as Quick Step's current and former world champs Paulo Bettini and Tom Boonen, kept a lower profile. This week VeloNews.com features an exclusive portfolio of Graham Watson's Tirreno-Adriatico photos.

This week VeloNews.com also presented dispatches from two pro riders in the thick of the European season. Team High Road's Michael Barry talked about his love-hate relationship with Flanders, where the riding is brutal and the people love the riders. Meanwhile. Slipstream-Chipotle's Will Frischkorn entered the realm of hilarious generalities with a report on how racing varies in the countries he visits on a regular basis.

Each rider is on a team that scored two important invitations this week, if I may segue into the world of press releases. On Thursday VeloNews reported on the teams that made the cut for the Tour de France and Tour de Georgia.

The big news out of France was that Slipstream had been invited to the Tour, a credit to its scrappy racing and strong anti-doping stance.

Out of Georgia, the news was that Rock Racing, one of the most watched teams in the world, was NOT invited. But, besides heavy hitters like Slipstream, High Road, Astana, CSC and Gersolsteiner, the fast-growing Southeastern race does includes some interesting new teams, such as Team Type 1, a new domestic squad that includes several diabetics; and GE-Marco Polo, a Chinese team.

Also this week, VeloNews' European Correspondent Andrew Hood delivered a well-read interview with veteran American pro Bobby Julich who mused about the state of cycling and its ever-expanding war on drugs. VeloNews' Technical Writer Lennard Zinn discovered something surprising about SRAM and Campagnolo shifters, and Technical Editor Matt Pacocha reports on the apparently new Shimano parts spied on some pros' bikes in Europe.

Finally, when you finish your Saturday-morning ride, be sure to check in with VeloNews.com for a full report on Milan-San Remo, Italy's nearly 300km classic. No matter where you live and no matter how much snow remains beside your roads, la classica di Primavera is sure to convince you that spring has arrived.

Have fun out there.

Steve Frothingham
Editor, VeloNews.com