Throughout his long career, Levi Leipheimer's cycling mishaps have taken him out of the Tour de France on a massive opening stage sprint pack pile-up and with a mid-race freak meeting with a road marker. But just like he's done many times before, when a crash — the bane of cycling — has pummeled his [...]
Greetings from James Raia
As a journalist since 1976, I contribute sports, business, travel and lifestyle articles to newspapers, magazines and web sites. Many examples of my work from Tour de France to my syndicated car review column The Weekly Driver to golf to lifestyle features are on this site.
I own and maintain the web sites: golftribune.com (All about golf); montereypeninsula.org (All about the Monterey Peninsula); theweeklydriver.com. (All about cars). My articles will also appear in my Twitter and Facebook pages.
E-mail: james@byjamesraia.com
Most Recent Stories
Tour of California, 2012: Levi Leipheimer back racing six weeks after fracturing fibula
Tour of California: It’s all consuming on and off the bike
Jacques Anquetil, who died nearly 25 years ago, was the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times and the first Frenchman to win the race from start to finish. He was handsome and smart and he was rarely at a loss for words. Arguably Anquetil's most famous quote was also his most [...]
Tour of Calfornia, 2012: Santa Rosa to Los Angeles off the bike
The Tour of California will bypass previous stops in Sacramento, Auburn, Davis and much of the rest of Northern California this year. But from Bakersfield to Beverly Hills, the nearly 750-mile trek will offer the race's most diverse route. Combine new cities, new mountain climbs and a new time trial, and even the most discerning [...]
Vladimir Efimkin: Happy with life, back in the saddle
Six years into a pro career that catapulted him to mountaintops and victory podiums around the globe, Vladimir Efimkin decided in the summer of 2010 he’d had enough. Everything right with cycling had been overshadowed by everything wrong. He grew weary of cycling’s abrupt random drug testing. He endured crashes and broken bones, the banes [...]
Honda Odyssey, 2011: The Weekly Driver car review
Has it really been nearly two decades since the Honda Odyssey debuted? In fact, it was 1994 and the 2011 version is newly designed as the fourth generation of the increasingly popular family van. Unlike some minor changes throughout its tenure, Odyssey’s redesign is drastic. Unveiled as a concept at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, [...]
Tour de France, 2011: Chris Horner, battered, broken and back on the bike with Colorado on his mind
Two weeks after he left the Tour de France following a crash replete with broken bones, contusions and uncertainty, Chris Horner is preparing for his next bike race. It’s still a month away in a new seven-day race in Colorado. But even by its Aug. 22 start, the cyclist from Bend, Oregon, will likely not [...]
Tour de France, 2011: Tyler Farrar Q&A with burritos, wine
CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE, France — Six days remain in the Tour de France and Tyler Farrar is faring well. But like the rest of the weary field, the rider from Wenatchee knows the pending days in the Alps will likely be the race’s most difficult. The Tour de France is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Alps [...]
Tour de France, 2011: Podium Girls and other pretty women
SAINT-FLOUR, France — Pretty women are as much a part of the Tour de France as the yellow jersey, sunflowers and riders’ epic treks into the Alps and Pyrenees. The women who give stage winners and jersey competition leaders awards each day are called the Podium Girls, and they’re photographed hundreds of times during the [...]
Celebrating 25 Years of Americans in the Tour de France
LISIEUX, France — In slightly more than two weeks, when the Tour de France arrives in Paris for the 98th edition finale, the occasion will also mark 25 years since Greg LeMond became the first American to win the event. LeMond, who turned age 50 last month, was also victorious in the Tour de France [...]
Tour de France, 2011: Showmanship at the finish line
How a cyclist celebrates a win as he crosses the finish line can be premeditated or a split-second decision. And there are occasions in mass sprints when a photo finish determines the victor, there’s no time for showmanship. Tyler Farrar has twice in the past three weeks, including his first career stage Monday in the [...]