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After finding great success with the compact road crank design it debuted in the 2002 Tour de France under Ivan Basso, FSA is pushing the concept to the mountain bike market. Carbon and alloy double-ring cranksets for off-road are among the new 2010 offerings from the company with headquarters in Italy, Washington and Taiwan. FSA is also expanding on the Vision line it acquired in 2004, positioning it as a road and triathlon brand with wheels, aerobars and more.

Dear Explainer, By now, we’ve all probably seen the crash that highlighted the final kilometer of this year’s Giro d’Italia. While I was actually hoping for Danilo Di Luca to pull off a miracle win, I am pleased that he didn’t do it by having race leader Denis Menchov crash and lose enough time to lose the Giro.

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When American Taylor Phinney won the under-23 Paris-Roubaix on May 31, it made our decision to feature him on the cover of our July issue appear prophetic. It wasn’t, however, a tough decision to put Phinney on the cover. His elite world pursuit title in March saw the teenage phenom scratch the surface of his seemingly boundless potential.

This spring VeloNews' Senior Writer Fred Dreier and photographer Casey B. Gibson spent a lot of time at the USA Cycling development program's center in Izegem, Belgium. The two hung out with the young riders at the Belgium house that is the program's heart, as the riders ate, trained, raced, and met with their coaches. Dreier's article, illustrated by Gibson's photos, appears in the July issue of VeloNews, which went on sale on newsstands this week. Today Gibson is sharing some of the photos that did not make it into the magazine.

Sprint finishes decided both the men’s and women’s professional events at Sunday’s Bump N’ Grind cross-country race, held at Oak Mountain state park in Pelham, Alabama. The event was the third round of the 2009 USA Cycling Pro Cross-country tour (ProXCT), and the second round of the Kenda Cup East. In the men’s race, Australian rider Sid Taberlay (Sho Air-Specialized) out kicked Coloradan Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher). Luna teammates Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel went toe-to-toe in the women’s event, with Pendrel coming out on top.

Denis Menchov vaulted to the top of the UCI World Rankings this week, a position he owes entirely to his performance at the Giro d'Italia.

Colavita's Argentinean sprinter Sebastian Haedo has moved up from eighth to second on the latest National Racing Calendar individual rankings. Defending NRC champ Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) remains in first place in the rankings, thanks to his win at the Joe Martin Stage Race and several stage wins and stage podiums this season.

Fresh off the Madrid World Cup course, and ready for travel to Alabama and the Bump n’ Grind cross country race last week, Subaru-Gary Fisher team rider Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski’s Superfly 29er hardtail has a new look.

Five-time U.S. cyclocross champion Katie Compton was hospitalized for an asthma attack on Sunday after racing Alabama’s Bump n’ Grind cross-country race, the third round of USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country Tour (ProXCT). Compton, who was riding at the front of the race alongside Luna riders Catherine Pendrel and Georgia Gould, was forced to abandon on the third of four laps after suffering breathing problems. Paramedics hooked Compton to an oxygen flow and took her to a nearby hospital.

Ghisallo: From Alfredo Binda to Alessandro Ballan, the world’s best (and mostly Italian) cyclists have given Tour, Olympic and world champion jerseys to the museum. Notable Italian names include Mario Cipollini, Ivan Basso and Gianni Bugno. But there are also tunics from Frenchman Bernard Hinault, Spainard Miguel Indurain, American Connie Carpenter and Ukranian Yaroslav Popovych.

Ghisallo: Fabio Casartelli was born in nearby Como in 1970. The Olympic gold medalist died in a crash coming off the Col de Portet d'Aspet during stage 15 of the 1995 Tour de France.

Ghisallo: A half-dozen famous bikes are displayed in the church, including this machine Fausto Coppi rode to victory in the 1949 Tour de France.

Pope Pius XII appointed the Madonna of Ghisallo patron saint of cyclists in 1949, and this church has since served as a shrine to cycling greats.

Ghisallo: Fausto Coppi also lives on outside the Ghisallo chapel. Dubbed Il Campionissimo, this champion of champions won the Giro no less than five times. He also won the Giro di Lombardia five times. His other major wins include two Tours, one worlds, one Paris-Roubaix, three Milan-San Remos and four Italian national championships.

Ghisallo: Cycling clubs commissioned a statue of three-time Giro winner Gino Bartali. In 1936, he won the Giro and the Giro di Lombardia, but also suffered the loss of his brother Giulio in a racing accident.

Ghisallo: In 1984, Francesco Moser won the Giro and set the hour record. His distance: 51.151km. He also won Giro di Lombardia in 1975 and ’78.

Ghisallo: Legend holds that a Count of Ghisallo prayed to Madonna atop this hill in the 11th century. A church was built on the spot in 1623.

As Carlos Sastre charged away on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, several Italians gathered around a TV in a small café just paces away from the Sanctuary of Ghisallo, the tiny church for the patron saint of cyclists in Magreglio. Pope Pius XII officially gave the Madonna of Ghisallo the title in 1949, and today the hilltop shrine in northern Italy — smack on the Tour of Lombardy course — serves as a shrine to cycling greats, past and present.

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