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Basso says he's riding and staying fit.

Where is my time machine?

Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain said he never took banned performance-enhancing substances during his illustrious career. In a full-page interview with Indurain in Sunday’s edition of the Spanish sports daily MARCA, the 43-year-old Spaniard was asked by journalist Olga Viza what he would say if someone asked him directly if he doped. “I would say ‘no.’ I passed all the controls, thousands of them, so many I lost count. It’s something normal; you win, you pass controls and there’s no problem,” Indurain said. “What’s happening today is that everything is in doubt.” Indurain’s

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Weston Schempf (C3-Sollay.com) and Betsy Shogren (FORT Factory Team) pulled away early to take commanding victories in Sunday’s inaugural DCCX Cyclocross Race presented by DCMTB-City Bikes in Washington, D.C. The event, held on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home and promoted by the DC Mountain Bike Team, featured a course muddied up by three days of rain, with rooted, swooping curves, open road, two sets of tricky barriers and a Paris-Roubaix-style brick section. “Props to whoever put it together,'' Schempf said. “There was a lot of good rhythm to it.''

Thanks to impressive finishes by its downhillers, Fort Lewis College defended its Division I collegiate mountain-bike national title during the 2007 USA Cycling collegiate national championships in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The Skyhawks defeated Lees-McRae College, host of the championships, 730 to 635. Taking the Division II title was the Colorado School of Mines, which edged Warren Wilson College, 636-626. Fort Lewis took the lead in the team omnium competition after Benjamin Sonntag grabbed the win in the cross-country on Friday. But Lees-McRae answered the challenge on Saturday with

Indurain won the first of his five Tours de France in 1991.

The U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclocross came to Kentucky for the first time in its history on Saturday. VeloNews editor Ben Delaney took advantage of the opportunity to take a close look at the race rigs of some the country's best 'crossers. PartIIPartIII

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Stu Thorne couldn’t call the weekend anything but a success, with Tim Johnson taking the second race of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross to make it a sweep for Thorne’s Cyclocrossworld.com team. And Katie Compton showed she needed no team to complete her one-woman domination of the races in Louisville, Kentucky, although Georgia Gould gave her a run for her money, finishing 26 seconds back despite a third-row start.

The cyclocrossworld.com team is riding Gore’s Ride-On cables on SRAM Red drivetrains.

Jeremy Powers runs a rear derailleur cable with a continuous sheath (note the thicker cable on the far left) to keep grime out.

Lyne Bessette does not run the sheathed cable, but soon will, according to cyclocrossworld.com owner Stu Thorne.

Bessette can choose between a double-ring bike and a single, 42-tooth ring bike set up.

The cyclocrossworld.com team largely ran Dugast Rhinos (above), but had Dugast Tyhpoons (below) on hand, too.

Bessette’s carbon TRP brakes.

And Powers’ alloy version.

A number of riders on SRAM drivetrains were running Shimano chains.

A number of riders on SRAM drivetrains were running Shimano chains.

Team Maxxis runs custom orange Raze tires and Paul cantilevers.

Many team riders also have Rotor cranks and bottom brackets.

And Shimano Dura-Ace drivetrains.

Adam McGrath runs a single chainring. (McGrath did not race the first USGP due to a death in the family.)

The Rotor S1 stem features unique thread spacing: the faceplate has tight spacing, while the stem itself has wider spacing, resulting in a ramping effect when tightening the bolts.

And the stem bolts forego heads for an internal option.

Geoff Kabush runs two Dura-Ace levers.

And a very Maxxis-looking name plate.

Kabush’s double Rotor ring set-up.

Georgia Gould’s bike features a makeshift cable sheathing courtesy of the ingenuity of her husband and mechanic, Dusty LeBarr.

A sheath is run along what would be bare cable along the top tube and chainstay.

And held in place with ferrules.

And a just-in-case zip tie.

Gould was trying out Mavic’s new tubular-carbon-spoked wheels in Louisville.

Danny Summerhill and the rest of his Clif Bar team are on Salsa bikes and components this year.

With team green Candy pedals to match.

SRAM parts were seemingly everywhere.

A straightforward Avid Shorty 6 brake.

And a high-zoot Dugast from Stu Thorne.

Ryan Trebon rides a 63cm frame.

With Dugast rubber on FSA’s deep-dish K-Force hoops.

Kore is a new sponsor for the Kona cross team with its wide cantilevers.

Trebon ran road brake carriers.

And FSA’s SLK carbon cranks.

Barry Wicks has an enclosed cable system.

And runs Swiss Stop pads on his Kore brakes.

Normally, bikes hang from the rack, with the rear wheel suspended by six inches or so. Trebon’s has to be leaned against the rail.

Ceramic bearing on Wicks’ rig.

Red levers, white covers.

Jesse Anthony’s got to keep the package looking good, after all.

A little cowbell never hurt anyone.

Although this Red kit looks like it was packed in a sniper-rifle box.

Tim Johnson keeps it light before the women’s pro race with his wife, Lyne Bessette.

A national champ kit is fine, but Katie Compton should be wearing the UCI points leader skinsuit. The UCI had yet to send it to her. “I don’t think they’ve ever had to mail one to the United States,” said Compton’s husband Mark.

You can take the girl out of the mountain biking, but you can’t take the mountain biking out of the girl.

Alison Sydor rocks the helmet visor.

Belgian fan clubs have nothing on these guys.

There you have it.

But wait, the front is worse.

Told you.

And he has a posse. The spirit of cyclocross is alive and well in Louisville.

Johnson scores

Compton repeated, but she had to work for it

Johnson powering through the sand

Compton running her one-woman show

Gould chasing

Fans? Naw. Y'think?

One of North America’s all-time greatest cyclists popped up unexpectedly on this year’s U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross start list. Canadian Alison Sydor, a three-time mountain bike world champion and road world bronze medalist, decided earlier this fall to throw a leg over a ’cross bike for the first time in her career. Initially, as with everyone, the woman who has won 17 mountain bike World Cups was a little clumsy. But after a few weeks of local racing in British Columbia, Sydor took second at the Canadian national cyclocross championships behind Wendy Simms and ahead of Lyne Bessette.

Cycling is continuing to be faced with massive hurdles and challenges going into 2008, as commanding bodies within the sport are still fractured while doping remains as big an issue and problem as it was at the beginning of 2007. As for T-Mobile, the entire team lived a tumultuous season where the future of the team constantly seemed in limbo due to a consistent stream of doping related problems, allegations and admissions. The team’s results were the best in the last three years, with over thirty victories and countless fine finishes highlighted by strong performances in all three Grand

Following a week of back-and-forth banter in the Belgian dailies, Sven Nys used his legs to win the war of words. The cyclocross superstar attacked out of a five-rider breakaway on the penultimate lap of World Cup No. 2 in Tabor, Czech Republic, and easily held his advantage to the line. Countryman Klaas Vantornout (Fidea) was second, at 0:13, with Dutchman Lars Boom (Rabobank) completing the podium on a cool gray Saturday in this small city an hour south of Prague. “They tried to make me nervous,” said Nys referring to accusations made by rival Fidea team manager Han van Kasteren, who

Jeremy Powers and Katie Compton finished the first round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross the way they started it – at the front. Those similarities aside, the pro races in Louisville, Kentucky, played out very differently. For the first half of the pro men’s event, it was two-on-two competition as Powers and cyclocrossworld.com teammate Tim Johnson traded blows with Kona’s Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks. Then, it was just two as Powers and then Johnson rode clear.

Sydor Sighting: Former MTB world champ hits ’cross circuit

Nys is back on top

It wasn't Page's day

Vervecken and the rest of the Fidea crew couldn't keep Nys on a leash.

Nys bunnyhops away from the competition.

Powers easily overpowered the Kona juggernaut

Compton dominates again

Wicks and Trebon didn't dominate as usual

A rich and challenging route