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What had been a tumultuous week for the Italian national team took a sweeping turn for the better Saturday as 20-year-old Marta Bastianelli held off pre-race favorites to win the elite women’s world road championship in Stuttgart, Germany. Italy’s “squadra azzura” has been under fire in recent days as defending men’s champion Paolo Bettini refused to sign the UCI’s voluntary “commitment to a new cycling” pledge, and ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca was taken off the Italian team while facing a suspension for working with doctor Carlo Santuccione. But the Italians, whose national federation

After five days of riding, racing, selling and showing bikes, Interbike concluded Friday in Las Vegas. Watch for the full report in the next issue of VeloNews, but in the meantime, here are a few samples of what we saw on the showroom floor. Leaving Las Vegas - PartILeaving Las Vegas - PartIII

After five days of riding, racing, selling and showing bikes, Interbike concluded Friday in Las Vegas. Watch for the full report in the next issue of VeloNews, but in the meantime, here are a few samples of what we saw on the showroom floor.Leaving Las Vegas - PartILeaving Las Vegas - PartII

Alejandro Valverde starts Sunday’s world championship as an outside favorite to win the rainbow jersey. With three-time defending champion Oscar Freire back and a favorite to win a record fourth title if the race comes down to a sprint, Valverde will play the joker on a strong Spanish squad. Of course, it hasn’t been an easy lead up to the world’s for ’Balaverde’. It took a CAS ruling Wednesday to assure his start Sunday after the UCI wanted to ban Valverde over alleged links to Operación Puerto. Valverde admits the pre-race controversy proved to be distracting, but he vows to get revenge

Scores of attacks in the final laps in the chaotic men’s U23 world championships failed to break the elastic to the sprinters and 22-year-old Peter Velits of Slovakia confidently snagged the rainbow jersey in a crash-marred bunch sprint. The pace wasn’t hard enough over the hilly, 19.1km circuit for several late-race breakaway attempts to stick. The Norwegians did most of the heavy lifting to reel in the remnants of a 12-man group in the final lap, but their work was all for naught. Pre-race favorite Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway tumbled in a finish line crash behind French and Swiss

Defending world champion Paolo Bettini said Saturday that he intends to sue German television station ZDF for accusing him of providing former teammate Patrik Sinkewitz with doping products. ZDF reported that it based its report on statements from Sinkewitz, but the German cyclist later denied mentioning the name of Bettini. Bettini was given the all clear to defend his crown in Sunday's elite men's title at the cycling world championships, despite a bid by organisers to bar him from the competition. Bettini had slammed what he termed "a campaign of denigration of which the town

Many show bikes are just that — bikes for show.

The venerable Italian maker showed a few ’cross bikes.

A carbon mountain bike with Chorus road pedals. As we said — show bikes.

Slipstream-Chipotle’s new ride, the Felt F1.

Sock Guy spells it out for you.

The top of the Fuentes sock.

Obey

As in, Shepard Fairey’s experimental “Obey” art project that spread like wildfire

Obey organizers recently contacted Fuji to design this bike.

The new Reveal features a healthy amount of CNC machining for precision cuts and rigidity, such as in the bottom bracket area, the rocker arm and rear dropouts.

Reveal uses Specialized’s four-bar linkage design for 130mm of travel. The rear derailleur cable is routed internally through the seatstay.

The sculpted down tube is for more than aesthetics — the high clearance means the fork crown won’t smack on the frame when things get sideways.

Fuji president Pat Cunnane doesn’t want people to have to wait until they’re fully grown to enjoy road bikes. This $360 rig features 20-inch wheels for kids 5 and up.

And a $380 model with 24-inch wheels bridges the gap up to 650c bikes.

Built up with SRAM Red and Lew wheels, this Jamis show bike topped the scales at just over 11 pounds.

The Dakar XCR Team is fairly unique in the mountain bike world for its use of size-specific carbon tubing. At $6400, the high-end bike is all carbon save for alloy chainstays for chain slap.

The Xenith SL uses braided bladders in its construction, which means fewer internal wrinkles and better compaction and great excavation of the used bladders, which stick to the inside of the tubes. Using this process for 2008 saves 30-40 grams.

The Xenith T2 is the company’s first all-carbon time trial bike, and a solid one at that.

Product manager Steven Fairchild incorporated a Tektro brake inside the rear of the sculpted fork, a design he said reduces drag by 10 percent compared to an aero fork with the brake on the front.

Internal cable routing makes for clean lines.

Tucking a brake inside a fork presents adjustment issues…

That Fairchild solved neatly.

Kestrel’s bold designs will now be supported by the strength of Fuji’s distribution and logistics network.

Kestrel’s bold designs will now be supported by the strength of Fuji’s distribution and logistics network.

Internal routing for the rear brake…

And the rear derailleur

Making a strong move into the power meter market, Quarq is similar to SRM in that it uses strain gauges in the crank spider.

The wireless system only requires replacing the spider on most any crank, then placing a magnet on the frame for cadence sensing and the computer head on the handlebar.

Although the Quarq head unit is robust, Quarq also is compatible with Garmin’s upcoming Edge 705 GPS unit, which features power output among other cycling features.

Rocky Mountain’s ETSX is what Lesley Tomlinson rode to three Trans Alp victories. The rear suspension takes its cues from Formula 1 designs, with its straight up and down rear-wheel vertical travel.

For 2008, the design went from adjustable 3.5/4/4.5 inches of travel, which changes on the fly with the flick of the quick release, to a 4/4.5/5-inch design. Nonetheless, it still weighs in at 28 pounds.

For next year, the Element Team shaved some weight with a hollowed-out yoke. This, combined with carbon seatstays and oversized suspension hardware, saved more than 60 grams.

For next year, the Element Team shaved some weight with a hollowed-out yoke. This, combined with carbon seatstays and oversized suspension hardware, saved more than 60 grams.

The Sola 69’er runs a 26-inch wheel in the rear and a 29-inch hoop up front.

Built for Mike Broderick, this one features an FRM crank, Shimano XTR and SRAM X.O parts and a rigid carbon fork.

Seven doesn’t just built custom bikes for its customers. Product manager Matt O’Keefe built this internally geared commuter for his 18-mile trek to work.

He made this rack with scrap titanium, and added Full Wood fenders from River City Bicycles’ Dave Guettler.

Even the hub-driven light gets some custom love with internal wire routing.

For 2008, Sidi’s high-end mountain shoes have full-carbon soles. The SRS replaceable tread system extends the life of the shoes.

What do you mean you’re hesitant to buy white mountain shoes?

The Dragon 2 (and Ergo 2 Carbon road models) feature the new adjustable heel cup system that secures the rear fit.

An attachable toe plate protects the investment.

How do you say “bling” in Italian? Genius 6.6 Carbon, in Liquigas colors.

Even the heel cup is ventilated.

All that glitters is not gold. The price tag, however, rivals gold. Try $450 on for size.

And for the women, the Genius 5.5 Luxury...Which also glitters.

This $3300 ’cross frameset is so fast it blurs the background standing still.

Bastianelli was surprised... and moved to tears.

Bastianelli scoots ahead for the win

Slovakia's Peter Velis (center) and Australia's Wesley Sulzberger (left) sprint

The crash...

... the tumble...

... the win.

Armstrong stayed in the mix all day.

Thorburn suffered a mechanical and finished a minute off the pace.

Neben goes for it

Security was tight at the event

Van Rensburg and Frisch give it their best.

Boom on the attack.

Not an easy course

Off they go...

American Craig Lewis at the start.

Stetina leads the chase.

Danish fans out in force.

Italy has its supporters, too.

Regardless of wheel size, you can count on Seven frames for clean welds and sharp CNC work.

Introduced two years ago as a concept bike, the Diamas is now available in Seven’s custom size program. The $4995 frameset is Seven’s first all-carbon custom bike.

The top and down tubes of the Diamas wrap completely around the head tube for a firm connection — and a striking look.

Dear Readers,

Welcome to this week's edition of The Prologue, a regular summary of the news from the world of competitive cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com.

As you know the world's championships are now underway in Stuttgart, Germany, and as of Thursday, the time trial events are done and attention now turns to this weekend's road races. Be sure to check in on Sunday for Live Updates from the elite men's event on VeloNews.com

During Wednesday evening’s CrossVegas event Kona’s Ryan Trebon won on a brand new pair of wheels from FSA, providing a good excuse to look at a few new deeper section carbon rims that debuted at this year’s show. Besides FSA, both Easton and Reynolds have new or refined wheels for 2008. Titanium has also been a prominent product at this year’s show, could it be that some, more traditionally minded riders are suffering from too much carbon fiber in their diet? We wouldn’t go quite that far yet as it seems most of the industry is still gaga over string and glue construction for all types of

A hall brimming with almost 20,000 people eager and optimistic about bikesis a rarified atmosphere for a bike enthusiast to hang out in. and allof those people buying bikes makes it possible for a number of bike-relatedphilanthropic organizations to thrive as well.Interbike began with a talk by six organizations doing work in third-worldcountries to make a difference with bikes. Left to right, F.K. Day of www.WorldBicycleRelief.org,Steve Madden of BikeTown from www.bicycling.com,Hans Rey of www.Wheels4Life.org,Bradley Schroeder of www.CaliforniaBike.org,Ben Capron of www.TrueOverdrive.com,and

Cuban sprinter Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) caught and passed a surging Martin Gilbert (Kelly Benefit Strategies) on the last of 55 laps to win the inaugural Vegas World Criterium championships on Thursday. The race, held in the parking lot of the Mandalay Bay hotel/casino in Las Vegas, marked the final event of the 2007 USA Crits series. “I only had one bullet to fire today and I waited until the end,” said Dominguez, who admitted his legs lacked their normal kick after the Tour of Missouri. Dominguez won two stages and the point’s jersey in that race. The Las Vegas race marked the

A German court has cleared Italy's Paolo Bettini to defend his title in Sunday's elite men's title at the cycling world championships in Stuttgart. The reigning champion's participation was in doubt after German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz claimed Bettini had supplied him with doping products. The organizers insisted that Bettini sign the full UCI anti-doping agreement which makes it compulsory for every rider to provide a blood sample before Sunday's race. Bettini says demanding a sample is a breach of his human rights and has also refused to sign any agreement because of

Jeanson says her father and her coach both encouraged her to take EPO.