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Minaar, Jonnier dominate Mt. Snow DH

HealthNet controls the race early, but it eventually gets away from them.

Stevic celebrates his win as he crosses the line.

Stevic makes his move on the climb

Henderson suffers on the climb. He eventually lost the jersey, but did so to a teammate

Health Net stayed together

Manion and Stevic knew they had an opportunity

Ulmer gets the win

Armstrong takes the overall... again.

Wrubleski takes second on the day

Armstrong, Ulmer, and Samplonius set an early pace

Ulmer goes on her own

Alberto Contador of the embattled Astana-Würth team won the mountainous penultimate stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Saturday, while the top three spots in the overall standings remained the same going into the final episode on Sunday. “I’m a professional cyclist, and my objective is to keep my cool and stay concentrated,” said Contador, asked how he can achieve good results while his team is embroiled in the sport’s biggest doping scandal. “Everything that happens on the television, or around me, all the hype and disappointment, all the good and bad things I’m hearing, you have to hear

Injury-plagued Brad McGee won’t start next month’s Tour de France because he’s suffering from a herniated disk that could require surgery. McGee – a winner of the 2003 Tour prologue and the 2004 Olympic pursuit gold medalist – has been questionable for the Tour since pulling out of last month’s Giro d’Italia. Efforts to alleviate the pain failed and he was also forced to abandon the Tour de Suisse on Tuesday. “Specialists in Paris confirmed Friday the cause of my sciatica is coming from a small hernia that, under the force of riding, is forcing itself onto the nerve and explaining the

After a day like Friday, when everything was almost perfect for Navigators at the Tour de Beauce, today's race saw two members of the team involved in a potentially serious accident with a car that wandered onto the course. Mark Walters and Glen Chadwick were at the front of the peloton setting tempo on the third lap to keep a six rider breakaway in check, when a car ignored traffic cones and swerved out beside them. Chadwick managed to avoid going down, but Walters was sandwiched between Chadwick and the car and had nowhere to go. The Blue Jersey holder (Top Canadian) went down,

For more than 80 miles, dozens of world-class women riders tested there resolve in the wind and heat surrounding Mankato, Minn., in the fourth stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix on Saturday. But the most exciting action of the day came with the final few laps in the city. With Olympic champion Sarah Ulmer of Jazz Apple opening a 20-second gap more than a lap into the finishing circuit, a win seemed assured. That was until the overall leader, TEAm Lipton’s Kristin Armstrong, decided to put her stamp of authority on a victory. Attacking on the third time up the Main Street

On Thursday, KarlMenzies said Health Net’s win was a gift to the team’s director,who was celebrating his birthday. On Saturday, it was Menzies's birthday and apparently, too, it was histurn to receive. The birthday boy fought through four 1-kilometer climbs pitching at14 percent to roll through the finish of the fourth stage of Great RiverEnergy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Menzies gave all the credit to his teammateand new overall leader, GregHenderson. “I think Hendie wrapped [the victory] up, put a bow on it and deliveredit to me,” the Tasmanian said after the 86-mile road race in

Austria’s Alban Lakata (Specialized) and Finland’s Pia Sundstedt (Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) took the second round of the UCI World Cup marathon, held Saturday at Mont Ste Anne, Quebec. The course sent riders from downtown Quebec City spinning along fire roads to the Quebec ski resort, where athletes then tackled a 30 km loop around the venue. The win puts both Sundstedt and Lakata in first place in the marathon World Cup rankings. UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE MARATHON WORLD CUP NO. 2MONT STE ANNE, QUEBECJUNE 17, 2006Men1. Alban LAKATA (AUT); 85 KM in 4:10:422. Peter Riis ANDERSEN (DEN);

Like a pair of comfy old slippers, the ones you just can’t stop wearing no matter how threadbare they look to others, the Mount Snow cross-country course never ceases to evoke praise as one of the best race tracks on the world mountain bike circuit. Despite remaining largely unchanged over a decade of racing, the single-track rich perennial NORBA and former World Cup venue always seems to crown a deserving winner, one with the perfect combo of climbing form and technical descending skill. Race number three on the 2006 NORBA National Series Cross-country, June 17 in West Dover, Vermont, proved

Contador takes the win

The peloton decided that enough was enough

The break was sent off again...

The Nav's protected most of their jerseys

Menzies takes the win

Menzies shares a birthday with Eddy Merckx, who probably also has won on June 17th.

Corbett and crew planning strategy

HealthNet at the helm

The lead group represented a good cross-section of teams

The fan base

Armstrong knew when to make her move

Ulmer takes a dig

Armstrong wins it

Get this woman an iced tea!

McConneloug had it from the gun

Sauser takes the top step

Fresh off his overall victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, it’s no surprise that Gerolsteiner will build its Tour de France team around Levi Leipheimer. Sixth overall last year with a victory at the 2005 Tour of Germany, Leipheimer will be the protected leader for the German team in what will be Leipheimer’s fifth Tour start. Georg Totschnig, seventh overall in 2004 and a winner of a stage last year at Aix-3-Domaines, will also have some freedom to ride for his own GC, but in tandem with Leipheimer in the hunt for the Tour podium. “We will bring a strong squad to help Levi in the Tour,”

Where does life’s long, windy single track take you? If you are 24-year old American mountain-biker Walker Ferguson, the trail zigzags between the high peaks of the Bolivian Andes and the Colorado Rockies, sandy Mexican beaches and, of course, starting lines at NORBA National Mountain Bike Series races.Ferguson has stood atop a world mountain bike championship podium, beaten some of the country’s best athletes on the road and been forced to work his way through a potentially career-ending burnout. And he’s done it all before the age of 25.But Ferguson’s ready for another season of challenging

Relying on stamina and a touch of trickery, three-time world road champion Oscar Freire of the Dutch team Rabobank won the seventh stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Friday. The 30-year-old Spaniard was the sole survivor of an eight-man breakaway after he jumped sideways over the corner of a traffic island in order to cut a corner 3.5 kilometers from the finish. Koldo Gil of Saunier-Duval retained the leader’s jersey, but T-Mobile’s star Jan Ullrich looks ready to pounce with just two days left in the nine-day stage race, considered the final tune-up for the Tour de France. Ullrich is

The long rumored change in the Phonak team was confirmed Friday, when owners announced that its current “presenting sponsor,” iShares will move into the title sponsorship position in 2007. ARcycling AG, licensee and operator of the Swiss ProTour team, announced that it has signed a three-year contract (2007 – 2009) with Barclays Global Investors N.A., iShares' parent company headquartered in San Francisco. According to a release issued by the team on Friday, both parties have agreed not to name the amount of the new title sponsor's financial commitment. "With iShares we have a new

For many of us, Kansas conjures up images of Dorothy, Toto and howling, swirling winds. Which isn’t too far off the mark for conditions on Thursday and Friday during this 25th Annual Race Across America. As the front runners make their way across the state, they’ve been tormented by constant winds. Those gusts weren’t quite as bad on Friday as they were Thursday, which saw constant 35 mile per hour winds, with gusts much higher than that. Conditions weren’t far off of those that lead to the formation of tornadoes—one of the media crew vehicles encountered storm trackers who were out in the

Tilford tackles elements to take win in fourth stage of Nature Valley Grand PrixBy James Lockwood Officials, spectators and racers knew it was coming, but the question was when. And 17 minutes into the hour-long race for the men’s third stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, the race was called while sheets of rain drenched a happy Steve Tilford who laughed at the elements and won the Minneapolis Downtown Classic. “It’s like FatBoys at night,” he said, referencing the mountain bike races he also does. “You never know what’s going on. You have to watch the lap

For the third consecutive year, rain played a major factor in the Minneapolis Downtown Classic, the third stage of the Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Heavy rain and hail hit the course about an hour before the scheduled start, delaying the start of the race by 15 minutes and shortening it from 45 to 30 minutes. The shortened race, though, didn’t short-change the spectators or racers from the drama, as TEAm Lipton’s Laura Van Gilder took the hotly contested finish from Victory Brewing’s Katharine Carroll. Van Gilder’s victory continued TEAm Lipton’s dominance, with overall

As expected, the Navigators Insurance squad recovered from the momentary lapse of attention which saw them lose the yellow jersey on Wednesday at the Tour de Beauce to regain the top position in the 15 kilometer time trial stage Friday morning. Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF) continues to impress with a strong win in the stage, but Valeriy Kobzarenko's second place, 16 seconds behind Pate, was enough to move him back into the lead, after Stefan Parinussa (Sparkasse), the former leader, could manage no better than 23rd. Pate's excellent ride moved him up to second overall, 16 seconds behind

The fifth stage at the Tour de Beauce – formally “Stage 4-b,” since it followed a morning TT - was pretty much a non-factor in terms of the overall standings, however, bragging rights and UCI points were still on the line, so serious racing did take place. The 60 kilometer criterium is a tradition in the host town of St Georges, and takes place on a four corner, 1.5 kilometer circuit, with a sharp climb at the end of the start straight and a steep descent with a 110 degree left hander at the base. Richard Faltus (Sparkasse) took a last lap gamble and attacked the small lead group he was

Gerolsteiner is hoping that Leipheimer has a shot at that other yellow jersey

Walkin’ off the beaten path: A winter spent down south

Walkin’ off the beaten path: A winter spent down south

Walkin’ off the beaten path: A winter spent down south

Freire's gamble paid off and he wasn't caught

St. Moritz

Sprick leads the break

The group stayed together until about 15km to go.

Commesso and Rogers put on a little pressure

..but the peloton is not far behind.

Freire's move paid off.

Freire snags Swiss stage; Gil still in jersey

David Haase, currently 6th in the traditional division, rides through one of the more scenic stretches of Kansas.

Even course set-up was hampered by weather

Cyclo-crossers at heart, maybe Tilford and Page had an advantage in crappy conditions.

Health Net at the front

The race was cut short after 17 minutes

30 minutes or 45, Van Gilder wanted this one

Fans braved the weather, too

Mactier takes an early flyer

A hard rain did fall

Weather was tolerable at the start

Faltus takes Beuce crit'

Kobzarenko in yellow

Pate covers 15km in 20:40

Kobzarenko takes over the jersey

Canada's TT champ, Svein Tuft, takes fourth

Dear Bob,In your recent article Whenis a bicycle more than a bicycle? you were writing with regardto California Law; is the law similar in Oregon? Mostly, I'm interestedin the distinction between infractions and misdemeanors. So, gettinga DUI on a bicycle doesn't “equal” a DUI in a car as far as penalty goes(no points on the driving record)? Does this apply to all movingviolations, too? Where is the cut-off'?Thanks,J.C.OregonDear J.C.,I’m glad you asked J.C., because it gives me a chance to take anotherlook at BUIs. I have covered thissubject before, but do not stay up on this

Phonak team manager John Lelangue said Floyd Landis will be ready for the Tour de France despite a lackluster Dauphiné Libéré that sent alarm bells ringing about the American’s form. After ripping through victories in Tour of California, Paris-Nice and Tour de Georgia, Landis finished 60th at nearly one hour behind winner Levi Leipheimer in the final tune-up race ahead of next month’s Tour. Team officials said Landis decided to use the Dauphiné as training once it became obvious he didn’t have the snap in his legs to follow the best on the decisive climbing stage at Mont Ventoux in stage

Saunier Duval's Koldo Gil won the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, riding solo into La Punt on Thursday. The Spaniard rider made the break on the Albula pass, the third and final climb of this mountainous stage, some 14km from the finish, to cross the line 40 seconds ahead of German duo Jorg Jaksche (Astana-Würth) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile). Gil now holds the overall lead in the race by 34 seconds over Jaksche and 54 seconds over Ullrich. Two years ago, Ullrich won this tour, and this week he has looked in control, perhaps fully recovered from an April injury that derailed his

VeloNews to Produce the Official Guide to the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross(June 15, 2006) - The management team of the U.S. Gran Prixof Cyclocross announced today a partnership with VeloNews - the worldsleading competitive cycling publication - to produce the inaugural OfficialGuide to the 2006 U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross.Teaming with prominent promoters in strong cycling markets and workingin conjunction with USA Cycling and the UCI, the Crank Brothers U.S. GranPrix of Cyclocross includes six days of racing and attracts the best ridersin North America to the series. VeloNews is the

Gord Fraser and Mike Sayers each got something special for this year’s Tour of Georgia (April 19-23), new bikes from their sponsor Cannondale. Now approaching mid-June, it’s hard to miss the growing number of big neon green sixes adorning the head tubes of many of Health Net-Maxxis riders’ bikes. In April, both racers were on pre-production prototypes, but now in less than a month, Cannondale is set to have the new rig ready for retail. The new bike, which mates aluminum and carbon utilizing the same process as Cannondale’s Six13, combines a complete carbon front end with a new CAAD 9

Race Across America 2004 & 2005 champion Jure Robic succumbed to the 2006 RAAM with a viral infection which could have been fatal had he kept racing. After signing up for the new Solo Enduro division, where racers must take at least 40 hours of off-the-bike time - a division meant to emphasize bike racing prowess over sheer endurance - Robic led for much of the race until he was forced to withdraw with a viral infection in the mountains of Colorado, 886 miles into the 3,043-mile race. Reports say that Robic was not 100 percent prior to the race and his Slovenian doctor believes that Robic

Health Net/Maxxis director Jeff Corbet was in good spirits Thursday evening. His rider, New Zealander GregHenderson had just won his fourth road race in as many tries, grabbed another podium spot with a strong third-place finish by KarlMenzies and the team’s talented time trialist Nathan O’Neill held onto the leader’s jersey after the second stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Oh, yeah, and it was Corbet’s birthday, as Menzies proudly announced afterdelivering Henderson to the line and holding for the podium spot in the 58.5-mile Cannon Falls Road Race. “That was gold,”

The second stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix ended as expected, with some of the most talented and most experienced female riders in the world in a mad sprint for the finish. In the end, though, it was a rookie and a local amateur who stood atop two of the three podium places. Palo Alto Bicycle Works/TIBCO’s Brooke Miller seized the moment to capture the 58.6-mile Cannon Falls Road Race, ahead of Jazz Apple Cycling’s Sarah Ulmer and local women’s legend and Flanders/MBRC racer Teresa Moriarty. An overjoyed Miller was at a loss after the race. She screamed after