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Bessette: North America's best shot at an elite 'cross-world's medal this year?

Eric Wallace, sporting a Canadian national jersey at last year's MTB worlds

The mystery team

Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas, who finished third in the 2002 Tour de France, was given a four-month suspended prison sentence by a court in the French Alpine village of Bonneville on Thursday. Rumsas and his wife Edita were both convicted on charges of importing prohibited doping substances in connection with a case that began on the final day of the 2002 Tour. Both Rumsas and his wife were given the same suspended sentences and fined 3000 euros ($3675), while Polish doctor Krzysztof Ficek was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for prescribing the drugs. During the trial on

We’re leaving camp at dark-thirty. It is cold; cold like the winter Olympics will be here in two weeks. Oh yeah, they will be. Actually, we had great weather here in Tuscany and given the fact that I am going back to my home in Spain I can’t really complain, especially since some of the others, like Jens Voigt, are heading back to a brutal cold spell in Germany, where it’s been hitting minus 38 degrees. Speaking of Jens, to add insult to injury (no pun intended), he had the screws taken out of his shoulder this morning. Jens is one serious badass and showed some real character gritting

Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas, who finished third in the 2002 Tour de France, was given a four-month suspended prison sentence by a court in the French Alpine village of Bonneville on Thursday. Rumsas and his wife, Edita, were both convicted on charges of importing prohibited doping substances in connection with a case that began on the final day of the 2002 Tour. Both Rumsas and his wife were given the same suspended sentences and fined 3000 euros ($3675), while Polish doctor Krzysztof Ficek was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for prescribing the drugs. During the trial on

The Rumsases leave the Bonneville court house in November

Rumsas already knew of the arrest as he stood on the podium in 2002

The Rumsases leave the Bonneville court house in November

In mylast column we discussed proper meal timing around evening training. Many cyclists also train in the early morning hours with little time to eat and drink before heading out on the road. Let’s take a look at some nutritional strategies that address the food and fluid challenges of early morning training. One of the biggest dilemmas confronting morning training is that you wake up in the morning with low liver glycogen stores. A major function of your liver is to maintain a steady level of glucose in the blood. Your liver releases glucose into your bloodstream during exercise and

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Millar as role model? A bit early, no?Editor:David Millar's comment that he wants to "become an icon for clean cycling as well as an example to young people" is preposterous. Everyone deserves a second chance (and Millar has served his time), but it's a bit premature for him to

Adjustable or disposable?Dear Lennard,Can you tell me if the bottom brackets on the two-piece style Shimano cranks have adjustable bearings, like those used in a hub or pedal or are they a non-adjustable sealed cartridge, like that used in the current Octalink bottom brackets? I don’t see separate bottom bracket bearings being sold for the new style cranks, so I’m guessing they are adjustable rather than disposable, but it’s just not clear. I need new mountain-bike cranks, but I chew through the Octalink bottom brackets pretty quickly, so a non-disposable bottom bracket would probably make

The crown jewel of French sport, the Tour de France, is to start for the first time in London next year, mayor Ken Livingstone confirmed on Tuesday. It will be only the third time that the race has come to England in its 103-year history and the first time that the prestigious Grand Depart will be given on English soil. Livingstone said that London would host the prologue time trial on July 7, 2007 and the first stage of the race the following day. The tour finishes as usual on the Champs-Elysees in central Paris on July 23 after crisscrossing the French countryside from the Atlantic Ocean

Lance Armstrong and Discovery team director John Bruyneel reaffirmed the team’s commitment to fighting for victory at the spring classics, the Giro and the Tour at the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team’s presentation Tuesday morning in Beverly Hills, California. "The Tour de France is still the focus; I am not prepared to not win it," Bruyneel said. "But there are definitely other races. The Giro is an important race, as are the spring classics. There is a new race this year, the Tour of California. There are definitely going to be other races that are important, but for the Tour we have a

Are these bearings serviceable? Nope.

The final leg of the 2005 Tour of Britain used a one-mile circuit in Central London that took in Trafalgar Square, Nothumberland Avenue, Victoria Embankment and Parliament Square

Armstrong may be in civvies, but he still has a role with the team

Danielson will be one of Discovery's go-to guys in the Tour of California

Retired? Not hardly. Armstrong will advise the team, work with Discovery Channel and continue his fight against cancer

Discovery 2006

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Remember the Wheat Thins series?Editor:The concept of cycling events on short, spectator-friendly courses in major cities is hardly new - anyone remember the Wheat Thins Mayors Cup Series? It had major corporate sponsorship (Nabisco) in big-city downtowns, short, fast circuits, and lots

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Syntace USA, has announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: F99 (Force 99) Bicycle Handlebar Stems Units: About 2,300 Distributor: Syntace USA, of Olney, Ill. Hazard: The recalled bicycle stems can crack or break under normal conditions, causing the rider to fall and suffer serious injury. Incidents/Injuries: No incidents or injuries have been reported. Description: The recalled bicycle

The 2007 Tour de France will begin in London next year following an agreement by city mayor Ken Livingstone and race organizers ASO, the Lettre de l'Expansion economic journal reported on Monday. The most prestigious cycling race in the world has never started in London, though it twice visited England, in 1974 and 1994. In 1998, the tour started in Dublin before immediately going back to France. Tour de France organizers, questioned by AFP, did not comment. T-Mobile names five to Tour teamT-Mobile has named five of its nine riders for the 2006 Tour de France, with Jan Ullrich

Off-season cyclists, spin fanatics, and exercise bicyclists can keep their New Year's resolutions and get in stronger shape for the spring with a new book from VeloPress - "Workouts in a Binder for Indoor Cycling" by Dirk Friel and Wes Hobson. Spending time on the trainer can get a little stale. "Workouts in a Binder for Indoor Cycling" will rescue indoor rides. Riders can choose from 60 workouts. Each one tackles a different training objective with enough variety to keep indoor sessions fun and productive. Athletes can follow one of six training plans in the book or pepper workouts

Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen says the UCI’s ProTour was put into practice without fine-tuning and has left pro riders "caught in the middle" of a dispute between the world governing body and the organizers of some of the sport’s most prestigious events. McEwen, the 33-year-old Davitamon-Lotto sprinter who has twice won the Tour de France green points jersey, told AFP that the ProTour concept - inviting the best teams to the best races in order to promote the sport more effectively at a global level – should be reviewed. "The Pro Tour came in with a bang, and it was too quick and

PRESS RELEASE: 'Workouts in a Binder for Indoor Cycling' rescues indoor rides

Adelaide, Australia - Up-and-coming Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans was celebrating his second stage race win inside three months Sunday after winning the Tour Down Under, the last stage of which was won by Allan Davis. Davis, who is set to be the Australian team leader for the Commonwealth Games road race in March, grabbed his second win of the five-stage race after pipping compatriot Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) at the finish line of the 90km downtown Adelaide circuit.

Round three of the UCI Track World Cup closed Sunday in Los Angeles with Argentina, Australia, Belarus, France, Russia and the United States each collecting multiple gold medals over the weekend. In the women’s 40-lap scratch final, American Sarah Hammer, already having earned gold the day before in the individual pursuit, rode squarely at the front for eight laps - the last eight - and won. Ostensibly leading out fellow American Becky Quinn of the Spike pro team, Hammer gradually wound up the pace from 2k out, with Quinn glued to her wheel. But coming around the final corner, Hammer was

Davis gets another win, this time beating Robbie the Rocket to the line.

Start-to-finish: Gerrans defied the odds and kept the jersey all the way

Barredo on the attack

It was a tight finish between McEwen and Davis.

Gerrans job was just to stay out of trouble

Summer in Adelaide

Paolini and Bodrigi try to escape.

Sarah Hammer and Becky Quinn at the start of the Scratch race.

Sarah Hammer leads Becky Quinn with one to go in the women's Scratch race.

Hammer wins it...

...and makes the top spot on the podium again.

TIAA-CREF Madison team of Chad Hartley and Michael Friedman go down during an exchange.

But Friedman still uses the damaged bike to finish up the event.

Colby Pearce keeps an eye on events in the Madison.

Jenny Reed leads out the women's kierin.

Barczewski leads out the Spike team sprint for fourth place.

Adelaide, Australia — Australian Simon Gerrans (AG2R) endured his toughest test yet as a cycling professional on Saturday but emerged smiling after the fourth and penultimate stage of the Tour Down Under, won by Russel Van Hout (UniSA-Australia). Gerrans had to dig deep to defend his seven-second lead in the general classification over last year's winner, Luis Leon Sanchez (Liberty Seguros-Wurth), in the race's hardest stage — featuring the feared Willunga climb, 20km from the finish of the 147km stage. Sanchez attacked on the 3km climb, whose gradient is 7 percent, but Gerrans was

In the second night of Track World Cup competition in Los Angeles, riders in five events laid it on the line for victory — and qualifying positions for the April 13-16 world championships in Bordeaux, France. American Sarah Hammer took gold in the women’s pursuit, following a morning qualifying ride of 3:37.799 — a track record. More than 200 athletes from 36 countries are racing in Los Angeles over the three-day weekend. A standing-room-only crowd of 3000 people filled the ADT Event Center Saturday evening at The Home Depot Center, banging on the upper boards and ringing bells throughout

Van Hout and Crake cross hand in hand

Sanchez takes a dig

Arrieta found it sweaty going

The beach only looked cool - the day's temps topped 104

Crake and Van Hout working it

AG2R played it cool despite the heat

Done to a turn: Gerrans at the finish

A fine day for the Aussies

Sarah Hammer wins the women's pursuit

The Russians handled the team pursuit with ease

Blatchford had a good day.

Blatchford wins a medal, while Britain's Staff apparently tried to award him a helmet

Hammer lives up to her name.

Russia takes the gold.

Yankalilla, Australia - The Liberty Seguros team scored its second Tour Down Under stage win in as many days as Spaniard Carlos Barredo gambled and attacked in the final kilometers of Friday’s 154km third stage from Strathalbyn to Yankalilla on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula. Barredo’s win comes a day after teammate Allan Davis claimed a stage victory in Hahndorf. AG2R’s Simon Gerrans retains the overall lead, but admitted his bid for victory will hinge on how he handles the tough climb in the Tour’s fourth and penultimate stage on Saturday. Barredo took a gutsy stage win after

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.NASCAR-style racing? Try cyclo-crossEditor:In Wednesday's Mailbag (see "NASCAR-style cycling might just work"), Doug Barnes suggested that cycling take place on short, highly visible courses in a tour of major cities, with "each a separate race with its own podium but with a points

Cross-country skiing's not a sport, it's how a f---ing Swede goes to the 7–Eleven. — Dan Jenkins, "You Gotta Play Hurt" The old mailbag these days is chock-full of proposed models for U.S. cycling to follow if it is to achieve success: NASCAR, Formula 1, World Rally Championship; cyclo-cross, track, criterium. But nobody is defining exactly what "success" means. Does it mean that cycling becomes a spectator sport, like the various ball games? Stadiums packed with hammered fatties painting themselves in Health Net-Maxxis colors; nattily attired retired pros bellowing jovially over

Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling that I’m not the only person ticking down the hours until the start of the Amgen Tour of California. Set your watches, ladies and gentlemen, we only have 620 left to wait — at 11 a.m. on February 19, you all better have your attention turned to the streets of San Francisco. Now, starting the race with a prologue up to the base of Coit Tower on the tippy-top of Telegraph Hill sounds pretty epic. The route starts at Pier 1, skirts the Embarcadero just south of Fisherman’s Wharf, and takes riders up to, quite possibly, the best view in town. Sure, the route

The United States’ first-ever UCI pro track team made a powerful debut on the first evening of the Los Angeles World Cup, with Spike rider Becky Quinn claiming silver in the women’s points race. With two U.S. national team women also in the mix, Quinn secured the silver medal behind gold medalist Italian Giorgia Bronzini after taking the final sprint. See the Casey Gibson photo gallery below Quinn scored two second-place sprints to get into contention. Then, with two laps remaining, U.S. national rider Lauren Franges got to the front with Quinn on her wheel. With one lap to go, Canadian

Barredo's gamble paid off.

The day's break formed early again.

Evans (right) was the biggest GC threat at 12 minutes back.

Botcharov bridges

AG2R monitored the gap

Barredo tries his luck

Another hot day in the saddle

Gerrans, still seven seconds up

Better than Damon to play Armstrong?

Why, yes, I'm a Health Net fan ... how'd you guess? Go Gord, eh!

Now Steve McQueen knew a little something about racing around San Francisco

Ben Jacques-Maynes is looking forward to representin' on his backyard course

Quinn smiles stop the podium . . .

. . . after winning the final double-points sprint