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If bike racing was only about legs, lungs and fitness, we'd all be racing nothing but time trials and concentrating only on aerodynamics and gear selection. But anyone who has toed the line at anything from a local office-park crit' to the Tour de France will already know that the real beauty of bicycle racing is in its tactics.Competitive cycling is about using good technique and having a strong tactical sense - "race smarts," if you will. While it's true that the most physically prepared cyclists usually survive, they don't necessarily always win. One of this country's premiere cycling

Americans Sue Haywood and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski each scored wins at the Pan American mountain-bike championships in Baños, Ecuador on Sunday. Competing on a short, but technical course that also included a 1km section of road that meanders through Baños, Haywood (Trek-Volkswagen) grabbed the win ahead of countrywomen Mary McConneloug (Seven), with Alison Dunlap (Luna) settling for third. This was the first time this year that all three of America’s top women’s Olympic hopefuls had competed against each other. The Pan Am race was also the most valuable thus far in 2004, carrying 125 UCI

Final Overall Standings 1. Lance Armstrong (USA) U.S. Postal Service, at 1066.4km in 25:39:20 (41.566kph) 2. Jens Voigt (G) CSC, at 0:24 3. Chris Horner (USA) Webcor, at 1:01 4. Bobby Julich (USA) CSC, at 1:57 5. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) U.S. Postal Service, at 2:59 6. Cesar Grajales Calle (Col) Jittery Joe's Coffee, at 3:07 7. Scott Moninger (USA) Health Net/Maxxis, at 3:44 8. Sergio Marinangeli (I) Domina Vacanze, at 4:06 9. Brian Vandborg (Dk) CSC, at 4:52 10. Eric Wohlberg (CAN) Sierra Nevada, at 5:25 Full Results

PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS1. Tyler Hamilton (USA)2. Niki Aebersold (Swi)3. Oscar Camenzind (Swi)4. Martin Elmiger (Swi)5. Bert Grabsch (G)6. Gutierrez José Enrique (Sp)7. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp)8. Gregory Rast (Swi)T-MOBILE TEAM11. Steffen Wesemann (G)12. Mario Aerts (B)13. Giuseppe Guerini (I)14. Matthias Kessler (G)15. Klöden Andréas (G)16. Daniele Nardello (I)17. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz)18. Erik Zabel (G)LOTTO - DOMO21. Peter Van Petegem (B)22. Serge Baguet (B)23. Christophe Brandt (B)24. Thierry Marichal (B)25. Axel Merckx (B)27. Rik Verbrugghe (B)28. Piotr Wadecki (Pol)29. Glenn D'Hollander

There’s now little doubt that Gerolsteiner’s Italian wonder man Davide Rebellin is the man of the week, the man of the month, maybe even the man of the year. That seven-year gap between World Cup victories after the two he scored in August 1997 was more like a blockage than a drought. Suddenly, last Sunday in the Netherlands, the dam broke and in eight days Rebellin has simply swept away his opposition in a torrent of victories: Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Tyler Hamilton said Sunday that he is focusing all of his efforts on a strong showing at this year’s Tour de France, perhaps joining his former boss and teammate on the podium. The 33-year-old from Massachusetts, who left U.S. Postal just over two years ago having helped Lance Armstrong win the first three of five yellow jerseys, failed to repeat his success from last year when he won the Liège-Bastogne- Liège World Cup classic for the Danish CSC team. Hamilton on Sunday finished ninth on the season's fifth World Cup race, finishing 12 seconds behind winner Davide Rebellin who claimed his

There was plenty of racing in Europe beyond the Ardennes. Here’s a round-up of all of Sunday’s other action: Cunego takes another winRising Italian star Damiano Cunego (Saeco) took another big victory Sunday in the 65th Giro dello Appennino (ITA 1.2), an important one-day race coming just days following his breakthrough victory at the Giro di Trentino earlier this week. 65th Giro dello Appennino (ITA 1.2)1. Damiano Cunego (I), Saeco 5h13:372. Giuliano Figueras (I), Ceramiche Panaria3. Rinaldo Nocentini (I), Acqua & Sapone4. Luis Jimenez (Col), Formaggi Pinzolo5. Gilberto Simoni (I),

Gord Fraser of Health Net-Maxxis took the final stage of the Dodge Tour de Georgia Sunday, beating out Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita Olive Oil) and 2002 world champion Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) in a high-speed 65kph dash to the line. There were no significant changes to the general classification, sealing the final overall victory for U.S. Postal-Berry Floor's Lance Armstrong.

Davide Frattini (Team Monex) and Lynn Gaggioli (T-Mobile) wrapped up the overall titles at La Vuelta de Bisbee Sunday morning despite both final stages being won by gutsy solo breakaways. Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) found a reserve of strength after having to contend for his top-three spot without team support and powered the infamous Tombstone Canyon climb for his solo win. In an almost 50-mile breakaway, two-year cycling veteran Michelle Beltran (Red 5 Racing), stormed up the final climb minutes ahead of the field to claim her stage win. The day opened with GC leaders holding known,

Rebellin stikes a familiar pose

The day's first escape

On the Cote St Roche

Jaksche on the attack

Iñigo Landaluze leads

Wesseman slips to third in the World Cup standings

Fraser scores another

Armstrong takes the overall title

Julich marked his return to American racing with a solid performance

Eki' drops back for a feed

Fraser takes the opener and the closer at TDG

And the winner is...

Gaggioli defended her lead

Beltran had company for the first few miles but, no one could stay with her

Beltran stayed out alone

Gaggioli was left to monitor the break on her own

Frattini

The early break in the men’s race would gain just over three minutes before the chase began

Swindlehurst took his second stage win but Frattini monitored the gap

Team Monex in control

Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) said he’s feeling strong and will be motivated to defend his title in Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège race in Belgium. Since joining Phonak, the popular New Englander has been quietly building his form for July’s Tour de France. He narrowly missed victory in the final time trial at the Tour of the Basque Country in early April and worked himself into an early attack in Wednesday’s Flèche Wallone. “You maybe didn't see it on Wednesday, but I consider myself to be in good shape, maybe slightly below that of a year ago but not by much,” Hamilton told Belgian newspaper La

The sunshine that enveloped the green hills of the Ardennes Saturday evening augers well for the Italians who have arrived in force for Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Not only do they have the highest number of starters (44) and teams (six) for this World Cup race, but they have also delivered the race winner four times in the past seven years. Last year, of course, Tyler Hamilton broke their stranglehold with a brilliant solo victory ahead of two other non-Italians, Spaniard Iban Mayo of Euskaltel-Euskadi and Dutchman Michael Boogerd of Rabobank. Both Hamilton (race No. 1) and Boogerd (No.

Colombian climber Cesar Grajales of the Athens-based Jittery Joe’s team won one for the homeboys on Saturday, and our man Casey Gibson was on the scene as Grajales, race leader Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor), second-placed Jens Voigt (CSC) and defending champion Chris Horner (Webcor Builders) fought for every steep yard along the climb to the highest point in Georgia. Check out Casey's photo gallery from stage 6:

Kate Sherwin (Team Kenda Tire) and Scott Blanchard (Eclipse Racing) won the first of two stages on Saturday during the 26th annual La Vuelta de Bisbee in Arizona. The morning’s stage also shook up the overall, with Lynn Gaggioli (T-Mobile) and Davide Frattini (Team Monex) taking over the lead on GC. Come the afternoon’s 8.3-mile Warren Time Trial, Gaggioli padded her overall lead by winning the stage, while Frattini surrendered a bit of time to defending LVDB champion Drew Miller (Landis-Trek-VW), who took the men’s win. The Sulphur Springs Road Race course rolled out of the old mining town

Colombian climber Cesar Grajales of the Athens, Georgia-based Jittery Joe’s team took the biggest victory of his career Saturday at the Dodge Tour de Georgia, escaping from a select group to solo away atop the hors categorie Brasstown Bald Mountain ascent.

Sherwin fronts a three-woman break

Blanchard wins by three bike lengths

The stage winner and the overall leader share a moment on the Georgia podium

Grajales had done his homework on this course, and it paid off today

The homeboy (he's Colombian, but the team is based in Athens) had plenty of fans

The race leader had his fans, too

And no wonder: He was taking this race seriously

Now, as for Cipo' . . . well, the Giro is coming up

And does Hincapie look more and more like a climber these days, or what?

Moninger has always gone uphill like a bottle rocket

The peloton cruises alongside a lake, which must have seemed inviting in the Georgia heat

Today's winner, bringing one home to Georgia

Grajales should be smiling - he worked hard for this one. For more Casey Gibson pictures of stage 6, click here.

A couple of weeks ago I ran into Boulder racer and former 7UP pro Chuck Coyle at Redlands. Besides racing his bike, Coyle is also the proprietor these days of theprosstuff.com, and we got to talking about ... socks. Seems that in addition to the pro equipment up for sale on the site – bikes, frames, wheels, components - TheProsStuff also has on hand several pair of team-issue socks. Used. I recently followed up with him, to find out if people are actually buying used cycling socks on the Web. Yes, he told me. "They're not going so fast. It's more of a specialty item," he joked. "I've

Reigning world road champion Igor Astarloa has been released by the embattled Cofidis team because he wanted to compete in two one-day classics next week and the team has abandoned competition while conducting an investigation into allegations of organized doping by several former and current riders. "Igor Astarloa is now free to sign for another team," said Cofidis in a statement on Friday. The 28-year-old Spaniard, who had joined the team in January and was under contract until 2006, will now join the Italian team Lampre. Another of the team's reigning champions, Britain's David Millar,

Cipo's been a great ambassador for cyclingEditors:I can't tell you what a pleasure it's been reading about Cipollini at the Tour de Georgia this week. His attitude has been great, and can only help the U.S. cycling scene. If you speak to him, please pass along my thanks. His "diplomatic tour" is a success. Peter CarltonStamford, CT Let OLN know its coverage has deterioratedEditors:I'm sure you've all noticed the general increase in lameness of the cycling coverage over at OLN these days. Considering that most of us are tossing out 15-20 extra dollars a month on cable just to catch a few

My T-Mobile teammates traveled home to America 10 days ago after a month of racing in Europe. They passed up on racing Flèche Wallonne in favor of a little rest, relaxation and build-up for the next set of races on the schedule. I was eager to race at Flèche, though I’d be without teammates – I had never competed in this classic race before and knew it would be a course that I would like. I got the opportunity to race with a mixed team, Basis–T-Mobile, a truly international squad with riders from Canada, the United States, Israel and France. They live in the Aude region of France between

(Northbrook, Ill., April 23) - In a bittersweet vote, the NorthbrookCycle Committee has chosen to suspend the 2004 season at the Ed RudolphNorthbrook Velodrome. Although this will mean a year without racing atthe historic venue, the decision paves the way for resurfacing to beginin July, rather than next September. "It was a tough decision to make," said Peter Janunas, NCC president."Beginning the resurfacing project in July allows us to complete the projectbefore winter sets in. With the unpredictable Chicago weather, there wasa fear that beginning the project in September may have

The day after Lance Armstrong scored a rare double victory in a single day at the Dodge Tour de Georgia, the U.S. Postal Service announced that it will cease sponsoring the five-time Tour de France winner and his team at the end of the 2004 season. The postal service, which has sponsored the team for eight years in an effort to increase business overseas, has decided to go “in another direction” with its advertising, spokesman Gerry McKiernan told The Associated Press. The agency has been criticized for spending money on the sponsorship, particularly in light of three postal-rate increases

Jason McCartney shot out of a six-man breakaway with more than 32km remaining to win the epic 137.5-mile fifth stage of the Dodge Tour de Georgia on Friday. The Health Net-Maxxis rider made his move on the fourth of five classified climbs as the break's lead over a U.S. Postal-driven chase began to dwindle, from six minutes to four.

For years she was one of America’s best downhillers — male or female — and one of the sport's most outrageous characters. Missy Giove never had much time for convention; she did things on her terms. Like it or not, she was an out-of-the-closet, in-your-face badass through and through. Alas, all good runs must come to an end, and the leader in NORBA downhill wins has finally decided to call it a career. Giove may still do a race here or there, but the days of contesting a full NCS or World Cup series are over. Giove won’t disappear completely, though. She’s signed on as one of the lead

Our man Casey Gibson was on the job in Georgia today for what he called a "great, great stage." And as usual, he caught both stars and watercarriers in the performance of their duties. Here's a look at his stage-5 portfolio.

Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) and Brooke Ourada (Victory Brewing) were fastest out of the gate on Friday as the 26th La Vuelta de Bisbee got under way in southern Arizona. The four-stage NRC event kicked off with the Mule Pass Individual Time Trial, a 2.8-mile grinder with 837 feet of elevation gain that wound through the center street in this small desert town and up the switchbacks of Tombstone Canyon. A head wind blasted the opening mile and a half, enhancing the difficulty of the climb. Swindlehurst covered the course in 10:01, just three seconds faster than Jacob Erker (Team

The one and only Missy Giove.

McCartney drills it

Workin' for the man

... and then some

Tony Cruz gets out front for his turn in the breeze

... as does Damon Kluck

Even Olympic champ Ekimov has to fetch a little water from time to time

Meanwhile, the boss shows one of the young pups how the big dogs bark

It's not all Postal: The Navs got their digs in

And so did the race leader

Armstrong showing a little leg (well, maybe not so little) on a descent

... along with faithful lieutenant Hincapie

134 miles, five categorized climbs

A weary McCartney finds the line at last

The Postal train chugged along at the front of the chase

Three of America's best: Horner, Julich and Armstrong

A frustrated Horner took his digs, but never got far

Armstrong takes up the challenge

The race leader meets the press: 'I've never seen a stage like that.'

Spanish climber Juan Miguel Mercardo (Quick Step) went on the attack in the third stage of the Giro di Trentino and was rewarded with a stage victory for his efforts. Mercado attacked the lead group at the Passo Uldarico climb and held on to win, 25 seconds ahead of Giuseppe Muraglia (Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave). The new father quickly dedicated the victory to his daughter. “It is a great satisfaction to have won today. During the last climb I made another attack and I arrived at the finish line alone,” Mercado said. “I want to dedicate this victory to my daughter, Aiñoa, who was born three

Dear Bob,Many businesses around Salt Lake City plow the snow from their propertyinto the street (often in the designated bike path). Are they potentiallyliable for injuries to cyclist that result from this action?Jeff,Salt Lake City, UtahDear Jeff,The mountains in the west have received some new snow and because thecycling season is well underway, your question is topical. Consideringhow often it snows in Salt Lake I am sure that you run into the problemof being forced off the shoulder and into traffic on many occasions bypiled up snow.Salt Lake City city ordinance 14.20.080, entitled

The first major reform of professional cycling became a reality here Thursday when the sport's ruling body announced dates for the all-new Pro Tour circuit. As of next year 28 of Europe's most popular races - from the one-day Paris-Roubaix classic to the three-week Tour de France - will become part of a circuit that aims to solidify competition by obliging all major teams, licensed by the Union Cycliste Internationale, to take part. "Our aim is to begin a more realistic project," said Alain Rumpf, the president of the Professional Cycling Council who announced the news here ahead of