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Snow and freezing conditions have forced the cancellation of the first of the 2004 "spring classics," the Omloop Het Volk. A wet cold front dropped snow over Belgium early Saturday, covering the route between Gent and Lokeren, creating dangerous conditions on some stretches of cobbles. Race officials waited for improvement, but finally opted to cancel the event for only the third time in its 59-year history. "We couldn't guarantee the safety of the riders," race director Wim Van Herreweghe said Saturday. Promoters remain confident that Het Volk's usual follow-up race,

USA Cycling has announced the formation of its U23 national mountain bike team. The program is an effort to develop top American espoir mountain bike athletes. The ultimate goal of the new U23 team is to generate gold medal finishes at world championships, the Pan American Games, and the Olympics. “By providing valuable coaching and preparation resources, and exposure to top domestic and international competition,” said team director Matt Cramer, “we hope to nurture the development of these athletes to help them become top international competitors.” Team members were selected through

Five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has hinted he could retire at the end of the season but admits he might find the prospect of losing this year's Tour de France too hard to swallow. The 32-year-old Texan is targeting a record sixth win in cycling's blue-ribbon event and admits retirement is a thought. But he told The Times newspaper in London on Saturday: "I can't imagine being retired 12 months from now. But I'm open to the possibility there will be a tap on the shoulder and someone says 'time's up'. "This could be my last year. If I lost I don't know if I would say, 'Okay,

Alexandre Usov (Phonak) muscled to a sprint victory in Saturday’s fifth and final stage of the Tour of Valencia while Alejandro Valverde (CV-Kelme) sewed up the overall title. Saturday’s 165km final stage hit a Category 2 climb early on, then rolled back into Valencia where the bunch came in for a mass gallop. Sunny skies returned after several days of rain, but heavy winds continue to wallop the peloton. It was an impressive week for the 23-year-old Valverde, who won two stages and otherwise controlled the race, held in the same region that is home to the team’s new sponsor, Communidad

Gordon McCauley (Monex) won the Tour de Temecula’s opening De Portola Time Trial on Friday. McCauley covered the 12-mile out and back course, with its short midpoint hill, in 24:48.9. Daniel Ramsey (Team Seasilver) took second in 24:54.6, followed by Thurlow Rogers (Jax Trek-VW) in 24:58.5. Jeannie Longo won the women’s TT in 27.25.1, ahead of Susan Cooper (Bicycle Johns) in 27:48.3 and Catherine Powers (Dasani La Grange) in 28:25.4. Today brings the Wine Country Road Race, held on an 8.5-mile circuit. Men will do 10 laps, women six. The tour concludes Sunday with the Temecula Grand Prix,

Team Adidas Fiat Rotwild was the first to cross the finish line on Saturday as The Cape Epic, an eight-stage mountain-bike stage race in South Africa, got under way. The 750km stage race, which began on the Garden Route in Knysna and ends March 6 at the Spier Wine Estate, just outside Cape Town, will send its 273 teams through the Western Cape and across some of the most magnificent mountain passes in South Africa. Each team consists of two riders, who must stay together throughout the race. The first stage, a 120km leg that gained 3050 meters of elevation as it crossed the Outeniqua

Italian Franco Pellizotti (Alessio-Bianchi) won the hilly, chilly GP di Chiasso on Saturday as the Swiss racing season opened in near-freezing temperatures with the remnants of a recent snowfall on the roadside. The 166km course began with seven circuits of 12km each, followed by five trips around a 16km loop that extended and enhanced the day’s climbing. A seven-man group escaped on the third lap and built a margin of 1:35 before Viktor Rapinski (Navigators) bridged up near the end of the fourth lap. The foursome stayed away until the first of the large circuits, where the field swept them

Icy conditions on some portions of the course forced cancellation

Chocolade Jacques' Chris Peers chats with reporters while awaiting the officials' decision.

There's not much to do on a day like this, except stand around and talk to the announcer

Peers warms up with a cup of java.

Mario Cipollini will make his long-awaited return to the Tour de France this year after organizers issued the seven remaining wildcard invitations for this year's race Friday.Fourteen first division teams have already qualified for the race in accordance with their UCI (International Cycling Union) rankings at the end of last season.Organizers have left open the possibility for a 22nd team to be added to the list at a later date.Cipollini has missed the world's biggest race for the past two years, with his non-inclusion last year during the race's centenary edition causing an uproar in

In the upcoming U.S. road season preview issue of VeloNews, we present “20 things to watch” in American racing in 2004. There are some obvious selections, such as how Chris Horner will fare with the Webcor team, and others not so obvious. And, of course, there are a few things that didn’t make the cut or got overlooked. So, in anticipation of that issue hitting the streets in two weeks, here’s the Notes list of five more things to watch. Charles Dionne. Less than two years ago, the Canadian sprinter was the up-and-coming star in North America after winning the San Francisco Grand Prix to

Italian Alessandro Bertolini (Alessio) claimed what will be a memorable overall victory on the final day of the Tour of Lucca in Altopascio, Italy, on Friday. The fourth and final stage of the Italian season-opener was won by Florent Brard (Chocolat Jacques), a victory made easier for the Frenchman by the absence of most of the peloton. On Thursday, organizers disqualified 120 riders – including Italian sprinters Mario Cipollini and Alessandro Petacchi – after they were deemed to be taking too long to finish the stage, a situation which had also been decided by the need for locals to regain

The Jittery Joe's jersey. It's, uh, colorful....

Bertolini takes the overall

The four-stage Geelong Tour began Sunday night with an eight-kilometer prologue time trial. T-Mobile is the only all-American team here, but there are a handful of Americans dispersed on different teams. Jessica Phillips is riding with the German Nuremberger team this season. She will be based in Liepzig, Germany and racing in Europe most of the year, but their team has started the season in Australia with the tour and a short training camp. Meredith Miller, who is based in Copenhagen, Denmark is riding with the Scandinavian SATS team. SATS is a chain of gyms that is prominent throughout

Dear Bob,Can I be ticketed for speeding on my bicycle?Tom SMilwaukee, WIDear Tom,It is a good question and the short answer is, yes.Since you signed off from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and traffic violationsare regulated by municipal law we’ll start off by looking at the Milwaukeecity ordinances. Chapter 102-1 says that the city of Milwaukee adoptsall Wisconsin statutes defining and describing regulations with respectto vehicles and traffic (Chapter 103-1 which regulates bicyclesalso adopts Wisconsin statutes).Since Milwaukee’s municipal code directs us to follow the Wisconsinstatutes, the next

There was no stopping Alejandro Valverde (CV-Kelme) as he shot to his second win a row and into the overall leader’s jersey as he won a wet and messy stage into Sagunto to claim the third stage of the Tour of Valencia. Valverde timed his move perfectly, came off the fifth wheel and sprung to his third victory of the season. With the 10-second time bonus, he nudged ahead of Toni Colom (Illes Balears) by one second to take the leader’s jersey. “I have good form now and I want to take advantage of it,” said Valverde, who came across ahead of sprint specialists Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) and

Colom now trails by one second on GC

New Zealand Commonwealth champion, Sarah Ulmer, 27, sprinted home fora win in the final stage of the Geelong Tour on Wednesday but it was Canberra’sOenone Wood, 23, (Australian Institute of Sport) who celebrated overallTour victory.The 2004 dual Australian road champion, Wood, took over the lead onTuesday from Victorian Katie Mactier, 28, (Jayco) and went into the finalstage with a slender seven second lead. But the strong support of her teamin countering all threats saw her successfully defend the leader’s bluejersey. Mactier finished in second place six seconds behind while KatherineBates,

Alejandro Valverde (CV-Kelme) is proving he’s a “todo terreno,” an all-roundrider capable of winning in any conditions. The world champion runner-up shot ahead of veteran Rolf Aldag (T-Mobile)on a steep finishing approach to claim the rainy 148.5km second stage ofthe Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana on Tuesday for his second win of theseason. “For me, this win is an injection of moral because this season couldbe my confirmation,” Valverde told Spanish television. “I haven’t set specialgoals. Every race I start that I feel good I want to go for the podium.” Valverde, who lives in nearby

I just got back from a whirlwind trip out to Wisconsin where VeloNews's Nick Ramey and I were able to visit with both Trek and Pacific Cycle. With one long day slated for our Trek visit, we had high hopes of getting a look at what the venerable company is planning for coming years and, 12 hours later, we left very satisfied. Our main guide for the day was Fisher/LeMond/Klein/Bontrager brand coordinator Ryan Atkinson. Our stops included visits to the massive 182,000-square-foot Whitewater production facility where 240 employees assemble many of the Trek, Fisher, Klein and LeMond models. While

When we got to Trek's main headquarters in Waterloo, WI we were greeted by our new media contact, the venerable Zapata Espinoza

On our tour we saw many Trek Madone 5.9 frames undergoing Trek's Project One custom graphics treatment

One of the finished $7000 (complete bike) Limited Edition Madone 5.9 framesets (only 500 will be produced and all are already spoken for)

Think disc brakes don't belong on road bikes? Trek engineers might disagree, as evidenced by this prototype Lemond Ti road frame

Our day-long tour guide snuck us into Trek's Advanced Concepts Group where we saw many prototypes and one-off team bikes including Wade Bootes's own mountain-cross specific Fuel

Stickering your Trek bike is a surprisingly difficult process, as it is done almost entirely by hand and eye

In the time it will take your to read this column, the Bontrager wheel manufacturing station (including lacing and truing) will have completed one wheel

All Bontrager wheels are produced in Wisconsin, from its entry level mountain bike wheelsets to its high-end carbon tubulars

Valverde grabs the win

Colom still in yellow

Vande Velde's new kit

There’s perhaps not a racer competing in the North American peloton that’s as universally acknowledged as the “consummate professional” as is Sierra Nevada’s hard-working Eric Wohlberg. Entering his 13th year of racing, Wohlberg, 39, shows no signs of slowing down, evidenced by his recent time trial win at the Tour de Langkawi. Then again, winning time trials is nothing new for Wohlberg, as he is an eight-time Canadian national time trial champion. That’s right, eight. He also took 20th at the Sydney Olympic Games time trial. Maybe it’s those 500 sit-ups he’s rumored to do every morning.

Australian road champion Oenone Wood, 23, (AIS) took over the leadfrom Katie Mactier, 28, (Jayco) in the Geelong Tour on Tuesday, as PetraRossner (Team Nurnberger) scored a solid sprint win to take stage threeof the four-day Australian stage race.Wood was aggressive throughout the 77.5km stage which offered bonusseconds in three intermediate sprints and at the finish. Wood claimed themaximum three second bonus on the first two sprints to overtake Mactier’slead and also picked up two seconds on the third sprint. Mactier couldn’tcounter her rival’s attack.“I knew Katie (Mactier) would be trying

Spanish rider Toni Colom took another win for the new Illes Balears team Tuesday after out-sprinting David Blanco (Valencia-Kelme) in Tuesday’s opening stage of the Tour of Valencia. Colom, who won the Ruta del Sol race in 2002 while riding for Fuenlabrada, delivered the overall but unofficial title at the Mallorca Challenge earlier this month to open the Spanish racing calendar. “It’s nice to actually win the stage instead of just take the leader’s jersey like I did at Mallorca,” Colom said. “It was very rainy at the start of the stage but we’re going to keep fighting. I’m maybe not quite

Dear readers,I have gotten so much mail on the chain wear and replacement issue, thatI decided to clarify my perspective on the cost/benefit equation and postthe best samples of the mail I have recently received opposing as wellas supporting my position. I just completed writing a new book that I turned in to VeloPress lastThursday, two hours before flying off for my annual appointment to competein (or suffer through) the American Birkebeiner, the great 51km cross-countryski race in Wisconsin. The book, which is sort of my "Top 50" list of things you can do tobe faster, more efficient, more

The mad dash for UCI points officially got underway in mid-February, as a small group of American cross-country pros made the long trek to Cyprus to contest the first UCI-sanctioned races of the year. UCI ranking (based on UCI points) will determine who represents the U.S. at the Olympic Games this summer in Athens. The first rider to get on the board was Mary McConneloug, who touched down on the island nation set in the far eastern reaches of the Mediterranean Sea two weeks ahead of her peers, then took victories in the second and third races of the four-race E2 Winter Cup series. The Seven

Winning at Langkawi

'It’s nice to actually win...,' said Colom

Telekom's Cadel Evans finishes in 67th, 2:30 back

McConneloug gets the top step

Belgians Meirhaeghe and Paulissen dominated the men's race

Dual Australian road champion, Oenone Wood, 23, (AIS) put in a strongfinal burst on Monday to take the second stage of the Geelong Tour, a 35 kilometer criterium raced in Geelong’s Eastern Park.The Canberra rider, wearing the green and gold national champion’s jersey,pipped Sydney’s Katherine Bates, 21, (NSWIS) on the line with RochelleGilmore (AUS - Team SATS third.“We were trying to get working and attacking to get a break away butthe course proved difficult to do that on,” said Wood of the 2.2km circuiton which the riders completed 16 laps. “The course wasn’t technical, exceptfor one

The team has started the season better than it ever has with five wins to date. Last year we didn’t have five before the Tour and only 12 in the entire year. The teams in both Ruta del Sol and Algarve were strong and successful. The nice thing is that we hadn’t really planned on being in flying form for these races; they were simply build-up for the main objectives, so it is definitely a confidence boost and a nice bonus to have the victories under the belt. Going into Algarve we knew the last two days were to be key. The time trial was a long one, 24 km, with many false flat sections and

Floyd Landis won Sunday’s final stage and the overall at the Tour ofthe Algarve in Portugal to mark the best start to the season ever for U.S.Postal Service. The team also won two stages at the Ruta del Sol last week.Five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong started the stagewearing the yellow jersey, but told Landis to ride for the victory. Armstrongwon Saturday’s time trial and finished fifth overall.“Lance is generous, so he said I could go for the win if I was feelingwell. Everybody worked together,” Landis told the AP. “It's good for theteam to start the year with a win, so

How is easier better?Dear Joe and Dirk,I have to confess that I don't really believe what I've been readingabout base-building.As I understand it, if I have two hours to ride on a given day, basetraining says I will achieve better conditioning if I ride at 6 percentof my maximum heart rate than I would were I to ride at 75 percent.Is that true, and if so, why? It seems counter-intuitive.Jack RawlinsDear Jack,The answer to your question really depends upon where your currentfitness levels are. Simply riding for two hours in a relatively easy state(heart rate zones 1-2) will not improve fitness

French cycling chief Jean Pitallier vowed Monday to weed out the hard core of drug takers who continue to drag the sport into disrepute. The French Cycling Federation (FFC) president admitted in an open letter that despite the organization’s best efforts certain riders were continuing to risk their health and the reputation of the sport by taking banned substances. "Cycling as a sport is in the media spotlight. The stories are coming in swift succession! From the sordid to the morbid for several weeks and most recently with the cruel and unexplained death of Marco Pantani," he said. "Even

Who says you can’t buy happiness? Bolstered by the addition of a pro prize purse, the NORBA National Series events in Waco, Texas, and Sonoma, California, have both been bumped from E2 to E1, doubling the number of UCI points that will be on offer for the first two events of the U.S. mountain-bike racing series. At the season opener in Waco, March 11-14, pro riders will be vying for $12,000 ($10,000 in the cross-country, and $1000 each for the time trial and short track). There will also be $10,000 in gift cards on the line for the semi-pros and experts, while the sports and beginners will

In yellow when it counts

Being in Australia this week has been a stark contrast to the past few weeks I spent training at home in Boulder. One week ago, I was Nordic skiing or riding my bike in sub-zero weather, trying to avoid ice patches in the shady sections of the canyons West of town. On Friday, I was riding along the Great Ocean road southwest of Melbourne watching the surfers along the coast. It was 40 degrees Celsius, the sun was beating down on us, sweat was beading on our faces, I had sunscreen spread all over my body, but was struggling cover the one spot I missed on the back of my neck with the collar of

Katie Mactier, 28, (Jayco) leads Australia’s four-day Geelong Tour after claiming a delayed victory in the opening twilight time trial stage raced at the Bellarine Peninsula beachside town of Portarlington. Her victory came in unusual circumstances after officials amended the original result when a recording error was noticed. After reviewing the timing tape officials moved Mactier into first and Sydney’s Kate Bates, 21, (NSWIS), who was originally awarded the win, down to fourth. Bates, while disappointed, accepted the mistake with good grace while Mactier was thrilled to learn she would

A day after losing Saturday’s time trial by one second to teammate LanceArmstrong, U.S. Postal’s Floyd Landis continued strong to win Sunday’sclimbing stage and claimed the overall title at the Tour of the Algarve. The difficult 178km stage was held over narrow roads and steep climbsin the hills north of Portugal’s glimmering Algarve coast. A breakawaypeeled away early, but the favorites moved to the front for the secondand final charge up the Category summit finish at Malhao. Landis held off Peter Farazijn (Cofidis) to win by five seconds andclaim his first individual title in Europe since

Two-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) is known for his quicksprint, but the Spanish rider won Sunday’s Trofeo Luis Puig after holdingout on a solo bid to spoil the fiesta for the sprinters.The Spanish semi-classic held over a rolling course between Valenciaand Benidorm along Spain’s sunny Mediterranean Coast hit the difficultAlto del Coll de Rates early on. Freire joined several riders who peeledaway from the main bunch on the descent.Joining Freire were four other Spanish riders: Ruben Plaza, Toni Colom,Koldo Gil and Bingen Fernandez. The quartet held a 30-second gap on thebunch,

Lance Armstrong’s arrival at the Tour of the Algarve is the biggest thingthis otherwise modest Portuguese race has seen since the arrival of MiguelIndurain in 1996.Big Mig used this five-day race to kick-start his bid at a record sixthTour, but Armstrong is hoping this race provides a better ending laterthis year than the Spaniard faced in that year’s Tour.Armstrong sat down before 20 or so eager Portuguese journalists Fridayevening to answer some questions. Had he been to Portugal before? Yes,last May for a presidential cancer panel. Does he want to go to the moon?Well, he’s actually thought

Lance Armstrong fought through a brisk headwind to claim victory in Saturday’s individual time trial and shot into the overall lead with one day left in the Volta ao Algarve. Racing in the fourth day of his season debut, the five-time Tour de France champion edged U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis by one second in the 24km time trial. “It was very windy. I was surprised to win. I started too fast and I paid the price in the end,” said Armstrong, who finished in 31 minutes, 53 seconds (45.165 kph). “I rode with the SRM, started with big watts, finished with small watts. It’s always

Italian police have targeted a suspect in the death of Marco Pantani, who died in mysterious circumstances last Saturday in a hotel room in Rimini. Police have concluded that Pantani's death from a heart attack was triggered by an overdose of drugs, quite possibly by a combination of tricyclic antidepressants and cocaine. Police have since been searching suspects who, it is believed, suppliedPantani with cocaine prior to his death. On Saturday Corriere dello Sport reported that police now have a main suspect. ANSA news agency reported at the same time that a number of other drug dealers

Landis finishes just one second back

Pena rounds out the top three

Lance Armstrong’s season debut turned a little soggy Friday as Portugal’s sunny Algarve coast got drenched with afternoon showers late in the 180km third stage of the Volta ao Algarve. Armstrong rode at the front of the main bunch of the day’s major obstacle at the Category 2 Fóia climb at 57km and was content to let the sprinters take over coming into Lagos, where Martin Garrido (Barbot-Gaia) pipped Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) to take the flowers. Candido Barboso (LA Pecol) took third and retained the overall lead after sprints have finished the action in the opening three days. Going into

Thanks to the doctorsDear VeloNews,Thank you so much for the article, Acyclist's guide to depression.I think that this is such important information. I am a 58-year-old female cycling enthusiast, not a racer and not competitive.I follow the professional races. I cannot adequately express how deeplyPantani's death has affected me. To know that a man so loved and so admiredcan feel so alone is beyond comprehension, except to understand what depressionis about. If there is a good outcome to this tragic lost of a remarkableathlete, it is for leaders like VeloNews to reach thousands whomight

With the season basically underway, we’re finally figuring out just which Division 3 teams are going to be around in the U.S. this year. The lastest information coming from USA Cycling shows 12 U.S. D3 teams, to go along with Division 1 U.S. Postal Service and Division 2 Navigators Insurance. A quick glance at the list reveals some absences from last year, including the ones everybody knows about – Saturn, Prime Alliance, 7UP, Schroeder Iron – and a few that nobody was really sure about: Sportsbook.com, West Virginia and LeMond-Captain Cra-Z-Soap (which I would be sad to see go, if for no

The first race of the year always feels a little odd. The change from a training bike and long ride in a group or alone to a race bike and an attacking peloton is quite extreme and the body senses it almost immediately. But by the second day, my mind was back into it, the legs had come around and it seems like just a week ago I was in the Vuelta a España. The Volta Algarve is a nice race to start the season, as the weather is fairly mild in the south of Portugal, the racing is quite tame, and the countryside is nice for racing with undulating terrain. The vegetation and environment seem

Leading on the Fóia

Friday's EuroFile: Garrido at Algarve; Leblanc looks ahead

Dear Bob,I live in Maryland and when I train I carry my cell phone. I don’tmake calls but keep it for emergencies. Occasionally I will answer a calland speak while I ride along if the roadway is safe and easy. Is this legal?TomDear Tom,I started bringing my cell phone on rides as a way to multi-task (read- so I can ride when I should be in the office). I seem to rememberseeing pictures of Lance doing the same thing and I will point that outto any officer who stops me. When I do make or take calls, I make surethe roadway is safe and that I am not endangering anyone else. I must sayI get some