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It looked like a magical finish in the making for the Italian throngs lined up along Via Roma in San Remo. Super Mario, the guy whose face was on half of the T-shirts being hawked in the crowd, had caught back onto the front group on the descent of the Poggio, and he had a four-man Saeco train pulling him to the front. [nid:20289]But Erik Zabel’s Deutsche Telekom train was also working well, and despite Cipollini closing the gap rapidly, he was still a half bike-length behind at the line after charging past world road champion Romans Vainsteins with 25 meters to go.

As the designated finisher for Mercury on the final day of the Sea Otter road race Saturday, Australian Baden Cooke was on the hot seat. His team – accustomed to taking wins in buckets with sprinter Gord Fraser – had been stymied by a hot Saturn squad and hadn’t won all weekend. With Fraser feeling under the weather, Cooke did just fine, outsprinting Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens, among others, to chalk up the biggest win of his young career. In the women’s Laguna Seca circuit race, Anna Millward just kept rolling, winning the stage and the overall Sea Otter title. Joining Millward in the

It’s called the Sea Otter Classic, and Saturday the event lived up to its name, providing a pair of classic match-ups in the finals of the dual slalom. On the men’s side it was defending world champion Wade Bootes taking on reigning World Cup champ Brian Lopes. The women’s final saw American Missy Giove taking on her nemesis, Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson. Give round one to Lopes and Chausson. Each drank in the first taste of victory in 2001, after picking up wins on a warm, sunny day in the hills outside Monterey, California. For Lopes, the road to the final proved tougher than the

For the second day in a row the gang from Specialized dominated the mountain-bike stage race at the Sea Otter Classic. On the men’s side it was Fillip Meirhaeghe who was first across the line in the 8-lap short-track race on a sunny Saturday, outside Monterey, California. Meirhaeghe’s teammates, Barbara Blatter and Caroline Alexander, went 1-2 in the women’s race, a 7-lap affair, duplicating a feat they accomplished a day earlier in the time trial. The Belgium Meirhaeghe finished in a time of 20 minutes, 22.30 seconds, beating out Giant’s Bart Brentjens by 13.10. Third place went to

This is how you win Milan - San Remo four times.

Matveyev and company

Bartoli and Rebellin on the Poggio

Colombo on the Poggio

Lopes knocked off Bootes, last year's Sea Otter champ.

Giove was ahead here, but Chasson was ahead when it counted.

Bootes knocked off King and Carter to advance to the finals.

Gracia got knocked out in the second round, but hung around to compete in the big-air contest

Ellsworth's John Jesme didn't win, but this back flip got the biggest big-air applause

Brentjens was all smiles after the short track

Meirhaeghe gets the win

Alexander (left) and Blatter work over Dunlap (right)

When Thursday afternoon’s Cannery Row Circuit Race came down to the last of 80 laps for the men, the safe bet was on a guy in green. With the Monterey Bay to their left, the John Steinbeck Building to their right, and gray clouds rolling above their heads, the Mercury train was in full effect in downtown Monterey. It’s a common scenario: Bell banging away, five Mercury men on the front. Sure enough, less than one minute after the bell stopped clanging, that guy in green hit the Cannery Row finishing stretch with a gap that would get him through. But the Navigators wear a true green, not

It was a busy day in Monterey on Thursday as the 2001 Sea Otter Classic kicked off with a double stage day. In the morning, all the usual suspects found their way to the top of the standings after the Laguna Seca Time Trial. Fresh from two World Cup wins on successive weekends Saturn’s Anna Millward hit the ground running when she arrived in the U.S. to earn a win in the stage. On the men’s side, U.S. Postal’s Levi Leipheimer emerged on top and confidently predicted that this race will probably come down to two men: himself and Mercury’s Chris Horner.In the women's 40km crit, Saturn

Milan-San Remo is the first big classic and the chance for many riders to cop a big win. It has ended many times in a large sprint, as well as in solo victories. Erik Zabel (Deutsche Telekom) has won three of the last four editions and looks to be the strong favorite again, having shown good form in February and March races in Spain. After interviewing many team mechanics the day before the race, in fact, those who would make a prediction of a rider not on their own teams, Zabel was the one. Milan-San Remo is not only the first of the major classics, but it is also the longest. The course is

There was a time when Barbara Blatter resided in the quiet corner of obscurity. This one-time kindergarten teacher didn’t even start racing mountain bikes full time until 1998. And before last year most of her competitors viewed her as a strong rider, but not a serious podium threat. But in 2000, Blatter changed those perceptions, picking up three World Cup wins on her way to the overall title. A year later, Blatter has picked up right where she left off. The 30-year-old Specialized rider made a sparkling debut in the colors of her new team, finishing first in stage 1 of the Seagate

If early-season happenings on the domestic road circuit are any indication, we are experiencing a planetary shift. Move over, Mercury, it’s Saturn’s turn to shine. Trent Klasna is red hot, Harm Jansen is as aggressive as ever, and Anna Millward just can’t seem to lose. Those three Saturn riders led the charge in Friday’s grueling Fort Ord Road Race at the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca Speedway in Monterey, California. As usual, Jansen couldn’t hold himself back in the men's race. With more than 70 miles of rugged California coastal roads still ahead of him, Jansen initiated the day’s

Levi Leipheimer, who thought the Mercury Sea Otter Classic would be a two-man race after he won the difficult opening time trial on Thursday, needed time to compose his thoughts. Sitting in the back of the U.S. Postal Service team van, Leipheimer pulled off his race leader's jersey and pulled on his dark-blue team sweats. A few minutes earlier, he had crossed the line in the company of his closest rival, Mercury's Chris Horner, but they were almost four minutes behind Saturn's two-man express: Harm Jansen and new race leader Trent Klasna. The first words out of a shattered Leipheimer's mouth

Levi Leipheimer, who thought the Mercury Sea Otter Classic would be a two-man race after he won the difficult opening time trial on Thursday, needed time to compose his thoughts. Sitting in the back of the U.S. Postal Service team van, Leipheimer pulled off his race leader's jersey and pulled on his dark-blue team sweats. A few minutes earlier, he had crossed the line in the company of his closest rival, Mercury's Chris Horner, but they were almost four minutes behind Saturn's two-man express: Harm Jansen and new race leader Trent Klasna. The first words out of a shattered

Victory for Vassiliy

Teutenberg in TT

Mercury's Gord Fraser

Chris Wherry

Women's start at Cannery Row

Teutenberg is back

Lotsa Saturn there

Leipheimer

La Primavera kicks off World Cup season

Blatter continues to fly

Green gets ready to ride

Alexander focuses in the starthouse

All the usual suspects found their way to the top of the standings after the Laguna Seca Time Trial, stage 1 of the Robert Talbott Elite Road Race, the opening event of the 2001 Sea Otter Classic. On the women’s side, Saturn’s Anna Millward was the quickest around the up-and-down 27.5km course. The Aussie posted a time of 44:11, knocking teammate Kim Bruckner from atop the leaderboard and setting up a 1-2 finish for Saturn. The win in the hills just outside of Monterey, California, continued Millard’s impressive run that includes wins at the year's first two World Cups. Under overcast

Millward continues to shine

Postal is on top, but Mercury lurks close behind

Nick Chenoweth, the point man for EDS's sponsorship of USA Cycling, was indicted this month in Texas on federal mail fraud and wire fraud charges in connection with the alleged misappropriation of $379,000 in funds intended the company's cycling program. EDS ended its sponsorship of its team and individual riders, including Olympic champion Marty Nothstein, in 1999. The company also maintained a separate sponsorship with USA Cycling which it ended in 2000. According to the indictment, Chenoweth, 46, submitted false reimbursement claims for bikes, equipment and for services that were

Davide Rebellin of Italy won the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race here Wednesday after what amounted to a photo-finish with countryman Gabriele Colombo. Rebellin was given the same overall time of 29hr 41min 09sec for the eight-stage race as Colombo, but was adjudged the winner by a fraction of a second and on better stage placings. The final stage over 161km along the Adriatic coastline went to another Italian, Endrio Leoni who clocked 4hr 28min 57sec. Rebellin, who grabbed the leader's white jersey in the seventh stage Tuesday, said that he never felt confident of winning the race until

She came to Redlands in top form, ready to act as team leader for the Saturn-Timex women's team in North America's road season opener. But on the second stage of the six-day event, Bessette gave a strong lead out to teammate Ina Teutenberg who then crashed at the line in front of her. Teutenberg suffered some serious cuts to her face, requiring 32 stitches. Bessette, meanwhile, broke her collarbone, putting a temporary halt to what could still be a very productive season. We had a chance to chat with Bessette at the side of the road during the Sunset Road Race, the final stage at

Bessette won't let the Redlands crash get her down.

VeloNews Q&A: Lyne Bessette

Italian rider Davide Rebellin retook the overall lead of Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday after the 223km seventh stage of the race ended in Ascoli. But Rebellin was edged out for the stage win as the in-form Dutchman Michael Boogerd sprinted past at the line. However, the 29-year-old Rebellin, who held the lead after Saturday's fourth stage but lost it the next day, will have to be on his guard in Wednesday's final 161km stage as Boogerd, second in the recent Tour of Valencia, trails by just three seconds in third place. Rebellin, though, said he was confident he could hold on. "I have

Kona-Ford Focus has signed former Saturn road star Bart Bowen to its team. Bowen will make his debut at the Sea Otter Classic, in Monterey, California this weekend. "Bart was looking to do less racing on the road on a full-on contract, high-pressure situation," said Kona team manager Mark Peterson. "The Kona team will be a much more relaxed atmosphere." Bowen joins Geoff Kabush, Tracey Moseley, and Scott Beaumont headlining the 2001 team. Bowen will also be part of Kona’s cyclo-cross team, which includes Dale Knapp, and Ann Grande. "Cross is where we'll be getting serious," added

One face you didn't expect to see at Redlands this year was that of Jeroen Blijlevens. But there he was, taking part in the 17th edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Dutch sprinter was in California, because of a "slight delay" to the start of his 2001 season. Though he has an impressive résumé that includes five stage wins at the Vuelta España, two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and four at the Tour de France, Blijlevens has most recently gained attention for a fight on the last day of the 2000 Tour. After finishing the final stage in Paris, Blijlevens charged at American Bobby

Blijlevens racked up some early-season miles at Redlands.

Latvia's Romans Vainsteins won the sixth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race Monday, a 136km run from Torre San Patrizio to Monte San Pietrangeli. Vainsteins defeated Swiss rider Markus Zberg in a sprint finish but the conclusion was marred by the fall of overnight race leader Sergei Ivanov of Russia who had to be taken to hospital after tumbling 500m from the finish. Ivanov was being treated at Fermo Hospital where he was undergoing tests while Italian cyclist Lope Boselli was also treated for injuries sustained in the same incident. Ivanov was credited with finishing the stage in

On the strength of their overall wins at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, Saturn's Trent Klasna and Rona's Genevieve Jeanson moved into the lead of the USCF's season-long NRC series. In the team rankings, Mercury-Viatel remains atop the men's standings, with Saturn leading the women. Men 1 Trent Klasna Saturn 252pts 2 Roland Green US Postal Service 175 3 Chris Horner Mercury/Viatel 155 4 Baden Cooke Mercury/Viatel 129 5 Levi Leipheimer US Postal Service 127 6 Michael Rogers Mapei-Quick Step 103 7 Eddy Gragus Jelly Belly 101 8 Gord Fraser Mercury/Viatel

Schwinn downhiller Leigh Donovan has announced she’ll retire from mountain bike racing after the 2001 season. The 29-year-old Donovan began her career in BMX, where she became a national champion. She started racing mountain bikes in 1992, and by ’93 had turned pro, signing with Team Iron Horse. In 1995, then with Mongoose, Donovan became the only person to ever win the U.S. downhill series, the U.S. slalom series and the downhill world championship. For her career Donovan has 14 NORBA dual slalom wins, nine NORBA downhill wins, and three World Cup wins. Last year she was third in both the

The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to immediately begin sponsorship of USA Cycling’s National Junior and Espoir teams. The U.S. Espoir squad competing at Redlands showed up for Saturday’s downtown criterium wearing redesigned jerseys sporting a new USPS logo to reflect the new sponsorship. At a press conference on Saturday, USPS senior vice president for sales, Gail Sonnenberg, said the sponsorship reflects the service’s long-term view of the sport. “The Postal Service is committed to the development of the next generation of cycling champions. We believe in the values of hard

Dario Frigo became the first Italian for 55 years to win Paris-Nice on Sunday while countryman Fabrizio Guidi won the seventh and final stage. Guidi gave Mercury the perfect end to a near-perfect week with a clinical finish for their third stage win out of eight in front of the sun worshippers and rollerbladers on Nice's promenade des Anglais. After late attacks from Big Mat's Loic Lamueller and the prologue winner Nico Mattan had been swept up, the peloton swept down the windblown finish straight led by Peter Van Petegem. He repaid Guidi his sterling work through the week by leading him

Saturn’s Anna Milward made it two-for-two when she won her second women's World Cup race in just over a week, at the Hamilton, New Zealand, World Cup. The Australian was part of a six-strong group that broke away on the seventh of 17 laps of the 6.3 km circuit. The group included Sarah Ulmer, Mirjam Melchers, Sara Carrigan and world road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia. World time trial champion Mari Holden missed the break, started when Melchers sprinted away on the circuit's biggest hill. But Holden launched a tremendous three-kilometer chase to join the group. The bunch increased the gap

While Dario Frigo was winning Paris-Nice, his Fassa Bortolo teammates were also lighting it up at Tirreno-Adriatico. Italian Roberto Petito, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in Torricella Sicura Sunday, a 14.2km time trial. The overall lead changed hands for the third time in three days, as Petito’s teammate Sergei Ivanov displaced Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. Petito finished ahead of second-placed Spaniard David Plaza Romero and his Russian teammate Sergei Ivanov, who takes over the lead in the overall standings. It confirms

Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna successfully defended their leads at the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic to emerge as the overall victors after Sunday’s tough Sunset Road Race through the hilly residential neighborhoods of south Redlands. While Jeanson simply rode away from the field adding to her already substantial lead, it was the U.S. Postal Service’s Levi Leipheimer who took the final sprint in the men’s event. Jeanson entered Sunday’s final stage with a nearly two-minute lead in general classification over Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner. While two minutes may be an

The Negresco Hotel in Nice

Frigo (in white) and Bartoli (r)

Jeanson decided to test her fitness by riding a 95km TT. She is apparently quite fit.

Saturn team director Jim Copeland congratulates Klasna after stage 6.

The Italian Fassa Bortolo team took over Paris-Nice today during the Col d'Eze time trial, with Dario Frigo winning the stage in decisive style to take the lead from Peter Van Petegem of Belgium, with his teammate Raimondas Rumsas moving into second overall. Frigo, who finished second in last year's Tour of Switzerland, and finished ninth in Paris-Nice behind Andreas Kloden, led throughout the 10km uphill test, posting a time 14 seconds faster than Rumsas at the 6km checkpoint, where it was clear that Van Petegem, who was 23 seconds slower, would relinquish the white jersey. The

Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin, of the Liquigas team, won Saturday's fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race, a 170km run from Isernia to Celano. Rebellin also took the lead in the overall standings after outsprinting Dutch rider Michael Boogerd and Russia's Sergei Ivanov. The first three and Italian cyclist Gabriele Colombo, who won the Milan-San Remo Classic in 1996, made a vital break from the rest of the peloton with Rebellin holding off a spirited challenge from Boogerd of the Rabobank team to win. Earlier Ivan Basso and Danilo Di Luca had attempted a vain breakaway which

Katrina Berger (800.com) and Chris Horner (Mercury-Viatel) both took advantage of small, early breaks and earned criterium victories in the fifth stage of the 2001 Redlands Classic. While overall race leaders Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna held on to their top spots, the men’s race again saw a dangerous break inflict still more damage on one-time race leader Roland Green (U.S. Postal). Berger said she found herself with a good gap on the field early in the 60-minute women’s race. Having just won a prime, the 800.com rider “figured I give it a shot and try to keep going

Frigo took the lead

Julich finished 14th

Klasna holds on the men's overall lead.

Another dangerous combination. With Klasna and Horner up front, this one would be hard to catch.

Safford and Gariepy

Rabobank’s Markus Zberg won a hotly contested sprint finish on Friday, while Russian Dmitri Konyshev (Fassa Bortolo) took over the race lead at Tirreno-Adriatico. Friday’s 156km third stage went from Benevento to Castelpetroso as the race continued its eastward journey across southern Italy toward the Adriatic coast. The day saw plenty of breakaway attempts, including Roberto Petito (Fassa Bortolo), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Sergio Barbero (Lampre-Daikin), who were caught within sight of the 1km-to-go banner. That set up the furious finish, in which Zberg came off of Konyshev’s wheel

The heavy back roads of the Var left no impression on the overall classification of Paris-Nice on Friday, which means that no less than 15 riders were poised within one minute of the race leader Peter Van Petegem (Mercury-Viatel) going into Saturday's vital time trial to the Col d'Eze. The stage into Saint Raphael did however provide a welcome respite for the new Belgian team Domo, under pressure since they failed to show at Het Volk two weeks ago. Their Pole Piotr Wadecki spent 115 of the 150 miles in front with Bonjour's Francois Simon and Matteo Tosatto of Fassa Bortolo, disposed of the

It was all according to the book for 19-year-old Canadian sensation Genevieve Jeanson as she simply rode the competition off her wheel on final climb to Oak Glen at the end of stage 4 at the Redlands Classic on Friday. But as Jeanson easily fulfilled expectations, the two biggest men’s teams found themselves scrambling after an early break that “accidentally” formed without any overall contenders from either the U.S. Postal or Mercury-Viatel squads. Saturn’s Trent Klasna, who began the day in seventh place, 1:10 behind overall race leader Roland Green, was the top GC rider in the break and he

On March 14, the race known as The Zinger Cycling Challenge officially changed its name to the Saturn Cycling Classic, reflecting the new title sponsorship of the epic road race through the mountains of Colorado. The 140-mile race from Boulder to Breckendridge over the Continental Divide was introduced last July, and instantly gained a reputation as the toughest single-day road race in the U.S. Saturn was the official vehicle of the race last year, and stepped up to title sponsor for 2001. “We developed this race in the spirit of the European classics and what we unveiled last year

Wadecki beats Tosatto

Van Petegem retains the white jersey

Behind the wheel. Andreu's got a new role.

Bruckner (l) and Jeanson waited to see how far Smith was

Klasna hit the climb with a big advantage.

Wohlberg and McCormack did the lion's share of the work in the break.

Scenes from Wednesday's Highlands Road Race

Alex Zulle scored his first sprint win since he was an amateur to give new Division I squad Team Coast its first win of the season, a first step toward building its case for a place in the Tour de France. Zulle outsprinted ONCE's Portuguese neo-pro Jose Azevedo with the main bunch close on their heels in Sisteron, after the pair broke away on the final descent with 10km to go. "It's a great win for us, which boosts morale, proves we are serious, and gives us more confidence about the Tour," said Zulle. Close behind in the peloton was race leader Peter Van Petegem, who held onto the leader's