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This spring VeloNews' Senior Writer Fred Dreier and photographer Casey B. Gibson spent a lot of time at the USA Cycling development program's center in Izegem, Belgium. The two hung out with the young riders at the Belgium house that is the program's heart, as the riders ate, trained, raced, and met with their coaches. Dreier's article, illustrated by Gibson's photos, appears in the July issue of VeloNews, which went on sale on newsstands this week. Today Gibson is sharing some of the photos that did not make it into the magazine.

Sprint finishes decided both the men’s and women’s professional events at Sunday’s Bump N’ Grind cross-country race, held at Oak Mountain state park in Pelham, Alabama. The event was the third round of the 2009 USA Cycling Pro Cross-country tour (ProXCT), and the second round of the Kenda Cup East. In the men’s race, Australian rider Sid Taberlay (Sho Air-Specialized) out kicked Coloradan Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher). Luna teammates Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel went toe-to-toe in the women’s event, with Pendrel coming out on top.

Denis Menchov vaulted to the top of the UCI World Rankings this week, a position he owes entirely to his performance at the Giro d'Italia.

Colavita's Argentinean sprinter Sebastian Haedo has moved up from eighth to second on the latest National Racing Calendar individual rankings. Defending NRC champ Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) remains in first place in the rankings, thanks to his win at the Joe Martin Stage Race and several stage wins and stage podiums this season.

Fresh off the Madrid World Cup course, and ready for travel to Alabama and the Bump n’ Grind cross country race last week, Subaru-Gary Fisher team rider Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski’s Superfly 29er hardtail has a new look.

Five-time U.S. cyclocross champion Katie Compton was hospitalized for an asthma attack on Sunday after racing Alabama’s Bump n’ Grind cross-country race, the third round of USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country Tour (ProXCT). Compton, who was riding at the front of the race alongside Luna riders Catherine Pendrel and Georgia Gould, was forced to abandon on the third of four laps after suffering breathing problems. Paramedics hooked Compton to an oxygen flow and took her to a nearby hospital.

Ghisallo: From Alfredo Binda to Alessandro Ballan, the world’s best (and mostly Italian) cyclists have given Tour, Olympic and world champion jerseys to the museum. Notable Italian names include Mario Cipollini, Ivan Basso and Gianni Bugno. But there are also tunics from Frenchman Bernard Hinault, Spainard Miguel Indurain, American Connie Carpenter and Ukranian Yaroslav Popovych.

Ghisallo: Fabio Casartelli was born in nearby Como in 1970. The Olympic gold medalist died in a crash coming off the Col de Portet d'Aspet during stage 15 of the 1995 Tour de France.

Ghisallo: A half-dozen famous bikes are displayed in the church, including this machine Fausto Coppi rode to victory in the 1949 Tour de France.

Pope Pius XII appointed the Madonna of Ghisallo patron saint of cyclists in 1949, and this church has since served as a shrine to cycling greats.

Ghisallo: Fausto Coppi also lives on outside the Ghisallo chapel. Dubbed Il Campionissimo, this champion of champions won the Giro no less than five times. He also won the Giro di Lombardia five times. His other major wins include two Tours, one worlds, one Paris-Roubaix, three Milan-San Remos and four Italian national championships.

Ghisallo: Cycling clubs commissioned a statue of three-time Giro winner Gino Bartali. In 1936, he won the Giro and the Giro di Lombardia, but also suffered the loss of his brother Giulio in a racing accident.

Ghisallo: In 1984, Francesco Moser won the Giro and set the hour record. His distance: 51.151km. He also won Giro di Lombardia in 1975 and ’78.

Ghisallo: Legend holds that a Count of Ghisallo prayed to Madonna atop this hill in the 11th century. A church was built on the spot in 1623.

As Carlos Sastre charged away on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, several Italians gathered around a TV in a small café just paces away from the Sanctuary of Ghisallo, the tiny church for the patron saint of cyclists in Magreglio. Pope Pius XII officially gave the Madonna of Ghisallo the title in 1949, and today the hilltop shrine in northern Italy — smack on the Tour of Lombardy course — serves as a shrine to cycling greats, past and present.

PRESS RELEASE

Chris Baldwin, a top domestic climber and stage racer, with start this week's Mt. Hood Classic with the OUCH-Maxxis team. Baldwin was fired by Rock Racing earlier this year, then re-hired just prior to the SRAM Tour of the Gila, where he raced with one teammate and no team support, finishing sixth overall. The OUCH team announced Tuesday that he had signed with them for the remainder of the season.

Belgian cyclist Tom Boonen still hopes to ride in the Tour de France in July, contradicting officials who said he would not race after he tested positive for cocaine earlier this year. "I hope to take part in the Tour and we are attempting to reach agreement with the organizers as we want to avoid legal proceedings," the 28-year-old told reporters at a cycling festival at Gullegem in Belgium on Tuesday.

Everyone's favorite 1965 Charlton Heston film, in which he stars as Michelangelo tirelessly painting 12,000 square feet of the Sistine Chapel, takes place in the Vatican City.

Can I use a Campy 11-speed shifter with a 10-speed cassette?

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

“Rad” Ross Schnell, the defending All Mountain world champion mountain bike racer, suffered a broken hip Saturday at the opening round of the French Enduro mountain bike cup, held in Métabief, France. Schnell, 28, was competing in the fourth of 10 races in the Saturday-Sunday event when he slipped on wet grass and hit the deck at 30 miles per hour. He fractured the greater trochanter area of his left femur.  

Uvex, a leader in cycling helmets in Europe, is not well known in the United States. But the German brand hopes to change that through a new distribution agreement with Magura USA. I had a chance to try the Uvex FP1 Race helmet, the same lid as worn by sprinter Mark Cavendish and his Columbia-Highroad teammates. It’s exceptionally light, fits well, is very comfortable, has passable ventilation and is noticeably lighter than most other helmets I’ve worn.

Why do my vintage Campy shifters not shift well?

Why does my vintage Campagnolo drivetrain shift on its own?

Why does my Campagnolo hub have only eight ball bearings?

Mountain Khaki's Daniel Ramsey didn’t think much of his chances in a field sprint in Sunday’s Riverview Criterium. So he attacked with five laps to go in the NRC event and held off a hard-charging field to win ahead of Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) and Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia). "I just went off of instinct," said Ramsey after winning the third round of Oklahoma’s Tulsa Tough criterium series. "I don't think I've ever placed top 20 in a field sprint before, so my best option was to attack.”

British rider Mark Cavendish wants to make amends for his premature exit from last year's Tour de France by claiming the green sprint jersey in Paris next month. Cavendish pulled out of the 2008 Tour after the 14th stage after four stage wins because of a combination of fatigue and his desire to concentrate on the Beijing Olympics. But the 24-year-old Columbia-Highroad sprinter regrets that decision and wants to become only the second cyclist from Great Britain to win a jersey in the Tour following the King of the Mountains title won by Scot Robert Millar in 1984.

Editor's Note:Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly team, and races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team. Powers provided VeloNews.com readers with an inside look at the cyclocross scene last fall and winter, and now, after a few months' vacation, he's back to provide a look at his season on the road. Last time you heard from me I was finishing up my cyclocross season in Belgium, trying to conquer the world championships.