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And a just-in-case zip tie.

Gould was trying out Mavic’s new tubular-carbon-spoked wheels in Louisville.

Danny Summerhill and the rest of his Clif Bar team are on Salsa bikes and components this year.

With team green Candy pedals to match.

SRAM parts were seemingly everywhere.

A straightforward Avid Shorty 6 brake.

And a high-zoot Dugast from Stu Thorne.

Ryan Trebon rides a 63cm frame.

With Dugast rubber on FSA’s deep-dish K-Force hoops.

Kore is a new sponsor for the Kona cross team with its wide cantilevers.

Trebon ran road brake carriers.

And FSA’s SLK carbon cranks.

Barry Wicks has an enclosed cable system.

And runs Swiss Stop pads on his Kore brakes.

Normally, bikes hang from the rack, with the rear wheel suspended by six inches or so. Trebon’s has to be leaned against the rail.

Ceramic bearing on Wicks’ rig.

Red levers, white covers.

Jesse Anthony’s got to keep the package looking good, after all.

A little cowbell never hurt anyone.

Although this Red kit looks like it was packed in a sniper-rifle box.

Tim Johnson keeps it light before the women’s pro race with his wife, Lyne Bessette.

A national champ kit is fine, but Katie Compton should be wearing the UCI points leader skinsuit. The UCI had yet to send it to her. “I don’t think they’ve ever had to mail one to the United States,” said Compton’s husband Mark.

You can take the girl out of the mountain biking, but you can’t take the mountain biking out of the girl.

Alison Sydor rocks the helmet visor.

Belgian fan clubs have nothing on these guys.

There you have it.

But wait, the front is worse.

Told you.

And he has a posse. The spirit of cyclocross is alive and well in Louisville.

Johnson scores

Compton repeated, but she had to work for it

Johnson powering through the sand

Compton running her one-woman show

Gould chasing

Fans? Naw. Y'think?

One of North America’s all-time greatest cyclists popped up unexpectedly on this year’s U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross start list. Canadian Alison Sydor, a three-time mountain bike world champion and road world bronze medalist, decided earlier this fall to throw a leg over a ’cross bike for the first time in her career. Initially, as with everyone, the woman who has won 17 mountain bike World Cups was a little clumsy. But after a few weeks of local racing in British Columbia, Sydor took second at the Canadian national cyclocross championships behind Wendy Simms and ahead of Lyne Bessette.

Cycling is continuing to be faced with massive hurdles and challenges going into 2008, as commanding bodies within the sport are still fractured while doping remains as big an issue and problem as it was at the beginning of 2007. As for T-Mobile, the entire team lived a tumultuous season where the future of the team constantly seemed in limbo due to a consistent stream of doping related problems, allegations and admissions. The team’s results were the best in the last three years, with over thirty victories and countless fine finishes highlighted by strong performances in all three Grand

Following a week of back-and-forth banter in the Belgian dailies, Sven Nys used his legs to win the war of words. The cyclocross superstar attacked out of a five-rider breakaway on the penultimate lap of World Cup No. 2 in Tabor, Czech Republic, and easily held his advantage to the line. Countryman Klaas Vantornout (Fidea) was second, at 0:13, with Dutchman Lars Boom (Rabobank) completing the podium on a cool gray Saturday in this small city an hour south of Prague. “They tried to make me nervous,” said Nys referring to accusations made by rival Fidea team manager Han van Kasteren, who

Jeremy Powers and Katie Compton finished the first round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross the way they started it – at the front. Those similarities aside, the pro races in Louisville, Kentucky, played out very differently. For the first half of the pro men’s event, it was two-on-two competition as Powers and cyclocrossworld.com teammate Tim Johnson traded blows with Kona’s Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks. Then, it was just two as Powers and then Johnson rode clear.

Sydor Sighting: Former MTB world champ hits ’cross circuit

Nys is back on top

It wasn't Page's day

Vervecken and the rest of the Fidea crew couldn't keep Nys on a leash.

Nys bunnyhops away from the competition.

Powers easily overpowered the Kona juggernaut

Compton dominates again

Wicks and Trebon didn't dominate as usual

A rich and challenging route

Powers puts the hammer down

'My body just doesn’t work,' Trebon said

Summerhill celebrates his win

Craig is rewarded for his aggressive ride

Dear Readers,
Welcome to this week's edition of The Prologue the summary of news from the world of competitive cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com.

“We want to create a race that is not predictable.” So said Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme Thursday inannouncing the course for the 95th Tour, which takes place next year fromJuly 5 to 27. Prudhomme should get his wish because the 21-stage, 3554kmroute he presented has a plethora of stages that hark back to the dayswhen breakaways usually succeeded and the yellow jersey changed hands manymore times than it does in modern times.

You can’t talk about South Africa’s Absa Cape Epic (www.cape-epic.com) mountain-bike stage race without mentioning Kevin Vermaak. The Cape Town native dreamt up the idea for the race after participating in Costa Rica’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores in 2002, then quit his job at the Royal Bank of Scotland to get the Cape Epic off and running by 2003. Since then, the event has blossomed into the premier off-road stage race for professional cross-country riders. In 2007, six of the top eight male UCI-ranked cross-country started their respective seasons off with the Absa Cape Epic. And nearly

Czech cyclocross star Zdenek Stybar will attempt to thrill a home crowd - and prove that his win last weekend wasn’t a fluke - when he lines up in the front row at World Cup No. 2 in Tabor on Saturday. The hour-long men’s race starts at 2 p.m. local time. There are no junior, under-23 or women’s races. The 21-year-old Fidea rider was the surprise winner of round one last Sunday in Kalmthout, Belgium, breaking away solo on the second of 11 laps and never looking back. At the line Stybar had a comfortable 33-second cushion over second-placed Sven Nys (Rabobank), allowing plenty of time to grab

The German-based T-Mobile women’s team completed its 2008 roster last week, with ten returning riders and three new signings, including American national champion Mara Abbott. After finishing the season at the top of the UCI rankings, the powerhouse T-team women’s is aiming even higher in 2008. In addition to Abbott, who spent 2007 with Webcor Builders, team director Anna Wilson and team manager Kristy Scrygmeour added German national champion Luise Keller as well as young talent Madeleine Sandig. “We are extremely happy to have finished the season accomplishing our goal to be the number

Cyclocross fans are familiar with most of the initials. UCI, signifying a big race; USGP, the nation’s premier series. But KY? The U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross begins its six-race romp this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. The weekend represents the first UCI ’cross race ever held in the state. The city is behind the event, hosting two days of racing in Champion’s Park just east of downtown along the Ohio River. “Louisville has developed into a great cycling town, and along with a great corporate partner in Papa John’s, we are proud to be able to host the premier cyclocross series in the

The climber-friendly 2008 Tour de France route looks ideal for defending champion Alberto Contador, but there’s no guarantee that he or his new-look Astana team will be at the July 5 start in Brest. Astana’s scandal-ridden 2006 season could prove an obstacle more challenging to overcome than any of the course’s mountains as Tour officials promise to take a harder line when considering which teams will take part in the season’s most important race. New Astana manager Johan Bruyneel admits the team must convince Tour officials that changes are more than cosmetic to prove it deserves a Tour

The day before the U.S. Gran Prix opener in Louisville, Kentucky, a few marquee riders were out riding the course. Here are a few of the faces and names you'll likely see at the front of this weekend's races: UCI points leader and three-time national champion Katie Compton, Georgia Gould, Danish national champion Joachim Parbo, Tim Johnson, Lyne Bessette, Danny Summerhill and Jesse Anthony.

Already facing a challenging jobsearch, Navigators Insurance rider Matt Cooke now has another struggleon his hands — replacing his belongings after an early-morning fire guttedhis Boulder, Colorado, condominium.The fire at the Gold Run Condominium Complex, which houses a large numberof University of Colorado students, broke out near 3 a.m. Friday morning.Cookesaid he was having a fitful night of sleep, worrying about his prospectsfor the 2008 season, when he smelled smoke.“I thought it was maybe lightning or fireworks, and then I said, ‘Let'sthink about that,’” Cooke told Boulder’sDaily

The Blue Ridge Mountains were a fitting backdrop to the opening of the 2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Championships, as nearly 200 collegians hit a mud-riddled cross-country course on Friday. Traditional cycling powerhouses Fort Lewis College, Colorado College and Warren Wilson College took home first prize in the men's Division I, men's Division II and women's Division II cross country races, while a star from the University of Arizona held on to the title in the women's Division I contest. A week of steady rain left the technical cross-country course at

Prudhomme wants to keep things exciting in '08 and from the looks of it he will.

Will the '08 course favor climbers? Astana's Contador sure hopes so.

The entire region of Brittany has bought the rights to the grand départ.

Stybar is aiming for another win, this time at home.

Mara Abbott is making the jump from Webcor to T-Mobile for '08

Kona's Ryan Trebon has no reason to believe that his team's dominance of the USGP will end any time soon.

Compton and Bessette will resume their battle this weekend.

Johnson hopes to disrupt Kona's plans

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course

Kentucky 'cross: A look at the USGP course