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With many of their usual competitors in Colorado for the second weekend of the U.S. Grand Prix of cyclo-cross, Lyne Bessette (cyclocrossworld.com) and Chris Jones (Nerac) took big wins in Connecticut’s Chainbiter UCI Cyclo-cross race, hit by wet weather as Hurricane Noel moved up the Atlantic coast on Saturday. Bessette back in formNoel threatened to turn the Chainbiter into a messy affair. Less than 50 miles away, the winds whipped across southern Connecticut. The skies were ominous though relatively calm during the earlier events, but as the women’s race began the rain and winds picked up.

Bessette took an early - and permanent lead

Bessette is clearly back in form

Wellons and Elliott give chase

The storm hit just before the women's start

The Nerac boys got the hole shot

The chase was frantic

Wet sand made things tough

Jones finishes on his own

Former T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz has admitted having banned blood transfusions and using illegal blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) since 2003 in an interview slated to appear on Monday. The 27-year-old was fired by T-Mobile during this year's Tour de France after he failed a doping test when it was discovered he had abnormally high levels of testosterone. Sinkewitz spent five hours giving evidence to the German Cycling Federation's (BDR) disciplinary committee ten days ago in an effort to get his expected two-year ban reduced. And in Monday's edition of magazine Der

Reigning U.S. cyclocross champions Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) and Ryan Trebon (Kona-Yourkey.com) scored crushing wins at Boulder, Colorado’s Redline Cup on Saturday. A dusty Boulder Reservoir played host to the UCI Category 2 race, and what its long 1.5-mile course lacked in mud and climbing, it made up for with sections of loose sand. Riders powered through rim-deep sediment in a volleyball court and a long beach section — the latter forced less-skilled racers to dismount and run.

Sinkewitz wants to ride again. It's doubtful he'll do so in a T-Mobile kit, though.

Was Cipo's race in Vegas the signal of a comeback? His lawyer says no.

Even after his win Saturday, Trebon is still bothered by successive losses last week.

Compton continues to dominate.

Wicks was on form

Wells takes third

Compton made it a solo ride on Saturday.

Dear Readers,
Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of competitive cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com.

Rick Crawford and his Fort Lewis College mountain-bike team rolled into the 2007 USA Cycling mountain-bike national championships toting a secret weapon — German mountain biker Ben Sonntag. When they left the race, held October 26-28 at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina, the Skyhawks had their second-consecutive Division I team title, and Sonntag had the individual championship. Sonntag is a former Nordic skiing ace and two-time world champion in the sport of winter triathlon. After racing mountain bikes professionally during the summer of 2007, he decided to return to school

Can anyone beat Katie Compton? Will the cyclocrossworld.com keep their Kona-beating streak alive? And what about Todd Wells — how is he going these days? These are a few of the questions to be answered this weekend as the heavy hitters of American ’cross line up for a pair of UCI races in Boulder, Colorado. Saturday’s Redline Cup and Sunday’s Boulder Cup are put on by Chris Grealish and Denver/Boulder Couriers, the same outfit that hosted last year’s Boulder stop of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. “We’re going on like we’re our own USGP,” DBC owner Grealish said. “And we think we can do

Juan José Haedo admits that winning in Europe wasn’t as easy as he expected after he made the high-profile switch from the U.S. domestic scene to join Team CSC for the 2007 season. The Argentine ace won six races – four in the U.S. and two in Europe – in his first of two years with the Danish outfit, but he admits victories were harder to come by than on the U.S. domestic scene where he says he could snag wins when he wasn’t at 100 percent. “Some things were harder than I thought they would be while others were slightly easier than expected. It’s a whole other way of doing things over here

Compton was the woman to beat in Boulder last year, too.

The UCI unveiled its 2008 continental calendars earlier this month, with a few noteworthy changes to its America Tour schedule. In addition to national championship events, the ’08 calendar offers 16 elite men’s and espoirs’ races in the United States and Canada. Six elite UCI women’s events are slated for 2008, solely during the months of May and June. Four UCI elite men’s events, all stage races, will be held in Mexico, with none scheduled for elite women. Returning U.S. events include the season-opening Amgen Tour of California, April’s Tour de Georgia and September’s Tour of Missouri,

Before I started composing this week’s journal I sat lazily on my room bed, in what has to be the world’s most dilapidated Days Inn, looking at my road rash from Saturday’s crash wondering what I should write about. I pondered over a long list of reasons why I had such a poor showing at the races, but I didn’t want to bore you with the same excuses you’ve heard from every bike racer in the world as to why he or she didn’t do well. Let me just say this, before, during and after every race you should know your equipment, know your ability and stay focused. So, instead of giving you a whine

Raids: No links to UllrichA raid by German federal investigators on the premises of two doctors who have admitted supplying cyclists with doping products found no evidence linking them to former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, according to German press reports on Thursday. Senior federal criminal investigator Wolfgang Maier said Wednesday’s raids on Freiburg University's clinic, plus the homes of doctors Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid, found nothing to link 1997 Tour winner Ullrich to the medical facility. Ullrich, 33, has been under a cloud of suspicion since he was sacked by

Earning a ticket to the Olympic Games is always a tense and nervous experience for any athlete, but two already have their boarding passes for Beijing thanks to strong performances this season. On the road team, Kristin Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer have already locked up berths for next summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. According to Andy Lee at USA Cycling, Leipheimer qualified thanks to his third-place overall and stage win at the Tour de France while Armstrong is in after scoring a silver medal at the Stuttgart world championships in September. For Leipheimer, the 34-year-old says

Canadian Svein Tuft took top honors in the 2007 UCI America Tour

Intergalactic Single Speed Pilot Peter Webber refueling.

Chuck D, Flava Flav and Professor Griff can still rock 'da mic.

This note awaited me a host housing in Kentucky.

Clif Bar's big green bus. Coming to cross race near you.

Clif Bar Development Team Manager, Ben Turner, working on the fuel pump that will power the green bus with bio-diesel.

The beer was flowing in Louisville...

... and so was the free coffee at the Thule tent.

Leipheimer is headed to the Olympics

The United States appears to have qualified only two male cross-country mountain-bike racers to compete at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This news comes after the UCI released its latest nations’ rankings on October 18 — the U.S. men sit in seventh place with 2019 UCI points, two points behind Sweden. The combined nation ranking for ’06 and ’07 determines the number of berths each country receives for the games. The U.S. men finished 2006 ranked fourth with 2205 points. Should the current 2007 rankings hold through December 31, the U.S.’s combined ranking for both years will be sixth, 129

Levi Leipheimer likes what he sees in the new-fangled Tour de France route unveiled last week in Paris for the 95th edition of the grande boucle. Leipheimer says the interesting mix of shorter time trials and four summit finishes represents a perfect recipe for what he expects will be victory for his new home at Astana. He says whether it’s him or defending champ Alberto Contador stepping on the top rung remains to be seen. “It’s a great course for Alberto and me. We’re really looking forward to next year’s Tour,” Leipheimer told VeloNews in a phone interview from his home in California.

German police said Wednesday they had obtained search warrants for a university clinic and the homes of two doctors in the Freiburg region. The doctors are accused of having supplied doping products to cyclists in the area. "The doctors are accused of having used or rather provided banned substances to several sportsmen, including cyclists," said a police statement. The university clinic in Freiburg is one of the most reputed in the country and specialises in matters involving athletes but it has been dogged by adverse publicity since the spring when former Telekom riders shed light on a

JHK and other Americans would have to sweep the podium in each of three Chilean races in order to earn another spot in Beijing.

Short, fast time trials, coupled with four big mountain-top finishes suits Leipheimer just fine.

If you live in the three-country economic union known as Benelux – and ride a bike – odds are good that it’s a Ridley. The Belgium-based bike maker owns a 45-percent share of the road and ’cross market in its homeland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, according to the company’s international sales manager David Alvarez.

Consumers have more choice than ever when buying road components. Campagnolo, Shimano, SRAM all have viable options for those looking to equip a performance road bike. And those options may broaden even further in the near future with Eric Sampson’s plans to deliver a road group by January 2008. Will Sampson’s soon to be introduced Stratics road group be able to compete with the big three? It’s hard to tell by comparing his preproduction prototypes, but Sampson has the right attitude to compete. He says that he’s not trying to shave every possible gram. He wants to build it light but, first

Don’t think that disgraced Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso is idly wasting his time while he serves out his two-year ban for links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal. The 29-year-old Italian is plotting his return when his ban ends October 24 next year and is already in contact with several teams for what will be a full racing schedule for the 2009 season. According to a story in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Basso has been staying busy since admitting to Italian anti-doping investigators in May that he was a client of Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the alleged ringleader of the

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. Okay. We admit it. We’re old. Maybe that’s why we kept drifting back to El Guapo’s “Where is my time machine?” Nice shot... there's a very "Breaking Away" look to that picture. Are those wood-soled Dettos? We had a pair of those. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of our new Coors Classic DVD. Meanwhile, go ahead and take a look at our latest gallery,

Ridley's Belgian headquarters are getting a bit crowded

Belgium's biggest cycling star once rode a Ridley

The Mud Men - Ridley sponsors the Fidea 'cross squad

McEwen's green jersey bike never saw the light of day.

A Ridley designer works on custom paint scheme

Each frame is hand-prepped

Frames are each tagged for tracking purposes.

Raw frames ready for painting and assembly

A rainbow of colors to choose from.

The painting begins.

Decal prep'

The logo is applied

Applying the clearcoat.

The oven....

... and the instructions.

Painted frames ready for assembly.

Painted frames ready for a club in New York.

A Fidea 'cross bike on the assembly line

Happily working on the line at Ridley.

A full spectrum of wheels to choose from.

Old Unibet frames waiting to be re-named.

The new replaceable drop-out/derailleur hanger on a 'cross rig.

Ready to ship.

Sampson’s new Diablo S outfitted with a prototype Stratics group.

The new Stratics 10-speed shifter.

Notice the stacked shift levers; the large lever pulls cable and the small releases it.

The aluminum and carbon rear derailleur.

The front derailleur and cranks.

Stratics parts are in the foreground (black derailleur, brake, bottom bracket and shifter) and the more economical Showtime parts are in the background (polished brake and derailleur.)

The internal mechanism is replaceable using two Phillips head screws.

The Stratics rear derailleur uses alloy pulley wheels with low-friction sealed cartridge bearings.

Sampson’s new Stratics TT bar.

The alloy aero brake levers weigh 65-grams and cost $45. They have been designed to be comfortable as well as aerodynamic.

Sampson’s $300 seat and new carbon Stratics seatpost.

Basso says he's riding and staying fit.