All Content

Th-th-that's all, folks

A toast to the finale

Kolobnev enjoys a treat of a different sort

The weary peloton heading for home

American Jill Kintner took her third-consecutive four-cross world title at the 2007 UCI world mountain-bike championships in Fort William, Scotland. Despite crashing during a warm-up run and suffering a hyper extended arm, Kintner dominated the finals, winning every round she entered by a sizable margin. The success came on the heels of Kintner’s return to BMX racing. A former BMX world champion, Kintner swore off the little bike after successfully transitioning to gated mountain-bike racing. Even in 2006, when the first-ever Olympic BMX race was just two years away, Kintner said she

Samuel Sánchez delivered his third stage victory of this year’s Vuelta a España to secure his Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team its first-ever podium finish in a grand tour in the team’s 14-year history. Sánchez roared over Saturday’s short 20km individual time trial in the suburbs north of Madrid to knock Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) off the podium and give compatriot Carlos Sastre (CSC) a good fright for the second spot on the podium.

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has backed UCI demands for a doping investigation into Spanish cycling ace Alejandro Valverde. The UCI believes it has enough evidence on Valverde to show that he was involved in the Operación Puerto doping affair in Spain, and has recently said he would be banned for next week's world road race championships. Valverde, who finished third in last year's championships, has always protested his innocence - and has recently won the support of the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC). The RFEC believes its rider has no case to answer and said it would

Second stage win in two days, Sánchez fights his way on to the podium

Barring alien abduction, Menchov seems set to win in Madrid on Sunday

Sastre did what he needed to preserve his position on GC

Evans says fatigue may be taking its toll

McCartney now has his eye on Stuttgart..

Vande Velde finished 14th, 41 seconds off of Sánchez's time.

Backstedt set the day's early standard.

Sánchez wins, climbs podium; Menchov secures; Sastre endures

Yesterday it was Vladimir Efimkin, today it was Cadel Evans. Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre played executioner for the second straight day and clawed his way ahead of Evans into second place overall Friday at the Vuelta a España after a grueling, six-climb stage finishing atop the rainy and foggy Abantos summit. Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won ahead of ahead of Dani Moreno (Relax-GAM) to score his second stage victory of this year’s Vuelta while Sastre crossed the line third just ahead of race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at three seconds back.

Reaction was muted Friday in Spain following the news that Floyd Landis failed in his bid to fend off doping allegations from his disputed 2006 Tour de France victory. Oscar Pereiro - the man set to inherit the Tour crown – said the 2-to-1 decision against Landis will end what he described as a “14-month purgatory.” “Now I can start to believe it a little more. I’m still missing some sort of official notification from the UCI or the Tour organizers before I can say with certain,” Pereiro told Spanish radio. “Of course we’ll celebrate it once it’s confirmed. After a year of rumors and more

The picture that saved me 1000 words:Rarely a man of few words, we think O'Grady hit this one right on thehead. Do you agree or did he miss the mark? Letus know. Be sure to include your FULL NAME and HOME TOWN. Letters maybe edited for length and clarity.

17 professional years, with some 275 victories.

Former junior world champion Geneviève Jeanson admitted to doping during her career in an interview with Radio-Canada’s news magazine "Enquête."

SRAM announced Thursday that it intends to acquire wheel and component maker Zipp within the next 60 days. The two signed a non-binding letter of intent. The purchase would add a vital piece to SRAM’s puzzle, which already includes road and mountain bike drivetrain components (branded SRAM), suspension parts (branded RockShox), brakes (branded Avid) and road and mountain bike cranks, bars, stems and seatposts (branded Truvativ). “Zipp is a great company and respected brand, with a strong management team, advanced technology and superb manufacturing capability,” said Stan Day, SRAM’s chief

SRAM announced Thursday that it intends to acquire wheel and component maker Zipp within the next 60 days. The two signed a non-binding letter of intent. The purchase would add a vital piece to SRAM’s puzzle, which already includes road and mountain bike drivetrain components (branded SRAM), suspension parts (branded RockShox), brakes (branded Avid) and road and mountain bike cranks, bars, stems and seatposts (branded Truvativ). “Zipp is a great company and respected brand, with a strong management team, advanced technology and superb manufacturing capability,” said Stan Day, SRAM’s chief

Sánchez had a good day in the saddle, but missed passing Evans on GC by a scant nine seconds.

Friday's Foaming Rant: O'Grady weighs in on 'the decision'

Moninger in yellow at Redlands

Sastre battled to take time on Menchov, but it was no dice

Menchov stuck to Sastre like glue

It wasn't a great day for Evans, who slid to third on GC

San Lorenzo

Jeanson was regarded as fierce competitor.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/VelonewsAudioPodcast

Dear Readers,Last column (Deliveranceof the bird man), we had a letter from C.W. in “deepest darkestWest Virginia” asking about self-defense, after his club ride was buzzedby “the clan from deliverance.” In response to the buzzing, the club’sfearless leader extended a one-fingered salute to the offending clan, whichresulted in the car sliding to a stop across the club’s path and a confrontationbetween “the enraged and rather large passenger.” This column, we’ve gotsome follow-up questions from readers, and next column, we’re going totake a second look at whether or not “flipping the bird” is

Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre has been complaining all week that the 2007 Vuelta a España just wasn’t hard enough. With the top GC spots jammed in a deadlock since the climbing stage to Cerler in the Pyrénées, it seemed the relatively easy second half of the Vuelta was dooming the 32-year-old Spanish climber to yet another fourth-place result in a grand tour. Sastre – already twice fourth in the Tour de France and once fourth in the Vuelta -- was so frustrated, so fed up, that he even said he wasn’t going to attack anymore.

Belgian cycling star Tom Boonen has pulled out of the world road race championships due to injuries on his knee and back, the Belgian cycling federation said Thursday. Quick Step's 2005 world champion has thus been forced to bring the curtain down on what has been a mitigated season by his high standards. Boonen, who counts the prestigious Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders one-day classics among his many victories, crashed last week during a stage on the Vuelta a España and abandoned the race complaining of back and knee pain. A fitness test on Thursday confirmed Boonen's worst

American Floyd Landis has been formally stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after an arbitration panel ruled against his challenge of a positive doping test result from that year’s edition of the race.

Oscar Pereiro was formally named the winner of the 2006 Tour de France on Thursday after American authorities ruled against Floyd Landis's appeal for failing a doping test, the sport's world governing body, the UCI, said. Pereiro finished the 2006 race in second place, 57 seconds behind Landis but the American tested positive after the race following his 17th stage win at Morzine, three days before the end of the race. "We can right now say that Pereiro is the winner of the Tour without waiting for a possible appeal by Landis to the Court of Arbitration for Sport," UCI president

Legally Speaking - with Bob Mionske: More thoughts on the bird man

Perez Sanchez steals a march on a squabbling break

Landis is stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title.

Sastre said he was done with attacking ... yeah, right

Sorensen and Vande Velde were there to lend a hand

Menchov and Evans weren't caught out

But Efimkin was, and it cost him his second place overall

Welcome to Avila

Avila is Sastre country, cobbles and all

Perez wins

And Menchov is one day closer to a final victory

Two of three panel members said this win was dirty.

A second sprint victory in the Vuelta a España couldn’t erase disappointment for Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) after being overlooked for a spot on the Italian national team for next week’s world championships. The Liguigas-bound rider found out overnight he was left off the Stuttgart squad and smashed that frustration into his pedals Wednesday to beat the men whom he wanted to support, Paolo Bettini, and compatriot Alessandro Petacchi in the 175km 17th stage from Ciudad Real to Talavera de la Reina.

Austrian-based German Jorg Jaksche has been convicted of doping and handed a one-year suspension by anti-doping authorities in Vienna on Wednesday. Anti-doping committee member Gernot Schaar said Jaksche's ban would run until July 2, 2008, after Jaksche was convicted of using growth hormones and having been involved in blood doping. It is thought that Jaksche received a lighter-than-normal sentence because he has been cooperating with authorities. The German, one of many riders implicated in the Operacion Puerto doping affair in Spain, made a series of stunning revelations in recent

UCI president Pat McQuaid is ready to give in to demands by organizers of cycling's three three-week Tours who want out of the ProTour calendar of races. McQuaid said that major changes could be made to the ProTour race series as early as next year. The UCI introduced the ProTour calendar three years ago in a bid to promote a rich series of races with all the top teams and riders. However a powerful coalition consisting of the organizers of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España, has constantly opposed the ProTour, which has no system of relegation or promotion for teams

Bennati earns his second stage win of the Vuelta.

Another day closer to Madrid, Menchov is in control.

Garcia and Olmo spent most of the day off on their own...

...until Milram ramped up the chase

McCartney nearing the end of his run with Discovery. What next?

Rabobank left chasing duties to the teams that want a sprint win, but always stays near the front.

A long day in the sun

Normally I try and refrain from writing race reports. I figure that most people read enough “this guy attacked and then those teams chased that guy and then this team did the lead out and those guys sprinted and that guy won” and if I can come up with something about our lives or experiences that give insight into what racing a bike is all about it might be more interesting. At least I tell myself that… I figure that I update my blog with all the standard race report action and have tried to maintain the philosophy that if writing is on a real web site rather than a blog I should put some

I had the chance to catch “The Flying Scotsman” at a special showing at the Boulder Theater. While the movie takes some liberties with the order of events and the details of how they unfolded, it tells the gist of Graeme Obree’s story ratherwell. In many ways, it reminded me that – as far as the UCI is concerned – the more things change, the more they remain the same. The film’s characterization of the UCI, and its troglodyte attitude toward maverick innovators like Obree, is unfortunately quite accurate, especially when those inventive types beat established cycling stars using

London Heathrow’s terminal No. 3 is not the place to look for four-staraccommodations.Take my word for it — terminal three is a dank, wretched maze of constructionbarriers filled with the skull-thumping bang of hammers and whirr of buzzsaws. The unforgiving stone floors sport blotchy stains, many of them inhuman-like outlines. It is a cold, desolate place — no one would want tofind here, hopelessly stranded at 3 a.m. on a Friday night.Why, you might ask, am I beginning this mountain-bike column ventingmy hate for Heathrow’s lucky Number three? Ho-ho good question!I’m there, man.A herd of

Colombians made a name for themselves in the 1980s and 1990s by winning when the road turned uphill. Such stars as Lucho Herrera, Fabio Parra and the latest incarnation in the form of Mauricio Soler put Colombia on the international cycling map thanks to their bird-like builds and innate ability to soar like condors up Europe’s steepest roads. Santiago Botero broke the mold with his consistency in the race against the clock, but Colombians and summit finishes were synonymous in the peloton.

The U.S. team comes with one of its strongest and competitive squads since 2003 for this year’s 2007 UCI road world championships, set for September 26-30 in Stuttgart, Germany. The American team, which will be looking to improve on its two-medal haul from last year in Austria, brings defending world time trial champion Kristin Armstrong and such ProTour riders as George Hinicapie, Bobby Julich, Dave Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde. Eight elite men, including seven from ProTour teams, eight elite women and six U23 men were named to the U.S. national team as USA Cycling released the

MEET BOB ROLL AT INTERBIKE!Cycling's Most Entertaining Personality to Autograph Copies of Paris-Roubaix:A Journey through HellBoulder, CO, USA - September 18, 2007 - Before he became cycling'smost entertaining personality, "Bobke" spent his springs and summers racingthe Tour de France and "The Hell of the North", Paris-Roubaix. In fact,Bobke was the only American to finish Paris-Roubaix in 1988. Meet Bobke at Interbike as he autographs copies of the new VeloPressbook, Paris-Roubaix:A Journey through Hell. With an introduction by Roll, Paris-Roubaixis the definitive history of the

I have been wearing a black bracelet that says “Harden The F**k Up” since the first of July. Stuart O’Grady gave them to us before the start of the Tour de France in London and we all wore them with pride. Even when things are going good, you are always one hundred corners away from victory but only one away from defeat. Then, of course, when Stuey crashed horrifically out of the Tour, broke 10 bones, and was stuck in a hospital bed we didn't even think of taking them off. I still haven't, it reminds me how easy it is take things for granted. Stuey lives in Monaco, thousands of

Duque times it just right

Just another day at the office for Menchov

Grabsch fronts the big break

Nothin' to see here,. move along, move along

Duque and Horrach

The trio

Rabobank on the front as the sprinters' teams take a day off

Press Release: Meet Bob Roll at Interbike

The 155 remaining riders of the 62nd Vuelta a España enjoy their second and final rest day Monday as the season’s final grand tour enters its final week of racing. Overall leader Denis Menchov looks unbeatable with only six stages remaining. The 29-year-old Russian rolled out of the Pyrénées last weekend with a solid lead of 2:01 over surprisingly tough Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d’Epargne) and 2:27 to third-place Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto). Eternal podium contender Carlos Sastre (CSC) is poised in fourth at 3:02 if any of the leaders tumble. “I feel like I have the Vuelta 70 percent

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. Eddie Clark’s “Another day in Gunbarrel” is one of the week’s most remarkably composed images. Clark not only captured the peak of the rider’s arc, but also lit the shot beautifully with a combination of natural and flash lighting. Nice work, Eddie. 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

Menchov says the Vuelta is 70 percent won.

Another day in Gunbarrel

When the road drops downhill, there’s no one faster than Samuel Sánchez. Perhaps Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) didn’t know what was in store when Sánchez disappeared off the Cat. 1 Alto de Monachil summit some 20km from the finish line in Granada. But Manuel “Triki” Beltrán (Liquigas) sure did.

[nid:40552]Ivan Dominguez put an emphatic stamp on his run to the Tour of Missouri's sprint points title, winning the final stage of this 562.2-mile, six-day race, which concluded Sunday in downtown St. Louis. Dominguez (Toyota-United) emerged from a scrambled sprint along Market Street, comfortably holding off Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) and Dominique Rollin (KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada), who were second and third in the 74.2-mile, seven-lap circuit race.

The 2007 mountain bike World Cup season ended Sunday in Maribor, Slovenia, with the downhill. Sam Hill (Iron Horse-Monster) continued his dream season by collecting his third victory, while teammate Sabrina Jonnier battled illness just to start, scoring a sixth place that good was enough for the overall title. Rachel Atherton (Animal Commencal) got some revenge for her loss to Jonnier at the world championships last weekend by winning the final round. The threatened rain never materialized, and the large and enthusiastic crowd of spectators were treated to perfect blue skies and temperatures