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Kirk OBee leads the bunch through the start-finish line

Nürnberger cranks up the old choo-choo

Hey, is this a wet T-shirt contest or a bike race?

A little of both, seems like

Lehikoinen takes the downhill

Saner tops the women's DH podium

Levi Leipheimer lines up for Sunday’s start of the Dauphiné Libéré as the defending champion with an eye toward the Tour de France. Last year, he came to the important French race to settle the score. Second overall in 2005 when a long breakaway stole away with the leader’s jersey, Leipheimer was determined make the Dauphiné his own. He became the third American to win in seven years with a smashing performance. This year, the 33-year-old enters with Dauphiné with some important results already in the bag (two stages and overall at Tour of California and two stages at Tour de Georgia),

The 60th Dauphiné Libéré lives up to its tradition of serving up a mountainous challenge that continues to serve as the best barometer of fitness ahead of July’s Tour de France. With Mont Ventoux and a seven-climb “queen’s stage” over the Croix de la Fer and the Télégraphe, the eight-day Dauphiné will give a clear indication of where everyone stands less than a month before the Tour’s start. There’s no shortage of candidates, but like every June, it’s sometimes hard to read who’s firing at all cylinders and who’s simply looking to make some tests of fitness ahead of July’s big show. First

The cross-country World Cup moved to Switzerland for the third round of the series, and Swiss men stepped up, with three finishing on the podium, and four in the top ten. Ultimately, however, it was still World Cup leader Julien Absalon (Orbea) of France who took the win after a battle with Christoph Sauser (Specialized). In the women's category, Spaniard Marga Fullana (Spiuk-Tau Ceramica) donned the series leader's jersey after an impressive race-long ride from the front. North American riders also had strong rides, with Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) finishing third

German telecommunications company T-Mobile announced on Saturday that it wants to withdraw its sponsorship of the Tour de France's television coverage in Germany in a damage-limitation exercise. Cyling's image in Germany has been rocked by several high-profile doping admissions from cyclists competing for the former Team Telekom, now known as Team T-Mobile, and the company is keen to prevent any further damage to its image. But German state broadcasters ARD/ZDF do not want to accept the withdrawal of the Bonn-based team, according to an article to appear in Monday's edition of

A booming thunderstorm cleared out the humid, 95-degree air above Philadelphia Friday night, making way for cooler, breezy weather at this weekend’s climax of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. Also Friday evening, Giant Bicycles hosted a dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant, where the mighty T-Mobile team’s general manager Bob Stapleton introduced the eight men and six women who are seeking to give their team a perfect record in this year’s Triple Crown. Already this past week, Austrian Bernhard Eisel and German Ina Teutenberg have notched up victories in Lancaster and

Leipheimer has his eye on July.

For some, the Dauphiné Libéré is the perfect mountainous warm-up for the Tour de France.

Defending champion Levi Leipheimer now captains Discovery

Last year's men's field ascends Lemon Hill

Absalon remains the most dominant force in cross-country

Fullana moves into the World Cup lead

Michael Barry couldn’t figure out why he had trouble breathing nearly all spring. His doctors told him it was likely allergies or perhaps asthma. Like professionals often do in the face of pain or setback, he kept pushing on. His breathing problems became so bad, however, he was forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia after just one stage. He finally went to see a local doctor in his European home in Girona, Spain. The diagnosis: pneumonia. “I got really sick at Paris-Nice and I never really felt normal all spring. I had problems with my breathing,” Barry told VeloNews. “It was about 10 days

Boulder, CO, June 8, 2007 - Two time U.S. Olympian Erin Mirabellawill read her new book for children and families in four midwest locationsthis month. Monday, June 181:30 - 2:30 p.m.Racine Public Library75 Seventh St.Racine, WI 53403262.619.2571Wednesday, June 206:00 - 7:00 p.m.Turin Bicycle1027 Davis StreetEvanston, IL 60201(847) 864-7660Thursday, June 216:30 - 7:30 p.m.Racine Cyclery4615 Washington Ave.Racine, WI 53405(262) 637-7241Friday, June 226:30 - 7:30 p.m.Emery's Bicycle & Super Fitness9929 W. Lisbon Ave.Milwaukee, WI 53222(414) 463-BIKE (2453)Inspired by Mirabella's own

Barry's back to training after a bout with pneumonia

Olympic cyclist to read new book for children in Wisconsin and Chicago

A spokesman for Belgian super team Quick Step firmly denied links to doping practices Thursday after police arrested a dozen people following raids which netted large quantities of banned doping products. The regional prosecutor's office, after initially saying the raids were on homes of members of the Quick Step team, refused to name any of those arrested, the team who employed them or the type of products uncovered. Quick Step spokesman Alessandro Tegner claimed none of the team's riders were involved, and that their implication in the investigation is the result of a major

Valverde simply works harderIt seems a day doesn’t go by without someone accusing beleaguered defending ProTour champion Alejandro Valverde of being linked to the Operación Puerto doping investigation. Spanish authorities have never publicly connected Valverde to the alleged blood doping ring orchestrated by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, but some are insisting that codenames and bags of blood rounded up in police raids last year correspond to the Spanish phenomenon. The latest was a full-page interview published this week in L’Equipe with Spanish cycling whistleblower Jésus Manzano

Belgium's enfant terrible of professional cycling Frank Vandenbroucke is recovering in a Milan hospital on Thursday after an apparent suicide attempt. Earlier in the day the Italian press agency Ansa reported that the 32-year-old was in grave condition but his Acqua e Sapone team said later that he was "out of danger" and "completely conscious." Vandenbroucke did not start this year's Tour of Italy, which finished on Sunday, after failing to recover quickly enough from a knee operation in February. He was said to have suffered from depression for several years. He had yet to make

T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel and Ina Teutenberg are well on their way to clinching the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling after they both won Thursday afternoon’s Reading Classic in central Pennsylvania. They also won the first leg of the Triple Crown series last Sunday in Lancaster. One big difference between Sunday and Thursday was the weather. Following tropical rainfall that drenched the men in Lancaster, the 172 starters enjoyed sunshine, low humidity and 80-degree temperatures in Reading for the second edition of the Reading Classic. The change in the weather didn’t faze Eisel, the

Prosecutors' spokesman Tom Janssen fields questions about Thursday's raids.

Vandenbroucke's condition has stabilized after suidcide attempt.

Teutenberg goes two for two

Eisel makes an audacious bid for the win — and gets it

The early break

Eisel on the rise

Anderson controls the field for Teutenberg

Jesús Manzano – the former Kelme rider and whistleblower about alleged doping infractions within Spanish cycling – has leveled new allegations against Alejandro Valverde with a month to go before the start of the 2007 Tour de France. Manzano, who blew the whistle in a series of paid interviews in 2004 about the practices of alleged Puerto ringleader Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, told the French sports daily L’Equipe that “nothing’s changed in Spanish cycling.” The ex-pro continues to push his story that “those incriminated (in doping) continue to do their work” and accused Valverde of being

Dear Monique,In your April 25th column (More prepping for long rides), you mentionweighing before and after a ride. Is the weight differential entirely fluidor food in the stomach? Can you say a bit more about this differential?Should riders shoot for some change, no change, under what circumstances?Thanks,JoelHi Joel,The difference between your weight before and after a training riderepresents the amount of sweat that you did not replace with fluid intakeduring the ride. Even losing 2-percent of your body weight, about 3.5 poundsfor a 165-lb. cyclist can decrease your endurance, particularly

I remember a line from the movie, "The Right Stuff." It went something like this: "There's a demon out there, he lives out there in the thin air, right around Mach One ..." I was thinking about that last Sunday on my second attempt on Squaw Pass Road near Bergen Park. It's not that the road is impossible, plenty of people were doing it, sailing past me like nobody's business, and it's not that it was impossible for me, because, despite grunting and groaning and being overly dramatic about it all, I was doing it as well. Slowly, perhaps, but doing it nonetheless. I had

Sporting his familiar muttonchops and earring, Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Travis Brown was in Vail, Colorado, for the 2007 Teva Mountain Games. The May 31-June 3 event is an annual gathering of mountain sports, and features competitions for rock climbing, cycling, fly fishing, running, kayaking and even dog jumping.The 38-year-old Brown competed in the 21-mile cross-country race on June 2, where he squared off against a field of Colorado’s best off-road talent. Also present was embattled Tour de France champion Floyd Landis, who made his return to cycling since testing positive for a skewed

The T-Mobile team has opted not to select Ukrainian time trial specialist Sergei Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Honchar, the winner of two time trial stages in last year's Tour, was sidelined from T-Mobile’s Giro d'Italia squad last month after a blood test showed “abnormalities,” suggesting that he had doped. T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton said the one-time Soviet rider, who will turn 37 four days before the July 7 start of the Tour, will not race for the team next season. "A blood health check showed abnormalities four

The T-Mobile team has opted not to select Ukrainian time trial specialist Sergei Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Honchar, the winner of two time trial stages in last year's Tour, was sidelined from T-Mobile’s Giro d'Italia squad last month after a blood test showed “abnormalities,” suggesting that he had doped. T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton said the one-time Soviet rider, who will turn 37 four days before the July 7 start of the Tour, will not race for the team next season. "A blood health check showed abnormalities four

Manzano says cycling has lost its appeal.

Brown has doubts about whether roadies can adapt successfully to off-road racing

Following the string of revelations from former Telekom riders that they used banned performance-enhancing products during the team’s heyday in the mid-1990s, former team manager Walter Godefroot has denied having a role in the doping bonanza. Godefroot, who was the Telekom’s team manager from 1992 before retiring in 2005, held a press conference Tuesday in Ghent, Belgium, to refute speculations that the team had systematic doping. Seven former Telekom riders, including 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne Riis, have admitted to doping following the revelations of a former soigneur, Jeff

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”Henry FordIn a move surely destined to strike fear into the hearts of high-end seatpost manufacturers, Trek unveiled its new Madone road bike at a gathering of Trek dealers and cycling media on May 31. Under the soaring white trusses and glass of the stunningly beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum, Lance Armstrong joined Trek president John Burke in introducing a bike that is could alter the direction of bicycle design in a number of ways. To start, the new frame has no threads in a very unique 90mm bottom bracket

German cyclist Erik Zabel, fresh from admitting he took EPO (erythropoietin) in 1996, announced on Tuesday that he will not compete in the road race at next year's Beijing Olympic Games. Zabel, 36, met with the president of the German Olympic committee (DOSB), Thomas Bach, and DOSB general secretary Michael Vesper in Frankfurt on Tuesday before announcing his decision. The six-time winner of the Tour de France green jersey confessed he took the banned blood-booster EPO in 1996 - one of seven former Telekom cyclists, including 1996 Tour winner Bjarne Riis, who have admitted to using

Godefroot vehemently denies involvement in the Telekom doping program.

The newest Madone from Trek

A new approach to bottom bracket shell design

The new Madone fork crown and oversized bottom steerer section

Bonding on the last of the five main molded parts forming a Madone frame

For those who didn’t know him before last year’s Tour de France, David de la Fuente was just another Spanish journeyman who happily did the unglamorous work of a domestique with the occasional breakaway thrown in for good measure. No one could have guessed that the son of a butcher would be one of the main protagonists, winning the most agressiver rider prize and giving climbing king Michael Rasmussen a run for his money in the hunt for the polka-dot best climber’s jersey. De la Fuente gained his 15 minutes of fame last year in the Tour’s second stage, when the Saunier Duval-Prodir rider

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. We get a lot of bike-commuting pictures – especially for a racing mag’ – and we’ve even picked a few as winners. None has captured the imagination as has Fred Hall’s “Commuter Parking – Train Station, Malmo, Sweden.” Wow… not a car in sight. How civilized can you get? Nice work Fred! 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.

Jonathan Vaughters says the future of Slipstream-Chipotle is secure for the 2008-09 seasons. While Vaughters and Slipstream Sports chairman Doug Ellis currently shop for a title sponsor, the team has guaranteed funding to continue with their ambitious goal of pushing the U.S. squad into the Tour de France and the ProTour league within two years. “We have cash in hand to continue through 2008-09 no matter what,” Vaughters said. “Whether we find a big sponsor or not, we’re around next year and the next.” Unlike most cycling teams, which require a major title sponsor to pony up a large

Organizers of the 2007 Teva Mountain Games were quick to credit the “Floyd Factor” for the record number of participants registered for the Trek Hill Climb, a 9.8-mile road time-trial up Colorado’s Vail Pass. More than 150 elite and amateur cyclists showed up for the event — 40 more than in 2006. For all riders, the race was a unique chance to test their legs against that of Floyd Landis, the embattled 2006 Tour de France Champ. For Landis, the ride marked his first road race since he learned that he had tested positive for exogenous testosterone after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour. The

David de la Fuente made the most of his Tour in '06.

VeloNews Photo Contest: A new winner and a new gallery

Landis' appearance drew a lot of attention

At 51, Overend shows no interest in slowing down

1. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 92:59:39
2. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 1:55
3. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 2:25
4. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 3:15
5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 3:49
6. Riccardo Ricco' (I), Saunier Duval, 7:00
7. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), Tinkoff Credit Systems, 8:34
8. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 10:14
9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 10:44
10. David Arroyo Duran (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 11:58
11. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 13:08
12. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 13:30

Floyd Landis looked a little like a fish out of water as he slung his leg over a green BMC mountain bike and rolled to the starting line of the 2007 Teva Mountain Games cross-country race, held June 2 in Vail, Colorado. Sporting an orange jersey emblazoned the logo of Smith and Nephew — the British medical firm that gave him a new hip in September 2006 — Landis was competing in his first cycling race since learning that his urine sample from Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour tested positive for exogenous testosterone. But Landis — famous for his exploits on the road bike — was also racing in his

After 3442 kilometers and 21 grueling stages, Danilo Di Luca stood above all others atop the Milan podium Sunday, as overall winner of 90th Giro d'Italia.

Discovery Channel rider Vladimir Gusev won the overall title in the Tour of Belgium on Sunday. The Russian classics specialist finished 39 seconds ahead of Maaten Tjallingii with Leif Hoste nabbing third at 40 seconds back. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) snagged his first win since returning to competition after a three-week break to recover from injury after sprinting to victory in the 148.8km final stage from Aywaille to Putte. Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) was second with Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) coming through third. Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) was 10th. “This morning I asked my teammates

Consolation was the theme for the winners of Sunday’s finale in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the stage-6 Downtown Hood River Criterium. For men’s winner Heath Blackgrove of Toyota-United, the win was a welcome return to racing after a spring season derailed by a nagging knee injury. The win was also a gift to his Toyota-United team, which had not yet won a stage and was not able to land a rider on the podium overall. For women’s criterium winner Katherine Carroll, who collected her second stage victory, it was the next best thing to her Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings team winning the

T-Mobile’s Austrian sprinter Bernhard Eisel, fresh off his flight from Europe, shook off his jet lag by winning the first race of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown series, the Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic in Pennsylvania. Riders were greeted by rain as the remains of a tropical storm passed through the area, leading to numerous flats and a few tumbles over the early stages of the 13-lap race. Eisel first emerged with 3 laps of the 6.5 mile circuit remaining, going clear of the field in a seven-rider move that rolled away following a series of brief attacks. With Sergey Lagutin (Navigators),

Still in the spot-light.

Landis toes the line for the first time in many months

Petacchi wins his fifth stage of the 2007 Giro

Di Luca had a relaxed ride into Milan

At last, the prize

The engineer and his train

The champ finishes

Eisel takes a soggy win

And just think — the weather only got worse

Lagutin up front

The men's podium

O'Neill had to defend from the front

The women's break . . .

. . . and the narrow victory

Teutenberg won the women's race

The peloton in the park

Maglia rosa Danilo Di Luca's victory in the 90th Giro is all but assured after his performance Saturday, which saw him finish eighth to Astana's Paolo Savoldelli in a 43km time trial to Verona. With an enviable two-and-a-half minute advantage to Team CSC's Andy Schleck at the start of the day, Di Luca was never really in danger of losing his overall lead. The Liquigas captain finished just 29 seconds slower than the young Luxembourger, with Schleck also doing more than enough to retain his second place overall.

Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said Saturday that former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich could be stripped of his Olympic gold and silver medals from the Games in 2000. Ullrich won the men's Olympic road race in Sydney, where riders from his Telekom team also took the silver and bronze medals, and also claimed silver in the time trial. However, the German is among several top cyclists on whom suspicion has fallen in the wake of a series of doping confessions and revelations from former doctors, trainers and cyclists with links to the Telekom cycling team. Although Ullrich, now retired,