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Defending National Mountain Bike Series short-track champions Geoff Kabush and Katerina Nash each grabbed their second short-track victories of 2007 at the Deer Valley NMBS on Sunday. Nash, ranked 13th in the World Cup cross-country standings, scored a come-from-behind victory against Luna teammate Georgia Gould. Kabush, leader of the 2007 NMBS cross-country standings, stretched a second-lap gap into a winning solo breakaway. Gould seized the lead on the opening lap of the women’s short track after surging up the course’s one dusty climb with Subaru-Gary Fisher rider Willow Koerber in hot

The 22nd edition of the Tour de Beauce ended Sunday with the Navigators Insurance squad taking their its third consecutive victory, as Australian Ben Day easily held off last ditch attempts by second placed Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) and Danny Pate (Slipstream) to put him in difficulty. The stage was won by veteran Soren Petersen (Farso Denmark), who – perhaps unsportingly - outsprinted breakaway companion Christian Meier (Symmetrics), after letting Meier pull for the final 34 kilometers. The final stage of Beauce always takes place in the host town of St-Georges. It is by no means a parade

Last year, organizers of the National Mountain Bike Series heard gruff remarks from the gravity racing crowd for holding the mountain-cross competition on a BMX track located an hour’s drive from Deer Valley resort. The decision was made after Deer Valley resort predictably balked at the idea of cutting a gated race course into one of its ski runs. For 2007, NMBS organizers convinced resort management to allow a scaled-down dual slalom track built near the base of the mountain’s famed downhill course. While it lacked the steepness and length of most other NMBS dual slalom tracks, it

2007 Official Tour de France Guide Hits Newsstands

Moreau poses on the podium with child Margot and wife Emilie

Zabel takes it

Moreau remained vigilant throughout the finale

Leipheimer made a promising late move . . .

. . . only to lay it down in a wet roundabout

Martinez in the escape

Contador has a dig

But Vino' had the winning move

Slalom winner Graves has become a World Cup player

American Melissa Buhl was happy to win both the slalom and DH

The finishing dropoff of Deer Valley's course made for some hang time

Men's winner Duncan Riffle makes one autograph seeker happy

People all week have been saying Christophe Moreau was the strongest rider at the Dauphiné Libéré. Despite two stage wins and superb form in the mountains, it was Astana playing hot potato with the leader’s jersey at the eight-day Tour de France tune-up. The Ag2r captain attacked with about 5km to go on the 12km Cat. 1 Col du Télégraphe at the end of Saturday’s seven-climb “queen stage” to erase any doubt. Maxim Iglinskiy gave Astana its third stage win of the week after holding out as part an 11-man, all-day breakaway, but Moreau came through eighth to turn a 14-second deficit to

It is time. When the Tour de Suisse begins in Olten on Saturday, the occasion is not so significant for the opening time trial, as it is that the Tour de France is exactly three weeks away. For the time being at least, the Puerto headlines do not rule the sporting pages of magazines or newspapers. The confessions, that have so far numbered four, have stopped. But the cynicism is still there; the public wants - no, the public needs - to see some clean winners, and it must start now. One of two primary lead-up events to Tour itself, the Tour de Suisse runs concurrently with the Critirium du

Farrar wins in PortugalTyler Farrar scored his first win as a pro in Europe in Friday’s second stage at the GP Correios in Portugal. The 23-year-old Cofidis rider opened up an early sprint that not only earned him a breakthrough victory but also slotted him into the overall leader’s jersey. Farrar fractured his left kneecap in a fall on the infamous Kemmelberg cobblestone descent at Ghent-Wevelgem in April, but luckily, surgery wasn’t required. That allowed him to return to Europe to race at the Tour of Picardy and the Tour of Belgium last month. The Portuguese tour ends Sunday and Farrar is

Those who began to hail Bradley Wiggins as the likely winner of the Tour de France prologue spoke too soon. On Saturday in Olten, reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) smashed the prologue of the Tour de Suisse and his rivals, sending out a flashing red warning light to his adversaries all over Europe. "This victory is a confirmation that everything is working right, that I am back to winning form," announced Cancellara, who by default also took the first yellow jersey as race leader. "The Tour de France [prologue] will be completely different, because the roads

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road. Saturday — Fatigue has taken its toll in the 2007 Race Across America. Jure Robic is still in the lead, but his average speed has dropped to 15.21 mph, ending any hope he may have had of breaking Pete Penseyre’s 1986 record of 15.4 mph. And there’s a very real possibility of there being no women finishers in this year’s event. First, the men. The order at the front remains unchanged — Robic is out front, with Wolfgang Fasching

Americans Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Georgia Gould scored convincing cross-country victories at the fifth round of the 2007 National Mountain Bike Series, held June 16 at Deer Valley resort in Park City, Utah. The first high-alpine race of 2007, Deer Valley’s 8.5-mile cross-country loop sent riders climbing up to 7700 feet above sea level before embarking on a speedy, dusty descent, followed by two more successive climbs and descents. The men completed four laps around the course, with the women tackling three. An unseasonably hot sun beat down on a large crowd of pro racers — 87 men and

Mike Sayers (BMC) won Saturday’s Twilight Criterium in Reno, Nevada. The race concluded with a tactical sprint between Sayers and Jaior Perez of the Colombian National Team. Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) used his explosive sprinting ability to win the chase-group sprint, finishing third in the stage and first in the omnium. Saturday’s race was extremely fast from the moment it began. Once again, the Colombian team kept the pace painfully high on the 0.8-mile loop, turning the 90-minute criterium into a race of attrition. An early breakaway by Perez was followed by 10 of the field’s

With an 11th-hour burst of speed, Frank Travieso placed a commandingfootprint on the 2007 AT&T Downtown Austin Criterium which went downon Saturday, June 16th. Coming out of the final turn of the four corner,1KM circuit Travieso clearly demonstrated that he had gotten the betterof his competition.

Iglinsky wins

Moreau waited for the right moment to attack, and it paid off

Kashechkin wasn't overly upset at losing the jersey

Cancellara en route to victory

Evans said Moreau was the strongest

Just another day on the job

Phillip Baker on the Highway of the Legends, between La Veta and Trinidad, Colorado

The high-tech carbon-fiber machines of Team Velokraft sit close to the ground and present a much smaller front profile

Team Bacchetta’s machines have a fairly standard (for a recumbent) position

JHK takes the V

The women's podium

Sayers takes the win

The stage podium

The overall podium

Travieso leaves no doubt about who won that one

McRae celebrates with the officers of the official Jen McRae fan club

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road.Friday - Jure Robic continues to dominate the solo men’s field. As of this afternoon (Friday) he’s already reached the Marthasville, Missouri, time station. His closest rival, Wolfgang Fashing is approximately five hours back, with third place Daniel Wyss riding another two and half hours back. Robic is currently averaging 15.56 miles and hour. While that’s still slightly better than Pete Penseyres’ 15.4 mile an hour record the

Alexandre Vinokourov is playing kingmaker at the Dauphiné Libéré. A day after stepping aside on Mont Ventoux to let Astana understudy Andrey Kashechkin move into the leader’s jersey, the 33-year-old gifted Friday’s 195km fifth stage to Astana teammate Toni Colom. The Astana captain powered away from Friday’s winning 22-rider breakaway on the day’s final hurdle on the Cat. 2 Col du Corobin with about 20km to go to latch on to the attacking Colom and the pair drove home the victory 3:27 ahead of the chasing favorites. Vinokourov then insisted the Spanish journeyman take the scalp because he

There won’t be a Tour de France debut for Tom Danielson this year. Recurring stomach ailments – which forced him to pull out of the first stage of the Dauphiné Libéré -- have scuttled Tour hopes for the 29-year-old Discovery Channel rider. “Tom is off the Tour team,” Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel told VeloNews. “He’s sick. We’re trying to find out exactly what the problem is. He’s had stomach problems throughout the year at several key moments. It’s definitely a disappointment.” Danielson was hoping to earn a spot on the nine-man Discovery Channel team in what would be his

The Italian cycling federation (FCI) on Friday gave Ivan Basso a two-year ban for his involvement in Operación Puerto, but deducted the time he has spent on the sidelines after first being identified as a suspect in the blood-doping scandal. "I can't do anything other than accept the sentence," the 2006 Giro d'Italia champion was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA after the hearing. "I'm calm. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy and that's why I accept the sanctions. Now I will continue to train and I will be thinking ahead to the races in 2009." Asked if

American cross-country racer Willow Koerber is enjoying her finest World Cup campaign ever. The 29-year-old collected a ninth-place finish at the May 26 event in Offenburg, Germany, and followed that up with an impressive podium performance at the June 9 World Cup in Champéry, Switzerland. Finishing on the box at a European World Cup is a career accomplishment, and Koerber hopes it’s the first of many. And with the 2008 Olympics looming, Koerber knows that continuing her consistent World Cup performances will earn her a ticket to the Games. VeloNews caught up with Koerber as she was

Conflicts with the USA Cycling Elite National Championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, have forced organizers of the Cascade Cycling Classic to cancel this year’s women’s stage race. A decision was made this week to postpone the women’s Pro 1-2 race until 2008. Race organizer Chad Sperry called it “one of the toughest decisions in recent history.” “We are just heartbroken about this situation,” said Sperry, who also directs the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. “Last fall I sat down with the owners of the event, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF), and we had decided to take the

For the third consecutive year, the National Mountain Bike Series heads into central Utah’s rugged Wasatch Mountains as the Deer Valley resort in Park City hosts the fourth NMBS round of 2007. An 11-year mainstay on the NMBS — formerly called the NORBA and NCS series — Deer Valley is arguably the series’s marquee event, thanks in no small part to community support. On Thursday, pro riders Todd Wells, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Heather Irmiger, Chris Van Dine and Kathy Sherwin held an autograph signing to benefit the local Young Riders recreational cycling club for kids. “The place was packed,”

For the second consecutive day, the Tour de Beauce saw a change in the lead, with Australian Ben Day (Navigators) taking over the yellow jersey from Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) after scorching the competition in the individual time trial. Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle), the defending time-trial champion at Beauce, finished second with Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) third. Tuft moves into second overall at 33 seconds behind Day, with Pate taking over third at 1:04. The 20km out-and-back time trial was held under near-perfect conditions, with temperatures in the mid-20's (Celsius) and almost

Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) won the first of two criteriums in thisyear’s Tour de Nez on a beautiful Friday evening in Truckee, California. The local favorite took advantage of a mid-race break and capped offhis effort with a ferocious sprint. Finishing just half of a wheel length behind Candelario was Juan PabloForero of the Colombian National Team, and just behind Forero was TonyCruz (Discovery), the overall winner of last year's Tour de Nez. During the first 30 minutes of the race, the field was at the mercyof the Colombian National Team, which maintained a blistering pace,

Colom and Vino' celebrate another 1-2 Astana punch

Basso arrives at his hearing in Rome on Friday

Koerber is having fun and riding strongly

Day smokes the TT

The winner last year, Pate took second today

Tuft, who took third, says the race isn't over yet

Lauren Fithian on the beautiful “Highway of the Legends,” west of Trinidad, Colorado. She’s currently in third, however the entire women’s field is in danger of not making the time cut-off.

The climb over Wolf Creek Pass is tough, but the views are worth it.

What do you do when parts of your saddle cause pressure point? Remove those parts, of course! Women’s solo leader Kerry White show’s how it’s done.

Candelario nails it

Traces of drugs were found in the urine samples taken from three stage winners at this year’s Giro d'Italia, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday. The paper said sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) tested positive for Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma, and Piepoli’s teammate Iban Mayo showed signs of an elevated testosterone level. Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate. Basque television channel EITB confirmed

Mont Ventoux served up a dandy in Thursday’s 197km fourth stage as the Dauphiné Libéré remains anything but decided with six riders within 53 seconds of each other in the overall standings. Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) attacked to his second win in three days as Andrey Kashechkin inherited the race leader’s jersey from Alexandre Vinokourov just as Astana promised, but it didn’t come without pain.

Traces of drugs were found in the urine samples taken from three stage winners at this year’s Giro d'Italia, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday. The paper said sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) tested positive for Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma, and Piepoli’s teammate Iban Mayo showed signs of an elevated testosterone level. Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate. Basque television channel EITB confirmed

Bosses from cycling’s biggest teams met behind closed doors Wednesday night in an effort to fend off potential surprises ahead of next month’s Tour de France. Following rumors that more riders could be linked to the Operación Puerto doping scandal, representatives from 19 ProTour teams decided in a heated three-hour meeting that any team not enforcing the Code of Ethics will not be allowed to race. “Any team not respecting the ethics code will be excluded from the AIGCP,” said Patrick Lefevere, president of the professional teams association. Presenting a united front is about all the

Spanish climber Iban Mayo, one of three riders whose urine samples were reported to have shown traces of drugs during the recent Giro d'Italia, was cleared of doping by the UCI on Thursday. But cycling's world governing body confirmed that Italian pair Alessandro Petacchi and Leonardo Piepoli were still under investigation. Italy's sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported Thursday that the three cyclists returned "non-negative" results at the first grand tour of the season, which ran from May 12-June 3. The paper said sprinter Petacchi and climber Piepoli tested positive for

There were two races going on today in stage three of the Tour de Beauce - the one to claim victory at the top of Mont Megantic, and one for the yellow jersey of overall race leader. Glen Chadwick (Navigators) took his second consecutive win for the former, and Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) won the fight for yellow, deposing Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). The Mont Megantic stage is the 'big one' at Beauce. It is not the longest, but it does have 4 KoM climbs, ending with a five kilometer ascent to over 1100 meters atop Mont Megantic. The average gradient for the final 3

Moreau wins atop Ventoux.

It was not among Vinokourov's best days... but there's always July.

Leipheimer and Zabriskie are still in the mix

The break's lead that once hit 11:30 completely evaporated on the slopes of the Ventoux

With the top two on GC, the day's chasing duties fell exclusively on Astana

Evans was aggressive near the top of the Ventoux

Vino knew early on that he was in trouble

In retrospect, maybe attacking at the 2km mark wasn't a sure bet

Calzatti lasted until about 4km from the summit.

Anton took a chance with 3km to go, but...

... Morreau had it in the bag by then.

In the time-trial stage at last year’s Dauphiné Libéré, Americans swept the top four en route to Levi Leipheimer’s overall victory in a stunning display of national prowess against the clock. In Wednesday’s 40.7km undulating course with two Cat. 4 climbs, it was the Kazakhs’ turn to show who’s boss. Alexandre Vinokourov won his first race since last year’s Vuelta a España, claiming the overall leader’s jersey, while faithful sidekick Andrey Kashechkin was second to stake his claim as the leading candidate for overall victory. Dave Zabriskie (CSC) was third at 38 seconds off the pace to

Christian Vande Velde rode through Wednesday’s time trial at the Dauphiné Libéré licking his wounds. Vande Velde crashed on a steep descent in Tuesday’s hilly stage when his drive train slipped and he lost all resistance in his pedals, sending him “high-siding” over the handlebars. “I just catapulted over the handlebars,” said Vande Velde, who added he couldn’t touch his chin to his chest because of stiffness in his neck. “Remember the crash Tyler (Hamilton) had at the Tour a few years ago? My back looks just like that.” Vande Velde rode Wednesday’s time trial as a high-speed recovery

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