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Let's see. Over the past twenty weeks, my bike hasn't fit, my camera traveled underwater, and I finally kicked the demon's butt and conquered Squaw Pass on the third try. Come June 17th, playtime is over and I've got to Ride the Rockies for real. I can't believe that I've been playing with all this stuff since February, when Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine told me, in a way that only Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine can, that my bike -- my brand new, I saved a year for this darned thing, bike -- did not fit. That

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) successfully defended his race leader’s jersey in the second stage of Canada’s Tour de Beauce on Wednesday. A group of nine riders - nine minutes down on the leaders - was able to break away 40 kilometers into the race, with Glen Chadwick (Navigators) then soloing in the final 27 kilometers to win the stage. The 171 kilometer stage represented a new circuit for the Tour, north of the race hub town of St-Georges. The stage opened with a KoM climb, which was guaranteed to cause some action among riders hoping to make up for missing the split in the

Vino's in yellow here, but really wants it in July

Vande Velde says he's a big fan of Bell helmets after a couple of nasty crashes

Kash' is in line to win for Astana

Like Vino', defending champ Leipheimer is tuning up for the Tour

Moreau had a poor ride and dropped out of yellow

The Ancient One

Christophe Moreau started the Dauphiné Libéré hoping to test his form before next month’s Tour de France. If Tuesday’s bumpy ride into Saint-Etienne was any indication, he’s done that and more with a stage victory that also put him into the race leader’s yellow jersey. At 36, Moreau is no spring chicken, but he rode hard enough to bridge out with about 40km to go, joining a two-man breakaway that pulled away early in the 157km hilly route from Saint-Paul-en-Jarez to Saint-Etienne. Riding Moreau’s vapors were Juan Antonio Redondo (Astana) and Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step-Innergetic). The

An open dialogue about the problem of doping has been, up to this point, the third rail of cycling. Touch it and you die. The culture insists that anyone wishing to continue working in the sport remain silent on the issue, which perpetuates the problem. But the tide appears to be turning. Team managers and riders are not being immediately fired for admitting a prior history of doping in the era before EPO testing. Breaking the silence is a huge step towards solving the problem. As the biggest names in the sport are falling, the anti-doping movement seems to be throwing a haymaker at the

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) took his first victory in more than two seasons on the opening day of the Tour de Beauce with an extremely bold solo breakaway from the lead group after 158 kilometers of racing. Walters' team mate Dominique Rollin, the Canadian national champion, took the 10 rider sprint for second, while the original break initiator Jacob Erker (Symmetrics) took third, giving Canada a sweep of the podium. The 171-kilometer Lac Etchmin stage is a classic Beauce race: long, steady and constant climbs, rough roads and steady wind. Temperatures in the high 80s

Two years ago, Magura moved its suspension production out of Holland toBad Urach, Germany, where the company’s brake factory is based. This stepwas taken to ensure greater control over the new suspension fork’s production. The 2008 line will represent the second production model-year to comefrom the new German facility. Once again, it brings Magura a step closerto becoming a major player in the front suspension market. For 2008, Maguraputs its top-level cross-country fork on a radical diet, pairing closeto three quarters of a pound off of its 2007 equivalent. The Durin Race, a completely

Christophe Moreau dedicates his stage win and leaders jersey to his new daughter.

Vande Velde quickly recovered

Pineau Kuschynski initiated an early break...

... but faded soon after they got some company.

Moreau really drove this one

Cofidis eventually wore out its resources driving the chase

It took an alliance of sorts to narrow the gap

but Moreau still takes the day and the jersey.

Stefan Pahl, Magura’s suspension product manager, discusses the new 130mm travel Laurin ML130AM fork.

The back of the left fork leg on all of Magura’s forks sports an air pressure chart and a place to write in your personal setting.

Magura’s new 100mm travel fork, the Durin MD100R.

The Durin has Magura’s Dynamic Lock Out (DLO). The feature locks the fork, but allows a blow off for big hits.

The, once again, redesigned Louise brake. This is the BAT model.

The new caliper is a clamshell and cast from aluminum. The Heat Eater line attachment is free to pivot 90-degrees.

If the Dauphiné Libéré is just as much about a preview of the upcoming Tour de France as it is about actually winning the race, then Monday’s 219km first stage changed the plotline just slightly. The 219km hilly trek from Grenoble to Roanne followed the script throughout most of the day. A two-man no-hope breakaway slipped away in the early going, built up a seemingly large lead of nearly 10 minutes, only to be reeled in by the collaborative efforts of Cofidis – looking to defend the leader’s jersey for Bradley Wiggins – and Quick Step-Innergetic – looking to slip Tom Boonen in for the

Discovery1. Levi Leipheimer (USA)2. Alberto Contador (Sp)3. Tom Danielson (USA)4. George Hincapie (USA)5. Egoi Martinez (Sp)6. Benjamin Noval (Sp)7. Sergio Paulinho (P)8. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit)AG2R11. Christophe Moreau (F)12. Arrieta José-Luis (Sp)13. Sylvain Calzati (F)14. Cyril Dessel (F)15. Goubert Stéphane (F)16. Julien Loubet (F)17. Blaise Sonnery (F)18. Ludovic Turpin (F)Gerolsteiner21. Bernhard Kohl (A)22. Markus Fothen (G)23. Heinrich Haussler (G)24. Torsten Hiekmann (G)25. Ronny Scholz (G)26. Tom Stamsnijder (Nl)27. Fabian Wegmann (G)28. Peter Wrolich (A)Rabobank31. Denis

French veteran Didier Rous already knew that the 2007 season would be his last, but a double herniated cervical disc pushed his retirement date up a few months earlier than he had hoped. Rous, 36, told French journalists he’s putting an end to his suffering and bringing an earlier than expected close to his 14-year career in the face of the debilitating injuries. “This was my last season, I knew that, but I would have liked to have had another ending,” Rous told L’Equipe. “All this is against my will. I have pain in the neck and shoulders. I cannot hold the handlebars correctly with my

American cross-country mountain-bike racer Adam Craig has his sights set on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That means for the next two seasons, he will be battling it out on the World Cup and National Mountain Bike Series with his fellow Americans for a slot on the U.S. team. And VeloNews.com is along for the ride.—Editor As globetrotting bike racers, we face various challenges — staying in shape, food, travel, sleep, navigation, luck, etc. Over the years you develop a respectable skill set to deal with these challenges. One skill set I’m still struggling with, however, is controlling

Haussler frustrates the biggies.

Another day in yellow.

Late-spring rain showers punctuated the early part of the day.

Wiggins wants to enjoy the jersey at least until Mt. Ventoux.

Rémi Pauriol and Nicolas Portal make an early break in a long stage... with the predictable result.

Leipheimer is staying relaxed.

Just your average day on the bike in Switzerland

World pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) tore through the 4.2-kilometer prologue time trial of the 2007 Dauphiné Libéré, narrowly edging out defending Dauphiné champion Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) on Sunday. Wiggins covered the course in 4:50, one second better than Leipheimer and two seconds better than Andrey Kashechkin (Astana). Leipheimer's teammate George Hincapie rounded out the top four, three seconds off of Wiggins' time. The 27-year-old Wiggins is looking to prove his credientials ahead of the Tour de France, with a prologue time trial that begins in London, just a

When a 156-mile race ends in a massive field sprint it’s easy to think that nothing much happened. But that wasn’t the case in the 23rd edition of the Commerce Bank Philadelphia Championship on Sunday. Indeed, there were many subplots behind the final result: a clear victory for Team CSC’s rapid Argentinean J.J. Haedo from his rookie Australian teammate Matt Goss, with T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel placing third to easily clinch the Commerce Bank Triple Crown after winning the first two events of Philly Week. It seemed like a logical result, but several factors affected the outcome, including a

Hot racing, steep hills and water-squirting fans — must be the Philly International Championship, the only hors-catégorie pro men's one-day race on this side of the big ditch. Our man Casey Gibson was on hand for that spectacle and the women's Liberty Classic on Sunday, and sent a few snaps home. Here they are.

Despite soggy conditions, Americans and GT teammates Brian Lopes and Jill Kintner won the second round of the Nissan UCI Four cross World Cup, held June 10 in Champéry, Switzerland. The win bumped both Lopes and Kintner into the leaders jersey for the 2007 World Cup. The finals begun after a torrential downpour turned the four-cross track into a muddy quagmire. Large puddles filled the berms, and crashes were many. Lopes, the 2005 world champion, was fastest in the men’s qualifying round, but faced reigning world and World Cup champ, Czech Michal Prokop (Author) in the finals. Prokop,

Wiggins edges Leipheimer by a second

Leipheimer... close, but no leader's jersey today.

Kashechkin grabs third

Hincapie powered in to briefly take the lead and finished fourth on the day

Valverde is fifth

Zabriskie takes sixth

Boonen puts in a strong ride Sunday

Millar may have been hampered by some nasty weather earlier in the day

For the world pursuit champ, a 4.2km TT was almost a perfect distance.

This the first major leader's jersey of Wiggins career.

Teutenberg gets the hat trick and the Triple Crown

Haedo takes Philly – but Eisel wears the crown

The Irish have a go — Power and O'Laughlin

Haedo didn't think he was the man today

Anderson doing the heavy lifting

Powers having a dig

Armstrong punches it

Blaudzun up front

Sutherland

The bunch climbs Lemon Hill

Going up: Men's Triple Crown winner Bernhard Eisel

Ryder Hesjedal attacks on the final trip up Manayunk

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