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Mid-way through a long stint on the road and with what feels like a revolving door of hotel rooms, flights and long drives, I’ve begun to notice some of the quirks that we cyclists end up adopting in an attempt to make hotels and restaurants seem just a bit more comfortable and similar to home. To lay a bit of groundwork, a bit about the Slipstream Sports setup here in Europe: While almost all of us live in Girona, when at the races our one constant is the team RV. The team’s growing and on a bit of a shopping spree right now but at this point we’re hanging out in what most people think of

Sports Nutritionist Monique Ryan Updates Best-Selling Nutrition Bookfor CyclistsNew edition provides nutritional strategies to improve performancein six endurance sportsBoulder, CO, USA - April, 2007 - VeloPress is pleased to announcethe publication of Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, 2nd Ed., thelatest book from nationally recognized sports nutritionist Monique Ryan.The book is now available in bookstores and from VeloGear.com.Endurance athletes regularly push their bodies to the limits with astrenuous training regimen that demands smart nutrition. In Sports Nutritionfor Endurance

Join Discovery HD Theater to: Beat the Clock, Tame the Mountainsand Taste VictoryDo you have what it takes to race in France this summer?If you think you can climb the hardest stages of the world’s best-knowncycling race, then Discovery Club1080, presented by Discovery HD Theater,invites you to saddle up to test your skills this summer.Discovery Club1080 is looking for two cycling enthusiasts to star inan upcoming program. If selected, you'll travel to Spain to meet ridersand coaches from the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. They’ll show youthe ins and outs of training for the

Dave Zabriskie, winner of a Giro d’Italia stage in 2005, is returning to the Italian stage race next month as part of Team CSC’s nine-man squad for the corsa rosa. Zabriskie, 28, won stage eight in the 2005 Giro and then went on to win the opening time trial at the Tour de France that same year. Coupled with his 2004 Vuelta a España stage victory, the feat distinguishes him as the only American rider to win stages in all three grand tours. The Giro will also mark the grand tour debut of Juan José Haedo, the Argentine sprinter who’s already scored wins in the United States and Europe. Team

Michele Scarponi (Acqua e Sapone) has been targeted by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in connection with his implication in the Operación Puerto doping affair which erupted last May. CONI this week announced that Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, now under suspension from the Discovery Channel team, has been asked to attend a hearing on May 2 to answer charges on his implication in the scandal. Scarponi, who at the time of the Puerto investigation was a member of the Liberty Seguros team, has been ordered to appear on Wednesday as well, but at 8:30 in the morning. Basso is slated

Although the three final spring Classics have similar protagonists that highlight the classification, the races are quite unique and different from one another. Amstel is a technical course loaded with short steep climbs on tiny roads; Flèche, the shortest of the three, is a race that essentially comes down to one climb, the Mur de Huy, and is a race that is nervous, fast with open roads and fewer climbs; Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the hardest of the three, has longer climbs, is the longest in distance, the most selective and perhaps, the least tactical, as the strongest man usually wins. Under

As much of the U.S. has shivered and slogged through this spring, down along Arizona’s border with Mexico it’s been all sunshine and temperatures in the mid-70’s. It’s a perfect setting for some serious bike racing — and time to head to Bisbee for the 29th edition of La Vuelta de Bisbee. La Vuelta gives young riders the chance to mix it up with seasoned pros in a blue-collar stage race. Among the 240 riders taking the start for this year’s three-day race are defending champion Phil Zajicek (Navigators); the U23 Team WM squad; two pro teams from Mexico (Halcones and Tecos); and the world deaf

With a victory in stage 4, Argentinean Alejandro Borrajo cut race leader Javier Zapata’s overall lead to 18 seconds Thursday in the 2007 Tour of Virginia. Zapata (Team Caico) came into the stage boasting a 58-second lead over the second-place Borrajo (Rite Aid), but the Argentinean joined an early break on Thursday’s 103-mile stage from Douthat to Waynesboro and stayed away to win. Borrajo, who finished fifth in the points classification in the 2004 Giro d’Italia, rolled through the three Cat. 1 and two Cat. 3 climbs. Sprinter Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) mounted a successful chase effort

Press Release - Ryan Updates Best-Selling Nutrition Book

Zabriskie remains the only American to win stages in all three grand tours.

Cruz gets ready for the rough road to Roubaix.

The Mule Mountains await on Stage 3

Zapata holds his lead despite losing time on Thursday

With third-placed Bowman a minute down, the Tour of Virginia is shaping up to be a two-man race.

Dear Monique,I have read your interesting and informative article posted on VeloNews.com on 28th march 2007 about EatingRight for Those Long Rides. I have one question relating to the amount of carbohydrate you should consume per hour during your long ride if you have had a pre-ride meal 3-4 hours, 2 hours, or 1 hour before the start of your ride. Do you consume different amounts of carbohydrate per hour during your ride depending on the size and timing of your pre-ride meal> For example, would you consume more per hour of the ride if you have only had a small pre-ride meal 1 hour before you

Perhaps more than anyone, Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis is watching with interest the latest developments concerning defending Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso. On Tuesday, Discovery Channel was forced to suspend the ex-CSC captain after Italian authorities decided to re-open a probe into Basso’s alleged links to the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal. “I have no regrets. I couldn’t do anything else than what I did. It was my decision. I cannot change the past. I prefer to focus on the future,” Riis told VeloNews. “It was difficult to see Ivan leave the team because we worked so hard,

top 5 : 1. Vos, 2. Cooke. 3. Arndt, 4. Amber Neben, 5. kristin Armstrong (U.S. National)

Long after this spring classics season passes into history, the spate of races that stretch from the baking Tour of Flanders of several weeks ago through this Sunday’s expected 80-degree Liége-Bastogne-Liége might be most remembered for their balmy, unseasonable weather. And when the day comes that the 2007 spring classics results are but answers to a trivia question, Gerolsteiner veteran Davide Rebellin might still be winning races.

After a stage in the lead at the Tour of Virginia, Russ Langley gave up the general classification leader’s jersey to Team Caico’s Javier Zapata of Colombia after stage 3 Wednesday. Zapata, down six seconds heading into the third stage, rode clear from an early breakaway on the 110-mile stage through the Alleghany Highlands, the first true road race and the longest of the seven-stage tour. Heading up the Cat 1. Warms Springs Mountain, Zapata launched himself off the front and didn’t look back. Zapata came into stage 3 in 11th place overall after a tough performance in stage 2, a 25-mile

Riis and Basso faces painful choices on the eve of the 2006 Tour de France.

top 5 : 1. Vos, 2. Cooke. 3. Arndt, 4. Amber Neben, 5. kristin Armstrong (U.S. National)

Rebellin wins Fleche for the second time.

Rebellin adds to his list of Ardennes victories.

Fleche Wallone is often decided on the Mur de Huy

A warm day in the Ardennes

Valverde puts his team into the chase

Merckx steps it up

Gilbert gives it a dig

Di Luca joins a dangerous break

Rebellin and Kessler mix it up

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. This week’s winning photograph captures the essence of competitive cycling, even the participants aren’t actually going anywhere. Take a look at Luke Seemann’s “Chicago IRO Sprints,” and see if you agree. Nice work, Luke. 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,decide what

Discovery Channel rider Ivan Basso will skip Wednesday’s Flèche Wallone and Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège over growing pressure to boycott riders with links to the Operación Puerto doping investigation heats up again. The Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Tuesday that the decision comes following an agreement between Discovery Channel team officials and race organizer ASO, which runs the Tour de France as well as the two upcoming Ardennes classics. Both sides agreed it would be more pragmatic to keep the Italian out of the hilly spring classics to avoid a potentially

Valverde press conference turns uglyA press conference with defending Flèche Wallone-Liège-Bastogne-Liège champion Alejandro Valverde turned ugly Monday when Belgian journalists tried to corner the Spanish rider on links to the Operación Puerto doping investigation. When pressed that his name might be among the scores of nicknames found in police documents as part of the Spanish investigation last May, Valverde said he had nothing to worry about. “I am tranquil,” Valverde told journalists. “I know that I don’t have any problem, because if I did, I wouldn’t have been able to race in

The Classics are traditionally hard men’s races held over tough courses under miserable spring conditions. This morning, the day after the Amstel Gold Race, we woke up to another day of glorious sunshine, pulled on our shorts and t-shirts and headed down to the hotel lobby breakfast—not the weather we expected and we nearly all had sunburns from the race. Half of the team from Amstel is staying in Belgium for Fleche and Liege while the others closed the door on their Classics campaign and headed home, as they had been up here since mid-March. Generally teams trade their sprinters and

During this month’s Sea Otter Classic, Princeton Tec invited some of us on a night ride to roll out its new Switchback lights. Princeton Tec’s Sean Leslie lined up local Monterey bike mechanic, single-speed devotee and high-school senior Erik Ebberoth to lead the ride. Ebberoth took us on some great trails, perfectly suited to testing lights, weaving in and out and up and down through thick underbrush and overhanging trees laden with long strands of moss dangling low over the trail. We slapped the lights on our borrowed full-suspension Konas, which was easy thanks to the quick-open slotted

Following the announcement that the Italian Olympic Committee has made additional inquiries regarding Ivan Basso’s involvement in the Operación Puerto case, the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team issued the following news release:DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM MANAGEMENT ASK BASSO TO FOREGO COMPETITION PENDING INVESTIGATIONTeam management at Tailwind Sports has requested that Italian rider Ivan Basso not compete pending further information in a new investigation coming out of Italy. The Italian Cycling Federation and Italian Olympic Committee conducted a full review last fall of Basso’s implication

A Spanish magazine reported on Tuesday that bags allegedly containing the blood of defending Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso will be taken from Spain to Italy for DNA analysis. Basso was suspended by the Discovery Channel team on Tuesday, after theItalian authorities announced they wanted to question him further over his involvement in the Operación Puerto. In May 2006 Madrid police seized bags of blood and doping productsduring a laboratory raid, along with codenames of cyclists and documents that seemed to indicate the existence of a program of organized doping and blood doping.

The 71st Flèche Wallonne is set to start Wednesday morning in Charleroi, Belgium, amid swirling controversy surrounding the non-participation of both Discovery Channel’s Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso and the embattled Unibet.com team. The race’s name, meaning the “Walloon Arrow,” stems from its eastwardly course direction from the industrial city of Charleroi to Huy, in the French-speaking Walloon, or Wallonia, region of Belgium — an area that represents roughly one-third of Belgium’s population and one half of its territory. The UCI ProTour race will feature a start list of 24 teams

American Russ Langley won the opening stage of the 2007 Tour of Virginia this morning, taking the five-mile time trial along South Lee Highway through the town of Natural Bridge. With seven stages over six days this year, the Tour of Virginia is the new name of the Tour of Shenandoah.Langley (Battley Harley Davidson-Hudson) posted a time of 8:04 in the opening time trial, edging out second-place finisher Eddy Hilger (Priority Health-Bissel) by just more than a second. Racing continues Tuesday evening with a 25-mile criterium in the heart of Lynchburg. Road racing begins tomorrow with a

Chicago IRO Sprints

Basso - seen here at the unveiling of the 2007 Giro route - won't be at Flèche Wallone or Liège-Bastogne-Liège and may not be at the Tour in July.

Enlightened: Former VeloNews editor Kip Mikler hit the trails with us, too.

Fred lights up: Planet Dirt editor Fred Dreier sees where he's heading

Freire has to be considered a favorite whenever he starts... no matter what he's riding.

Flèche Wallonne marked by no-shows, new hills

Flèche Wallonne marked by no-shows, new hills

Flèche Wallonne marked by no-shows, new hills

Floyd Landis said Monday that recent news leaks from the French national anti-doping laboratory underscore his claim that staff at the facility cannot be trusted to carry out their work in an unbiased fashion. Landis called an afternoon telephone press conference Monday to voice concern about procedures used in the testing of seven unexamined B samples left over from this year's Tour de France. The French sports daily L'Equipe reported Monday that "several" urine samples taken during Landis's contested win in the 2006 Tour have tested positive for the presence of exogenous

UCI president Pat McQuaid made his strongest appeal yet for resolution to the Operación Puerto doping scandal when he asked Spain’s sports minister Monday to allow samples from nearly 100 bags of blood and plasma be made available for DNA testing. In an open letter addressed to sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky, McQuaid insisted that Spanish authorities collaborate with the UCI to try to identify whose blood was found during police raids last May of offices and apartments used by controversial Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. “The UCI wants to ensure that all the blood that was found in

Landis is congratualted by Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme after winning the 2006 edition of the race.

Final Overall Standings
1. Janez Brajkovic (SLO), Discovery Channel, 1058.9km in 25:26:33 (41.619kph)
2. Christian Vande Velde (USA) CSC, at 0:12
3. David Canada Gracia (Sp) Saunier Duval, at 3:04
4. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval, at 3:06
5. Kevin Seeldraeyers (B) Quick Step-Innergetic, at 4:22
6. Scott Nydam (USA) BMC, at 5:35
7. Jeff Louder (USA) Health Net Maxxis, at 6:00
8. Timothy Johnson (USA) Health Net Maxxis, at 6:59
9. Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream-Chipotle, at 10:08

All eyes will be on the home squad of Rabobank at the 42nd Amstel Gold Race Sunday, the biggest cycling event of the year in The Netherlands. Won last by Rabobank in 2001 by now-retired national hero Erik Dekker, the team brings Milan-San Remo winner Oscar Freire and his compatriot Juan Antonio Flecha, as well as 1999 winner Michael Boogerd, who beat Lance Armstrong to win Amstel in 1999. Boogerd – who this week announced plans to retire at the end of the season – has since finished on the podium seven times, a source of pride and also frustration for the Dutch national champion. The Amstel

As the ProTour’s Amstel Gold Race was underway a couple of hours away, mountain-biking’s top pros were starting their own season with the opening World Cup race in Houffalize, Belgium. Often viewed as the European classic of the World Cup circuit, Houffalize stands as the one race every rider wants to win. This year saw two new faces at the top of the podium, as Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida) overcame mechanical problems and a crash with the lead motorcycle to beat Julien Absalon (Orbea) for the men's title, and China's Chengyuan Ren (China National team) won the first World Cup

It would take a true trivia buff to remember the last time a rider won a spring classic with a dozen stitches in his knee, but 26-year-old German Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner did just that at the 42nd Amstel Gold Race on Sunday in the Netherlands. Schumacher, who crashed during the final stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on April 14, came into the Ardennes Classics quite unsure of his fitness, after taking four days completely off the bike in the week before Amstel Gold. He rode on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leading into the race, and decided to give it a go.

Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic cruised across the line at the end of the 66.8-mile circuit race that capped off the fifth edition of the Tour de Georgia, comfortably ensconced in the overall leader’s jersey as the sprinters in the peloton battled for the day’s stage honors and points.

Breukink

Demol at the Maastricht Markt Town Hall

The home-town fans will be showing their colors on Sunday

With three riders in the final seven, Amstel was Gerolsteiner's to lose

Warm, but windy, the Amstel features 39 climbs ... and a 1000 turns.

The pace stayed high all day.

The day's first escape

Boogered and Sinkewitz dug deep on the Schweiberg

Gerolsteiner serves up a 1-2 punch

There were big names driving the peloton up the Cauberg.

Voigt and company posed a serious threat

With Boogerd, Bettini and Di Luca in the mix, it was almost certain that the winner would emerge from the lead group.

Wesemann and Voigt about to be caught

Schumacher takes it.

Rebellin was hoping for a win...

... but had to settle for the ProTour lead.

Haedo makes it look easy

odium girls beware! Georgia could signal a long string of big wins for the 23-year-old from Slovenia.

Millar was aggresive all week...

... but Grajales got the prize.

Chengyuan Ren is one of the few mountain-bike racers to beat Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa