All Content

Baldwin hoped for top 10, but finished 26th

Well, it didn’t take long before the 2006 world cycling championships got its first whiff of doping scandal. Three riders – two Argentines and one Brazilian – were ruled “inapt” to compete after pre-race blood screenings ahead of Tuesday’s opening day of competition. Brazilian Magno Nazaret and Argentines Martin Garrido and Matias Medici tested “unfit” after the UCI “vampires” screened 18 athletes early Tuesday morning from Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland, Australia and the United States. Garrido and Medici were due to take part in the men's road race this Sunday, with Medici also due

American women had their best-ever result in a world road championship on Wednesday when Kristin Armstrong was first and teammate Christine Thorburn third in the time trial at the 2006 world’s in Salzburg, Austria. On a welcome day of sunshine, Armstrong set a time of 35:04, averaging 44.638 kph for the difficult 26.12km course, to beat two-time defending champion Karin Thürig of Switzerland by 25 seconds, with Thorburn another four seconds back in third. “The course had a little bit of everything in it,” said Armstrong, 33, who finished third at the 2005 world’s in Madrid. “You had to stay

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now up for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of ourmost recent contest. Take the time to wander through that gallery and see if you agree or disagree with our choice of winner. Rick Paulos’s “Nice bike path in Amsterdam” caught our attention largely because of its great lighting and composition and because it reminded us of just how nice it is to ride a bike in Amsterdam. Great shot, Rick, and what a great town to explore on two human-powered wheels. Nice work! Drop us a note at

Belgian Dominique Cornu upset the favorites Tuesday to win the U-23 men’s time trial, giving Belgium its first medal of the 2006 world road cycling championships. Racing under mostly sunny skies with a slight breeze, the 22-year-old Belgian turned a time of 49:28.42 to beat defending champion Mikhail Ignatiev (Russia) by 37 seconds on the challenging 39.5km course. Jerome Coppel hung on to win bronze at 44 seconds slower, claiming France’s first medal in the U23 category since Frederic Finot took silver in 1998. “It was a difficult race, working from start to finish. In the beginning it

Italian police carried out searches of houses and gymnasiums across the country on Wednesday as part of a investigation into doping in cycling, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport's website. The investigation was prompted by the Spanish investigation into blood-doping, Operación Puerto. The blood-tampering scandal involves nine riders and led to the suspensions of Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso by their teams just before the Tour De France. The searches of 36 addressess across Italy were authorized by Bergamo prosecutor Cristina Rota and carried across in the early hours Wednesday. Among

Nice bike path in Amsterdam

Armstrong nails it.

Without missing a beat: Armstrong loses only a little time after dropping her chain.

Thorburn rides to the bronze

Cornu chows down on gold

The podium

Defending champ Ignatiev rode to second

Coppel claimed bronze for France

U.S. champ Bookwalter felt a little off form

Thurig took the silver

Kozlikova started fast, but faded

Neben made it three Americans in the top 10

Something to celebrate – two Americans on the podium

Road Race1927 Nürburg, Germany - Alfredo Binda , Italy1928 Budapest, Hungary Georges Ronsse, Belgium1929 Zürich, Switzerland - Georges Ronsse, Belgium1930 Liège, Belgium - Alfredo Binda, Italy1931 Copenhagen, Denmark - Learco Guerra, Italy1932 Rome, Italy - Alfredo Binda, Italy1933 Montlhery, France - Georges Speicher, France1934 Leipzig, Germany - Karel Kaers, Belgium1935 Floreffe, Belgium - Jean Aerts, Belgium1936 Bern, Switzerland - Antonin Magne, France1937 Copenhagen, Denmark - Eloi Meulenberg, Belgium1938 Valkenburg, Netherlands - Marcel Kint, BelgiumSuspended due to World War II1946

Ever since he came back to Europe in the fall of 2004 with Saunier Duval, Chris Horner has been making the most of his second opportunity at the big leagues. It took him a few years longer than he expected to return to Europe after an unhappy three-year run at Française des Jeux in 1997-99, but now that he’s back, the 34-year-old from Hood, Oregon, is taking maximum advantage of the opportunity. That includes racing in this week’s world championships, where he’ll be one of the team leaders for the American team in Sunday’s elite men’s road race. Fresh off finishing 20th in the Vuelta a

In a year that Salzburg is commemorating the 250th anniversary of its favorite son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the small alpine town is about to celebrate Austria’s second world road cycling championships in 20 years. And, extending the musical theme, competitors in the three time trials this week and three road races at the weekend will be racing through the hills made famous by “The Sound of Music.” Maria Van Trapp and her family are no longer Salzburgers, but their hills will be alive to the sound of Europe’s cycling fans with their Swiss cowbells, Dutch brass bands and Italian fan clubs. A

The world time-trial championships are on tap Thursday in Salzburg, Austria, and with that in mind our man Rupert Guinness, the editor and publisher of publisher of PelotonPress.net, had a chat with defending champion Michael Rogers. Here’s what T-Mobile’s Aussie speedster had to say. — Editor VeloNews: You are obviously in good form. How do you feel compared to last year? Michael Rogers: I certainly feel I am on par with last year, just from burning around in time-trial training. I haven't really raced a time trial for quite a while. It's probably not a bad thing – in the past I

Former Liberty Seguros team manager Manolo Saiz has been replaced by Roger Legeay, the manager of Crédit Agricole, on an UCI ProTour council. Saiz has become a pariah in the sport ever since he was implicated in an ongoing doping affair in Spain to which 58 riders are allegedly linked. The Spaniard was taken in for questioning by police in Madrid at the end of May after he was arrested with 60,000 euros and banned substances in his possession. His arrest was one of the first moves in the investigation dubbed Operation Puerto, and which led to the discovery of an alleged blood doping

Two time world pursuit champion Roy Schuiten has died at the age of 55 it was announced on Tuesday. Schuiten, who won individual pursuit titles in 1974 and 1975, died of a stomach haemmorhage in Portugal where he retired to and owned a restaurant.

Horner - seen here winning a stage at this year's Tour of Romandie - wouldn't mind striking another pose like this in Salzburg.

Horner chats with reporters at the Vuelta

Salzburg played host to Mozart's 250th birthday celebration in January.

World champ Rogers starts this year's Tour prologue

Tuesday afternoon on the TT course.

Alexandre Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde and Paolo Bettini are just some of the big names who will be hoping to brighten up the cycling world by winning the rainbow jersey next week. The annual world cycling road race championships begin in Salzburg, Austria, on Tuesday in the hope they can overcome a summer of discontent which has placed huge question marks over some of the sport's biggest stars. Worried bosses at the UCI, the sport's world ruling body, will certainly be hoping the six-day event will finish on a more positive note than the season's signature race, the Tour de

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Let’s not muzzle those who come forwardEditor:It will be interesting to find out what actions, if any, the Discovery team plans against Frankie Andreu. I for one will be tremendously disappointed if the team were to take any action that would discourage others from coming forward. Cycling

Vuelta a España race director Victor Cordero expressed satisfaction Sunday in Madrid, calling the final podium "world-class, worthy" for the season’s final three-week grand tour. "I am happy with the Vuelta that we are enjoying, there are more people than ever and the racing has been spectacular," Cordero told VeloNews.com. "This year has been traumatic for all of us. This success reminds us all of what this sport have inside that we keep attracting people despite all the things we’ve done poorly, because this is a beautiful sport." The Spanish tour has paid perhaps the highest price after

The organisers of cycling's three grand tours have formally asked the UCI to sanction a professional racing series entirely separate from the two-year-old ProTour in an effort to secure more autonomy over their respective events. The three major organizers - ASO in France, RCS in Italy and Unipublic for theVuelta a Espana- have been at loggerheads with the UCI since it introduced thePro Tour for the 2005 season. The three wield a great deal of power in the series as they now run 11 of the 27 Pro Tour events and want more control over those. Insiders say the grand tours are seeking to

CABLE, Wisconsin – Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru/Gary Fisher) and his wife Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher) nearly became the first husband and wife to win the men’s and women’s races at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival. But while Horgan-Kobelski won the 24th edition of the 40-mile race after pulling away from breakaway companion and two-time champion Doug Swanson (Trek/VW) with five miles to go, Irmiger finished second to Sara Kylander-Johnson (Trek/VW) of Duluth, Minn. In the men’s race, Jeff Hall (Salsa) fought his way back into third, after struggling in the early

Heading to Salzburg, Vinokourov hopes to pick up where he left off in Madrid.

Cordero is content with his Vuelta

On you mark....

Horgan-Kobelski

Kylander-Johnson

The 61st Vuelta a España ended with a fiesta in Madrid as huge numbers of fans turned out Sunday to watch the season’s final grand tour come down to an exciting finale. Erik Zabel (Milram) proved that some things get better with age to win for the second time this Vuelta while Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) enjoyed an easy day on the bike to win his first major grand tour. “This Vuelta has been very hard and complicated and I am very happy with the victory,” Vinokourov said after sealing the success over Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with Astana teammate and compatriot Andrey

Starting with the deluge after a night of hard rain combined with a strike by train and subway workers, getting to the 64th Milan Bicycle Show was by no means an easy task. Even more cars than on a normal day packed flooded roads, and the occasional vehicle stalled in water above its wheels brought urban traffic to a complete standstill in places. It is a good bet that many people who had planned to attend to the first day of Italy’s premier icycle industry trade show ultimately gave up in frustration. The sun came out in the afternoon, but the rain returned later to wash out the

The police who raided the Swiss home of Germany's 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich on Wednesday did not take DNA evidence from him, chief police officer Herbert Ammann said in a magazine article published Sunday. Ullrich's home was one of ten private and business addresses raided both in Germany and abroad as he and others are investigated further over connections with Spanish sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the alleged head of a blood-doping ring. In an article in Sunday’s Focus magazine, Amman, however, denied earlier reports that the police had seized DNA samples in the

World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officials decided Saturday not to ban hypoxic tents, which may allow athletes to gain endurance-boosting results of altitude without the travel. WADA president Dick Pound announced the decision not to include the tents on the banned training method list, but said scrutiny on the matter will continue. Three WADA commissions examined the tents and suggested not banning them, conforming to the vast majority of committee members in saying they should not be on the prohibited list for 2007. "The biggest item for discussion was whether we should put on the list

American Floyd Landis, who tested positive for testosterone after winning the Tour de France, said Sunday he is confident of proving his innocence. Landis was making an appearance at the final stage of the Vuelta a España and was mobbed by journalists as he watched Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov secure the race's gold jersey on the final day. The American is facing being stripped of his yellow jersey crown after tests showed abnormal amounts of testosterone in his body after his stunning victory on stage 17 which allowed him to re-launch his bid for the overall victory. But following

Despite rolling in with a three-man roster at the September 15-17 Parker Mainstreet Omnium, the Health Net team showed why it’s been the top domestic dog for three years running at the final National Race Calendar event of the season. Scott Moninger and Karl Menzies went 1-2 in the road race after both placing well in the time trial, then Menzies won the concluding criterium Sunday to take the overall title with Moninger in the second podium spot. Priority Health time-trial specialist Tom Zirbel won the opening 7-mile time trial in conditions so windy many riders rode the final downhill

Vinokourov's golden moment.

New brakes, new crank, new bottom bracket... Campagnolo is making changes

This is what a No. 245 looks like.

Vittoria's Pit Stop Corsa is the solution for punctured tubulars.

When pedaling, the Equilink pulls down on the top lever to stop the suspension from bobbing.

Time's ASX monocoque carbon cranks combine an integrated spindle with an ISIS left arm attachment.

Zabel nabs another

Danielson and Barry enjoy a mellow day in the saddle.

The Vuelta came down to a battle of two-against-one at times.

The action heated up when the peloton reaches the closing circuit in Madrid.

The boys from Khazakstan celebrate in Madrid.

Discovery takes the team prize

Not a bad consolation prize, but a consolation prize, nonetheless.

King of the Mountain, Egoi Martinez

The last start line of the year. Parker marks the end of the 2006 NRC season.

Newly crowned national criterium champ Brad Huff was one of a few riders to hit the deck in the criterium.

Stevic went clear alone, but an ill-timed bee sting on his forehead took him out of the race.

Sarah Uhl, out in Colorado for three weeks in preparation for the national track championships, showed good form in winning the crit.

Revelation of the 2006 season, Alison Powers stomped the women’s field and won the road race to wrap up the omnium. Powers will be riding for Colavita next year.

Blue Streak: TIAA-CREF had 9 riders in the race — every last one of whom lined it up for the last dozen or so laps.

Huff took his turns on the front in the closing laps too, working for his teammate Mike Friedman.

Frischkorn leapt from his team’s train to net a pricey prime with 5 laps to go.

But Health Net’s Karl Menzies got the best of them all, getting out of the last corner first.

Priority Health’s Tom Zirbel won the time trial and got fifth in the road race, but a ninth place finish in the criterium dropped him to fourth in final points-based classification.

Alexandre Vinokourov gave himself the best possible birthday present: a victory in Saturday’s time trial to all but seal overall title in the 61st Vuelta a España. The Kazakh celebrated his 33rd birthday scoring his third stage win of this Vuelta and beat Spanish rider Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) by six seconds to put an exclamation point on what will likely give him the first grand tour win of his career. “I am very happy today. I wanted to try to win today because it’s my 33rd birthday,” Vinokourov said. “I did the first 10km pretty quiet and then I knew that I could faster in the

Embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is in Madrid to meet with his Spanish attorneys on Monday, VeloNews has learned. Sources at Phonak confirmed that Landis is in Spain and is expected to be at the start of Sunday’s final stage of the Vuelta a España. Landis was also reportedly enjoying Madrid’s notorious nightlife and was seen at a local nightclub by journalists. Calls to Landis’ Spanish cell phone and his attorney, Jose Maria Buxeda, were unanswered Saturday afternoon. The 31-year-old is battling allegations that he doped to win July’s Tour when post-stage urine tests taken

SpeedyReedy to Host Power Meter Clinic for Cyclists and TriathletesBoulder, CO, September 15, 2006 — Seattle's top triathlon retailerwill host a workshop with one of the world's leading power meter coaches.Hunter Allen will lead a workshop on the benefits and methodology of trainingand racing with a power meter on Friday, September 22 beginning at 7:00p.m. After the presentation, Allen will answer questions and autographcopies of Training and Racing with a Power Meter. The event is free ofcharge and is open to interested triathletes and cyclists.SpeedyReedy is located at 1100 N.

In fine form, Vino’ stomped his pedals on the peloton one last time and flew around the time trial course to seal his first victory in a grand tour. It is said that the winner of a grand tour should win a time trial stage; not only did Vinokourov win the time trial today but he also dominated the last ten days of the race, winning three stages, placing second twice and never spending a moment in difficulty. In all, he won a mountain stage, a field sprint and a time trial which is incredible and shows he is truly the most complete rider of the Vuelta. This morning, prior to the time trial,

Vinokourov stayed calm, pounded through the TT and keeps the lead going into Madrid on Sunday.

Danielson maintained his spot on GC

Bodrogi sets the early standard

Zzzzooooom. Vinokourov powers through the tough part.

IRVINE, Calif. 9/13/06 -- Long-time sales and management executive David Pfeiffer has been named the new president for Shimano American Corporation, the Irvine, Calif.-based bicycle component and fishing tackle manufacturer, announces Kozo Shimano, current Shimano American president. Pfeiffer’s new role is effective December 1, at which time Kozo Shimano will move into a senior executive position for corporate advocacy and public relations, enabling him to pursue both his personal and company interests in growing the bicycle and fishing tackle markets. “David has extensive experience in all

Friday’s long and slow 19th stage across the flats Castilla y La Mancha seemed tedious after three gripping days in the mountains of southern Spain. The 205.3km trudge from Jaén to Ciudad Real – the third longest of this year’s Vuelta a España – produced a seven-man breakaway and a winner in José Luis Arrieta (Ag2r) to give the Spanish journalists something to write about. Otherwise, the Vuelta was on a holding pattern. "I have been waiting for this moment for 14 years," said the 35-year-old after scoring just his second professional victory. "I knew there was a headwind at the finish, I