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Frank Vandenbroucke has signed a contract with the second-tier professional Italian outfit Acqua Sapone, according to press reports Wednesday in Brussels. Vandenbroucke, a former winner of the tough Liège-Bastogne-Liège one-day classic, is reported to have signed a deal until 2007. The 31-year-old Belgian, notorious for his run-ins with the cycling authorities over issues of doping and more recently, depression, will thus join his ninth professional team. He was recently sacked by another Continental level team, Unibet, after he failed to reach targets they had set him as part of his move

Australian Matthew Goss (SA.com) took the yellow jersey after the second stage of the Tour of Britain from Blackpool to Liverpool, won by Britain's Roger Hammond on Wednesday. The 32-year-old won the stage from Holland's Aart Vierhouten, while Russell Downing (DFL) was third. Road race world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) was 16th. In the overall standings, Goss was two seconds ahead of first stage winner Martin Pedersen (CSC) after picking up time bonuses from intermediate sprints. Spaniard Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) was in third place and only eight seconds

When a blue Discovery Channel jersey streaked out to follow Danilo Di Luca up the La Covatilla climb, even the Spanish TV announcers got it wrong, thinking it was either Tom Danielson or Triki Beltrán. It was neither. Discovery had another, lesser-known option on the final climb Wednesday: Janez Brajkovic, a 115-pound, 22-year-old Slovenian who has been pulling surprises ever since beating the favored Thomas Dekker in the U-23 world time trial championships in 2004. On Wednesday, he almost delivered an even bigger stunner. “Janez was impressive today, and even though I knew he was strong,

At the start today I had flashbacks as we had ridden the same stage and started in the same spot in 2004. It was a vicious day in the heat and our team was pummeled by Liberty Seguros; in fact they throttled the entire peloton. Today, thankfully, was a little different. From the start, riders attacked relentlessly until we hit the first slopes of the first climb – the Puerto del Piornal – thirty kilometers into the race. On a mountain day a good chunk of the peloton - the sprinters and those not vying for the stage or the overall - try to get into the breakaway as the ride up front is

On the eve of the 15th edition of Germany’s Eurobike trade show, Scott USA took over the famed Graf Zeppelin Haus in downtown Friedrichshafen to unveil two new models for the upcoming 2007 season, both focused on setting new lightweight and engineering standards in a very competitive marketplace. The Addict road frame, soon to be Saunier Duval’s new ProTour race machine, tips the scale at just 790 grams (56cm), while the original prototype Spark full-suspension mountain frame, now used by Thomas Frischknecht on the World Cup circuit, weighs in at 1700 grams (with rear shock). Scott claims

Di Luca celebrates his victory

Sastre and Valverde found themselves under pressure

Di Luca had trouble shaking the young Discovery rider.

The young lieutenant stayed with his boss until he got the go ahead to chase.

The day's early break had some climbing power on board

Disco' slotted a couple of riders into the break

Marchante on the attack: A little too early?

Landaluze gives it a shot.

Sastre and Valverde remain favorites for the overall title.

Long climbs, hot day... and no rain in Spain.

Di Luca and friends

The rail-thin Janez Brajkovic, who makes Andy Hampsten look like Orson Welles

Chief engineer Peter Denk with the new Scott Spark

A possible ProTour Team bike? The Addict in yellow, with a SRAM Force group, claimed weight – 6.3 kilos.

Carbon front derailleur hanger

Shock and linkage

Asymmetric direct chainstay

Integrated seat mast

With the heart of a warrior and the squeaky voice of a teen-ager, Erik Zabel proved he still has a few victories left in his 36-year-old legs. The German veteran profited from a strong setup from the Milram train to score his first grand-tour victory since the 2003 Vuelta, relegating the younger generation to the runner-up status to which he has lately become so accustomed. FullResults "Today I am very happy because the whole team worked for me and it’s good to see the train is working better and better," said Zabel after notching just his second win of the season. "I am very happy with

Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso, who was excluded from the Tour de France after being implicated in a Spanish doping investigation, denied using banned substances Tuesday in his first appearance before Italian anti-doping authorities. "It is clear that I have never engaged in doping," Basso said at the end of a two-hour hearing before a panel of the Italian Olympic Committee. The hearing was adjourned to Sept. 12, when a decision on whether to refer the case to the Italian cycling federation is expected, said Massimo Martelli, Basso's lawyer. The federation could try him or

Fred Rodriguez will race the world championships next month in Salzburg after what he hopes will be a successful and crash-free Vuelta a España. The Davitamon-Lotto sprinter is racing his second Vuelta, looking to help Robbie McEwen win a stage and then try something for himself in the second half. "I will be doing the world’s and then going back for the Vegas (Interbike) show and returning to Europe for Paris-Tours to help Robbie [McEwen]," Rodriguez told VeloNews.com after Monday’s third stage. "It’s important for me to be in Vegas for the work I do with my foundation and with my coffee

Martin Pedersen (CSC) took the yellow jersey with a dramatic sprint-finish victory in the first stage of the Tour of Britain on Tuesday. The Danish rider was part of a three-man breakaway with Australian Mathew Goss (SA.com) and Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) and the trio engaged in a thrilling battle for first place in the 162km stage from Glasgow Green to Castle Douglas. Pedersen eventually finished two seconds ahead of Goss, while Spaniard Pasamontes was five seconds off the lead in third place. Defending champ Nick Nuyens (Quick Step-Innergetic) finished 15th in a large peloton that also

In the grooveDear Lennard,I use the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels with a Shimano drive train, thoughI have a titanium (11-25) cassette made by Cycle Dynamics. The freehubbody is grooved by each of the cogs (see attached photo). My bikeshop says this is a normal consequence of using a cassette with individualcogs. I don't buy it. I think it is the result of the softer material (aluminum)used in this free hub body. My other wheels, with steel free hub bodies,are not grooved. My drive train makes a periodic, soft noise that I havenot been able to eliminate, and I fear it may be related to the

Today we spent another day in the extreme, oppressive heat, although at least today’s stage was 100km shorter than yesterday's so we didn't wilt as badly or go through quite as many bottles. The heat is affecting the whole peloton and it’s all any one was talking about today: Their feet were sore from swelling in their shoes; their lungs were sore from breathing in the hot air; their mouths were dry; they were sunburned; they had headaches; or they were just plain uncomfortable. To keep cool during the race we unzip our jerseys and leave them blowing in the wind. We loosen our

Zabel outkicks Hushovd and Nazon

Zabel still loves winning

Garcia takes a long, doomed solo

Boogerd takes on a big load of water on another hellish day in Spain

Bettini, meanwhile, enjoys some panini on the fly

And Hushovd enjoys what's likely to be his last day in the golden jersey

Zabel enjoys his return to the top step on the podium

Are these a problem?

For VeloNews staffers who cover the racing scene, the Tour, the Giro and the Vuelta are usually the busiest times of the year. But we on the tech side have our own “grand tour” – it's called "show season," and it's about to kick off with the Eurobike trade show, opening Wednesday in Friedrichshafen, Germany. A week and a half after that show closes, we have the EICMA show in Milan. And a week after that, manufacturers descend upon Las Vegas for Interbike (September 25-29). Most have already begun to peddle their wares.

Monday’s long stinker of a stage ended fast and hot as Saunier Duval put down the double hammer, sending David Millar on the attack in the final kilometer and then unleashing Spanish prospect Francisco Ventoso against the veterans to earn a surprise victory. Temperatures surged into the 100s for the Vuelta’s longest stage, 219km from Córdoba to Almendralejo, and the peloton replied in kind, finishing nearly 20 minutes slower than the slowest projected time. A three-man escape featuring another Saunier Duval rider – the most aggressive rider from the Tour de France David de al Fuente – was

Two reigning world cycling champions will be among the attractions when the six-day Tour of Britain makes its way from Glasgow, Scotland, to the Mall in London starting Tuesday. Belgian star Tom Boonen, the road race world champion, will lead a Quick Step-Innergetic team that has its eye on defending the overall victory they secured for Nick Nuyens last year on the race's second year in existence. Despite the staging of the three-week Vuelta a España, the Belgian outfit has sent a strong team that should have enthusiasts turning out in their droves along the race's 870km route,

The UCI has granted T-Mobile a four-year racing license, the German team announced Monday on its web site. Officials at the sport's governing body were not immediately available for comment. The team is reshaping itself in the aftermath of series of doping scandals in cycling. On July 21, T-Mobile fired 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who had been considered a leading contender for this year's race but was forced out after Spanish media reports said his name turned up on a list of 56 cyclists who had contact with a Spanish doctor charged with doping.. In November, the team

The peloton is lethargic due to the heat and racing in the south and center of Spain makes it is easy to understand why the country invented the siesta; it is simply too hot to move. On the road today, our computers read between 44-47 degrees Celsius (111-116F) all day. Yet, because everyone is off work during siesta, it is a great time to have a bike race as they can all come out and watch it live or on television (most Spaniards opt to watch it on television as it is even too hot to stand out in the heat all day). Unfortunately, the show must go on no matter the temperature, we slog

Pile o’ Sidis. Ergo 1, Ergo 2, Genius 6.6, TR2.6

Comparing the soles. Old on top, new on the bottom.

ALINE footbeds

Ben Turner and Brandon Dwight making it look “real.”

Cyclo-cross pictures in a park

Ventoso

Ventoso nails it, as Hushovd appears content to keep his jersey.

The stage was marked by another long - ultimately unsuccessful - escape effort....

... and the long, hot chase that followed.

Hesjedal on bottle duty

Horner hits the windshield washer

Crédit Agricole on the hunt

Hushovd and Danielson enjoy the sweltering day

As Filip Meirhaeghe rolled to the starting line of the men’s cross-country world championship, an awkward silence hushed over the few hundred fans surrounding the start/finish. A few uttered muffled boos. Some clapped. The race announcer briefly mentioned the Belgian’s 2003 world championship victory and then hurriedly moved on to the next racer. He said nothing of Meirhaeghe’s 2004 positive test for EPO. It’s the typical greeting Meirhaeghe has received at non-Belgian mountain-bike races this year. With his 18-month suspension up, and his motivation to race returned, Meirhaeghe returned

The world’s two most-dominant cross-country racers, Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja and France’s Julien Absalon, wrote themselves into the pages of mountain biking history at the 2006 World Mountain-bike Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand, with each claiming a third-consecutive world title Sunday. Absalon, who took the title in 2004 and 2005, became only the second man ever to take three individual world cross-country titles. Denmark’s Henrik Djerins won three consecutive titles during the sport’s primordial years, from 1992-’94. Dahle-Flesja, the world champion in 2002, ’04 and ’05,

This year’s Vuelta a España has attracted a world-class lineup of sprinters, but one rider looking ahead to next month’s world championships surprised the favorites in Sunday’s heated charge into Córdoba. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) sprang past front-runners Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) to win the 176km second stage, marked by an early unsuccessful breakaway and glaring heat. FULLRESULTS "I am not a pure sprinter and I don’t plan to make a sprint until I know the legs feel good," said Bettini, who grabbed his second career Vuelta stage. "I am

Magnus Bäckstedt sees the Vuelta a España with very clear objectives: to take home a scalp. The 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner has suffered through a difficult season and is looking to the Vuelta for redemption. “I’m here for a stage win,” Bäckstedt told VeloNews. “I so want one now, after having a seriously shitty year, it’s all I can think about.” Bäckstedt helped motor his Liquigas troops to a ninth place finish in Saturday’s team time trial and said he feels good after the short, but intense effort in Málaga. “I felt good up at Holland [Eneco Tour], now if I have the legs I want to try to do

Up-and-coming Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Bianchi) stunned a host of favorites to win the Grand Prix Ouest-France Sunday in Plouay. Nibali claimed his first victory in the ProTour series after 217km of racing on the tough Britanny circuit. The 22-year-old Sicilian held off experienced Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) in a two-man sprint after Flecha's long-distance dash for the finish line ran out of steam. Italian Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval-Prodir) finished third. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who is taking part in the Vuelta a España, retained the lead of the ProTour

Dahle-Flesja, as usual, riding on her own

The world champion is congratulated by her husband

Yet another for Absalon, too.

Bishop had a good day...

... JHK did not.

Bettini takes the sprint

Hushovd gets the lead

De Serraga chases mountain points

Joachim has a go

The peloton

Cheering the riders on

Race leader for a day: Sastre

Bettini wins

To the victor belong the spoils

As downhill racing’s fastest couple on two wheels, Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier spend most weekends each year racing bikes around the world. After racking up scores of wins over the past three years, the couple still had never claimed corresponding victories at a major race. Before a crowd of several thousand in Rotorua, New Zealand, that drought ended, as both scored wins, and more importantly rainbow stripes, at the 2006 World Mountain-bike Championships. “When I was won, I was happy, but I wanted Sam to win too,” said Jonnier, who was first to earn her title. “When he won, my heart

Andréas Klöden, third in this year's Tour de France, confirmed Saturday that he will join the Astana team next season from T-Mobile. "What clinched the decision for me is that I'm going to a very strong team which includes Alexandre Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin with whom I can go far next season," he said on his website. Klöden’s contract with T-Mobile expires at the end of the 2006 season. The 31-year-old Klöden’s first major success came at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney when he collected bronze in the road race. In 2004 the German finished second in the Tour de France behind

Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre pulled within 12 seconds of the yellow jersey in last month’s Tour de France but later faded to a no-glory fourth place, so perhaps it was only fitting that the mild-mannered Spaniard took the gold jersey Saturday in an thrilling team time trial to kick-start the 2006 Vuelta a España. Sastre made a late decision to start the Vuelta – his third grand tour of this season and his fifth in a row dating back to the 2005 Tour de France – and he’s glad he did. "I am not thinking about the Tour anymore," Sastre said. "This is a childhood dream to take the Vuelta jersey,

For the last three days we have been waiting in a hotel in Málaga, anticipating the start of the Vuelta a España. Over the last weeks we finished our final training sessions in preparation for the event, and during the final run in to the race all that was left to do was test our time-trial equipment and keep our legs loose by riding a little every day. Those final three days are long ones, as we need to rest, so we aren’t walking around town and visiting the city. We're sitting in our beds, reading with our legs up and minds focused on the coming weeks of racing. Why do we have to be

Tom Danielson expressed satisfaction with the opening salvo of the 2006 Vuelta a España. Discovery Channel finished a solid fourth place, nine seconds behind winners Team CSC, which was good enough for Danielson in his first stage as an outright team leader in his European career. VeloNews.com caught up with him after the stage: VeloNews.com: An interesting first stage of the Vuelta. How did things go for you in the team time trial? Tom Danielson: I think it was exciting and we posted a good time. It was challenging. As you could see from the mistakes the team made, Team CSC was just so