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pix - Giro

If defending champion Paolo Savoldelli is feeling the pressure, you sure couldn’t tell on the opening day of the 2006 Giro d’Italia Saturday. First Il Falco sailed to a commanding 11-second win in the 6.2-kilometer stage 1 prologue in Seraing, Belgium. Then, with an encouraging crowd cheering him on, the Discovery Channel captain doused two helpless podium girls with champagne before taking a big pull from the oversized bottle of bubbly. Who was this guy heretofore better known for stoicism than stage antics? Well, it’s far too early to call him the ‘new’ man to beat here at the Italian

Health Net-Maxxis teammates Gord Fraser and Scott Moninger went one-two on Friday during the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila’s Inner Loop Road Race. Michael Dietrich (KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada) took third with race leader Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) fourth. The top four were all given the same time, and Baldwin retained his grip on the overall. Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Cooking Light) outsprinted Rachel Heal (Victory Brewing) and Laura Van Gilder (Team Lipton) to win the women’s race. GC remained unchanged, with Team Lipton’s Kristin Armstrong leading Anne Samplonius (Team Biovail) by

Giro d’Italia race director Angelo Zomegnan would love to see a repeat of last year’s race — his first at the helm of the world’s No. 2 grand tour — when Paolo Savoldelli, Gilberto Simoni, José Rujano and Danilo Di Luca were all battling for the pink jersey only 24 hours before the finish in Milan. This year, Zomegnan has again placed one of the toughest mountain stages on the final weekend (as well as packing the final week with similarly challenging stages) in the hopes that the above four riders, along with Ivan Basso and Damiano Cunego, will again leave the outcome in doubt until the

McGee was second, but by a big margin

José Ivan Gutierrez comes in at 8:03...

Danielson finishes 12th on the day

... as did Gerolsteiner's Schumacher.

Oddsmakers give Bobby J a 33-1 chance of winning the Giro.

Di Luca takes 10th, at 8:09.

Davitamon-Lotto grabbed another win after big Belgian Gert Steegmans outkicked recently crowned Madison world champion Isaac Galvez (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears) to win the third stage at the Four Days of Dunkirk. Four riders – Geoffroy Lequattre, Jimmy Engoulvent, Frédéric Finot and Mathieu Drujon – tried their luck at 59km into the 181km march from Fontaine-au-Pire to Hénin-Beaumont. The French quartet built up a two-minute lead, but they needed a bigger head start than that to hold off the sprinters. Race leader Roberto Petito’s teammates on Tenax led the charge and then stepped

With the 2006 Giro d’Italia kicking off with a 6.2-kilometer individual time trial in Seraing, Belgium, on Saturday, teams are at their hotels and now all that’s left is the waiting… and a bit of prognosticating. Our editors take a detailed look at this year’s Giro in the current issue of VeloNews. Here’s an updated look at the teams and their chances for success in the first of this year’s grand tours. DISCOVERY CHANNEL (USA)Race numbers: 1-9GC contender: Paolo Savoldelli (I): Il Falco is looking for his third Giro win. Last year he showed his ability to come into form as the race went

The 2006 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series kicks off today at Southridge Park in Fontana, a small city just west of San Bernadino in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Unlike the previous two NMBS openers, which featured solely cross-country racing, the Fontana NMBS hosts the full spectrum of endurance and gravity events: marathon cross-country, cross-country, short-track cross-country, downhill, mountain-cross and super D. This is the first time the NMBS series will grace the dry, dusty California town, which is also home to the California motor speedway. Fontana has hosted its own

Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) and Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) won the mountainous Stage 2 of the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila on Thursday, with Armstrong moving into the overall lead. Moninger, a two-time Gila champion, finished three seconds ahead of Stage 1 winner Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) and third-placed Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) on the final 5.5-mile climb to the finish of the 92-mile run from Silver City to Mogollon, which featured more than 5600 feet of climbing. “We’re doing what we can with only three guys here,” Moninger said. “We have to pick and choose

Savoldelli aims for his third Giro trophy.

A little too long to be called a prologue, Stage 1 may start sorting things out early on in this Giro.

'There’s a pretty good amount of climbing each lap,' says Tom Spiegel of Team Big Bear.

Itaian Roberto Petito (Tenax) grabbed the lead at the Four Days of Dunkirkafter winning Thursday’s second stage between Arques and Le-Cateau-Cambresis.Petito was part of a breakaway that pulled clear in the 204km stagethat also hit some cobblestoned road across northern France. Petito heldoff Stephane Petilleau (Bretagne-Jean Floch) to claim the stage as thebreakaway faded under pressure from the chasing peloton. Simone Cadamuro(Milram) led the main bunch across the line for third at 37 seconds back.Petito now leads Petilleau by four seconds while overnight leader FrancescoChicchi (Quick

Saul Raisin’s gradual recovery from a life-threatening head injury continues as he returned to the United States this week and began posting messages on his web page. Raisin, 23, flew home Monday after fighting for his life in a French hospital and even dictated a message to fans under the heading, “Believe it or not, it is me Saul.” “Well, here I am no racing for me. Only racing to get well,” he said a message dictated to his mother. “Too bad I am not doing the Giro. I want to thank everyone for their support and get-well thoughts. I hope to be leaving the hospital in a couple of weeks. I

Dear Bob,I live in Minnesota and am kind of new to cycling, so I read with great interest your article on impeding traffic. In your article, you mentioned a “minimum speed limit.” Are there roads in Minnesota where a minimum speed limit means “no bicycles allowed?” Can you point out some resources for me to learn about my rights and responsibilities?Thanks,D.Q.,Minnesota Dear D.Q.,That’s a great first question from a kind of new cyclist. As you recall, in Trotwood v. Selz (see "To impede or not to impede, that is the question"),an Ohio cyclist received a citation for impeding traffic while

After the race, I transferred all my stuff from my team car to the USA Cycling team car and began my journey with them. Shannon Koch and I decided to head to our hotel by bike. Jim, the national team coach, told me it was a short ride. He was right. It was just 12km, but it was over a climb and after just finishing my first World Cup, it felt more like 50. The general morale with the team was good, though, and I was happy to be racing with them in the coming week. The next day we headed to Salzburg, Austria. The stage race in the Czech Republic did not start until Thursday and Jim didn?t

Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) and Anne Samplonius (Team Biovail) won the first stage of the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila on Wednesday. Baldwin, the reigning U.S. national time-trial champion, covered the Tyrone Time Trial – a 15.7-mile out-and-back course with 1070 feet of climbing – in 34:51, 40 seconds up on Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) and 1:21 on Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators). Samplonius won in 40:33, with Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) second at 0:20 and Erinne Willock (Webcor) third at 0:53. Thursday's Stage 2, the Silver City-Mogollon Road Race, sends men off for 92

Liberty Seguros for the Giro: (left to right) Dariusz Baranowski, Koen De Kort, Javier R. Abeja, Dani Navarro, Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, Gianpaolo Caruso, Sergey Yakovlev and Unai Osa

Word is that stage 17 is actually worse than it looks on paper.

Next year the roads may be perfect.

Petito wins big

Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) just missed a victory in Wednesday’s 161km opener of the Four Days of Dunkirk after Italian Francesco Chicchi (Quick Step-Davitamon) out-kicked him in a bunch sprint.The rival Belgian teams went head-to-head not for the first time this season and once again it was Quick Step getting the better end of the bargain. It was Chicchi’s second win of the season to go along with a stage he won in the Drie Daagse Van West Vlaanderen in March.“Today I had the ‘pilot’ of Wouter Weylandt. I lost the wheel and then followed the wheel of teammate Steven de Jongh, only

When Danilo Di Luca and the other 197 starters in the 89th Giro d’Italialine up for the first road stage in Belgium on Sunday, they will standfor a moment of silence. Their thoughts will reach out to 262 coalminers,more than half of them Italian, who died 50 years ago in the Bois de Caziermining disaster at Charleroi-Marcinelle, where Sunday’s stage finishes.Di Luca will be particularly affected because more than one third of theItalians who lost their lives in that 1956 tragedy were from the Italianracer’s home province of Pescara. Choosing to start the 2006 Giro in the heart of Belgian’s

What a week for Davitamon-Lotto. Or, as team rider Chris Horner mightsay, what a week for Davitamon-Lotto, huh? First, Fast Freddie Rodriguez summons all of the gremlin power availablein the universe to take a stagewin at the Tour de Georgia on April 21. Unfortunately, Casey Gibson’sshutter speed was faster than Freddie’s supernatural changeling powers,and his ability to transform into a gremlin was revealed to the cyclingworld. Still, it’s a small price to pay to snap his streak of bad luckand second- and third-place sprint finishes that dated back to the 2005season. Next up was

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.Promoters, please put us in our placeAn open letter to race promoters:I’m writing on behalf of the middle-of-the-pack (and back-of-the-pack) riders in your local races. You may or may not remember them. They are the guys who pay an entry fee of $15 to $30 and receive a number and four or

McCarty

Wednesday's EuroFile: Fast Freddy 2nd as Chicchi wins Dunkirk opener; McCarty heads to Giro; Hondo Hopeful

Di Luca with Savoldelli in the 2005 Giro

Can Savoldelli repeat?

Many of the victims of the 1956 disaster were from Di Luca's home region

Freddy reaching deep.

Horner relishes the moment

Henk and friends in Boulder

Larry H. Miller

After a frustrating 2005 campaign, Damiano Cunego looks to be back in the form he had two years ago when he surged to a surprising and dominant Giro d’Italia victory in 2004. His victory in Saturday’s GP Industria was his sixth in this year’s campaign and reveals the 22-year-old is back at his best in time for the Giro. “Damiano is ready,” Lampre sport director Giuseppe Martinelli told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “For the Giro, we’ll bring a squad built around him, a team that’s strong for the climbs and that will support him. The favorite is Ivan Basso, who will be able to gain some minutes

While XTR shifting systems made waves at last month?s Sea Otter Classic, Shimano left us in the dark concerning the details of the rest of the group. Still we don?t have the whole story, but Shimano has now offered a look at the new braking options the group will offer. The two most interesting features of the new system are the perpendicular or radial master cylinder on the brake lever and new mono-body design on the calipers. The new lever design frees up space on the bar and provides for a smoother modulating brake, while the single forged mono-body caliper lightens the system and

Mating Mavic, Campy and ShimanoDear Lennard, I've got some 2004 Mavic Cosmic Carbones with a Campy cassette and have recently bought a bike with Dura-Ace 10 transmission. What would I have to do to use the Cosmics on this bike?Andy Dear Andy,Those wheels would not shift worth beans using a Campy 10 cogset with a Shimano 10 transmission. You could buy and install a Shimano 10-speed cogset and a Mavic freehub body for Shimano (called "M10"), interchanging it with that "ED10" freehub body and Campy cogset. Alternatively, you may be able to locate some aftermarket cogs for a Campy freehub

Reigning NRC champion Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis), a quartet of national champs and two three-time winners are among the athletes slated to race the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila May 3-7 in and around Silver City, New Mexico. Defending titlist Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) and fellow three-timer Drew Miller (Successful Living.com-ParkPre) will be hunting that elusive fourth victory during the 20th annual NRC race. Swindlehurst is bringing just one teammate with him — but it happens to be Phil Zajicek, fresh off last weekend’s overall victory at La Vuelta de Bisbee in

Due to massive snowfall on Mammoth Mountain this winter, USA Cycling will be relocating its 2006 Mountain Bike National Championships, scheduled for July 20-23. After a record 664 inches of snow fell this season, Mammoth Mountain has reported a base depth of nearly 20 feet as of May 1 – a figure that ultimately put the resort’s ability to host a national-championship-caliber event in jeopardy.

Cunego on his way to a strong third-place finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The BL-M970 gives V-brake users a clean new look.

The BR-M970 answers the calls from weight freaks and traditionalists alike.

As Shimano's first XTR branded disc brake lever, the new BL-M975 is Shimano's lightest disc brake lever set at 194grams.

With its compact design, the BL-M975 gives you the freedom to choose from the wide variety of handlebars on the market. Whether you are using riser bars or narrow flat bars, handlebar interference with the brake hose is not an issue.

The brake lever is sand blasted then anodized to create a subtle texture which increases grip.

The one-piece design is more compact and very stiff which results in a precise and efficient disc brake design.

Multiple rotor sizes are available for a variety of riding styles.

The new XTR rotors use Shimano's patented Centerlock technology and receive a new star pattern. The new rotor also aids in improved pad life.

There’s good news for Saul Raisin as it appears he could be returning to the United States soon following a life-and-death struggle in a French hospital. The 23-year-old lapsed into a life-threatening coma following a crash last month in the Circuit de la Sarthe, but according to a report posted on his web page, Raisin is improving by the day and he’s expected to travel back to Georgia to begin rehabilitation. “Hopefully this will be our last report from France. Saul is strong enough to move home and we have started the ball rolling,” his parents wrote. “Saul is improving every day. He is

The finale of La Vuelta de Bisbee, the Tombstone Road Race, lived up to its reputation as the decisive stage on Sunday as Phil Zajicek (Navigators) confirmed his grip on the overall lead while Felicia Gomez (Webcor) displaced Mari Holden (T-Mobile) in the women’s competition. La Vuelta wrapped its 28th year under clear skies, light winds and mild temperatures as riders braced themselves for the day’s labors (87 miles and more than 6400 feet of climbing for elite men, and 58 miles-4400 feet for women and masters). The rolling terrain west of Bisbee allowed a break to form 38 miles into the

Every picture tells a story, don't it? Rod Stewart certainly thought so, and so does Mason Ibas, who forwards these pictures of the men's Tombstone Road Race, which wrapped up the 28th annual La Vuelta de Bisbee on Sunday.

Miller wins the stage . . .

. . . but Zajicek takes the title

The men roll out of Bisbee along Main Street . . .

. . . and exit the Mule Pass tunnel

Patrick Walsh (CCB-VW-Time) and Craig McCartney (Wild Oats-Al‚s) control the break

The Mule Mountains loom in the distance as the peloton starts to reel in the break

Walsh and McCartney hit the start of the first climb 1:30 up on the chase

The peloton hits the first of two final climbs

Walsh and McCartney were still out after the descent . . .

. . . but a group containing Drew Miller (Successful Living) and racer leader Phil Zajicek (Navigators) was chasing hard

And while everyone was watching Zajicek . . .

. . . Miller took off, and had time for one quick look over his shoulder before taking the stage

With the exception of the rain that plagued last year’s race, Saturday's 27th running of the Athens Twilight Criterium proved to be nearly a re-run of2005 edition.Under cool gray skies, the field of 20 teams kept up the traditionally fast pace associated with the .55 mile course throughout the evening.The initially prime-hungry pack saw a multiple rider pile-up by the third lap, and control of the race shifted hands often during the initialthird of the 80-lap event.

The second day of The 28th La Vuelta de Bisbee saw the lead change hands in both the men’s and women’s fields. Phil Zajicek (Navigators) pulled on the yellow jersey after Friday’s prologue, but found himself down by 18 seconds after Saturday morning’s Stage 1 Sulphur Springs Road Race, won by Joey Thompson (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Daniel Vaillancourt (CCB-VW-Time) was second and Mike Telega (California Giant) third, both in the same time. But Zajicek reclaimed the jersey after the Stage 2 Warren Time Trial, posting a time of 14:31, 14 seconds ahead of Curtis Gunn (Successful

Cadel Evans of Australia snatched victory at the 60th edition of the Tour de Romandie on Sunday, decisively winning the time trial that concluded the Swiss stage race and putting an exclamation mark on the statement his Davitamon-Lotto team made here this week. With his 22-second margin on the 20.4km course, Evans leapfrogged over the two Spaniards who preceded him in the standings at the start of the day. Those two men, Alberto Contador (Liberty Seguros) and Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), finished second and third on general classification. "This morning I woke up

Punching yet another notch in his extensive victory belt, Gord Fraser recaptured his title at this year’s Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium, north of Atlanta, on Sunday with a markedly reduced squad of riders from his Health Net team. After 40 minutes of racing, a four-man break composed of heavy hitters Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly), Viktor Rapinski (Colavita-Sutter Home), Vassili Davidenko (Navigators Insurance) and J. J. Haedo(Toyota-United Pro Cycling) lead the field for much of the remainder of the evening with gaps of up to 20seconds. But during the penultimate lap of the 0.8-mile

Holden slots into the lead

The elite men's break goes up the road

Evans blazes the final time trial to take the overall