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For once, there wasn’t a surprise in the Giro d’Italia. Sunday’s 119km final stage unfolded just like everyone expected, with Alessandro Petacchi riding the fumes of his Fassa Bortolo train to his fourth stage victory of this year’s corsa rosa. Beyond that, there was hardly a day where something unexpected didn’t happen. From Ivan Basso’s stomach problems to Damiano Cunego’s collapse to José Rujano’s near revolt, the 88th Giro has packed plenty of surprises per kilometer. “This victory has been very satisfying because it was a very challenging and interesting Giro,” said Paolo Savoldelli,

The Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home team sent a powerful message Saturday at the Kelly Cup, the pro men’s event of the Baltimore BikeJam in Patterson Park. The squad took four of the top five spots in Maryland, spearheaded by winner Aaron Olson and runner-up Mark McCormack. New Zealander Glen Mitchell (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) was third. The top trio was part of a five-man break that went away just a few laps into the race, 40 laps of a 1-mile circuit. After a warm, sunny morning, the race began in a windy downpour as an afternoon storm blew through the city. Bad weather, the subsequent

Michael Carter and Karen Kingsley won the 34th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race on Saturday, a Colorado monument with 5500 feet of climbing over its 47-mile course between Durango and Silverton. The 42-year-old Carter (Colorado Velo) emerged triumphant from a three-man battle with Mitch Moreman and the apparently immortal Ned Overend, who were racing for the new Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory team. As Carter assaulted the 10,660-foot Coal Bank Hill, Moreman and Overend struggled to hold the pace. Carter reached the summit first, shot down the wicked descent, climbed alone up

Rain gear is usually more critical at Houffalize than sunscreen, but on Sunday riders were wilting in 30-plus degree (Celsius) heat and choking on dust during the third round of the mountain bike World Cup. But the Belgian bakery didn't cook Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida), who took her second consecutive victory over the women's field, to extend her lead over Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain-Business Objects). In the men's race, there was a new face on the top step of the podium - Marco Bui (Full Dynamix). Bui stormed away from the field, as he has done in both previous

ARLINGTON, VA – Ivan Dominguez (HealthNet Maxxis) and Laura Van Gilder (Team Quark) out sprinted their respective break-away companions to win the CSC Invitational on Sunday. Dominguez was the last sprinter standing in a four-man break formed only thirty minutes from the finish. Break mates Kirk O'Bee (Navigators), Ivan Stevic (Aerospace Engineering-VMG) and Bobby Julich (CSC), after trying several times to attack the HealthNet sprinter, could do nothing more than watch Dominguez power out of the last turn and throw his bike across the line for the win. Van Gilder nipped Ina Teutenberg

Carter soloes to his second victory in the Iron Horse

Savoldelli toasts his victory

Savoldelli mistakes the winner's trophy for a podium girl

The final podium

Zabel runs out of real estate as Petacchi takes the stage

Ahh - that's more like it

Simoni was critical of defending champ Cunego, saying he could have used more help from his young teammate in the mountains

Dahle was unstoppable once more

Spitz fought her way into second

McConneloug bounced back from a bad start into fifth

The men start . . .

. . . and Bui finishes

Dominguez powers to a win

Woman to woman - Van Gilder gets the edge

Julich gets a good reception at his sponsor's showcase event

And then there were four

Saturday’s larger-than-life battle over the gravel roads of the Colle delle Finestra was a fitting ending to what’s been an epic Giro d’Italia. Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli saw his maglia rosa come under fire in the grueling 190km 19th stage after Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) attacked hard up the fearsome Finestra, but he clawed back to save his second Giro victory in four years with just one day left in the 88th corsa rosa. “I don’t feel like a great Giro champion because I don’t attack and make a dramatic showing like the other Giro

Saturday's stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia was an epic battle for the final podium, with more than one memorable moment along its 190km route between Savigliano and Sestrière. Here are a few of them as captured by the photographers of Agence France Press.

Well, we tried to get another one, but this time it just didn’t work out. We did a lot of work today and chasing that early break from like 30 kilometers or so and pulled the peloton all the way to the base of the Finistere. At least we got to that point… after that, I dunno. The plan today was to do pretty much what we did on Thursday, when Ivan pretty much rode everyone off of his wheel. That and yesterday showed us all that Ivan was capable of doing it, it’s just that he didn’t really have it today. Frankly, after these last couple of days, it really, that shouldn’t come as that big of a

Stage 19 was a nail-biter to watch - all the protagonists were fighters, giving every ounce of energy on the road. Discovery’s Paolo Savoldelli looked to be in danger on the Colle delle Finestre, steadily losing time to Lampre’s Gilberto Simoni, Selle Italia’s José Rujano and Liquigas’s Danilo Di Luca, but he fought back, flew down the descent and chased all the way up the final ascent into Sestriere and essentially won the race, as Sunday’s final stage is sure to be a parade commandeered by the sprinters in the final meters. Rumor has it that on the final stage of the Giro, townspeople stop

Always the crowd pleaser, Canadian Genevieve Jeanson surprised a few people and turned a few heads when she pulled off another World Cup win in Montreal this weekend. She won Saturday's race in similar style to her 2004 victory, taking the win with an uphill sprint finish in the final 300 meters of the race. The international women's field of just under 100 riders found the 12 lap, 99.6km event to be something of a race of attrition. The field stayed together for the first 10 laps of the race, despite a series of early attempts to break away. The attacks that did happen were futile

Savoldelli clings to a 28-second lead over Simoni with one stage remaining

Rujano wins

Di Luca leads the attacking trio on the Finestre

Savoldelli battles back

Rujano makes his move

ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) did yeoman's work on the gravel steeps of the Colle delle Finestre

But race leader Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) rode his own race and took back time from the attacking trio

When Di Luca cramped and fell off the pace, Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) pressed his advantage, dogged by José Rujano (Selle Italia-Colombia)

But it would not be enough - Simoni will finish second in Milan

The stage went to Rujano . . .

. . . and the maglia rosa stays with Savoldelli

The madness of the Finestre

Ivanov and Niermann get an early start on the day's suffering

Savoldelli's fans

Watching the race on big-screen TV at the finish

Jeanson cranks it up

It was slow going for much of the day

Jeanson wasn't sure this one would stick

Amber Neben

Wood now leads the World Cup

Gaggioli tries her hand

The latest Photo Gallery in our on-going photo contest has now been posted for your viewing pleasure. Last Week's WinnersWell, actually we just couldn't make up our minds... Firstoff, Jeff Schweninger's "VueltaFans 2004" underscores just how spectacular the sport ofcycling can be. Despite the fact that there isn't a single bike racer inthis photo of fans lined up to watch the 12th stage of the 2004 Vuelta,you can sense the anticipation of what will be happening as the pelotonreaches the winding roads that climb to the Observatory complex at CalarAlto. (In case you forgot,

Paolo Savoldelli and other Giro d’Italia contenders must be quietly thankful that Ivan Basso had his stomach problems. If the Team CSC captain hadn’t come down with a crook stomach and lost 40 minutes over the Stelvio, this Giro very well could have been all but decided a week ago instead of being one of the most exciting in a generation. For the second day in a row, Basso blazed to an impressive stage victory, this time roaring to the first major time trial victory in his career in Friday’s 34km race against the clock in the hills around Torino. “These stage victories make up for the

When 23-year-old Markus Fothen returns home to his parents' farm near the Dutch-German border after the Giro d'Italia, the Gerolsteiner rider will be a different man. Before the Giro, which marked his grand-tour debut, he was a young, albeit very talented rider trying to get used to the hardships of pro racing. But if he holds onto his 12th-place spot in Milan, he will have to live with the expectation of becoming the next big thing in German cycling, the idol of German fans in the era after Erik Zabel and Jan Ullrich. His greatest moments during this Giro, Fothen says, came during

Sunday's eighth annual CSC Invitational will unleash a host of national and international cycling champions upon the streets of Arlington, Virginia. Part of USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar, and the second event in the American Criterium Championship Series, the race will pit men and women against a five-turn, 1km circuit. The 50km women’s race is shaping up as a battle among former winners, with 2004 victor Gina Grain (Victory Brewing) facing 2003 champ Laura Van Gilder (Quark) and two-time winner Ina Teutenberg (T-Mobile). A pair of runners-up also will take the start - Shannon

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.Lament for NYC raceEditor:It is very disappointing to hear that the NYC championships have been "postponed.” It was a wonderful race. This is another example that Mayor Bloomberg and his office are only interested in sport and the Olympics as an excuse to bully the city into building the

Cyclist Randy Dreyer of Chapel Hills, North Carolina, has accepted a two-year suspension for using a prohibited stimulant, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday. Dreyer tested positive for phentermine on August 22, 2004, at the USCF-USPRO Criterium Championships in Downers Grove, Illinois. Phentermine is a prohibited stimulant under the USADA Protocol and the rules of the Union Cycliste International (UCI). Dreyer, who had been provisionally suspended since November 1 of last year, accepted USADA's decision Monday. The suspension will be retroactive to November. Dreyer also forfeits

The competition for the maglia rosa has been tight throughout the Giro d'Italia, and it should reach a climax on Saturday during stage 19, one of the most challenging mountain stages of the race, finishing in Sestriere. With Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) and José Rujano (Selle Italia-Colombia) dropping race leader Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) and edging a little closer to the lead in Thursday's mountaintop finish, and then Savoldelli regaining the lost time in Friday’s time trial, it is hard to predict who will have the lead in Sestriere. Although CSC’s Ivan Basso lost

Well, Ivan has sure proved himself over these last two days, hasn’t he? We had a great team meeting on Thursday morning and we decided that we’re still here to fight and that we were just going to take the bull by the horns that day and not let anyone else dictate the race. Sure it makes sense for us to say that, but you have to admit, after last weekend, it’s something of an act of faith for the guys to believe that, but they did. Really, we were kinda going into the unknown on Thursday. Ivan said he felt good, which was a good sign, but still it means that the other guys really have to

Basso rides to his second consecutive stage win

Taking third, Savoldelli padded his lead going into Saturday's crucial mountain stage

Zabriskie raced his stars-and-stripes skinsuit into third on the day

Is Simoni still within stricking distance?

Karpets has been picked to play a big role for Illes Balears at the Tour. He showed why on Friday.

Basso showed fine form

Once dominant in time trials, Serhiy Honchar could only manage sixth

Dario David Cioni takes fifth

Fothen showed great form on Friday

Ivan Basso won’t win this year’s Giro d’Italia, but a stage victory high in the Italian Alps sent a warning shot to anyone thinks the 27-year-old Team CSC leader gives up easy. Basso doggedly refused to quit despite ceding 40 minutes to what were his fellow overall contenders up the mighty Stelvio last weekend and then roared back to the winner’s circle Thursday with an emphatic solo win in the 194km 17th stage. “I never considered quitting the Giro. I came here to win and when my physical problems wouldn’t allow that to happen, I had to change my focus to winning a stage,” said Basso, who

Third brake lever on CSC’s TT bikesDear Lennard,From the UK - watching the TT at the Giro on Eurosport the other day I noticed CSC were running what seemed to be a third brake lever on the aero’ extension. Can you give any insight to this, as there is nothing on the team website - i.e., would it be wired up like a 'cross lever? Why hasn't anyone done it before and so on?Stuart Dear Stuart,A number of people wrote me about this. A lot of people with sharp eyes out there! Yes, David Zabriskie and Ivan Basso placed 1-2 using Cervelo P3s (one aluminum, one carbon) with a second

Stupidity: stu·pid·i·ty n1. lack of intelligence, perception, or common sense2. extremely rash or thoughtless behavior I have a cartoon on the corkboard above my desk that I look at nearly every single day. Drawn by the great New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan (BEK), the scene features a man and woman standing at a cocktail party, holding martinis. “I was reading somewhere that people are stupid,” the woman tells her companion. For some reason I’ve always loved that cartoon. Maybe it’s because of the absurdity of one person telling another person that she’s read a book, written by a

After the second Giro d’Italia rest day, the competitors were eager to race in stage 16. From the start, the pace was very high and groups of riders were flying off the front. Race leader Paolo Savoldelli’s Discovery Channel teammates had their work cut out for them, as they could only afford to let riders go up the road if they posed no threat to the maglia rosa. The team was forced to chase, and with the help of Fasso Bortolo, which preferred to keep the bunch together for sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, they managed to keep the riders in check until Discovery allowed a group with the right

Basso flies to the finish

CSC's Cervelo P3 with a third brake lever

The right lever cable loops around, up the left extension tube, down the right one and through the third lever to the brake caliper

Dede and Michael Barry

Dede and Lennard Zinn

Carpenter/Phinney camper Tracey Adams with Connie Carpenter

A track bike, with its clean lines, sans brake levers and cables, is a thing of beauty - unless you've never ridden a fixed gear down a steep hill

Basso bounces back to win

Di Luca loses ground

Savoldelli held onto the lead, but by a slimmer margin