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The win. Bäckstedt's victory in the velodrome of Roubaix

At last year's Tour de France

Riding with Michi - By William Cass

Lance Armstrong will race the Tour of Flanders on April 3, but he’ll go as a “domestique” to help longtime teammate George Hincapie, said Discovery Channel sport director Johan Bruyneel. Armstrong hasn’t raced since March 9 when he pulled out of Paris-Nice with a slight fever, but has been building his fitness in training near his European base in Girona, Spain. Armstrong is expected to return to action at Paris-Camembert on March 29, though he still might race at Brabantse Pijl two days earlier. “He’ll go to Flanders as a ‘domestique,’ but not to win,” Bruyneel was quoted on the Spanish

While everyone’s attention was focused on the finish-line scrum in Saturday’s Milan-San Remo, many missed an interesting back story at the “classicissima” that will underscore the 2005 season. Coming off the Capo Mele, there was 38-year-old Andrea Tafi sticking his nose in the wind. Giving it the gas with 2km to go was 1997 world champion and French mullet man Laurent Brochard, who turns 38 later this month. Lion King Mario Cipollini, who turned 38 on Tuesday, was happy just to finish in the main bunch while Der Kaiser Erik Zabel, a mere youngster at 34, seemed to be losing his spark. And

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.Rest in Peace Tom SimpsonEditors, What an excellent story with which to start the day (see “Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: Death on the Ventoux”).). It was a touching and sad cautionary tale. I was only 4 1/2 when Tom Simpson died, yet I have read much about him over the last few

Colby Pearce has a great chance to set the standard for the home country when the 2005 UCI World Track Championships get underway Thursday in the ADT Event Center, Carson, California. Pearce, 32, has had a successful World Cup season, with second and third places in the points race at two rounds of the competition. His chance to claim a world’s medal comes Thursday evening. The final of the men 40km points race is the likely highlight of this opening session of the March 24-27 track world’s, and Pearce is going to need all the vocal support the home crowd can muster. Earning a medal will be

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is seeking a self-motivated, full-time advocacy staff member with experience in grassroots organizing. I appreciate any referrals you may have.JOB RESPONSIBILITIES* Organize campaigns to preserve mountain bike access* Volunteer recruitment and leadership development* Expand and enhance IMBA coalition partnerships* Develop and organize local affiliate programs* Expand and enhance public land management agency partnerships* Design and develop advocacy campaign materials, program manuals and public education resources* Organize and provide

Armstrong last appeared at Paris-Nice

Pearce last year in Athens

Davide Rebellin admits it will be all but impossible to repeat last year’s winning streak, when he took a rare treble with a sweep of the Ardennes classics. Coming into the 2005 season, the Gerolsteiner rider is instead hoping to spread the wealth, targeting wins from March to October as he eyes cycling’s new ProTour. Rebellin came up short in last weekend’s Milan-San Remo, but he was one of the main protagonists on the ill-fated attack over the Poggio. That new aggressiveness will be the hallmark of the Italian’s 2005 campaign. Earlier this year, VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood

The ABCs of tire sizeDear Lennard,What does the c stand for on a 700c rim and or tire? What unit of measurement is this and how is it determined?BWDear BW,The “c” is not a unit of measurement. It merely designates a certain international rim/tire standard. A 700C rim has a 622mm bead-seat diameter (diameter of the tire bead circle), and you will often find this number imprinted on 700C tires and rim strips. Obviously, there is nothing you could measure on the wheel or tire and come up with 700 units of anything (the outer diameter of a 700C X 23mm road tire is about 668mm).To illustrate the

Chris Horner (Saunier Duval) let his presence be known in dramatic fashion in Tuesday’s second stage of the Setmana Catalana, starting an early sprint and nearly sneaking away with the stage victory. Horner was part of a larger group that chased back on to a front group of 25 riders with 2km to go in the mountainous 168.8km stage from Lloret de Mar to Empuriabrava. Horner started an early sprint, but was swarmed by Italian Claudio Corioni (Fassa Bortolo) at the line to take eighth in his best result so far in his European return. Corioni held off Aitor Perez (Spiuk) to score his first

Rebellin celebrates a glorious win at Liege in 2004

Rebellin at a chilly Paris-Nice earlier this year

The finally finally shone on Southern California's San Dimas Stage Race on Sunday as Ivan Dominguez (Health Net-Maxxis) and Tina Mayolo Pic (Quark) won the closing criterium in Old Town San Dimas. Our man Casey Gibson was on the scene, and below is a sampling of what he saw through his lens.

O'Loughlin gets some payback in IrelandReport by Tommy CampbellAfter the crafty Carrick Wheelers rider Rory Wyley, outfoxed NavigatorsCiaran Power earlier in the week in Limerick and slipped up the road ina small group, Power's team-mate O'Loughlin showed up on Wyley's home sod,and exacted a little revenge yesterday (Sunday) in Sean Kelly's hamletof Carrick-on-Suir. Famed Irish sports reporter Tommy Campbell describesthe outcome:National Road Race Champion and professional with the New Jersey basedNavigators Insurance team in America, David O'Loughlin was a surprise

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.Pros should remember that others work hard, tooEditor:Keith Williams is dead-on about the pros bugging out early (see Friday’s Mailbag: “What kind of pro passes on a podium shot?”). Assuming the promoters put on a safe, well-run event that lived up to what they promised, it really is in

Talk of major changes in the Milan-San Remo route look closer to becoming reality after race officials publicly acknowledged that the Cipressa and Poggio climbs just don’t pack the punch they used to. Race director Angelo Zomegnan told reporters “we’re thinking about” adding another major climb in the final run of the 294km Milan-San Remo which ended Saturday in a bunch sprint for the sixth time in seven years. “A race as long as this and it’s decided in the final meters, does that seem normal?” Zomegnan said. “If you think about it, in 10 years nothing much has happened or not much, except

Many of the stories I’ve told in the first 10 weeks of this new column have concerned people and events that few Americans had known about. The story I’m going to tackle this week is one about which most cycling fans think they know all they want to know: The death of Tom Simpson on Mont Ventoux at the 1967 Tour de France. “Oh, yeah,” I can hear some of you saying. “That drug cheat.” I’m not going to detail everything that led to Simpson’s collapse just before the summit of the mountain in southeast France. Whole books have been dedicated to the purpose. But in these 1500-or-so words I want

Kim Baldwin takes a corner

Leadout man Gord Fraser celebrates the stage win with Ivan Dominguez

Advantage Endeavour masses at the front

Fraser chases down a break

Lara Kroepsch at the front

Tina Mayolo-Pic wins as Laura Van Gilder cheers

Erinne Willock in the leader's jersey

Heavy Traffic: Milan-San Remo organizers would like to see a smaller crowd fight it out on the Via Roma.

Pantani's attack on the Cipressa in 1999 didn't get far.

Simpson was gone before anyone could offer help.

Simpson's monument remains a pilgrimage for many.

Imagine that you are a fireman stationed in the small town of Amer in Spain. Now if you really didn't know anything about cycling, I can guarantee thatyou'd think the sport is pretty weird. You’d probably be right, too.You see, the Amer fire station sits at the bottom of one of the veryfew quality climbs within a short distance of Girona. So on any given day,in addition to the usual hard-working firemen washing the trucks and coilinghose, you’re bound to see a steady parade of bike riders, even a grandtour winner or two: Roberto, Lance, George, Tyler, Levi, Floyd, Fred, Michael…need I

Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) and Erinne Willock (Webcor Builders) took the rain-soaked second stage of the San Dimas Stage Race on Saturday. Fraser won a 24-man dash to the line at the end of the 98-mile Incycle-Cannondale Road Race, run on a 7-mile loop with a flat 1km straight to the finish line. Willock had a wider margin of victory in the 56-mile women’s race, crossing 19 seconds ahead of the raging pack. Tina Pic (Quark) took the bunch sprint with Magen Long (The Bicycle Store) third. General-classification standings were not available. Racing concludes Sunday with the San Dimas

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) doubled up at round two of the Shimano NORBA National Mountain Bike Series on Saturday, adding victory in the short track to his win in Friday’s time trial. Setting the pace early on at McDowell Mountain Regional Park near Fountain Hills, Arizona, was a small group containing Kabush, Subaru-Gary Fisher teammates Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Trent Lowe, Adam Craig (Giant), Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-VW), Sid Taberlay and Liam Killeen (Specialized). Kabush, Horgan-Kobelski, and Killeen then tore open a gap and went to work. With just a few laps remaining, Kabush shot off the

Alessandro Petacchi is now the undisputed king of the sprints following his emotional victory down the Via Roma in Saturday’s Milan-San Remo. Mario Cipollini, who finished with the lead bunch in what he promises will be his last Milan-San Remo, was quick to tip his hat to Petacchi in a clear passing of the baton in the power rankings of the Italian sprinter hierarchy. “I can imagine what he feels at this moment,” Cipollini said Saturday on the Via Roma just three years after he won. “It’s his consecration as a rider of high quality.” It’s also chaos at the finish when an Italian wins the

Vande Velde's View: Once upon a time in AMERica

Fraser outkicks Dionne and the rest of the bunch

Willock en route to victory

Health Net in pursuit of Wohlberg

Moninger and Fraser

A Symmetry rider enjoys the deluge: I think he was screaming, but I'm not sure, says photog Casey Gibson

Did we mention it was raining?

Petacchi gets the one he's been wanting for some time now

[nid:30483]There is no longer an asterisk next to Alessandro Petacchi’s palmares. For the sprinter who’s dominated the speed game since his breakthrough 2000 season, Petacchi was being pegged as a man who couldn’t win a mass gallop in long-distance races. The naysayers only pointed to the 2004 Milan-San Remo and the 2003 Paris-Tours, two occasions when the “gentleman sprinter” died – or some say choked – at the line.

Germany’s Trixi Worrack (Equipe Nurnberger Versicherung) won the seventh edition of the 118km Primavera Rosa, the women’s Milan-San Remo, on Saturday. The 23-year-old Worrack jumped in the last kilometer to win the third round of the women’s World Cup by a second over Britain’s Nicole Cooke (Safi-Pasta Zara Manhattan) and Australian Oenone Wood (Nurnberger) on the Via Roma de San Remo. In the World Cup competition, Wood leads with 85 points, followed by Worrack with 80 and Netherlander Suzanne De Goede (Van Bemmelen) third with 78.

Sue Haywood (Trek-VW) and Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) won their respective time trials on Friday as round two of the Shimano NORBA National Mountain Bike Series got under way outside Fountain Hills, Arizona. The twisting, 8.2-mile loop at McDowell Mountain Regional Park featured short climbs and steep switchbacks. Haywood stopped the clock at 32:09, just 15 seconds quicker than Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher). Luna racers - Katerina Hanusova, Alison Dunlap and Shonny Vanlandingham – snagged the next three spots. In the men’s race, Kabush collected his second NORBA time-trial victory of the

Petacchi celebrates his biggest win to date

Petacchi collects his first epic one-day classic

Bettini and Kashechkin had a go

Casagrande and Zaballa have a go

Casper leads an escape

Petacchi and his podium-mates

Freire had good legs - until the final 500 meters

Rodriguez was still feeling the effects of his Paris-Nice crash

Vicioso took his best shot

Fassa on the hunt

Rebellin on the attack

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.Belgians right to oppose witch huntEditor:Finally, a voice of reason from inside cycling. I applaud the letter Belgian sports officials wrote to De Standaard pointing out that the fight against doping is become a moral crusade, or witch hunt (see “Belgians attack anti-doping rules”). I

Start List - Milan-San Remo (as of March 18, 2005)1. Oscar Freire Gomez (Sp), Rabobank2. Erik Dekker (Nl), Rabobank3. Jan Boven (Nl), Rabobank4. Maarten Den Bakker (Nl), Rabobank5. Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Sp), Rabobank6. Karsten Kroon (Nl), Rabobank7. Gerben LÖwik (Nl), Rabobank8. Marc Wauters (B), Rabobank9. Ruggero Marzoli (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil10. Gabriele Balducci (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil11. Jure Golcer (SLO), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil12. Simone Masciarelli (I), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil13. Bo Hamburger (Dk), Acqua & Sapone - Adria Mobil14. Giuseppe Palumbo (I),

World champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) will saddle up for Milan-San Remo on Saturday as perhaps the smartest bet for victory after the 29-year-old won three stages at Tirreno-Adriatico last week on his way to taking the overall honors. In a race where those who took part were guaranteed long, uninterrupted days of racing, unlike at Paris-Nice, Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) also showed his form, beating the likes of Freire, Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis), Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) and Norway's Thor Hushovd on his way to matching Freire's stage tally of

CARSON, CA (March 18, 2005) - Inside Communications' VeloNews, the world's largest competitive cycling publication, has been named as an official sponsor of the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the ADT Event Center. As North America's journal of record, VeloNews covers all disciplines in the sport of cycling, including track, road racing, mountain biking and endurance events, both nationally and internationally. The ADT Event Center velodrome at The Home Depot Center in Carson is making final preparations to host this year's premier track-cycling event - the

Tom Boonen says Quick Step teammate Paolo Bettini enters Saturday’s Milan-San Remo as the leader, but didn’t discount his chances if it comes down to a sprint on the Via Roma. “The past two times I’ve raced here I lost a lot on the Poggio, losing my position. The key will be at the front,” Boonen said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport on the eve of the classic kickoff. “I’m sure I will be able to hang on going over the Cipressa and the Poggio.” Boonen downplayed the hint of rivalry between himself and Olympic champion Bettini, who enters La Primavera after struggling with an

Health Net-Maxxis swept the opener at California’s San Dimas Stage Race on Friday, putting Scott Moninger atop the podium followed by three of his teammates. Moninger won the Glendora Chevrolet Time Trial, shortened by rainy weather to just 3.8 miles up Glendora Canyon Road, in 13:33, followed by Chris Wherry at 24 seconds back, John Lieswyn at 0:24 and Mike Jones at 0:35. In women’s racing, it was a pair of T-Mobiles bracketing a Rona as Kristin Armstrong took the honors in 15:46 ahead of Canadian Genèvieve Jeanson at 0:19 and Kimberly Baldwin at 0:31. Stage 2, Saturday’s

Unlike Zabel, Freire saved his celebration for after the finish

Gord Fraser working the 3.8-mile climb

Genèvieve Jeanson, trying to outride the storm

No, that's not Ireland above John Lieswyn, but soggy SoCal

Christine Thorburn counting down in the start tent

Umbrellas were plentiful at the start

With his usual intensity, Eric Wohlberg takes a corner tight

Lance Armstrong received yet another award this week after receivingthe Grand Prix de l’Academie des Sports in Paris on Tuesday, where he toldreporters he’s behind in his preparation for the Tour de France. Armstrong said wintry weather at the recent Paris-Nice wasn’t the idealsetting for his return to Europe. Cold weather and a fever prompted theTexan to not start the fourth stage. “Maybe I shouldn’t have started Paris-Nice. It was a hard race, veryfast, intense and with bad weather,” he said. “I must admit I’m a littlebit behind, more than I normally would be.” Armstrong insisted he’ll

A group of Belgian sports officials, including the Olympic team leader, launched an attack Wednesday on World Anti-Doping Agency rules, arguing they were hypocritical, excessive and unfairly targeted athletes. ‘= Besides Olympic team leader Robert Van de Walle, the 11 officials also included Wilfried Meert, organizer of the Van Damme athletics meet, former judo coach Jean-Marie Dedecker and doctor Yvan Demol of the QuickStep cycling team. In an open letter published by De Standaard newspaper yesterday, they wrote "the fight against doping has turned into a moral crusade, a sort of witch

Walters gets a taste of Belgium Nokere-Koerse (1.1)The 60th edition of the Belgian semi-classic Nokere-Koerse was heldWednesday on 193Km of Belgian roads that included 11 ascents of the famedNokereberg.Navigators' Kirk O'Bee escaped in an early breakaway with 17 otherson the initial large opening lap.  The gap never climbed above 45-seconds,and the group was reeled back in on the 3rd of 10 finishing circuits. A 5-man group was able to escape and gained an advantage of over 4:00 duringthe 4-6th laps, but their advantage wasn't enough to keep the main pelotonat bay.  With a strong

Armstrong at Tuesday's awards ceremony

Paolo Bettini would rather win the Tour of Flanders instead of another Milan-San Remo. That’s not to say the Cricket isn’t interested in Saturday’s classicissima, a race he won in 2003. “Milan-San Remo is an objective, but this year I really like the Tour of Flanders, a race I’ve never won,” he said in an interview with the Spanish daily AS. “It’s not easy to say, ‘I wan to win a race,’ and later go do it. One of my characteristics is tenacity. When I set an objective, I prepare for it 100 percent to achieve it.” The Quick Step star didn’t have his trademark bounce in Tirreno-Adriatico,

Following his overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, Spain's Oscar Freirehas assumed the leader's jersey of the UCI's new ProTour race series.Freire moved past the series's first overall leader, American BobbyJulich (CSC). Like Freire, Julich won 50 ProTour points for his overallvictory at Paris-Nice, but the Rabobank sprinter also earned three additionalpoints for his three stage victories in the week-long Italian stage race.The next event in the ProTour is Saturday's edition of Milan-San Remo, a former World Cup event with a points distribution identical to those earned

Bjarne Riis is not one of the easiest interviews for a cycling hack. Often times the 1996 Tour de France winner will reply with a “baagh,” a shrug of his shoulders and a concise, six-syllable answer. That’s followed by an awkward silence while the interviewer scrambles to think of another question to ask the interviewee. But when you catch Riis in a good mood, which has happened a lot lately with Team CSC’s early season success, he gives thoughtful answers to thoughtful questions. Riis, after all, actually has some interesting things to say. The 41-year-old Dane is a man on a mission,

VeloNews renews Insight Race Across America program dealBoulder, CO -- America's only bicycle race with its own networkTV show -- the 3,047-mile Insight Race Across America (RAAM) -- has renewedits agreement with VeloNews to produce its 2005 and 2006 event program.The program will be featured as a special tabloid-sized section insidethe magazine, while over-prints will be distributed in Tailwinds and UltraCyclingmagazines. Total distribution is 100,000 copies, making the program amongthe most efficient ad buys of the year for VeloNews.Now in its 24th year, RAAM is among the oldest

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.Now there's an ideaDear VeloNews,Regarding theNew York Post's article about Armstrong being a traitor: Isthis the same idiot who came up with the concept of naming french fries"freedom" fries?Give me a break. Maybe now they will petition OLN to cut the TourDe France from