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In cyclo-cross, the combination of a flat course and wet ground means only one thing: a hard muddy slog. With its sapping mud pits, Sunday’s final round of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross, run on the shores of the Raritan River in Highland Park, New Jersey, may have provided the best course preview for December’s national championships in Portland, Oregon. And if that’s the case, race winners Ann Knapp (Kona) and Todd Wells (GT-Hyundai) will lick their chops if the Portland race serves its expected helping of leg-breaking slop. While the Highland Park course offered little

Nys is still riding strong

Is Wellens finally hitting his stride?

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Wells ruled the day

Trebon takes the series

Knapp was solid all season

As was the case last year, the RotaryClub of Marblehead, Massachusetts, is auctioning of a signed TylerHamilton jersey as part of the organization’s annual fundraiser.Hamilton, a member of the Swiss-based Phonak team, is originally fromMarblehead and donated a jersey to the organization last year as well.Relying on an eBay auction and exposure from VeloNews, the Marblehead Rotary earned more than $2500from last year’s jersey auction.To bid, justclick here and help the Marblehead Rotary.

Ben Berden (Saey-Descacht) won the Hooglede cyclo-cross on Saturday in Belgium, outracing Enrico Franzoi (Saeco) and Erwin Vervecken (Fidea). A lead group of seven formed quickly after the start of the race, including Berden, Franzoi, Vervecken, MrBookmaker.com teammates Mario De Clercq and Davy Commeyne, Sven Vanthourenhout (Quick Step), and American Jonathan Page (Cervelo-Hot Tubes-Adidas-Mavic). At midrace, Page could not match the pace of the others and began to fall back; he would eventually finish seventh. Four laps before the finish, De Clercq and Comeyne also had to let the others

The "Weekend 'Cross Wrap" is a service of VeloNews.com.Stories and results are provided by race promoters and are not producedby VeloNews or VeloNews.com. Promoters are welcome to submit race reportsthroughout the cyclo-cross season to Rosters@7Dogs.com.Reports may be edited for length and clarity.NEW JERSEY: Trebon, Knapp rule Beacon Cyclo-crossIf there were any doubts about just how good Ryan Trebon (Kona) is when he’s on form, they were banished Saturday at the Beacon Cyclocross in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Trebon flattened the field in the fifth race of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of

Round five of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross, run Saturday in Bridgeton, New Jersey, could be used in coming years by Kona as a how-to video in the finer points of winning a difficult ’cross race. Kona riders Ann Knapp and Ryan Trebon swept to wins on the fast, twisting and sandy Bridgeton course, though each rider took a different route to their ultimate destinations on the top step of the podium. There can be no doubt that Trebon has been riding a sweet patch of form for the past month. The lanky mountain biker won the fourth USGP race in Gloucester, Massachusetts, at the

Marblehead Rotary auctions Hamilton jersey

Berden has three wins going into Sunday's Superprestige round

New daddy Page fell off the pace at midrace

Trebon was 'just rollin''

Knapp ran to victory

Rob Vandermark has always had a knack for turning the impossible into the desirable. As the head designer for Merlin Metalworks, back when Merlin was a struggling independent, he figured out how to create externally butted, seamless titanium tubing. The result was the Merlin Extralight, which for many years reigned as a benchmark in the road bike stratosphere. He also created the Merlin Newsboy, a bona fide mountain bike disguised as the most stylish of cruisers. Easy to do, you say, if you have all the money in the world to work with. So at the opposite end of the price scale, he delivered

“Who you gonna believe – me, or your lying eyes?”–Richard Pryor in Live on the Sunset Strip,explaining to his wife that he was not doingwhat she had seen him doing with another woman Plenty of you have noticed and commented upon the “Believe Tyler” ad that has been displayed elsewhere on the VeloNews.com website. Some have derided the concept as absurd or inappropriate, others have defended it as a valiant expression of support for an embattled hero, and at least one guy inquired about running his own ad for a website he called “Don’t Believe Tyler.” We’re still waiting for the check on that

The Mail Bag 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 the process play itself outEditor:Perhaps it's just me, but lost in all the gnashing of teeth and recriminations regarding Tyler Hamilton's guilt or innocence is the fact that the original infallible Olympic testing lab decided that Tyler's "A" specimen was "negative" – may I repeat,

Aussie Olympic chief supports independent doping panelAustralia's Olympic chief John Coates has voiced support for the creation of a new independent body to examine drug cases and prevent a repeat of cycling's chaotic buildup to this year's Athens Olympics. A report, authored by top lawyer Robert Anderson into allegations of drug use in Australian cycling and released Thursday, proposed a body independent of the government-funded Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Coates said a new drugs body was long overdue, adding that the Australian Olympic

Doubling in size from its first year in 2003, the 2004 San Francisco VeloSwap bicycle swap and show filled 75,000 square feet of the Cow Palace on November 13. Patrick Barrett of the Broken Spoke in San Carlos, California, says "Thank you for producing VeloSwap. This was my first time participating and it far exceeded my expectations. I own a small bike shop and was able to bring most of my bikes and a lot of old clothing, shoes and stuff that had been gathering dust at the shop. We ended up having the best day in our 10-year history. We'll definitely be there every year from now

Friday's foaming rant: Believe O'Grady

Rob Vandermark, President, Seven Cycles.

Seven's Elium mixes carbon tubes with either steel or titanium tubes and lugs. The Elium Race shown here boasts extra rigidity for criteriums and road racing.

Seven built an especially light bike for Mary McConneloug to take to the Olympics. The same featherlight tubeset is now available to all in the Olympic Sola.

"Cycling in the News" is a regular service of VeloNews.com. Readers,reporters and friends are encouraged to send links to current stories aboutcompetitive cyclists and cycling that appear in the mainstream media. Ifyou come across a news item that you believe may be of interest to otherVeloNews readers, we would be grateful if you choose to send it to Rosters@InsideInc.com.BikeBiz.com - Great Britain - November 18, 2004The cycling proficiency test is dead; long live the National StandardThe new National Standard for cycle training in England has been operationalfor some months but it got its

Olympic cycling bronze medalist Axel Merckx has picked up Belgium's annual sportsperson of the year award, it was announced Thursday. The 32-year-old professional rider, the son of legend Eddy Merckx - considered the greatest cycling champion of all time - succeeded motocross rider Stefan Everts who won last year's title. Axel Merckx has displayed great talent in the sport, but is often compared to his famous father - nicknamed "the Cannibal" for his voracious appetite for victory – who won five Tours de France and most of the sport’s other prestigious titles, including the world

'05 season on menu at Georgia luncheonThe Georgia Partnership for Economic Development will host a luncheon and panel discussion about the upcoming 2005 cycling season, including the Dodge Tour de Georgia, from noon to 2 p.m. Friday in Atlanta. The gathering will be at Technology Square, 85 Fifth Street, in room 132. Race announcer and cycling commentator Dave Towle will moderate the panel discussion. Joining Towle on the panel will be Jeff Corbett, director of HealthNet-Maxxis; Micah Rice, director of Jittery Joe’s-Kalahari; Nathan O’Neill, five-time Australian time trial champion, who

Merckx won the bronze medal for the road race in Athens

The Mail Bag 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.Ill-gotten gains?Editor:On the topic of Dave Fuentes' suspension, it's interesting to read that the arbitration panel essentially counted his entire spring and summer of racing as part of his suspension term. That's really unfortunate. I guess this means riders in the future should dope

It's showdown time in the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. Going into the final two races this coming weekend, Canadian Geoff Kabush has a slight advantage in the race for the final podium's top step, leading perennial American favorite Marc Gullickson (Redline) by just 34 points. Three other Americans - Ryan Trebon (Kona), Adam Craig (Maxxis Giant) and Mark McCormack (Clif Bar-Colavita) - are each within striking distance and have plenty of motivation to do well. If an American can clinch the series victory, he's assured of a spot on the U.S. team headed to the World

Will Kabush still be celebrating on Sunday?

Not if Gully can help it.

The Australian Olympic Committee said Tuesday it has appealed to international sport's highest arbitration body to open the way for Australian cyclist Michael Rogers to claim a bronze medal from the Athens Games. The AOC has joined Russian committee in seeking the disqualification of American cyclist Tyler Hamilton from the Olympic individual time trial. Gold medalist Hamilton was suspended by his Phonak team in September, soon after he won an individual time trial at the Vuelta a España. Results from two failed blood tests suggested he had been guilty of an illicit blood transfusion.

I just returned to a very chilly Boulder, Colorado, after spending a few days in the warm sun of Santa Barbara, California, where Giant Bicycles arranged to show off its 2005 product line. While the majority of major manufacturers already paraded their 2005 wares this past summer, Giant was forced to wait until the Interbike tradeshow because its new Maestro suspension mountain bikes weren’t quite ready until then. Indeed, even the bikes that Giant brought to Interbike’s Outdoor Demo were not 100-percent ready, so I was eager to try out the actual production road and mountain models that

Time Sport International, founded in 1986, is a comparatively young company, but it has been at the forefront of the pro racing scene ever since the debut of its revolutionary TBT pedal in late 1987. The TBT was the first modern clipless pedal to allow rotational float, a common feature on high-end pedals today but one that was unheard of at the time. Despite the system’s unusual approach, the TBT was an immediate success, garnering victories in the men’s and women’s Tour de France in 1988 with Pedro Delgado and Jeannie Longo. Shortly thereafter, Time developed a clipless mountain-bike

Losing my gripDear Lennard,I am having a problem with the removal of the drive-side bottom bracketcup. It is a Shimano UN 72 and it has been removed so many times that thesplines are now gone. The bottom bracket itself works fine and I can leaveit in, but eventually it will need to be replaced. The splines are so rounded off that when pressure is applied in an attemptto remove the cup, the bottom bracket tool spins and further chews up thesplines. I am turning the tool clockwise for removal.Jeff Dear Jeff,The first thing to try would be to get your hands on a Tacx BB cupremover, since it

A three-member review panel of the U.S. Arbitration Association and the Court of Arbitration for Sport has unanimously ruled Dave Fuentes committed a doping violation when he tested positive for oxymetholone metabolites at the Redlands Classic on March 25. The 31-year-old from Berkeley, California, who had 12 wins in 2003, disputed the test results, but the panel found sufficient evidence to recommend a two-yearsuspension from the sport. The panel also recommended that Fuentes's suspension begin the day of the infraction, meaning that he may compete again on March 25, 2006. In addition,

November 15, 2004 (Berkeley, CA) – An October 30 dinner and silent auction for the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League at Delancey Street in San Francisco drew a crowd of 140 and raised more than $20,000 to support training for the twelve high school teams throughout Northern California who participate in the League. The NorCal League is the brainchild of Berkeley High School math teacher and former amateur road racer Matt Fritzinger, who founded a racing team and organizes the annual coaches’ conference, winter riding camps, and the spring race series as well as a weeklong summer riding

Giant-Pearl Izumi team rider Adam Craig showed up to camp

The TCR Advanced you can buy in the United States.

The TCR Giant won't sell here...

... because this seatpost requires a perfect cut.

Time Sport's founder and president, Roland Cattin

The lightest version of Time's new RXS pedal has a titanium spindle, with a claimed weight of only 195 grams per pair.

Paolo Bettini's Time VXR. Bettini has since upgraded to the lighter VXRS frameset, and he will have a new time trial ride for 2005.

Will the CAS force a medal shuffle?

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Splines, cleats and big guys on bikes

The Mail Bag 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.Hincapie’s a gentleman and team playerEditor:Regarding the letter from Earl Aneas dissing George for apparently not signing an autograph for his wife (see Friday’s mailbag: “Don’t look to Hincapie at all”): I live in South Carolina near where George resides when he's stateside and had

The five cities looking to host the 2012 Summer Games submitted bids to the International Olympic Committee on Monday, with Paris the front-runner to win next year's vote. London, Madrid, New York and Moscow also turned in documents, each book totaling more than 550 pages. The IOC will evaluate such credentials as venues, security, transportation, hotels and financing. “The bid document in itself is not enough to get you across the line, but it will make your bid better," said London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, the Olympic 1500-meter champion in 1980 and 1984. “This is what I would

The Swiss cycling team Phonak said Monday that its very survival was at stake following an initial decision by the UCI to leave it out of the 2005 ProTour. Phonak, which has had three top riders fail doping tests this year, vowed to fight for its place on the final list at a hearing with the UCI's licensing commission on November 22. "The participation in the ProTour is of existential significance to the team's future and vitally important to Swiss cycling in general," the team said in a statement. "Participation in the most important races has to be guaranteed and is the principal

Just complete an online survey about what features you look for in training monitoring equipment. It's quick. (20 minutes tops) It's easy. (All we're looking for are opinions) And if you complete it before November 22, 2004, you could win $100 cash! By participating, you will help companies create quality products that help people train more effectively. And win yourself some sweet spending money in the process. To get started on the survey, simply copy the following PIN number, click on the link below, and paste the PIN number in the designated window. PIN number: training789 Link:

Andreas Rihs, Chairman of Phonak Holding SA, may pull the plug on the cycling program.

Belgian Sven Nys won the third round of the cyclo-cross World Cup on Sunday in Pijnakker, Netherlands. Hometown favorite Richard Groenendaal, who crashed once, crossed second at 23 seconds back, followed by Belgian Sven Vanthourenhout at 0:49. Nys finally broke the Czech stranglehold on this season’s World Cup, following victories by Zdenek Mlynar in Wortegem-Petegem (Belgium) and Kamil Ausbuher in Tabor, Czech. Groenendaal had a perfect start, riding ahead of a chase group that included Nys, Mlynar and Italian Enrico Franzoi. But Nys eventually leapt away from the bunch, and when

To keep herself motivated in races she’s comfortably winning, Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) often imagines racing against her top competition from the West Coast. “Ann Knapp is just around the next corner,” she thinks to herself, “and Gina Hall is right behind me. I have to keep it pegged.” Sunday’s fifth stop on the Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series looked like another day for McConneloug to race against imagined opponents, but a racer on loan from Colorado ended up giving McConneloug a real run for her money. While she spends most of her time racing multi-hour mountain bike events,

Nys continues a great season

Mind Games: McConneloug often fights her biggest battles in her head

McCormack fights his way into the lead

The Swiss team Phonak is not among a list of 19 teams receiving a “favorable sanction” to participate in the UCI's 2005 Pro Tour, sources have told Agence France Presse. Phonak was the only one of 20 teams presented to the UCI to be overlooked by the organization's licenses commission. The UCI is expected to announce which teams will be granted Pro Tour licenses early in December. The news follows three doping positives involving Phonak riders: American Tyler Hamilton, 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the individual time trial; Spain’s Santiago Perez, runner-up in the 2004 Vuelta a España; and

After two years with Mario Cipollini’s Domina Vacanze team, Specialized Bicycles announced that it was switching its sponsorship to Germany’s Gerolsteiner squad for 2005, in part because the team has added American Levi Leipheimer to its roster. Specialized also announced an expansion of its domestic sponsorship role next year, adding its support to the men’s side of USA Cycling’s under-23 development program. Specialized will supply bikes and equipment for road, mountain, cyclo-cross and track to the U-23 team. We chatted with Mike Sinyard, Specialized’s president and founder, about his

The Mail Bag 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.Letter writer praises letter writersEditor:It’s encouraging to know that people out there feel the way that I do (see Wednesday’s mailbag). First, Ian Sharp makes a great point about doping and lifetime bans. Only drastic punishments will leave athletes thinking about their mistakes and

Sunday’s return to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for round three of the Bay Area Super Prestige Series will be a homecoming for two Northern California cyclo-cross stars from the days when California ruled the ’cross roost. Former junior national champs Jim Gentes and Clark Natwick, who were archrivals in the mid-1970s, will find that the area near the park’s Polo Fields which will host Sunday’s round has changed little since their racing heyday, with its cypress tree forests, sandy paths, and trails covered by pine needles. San Jose’s Gentes won the national junior title during the

When Germany’s Nina Kraft, 35, swept to her overwhelming 17-minute victory over Switzerland’s Natascha Badmann at the 2004 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii October 16, photographers noticed a curious thing when Kraft crossed the line. She had her head down and never looked up. She looked almost embarrassed, which many took for shyness. When Badmann crossed the line in second place, her joy was palpable and open. “Nina needs to take lessons from Natascha about giving good finish line,” said one veteran triathlon journalist at the time. With Tuesday’s revelation that Kraft

VeloNews Q&A: Specialized's new team, Gerolsteiner's new ride

Mike Sinyard

Gary Fisher and Clark Natwick challenging Golden Gate Park’s log barricades in this December 1975 event, just a week before the first U.S. cyclo-cross championships in Berkeley

The start line, ‘70’s style, in Golden Gate Park. Five-time national champ Laurence Malone is on the far left .

Jim Gentes (left) and Dan Nall bunny-hop barriers in Golden Gate Park

Laurence Malone, U.S. cyclo-cross champ from 1975 to 1979. He electrified the world's crowd at Hanover in 1977 using this same tactic

Kraft powers along on the bike en route to her 2004 Ironman World Championship WIN

Looking out my office window at a cold rainy, day, with the promiseof snow falling on Colorado’s Front Range once the temperature drops thisevening, it’s all too clear that winter has arrived. Forget the near-perfect70-degree weather we had over the weekend, or the fact that winter doesn’t“officially” start until December 21st. From where I come from, snow andtemperatures in the low-20s means wintertime.It’s funny, as I was driving into work today, looking out at gray daythat appeared exactly as myfavorite Internet weather service had predicted, I couldn’t help butlaugh thinking of all the

I often receive emails from readers with a comments or follow-up questions regarding this column. Although I can’t always respond, the input is helpful and valuable. In fact, some of the important questions can come from the most unexpected places, let me offer a message from B.R. in Michigan as an example: Bob,I read your most recent “Legally Speaking” column on VeloNews.com, and I had a quick follow-up question. From the article and my own understanding, there is no right to travel. Is there a right to have adequately maintained roadways, however? I ask because here in Michigan, there

Remembering KyleTo my friends at Velo,Although I greatly appreciate the opportunity to write something aboutmy friend Kyle Bielenberg, I must tell you it was one of the hardest thingsI have ever done.I spent nearly a full hour last night trying to write something thatmade sense. I would type a few lines, phrases, then delete all ofit and start over, never satisfied with the outcome. I feel wholly incapableof putting a man’s life into a few short paragraphs. My usual rantingsat drunkcyclist literally roll off my fingertips in a rapid-fire crescendoof keystrokes and laughter. This exercise

San Francisco, CA Saturday Nov. 13th at the Cow Palace. Seattle—RacerMate, Inc., of Seattle, Washington, manufacturer of the CompuTrainer electronic bicycle training system, will stage 8-rider indoor bike races at VeloSwap in San Francisco, November 13th. This years event will feature a “Founding Fathers” race consisting of the Bay Area pioneers of mountain biking including: Gary Fisher, Mike Sinyard, Joe Breeze, Scot Nicol, Jacquie Phelan, and James McLean. They will race from 2-3 p.m. on a virtual simulation of the original Repack Downhill Race founded in 1976 in Marin

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced last Friday that Chris Del Bosco of Vail, Colorado, tested positive at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships on September 26 at Mammoth Mountain, California. Del Bosco (Oakley-LenzSport-FoxRacing Shox), a semi-professional downhill ski racer who finished 18th in the NORBA downhill overall in 2003, tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a prohibited substance under World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list. Del Bosco, 22, received a public warning for a first offense. In addition, he is disqualified from his first

Dutchman Richard Groenendaal (Rabobank) won Thursday’s Jaarmarktcross Niel, the second round of the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee Veldrijden, and took the series lead as well. Groenendaal crossed the line with a large margin on runner-up Erwin Vervecken (Fidea), who outsprinted Sven Vanthourenhout (Quick Step), Wim Jacobs (Fidea) and Ben Berden (Saey-Deschacht). Sven Nys (Rabobank), who won the series opener at the Koppenberg, finished seventh. A first-lap crash split the field, Nys, Groenendaal and Tim Van Nuffel (Saey-Deschacht). They gave all they had, though, and succeeded in regaining the

Dionne wins in San Francisco again