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The Dutch team were all given some pretty hip recumbents...

... just for cruising around the village

Michael Barry stops for lunch in the cafeteria.

Kristin Armstrong, Dede and Michael Barry along with Gord Fraser on a training ride outside of Athens

Oh Canada: Gord and Michael

The U.S. women: Barry, Christine Thorburn and Armstrong

The Sponsor: Oakley's Steve Blick striking a pose with the TT medalists

Mactier, Ulmer and the soon-to-be-retired Zijlaard-van Moorsel

Reed

Ulmer has come a long way since her Olympic debut

Last year's surprise at world's - Katie Mactier - made the final again

Van Moorsel settled for bronze

Four men from Oz set a new mark of 3:56:342

The Brit's break 4:00 and still turn in the day's second-best

France gets some unwelcome company

Germany manages to field a team - something they couldn't do a year ago

Ng represents Malaysia in Athens.

Carney

Pipp

Pic

Talk about your close calls. On Friday afternoon disaster nearly struck the Olympics, when a fire broke out at the Mount Parnitha mountain-bike venue, tearing through a kilometer of the 6.1km course. According to a source that was at the site, the blaze came within 100 meters of several of the venue’s buildings, and the course, which will play host to the men’s and women’s cross-country races on August 27 and 28, has been shortened to 5.3km. The source, who requested anonymity, said arson was being blamed for the fire and that at least one Athens Olympic Committee employee had been

Cycling was the teen-age Colby Pearce's therapy. He'd take long weekend rides in the Colorado mountains, a distraction from losing his mother to cancer when he was 8 and his father to a heart attack five years later. Pearce never stopped riding. Now, nearly two decades later, he's reached the Olympics as part of a seven-rider American track contingent. Competition at the velodrome opened Friday, with the first U.S. cyclists set to begin competing Saturday. “Everybody, to a degree, has their childhood wrapped up in them,” Pearce said. “They're a product of their past. That's inevitable. I

As his mentor and one-time gold medalist Chris Boardman looked on from inside the velodrome at the Olympics in Athens, Bradley Wiggins scored the second gold medal in two days for the team from Britain, winning the individual pursuit. Wiggins beat back the challenge of Aussie Brad McGee in the final, while Spain’s Sergi Escobar topped the U.K.’s Rob Hayles in the bronze-medal round. Wiggins said his Olympic dream first began while watching Boardman win gold at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Since then the two have become good friends, as Boardman helped guide his protégé to Saturday’s golden

Jan Ullrich has pulled out of Sunday's World Cup race in Zürich following his disappointing performance in the 2004 Olympic Games. "I had trouble sitting during the Athens time trial but hoped to make the race in Zürich," Ullrich wrote on his Web site. "Unfortunately, that is not possible. "I will use the break to sit down with (coach) Rudy Pevenage and Mario Krummer (sporting director at T-Mobile) to discuss how we will finish the season." The 1997 Tour de France winner flopped in the Olympic Games, finishing 19th in the road race and seventh in the time trial, after going into the Athens

On a day when it wasn’t clear whether the riders were heading up towards the clouds or the clouds down to the riders, Justin England (Webcor) and Phillip Wong (Fior di Frutta) staged an epic mano á mano fight at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb in Conway, New Hampshire. England and Wong rode side-by-side for more than half of the 7.6-mile climb, with England sprinting away with 500 meters to go for the win in near-whiteout conditions. “I knew I only had one attack left in me,” said England. “And so with 500 to go I gave everything I had, and it was just enough.” England’s last-ditch attack

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is more than a shootist – occasionally, he's an ironist. In sending his shots from Saturday's record-shattering day at the Olympic velodrome, he noted: "Too bad this track is slow, and the heat keeps them from going fast."

If the “warm-up” races in Downer's Grove, Illinois, were any indication, the national criterium championships on Sunday could see an unprecedented hat trick in the elite women's category, while the men's USPRO Criterium Championship could be a rough-and-tumble affair among the major domestic teams gunning for one of the last big races of the season. Saturday night's Ice Mountain USCF International Women's Open saw two-time defending national criterium champion Tina Pic (Genesis Scuba-FFCC) take a convincing victory on the eve of her title defense, while in the men's American Airlines Pro-Am

Colby Pearce practices for Tuesday's points race

Ulmer en route to another world record

Wiggins grabs the gold for Britain

McGee joked that he felt caught with his pants down

The German juggernaut

The U.S. team rode its fastest, but not fast enough

Fiedler and his son celebrate with a victory lap

Mirabella turned a personal best, but missed qualifying

Mactier cracked Ulmer's record, but didn't keep it

Escobar rode to the bronze

England and Wong grind up Mt. Washington in near-whiteout conditions

Wiggins just rolled away from McGee – then praised him for raising the bar in the individual pursuit

McGee said it was a pleasure to battle without harming their friendship

Ulmer briefly lost her world record – then took it right back

No more golds for Van Moorsel – she will be racing for bronze

The Germans started in the team sprint and just kept on going

The Japanese proved surprisingly strong

The French outfought the Aussies for bronze

The Aussies were, after all, up against the defending Olympic champs

Tina Pic

Haedo

Bobby Julich, fresh off his bronze medal in the Olympic time trial, won’t start Sunday’s World Cup race, Zürich Metzgete. According to information from Team CSC, a medical check found another fracture in the wrist he broke in a fall during the Tour de France last month. Julich will likely get the wrist into a cast, but said earlier this week he wants to keep racing and is scheduled to race the GP Eddy Merckx later this month. Team CSC said Fränk Schleck is also questionable for the Swiss race, as he has not been able to train in a couple of days due to a knee injury. Replacing Julich in

For most Olympic athletes in Athens the heat is a hindrance, but when it comes to track racers, the balmier the better. The heat makes the boards of the 250-meter wooden track expand and tighten, and that makes conditions fast. That was certainly the case on the opening day of competition at the Olympic velodrome, where two Olympic records and one world record were eclipsed on a sizzling Friday afternoon in Greece. The new world’s best came in the women’s 500-meter time trial, with Aussie Anna Meares becoming the first woman to complete two laps in under 34 seconds. Her time of 33.952 also

Looking ahead to Sunday’s USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois, the phrase “the usual suspects” springs to mind, as the majority of the top domestic criterium racers will be on hand gunning for the race win and the stars-and-stripes champion’s jersey that’s up for grabs to the first American to cross the line. Several of the men have been there before, as the race will feature at least six former race winners and U.S. champions. That list of past winners includes 2002 winner Henk Vogels (Navigators Insurance), 2001 U.S. champion Kirk O’Bee (Navigators), 1999 winner Gord

NCCA Licensed riders and teams now have the opportunity to buy booth space at a special price for the upcoming VeloSwap in Denver, Chicago and San Francisco. VeloSwap is offering a 20% discount off individual or club booth registration to any current NCCA collegiate club or license holder. Collegiate members are also eligible for a 20% discount on vendor passes, which allow registered exhibitors early access to VeloSwap. With the hundreds of vendors and unbelievable deals on new and used equipment, there is no better time for collegiate riders to attend a VeloSwap, "The World¹s Largest

Track events kicked off in Athens on Friday, and VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson was there.

Meares celebrates gold and a new world mark

Meares realizes that she's won

Hoy

No gold for Tournant, but he keeps the world record

British fans were out in force

And Chris Hoy gave them plenty to celebrate

Hoy's teammate, Bradley Wiggins, set an Olympic mark in the qualifying round of the individual pursuit

Meares sets a new 500 standard

Aussie McGee will tackle Wiggins in the gold-medal ride

Nimke racing to bronze in the kilo'

Britain, desperately searching around Athens for an Olympic gold medal, gets their big chance with an assault on the men's kilometer time trial on the opening day of the track cycling on Friday. The British look strongly placed to break through as they did in Sydney four years ago with world champion Chris Hoy, Craig MacLean or, possibly, defending Olympic champion Jason Queally in strong contention for gold. Back in 2000 it was a similar scenario before Queally became an instant hero when he claimed the kilo ahead of German Stefan Nimke and Australian Shane Kelly. Hoy has the form on the

Fred Rodriguez (Aqua e Sapone) just missed victory in the third leg ofthe “Trittico Lombardo” in Thursday’s 199.8km Copa Bernocchi. The newlycrowned American champion was perhaps out to make a point after being overlookedfor a last-chance spot to fill Lance Armstrong’s vacancy in the SummerOlympic Games in Athens.Angelo Furlan (Alessio) won in a mass gallop to the line, winning in5 hours, 3 minutes, 36 seconds, finishing ahead of Rodriguez. Coming throughthird was Giosuè Bonomi (Saeco).Copa Bernocchi (ITA 1.3)1. Angelo Furlan (Ita), Alessio, 199.8km in 5:03:362. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Aqua e

Julich (r) making the rounds with his fellow medalists Demet and Hamilton on Thursday

In the days leading up to women’s Olympic time trial, Dutchwoman Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel admitted she thought she might not be able to start. The triple gold-medalist from Sydney crashed hard in Sunday’s road race and said she had pain all over her body. But with the end of her career looming, Zijlaard-van Moorsel couldn’t let that be her final cycling memory. On Wednesday she authored a more appropriate chapter, winning a gold medal on a sun-kissed 24km course in the coastal suburbs of Athens. Zijlaard-van Moorsel stopped the clock in 31:11.53, 24.09 seconds ahead of American Dede

Saeco gregario Leonardo Bertagnolli won Wednesday’s Copa Agostoni, thesecond leg of the “Trittico Lombardo” in northern Italy. Bertagnolli finishedahead of hard-luck Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo), trying to recapture hiswinning ways after missing most of the 2004 season.Copa Agostoni (ITA 1.2)1. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita), Saeco, 196km in 4 hours, 39 minutes(42.262 kph)2. Dario Frigo (Ita), Fassa Bortolo at 0:043. Gonzalo Bayarri (Spa), Phonak Hearing Systems4. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita), Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie5. Francisco Patxi Vila (Spa), Lampre all same timeFedrigo takes over

The cycling schedule doesn’t have a whole lot of gaps here at the Olympics. Three days of road racing, six of track and two of mountain biking keeps you running from beginning to end. But there were two down days after the weekend road races, which afforded me a chance to take in some non-cycling events. Tuesday night I managed to score a ticket to the swimming finals at the Aquatic Center in the main Olympic complex (Thank you USOC). I have to admit swimming has never much interested me. I can’t do it very well, and watching it isn’t exactly compelling drama. But at the Olympics all that

As the sun crept above the horizon, bringing dawn to a new day here in Athens, Tyler Hamilton awoke with a terrible case of nerves. The afternoon Olympic time trial that awaited him was his last shot to truly erase the disappointment of his failed Tour de France bid a month earlier. Hamilton had said all week he had a good feeling about the 48km race to be contested in the southern suburbs of Greece’s capital, but now it was time to deliver. Half a day later the nice guy of American cycling had seen his premonition come true, besting reigning Olympic TT champion Viatcheslav Ekimov on a

Wednesday turned out to be a remarkable day for U.S. riders at the Athens Olympics, as Americans took three of six medals available in the individual time trial.

Dear Readers,On this great day for U.S. Olympic Cycling I would like to congratulateTyler Hamilton, Dede Demet and Bobby Julich, who won the Gold, Silver andBronze Medals in their respective Individual Time Trial events in Athens. They all have great stories and are deserving medal winners.  I would also like to acknowledge the brave ride by Dede’s husband and fellowVeloNews contributor, Michael Barry who competed for Canada in lastSaturday’s Men’s Olympic Road Race where he finished a very respectful32nd.While everyone knows about Bettini, Paulinho and Merckx winning thegold, silver and

When Bobby Julich crossed the finish line just 26.45 seconds behind teammate Tyler Hamilton in Wednesday’s Olympic individual time trial, it wasn’t just a victory for a man and his country–technology also won in the streets of Athens. Helping to power Julich’s bike were two very unusual chainrings that could very well transform the way we propel our bicycles in the future. Julich was riding a pair of French made, out-of-round, “Osymetric” chainrings which Julich claims have helped him all season. Now before you say, “Biopace,” think again. In a phone interview with VeloNews from France

PHILADELPHIA, PA- August 18, 2004- Lance Armstrong and Pro CyclingTour Fans can get up to 10% off of America West Airlines already low faresto and from the T-MOBILE INTERNATIONAL, presented by BMC Software, setfor Sunday Sept 12th in downtown San Francisco.  Lance Armstrong,the six-time winner of the Tour de France, and his US Postal Service CyclingTeam are part of a powerful international field competing in the race.The offer, set up by the Pro Cycling Tour, can be accessed three differentways by using the Convention and Meetings Services (CAMS) Code AP3617:Go to americawest.com and