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. . . and clinchers

Stella Azzurra is stretching itself, too, with the four-spoke Maris wheel . . .

. . . and the low-profile Compasso

Just when you thought you'd seen every carbon-fiber application imaginable comes a carbon trainer from Elite

Storck's Scenario C 0.9 can be hoisted with a pinky

The Time RXS is an all-new design . . .

. . . and there's an all-new RXS shoe to go with it

The VXRS can be had with the full Paolo Bettini effect

Gunn-Rita pic

Tyler Hamilton could become the first American racer to win a stage in each grand tour if he can roll out of the 59th Vuelta a España with a stage victory. The 33-year-old New Englander already has stage wins in the Giro d’Italia (a time trial in 2002) and in the Tour de France (a mountain stage in 2003) and said he’s motivated to make it a hat trick. “I have won stages in the other grand tours, so I wouldn’t mind to win one here to complete the circle,” Hamilton said before Friday’s opening ceremony. “We’ll see how things go. I’m here thinking about the overall but I will also work for

History has a way of repeating itself at U.S. Postal Service and now Floyd Landis is hoping that trend continues after he became the first American to wear the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a España on Saturday after his team roared to victory in the opening team time trial. “We didn’t have a particular plan about who would come across first, but we had a plan on how to ride the time trial,” said Landis, who enjoyed some quality time on the podium following the stage. “Johan called in on the radio in the last 500 meters and he was generous enough to give me the lead, so I wasn’t

We have started the Vuelta on the right foot with a nice stage win in the team time trial. The TTT is one of my favorite events as it takes a complete team effort; and, the feeling when everything is running smoothly is incredible. During the effort the whole team is completely focused- it feels as if we are riding in a tunnel with nothing but the open road in front of us with the voice of Johan encouraging us over the radio, the noise of the disc wheels, the sound of the wind and our breath blocking out all other noises and distractions. In the last two years we have lost the Vuelta

On a day when all signs pointed to bunch sprint finishes, the finales of the elite men’s and women’s circuit races at day two of the Green Mountain Stage Race produced something else altogether. Men did 72 miles and the women 52 on Saturday’s undulating 19.4-mile circuit in Moretown, Vermont. On paper, the course was hard, but not hard enough to break up the respective fields. All previous editions of the race had ended in furious field sprints, but the 2004 edition was an exception. Joe Papp (ACT-UPMC) soloed off a group of four to win the men’s race, finishing off a 10km breakaway effort

T-Mobile takes second

Illes Balears set an early mark to beat

Victor Hugo Peña

Plotting and planning

Tony Cruz makes last-minute adjustments

Dave Zabriskie looks a little spent

Papp picked his spot just right

Moore, like Papp, was outnumbered . . . but won anyway

Levi Leipheimer has signed a two-year contract to join the German squad Gerolsteiner for the 2005-06 seasons. After two top-10 finishes in three Tour de France starts, the 30-year-old American will join rising star Georg Totschnig as team leader going into the ProTour inaugural next season. “This is a major coup,” said team manager Hans Michael Holczer on the team’s web page. “We’ll have a strong reinforcement for the grand tours, secondly he will be able to share leadership duties with Totschnig and finally his strong experience can help young riders on our team.” Leipheimer couldn’t be

More items of note from the shores of the Bodensee: personal trainers, power measurement devices, saddles — do you detect a theme here? Tacx i-Magic Fortius trainerThe i-Magic Fortius trainer from Tacx is billed as a "virtual reality trainer," a claim that may seem overly modest when you witness the stunning capabilities of this amazing device. Hooked up to your PC or projection television, the Fortius can put you in the middle of a virtual reality race that you program, or a ride up the Alpe d'Huez taken with real-life video. You can also load in training software that analyzes and

With the Canadian border less than a two-hour drive away, it stands to reason that the Green Mountain Stage Race, September 3-6 in Vermont, would attract a sizable contingent from the Great White North. But the opening day of the fourth annual race looked more like a trans-provincial climbing championship than anything else. Canadian riders have come in droves to this year’s four-day stage race, run in the heart of Vermont’s Mad River Valley, and two of them – Dominique Perras (Ofoto-Lombardi Sports) and Amy Moore (Quark Cycling) – won Friday’s prologue hillclimb. The 8.1-mile, mass-start

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

EuroBike, Day 2: More goodies from Friedrichshafen

Perras took the prologue hillclimb . . .

. . . but McCormack nearly got him when he blew in the final meters

Italian star Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) and Spanish rider Carlos Golbano (Paternina-Costa de Almería) won’t be starting the Vuelta a España on Saturday after UCI blood tests conducted Wednesday evening revealed the pair “unfit” to start. The 189 starting riders in the Vuelta, which starts Saturday with a team time trial in León in northern Spain, were given blood screening to test levels of hemotacrit, hemoglobin and reticulocytes. While not considered a positive doping test, inconsistent indicators can suggest, but not prove, the use of EPO, Nesp or other banned blood boosters. Vuelta

We are now in the hotel in Léon sitting and waiting for the Vuelta España to begin on Saturday. We arrived in Leon last night, as we had to be at the hotel three days prior to the start for the medical testing-which is essentially a blood test. This year the Vuelta starts out with several flat to rolling stages as we race across the middle of Spain towards the Mediterranean and the coastal town of Valencia. Valencia will host the first of three individual time trials, one being up to the peak of Sierra Nevada, the other being the final stage in Madrid. Today we rode our time trial bikes

Dear Bob,I am curious what you think of the recent Toronto court decision thatthe City of Toronto owed cyclists a duty of care to maintain a safe cyclingenvironment.N.D.Colorado Dear Bob,The main highway in our area is scheduled for repaving. This will closeone side of the divided including both shoulders for a ten-mile stretchover a six-month period. The section is used by hard-core commuters andis a popular ride for those who want to get out of town for the weekend.What are the contractor’s obligations to accommodate bicycle traffic? Whatare my rights when a “bike lane closed sign is

USA Cycling announced its automatic nominationsto represent the U.S. at the upcoming UCI Road World Championships in Verona,Italy, September 27 - October 4.The thirteen riders named Thursdayhave until September 6 to either accept or decline their nominations.Receiving nominations to the team basedon their participation in the 2004 Olympic Games are George Hincapie, TylerHamilton, Bobby Julich, Levi Leipheimer, and Jason McCartney. Joining thefive Olympians in receiving automatic nominations are six-time Tour deFrance winner, Lance Armstrong, USPRO Champion, Fred Rodriguez and top-rankedrider

The Eurobike show, held annually in Friedrichshafen, Germany, has become the traditional kick-off to the new-bike season since its somewhat tentative start as a mainly mountain-bike event back in 1991. These days, the mountain bikes are overwhelmed by the flood of road machines that compete for space in the show's handsome 10 main halls. But no matter what's on display, Eurobike's early place on the calendar — September 2-5 this year — means that extra importance is accorded each intro. Have a good show here and you can relax on the ride as the show carnival bumps along to ANCMA Milan and

Is he aiming for another?

Casagrande at last year's Tour of Switzerland

Julien Absalon's gold medal bike was among host of celeb' rides in Friedrichshafen,

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

EuroBike: By the sea, by the beautiful sea

Stefano Zanini (Quick Step) team has won the 128-mile opening stageof the Tour of Britain in Manchester city centre. The Italian out-sprintedKevin Van Impe of Belgium and Alejandro Borrajo of Argentina. British national champion Roger Hammond, of Oxford, finished sixthin the same time as Zanini. By winning the first stage Zanini pulled onthe race leader's jersey which he will wear during tomorrow's stage fromLeeds to Sheffield over 107 miles.Navigators are thereThe Navigators will be racing this week in the revival of the BritishTour that began Wednesday and concludes with a circuit course in

The Colombian government and its national Olympic committee announced plans to appeal the disqualification of track cyclist Maria Luisa Calle Williams after she tested positive for a stimulant following the women’s points race. Calle Williams was stripped of her bronze medal in the event after testing positive for the stimulant Heptaminol. The bronze medal was then awarded to American Erin Mirabella, the only U.S. podium spot in an Olympic track event this year. Colombia earned just one other medal in the games, a bronze won by Mabel Mosquera in the 53kg category of women's weightlifting.

The past six weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions for the Tyler Hamilton. The bitter experience of abandoning the Tour de France for the first time of his career in July was quickly forgotten in the glow of his gold medal winning performance in the Olympic time trial race on Aug. 18. Rather than hit the party circuit, the 33-year-old New Englander went straight back to work to prepare for the Vuelta a España. Even before leaving for Athens, Hamilton was considering racing the season’s finale grand tour. Rather than throw away the remainder of the season, Hamilton decided to take a

My fellow VeloNews editor Neal Rogers and I just got back from the final round of the NORBA national points series down in Durango, Colorado. Since this was the final opportunity for many of the racers to score some very-needed points, many pulled out all the stops when it came to equipment choices. So, while Rogers was running willy-nilly from racer to racer getting quotes for his cross-country and short track race reports, I found myself sneaking around the start and finish lines scouring every inch of some of the fastest bikes in the business. Both the men and women showed up to Durango

Hamilton at the Tour

The loose gravel start of the short track required the front row to 'dig in' to avoid wheelspin. Looked just like the start of a 250 main moto

Hydration packs might not be the coolest pro accessory but the Hydrapak Air Scoop Team is the sleakest option available with its customizable outer flap

Shonny Vanlandingham turned her Vetta computer into this minature shrine to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince for little on-trail motivation

Adam Craig chose to run a stock '04 Giant singlespeed frameset ($500) and a 40x16 gear in the short track

Talk about keeping yourself occupied during your race....

Travis Brown also chose to race a single speed. His Trek 9.8 Elite hardtail came eqquiped with a wild assortment of parts including this Russian titanium Sibex fork (www.sibexsports.com)and 34x14 gearing

Both Craig and Brown ran Sibex titanium forks. Craig with the disc brake version and Brown with the canti version

Sibex Sports's Scott Mares showed his clean-looking Cossack cyclocross bike. At only $1200 for frame and fork, this Russian-made titanium rig seems like a steal

Brown found himself running the steep climb early on in the race after getting stuck behind slower riders, but later in the race could power up it in his monster gear

Legend Ned Overend chose to run the slightly heavier than a SID World Cup, but much stiffer and Motion Control equipped, '05 RockShox Reba

Maverick riders Abby Hippley and Ariel Lindsley were spotted riding Maverick American's new SC 32 race/ride fork. It features 125mm of travel and can be on-the-fly adjusted down to 80mm for climbing

Giant-Pearl Izumi rider Jared Rando was seen running the long-time ultra secretive Michelin 'System'. To date, no one outside of Michelin techs have seen was lurks inside this self-sealing, semi-tubeless downhill tire system

Held at pen-point Maxxis tire developer Chris Wyatt revealed the prototype tires on the Luna riders' bikes will be called 'ADVantage' and will offer higher volume and agressive tread patterns for loose terrain. Vanlandigham and Dunalp both rode them

Missy 'The Missile' put in a lightning-fast qualifying run, but some course tape delayed her arrival to the final run finish lin

The start list for the 2004 Vuelta a España has been released. The race is scheduled to begin with a 27km team time trial in León on Saturday, September 4 and finish in Madrid on the 26th. Changes in team rosters can be made through Friday. LIBERTY SEGUROS1. HERAS HERNANDEZ Roberto (Sp)2. NOZAL VEGA Isidro (Sp)3. ANDRLE René (Cz)4. CARUSO Giampaolo (I)5. GIL PEREZ Koldo (Sp)6. GONZALEZ DE GALDEANO ARANZABAL Igor (Sp)7. HRUSKA Jan (Cz)8. SERRANO RODRIGUEZ Marcos Antonio (Sp)9. VICIOSO ARCOS Angel (Sp) COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA. KELME11. VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro (Sp)12. BLANCO David (Sp)13.

Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will bein León this weekend to officially kick off the 2004 Vuelta a España,which begins Saturday with a 27.7km team time trial. Teams are expected to begin arriving in the northern Spanish city byWednesday as many want to get a good look at the rolling time trial course.Stage favorites include Phonak, led by Olympic time trial champion TylerHamilton, Team CSC, Liberty Seguros and T-Mobile. Spanish riders top the list of favorites for the overall title (seestart list below), but there’s a growing number of foreign riders who couldspoil the

Dear Lennard,I read with interest your article "Wobble? Not!" in the September 20issue of VeloNews.Of special interest was your side bar on page 61 in which you discuss smallpads inserted in your shoes to relieve pedaling induced foot pain.I too suffer from what I describe as "hot foot" which becomes very problematicon longer rides. I use custom footbeds in my cycling shoes, but theyoffer little relief. I live in Denver - can you share more informationabout the pads that you use and where you got them?RayDear Ray,It is a small, foam metatarsal pad that lifts the metatarsal arch (atthe "ball

The Belgian Cycling League has recommended that retired star Johan Museeuw be banned from the sport for four years because of doping, the Belga news agency reported Tuesday. The LVB has also demanded a similar punishment of professional riders Jo Planckaert and Chris Peers, as well as mountain biker Filip Meirhaeghe. LVB, contacted by AFP, would neither confirm nor deny the news from the Belgium agency, which gave no source. The Belgian press claimed the homes of these cyclists had been searched and doping products found. The 38-year-old Museeuw is the record holder for cycling's World Cup