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Sydor leaps to the fore in Waco

McGrath was fastest among the men

Levi Leipheimer is racing in this week’s Paris-Nice, where his Rabobank team was hoping to push Erik Dekker onto the winner’s podium. That is until Team CSC blew the race apart in Stage 2, leaving Dekker and Leipheimer more than 5 minutes in their wake. Leipheimer entered Paris-Nice with a different frame of mind from last year, when he focused his entire season on the Tour de France. Leipheimer crashed out of last year’s Tour in the first road stage, breaking a bone in his hip that later impaired his preparation for the 2003 Vuelta a España. This year, Leipheimer is changing his tune

Two-time defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov dedicated his win in the 215km fifth stage of Paris-Nice to his friend Andrei Kivilev who was killed in last year's event. "It's fantastic. I wanted to win for him," said the 30-year-old Kazakh rider of the stage he was determined to win in memory of compatriot Kivilev, who died after a fall on March 11, 2003. Winner of the last two editions of Paris-Nice, Vinokourov missed a key break on Monday and now sits more than five minutes down in the overall standings. But on Thursday, Vinokourov managed to join a key CSC-driven break that resembled

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) won his second-straight stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, beating former world champion Mario Cipollini in the race to the line at the end of Thursday's 184km second stage into Maddaloni on Thursday. The 30-year-old Petacchi continues as overall race leader after also winning Wednesday's first stage. French riders Stephane Auge and none other than Jacky Durand made the first break at the 40km mark but failed to build up sufficient distance and were quickly caught with French Cofidis rider Mederic Clain taking up the challenge with German Danilo Hondo. Some

Greenville, SC—Sports fans rarely get an opportunity to live in theshadow of one of their favorite professional sports heroes. However, somelucky cycling fan can now make that dream a reality for a $309,000 pricetag. One of America’s most talented professional bicycle racers, GeorgeHincapie, is selling his home atop Paris Mountain in Greenville, SouthCarolina. Hincapie is coming down from the mountain to move closer to friendsand family in Greenville’s thriving and progressive downtown area. Hincapie’s three bedroom, two and a half bath custom home features phenomenalviews across the Blue

With great fanfare, awarding of prizes for design innovations, political speeches, and a ribbon cutting ceremony, the four-day, 17th annual Taipei International Cycle Show is off, once again marking the beginning of the bicycle selling season. This where the big orders are placed by some of the world’s largest manufacturers and importers. It’s also where hush-hush new developments for as far out as the 2005 season and beyond are revealed, albeit generally to major buyers and behind closed doors. Still, new products that have not yet been seen abound and in many cases they’ve already been

Never on SundayDear VeloNews,This is to respond to Joe Semple's inquiry for bike shops in Paris(see “You'll always have Paris” in Wednesday'smail bag).During my recent honeymoon in Paris I discovered Cycles Laurent at 09,Boulevard Voltaire, in the 11th, near the Place de la Republique. One canget there on Metros 5 or 9 to Oberkampf, or via the No. 11 to Republique.They seemed a general purpose bicycle shop, with road and mountain racingbikes on display, as well as apparel and memorabilia.Just remember like most European businesses, they are closed on Sunday.John L. MillerBrooklyn, New YorkThe

With a start list that included Tinker Juarez, Dave Wiens and a pair of Subaru-Gary Fisher pros, Charlie Storm had to figure a top five would have been a great day. Throw in the fact that Storm flatted on the first lap of the 60-mile marathon race that kicked off the first stop of the NORBA Mountain Bike Series in Texas, and a top 10 would have looked pretty good. But that puncture — and one to the lead moto — turned out to be Storm’s lucky break. While he was pulled off on the side of the 20-mile circuit that twisted its way through the Broken Oak and C-Bar ranches 30 miles south of Waco,

Riding at Paris-Nice

This one's for Andrei

Jaksche's had a good week.

CSC, CSC, CSC...

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

Tech Report:Tapei International Cycle Show kicks off

The perfect Storm

Robinette wins her first attempt at a marathon

While Shimano and RockShox/SRAM have each scheduled their official worldwide press launches for two weeks from now, quite a bit of information has already leaked out of both companies regarding their 2005 technology.In order to quell the leaks – or at least ensure the accuracy of the news that’s out there – both companies opted to open their respective information floodgates at least part of the way on Tuesday when they each issued “pre-release” press releases. Look for complete reports from RockShox’s March 28th-31st press camp in Las Vegas and Shimano’s Los Angeles product launch on April

Snow has forced the cancellation of the fourth stage of Paris-Nice, a planned 179km race through the mountainous Loire and Auvergne regions of central France Wednesday. Race director Jean-Marie Leblanc said conditions on the day's biggest climb, the Category 2 Col de la Croix de l'Homme Mort, made racing unsafe. "It's minus four degrees (Celsius) on Col de la Croix de l'Homme Mort, the road is wet and the snow is still falling," said Leblanc after the start time was pushed back twice before finally being cancelled. German CSC rider Jörg Jaksche holds the overall race lead with a six-second

Super sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) won the first stage of the 39th Tirreno-Adriatico as it finished in Sabaudia on the Mediterranean coast on Wednesday. The 30-year-old sprint specialist was the fastest in a bunch sprint, crossing the finish line of the 169km stage in 3:55:31. German pair Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) and Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) were second and third respectively. Petacchi said his 60th career victory and his third of the season owed much to the performance of teammate Guido Trenti. "Trenti guided me very well and although I thought I went a little early in

USA Cycling has named Pat McDonough as national track programs director effective April 1, 2004. McDonough, a team pursuit silver medalist in the 1984 Olympic Games, is currently the director of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, a position he’s held since 1989. USA Cycling characterizes McDonough’s appointment as “part of an investment USA Cycling is making to forward track cycling in the United States.” In his new position, McDonough’s efforts will be focused on managing USA Cycling’s track programs and working to create a new national track cycling series. “I

There was some pretty big news coming through on the domestic front this week, as it was announced Wednesday that five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will be competing in the inaugural two-day PCT Rocky Mountain Classic, scheduled for September 4-5 in Vail, Colorado. With Armstrong’s commitment comes not only a major boost to the initial running of the Pro Cycling Tour event but also a likely sigh of relief for organizers of the T-Mobile International, held the following weekend in San Francisco. Armstrong hasn’t yet made any official announcements regarding his participation

Go, Bobby, Go!Dear VeloNews,I've read and reread your interview with Bobby Julich about his "lastchance" at cycling (See "Lostand Found Julich vows to make the best of what may be his last chance"),and I have to say it totally delights me every time.I think Julich is one of the most perennially underrated cyclists ofour time, and I'm psyched to see that someone (Bjarne Riis) has finallyput the faith in him that he deserves. And I'm triply psyched to see he'sliving up to it, as evidenced by his killer early season performances,even if they are only "support" roles. It seems to me, that

After an offseason that saw America’s premier mountain-bike racing series undergo a host changes in hopes of reviving the struggling property, it’s time to see if things are really any different. The site for the opening exam is Waco, Texas, where round No. 1 of the renamed NORBA National Mountain Bike Series kicks off Thursday morning. Day one of the four-day event brings the marathon at 9 a.m. The ensuing three days will feature a stage race, with a time trial Friday, short track on Saturday and cross-country on Sunday. There is no gravity racing on the schedule in Texas. Bolstered by a

With the start of the 2004 NORBA National Championship Series openerjust days away, Manitou is pleased to announce that it has confirmed mostof its 2004 MRD Factory Race Team roster (what can we say, it’s early March).Returning teams include Cannondale’s DH/4X team consisting of Cedric Gracia,Gary Fisher, Giant USA, and Intense --- with more to come in weeks to follow.New to the MRD factory team program will be the Commencal DH program consistingof Anne Caroline Chausson, as well as the USA Cycling U23 Development team.Will Longden, riding for Scott, will also be returning to the program

Reba is a part cross-country, part trail bike fork

Pike is RockShox's full-on trail bike offering for 2005

The remote PopLoc lever will change the fork's damping characteristics-on the fly

Shimano's new Hone mountain group

Michele Bartoli (L), Ivan Basso (C) and David Millar (2ndR) chat with Leblanc.

Stay or go? Stay or go? After two delays, Leblanc called off the stage.

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: Armstrong to race in Vail, U.S. National squad to Georgia

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: Armstrong to race in Vail, U.S. National squad to Georgia

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: Armstrong to race in Vail, U.S. National squad to Georgia

Lotto's Leon van Bon won the third stage of Paris-Nice, a 229km ride between Chapelle-Saint-Ursin and Roanne on Tuesday, finishing just ahead of Gerolsteiner's Thomas Ziegler. Van Bon and Ziegler slipped off the front of the field just before the 30km mark and built up a lead that peaked at more 13 minutes at one point. The two finished just ahead of the main field, nearly 200km after their initial escape. Quick Step's Tom Boonen won the field sprint 25 seconds after the two leaders crossed the line. German CSC rider Jörg Jaksche retained the overall race lead with a six-second advantage

PRESS RELEASE:New Kona Top-to-Bottom Eliminator to highlight BikeWorld’s spectular“Out of Bounds“ opening weekend,  20th till 23rd of May, 2004KONAWORLD -- California has the “Terminator”, Flachauhas the “Herminator”, now BikeWorld Leogang, Austria has the “Eliminator“.During BikeWorld Leogang’s “Out of Bounds” season opening weekend, May20-23rd, the new Kona Top-to-Bottom Eliminator DH/Freeride race will awarda combined €10,000 euros to the last man and woman standing.The Eliminator is open to the public, with qualifiers taking place onThursday and Friday. The riders will face BikeWorld’s

March 7th, Elk Grove, CA -- Sierra Nevada Cycling competed in another weekend of local racing inthe Sacramento area and it was new recruit and cagy veteran Eric Wohlbergwho came through with the win on Sunday at the Mather Field Criterium. Eric was part of the 6 man winning break which included team mate Ben Jacques-Maynes,2 riders from McGuire Reality including Dave Fuentes, Jason Lokicesmoe(Health Net) and Michael Hernandez (Reno Wheelman).  The remainderof the field was controlled by the Sierra Nevada team with team CapitanTrent Klasna cracking the whip.Wohlberg & Jacques-Maynes took their

Editor's note: A quick glance over the resultspage of this year's edition of Paris-Nice will suggest the Bobby Julichis having a good start to the 2004 season. As of Tuesday, Julich is thirdplace in the overall standings, 18 seconds behind his CSC teammate JörgJaksche. At this point in the year, things are shaping up nicely for the32-year-old American, who spent an afternoon earlier this year speakingwith VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood about his new teamand his hopes for the coming season. This story originally appeared inthe March 8, 2004 edition of VeloNews.When Bjarne Riis

This move lasted for 200km

Jaksche: Still in yellow

It was a day of heavy damage in Monday’s second stage of Paris-Nice. No, no one crashed, but a half-dozen favorites were all-but-eliminated when Team CSC and U.S. Postal Service collaborated to drive a deep five-minute wedge into the eight-day race. Five Postals and the entire CSC team drove a lead group of 36 into Montargis in the windy 166.5km stage across rolling farmland south of Paris. Spanish rider Pedro Horrillo (Quick Step) rejoiced in his most important victory of his career while two-time defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile), Erik Dekker (Rabobank), Laurent

Murcia ended up being quite successful for the team: we accomplished morethan we had set out to with two stage wins and a solid team effort. U.S.Postal currently has the most victories of any team in the professionalpeloton which isn’t bad considering we were the last to start racing. Friday’s stage at Murcia was a little harder than the profile had suggestedand some serpentine undulating roads took most of the peloton by surprise,split things up and zapped a good amount of energy out of everybody’s legsand spirits. It ended up being good for us as the challenge of the course made therace

U.S. Postal leader Lance Armstrong has decided to ride in this year's Dauphine Libere as part of his preparation for a record sixth Tour de France title in July. "I've changed my mind," said 32-year-old Armstrong, who was not expected to race in the event from June 6-13 in southeast France which he has won for the past two years. But Armstrong, who has hinted that he could quit at the end of the season, changed his mind because this year's race includes a time-trial up Mont Ventoux, which will aid his preparation for Alpe d'Huez time-trail which is seen as a key to this year's Tour de

Over the past two weeks, organizers of last year’s Grand Prix FemininInternational du Canada, and the Canadian Cycling Association have sent out conflicting press releases regarding the future of this year’s race. Organizers of the 2003 event, from the Lac St Jean-Saguenay region in eastern Quebec, released a statement saying that they would not be presenting the event in 2004 – slated for August 4 to 8 – because of its potential scheduling conflict with the Athens Olympics. While the promoters said that there would be an expected lack of interest from European teams in 2004, the race would

One man's waste is another creature's buffetEditors;There was a letter on the webpage recently, asking Bob Mionske if throwingbanana peels or other organic trash on the roadsides is considered littering(see "LegallySpeaking - with Bob Mionske: Is that a banana in your jersey pocket?").He replies that the law does in fact consider it littering, but I wouldlike to point out another good reason not to do it. Organic wasteattracts small scavengers such as insects and rodents and possums.These critters in turn attract larger predators, such as owls and hawks,and when they become road kill, crows

Brian Lopes had been at his buddy’s house all of 20 minutes when the accident happened. The former world four-cross champion was on the last leg of a fun/work trip that had taken him from Michigan to Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, when he jumped aboard a four-wheel ATV, just to have a little fun. “My friend’s house had this big grassy area and I was doing some donuts,” Lopes explained. “Then I don’t know, the thing must have gotten caught up in some dry stuff. I was probably only going five miles per hour at that point, but when it started to tip I went to step out [and] the roll cage just

Jaksche: Still the man to beat

CSC timed its move to perfection

Before the storm

A three-judge Colorado appeals court panel has unanimously overturned a lower court decision and ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by former U.S. Cycling Federation trustee Les Earnest challenging a series of changes to the by-laws of USA Cycling, passed under emergency provisions in February of 1999. In an opinion drafted by Colorado appeals court Judge Leonard P. Plank, the court ruled that the procedures used in enacting a 24-page set of changes to the organization's bylaws and articles of incorporation were in violation of USA Cycling's own rules. Furthermore, the court ruled

When Jorg Jaksche raced with Telekom and ONCE early in his career, he didn’t get much of a chance to ride for himself. Most of his efforts were supporting proven leaders Jan Ullrich or Joseba Beloki. Now that he’s been giving the leadership mantle since joining Team CSC over the off-season, the 27-year-old German is taking full advantage of the opportunity. Jaksche won the Tour Mediterranean in February and added an even more important victory Sunday in the 13.2km opening time trial of the 62rd Paris-Nice. “When I rode at the other teams I was always a worker for others, which was fine

Rona’s Emilie Roy and Michael Jones (Health Net/Maxxis) took the overall titles as the 19th Annual Tucson Bicycle Classic wrapped up with a tough circuit race on Sunday The women’s race didn’t have a surprise finish as much as it did a surprise start – or rather lack of start -- on Sunday morning. Team Rona sensation Geneviève Jeanson had already won the opening two stages of the race, had more than a ten-minute lead on G.C. and was poised to win her third successive Tucson Classic when an awkward dismount from her pedal inflamed a knee injury and the young Canadian was unable to start on

Jaksche in yellow

Hamilton is here for Zülle

Roy and the Rona team kept the overall in the family

Sayers and Jones made sure that this break would stick

Italy's Danilo Di Luca (Saeco) won the 169km fourth stage of the Tour of Murcia in Collado Bermejo on Saturday. The stage finished with a climb up the Marco Pantani Hill, named in honor of the Italian cyclist who died last month, and as Di Luca crossed the line he pointed his finger towards the sky in memory of his compatriot to claim the stage in 4:25:34. Di Luca overtook Alejandro Valverde (Kelme), Australia's Cadel Evans (T-Mobile) and compatriot Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) to win the stage; for his part, Valverde stripped the leader's jersey from compatriot Ivan Gutierrez (Illes

The men’s race at the Tucson Bicycle Classic may have boiled down to a sprint after more than three hours of racing on Saturday, but Geneviève Jeanson wasn’t about to wait around for such nonsense. As she did on this stage in 2002, the Rona rider soloed away from the women’s field to win the Gates Pass Garrett Lemire Memorial Road Race by more than nine minutes. Jeanson, who also took Friday’s individual time trial, finished her 63-mile workout on the 21-mile circuit in 2:42:26. The runner-up, her teammate Emilie Roy, wouldn’t turn up until nine minutes and two seconds later. Third went to

Di Luca salutes Pantani

Di Luca and Valverde

Evans guts it out

Max Van Heeswijk scored his second victory in three days after taking Friday’s sprint in the third stage of the Tour of Murcia. The U.S. Postal Service rider has hit a purple patch that includes four wins in three weeks of racing in Spain. This time, Van Heeswijk slipped ahead of Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) to take the honors. José Ivan Gutierrez (Illes Balears) finished safely in the main bunch to retain the overall lead he earned following Thursday’s time trial victory. Lance Armstrong (USPS) also avoided trouble to remain second overall and even played a hand to help spring Van Heeswijk to

The law is an assVeloNews:When I read the "Legally Speaking" column lumping banana peels and used oil filters together, I had to step back and remind myself the column is "legally" correct and therefore has no connection to common sense. Let's take this slowly: Banana peels thrown in the grass are fertilizer; one-gallon jugs filled with urine are litter; banana peels biodegrade in a week; a used diaper is going to take a lot longer. Of course my mental picture is of riding down a country road, polishing off nature's perfect food and trying to clear the barbed-wire fence with the slinky

Earlier this week, McDonald’s announced that it would be phasing out “Supersizing” by the end of this year. What’s the world coming to? Since when do the wheels of progress move backwards? In one of the great innovations in capitalism, Mickey D’s found a way to take a penny’s worth of soda syrup and a nickel’s worth of French fries and tack on 39 cents to millions of orders. And now, they’re doing away with it? What, in the name of public relations? Just because they helped spawn a nationwide epidemic of obesity and health problems is no reason to do away with an institution. It’s just

Geneviève Jeanson (Rona) and Ryan Blickem (Aida’s Bail Bonds) were the fastest on the day as the 19th annual Tucson Bicycle Classic got under way on Friday. The 3-mile Old Tucson McCain Loop time trial on McCain Loop Road in Tucson Mountain Park began with a mile of fast rollers before serving up two miles of 4 to 6 percent climbing to the finish. Blickem covered the course in 7:22, 8 seconds ahead of Michael Jones (Health Net-Maxxis) and a further second up on Scott Blanchard (Eclipse). Jeanson won in a more convincing fashion, finishing in 8:20, 14 seconds ahead of Jeannie Longo and 26