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Kristin Armstrong and I make the podium after the first time trial

Kristin and I meet the organizers of the Tour de L’Aude

Ken Whelpdale, prepping our bikes for the TT

Steve manning the team truck

Kim Anderson and I ride to work

That's me with Kimberly and Kristin getting ready to head off for another stage

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi equaled the Giro d’Italia’s post-war record of seven stage wins in a single edition of the race by claiming the 14th stage in the ancient Croatian coastal city of Pula on Sunday.The 30-year-old sprint ace timed 4:08:58 to come in ahead of American Fred Rodriguez. Petacchi’s teammate and lead-out man, Marco Velo, rounded out the top three. Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych of Landbouwkrediet finished in the main field and continues to hold the overall leader's jersey, the maglia rosa, which he earned after a strong time trial performance on Saturday. It was the

There’s a reason that Frazz, the songwriting janitor in the comic strip of the same name, spends a fair amount of his free time either running or riding a bicycle. His creator, cartoonist Jef Mallett, has raced the road and still competes in the occasional triathlon. We asked writer Marc Barringer to have a chat with Mallett, and a transcript of their conversation follows below. – EditorVeloNews: What? A lead character who is a cyclist? How did that happen? Jef Mallett: Pure self-centeredness. I modeled Frazz after myself - or, rather, I modeled Frazz after who I'd like to think I could be

Two weeks ago, Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized) was demoralized after national rival Roel Paulissen (Siemens-Cannondale) drubbed him in a Belgian national series race. This time around, it was Meirhaeghe dusting the field, taking a dramatic victory in the opening round of the 2004 World Cup. The World Cup win the Meirhaeghe’s ninth of his career and puts the 33-year-old back on top in the international men’s cross-country field. “I had some real problems before this race in my head and to win today is a nice surprise,” said Meirhaeghe, who won in 2 hours, 24 minutes on the six-lap, 48km

Lance Armstrong won the final stage of Languedoc-Roussillon Sunday, picking up the pace in preparation for a July attempt at a sixth-straight Tour de France title. The Postal team leader finished in sixth place in the five-day event, finishing 1 minute, 44 seconds behind winner Christophe Moreau of France. "I've had some ups and downs this week," Armstrong said. "I felt good the first two days, the next two ... not so good. Even at the start of today, I didn't feel very well." Viatcheslav Ekimov, Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service teammate, was second overall, with Spain's Iker Flores

Paul Rowney finally broke through, while Shonny Vanlandingham made it two wins in two days, as each grabbed short track wins on the final day of NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the opening race Vanlandingham (Luna) and teammate Katerina Hanusova broke away from a group of eight early in the 11-lap race, slowly expanding their advantage all the way to the finish. It wasn’t until the final lap that Vanlandingham attacked off the front, easily outpacing Hanusova for the victory. “There really wasn’t any plan as far as who we wanted to win or anything,” said Vanlandingham,

It was a good sprint. For the last few days I’ve been really frustrated by not being able to get into position to do my own sprint. Today, it was different. The team really rallied out there to get me up to the right spot going into the last few hundred meters and they did a great job. Our main focus was to stay together today, so that we could set up for the sprint as a team and we did it. And for a while there, we had good little train going toward the finish. We were lacking a little power toward the end, maybe, and we allowed Fassa Bortolo to take over the front of the peloton again,

Well, I made it another day. I’m still not feeling so great when it comes to my respiratory system. My legs feel fine, but sometimes, it’s like a car when it red-lines. I’m afraid the engine just cuts out at a certain point. I have good legs, but once I start pushing it hard, the lungs just can’t support the leg work that I am doing and I feel like I am going to blow. I did what I could for Angelo today. I sat back behind him a couple of spots and then as we were coming in toward the finish, I waited to see what I could do to move him up, maybe take him on my wheel and launch an attack. I

In a brilliant effort in tandem with Ofoto’s Dominique Perras, Chris Horner (Webcor Builders) won the Housatonic Valley Classic, the final stage of the Tour of Connecticut, on Sunday, while Mark McCormack (Colavita Olive Oil) held on to the overall leader’s yellow jersey. On the demanding, up-and-down course through the narrow, twisting, tree-lined roads of southwest Connecticut, Horner and Perras stayed away for close to the final 70 miles of the 100-mile road race, benefiting from Colavita’s tactics aimed largely at keeping McCormack in yellow. Perras and Horner escaped around the

For the second time in two days, American Eric Carter and Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier were the top gravity racers at NORBA National No. 3, after each scored wins in Sunday’s downhill mania race at Snow Summit Resort. Racing a format that hadn’t been used with any regularity since the mid-1990s, Carter was the fastest man down the hill in the four-up event that was part downhill, part mountain cross. Riders started the day running a solo qualifying run for bracket seeding, then went four-up with the top two riders advancing into each successive round. “It was pretty much a hole-shot race,”

The cartoonist at play

Popovych chats with Saeco's Damiano Cunego, who had the jersey before him

The Giro vistis Croatia for the first time.

Pula's massive coliseum rivals that of Rome.

Will he eventually run out of fingers?

Moreau holds on to the overall title

One early escape triggered...

... a hard chase from Postal

Armstrong on the attack

Moreau's best form in years

The wines of Languedoc

Horner and Peras

Horner continues a strong spring campaign

Navigators in pursuit

Vanlandingham made it two wins in two days

Rowney finally got to celebrate a win.

Take off: The opening straight at Big Bear.

Carter heads to his fourth straight win at Big Bear.

Jonnier out in front.

After Wednesday’s time trial, I found itself in the leader’s jersey in the Tour de L’Aude, with my teammates Kimberly Bruckner and Kristin Armstrong in second and fourth overall, just a few seconds behind. For T-Mobile it was a great place to be, as it gave us many options tactically. Defending the jersey is a challenge that requires a lot of work, and for us, it has been a bigger challenge than normal because we are down to five riders here. Fortunately, our team has been extremely motivated and is getting stronger each day. On Thursday, we did a circuit race. We let a breakaway full of

Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar (De-Nardi) powered along 52km of rain-slick roads to win the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, while the Giro’s 22-year-old revelation, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) surrendered the maglia rosa to Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago), who finished third on the day. The 52km Trieste-Altopiano Carsico individual time trial began with a flat 4km, then segued into a 12km climb followed by a 26km descent, concluding with a flat run to the finish. And once the rain began to fall, it proved a tough stage indeed. "The rain bothered me; I hadn't planned attacking

Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) won the fourth stage of the Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon on Saturday and took the overall lead for good measure. Moreau, who outkicked U.S. Postal’s Viatcheslav Ekimov at the end of the 161km stage from Le Pont du Gard to Mende, said: “I used my mental strength, my experience and my energy to win. This is like a rebirth for me.” The Frenchman now has an overall lead of 12 seconds on Ekimov and 27 seconds on Iker Flores (Euskaltel-Euskadi) with just one stage remaining. Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong finished 15th on the day, 2:08 behind Moreau, advancing

Seventh. Not too bad, not too bad at all. Even so, I may be close to the point of heading home. I’m still feeling pretty rough today. I had a pretty good ride, but I sure didn’t feel good. I had an early start, so I was pretty lucky with the weather this time out. It started raining towards the end, so some of the big GC boys had to do the whole thing in the rain and I had relatively dry roads the whole time. Then again, I had more wind than they did, so maybe it all comes out even. The course itself was bloody hard. The first 18 or 19 kilometers were all uphill, and a pretty hard uphill

After 30 miles of going toe-to-toe on the steep hills of Waterbury, the protagonists in Saturday's Waterbury circuit race ended up deciding things in a cat-and-mouse sprint, with Jeff Louder (Navigators Insurance) scoring a big win for the New Jersey-based team, ahead of breakaway companions Chris Wherry (Health Net-Maxxis) and Will Frischkorn (Colavita Olive Oil) in the Tour of Connecticut. Stage 4 of the tour brought the race back to the Waterbury circuit introduced last year, featuring a brutal climb averaging around 9 percent and twisting its way through Waterbury neighborhoods before a

President Bush suffered cuts and bruises early Saturday afternoon when he fell while mountain biking on his ranch near Crawford, Texas, according to White House spokesman Trent Duffy. Bush was on the 16th mile of a 17-mile ride when he fell, Duffy said. He was riding with a military aide, members of the Secret Service and his personal physician, Dr. Richard Tubbs. “He had minor abrasions and scratches on his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand and both knees,” Duffy said. “Dr. Tubbs, who was with him, cleaned his scratches, said he was fine. The Secret Service offered to drive him back to

On a dry and dusty Saturday afternoon, Americans Shonny Vanlandingham and Travis Brown each grabbed cross-country wins at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the women’s race, Vanlandingham broke away from a group of four near the end of the first of two 11-mile laps up and down Snow Summit Resort, then held strong to the finish. Originally the Luna rider had planned to make the trip to Spain for the opening round of the World Cup, but on Monday during a flight from Denver to her home in Durango, Colorado, Vanlandingham got a big scare when the plane’s hydraulics failed and

Eric Carter and Sabrina Jonnier put on gated-racing clinics Saturday evening, grabbing convincing wins in the dual slalom at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the men’s bracket Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai) won every heat in the preliminary rounds, cruising into the finals, where he met up with Aussie Sam Hill. Hill had been the benefactor of some good fortune, getting past Steve Peat and Mick Hannah after both suffered mechanical issues. Peat had a problem with his front tire, while Hannah snapped his chain at the start of his first semifinal heat against Hill. That allowed

Yaroslav Popovych flashes the victory sign after seizing the maglia rosa

His third-place finish was good enough to displace Damiano Cunego as overall leader

Moreau looks as though he can't believe he's won

The key break

Louder takes the three-up sprint

Louder was working for a living out there on Saturday

Ayastaran on the attack

Race leader McCormack and his posse

Carter cruising.

Jonnier has won three straight slaloms.

The super D start.

Vanlandingham grabbed her second NORBA XC win.

This was Brown's first national win since 1999.

Trebon narrowly missed his first major MTB win.

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) is a step closer to tying a Giro d’Italia stage-win record after claiming his sixth victory on Friday. The Italian speedster once again held off Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo), who finished second to the seemingly unstoppable Italian, with Alexandre Usov (Phonak) finishing third. "I'm really happy to have won for the sixth time here, which equals my record here last year," said Petacchi after coming a step closer to becoming the fourth rider of the modern era to claim seven stages in a single edition of the race. "I don't know what the

“You’re all mixed up, like pasta primavera —Yo, why’d you throw that chair at Geraldo Rivera, man?”Beastie Boys“What Comes Around,” from "Paul’s Boutique" It’s time to slip into “guilty-pleasure mode,” ladies and gents, because there’s a little trouble brewing in the neighborhood this week. First, please allow me to wash my hands, as I have spent the past few days digging through a few Dumpsters. The trouble began almost three weeks ago at the second annual Cheaha Challenge criterium May 1 in Anniston, Alabama. I see a few of you are already nodding your heads, wondering, “What took these

Swiss rider Martin Elmiger handed his Phonak team a welcome victory in the 162km third stage of the Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon in Aigues-Mortes on Friday. Elmiger, a 25-year-old mountain-bike specialist who also plays golf and skis cross country, welcomed the win with open arms after believing he had been pipped at the line. Ukrainian Yuryi Krivtsov (AG2r Prevoyance) threw everyone, including the race announcer, into disarray when he raised his arms in victory after crossing the finish line. But Elmiger was given the decision after a photo finish indicated he had won by three

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 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.Single-speeding and simplificationEditor:With the increase in both complexity and cost of equipment to the recreational user, is it any wonder there's been some grass-roots backlash evident in the increasing popularity of single-speed racing?

I’m honored. No, really, I am. I’ve finally made it to the big time. I’m talking about getting my name plastered all over the most prestigious cycling website there is (aside from velonews.com, of course): www.drunkcyclist.com. A warning before you go dashing gleefully over there: This site is definitely not for the eyes of minors or those ultra-conservative types who are not big fans of pornography. My column last week apparently struck an off-key chord with the single-speed audience. To boil down my side of the argument, I mentioned that I’m not a believer in racing classes specifically

It might have been wise for organizers to hand out name tags to go with the medals they passed around at Friday’s awards ceremony following the stage 1 time trial at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. With many of the top cross-country pros absent this weekend to compete in the opening round of the World Cup in Madrid, Spain, it was a pair of relatively unfamiliar names — Heather Irmiger and Jimi Mortenson — standing atop the podium when racing was done at Snow Summit Resort. Mortenson (Specialized), who lives in Eagle, Colorado, took advantage of opportunity, posting the

Stage races are like a crash course in tactics and Racing 101. If you really want to learn fast, sign up for some stage races. Depending on the length of the race, you can learn three or four months’ worth of lessons in just one event. Today’s Giro d'Italia stage finished in another beautiful lead-out by Fassa Bortolo, sending Alessandro Pettachi off to his sixth stage win this year. But there are other lessons to be learned, aside from the picture-perfect lead-out. What do you do if you are on a team that does not have a powerful sprinter or isn’t strong enough to provide the 10km

With the laps counting down on Friday night's New Haven criterium and the peloton breathing down the necks of a seven-man breakaway, overall race leader Mark McCormack took it upon himself to keep the lead group out front, and in the process delivered teammate Ivan Dominguez to Colavita Olive Oil's second win in three stages of the Tour of Connecticut. The Friday night festivities in Connecticut featured 60 laps of a pancake-flat, four-corner, half-mile circuit around the New Haven Green, starting and finishing at the steps of the state courthouse. From the gun, the pack set a blistering

Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) powered to the win in the third stage of the Tour of Connecticut in Friday in New Haven, Connecticut, beating Charles Dionne (Webcor) by less than a wheel in a spectacular hour of racing. Mike Sayers (Health Net) crossed third. The victory, Colavita's second, kept team leader Mark McCormack in the leader's yellow jersey going into stage four Saturday in Waterbury. The race was fast and furious from the first lap as the 87 cyclists fought for position on the technical circuit. On the final laps a break of eight finally stuck, and race leader McCormack saw

Man, do I feel like crap today. I started the day out feeling like I was coming down with something. I've had a sore throat for a few days and now it's beginning to take a toll. Despite the easy terrain, I made it through the stage just sitting there in the field, feeling really, really average on the bike the whole day. The only thing I managed to do was to bring my teammate, Angelo Furlan, up to the front with about 3km to go. I wanted to do as much as I possibly could, so I just went up and took a big turn with the hope that Angelo was on a good wheel. I figured since I was losing steam

This was not a very good day for me. The frustrating thing was that I had great legs. I felt great. I thought I’d put myself into just the right spot coming into the finish and help up there and then it just didn’t happen. The finish today was just chaotic. I almost killed myself coming in. The day was pretty much under the control of Fassa Bortolo all the way from the start. They allowed a small break to get away, mostly just to keep things under control in the field, and then they just held a very moderate pace. Actually, it really slowed down toward the last 30km today. It was more like

With a coveted spot on the TIAA-CREF Cycling team on the line for the overall men’s and women’s individual champions, the 2004 collegiate national road cycling championships kicked off Friday afternoon with a round of criteriums on the streets of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Early morning thunderstorms threatened to stop the races before they started, but the weather was only the beginning in what would be one of the most dramatic days in all of collegiate racing. After a heart-breaking second-place finish at last year’s collegiate national championship road race, the University

Guess who?

In this corner, Jonny Sundt ... and in that corner, Roberto Gaggioli

Was this dent caused by a crash – or a two-by-four?

Choo choo

Cunego is rolling right along – but a time trial's on the menu tomorrow

It doesn't get much closer than this

Hushovd retains the lead going into tomorrow's hilly stage