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Erwin Vervecken

Britain's Roger Hammond

Mario DeClerq missed the big move

Czech Republic's Peter Dlask

Wellens leads the series

Page plows puddles

Dunlap digs deep

The 2003 U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships kicked off Friday in Portland, Oregon, as collegiate and under-23 women and several masters categories slalomed through the soup toward the stars and stripes. It being December in the Pacific Northwest, the weather was gray and damp, and the course at Portland International Raceway slick and muddy in spots. Still, the track was relatively fast and flat, with a few off-camber bits to keep things interesting.

[nid:26610]In just his first year racing in the U-23 category, 18-year-old Jesse Anthony took a fifth consecutive national cyclo-cross championship in a dramatic, mud-soaked battle with Alan Obye (Balance Bar-Devo) and Anthony’s Hot Tubes teammate Zak Grabowski. Obye’s teammate Troy Wells, younger brother of 2001 national ‘cross champ Todd Wells, was in the hunt early but fell off the pace to take fourth. Missing from the action was No.1 U-23 ranked Jeremy Powers (NCC-Bikereg.com) who suffered from the flu all week and finished out of contention.

That's the face of a national champion under all that mud

Wet conditions made for a strongman's course

According to reports in the Spanish daily El Mundo, police are investigating contents of a package of white powder reportedly found in the room of José Maria Jiménez in a health clinic where the star rider died on December 6. El Mundo noted that police are examining the contents of “a bag weight about five grams and containing a white substance that could be cocaine.” Hospital workers reportedly found the bag after the star rider died suddenly. Jiménez, 32, died of a cardiac arrest at about 10:30 p.m. in a Madrid mental health clinic where he was being treated for depression. Earlier in

Lance Armstrong says his sole objective next year is to win the Tour de France for a record sixth time. "I'm more motivated to win a sixth Tour de France than I think I was to win five," the American U.S. Postal rider told a news conference in Brussels on Friday. Armstrong joined cycling's most select club in July when he claimed his fifth victory in the sport's biggest race, matching the feat of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. "The Tour de France is the only objective we have,” said Armstrong. “Sometimes that's a controversial issue, but the Tour de

I don’t know why there’s all this furor over the BCS. I’m confident the college football will come down to a satisfactory conclusion. After all, the BCS, co-created by ABC Sports, is really nothing more than reality-TV programming, and as we’ve seen in the past few years, there’s nothing reality TV likes better than changing the rules of the game as it goes along. Latest case in point — “Average Joe,” where model-good-looking “ringers” were introduced mid-show to go head-to-head with the average Joes wooing the show’s blonde beauty. Big surprise, one of the pretty boys won out over the No. 1

On Sunday, December 14, one man and woman will be crowned elite national cyclo-cross champions in Portland, Oregon. And while nothing is ever guaranteed in bike racing, there are three near-certainties for the weekend: The race will be contested in wet, muddy conditions; the crowd will be downing plenty of race sponsor Portland Brewing Company’s beer; and the winners of both events will likely have been previously crowned national ‘cross champion. The forecast for the weekend is rain followed by rain and then more rain. Local Cross Crusade promoter Brad Ross is known as a beer-drinking,

Armstrong meets the press in Brussels

Looks like rain...

'Cross Nationals race director Brad Ross knows how to get into the spirit

Roberto Heras says he’s “happy to be back in Spain” after penning a three-year deal Wednesday to ride with the new Liberty Seguros. Heras, speaking to the Spanish media after finalizing his contract, said he’s ready to face new challenges after helping Lance Armstrong for the past three years on U.S. Postal Service. “The negotiations have been long but they ended very well,” Heras told the Spanish daily MARCA. “It makes me proud as a rider. Liberty is a major team and has a director like Manolo (Saiz) that has given a lot to Spanish cycling and will continue to give more.” Heras admitted it

Hi Bob;I was riding on a sidewalk in downtown Portland last month and a policeofficer, riding on the same sidewalk “pulled me over.” At first I thoughthe was kidding and said something like “how fast was I doing officer?”It turns out he wasn't all that amused and said it was against the lawto ride on sidewalks in downtown. I had entered the sidewalk to get arounda huge construction hole. Should I fight this ticket and what advice doyou have? By the way, the cop was also riding on the sidewalk!M. EisenhartPortland, OregonDear M. Eisenhart;In the words of Shakespeare you were “hoisted with your

Spanish climber Roberto Heras finalized his move to the Liberty-Seguras team on Wednesday when he signed a three-year contract. Heras' departure from Armstrong's U.S. Postal team was confirmed last week by the American team. Heras had a year of his contract left to run and Liberty had to pay a 1.6 million euro buy-out clause. Press reports in Spain say Heras will earn at least 1.2 million euros per season at Liberty, where he will be the number one rider after Joseba Beloki quit to join French team La Boulangere. Postal, meanwhile, has signed up Portugal's Jose Azevedo to replace Heras,

Solano Bicycle Classic president Scott Reynolds announced Tuesday that the 2004 edition of the race has been canceled. “Although we were encouraged by the support we had seen in the last several weeks, we have simply run out of time to plan for races early next April,” Reynolds said, following a meeting of the SBC board at his office. “The seven board members in attendance tonight were unanimous that the finances in particular were too uncertain at this point to move forward as we had planned.” Reynolds estimated that SBC was short about $35,000 in confirmed sponsorships out of a required

We had our first T-Mobile gathering for the 2004 season at the OlympicTraining Center in Colorado Springs last week. We met for four days, theobjectives were to spend time dialing in our positions on our new bikes,meet with the physiologists and nutritionists who are part of our PerformanceEnhancement Team, undergo some testing, outline our team goals, get toknow one another a little better and have a little fun partaking in some"team bonding" exercises. Actually, I came to camp thinking that Starbucks was a new sponsor of the team, as I had recently received a box of coffee, a coffee card

Verge Sport and the American Cyclo-cross Foundation (ACF) have teamed up to help send American racers to the cyclo-cross world championships January 31-February 1 in Pont-Chateau, France. Verge has produced and is selling a commemorative ACF T-shirt designed by cartoonist and ’cross fiend Patrick O’Grady. The shirts go for $19.95, and $10 of every sale goes to the ACF’s fund for underwriting the U.S. team’s annual trip to world’s. USA Cycling will be financing six athletes’ travel to the world’s — one elite man, one elite woman, two under-23 men and two junior men. Any discretionary picks

Dear Monique;I have a question about any potential negative health effects fromRed Bull. Particularly, does it contain ephedra or ephedra sulfates? Myweb research has yielded different answers to this. Some sites claim itdoes, while others insist it does not. A response to an e-mail I sent toRed Bull via their website claimed there was no ephedra in Red Bull, butso many websites (perhaps not credible ones), and many athletes I know,claim it does.I have been drinking Red Bull for about a year, only after very hardefforts or racing, and two months ago was diagnosed with a mild heart

Questioning the Jimenez diagnosisDear VeloNews;I was truly saddened and stunned in reading about the untimely passingof Jose Maria Jimenez at the age of 32. Not unlike Denise Zanette'sdeath last year at a similarly young age, it makes one come face-to-facewith the reality that youth and athletic fitness are not the only factorsin overall health.On this note, I did want to clarify something that I suspect regardingJose Maria Jimenez’s mental health condition leading up to his death. Fromreading about his stunning emotional and performance highs and the tremendouslows that followed, his

I just got back in from Boston where VeloNews ad rep Nick Ramey and I narrowly missed New England’s, “Worst Winter Storm of the Year -- so far.” Thanks to a bit of sweet-talking from Ramey, we were able to sneak aboard one of the last flights out of Bean-town before the FAA cracked-down as hard on outgoing flights from Logan International as Tipper Gore did on harsh lyrics. But we weren’t just in town to shuck oysters and draw butter. Nope, we both actually had a bit of work to do while visiting a few key manufacturers. I needed to visit with two of the country’s top titanium manufacturers

See ya

Indy Fab's new 'Top Secret' full suspender with 4 inches of rear travel 'might be' available in April

'Full of character,' those IF boys...

Ritchey's new Adjustable Stem has more angles than a Pan Anderson photo shoot

Never too late for 'cross goodies

Verge T-shirt helps cover 'cross-world's costs

Dear Readers;It's fall and, as is usually the case, some folks' hearts turn to cyclo-cross.I often get questions about brake selection on 'cross bikes, so I am offeringtwo recent examples.LennardDear VeloNews;Let me start by saying thanks to your magazine for making me a fanof cyclo-cross. I primarily ride the road with an occasional trip ontothe dirt on my mountain bike but have never owned or ridden a cross bike,my question is; why do cross racers prefer cantilever brakes over V-brakes?Mountain bikes changed over to V-brakes and/or disc brakes years ago forbetter brake performance, I don't

Jan Raas has quit as director of Rabobank and will be replaced by fellow Dutchman Theo de Rooij, the team announced on Tuesday. Raas had been at the helm of the Dutch team since 1996, but fell out with their sponsor as to what direction the team should take at their recent annual meeting. Rabobank will remain as the team’s title sponsor until at least 2005, with the Dutch bank expected to decide whether or not to extend that deal some time next year.Copyright AFP2003

In Colorado bike racing, there’s the “fed” and there’s the “rebellion” and rarely the twain shall meet. But this past weekend, Heather Szabo and Travis Brown left no question as to who could claim the state’s cyclo-cross championship. On Saturday, Szabo and Brown both laid claim to the American Cycling Association’s Colorado state cyclo-cross championship, a feat the two repeated on Sunday when they took on the USCF’s Colorado state championship event. Szabo made it look easy Saturday as she led the women’s ACA event from the start, soloing to beat second-place Julie Emmerman on a

Wehave just posted the on-line version of this year's edition ofGrandTours, a taste of what cycling vacations are all about. We callthem “Grand Tours” because they encompass the grandeur of breathtakingrides through some of the most beautiful and culturally rich locales onearth. They offer what you’re really looking for when you decide to takea bicycle vacation — the chance to make your dreams come true.You will need AdobeAcrobat Reader to enjoy the on-line version of "Grand Tours."

Looking for a Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for cycling enthusiastin your life? Interested in owning a piece of American cycling history?Either way, you’re in luck, as Rabobank’s Levi Leipheimer has two of his2003 jerseys up for auction on eBay, with proceeds to go to a pair of charities,Forgotten Felines Of Sonoma County and the USA Cycling Foundation."These auctions are important for my wife Odessa and me,” he said. “Sincewe have had our share of success, this is a way for all of us to give backand say 'thank you.'"The first item, Leipheimer’s  2003Vuelta Jersey, signed by the

José Maria Jimenez, who died suddenly of a heart attack over the weekend, was buried Monday in his birthplace in El Barraco, near Avila in central Spain. The luminaries of Spanish cycling attended the ceremony, including his former Banesto teammates Miguel Indurain, Abraham Olano, Eusebio Unzue and Jose Miguel Echavarri. "Chava", as he was universally known, died of a heart attack on Saturday night at a Madrid clinic where he was being treated for the depression from which he had been suffering for the last two years. "The best thing we can do is to remember the good times he gave us all,"

Jose-Maria Jimenez, once touted as a successor to five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain, has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 32. Jimenez, a nine-time Vuelta a España stage winner, suffered the attack in Madrid's San Miguel psychiatric hospital where he was a patient on Saturday, medical sources reported. The popular Jimenez, who was known for his exuberant personality, retired from professional cycling in 2002 suffering from severe depression. He had since fought valiantly against the debilitating affliction, but was in recent months hospitalized on several

Sven Nijs locked up his 13th career World Cup cyclo-cross win on Sunday, taking round three of the six-race series in Wetzikon. Sunday’s win, narrowly ahead of fellow Belgian Bart Wellens, establishes a new World Cup record, an accomplishment all the more impressive considering that Nijs is just 27 years old. The win also means Nijs is undefeated in World Cup competition this season after he won the October 26 opening round in Torino, Italy and again on November 16, in St. Wendel, Germany. Nijs and Wellens fought a heated battle Sunday. The two Belgians shot off the front in the first lap

Nijs leads Wellens through the barriers

Michael Rogers, the winner of several top end races this year and a key element in Richard Virenque's winning a sixth polka-dot jersey on the Tour de France, has been named the 2003 Australian Cyclist of the Year. Rogers, 23, is considered Australia's main future hope for overall victory in the Tour de France and showed his potential this year when he finished 42nd overall. The Canberra rider, who rides for the Italian Quick Step team, has been a revelation this year, getting his season off to a great start by winning the Route du Sud, the Tour of Germany and the Tour of Belgium - in all

A pro team is not a socialist organizationEditor:I find it rather silly that people can write things like, "Heras was always there for Lance in the Tour de France, but was Lance ever there for Heras in the Vuelta?"As we all know, Lance has not ridden the Vuelta in support of Heras. But where is it written that Lance is obligated to do that? Heras was signed to Postal as a support rider for the team leader, period. As it turns out, Heras is more than capable of being a team leader himself. But as far as I know, cycling teams are not socialist organizations where everyone has the same

Germany's Jan Ullrich has fired a warning shot to Lance Armstrong, saying that he intends to stake his claim for Tour de France glory over the next three years before he gets off the saddle for good. "I know how many years I can still challenge for the Tour de France crown," said Ullrich, who nearly derailed Armstrong's victory bid this year while riding for Bianchi, and since has moved to T-Mobile. "I can do it for the next three years. I am convinced that is my time." Ullrich, 30, won the world's biggest race in 1997 and has already come runner-up five times: in 1996, behind teammate

Sunday's fifth round of the Verge New England Championship Series has been rescheduled due to the snowstorm sweeping the Northeast, organizers said Saturday. The WE Stedman Grand Prix in Rhode Island has been rescheduled for December 20, creating a big double weekend with another category-3 race, the Patterson Construction/NEBC Cyclo-Cross and Series finals, slated the next day in Merrimack, New Hampshire. "We're up and ready to go with the race," said event organizer Joel Brown of Pavé Productions. "We have plows and snowblowers ready, as well as an alternate course from what we've run in

Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal team has signed Portuguese cyclist José Azevedo to help in the Texan's quest to win a sixth straight Tour de France next year. Azevedo, 30, joins U.S. Postal on the week that the American outfit waved goodbye to Spaniard Roberto Heras, who has moved to the new Liberty squad. Heras played a significant role in Armstrong's phenomenal Tour successes. U.S. Postal's latest recruit is looking forward to his new job. "Lance Armstrong's going to be trying for his sixth consecutive victory in the Tour, and they've hired me to help him achieve that objective," Azevedo

Aussie David McKenzie will join the Navigators cycling team for 2004, the team announced Thursday in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The 2003 Tour of Queensland champion joins countryman Henk Vogels and former teammates Ciaran Power of Ireland and Vassili Davidenko of Russia as the 13th man to sign with the New Jersey-based TT2 squad. “David brings another dimension to what I believe will be a very competitive Navigators team,” said team director Ed Beamon. “He is a proven winner, and a tireless teammate, and he has a great nose for the finish. I expect his leadership qualities will add depth to

Three reasons for Heras's departureEditor:I think Heras was forced to make the decision to leave Postal for a few reasons. 1. Lack of support from sponsors. Lance breaks a fingernail and it's headlines. Trek didn’t mention Roberto's big win on their website for like three weeks, and even then it was buried. Lance gets new prototype wheels and bike for the Tour and Heras gets the big goose egg (not to say that a 5900 with X-Lites isn't all you need). That's gotta be good for the ol' morale. 2. The king is half undressed. The team may have lost some faith in Lance this year. Heras is in his

Early December is usually a relaxed time for the U.S. Postal Service team, but news of Roberto Heras’s imminent departure spoiled the quiet of the team’s annual kick-off training camp in Austin, Texas. The camp serves as a relaxed way to start planning for a new season and for new team members to get acquainted with each other. VeloNews correspondent Ted Arnold caught up with Johan Bruyneel in Austin on Thursday to discuss the rapidly unfolding developments. VN: When did the situation with Roberto begin to unfold? JB: About 10 days ago his agent called me and wanted to have lunch —

After four years with Wisconsin-based Team Sports, Inc., Saturn women’s team director Giana Roberge has announced that on Friday, December 5, she will amicably part ways with the organization that directed the now defunct but highly successful Saturn Cycling and Volvo-Cannondale Cycling programs. “It’s been an extremely difficult decision for me to make,” Roberge said, explaining that while she and Team Sports’ president Tom Schuler have secured a title sponsor for a scaled down women’s team in 2004, there will not be sufficient sponsorship for her employment. An official announcement of

Good luck Señor HerasEditors;I want to wish Roberto Heras much success and luck (see "Herasleaves Postal").Next year's Tour will be a dandy!Eric E. EssickA good decisionEditors!Good move for Roberto. He gave U.S. Postal some of his best years andpaid for it in less than stellar Vuelta performances the last couple ofyears. Yeah,  know he won this year but it was pretty close.Now he has the chance to shine again on his own and with a Spanish team.This just makes the 2004 Tour that much more exciting from a spectator'sview.Giny ChandlerHere come the résumésDear Editors;How do I get a hold of the

It’s not all Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Iron Hammer for theU.S. Army these days. Sometimes, it’s Operation Santa Claus. And sometimes, Santa needs a little help from the civilians. Just ask Sgt. David Wilson, the head elf for Operation Santa Claus’sbicycle-distribution program at Fort Bliss, Texas, near El Paso. “I decided to check out the Operation Santa Claus program that the Armydoes here at Fort Bliss, and it turns out they have hundreds of bicyclesand parts in need of a loving mechanic,” he said. Wilson asked to be reassignedto the program, and one week later he found

A while back I answered an inquiry posed by a New York reader who saw someone riding a bicycle that had been stolen from him earlier (see "LegallySpeaking - with Bob Mionske: My stolen bicycle " September 25, 2003). I share one of the many emails I received on the subject for the benefit of all readers: Dear Bob;As the flip side to your summary of the law regarding recovery of a stolen bicycle, and further to his closing point about getting hurt in the act of self-recovery, may I present my own story: Several months ago, I stopped for coffee at the end of my morning bike commute. While in

The Sierra Nevada Cycling team has added Canadian Eric Wohlberg and New Zealander Glen Mitchell to its 2004 roster, team director Kurt Stockton reported Thursday from an introductory “meet-and-greet” team camp in Chico, California. While Mitchell and Wohlberg signed just recently, the team’s acquisition earlier this fall of 2001 NRC winner Trent Klasna had already bolstered it’s lineup considerably. With the addition of Mitchell, 32, and Klasna’s former Saturn teammate Wohlberg, 38, to a squad consisting primarily of younger, less experienced riders, Sierra Nevada has moved into the realm

The Saeco-Timex squad

Santa's workshop at the Southwestern Pole

It looks like winter has been playing hooky around these parts, which is just fine with me. I have actually had a chance to do some real mountain biking for the past two 55-degree, sunshine-filled days. You’ll get no complaints from me about there not being enough snow here in Colorado. I say let’s keep the riding season rollin’. Don’t get me wrong – not all of our recent riding has been in the relatively toasty 50-degree range. There have been a few days in the mid-30s, and light-snow days in the teens, too. These chilly days have given me the chance to break out a few samples of the latest

The U.S. Postal team has confirmed that Vuelta a España champion Roberto Heras is set to leave the squad to join up with Manolo Saiz’s Liberty Seguros team. Heras played a key role in Lance Armstrong's last two successfulattempts at winning the Tour de France and his departure couldbe a blow to the American’s bid to earn another Tour win in 2004. The Postal team confirmed that the 29-year-old Heras reportedly will sign with former ONCE team manager Saiz, who has recently taken over the newly-formed Liberty Seguros squad. Saiz has been aggressively recruiting in recent weeks and has failed

The changes just keep coming for the 2004 NORBA National Series. This timeit’s the pro and semi-pro downhill format for the third stop in Big BearLake, California. Instead of a traditional time-trial format, race organizershave decided to bring back downhill mania where four racers will take onthe track at the same time. "The course will be wider so there’s more passing potential and shorterthan a traditional downhill,” explained Team Big Bear’s Tom Spiegel. “We’llstart with a qualifying run, then put everyone in brackets.” And yes, points awarded for the downhill mania race will countin

Good for those rides that dips into the teens...

Powerful wind stoppers and affordable too

Answer fianlly got it right with the 2004 version of its XC-1

MTB News and Notes: More changes in NORBA series; Jimena vows to be in Athens

MTB News and Notes: More changes in NORBA series; Jimena vows to be in Athens

More compact issuesDear Lennard;In response to your Q&Aabout compact cranks - I know that Stronglight makes chainrings ina 130mm bolt pattern that will fit Shimano cranks in sizes down to 38T.Do you know of any companies that make rings in the 34-36T range in a 130mmsize? As much as I would like to save money and just buy new rings, swappingout my inner ring from a 39 to a 38 isn't enough to justify a change. IfI want an inner ring smaller than 38, is my only option to change the wholecrankset? I'm already at 12-27 in the back.BarryDear Barry;You cannot fit any smaller than a 38T on a

Tyler Hamilton will formally launch the charitable foundation bearing hisname at a kick-off event in Colorado this month.With the goal of providing support to multiple sclerosis patients aswell as aspiring young cyclists, the new Tyler Hamilton Foundation willhost fundraiser at the Arvada Center in Arvada, Colorado. The event willbe co-hosted by Wheat Ridge Cyclery, a bicycle shop owned by the familyof former pro Ron Kiefel.“The Tyler Hamilton Foundation will champion the two causes closestto my heart – competitive cycling and the fight against Multiple Sclerosis,”said Hamilton. “As a young

British cyclist Charles Wegelius, who failed a blood test during the Tour of Lombardy last October, has been cleared of doping by the UCI, his De Nardi team announced Tuesday. The 25-year-old rider, ranked 857th in the world, was excluded from the final leg of the 10-race World Cup, after a pre-race blood test showed his hematocrit level to be above the permitted threshold of 50 percent. A subsequent urine sample, which tested negative for the banned blood-boosting drug EPO (Erythropoietin), cleared the Finnish-born rider of doping. "The security commission and sporting conditions of the

Dear Doc;Mine isn't the usual write-the-doc-for-advice question. I am mostlyjust curious as to how dehydration affects one's hematocrit. Do red cellsalso lose fluid such that the net impact on hematocrit is minimal?This question is prompted by LanceArmstrong's severe dehydration in the first individual time trial ofthis year's Tour de France. Given the potential reduction in serum volumeassociated with such severe dehydration (6.5 kg), would Lance's hematocrithave exceeded the allowed limit in a post-race test, assuming a normalhematocrit with proper hydration? Was Lance subjected to a

The 2003 Vergegear.com Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-Cross Championship Serieswrapped up with racing action at Blue Diamond Park 'Cross in New Castle,Delaware. This first time venue scored a big thumbs -up from both Mid-Atlantic'crossers and spectators as it was one of the most interesting and diversecourses this season. The host team, First State Velo Sport, made greatuse of the BMX-moto-cross Park terrain while still keeping the course "cross-friendly". That said, good technical skills were still a must for the day. With the sound of moto-cross bikes in the background, the elite womencharged off the

After the all-star fields at the past two stops in the Verge New EnglandCyclo-cross series, Sunday’s round four race in Farmington, Connecticut,seemed downright subdued. Right until the starter’s gun sounded. Despite smaller than normal fieldsand with none of the West Coast crowd in town, the cream rose to the topin Farmington and that cream had a distinctly New Englandy flavor. Saturn’sMark McCormack, the region’s undisputed bike racing hero, stomped awayin the elite men’s event, while Anna Milkowski, riding for the Maine-basedGearworks-Spin Arts squad, won the elite women’s affair. For

He sure isn't the "Lion King." Unlike the case in road racing, it appears as though there is no “curse of the rainbow” in cyclo-cross, as Bart Wellens continues to excel, even while toting the world champion’s jersey this year. Wellens took first in Sunday’s Superprestige in Gieten, in northern Holland. Wellens was the only rider able to stay with an early attack from fellow Belgian Tom Vannoppen. Vannoppen charged off the front in the opening lap, dropping most of the field. Once Wellens connected with the day’s early leader, the two stayed together for only a single lap as Wells took