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Despite losing two riders early on, ONCE-Eroski lived up to its role of overwhelming favorite in the opening team time trial event in the Vuelta a España on Saturday. It was a repeat of the Spanish squad's 2002 victory in the same stage over American squad U.S. Postal-Berry Floor. ONCE-Eroski clocked 32 minutes, 1 second for the 28km course starting and finishing in Gijon, 10 seconds faster than Postal and 24 seconds ahead of third-placed Ibanesto.com. Spaniard Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, 29, crossed the line at the head of the ONCE-Eroski team to take the first gold leader's jersey of

Image files for Vuelta

In a season that saw Anne-Caroline Chausson step back from the international circuit, many thought the 25-year-old would be vulnerable in Saturday's women's downhill world championship. Chausson erased any doubts as to whether she's still the queen bee of the women's gravity circuit when she roared through the intermediate time check 12 seconds faster than runner-up Sabrina Jonnier en route to her record eighth consecutive world title. "I didn't think I was going that fast. That's when you know things are going well, when things seem too easy," said Chausson, who won in 5 minutes, 10.23

Johan Museeuw may miss the road cycling world championships in Canada next month after his house was raided in a police drugs investigation, his manager said in an interview published on Saturday. "I still have full confidence in Johan Museeuw," Patrick Lefevere, manager of the Quick-Step team told La Derniere Heure - Les Sports. "The inquiry will prove Johan made no errors. But, on the other hand, I fear his image is damaged." Museeuw will continue with his race program over the next few days starting with the Dutch Delta Ronde this weekend, but Lefevere said his preparation for the

Go ahead, call him the heir apparent. Greg Minnaar is more than worthy. First he shocked the downhill-racing world in 2001, snatching the overall World Cup title from Nicolas Vouilloz. Now, after hiring Vouilloz’s former coach to be his personal trainer, the South African has taken over the spot the retired Frenchman owned for so many years, winning the downhill title at the world mountain biking championships in Lugano, Switzerland, on Saturday. Taking off from the No. 3 qualifier’s spot, Minnaar blasted his way down the steep, 1.45-mile track on Monte Tamaro, posting a 4:37.78. That was

After three days of sitting around in a hotel and counting the hours and then minutes until the start, the Vuelta is finally under way. The course around Spain this year takes us first through the Pyrénées, then along the east coast toward the southern peaks, and then up to Madrid. The course suits our team, with six mountain stages where Chechu, Roberto and Triki can shine, some flatter potentially windy days where the rest of us can control the race from the front, and some sprint stages where Max can show his strengths. The team has come to the Vuelta this year with perhaps the

ONCE shows Spain how a team time trial is done

Postal finished 10 seconds down

Gonzalez de Galdeano sports the first leader's jersey

Too much Metallica for Hincapie, y'think?

Evans stage 3

Evans stage 3

This year's Vuelta a España will kick off Saturday against a harsh economic backdrop with the sport in crisis in the host nation following the recent news that Banesto and ONCE will both end their long sponsorship of cycling at the end of the season. The Kelme team is also having its problems and minor races are falling by the wayside in a poor climate for cycling. "It's the worst news I've had since my fall in the Tour de France," said ONCE’s Joseba Beloki, several times a podium finisher in the world's toughest race, on learning last month that his sponsor had elected to pull out the

Readers who caught DedeDemet-Barry’s diary from the eighth round of the women's World Cupheld in Nürnberg, Germany, may have been concerned about the statusof Saturn rider Lyne Bessette, who was taken down in a crash just 2km intothe race and landed squarely on her head and right shoulder.Although her helmet was shattered and she remembers none of the crash,Bessette emerged relatively unscathed.“I just came back from the doctor and it’s really positive,” Bessettereported Thursday afternoon. “My head and neck are fine. It’s just a broken[right] collarbone, but nothing else. It’s broken

Veterinarian Jos Landuyt has admitted selling hormones to professional cyclists, the public prosecutor's office in Kortrijk in western Belgium has said. Landuyt, who comes from Oostrozebeke, which is about 15km from Kortrijk, was interviewed late on Thursday after police raided 20 houses, including that of the country's leading cyclist, Johan Museeuw. The prosecutors' office mentioned no cyclists by name, and Musseuw has yet to make any comment to the media on the matter. Kintana withdraws from Vuelta after B test positiveSpanish rider Aitor Kintana has withdrawn from the Tour of Spain

In the aftermath of the incident that saw American cross-country racers Todd Wells and Adam Craig ruled ineligible to race here in Lugano, Switzerland, at the 2003 world mountain bike championships, the finger-pointing has begun. Each of the four parties involved — the riders, the UCI, the trade teams and USA Cycling — are all looking elsewhere when asked who was at fault. But it’s more likely that all four bear at least a portion of the blame. So what caused the information disconnect that resulted in Craig and Wells making a wasted trip to Europe? Settle in, it’s complicated. The

"Tales from the gutter" made great readingEditor:I have really enjoyed Jed Schneiders’ "Tales from the gutter.” He gave a very real account of racing in Europe, both the up and the down side. I especially liked his latest, hopefully not his last, article. I grew up in England and raced in the early 1970s. There was not a "that guy" that I could remember, but I had always wanted to follow the footsteps of Tom Simpson and Barry Hoban. I eventually took the big step and went to Brittany thinking I would show those Frenchies a thing or two. I even used to practice going over an imaginary finish

Swiss rider Balz Weber's legs held out just long enough to win Friday's hotly contested under-23 world championship race. Weber had just reeled in Spanish pocket rocket Ivan Alvarez at the beginning of the fifth of seven punishing laps when his legs froze up with cramps. Germany's Manuel Fumic was hot on his tail and edged within nine seconds of catching Weber when his legs bounced back to life just in time to win the gold. "I went at my own rhythm when my legs cramped. I thought I was going to lose everything, but they felt better in the final lap and I could ride 100 percent again," said

Editor’s note:VeloNews.com received the following letter from Amber Neben, of the T-Mobile women’s team, today. Neben is currently ranked 25th in the world, the highest ranked American and, until now, a favorite to land a spot on the U.S. team for next year’s Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.After testing positive for nandrolone metabolites in samples taken May 31, 2003 during competition in Montreal, Neben has voluntarily suspended herself from competition, pending the resolution of further test results and appeals. The decision will, of course, mean that she will not participate in this

The way I see it, my vacation is coming not a minute too soon. Inside Communications’ headquarters is in full renovation/office-shuffle mode, making for a few, uh, inconveniences. With our kitchen sink out of commission today, the last straw for me was having to step into the men’s room to rinse out the coffeepots before making some joe. It was almost enough to kill my appetite for this morning’s glazed donuts. Almost …. The coffee was another matter. On the other hand, vacation took me out of the rotation for next week’s T-Mobile International in San Francisco, which has been one of the

Amber Neben, of Irvine, California, today informed USA Cycling that she has decided to voluntarily suspend herself from competition, pending the resolution of medical control test results from samples taken May 31, 2003 during competition at the Montreal World Cup event. The tests conducted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) indicate the presence of trace amounts of the banned substance nandralone that is above the limits set forth by the UCI's anti-doping regulations. In light of this announcement, Ms. Neben is ineligible for nomination to the 2003 Road World Championship Team and

It’s probably to early to call it a full-fledged changing of the guard, but after years of gated-racing domination by the likes of Eric Carter and Brian Lopes, there was a new face atop the four-cross podium at the world mountain bike championships in Lugano, Switzerland, on Friday night. Bolstered by blazing fast starts throughout the night, Czech rider Michal Prokop earned the first major win of his career in front of an estimated crowd of 5000. In the women’s race, there was no big surprise – just the continued domination of Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson, who earned the fourth (every

Fassa Bortolo1 Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez (Sp)2 Juan José De Los Angeles Segui (Sp)3 Dario Frigo (I)4 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr)5 Serguei Ivanov (Rus)6 Alessandro Petacchi (I)7 Matteo Tosatto (I)8 Guido Trenti (USA)9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)U.S.Postal Service11 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Sp)12 Michael Barry (Can)13 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Sp)14 George Hincapie (USA)15 Benoît Joachim (Lux)16 Floyd Landis (USA)17 Matt White(Aus)18 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Sp)19 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned)ONCE - Eroski21 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Sp)22 José Azevedo (Por)23 Marcos Antonio Serrano Rodriguez (Sp)24 Jan Hruska

Mr. Rogers' neighborhood: Lyne gets her bell rung; Am I really gonna drink that?

Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy was all alone after the first lap

Swiss uncramps to take U23 gold

Michael Prokop outs his BMX skills to work

Chausson's won all the gated-racing titles

You might have guessed that the tough and technical cross-country course would pose the biggest obstacle for the U.S. national team here at the world mountain bike championships in Lugano, Switzerland. But with three days of racing remaining, it’s the UCI’s mandatory medical monitoring policy that’s giving the Americans the biggest headache. First came word that under-23 medal contender Adam Craig had been told he couldn’t race after failing to get a battery of medical tests done during the spring. And now 2001 U.S. short track national champ Todd Wells has had the same ax fall on him.

Dear Bob,I was on a ride when a pick-up truck loaded with fence posts hangingover the side passed me. The posts hit me and knocked off my bike. I fracturedmy wrist and my bike was totaled. The driver of the truck blames the storethat loaded the posts and suggested I make a claim against them. Is thestore liable?B.R.Fla.Dear B.R,Let me break down your inquiry into two different questions:1) If I sued the lumber yard, could I win?In Florida, you would have a fairly good chance.2) Should I ignore the driver and go after the lumber yard?No way.There was a 1992 Florida case with many of the same

Belgian police raided the homes of 21 cyclists Thursday, including that of former world champion Johan Museeuw in a search for banned performance-enhancing drugs. An official at the public prosecutor's office in the western town of Kortrijk said detectives took Museeuw to headquarters for questioning. Spokesman Tom Janssens said police found quantities of suspicious drugs when they staged coordinated raids on the homes of professional riders, including former world cyclo-cross champion Mario De Clercq, OJ Planckaert, Chris Peers, Nico Hendrickx and Oliver Penny. "In all these places,

Five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and his wife have again separated and are now planning to divorce, according to a report in the Austin American Statesman. Armstrong and wife Kristin separated two weeks ago, soon after they moved back to Austin from their European home in Girona, Spain, according to a story published in Thursday editions of the Texas newspaper. The couple is currently in mediation to reach a divorce settlement, while maintaining separate homes in Central Austin, the newspaper reported. "It's an unfortunate situation," Kristin Armstrong, 32, told the

Dear readers;Just as I was about to send this column in today, I received a pressrelease that might interest a few of you, particularly if you are in needof a good carbon fix. Campagnolo announced on Thursday that its carbon Hyperon wheels are nowalso available as clinchers. "The carbon rims for clincher tires turned out to be much more complicatedthan expected," the release noted. "It was not a matter of adapting therim for tubular tires but of designed a completely new rim. The requirementsof a rim for clincher tires are completely different from those of a rimfor tubular tires. Issues of

Portuguese rider Rui on Thursday blamed a positive test for steroids on an ointment he was using for saddle sores. Lavarinhas has been suspended for six months by the UCI after failing the test during this April's Paris-Nice race. The sports daily Record said cycling's governing body made the decision on Wednesday after the Portuguese cycling federation refused to take action. Lavarinhas, who came third in the Tour of Portugal this year, is the second rider from Milaneza-MSS to be suspended this week for doping after Spanish rider David Bernabeu tested positive for the same substance, the

The world's layout.

The map of Monte Tamaro

Anne-Caroline...

...and her bike.

Church at the top of the gondola.

New twist to the concept of 'road gap.'

Museeuw

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn: Campy's Carbon Clincher

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn: Campy's Carbon Clincher

Dear Monique:Iam confused as to which hydration drink to use while riding. I havetried Extran (fructose), Accelerade (sucrose, maltodextrin, and protein),and countless others. All claim their products speed hydration. Since notall products are available in all areas, I am not sure which product toselect. Is it better to consume drinks that contain glucose?ThanksKRDear Monique:Would it be more beneficial to consume sports gels/mixtures that mostlycontain glucose, rather than sucrose and maltose? It would seem that nothaving to convert from the others to glucose would decrease the delivery.If

Tour revelation Iban Mayo looks to be staying with Euskaltel-Euskadi after all despite a flurry of reports that he was prepared to join a foreign team after last-minute haggling over his contract became too much. Mayo won the stage to Alpe d’Huez to become one of the hottest tickets in Spanish cycling. Last week, he was poised to sign a three-year contract extension to stay with the boys in orange from Spain’s Basque Country. But late bickering over the final amount almost torpedoed the deal and Mayo was prepared to join a foreign team, with such squads at Rabobank, Saeco and Quick Step

After a two-day hiatus, racing at the 2003 world mountain bike championships in Lugano, Switzerland, got rolling again Wednesday with Australia’s Lisa Mathison running away with victory in the junior women’s cross-country in the morning, and Poland taking the team relay in the afternoon. It was Mathison’s second straight junior crown, as she also won in Kaprun, Austria last year. “I thought it would be way tougher this year because there were more second-year juniors in this race,” said Mathison about her chunky 3:54 margin over second-place finisher Eva Lechner of Italy. Almut Grieb of

A crop of top quality, home-grown riders will be vying for top honors when the 58th edition of the Vuelta a España gets underway in the northern coastal city of Gijon on Saturday. Spanish riders have dominated the race for the past three years and with big guns Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich preferring to stay away and focus their preparations on next year's Tour de France they should have a chance to maintain their supremacy. But even without the presence of the top two from this year's French race, the Vuelta promises to be an exciting affair after the organizers again opted for a

Organizers of the Vuelta a España announced late Wednesday that the Italian Domina Vacanze team – with Mario Cipollini in tow - will be at the start line of Spain’s national tour on Saturday in Gijon. "Mario Cipollini and his team are currently on the road to Gijon,” a spokesman for Vuelta organizer Unipublic told the French wire service AFP on Wednesday. The spokesman noted that despite an earlier announcement, Unipublic had not yet "officially excluded Domina Vacanze from the Vuelta.” The team has since guaranteed that Cipollini, the reigning world road champion, will be in Gijon for

Mayo at the Dauphine

MTB World’s: Aussie Mathison repeats in junior XC; Poland takes relay

Tick, tick, tick...

It has been a busy couple of days for me personally, so I thought I would send out a quick update regarding some of the changes on the horizon for me and my family. Many of you already know I have decided to join the Phonak Cycling Team in January of 2004. The decision became official September 1st, when I traveled to Zurich to sign my new contract. While some of you may be surprised to hear this, I must tell you this is a very big opportunity for me professionally. I can look back on my two years with CSC with a lot of pride and satisfaction. We accomplished some terrific things together.

The big news of Tyler Hamilton's transfer to the Swiss Phonak team has made headlines throughout Europe. Hamilton enjoyed a banner year, winning Liége-Bastogne-Liége, the Tour of Romandie and a stage in the Tour de France while riding with a fractured collar bone. The New Englander officially announced Monday a two-year deal to join the Phonak team, which has yet to race in the Tour. Team officials were upbeat about their chances to earn a place in the 2004 Tour. "Over the past two years our strategy has been in keeping with the marketing strategy of the sponsor: young, international, but

I swore when I came to Europe the first time that I would not come back “that guy.” I was convinced that Europe would make me stronger, faster, better. I would not be returning burned out, hollow-eyed, beaten. I didn't want to be the guy that was good, but no longer races, and just shows up on the local group rides and spins near the back. Every group ride has one. The new riders are always alerted to their presence in a solemn whisper. “That guy used to race in Europe.” I held great reverence for these riders, even when I had no idea what an echelon was and thought the Paris-Roubaix

Saying Spain’s national tour deserves more respect than has been shown by Mario Cipollini, organizers of the Vuelta a España have ejected the Domina Vacanze team from the race after the world champion made it clear he would not attend. Race director Victor Cordero told the French wire service AFP on Tuesday that he disapproved of the attitude of Italian team, after it had initially promised to field Cipollini. "The Vuelta and cycling deserve more respect,” Cordero said. “There will only be 21 instead of 22 teams at the start line. To tell us Sunday that Cipollini is not coming is to show a

Mario may be spending more time in street clothes

Injured Tour de France contender Joseba Beloki said he'll wait one more week for ONCE sport director Manolo Saiz to find a new sponsor before signing with a foreign team. Beloki, 30, told the Spanish daily AS that he wants to stay with Saiz if he can find a new sponsor to take over for the Spanish lottery ONCE, which is ending its long-running sponsorship at the end of this season. "I'll wait one more week for Saiz. If nothing happens, I'll sign with a foreign team," Beloki said. The three-time Tour podium finisher has been linked to such teams as Rabobank, CSC, Gerolsteiner and Phonak,

It’s official: Tyler Hamilton will leave Team CSC for Phonak Hearing Systems at the end of the 2003 season. Hamilton and the Swiss team signed a two-year deal that management termed “a real coup … underscoring the team's determination to be the first division's number one outfit.” The 32-year-old American, who finished fourth in this year’s Tour de France despite a broken collarbone, was quoted as saying that he was "sorry to say goodbye to Team CSC, but that's part of the game.” “I have had a fantastic time on the team, and I will thank the whole team for their great support they have

If you think that getting older means going downhill, you just might be right. Of the 15 gold medals won by Americans at the 2003 World Masters Mountain Bike Championships, 10 were earned in the downhill, while just five came from the cross country. In all, Americans captured 39 medals at the masters world’s this past weekend in Bromont, Québec, Canada – 15 gold, 13 silver, and 11 bronze. World titles in cross country went to Isabelle Noe (women 35-39), Lydia Barter (women 50+), Steve Tilford (men 40-44), James Wagner (men 60-64), and Frederic Schmid (men 65+) World titles in downhill

After a week of training with Michael and a couple of his teammates in the Pyrénées, I was feeling super motivated to race. The boys whipped me into flying form, as I followed them up col after col, panting away. They were doing long, steady rides in the mountains in preparation for the upcoming Vuelta a España, but for me, it was like two to five hours of motor pacing each day. I boarded a plane Saturday night for Nuremberg, after a slight glitch in my travel arrangements. I was happy to arrive at the hotel at a reasonable enough hour to have a good dinner and sleep. None of my T-Mobile

It took a long, long time. Fourteen years, to be precise. But finally I'm there! I started my international mountain-biking career in 1990 by winning the silver medal at the first-ever world championship in Durango, Colorado. Ever since, I have been hunting the rainbow jersey, which is a mystic emblem to any professional cyclist. So many times I was close to winning it – 1990, ‘91, ‘92 and 2001, with the silver medal. In 1994, as the favorite for the title, I broke my collarbone the day before the race. In 1996, I finished second only to become world champion four years later, due to Jerome

American riders dominated the downhill competition at the Masters Mountain Bike World Championships, taking six of eight titles awarded. Four other categories did not have titles awarded because each had only one rider. The UCI announced shortly before the world’s that a minimum of three riders were required for a title to be awarded (originally, the organization had said six, but reduced it to three after protests). All four were upper age groups, three of them women's categories, and U.S. riders won these events also. Lars Tribus (Chumba Racing), won the hotly contested men's 30-34 group

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona/Esker) left little doubt Monday as each won their fourth consecutive stage of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont. The Voler Burlington Criterium offered little if any rest to the riders, as the unique general classification points format required racers to stay aggressive throughout this final stage. Certainly that was true in McCormack’s case as he countered a brief early attack with Mark Walters (Navigators) and went clear to stay. McCormack and Walters rode a very smart race, working well together and maintaining

Tyler's shedding his CSC kit for Phonak garb

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) followed their victories in Friday’s prologue by winning stage 1 of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race, the Moretown Circuit Race. McCormack, who has won this race in each of the previous two years, got into a break with Mark Walters (Navigators), Cameron Hughes (LeMond Fitness-Cra-Z Soap), Tim Johnson (Saturn), and Alex Lavallee (Trek-Volkswagen) at the top of the second KOM sprint. With the top-three overall riders on board, the group maintained its lead, despite several attempts from riders in the field to bridge.

After 78km of racing through the foothills of the Swiss Alps in harsh, windy conditions, the battle for the World Mountain Bike Marathon Championship in Lugano came down to the final 100 meters on Sunday as hometown hero Thomas Frischknecht outsprinted Bart Brentjens of the Netherlands to claim the first-ever world marathon title. Carsten Bresser of Germany rounded out the podium in third, four minutes behind the leaders. With more than 9300 feet of climbing and strong alpine winds, the elements and topography alone provided enough opportunity for the favorites to sort themselves out at

Jan Ullrich won't be racing in October's world championships, his manager Wolfgang Strohband told the German news agency SID on Sunday. Strohband said the 29-year-old would end his season in next week's Hessen Rundfahrt in Germany to close up his 2003 season. Officials from the T-Mobile race are trying to persuade the Bianchi rider to start the Sept. 14 race in San Francisco, but SID reported Ullrich will attend the Formula 1 race in Italy the same day to kick off his vacation. "I didn't race that much this year and I don't want to overdo it," Ullrich told SID. "To prepare for the world's

Erin Mirabella (Frisco Cycling Club) lapped the field and held off a late charge by Ashley Kimmet (Colavita-Bolla) to win the women’s points race Saturday during the final night of the USCF National Track Cycling Championships in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. The race started off slowly, but soon began to break apart. An attack by Lauren Shirock (Coyote Cycling) got the action rolling. Then Mari Holden (Team T-Mobile) and Kimmet, the 2001 junior world silver medalist in the points race, got away to take the lead with 35 laps remaining. Mirabella and Sarah Hammer (Team T-Mobile) charged to

Steve Tilford (Shimano-Moots) was among four Americans to claim world titles on Saturday during the first day of the Masters Mountain Bike World Championships in Bromont, Québec. Tilford took his fifth masters world’s title in the men's 40-44 age group, finishing nearly four minutes ahead of Thierry Salomon of Switzerland, with Patrick Meersschaert (Belgium) third. Other U.S. titlists were 70-year-old Frederic Schmidt (Waco Bicycle Club) in the 65-plus category, Seattle's James Wagner (Ti Cycles) in the 60-64 category and Lydia Barter (Team Bicycle Alley) in the women's 50+ age

Although Mark McCormack (Saturn) really had to really work for it, he and Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) made it three wins in three days during stage 2 of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race, the Sugarbush Chamber Mad River Road Race. The men saw lots of breakaway attempts, but none succeeded as the GC leaders kept everything tight in the pack. As the riders approached the first of the two final climbs up to Appalachian Gap, Tim Johnson (Saturn) started to drive the field and formed two break groups in hopes of stretching out the field for McCormack. But when the field caught

Frischy outkicks Brentjens for the rainbow jersey

Wloszcowska soloes across the line

The women's points race

Cody goes for the gold in the team sprint

Pearce celebrates his scratch-race victory

Tilford collects a fifth masters title