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Green and McGrath

Rabobank’s Oscar Freire outkicked the bunch to win the fifth stage of the Tour of Catalunya Friday. Freire finished the 166.3km stage from Llivia to Manresa in 3:46:37, ahead of Angel Vicioso (ONCE-Eroski) and Rene Haselbacher (Gerolsteiner). Results:1. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, 3:46:372. Angel Vicioso (Sp), ONCE-Eroski, same time3. Rene Haselbacher (Aut), Gerolsteiner, s.t.4. Roberto Lozano (Sp), Kelme, s.t.5. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.6. Carlos Torrent (Sp), Paternina-Costa Almeria, s.t.7. Filippo Pozzato (I), Fassa Bortolo, s.t.8. George Hincapie (USA), U.S. Postal.

Up-and-coming Frenchman Sandy Casar held off a bunch of big-name sprinters to win the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland between Viege and Losone on Friday. Casar, the 24-year-old Fdjeux.com rider who made his name when finishing second in last year's Paris-Nice, held off Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen and Australian Stuart O'Grady after the 166.5km ride. Coming in just behind was Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen, the winner of last year's Tour de France green jersey, and CSC's talented Kiwi Julian Dean - both of whom had battled at the finish on Thursday. Alexander Vinokourov of

After what seems like months, finally, a column about … cycling. Last week, after the USPRO Championship in Philadelphia, VN.com reader Michael Batley e-mailed the following question: “Do you think it’s time for us to go to a U.S.-citizen-only pro championship? It seems like we have the numbers in the peloton to do it now. Why the continual inclusion of the Euro pros?” It’s a topic that comes up from time to time, often as a reaction to the “race within a race” situation, such as this year, where the USPRO champion and the race winner aren’t necessarily one and the same. So, I figured I’d

USA Cycling has announced its automatic selections for the U.S. team attending the 2003 World Track Championships July 30-August 3 in Stuttgart, Germany. Many of the automatic selections earned their world's-team selections by winning their respective events at the 2003 Pan Am and World Championship Qualifier last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The U.S. team includes: Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs) - team sprint, sprint,keirinJames Carney (Boulder, Colorado) - scratch raceColby Pearce (Boulder) - points raceStephen Alfred (Santa Cruz, California) - team sprint and keirinAnton

As Insight Race Across America leader Allen Larsen passed a time station Friday morning in Jefferson City, Missouri, he was nearly 200 miles ahead of second-place Rob Kish. And once again, thanks to back and neck pain from an old traffic accident, he was wearing a back and neck brace – but not the homemade wood-and-duct-tape kind that made his rookie-of-the-year finish last year so memorable. At his current pace, which has fallen a little from challenging Pete Penseyres's 1986 transcontinental record of 15.4 mph, Larsen should win RAAM by Monday. In the team competition, the four-man

John Lieswyn successfully defended his yellow jersey today at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce on the tough Mont Megantic stage, finishing second to former Beauce winner Tomas Konecny, who moved up to second in the general classification. Lieswyn credited his 7UP-Maxxis teammates with inspiring him to ride so well on the feared final climb, which reaches 18 percent in places. "I'm just happy that I didn't let the team down,” he said. “The closer I got to Megantic, the more pressure I felt, because the guys were killing themselves for me. They gave me the confidence and inspiration to do

An all-American USPRO championship probably ain't gonna happen.

Sandy Casar (FDJeux) outkicks the bunch in stage 4.

A beautiful day for a bike race ...

... even for Vinokourov, who crashed but held onto the leader's jersey.

Mountain bike racing will be without two of America's top female riders for a while after both Alison Dunlap and Tara Llanes suffered injuries that have derailed promising 2003 seasons in the span of three days. Dunlap went down first over the weekend, separating her shoulder in a crash at the NCS cross-country race in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Initially it was called a third degree separation, but when Dunlap got back to Colorado Springs doctors told her it was actually a fourth degree and that without surgery she wouldn’t be able to race at an elite level again. “I completely tore all the

This just in: Rahsaan Bahati (Saturn) will be featured in People's25 “Hottest Bachelors” issue, on stands Friday, June 20. For Bahati, 21,it won’t be his first non-cycling magazine appearance — he was featuredin Details magazine a few months back, and was named by Outsideas one of 2003’s “New All-Stars.” “I’m trying to get on the podium next,” joked Bahati, one of a selectfew African-American cyclists to be signed to a pro U.S. cycling team. Bahati came to the attention of Saturn in 2000 when he was only 17 and won the Junior National Road Racing and National Criterium Championships, in

Hi Bob,I have been following your column and appreciate the legal advice you offer to cyclists. Do you have any advice about avoiding accidents for cyclists?Ted G.Menasha, WIDear Ted;That's a great question and one that I thought might best be answered by an expert. So, I went to forensic engineer James Green who specializes in reconstructing bicycle and pedestrian accidents. So here's James's list of the most effective steps you can take to avoid accident and injury:Helmet - One of the absolutely dumbest things a cyclist can do is ride without a helmet. There is no excuse for not having one

Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) won the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday to move into second place overall. The Italian is now six seconds behind leader AlexanderVinokourov (Telekom) of Kazakhstan, after winning the 205km stage from Nyon to the Saas Fee ski resort in five hours, 10 minutes, 38 seconds. Mountain specialist Casagrande took the initiative on the final 20kmclimb in the Alps after the riders had traveled around Lake Geneva andthrough the valley of the River Rhone. He finished 13 seconds clear ofLuxembourg's Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo), with leader Vinokourov

Jesus Maria Manzano (Kelme) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Catalunya, a 157km race from Andorra to Llivia on Thursday. Rene Hasselbacher (Gerolsteiner) crossed second, followed by Matthias Kessler (Telekom) in third. U.S. Postal’s Roberto Heras finished 13th to retain the overall lead ahead of Jose Pecharroman (Paternita-Costa Almeria) and Santiago Blanco (Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada). Heras’s teammate George Hincapie cracked the top 10 on today’s stage, crossing in sixth. Results:1. Jesus Maria Manzano (Sp) Kelme, 4:17:552. Rene Hasselbacher (A), Gerolsteiner, at 0:123. Matthias Kessler

Allen Larsen continued to build his lead over the 2003 Insight Race Across America solo field Thursday – he passed through Yates Center, Kansas, 180 miles ahead of second-place Rob Kish. Larsen, last year’s Rookie of the Year, has maintained an average speed of 15.33 mph, just seven-tenths of a second off the record set by Pete Penseyres in 1986 (15.4). Meanwhile, after the tragic loss of teammate Brett Malin in an Tuesday-night accident in rural New Mexico, Team Vail-Go Fast has withdrawn from the race, handing the lead over to Team Harreither-VAV Versich. The Austrian team is also in

Gord Fraser (Health Net) rebounded overnight from a disappointing finish in the second stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce to record his 13th career win at the race in stage 3. John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis) finished with the peloton and remains in the yellow jersey. The 151km Lac Etchemin stage is one of the hardest in the race, and has been instrumental in determining the final winner in past years. In 2001, Henk Vogels took the leader's jersey during this stage after a long breakaway, and last year a split in the field put all but 20 riders out of contention. The stage is "relentless,"

Am I hot?

Lampre's Francesco Casagrande celebrates his stage-3 victory

Can you believe a broken foot was the worst injury to come out of this wreck?

Slip-slidin' away in Colombia.

A Team Harreither/VAV Versich rider roars through El Centro, California, late Monday evening

Brett Malin, a 30-year-old from Vail, Colorado, was killed late Tuesday when he was hit by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig moments after completing a leg of the 2003 Race Across America. Malin, a member of the four-man Vail-Go Fast team, was riding along a rural stretch of U.S. Highway 60, 10 miles east of Pie Town, New Mexico, when he completed a 30-minute relay leg in the race a few minutes before midnight and was quickly relieved by teammate Zach Bingham. As is the practice of teams competing in RAAM, Malin’s pace vehicle passed him to continue down the course with the team’s new rider.

Dear Monique;I just read your article on pre-race eating. I will be racing for thefirst time this July and this is a big concern for me as I am very sensitiveto low fuel levels. I have heard that it is a good idea to eat three hoursbefore a race. Most of the races I know of start around 8:00 a.m. to 8:30a.m. This requires eating at 5:00 a.m., or so. The problems I have withthis are waking up (and feeling rested) and being able to eat any kindof significant amount that early in morning. Even at my normal waking hour,I can’t eat much. Is this really the best way? Are there alternatives orother

Mario Cipollini's Domina Vacanze team on Wednesday threatened to sue the organizers of the Tour de France for being excluded from this year's race. In a statement posted on its official website, Domina Vacanze team officials said that if their appeal to the UCI to be included in the Tour was rejected they would seriously consider taking legal action in the matter. The Italian team, which was overlooked for one of the four wild card places, is unhappy that several of the teams invited to take part in this year's centenary race ranked considerably below Domina Vacanze in the UCI rankings.

Lotto-Domo's Robbie McEwen has claimed his first-ever stage win in the Tour de Suisse on Wednesday. The 31-year-old Aussie topped a Southern Hemispheric podium he beat CSC’s New Zealander Julian Dean and fellow Australian Stuart O'Grady (Crédit Agricole). Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokourov retained the overall lead. Another Australian Bradley McGee saw his hopes of playing a part in the finish ruined as he had his route blocked by a Lotto team-mate of McEwen's in the final 500 meters - it also prevented him from gaining enough bonus time to replace Vinokourov as overall leader. However McEwen

Wow! That's all I have to say when reflecting on the past seven days. My colleagues have had their hands full covering all the heated racing action going on around the world ... but I've had my plate loaded with late-breaking tech developments. Don't think tech can be as exciting as racing? You've got two choices here: Hit your browser's "Back" button to get your fill of blow-by-blow race coverage, or read on to find out why this has been one of the most exciting weeks of tech coverage since I began working with VeloNews. Dura-Ace again! First off, Dura-Ace is in the house. Well, it was

John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis) survived a scare in the final 1500 meters of stage 2 at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce to retain the overall leader's jersey, while Oleg Grishkine (Navigators) took the stage win ahead of local favorite Charles Dionne (Canadian National). The 169km stage through the rolling countryside south of Québec City unfolded as expected, with a break of five riders going clear 6km into the race. Jindrich Vana (Ed's System-ZVVZ) and Trent Wilson (Flanders-Iteamnova.com) started the break, and were quickly joined by Cam Evans (Canadian National), Jeff Hansen (Atlas Cold

2003 vs. 2004 Dura-Ace – which do you like better?

Six forks put to the test

Cockpit controls – looks like 'pumped-up' XTR to us

Prototype rear derailleur gets beefed up too

Disc brakes see oversize calipers and rotors

Tech report: Overwhelming developments!

Deore-XT goes two-piece in 2004

I am a Planckaerts fan. These days, such a comment will certainly turn a few heads here in Belgium,especially among the more conservative Flemish. But in my case, I am compelledto watch it. I laugh for an hour straight at all the whacky shenanigans that goon at the Planckaerts house. “DePlanckaerts” is a reality TV show on VTM featuring cycling legend,Eddy Planckaert and his family in the struggle of bankruptcy, living ina little cabin in the Ardennes. There is no argument; they are a hillbillyfamily, barely getting by. The story I heard is that Eddy lost his moneyfrom cycling in a bad

Dear Lennard;I'm building a front wheel for my new FSR, and I am concerned about the torsional rigidity of the front wheel. The spare parts I have can allow me to do radial lacing or standard three-cross. I'm running a Fox Float RL 80mm fork, a standard non-disc XT front hub, and a Bontrager Valiant 32-hole rim. I have run both wheels (three-cross and radial laced) on my old bike with a 75mm Marzocchi bomber Z3, and the three-cross wheel seemed to steer much better. I would prefer to do the radial because it looks cool and I have nice butted spokes for that wheel. By the way I weigh 180, am

After an aggressive ride, Telekom’s Alexander Vinokourov took a win in the opening stage of the Tour de Suisse. Vinokourov had been on the attack throughout the latter portion of the 163km stage from Egerkingen to Le Locle, but never managed to initiate a successful break until the closing meters as the peloton charged to the finish in Le Locle. Vinokourov managed to slip away with Fassa Bortolo’s Sergei Ivanov, before beating the Russian to the line, in a winning time of 4:13:43. Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Domina Vacanze) took third, two seconds back. The victory was particularly

The 2003 Insight Race Across America moved into it’s third day and the field strung out across Arizona and New Mexico by Tuesday morning. Allen Larsen leads the solo field commandingly, hitting the Pie Town, New Mexico time station at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Larsen’s strategy of not sleeping until New Mexico is paying off. His impressive 14.94 mile per hour average has put him about 4.5 hours in front of rookie phenomenon Marko Baloh and almost 6 hours up on 18-time RAAM racing legend Rob Kish. But such a risk can just as easily work against Larsen as for him. His support crew has

You’ve got to feel for Tara Llanes. Less than a year removed from a crash at the Durango NORBA that brought a premature end to her 2002 season, the gated-racing specialist has had another season halted mid-stride, after the Giant-Pearl Izumi rider suffered a broken foot in a car accident on Monday in Pennsylvania. Llanes, teammates Jared Rando and Dustin Adams, and team mechanic Matt Duniho were on their way to Vermont for the third stop of the NORBA NCS when their Ford F350 was involved in a crash with another vehicle. According to Giant team director Steve Westover, Adams and Rando escaped

The Grande Prix Cycliste de Beauce kicked off Tuesday with a hard 125-kilometer stage around the environs of Quebec City. John Lieswyn (7Up-Maxxis) took the stage and the first leader's jersey in a two-up finish with Chris Baldwin (Navigators). The opening stage was a wake up call to the riders: you will be climbing; A lot. After four circuits of an 8-kilometer loop with a significant climb on the south side of the St Lawrence River, in the town of Levis, the peloton headed north across the river to Quebec, where they did another eight circuits, with a tough 14-percent climb each lap. The

Monday, June 16th As the sun came up on the second day of the Insight Race Across America on Monday, the lead solo racers have already passed the time station in Congress, Arizona, 336 miles into the race. Riders weathered temperatures reaching beyond 110 degrees across the Southern California desert before making it into the steep, but cooler, roads of Arizona. By Monday morning there was a battle developing at the front of the race for the lead. Through Sunday night, the number one position on the road changed hands several times as four riders, Rob Kish, Marco Baloh, Allen Larsen, and

Fassa Bortolo’s Fabian Cancellara was the fastest Monday in the opening prologue of the 67th Tour de Suisse on a 7.1km course in Egerkingen. The 22-year-old Swiss rider won the opening prologue of the Tour of Romandie last month and pipped Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) just one second. Aussie Brad McGee (Fdjeux.com) came across third at two seconds slower. “The course was very hard, but the crowd carried me along,” Cancellara said. “I think my team can win this race, but maybe not me. I still have time.” Defending champion Alex Zülle finished fourth at four seconds back. It was

Ullrich

After a halting start to his season, former Tour de France champion and four-time runner-up Jan Ullrich said Sunday that it is probably unrealistic for him to expect to contest for overall victory in this year’s Tour de France, adding that the Vuelta a España and the world championships are his top targets for the year. "I am not placing myself under any special pressure, because I could not carry out perfect preparation for the Tour," the German cyclist, who won the world's toughest cycling race in 1997, told NZZ am Sonntag. Ullrich, who is taking on the Tour of Switzerland starting on

Lance Armstrong quieted the nay-sayers Sunday and won his second consecutive Dauphiné Libéré after holding off yet more attacks from the indefatigable Iban Mayo in the 174km finale from Briançon to Grenoble. Cofidis rider Cedric Vasseur attacked on the Category 1 Col du Coq with 40km to go to win his first race of the season. Mayo tried in vain to shake Armstrong one last time but the Texan matched his every move. Mayo, Armstrong, Credit Agricole’s Christophe Moreau and iBanesto.com’s Juan Miguel Mercado rolled in at 2:09 back of Vasseur. It was an exciting and intense week for Armstrong,

After riding Saturday’s cross-country in leftover mud from Friday’s drenching rain, riders were treated to a batch of fresh mud during the NORBA NCS #2 short track cross-country at Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia. The skies opened up at 10 a.m. Sunday, and a steady downpour created slick conditions on the short, fast track, but Subaru-Gary Fisher’ Chrissy Redden and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX-Ralph Lauren) stayed upright and at the front to take the STXC titles. For Redden, it was a sixth NORBA short track win, and perhaps her hardest fought. Midway through the race, a strong front group

The solo riders in the 2003 Insight Race across America rolled out along San Diego’s Harbor Boulevard at 7 a.m. Sunday, escorted by police motorcycles and several hundred local cyclists and supporters, beginning a cross-country competition that will end more than eight days later on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the 18-rider field rode Rob Kish, a 17-time finisher, ultramarathon cycling legend and inspiration to anyone who has attempted the RAAM since he first lined up in 1985. Beside him rode Allen Larsen, last year’s Rookie of the Year and a definite contender for this

It was another stellar day for the men and women of Saturn Cycling, as they swept the closing stage — and overall — of Minnesota’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, with Trent Klasna and Katie Mactier taking top honors. Saturn dominated the podium all week long; both the men and women won four of their respective five stages. Coming into Sunday’s Stillwater criterium, Mactier’s podium-top finish was all but assured, but then again, it was so thought of Saturn’s powerful Viktor Rapinski, who started the stage with a 1:02 lead over defending race champion John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis). But it was not

On Fathers' Day, June 15, five-month-old Zach McCarthy watched his dad take on some of the biggest names in U.S. domestic racing and beat every one of them to the white line. With a field that included Tour de France veteran Jonathan Vaughters, national time-trial champ Chris Baldwin, and a host of top locals, the 2003 Historic Downtown Longmont (Colorado) Criterium provided an exciting day of racing. Picturesque manicured streets, pleasant temperatures and a gentle breeze disguised the exercise in suffering that ensued from the gun. As Travis Jones (Team Stealth), observed, the flat

Mayo and shadow

Millar preserved his podium spot

The Col du Lauteret

Armstrong stayed with his competition

Legendary 18-time RAAM racer Rob Kish at Sunday's solo field start

A couple hundred cyclists and supporters showed up Sunday morning up to follow the solo field through it's 15-mile nuetral start

The lone female solo racer, Rebecca Smith

2003 RAAM solo racer Allen Larsen kisses wife and baby goodbye on Father's day

Editor's note: Vincent Gee is mechanic for the U.S. Postal ServiceCycling Team, largely responsible for the domestic circuit. Gee will bereporting back to VeloNews.com throughout the season.June 5 - Tuesday’s race in Lancaster was raining all day long but today (Thursday), it was dry. Nonetheless, it was bike wash, followed by bike wash, followed by yet another bike wash yesterday and this morning. The Lancaster race ended really late Tuesday so we put the dirty bikes away for the night and set off to a late dinner. Wednesday morning Julien (head mechanic) Allen Buttler and I pulled them

Lance Armstrong’s spill in Friday’s fifth stage of the Dauphiné Libéré race was one of the Texans rare crashes during competition. Armstrong went down on a descent after leaving Morzine after his wheel apparently locked up and sent the four-time Tour de France champion sprawling to the pavement. Armstrong wasn’t seriously injured and finished the race with cuts to his right elbow and rips in his cycling shorts. He later received two stitches and was expected to start Saturday’s climbing stage. Typically, Armstrong stays out of trouble by staying near the front of the bunch, the safest place

If the Dauphiné Libéré race is Lance Armstrong's dress rehearsal for the upcoming Tour de France, don't expect any major changes in the plot line come July. The four-time Tour winner brushed off aches and pains from Friday's spill and withstood more aggressive attacks from Euskaltel's Iban Mayo on the classic climb up the Col du Galibier. "From the moment I cycled from the hotel to the start line, I knew it would be a difficult day because my body was aching all over," Armstrong said after finishing fourth behind winner Juan Miguel Mercado. "I suppose that's why I couldn't find my proper

On a muddy day in the West Virginia mountains that claimed a couple of prominent victims, Jimena Florit and Ryder Hesjedal slipped and slid to cross-country glory, and Jill Kintner and Mike King navigated the brackets to mountain-cross wins on day one of NORBA NCS 2 at Snowshoe Mountain. Alison Dunlap, Luna’s former world champion and World Cup winner, was transported to a nearby hospital with a possibly dislocated shoulder following a crash in the cross country. Meanwhile, Trek-Volkswagen’s Wade Bootes went down hard in the evening mountain-cross competition and required several minutes to

SATURDAY: Things haven’t changed much since my last update. The heater’s still set on high here in France, and I’m still taking things pretty easy. Yesterday’s stage featured a fair amount of climbing. But the big story of the day was Lance’s crash on an early descent. Being that he’s always so well protected, he’s not a guy you see hit the bricks very often. So it was big news when word of his hitting a pothole spread through the peloton. Luckily he was able to get back on his bike and continue the stage. Most of the riders were pretty respectful toward his situation, especially as

Lance Armstrong tests his legs on the Galibier.

Mercado celebrates.

A well-managed, properly officiated and expertly driven road-race caravan can be a beautiful thing. It is a choreographed vehicular ballet, balancing cars, drivers, riders, roads and the climatic elements in a colorful montage moving along at 40kph to sometimes 80kph. On the other hand, a poorly organized and badly handled one can be a dangerous cluster … er… flick. At the Hamilton World Road Championships we’re hoping for the former. If we get the latter, I will have really screwed up. But I won’t be alone, and indeed I will be in very esteemed company, as the other guy – the guy with the

If Raimondas Rumsas is guilty of doping charges stemming from this year's Giro d'Italia, Lance Armstrong for one believes that the Lithuanian should be banned from the sport for life. "Rumsas? He is an idiot to take drugs after what happened last year and knowing that the UCI people were watching him," Armstrong said after retaining the overall lead in the Dauphine Libere on Friday. Rumsas has been temporarily suspended by the Lampre team for failing a doping test at last month's Giro d'Italia. Sources close to his team say that Rumsas tested positive for EPO following the sixth stage of

I’m sitting here waiting. I know the news is coming, it’s just a matter of when. When will Boulder begin its prairie-dog, monkeypox hospice program? For those of you unfamiliar with VeloNews’s hometown, this is the city that banned the killing of prairie dogs and enacted a “relocation” program in 1999. It was the constant inundation of stories about prairie dogs -- and the guy whose goal in life was to locate by GPS every single dog dropping in city open space -- that eventually led me to cancel my subscription to the local Boulder Daily Camera. Since the monkeypox outbreak, though, I’ve been

Drew Miller (Landis-Trek-VW) has added the inaugural North American Climber's Cup to his list of triumphs this year, following impressive wins at Arizona’s La Vuelta de Bisbee and New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila. The cup combined a pair of two-day USCF races with 42,535 feet of climbing over 233 miles - the Death Valley Road Stage Race, May 17-18, and the Everest Challenge Stage Race, June 7-8. Both were held in California’s Sierra Nevada. The Death Valley race included a 12.7-mile climb that averaged 8 percent grade, rising 5,280 feet to a finishing elevation of 9,200 feet. A $1,000

Newly crowned U.S. national champ Mark McCormack’s first defense of his new stars-and-stripes jersey fell short at the opening stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix Thursday. McCormack’s Saturn squad rode wisely, making the key breaks and setting up for the final sprint, but could not hold off a tough Navigators squad determined to show its strength. Riding a three-man break into Virginia, Minnesota, in the inaugural Iron Range Road Race, Navigators’ Irishman Ciaran Power found his legs in the final sprint to beat McCormack, who finished third behind new professional Adam Bergman (Jelly

Lance Armstrong brushed off a rare crash early in Friday’s 192km fifth stage to retain the overall lead of the 55th Dauphiné Libéré race in another blistering hot day in France. Armstrong crashed alone while coming off a descent just 14km after the start in Morzine and cut his right elbow and buttocks. Team officials said they weren’t sure what caused the crash, but the four-time Tour champion went down going an estimated 70 kph. “He’s okay. You never know what can happen when you crash going that fast,” said team spokesman Jogi Mueller. Armstrong finished the stage with rips on his

Saturn scored a double in stage two of the Nature Valley Grand Prix Friday in Virginia, Minnesota, as Tom Danielson and Manon Jutras won their respective 6-mile time trials. Danielson turned a 9:08, followed by teammate Viktor Rapinski in 9:18 and Jelly Belly’s Adam Bergman, who continues to shine in his home-state debut as a pro, in 9:28. In the women’s race, Saturn swept the podium, with Jutras at 12:06, Lyne Bessette at 12:16 and Katie Mactier at 12:20. Complete results and overall standings were not immediately available. The racers travel to downtown Minneapolis for a twilight