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"It's the toughest sponsorship climate I've ever seen. Right now it's justa dry lakebed."Rick Sutton of GaleForcein a chat with Jason Sumner of VeloNews About 8 million people age 7 and older tried mountain biking off-road at least once in 2002, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. More than 82 million tried walking. And we’re surprised that the NORBA National Championship Series has sponsorship troubles? Puh-leeeze. With all due respect to the pros who may be racing for fun like the rest of us this season, if I were the marketing wizard for Chevy Trucks, I would have my

What a week it’s been for Tyler Hamilton. Just a week after becoming the first American to win Liège-Bastogne- Liège, Hamilton erased a 46-second deficit in Sunday’s final-day time trial to claim the overall title at the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland. “I’m incredibly happy and it’s like a dream come true to win them both,” Hamilton said of his rare Liège-Romandie double. “I didn’t know how well I did in the time trial. I didn’t have time splits, so I went as hard as I could. I knew there was a lot at stake, but I am surprised to win by that margin.” The 20.4km time trial was well-suited

Danes celebrated cycling during its most important weekend of racing in fine fashion, with national riders Frank Hoj (fatka) winning Saturday’s GP S.A.T.S. and Jakob Piil (CSC) taking the big win in Sunday’s CSC Classic. The two Danish powerhouses dominated both races, the most important one-day races on the Danish cycling calendar. The only things bigger are the Danish national championships and the Tour of Denmark. Saturday’s race took the peloton over gravel and dirt roads around Herning, the hometown for 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis. But it was fatka’s Hoj that stole the show

In the mountains surrounding Silver City, New Mexico this Sunday, Canadian cycling phenom’ Geneviève Jeanson (Rona Esker) and Flagstaff, Arizonan, full-time father, husband, mechanical engineer, and self-proclaimed ‘old, club rider,’ Drew Miller tucked their third Tour of the Gila overall wins each under their respective belts on Sunday. Showing two different types of cycling dominance -- Jeanson purely overmatching her competition, Miller outworking and outplaying his -- the men’s and women’s races were each decided before they had reached the halfway mark earlier this weak. In a

They're working on developing a downhill event, too.

All of the excitement of Mountain-cross, without the insurance hassles

A strong TT made all the difference.

Perez was in yellow... for the day

Laurent Dufaux took second overall

After a while, Jeanson had no one to chase except the masters racers who had started well ahead of her

The alliance up front

Neutral support. When you get a flat, your first job is to find your wheel

Working man's hero

At the close of the 2002 Telluride 360 Degree Festival, Rick Sutton couldn’t have been happier. His latest brainchild had been a substantial success, and he was already looking ahead to 2003. Next year would almost certainly include a World Cup triple, and there was even talk of a point-to-point cross-country race that might start on the other side of the mountains in Durango. Sutton’s event would eventually be awarded that World Cup triple, and until recently it looked like all was a go for the second year of the multi-sports festival in the scenic southwestern Colorado resort town. But

Spaniard Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milaneza-MSS) took the lead in the Tour of Romandie on Saturday after winning the 146.5km stage between Monthey and Chatel-St-Denis on the penultimate day of the event. Perez Sanchez cruised home alone on the final kilometer after overtaking second-placed Italian Eddy Mazzoleni (Vini Caldirola-Sidermec), who eventually finished 21 seconds behind, on the final mountain climb. Swiss riders Fabian Jeker (Milaneza-MSS) and Alexandre Moos (Phonak), finished third and fourth. American Tyler Hamilton (CSC) was fifth. The start was delayed by three minutes as

The 21st century isn't all it's cracked up to be. The mighty Inside Communications Server Farm spent most of Saturday immobilized by a power outage after a peon whose Starbucks card had been rejected tripped over an extension cord en route to the coffee urn at a nearby 7-Eleven. The fan quit spinning, the hamster got all sweaty, the wheel stopped turning, and before you could say, "Al Gore invented the what?", cycling journalism as we know it ground to a halt. We promise it will never happen again. Until the next time. Stay tuned from reports from the 1989 Tour de France, where we understand

A gutsy solo move in the final three laps of Saturday’s fourth stage of the Tour of the Gila propelled Tecos’s Florencio Ramos Torres to a win, robbing the field’s prominent sprinters from an opportunity to strut their stuff… and earn their paychecks. Of course the day’s biggest and most unexpected development came during the women's race when Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson did not win. We repeat: Jeanson did not win. At least that’s how the news should probably sound with Jeanson so dominant in U.S. women’s cycling these days, but that story line would take due credit from the strength and

Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milaneza-MSS) salutes the crowd as he dons the leader’s jersey with just one stage remaining

Alexandre Moos (Phonak) dogs Tyler Hamilton (CSC)

Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milaneza-MSS) finally finds the finish line

Cycling's world track championships, scheduled to take place in China this summer, have been canceled because of fears over SARS, the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed today. "The UCI wishes to express appreciation to the organizers of Shenzhen, as well as to the Chinese National Cycling Federation," the UCI said in a press release. "The UCI also wishes to confirm that track world championships will most certainly take place in China before the 2008 Olympic Games of Beijing, probably in 2007." This year's track world's was due to be held July 30-August 3 in Shenzen, the southern

Feel like I finally earned my stripes last week. Not because I finally got to cover a U.S. stage race the magnitude of the Tour de Georgia (the Coors Classic and Tour DuPont were a little before my time). No, I’m talkin’ about finally eating at a Waffle House. Having spent the first 22 years of my life in California, I had a valid excuse for a while, but after my extensive American travels - and living within 20 miles of a Waffle House here in Colorado - that excuse was wearing pretty thin. So, it was with great delight that on the third day of the Tour de Georgia, my roommates and I made

The wearing of a hard-shell helmet in elite men's races is to be made compulsory, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) said on Friday. The move, which takes effect in time for the start of the Giro d'Italia in May, comes after the death of Kazakh rider Andrei Kivilev from head injuries at Paris-Nice in March. "The International Cycling Union (UCI) announces that as from 5 May 2003 it will be mandatory to wear a hard-shell helmet in Elite Men's events for classes 4 and above," the UCI said in a statement. "This decision was taken in agreement with all parties represented in the

Swiss rider Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) took the overall jersey from Italian Simone Bertoletti in the Tour of Romandie on Friday when he won the third stage of the event between Moudon and Loeche-Les-Bains, a stage that was marred when Spaniard Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milanez) was mistakenly directed off the course in the final kilometers. Dufaux and Perez Sanchez of Milaneza were credited with the same time and placing on the stage, with Swiss rider Fabian Jeker, also of Milaneza, second and Phonak's Alexandre Moos third. Italian Giosue Bonomi (Saeco) was forced to pull out early in the

Mountain-bike racing needed some good news, and Friday it looks like it got some. VeloNews has learned that the mountain-biking version of the Jeep King of the Mountain series has gotten the thumbs up from Chrysler, and that a three-race made-for-TV series will get under way on June 29 in Wintergreen, Virginia. “We just met with Chrysler and worked out the final details,” said Denise Lavaroni, the VP of events for Eclipse TV, the production company behind the new series. The series will continue on July 29 at a yet-to-be-determined site in Colorado, before concluding August 23 in

Saturn and Navigators both came to the Uptown Greenwood Professional Cycling Challenge expecting to win. And so it was no surprise that between them, the two teams had five riders in a 14-man break that led the 50-mile race from midway on. But when push came to shove Thursday night on the streets of Greenwood, South Carolina, in the third race of the South Carolina Heritage Cycling Series, it was Ofoto-Lombardi pulling off an upset as the big boys concentrated on each other. Ofoto’s Erik Saunders took a flyer out of the front group with less than eight laps remaining, building a 10-second

It was just another day at the office for Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker), who soloed off the front of the pack 12 miles into the 76-mile third stage of the Tour of the Gila on Friday morning, tacking an additional 5 1/2 minutes onto her overall lead. But Gord Fraser (Health Net) had to win his race in company, pouncing at the line on Steve Cate (Mathis Brothers) and Todd Wells (Hyundai-Mongoose) like a famished tabby on a pair of field mice, showcasing to whoever is paying attention that he is to be considered a racer of note in domestic cycling and is in top form early in the season. For

Tyler Hamilton (CSC) leads the charge.

Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milaneza) fights toward the line.

Laurent Dufaux takes the win and the lead.

Dufaux wins stage, seizes Romandie lead

No, Geneviève Jeanson has not taken to racing cars.

Gord Fraser had the legs today.

Used to be events like those put on by energy drink maker Red Bull were strictly diversions for pro racers, something to do when there were no mainstream (read NORBA and World Cup) races going on. But with the recent NORBA debacle (no pro prize money) and the shrinking World Cup (the cancellation of Telluride leaves just five races on the calendar), events like the Red Bull Downtown are becoming more and more important. The Downtown, a gravity race that will be run on the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, May 11, will bring together a world class field (Peat, Gracia, Lopes, and Chausson are just

Dear Mr. Mionske,Has anyone ever legally defined just what it means to "stop" at a stopsign when on a bicycle? Do you have to stop pedaling, stop rolling, stopand get out of your saddle, put one foot on the ground, count to ten andsay a hail mary before proceeding, what? I had a vehement argument withan officer for citing me the other day because he said I "ran thru traffic",meaning, from what I could understand, that he felt I was suppose to yieldlonger before crossing the street in the face of a car approaching frommy left who did not have a stop sign. He implied that I should have let the

Mario Scirea is one of cycling’s hardest-working pros. The 37-year-old veteran has only won two races in his career that started in 1989, but for a rider like Scirea, it’s not his victories that he’s paid to earn. Scirea is the man that drives Mario Cipollini’s train to the finish line in cycling’s fast and furious sprinting stages. Last year, with Scirea’s uncompromising help, Cipollini enjoyed his best season ever. Next week, Scirea will line up for the start of the Giro d’Italia and will have the pressure on his shoulders as Cipollini eyes breaking the stage-win record set by Alfredo

For most people, the 2003 World Cycling Championships being held up and down the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario will begin October 6. For me, they began February 7 in Montreal when I loaded a few necessities in a U-Haul trailer and my big dog in my old truck and drove up the 401, the Trans-Canada Highway, as hundreds of thousands of other Quebec Anglophones have done, to join the Hamilton 2003, the Organizing Committee (OC) for the Worlds as the Competition Coordinator. What will follow in this space for the next few months will be a blog-typecolumn (web log) of how one goes about

Ukrainian Yuriy Krivtsov won the second stage of the Tour of Romandie on Thursday but Italian rider Simone Bertoletti retains the overall lead with three days of the event remaining. Krivtsov, riding for Jean Delatour, put in a dominant performance after breaking from the pack early in the race and sprinted home to claim a comfortable victory. He finished the 178.2km test from Couvet to Lucens in four hours, 19 minutes and 36 seconds to finish 12 seconds ahead of Swiss Phonak rider Martin Elmiger. The chasing pack were one minute and 23 seconds behind Krivtsov, with Italian Angelo Furlan,

I think for the rest of my life, April 27th, 2003, is going to stay with me as something special. Achieving victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège is something my team and I will always look back on with amazement and pride. It sounds kind of trite to say it like this, but it's true - everything came together perfectly for us on Sunday. The entire CSC team rode incredibly well together. There wasn't one guy on our squad who didn't play a role. All in all, it was a fantastic day, top to bottom. Heading out, I was a little concerned about the weather. It rained hard on Saturday and the forecast for

Editor:I knew that it was only a matter of time before some uninformed dolt would write in to discuss Lance Armstrong’s superiority over Eddy Merckx in response to Eddy's critique of Lance. In response to Justin Maines’s inept letter (see “Of Cowboys and Cannibals”) - duuuude, put down the bong, turn off the Limp Bizkit, pull out your nose ring and listen up. Here are the stats. Eddy's wins: Five Tour victories (including a record 35 stage wins and 96 days in yellow), five Giros, one Vuelta, three world championships, the hour record, three Paris-Nices, one Tour of Switzerland, seven

Organizers of the 2003 Capital Cup have been forced to cancel the Washington, D.C. Pro/Am event due to an eleventh-hour withdrawal of an unspecified sponsor. Given the short notice, the likelihood of finding a replacement is unlikely, and Arlington Sports, Inc., the promoting organization, is unwilling to take on the financial risk of finding another sponsor at this late date. “It’s too late now,” explained race director Rob Laybourn. “We’re hoping that we can bring the race back next year.” Laybourn added that Arlington Sports will now focus its efforts on continuing to develop the sister

Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) did her solitary thing Thursday, extending her overall lead to nearly four minutes in just the second stage of New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila. Meanwhile, Drew Miller relied upon his Trek-VW All Stars team to keep the race under control and leave him free to do what he does best - climb. With perfect weather (clear, with temperatures in the 70s), the 92-mile men’s race offered up two sprint bonuses for riders with GC aspirations. Early on, a 13-man group that included Mike Sayers, two Health Net teammates and a couple of strong Mexican climbers from Team Tecos

MTB News and Notes: Alternative racing

The course map

MTB News and Notes: Alternative racing

MTB News and Notes: Alternative racing

Gunn-Rita Dahle

Tick, tick, tick, tick...

The 'nerve center'

The camera sees all

On the Côte de la Redoute

This part really hurt.

'Felony ugly?' But Obi-Wan . . .

Yuriy Krivtsov takes stage 2 at Romandie.

Rona in charge

Sayers

Ang Sheldrake

Editor:Is Eddy Merckx a protective daddy or a bitter has-been (See "Merckxcritical of Armstrong after Liège)? Either way, why does the cycling community give so much credit to his babblings? In his day he wasgreat. In today's era he would only be slightly more successful than hisson. He wouldn't stand a chance at the Tour, and only the rolling classicswould offer him a chance (no big climbs and no pure sprints). He calls Lance Armstrong arrogant. That goes to show you Merckx's ownarrogance, to think that he knows all and that we really care what he thinks.Any athlete at the top of his game

With the nation’s newest and richest stage race — the Dodge Tour de Georgia — just wrapped up, the five-stage Holiday Inn Express Tour of the Gila, held in Silver City, New Mexico, won’t be pulling in the same caliber of road teams as it has in years past. “It’s going to be a mountain bikers’ training ground this year,” noted race director Jack Brennan, regarding the absence of top domestic teams like Saturn, Prime Alliance and Navigators in the men’s NRC event. “With [NORBA National Championship Series #1] Big Bear two weeks away, it’s a perfect chance for them to get in some racing

Rarely do suicidal solo breakaways pay off, but it did for Lampre’s Simone Bertoletti in Wednesday’s 181km first stage of the Tour of Romandie. The Italian jumped away from the group in the opening 25km and built up a lead that went north of 15 minutes over the rolling stage in the rain-drenched hills of Switzerland. Phonak and CSC finally started to chase, but it was too late to catch Bertoletti. He had plenty of time to roll across the finish-line for a full celebration ritual: straighten the jersey, do a Holy Cross, kiss toward the heavens, pump his arms and blow kisses to the crowd. “At

ONCE’s sport director Manolo Saiz says Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will race at this summer’s Tour de France despite a six-month racing ban in France handed down Wednesday by a French anti-doping agency. “I am tranquil and I am convinced that Igor will be present at the start line of the Tour de France,” Saiz told the Efe news agency Wednesday. “Neither the racer nor we have had any communication, so there’s not a lot to say or worry about right now. From the first day, the UCI has said this is not a question of doping, but of health.” On Wednesday, Gonzalez de Galdeano -- the ONCE rider who

Hi Monique;As an active cyclist and sometimes runner, I love reading your magazinecolumn. Your nutritional advice has proven very useful.My stomach is my dilemma. During the work week, I usually exercise earlyin the morning (pre-work) then I eat a sensible breakfast (banana/OJ/yogurtsmoothie), lunch (apple/pear/ham or turkey sandwich) and am able to makeit through the day. Unfortunately, when I get home at about 6 p.m., I immediatelygrab a snack, followed by a larger than should be allowed dinner, followedby desert (and a nice serving of guilt as an aperitif).When I commute, the evening

There seems to be no shortage of bad news when it comes to mountain-bike racing these days. Just a week after it was announced that there would be no pro prize money at this year’s NORBA NCS races, VeloNews has learned that the World Cup stop in Telluride, Colorado has been cancelled. According to Annie Kuhles, communications manager at the Telluride Ski Resort, “basically the lack of a title sponsor for the event led to its demise. I don’t know all the exact details, but it’s definitely not happening.” The Telluride World Cup, stop No. 4 on what was to be a five-race circuit, was

Genevieve Jeanson continued her sweep through the southwest Wednesday as she dominated a tough 15.7-mile time trial that opened New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila Wednesday. Though renowned as a tough sprinter, Health Net’s Gord Fraser proved he was no slouch in a hilly time trial as he took the men’s event. Kicking off in Silver City, New Mexico Wednesday, Jeanson (Rona-Esker) left few doubters as she cruised to an apparently easy win in the first stage of the 17th running of the Tour of the Gila, a 15.7 mile out-and-back climbing time trial with a time of 40:00:68. Ex-teammate Manon Jutras

Saturn's Viktor Rapinski rode to the top spot on the podium at the first race of the inaugural South Carolina Heritage Cycling Series in Anderson, S.C., Tuesday, April 29. Rapinski took the win in a two-man break with Danny Pate of Prime Alliance. Rapinski, Pate, Saturn's Chris Horner and Roberto Gaggioli of Monex landed the first four spots after lapping the main field 1-1/2 times. Saturn dominated the race from the beginning, with Trent Klasna attacking after the initial lap. His attack went unchallenged and grew into a lead of more than 20 seconds before he rejoined the peloton.

A look at the Tour of the Gila

A look at the Tour of the Gila

Small towns, big fields

Bertoletti: Now and then riding like Jacky Durand actually does work.

The chase came just a little too late

Saiz

The Mail bag: Of Cowboys and Cannibals

Will Hincapie be ready for July?

Last year's event included pro cross-country as well.