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It's been nearly 15 years since Doug Smith’s smiling face first appeared on the Wheaties box, giving the cycling community a nice boost in the mainstream world. Unlike many of today’s top domestic riders, Smith's initial exposure to cycling was not the result of extensive media coverage of elite American racers. He took to cycling because it was better than walking, especially for a guy who was still a year away from getting his driver's license. Smith soon discovered he had something of a talent for riding the bike, and his favorite mode of transportation became his passion. His season

Room with a view... of the other two guys you have to share this with.

Bettini at San Remo, March 22.

This Paris-Roubaix will be his last, says Museeuw

Hey, what ever happened to... Doug Smith?

Hey, what ever happened to... Doug Smith?

Peter Van Petegem proved that his fortitude is harder than the cobbles of northern France in a dramatic victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Van Petegem (Lotto-Domo) had better luck than most in a day dominated with crashes and punctures and becomes the first rider to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same year since Roger de Vlaeminck in 1977. Dario Pieri (Saeco) earned a well-deserved second-place while Viatcheslav Ekimov scored the second consecutive third-place podium finish for the U.S. Postal Service team in cycling’s "Hell of the North."

Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) is anxious to win mountain bike races and wants to do it on his own terms. His feisty racing style sometimes comes back to haunt him, but win or lose the 22-year-old remains unphased. Hesjedal made the race in Sunday’s 36-mile cross country race, the final stage of the 2003 Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race, attacking from the gun and stringing out the 106-man pro field. But in the end Hesjedal couldn’t match a final surge from his friend, countryman and overall winner, Roland Green (Trek-VW), who won his third stage of the four-stage race. Green

A busy day for the gravity set. Sunday saw six gravity athletes take the top spots on the podium. Champions were crowned in both the men's and women's categories in the downhill and mountain cross events. These results were then combined with Saturday's dual slalom results to produce the inaugural Sea Otter Gravity Omnium champions. With two serious tangles in both the men's and women's mountain cross finals, two surprise winners were crowed overall champions. Sunday's schedule of gravity events saw racers tackling a "new and improved" downhill course in an early morning "dawn patrol" raid

Eki' makes the bridge

Pieri and Aldag

That early break

The tough and dusty road

Wheels, wheels, wheels and finally a bike change for Tafi

Number four wasn't in the cards for Museeuw

Under control: Van Petigem was confident coming into Roubaix

Hesjedal: The animator

Green: The champ

The four cross produced extremely tight racing

King wore a much-ridiculed skinsuit to take the downhill victory

Sea Otter Gravity Sunday

Blatter and Dunlap

Immediately after finishing seventh at Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday, Johan Museeuw was angry with how the race had developed for his Quick Step-Davitamonteam, but he later said, “I again felt a little weakness [from my coldlast week], but in any case I will be ready for the Hell” — referring toParis-Roubaix’s moniker, the Hell of the North. In hindsight, Museeuw andhis Quick Step teammates Tom Boonen and Servais Knaven should havecontrolled the 12-strong break that emerged 40km from the finish of Ghent-Wevelgem,and protected each other in the strong head winds before making some attackspay off

Quick Step1. Museeuw (B)2. Boonen (B)3. Bramati (I)4. Cretskens (B)5. Kashechkin (Kz)6. Knaven (Nl)7. Tankink (Nl)8. Vandenbroucke (B)Telekom11. Zabel (G)12. Aldag (G)13. Hundertmarck (G)14. Klier (G)15. Kopp (G)16. Nardello (I)17. Schaffrath (G)18. Schumacher (G)Saeco21. Pieri (I)22. Bonomi (I)23. Commesso (I)24. Fornaciari (I)25. Ludewig (G)26. Pepoli (I)27. Quaranta (I)28. Zanini (I)Fassa Bortolo31. Cancellara (Swi)32. S. Ivanov (Rus)33. Kirchen (Lux)34. Larsson (S)35. Loda (I)36. Petito (I)37. Trenti (USA)38. Zanotti (I)fdjeux.com41. Guesdon (F)42. Casper (F)43. Derepas (F)44. Durand

When riders roll up to the start line in front of the Place du Palais in Compiegne on Sunday morning for the 101st Paris-Roubaix, there will be only three Americans in the field. Tony Cruz, 32, will be riding in support of U.S. Postal team leaders Max Van Heejswick and Vietcheslav Ekimov; 30-year-old Fred Rodriguez of Sidermec will be hoping to score a good result for himself. There’s a third American, if count Fassa Bortolo’s “virtual Italian” Guido Trenti, the young man who made his American debut on the U.S. world’s team in Zolder last October. Both Rodriguez and Cruz are recovering from

On paper a 30-minute event wouldn’t seem too hard. After all, no matterhow hard it is, it only lasts half an hour. But don’t tell that to theracers whose tongues were dragging after 3 minutes of Saturday’s third stagein the 2003 Sea Otter Classic MTB event. The short track race always delivers on its promise of being the hardesthalf hour in mountain bike racing. “That is the hardest stage of the Sea Otter right there,” said men’swinner Roland Green (Trek-VW). Green, who went into the day as the overall leader on GC, extended his lead after a last-lap attack took him clear of his three

In a day marked with cold, wet and windy weather, Matt Decanio of Prime Alliance and Saturn's Manon Jutras took big wins in the Sea Otter Classic's Stage 4 road race on Saturday. In the men's race, an initial break consisting of Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) and Jacob Erker (Schroeder Iron) dangled in front of the field for almost the entire day, reaching a maximum gap of 1:45 — with Saturn’s trio of GC leaders controlling the front off the field — before it was brought in at the base of the final climb. Once there, the peloton spread thin as racers, tired from nearly three weeks of continuous

With the promise of heavy rain in the late afternoon, dual slalom racersqualified early Saturday morning knowing course conditions were sure tochange by the 3:00 p.m. main event. And, almost as if on cue, Mother Naturelet loose a torrent of rain just as competitors lined-up for the firstofficial gravity racing of the weekend. The dry course qualifying saw the usual suspects taking their respectiveplaces on the leader board. Chris Kovarik, Cedric Gracia were the onlytwo male riders able to complete both the blue and red courses under oneminute (59.86 seconds and 59.84 seconds respectively),

Can Museeuw make it four?

Rodriguez

Americans ready for Hell of the North

Green tightens his grip

Green and Dunlap take short track at Otter

Jutras kept her eye on Jeanson on the final climb

Nathan O'Neill held on to take the overall

Postal and Saturn battle it out... and Decanio bides his time

Gracia

Donovan's idea of retirement

Dunlap keeps getting stronger

Editor:Just wanted to share an experience I had with a poorly marshaled racein a residential neighborhood. A few years ago, there was a crit held in Fox Point, Wisconsin (justnorth of Milwaukee), on the Fourth of July. I figured that it would bea good final test for the legs before Superweek, and a cool race for mymom to come watch. Almost until the end, it was a fun race on a good course. On the lastlap, as the field came out of the last corner and accelerated towards thefinish line, an ambulance pulled onto the course, trying to get acrossto the fire station - not a good thing during a

The 1890s1896 Josef Fischer (G) 280km&Nbsp; (30.162kph)1897 Maurice Garin (F) 280km (28.124kph)1898 Maurice Garin (F) 268km (32.599kph)1899 Albert Champion (F) 268km (31.976kph)The 1900s1900 Emile Bouhours (F) 268km (37.352kph)1901 Lucien Lesna (F) 280km (25.861kph)1902 Lucien Lesna (F) 268km (28.088kph)1903 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (29.104kph)1904 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (32.518kph)1905 Louis TROUSSELIER (F) 268km (33.206kph)1906 Henri CORNET (F) 270km (27.034kph)1907 Georges PASSERIEU (F) 270km (30.971kph)1908 Cyrille VAN HAUWAERT (B) 271km (25.63kph)1909 Octave LAPIZE (F)

Spain’s Iban Mayo ruled the final day of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco while CSC’s Tyler Hamilton finished second overall in a classic shoot-out in the rugged hills of northern Spain. Hamilton rode strong in Friday’s rain-marred final split stage, finishing with the lead group of just three riders in the morning’s difficult climbing stage and then performed well in the afternoon time trial. But it was Mayo who stole the show, winning the morning stage and the afternoon time trial to wrap up the overall title. It’s an important victory for his Euskaltel team, hoping for a bid to this summer’s

The Cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, 2003 - Total= 49.100 kmSection 26 Km 99.8 TROISVILLES Rue de la Sucrerie2200 metersSection 25 Km 106.3 VIESLY - Rue de la Chapelle1800 metersSection 24 Km 108.5 QUIEVY - Rue de Valenciennes3700 metersSection 23 Km 113.7 QUIEVY à SAINT-PYTHON1500 metersSection 22 Km 121.9 HAUSSY 900 metersSection 21 Km 128.6 SAULZOIR 1200 metersSection 20 Km 132.9 VERCHAIN-MAUGRE à QUERENAING1600 metersSection 19 Km 136.0 MAING 2500 metersSection 18 Km 139.2 MONCHAUX SUR ECAILLON 1600 metersSection 17 Km 145.8 HASPRES 1700 metersSection 16 Km 158.3 HAVELUY 2500 metersSection 15 Km

For many European road teams, a win at a major spring classic can go a long way toward calling the season a success. With Peter Van Petegem’s win at the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, his Lotto-Domo squad, beloved by their Belgian fans, has one feather in its cap already. And Telekom had a pleasant surprise when its 27-year-old German Andreas Klier stole a win at Ghent-Wevelgem Wednesday. But two days before the 101st running of Paris-Roubaix, arguably the most prestigious race of all the spring classics, one team is growing restless for a win: Quick Step-Davitamon. Stacked with talent, the

I just managed to sneak away from the Tech area at Sea Otter long enough for a quick update. A pre-dawn raid on SRAM's tech headquarters proved fruitful with us coming away with another first-look at 2004 products. Wanted to make sure you read it here first. Here's the short story (look for complete coverage in VeloNews #8 due out in two weeks). SRAM has introduced two all-new trigger shifters: the X-9 and X-7. Both use 1:1 "Impulse Technology" which is said to provide riders the flexibility to activate shifts with multiple parts of their hand. This translates into shifting ability with

Normally, Tyler Hamilton would love to race flat out down a descent like the one included in the final-stage time trial at Spain’s Tour of the Basque Country on Friday evening. After all, the New Englander on the Danish team CSC was one of the country’s best alpine skiers, specializing in the slalom, before he became a pro cyclist. Those downhill skills, plus his low center of gravity, make him one of the best descenders in the European peloton, particularly on a narrow, twisting course like the one he encountered in this time trial. Starting the 13km test, Hamilton was equal on time with

I’ve got all of my fingers and all of my toesI’m pretty well off, I guess, I supposeSo how come I feel bad so much of the time?A man ain’t an island... John Donne wasn’t lyin’---“Hard Day On the Planet,” Loudon Wainwright III“You gonna rant this Friday?” the editor asked. “You gotta be mean; we don’t want people thinking we’re reining you in.” Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Like, with a couple hundred e-mails running 95 percent in favor of my continuing to act the fool - including a number of readers who think pretty much everything under my byline is as wrong as Dura-Ace on a DeRosa - I’m suddenly

Day three of racing at the Sea Otter Classic pro stage race saw no major changes on the leader board, as Saturn’s Lyne Bessette and Prime Alliance’s Michael Creed took stage wins in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Originally planned to be a criterium in Santa Cruz, Friday’s course was, at the last minute, changed to the raceway circuit of years past, due both to concerns over the integrity of the Santa Cruz course and a push to intensify the stage race after the pro men protested the controversial Redwood City circuit. Instead, the circuit race course was used, a course that includes a steep

In cycling, you know you’re a bad ass when you get an Italian nickname. While il professore might not rank up there with il diablo, il pirata, or il grillo in sheer gravity, Steve Tilford’s Italian nickname is still cool. The 42-year-old Tilford (Verge Sports) won the second stage of SOBE Sea Otter mountain bike stage race in his specialty, the fat boy criterium, and proved that having a niche, however small, can’t be a bad thing. Run along a scenic coastal course in Santa Cruz, the fat boy crit allowed (forced?) mountain bike racers to shed their knobbies for slicks and then try keep from

For 2003, Sea Otter promoters decided to add a new twist to the off-road gravity events. Chief Operating Officer Rick Sutton felt there was a need to reward those riders who take on all events with an overall goal of their own, thereby creating the "Gravity Omnium" a collection that includes mountain cross, downhill and dual slalom. It’s a sort of gravity variant of the “Iron Otter” that reserves a special prize for riders who take on both road and cross-country events at Sea Otter. Sutton explained, "we saw there were some riders who placed consistently well in all three events, but never

Museeuw wants another

The easy part

The fun part

The cobbles of Paris-Roubaix

A look at SRAM 2004

A look at SRAM 2004

A look at SRAM 2004

A look at SRAM 2004

Propaganda Remix Project

Redden still holds the overall

Creed celebrated his first win as a pro

Creed in the lead

Bessette and Jeanson: The all-Quebec break

T-Mobile's Amber Neben leads the chase

Wow, the silly season is certainly upon us again with a veritable truckloadof road and mountain bike races gearing-up just about everywhere. In fact,I just got back from a solid weekend of riding and racing in Moab, Utahwith VeloNews' own Jason Sumner and Jon "SlimJim" Stierwalt. Sure, we were primarily there on assignment to cover the 2003 Tour ofCanyonlands event (check out Jason's race reports earlier this week righthere at velonews.com and also in our upcoming issue #8), but you can'tfault us for also sneaking in a day of freeriding on the amazing PoisonSpider/Portal trails. We even

It always seemed like a natural fit for mountain biking: the Jeep King of the Mountain series. But until now you had to be involved in snow sports to wear one of those crowns. That could change come this summer’s latest rendition of the KOM, when the fat-tire sect may be battling for a total prize purse of $100,000 during a three-race series, which will receive three hours of television coverage. And while some of the i’s and t’s still need to be dealt with – mostly regarding scheduling – this is a done deal according to Eclipse TV’s Denise Lavaroni. “It’s definitely happening,” said

After being stuck on replay for three days, the Tour of the Basque Country changed the script in Thursday’s 171-km fourth stage. The five-climb stage didn’t end in a bunch sprint and there wasn’t a new leader, as has been the plot line since Monday. With the overall fight coming down to a nail-biter in Friday’s dual-stage finale, the leading protagonists didn’t want things to get too far out of control. Lampre’s Marco Pinotti scored a huge win after going on a mega solo break to finish just three seconds ahead of the surging peloton while Kelme’s Alejandro Valverde led the bunch across just

Day two of the Sea Otter pro stage race — a 12-mile time trial course finishing with a long, sustained climb — brought few surprises on the leader board, as Nathan O’Neill (Saturn) and Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker), both time trial and subsequent overall winners last week at Redlands, again put their stamp on the general classification. Often called the race of truth, Thursday’s time trial lived up to the name. It was a case of déjà vu all over again, as the strongest riders from the Redlands time trial rose to the top: the women’s event contained the same top-five as the Redlands time

Don’t always believe the rumors. They often prove unreliable. There were whispers around the pits here in Monterey that Roland Green was sick. The two-time defending world champion withdrew from the Redlands road stage race last week with two stages to go, citing a lingering illness. Green’s would-be challengers at the Sea Otter Classic were licking their chops, believing that the 2002 Sea Otter champ was vulnerable. But Green (Trek-Volkswagen) stormed Thursday’s five-mile time trial, the opening stage in the four-stage mountain bike stage, showing yet again why he’s the guy with the

Work, work, work, work, work... it never ends for us.

Tech report: Two scoops in every box

Tech report: Two scoops in every box

Tech report: Two scoops in every box

Tech report: Two scoops in every box

J.H.K. is A.W.O.L.

MTB News and Notes: Jeeps, Web sites and Whistler

MTB News and Notes: Jeeps, Web sites and Whistler