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The United States Anti-Doping Agency announced Friday that a three-member arbitration panel has ruled that track sprinter Tammy Thomas has committed a doping violation, her second in two years, and ordered the 32-year-old Colorado Springs resident be banned from competition for life. The three member panel of the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/North American Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found sufficient evidence to support a positive doping test involving the prohibited substance norbolethone.

He's got a smile on his face ... Really.

Lowe and Mathison are 2002 world champs

The Russian Trofimov was second in the junior men's race.

Italy's Tony Longo came across in third.

Rowney and his protege.

Tammy Thomas (file photo)

Tammy Thomas (file photo)

All the talk of Australia supplanting France as the world's No. 1 downhilling nation was squelched for at least a day Thursday, after French riders took seven of the eight top places in men's and women's qualifying at the world championships in Kaprun, Austria. On the men's side it was a clean sweep of the top three, with Cédric Gracia posting the day's fastest time of 5:23.88 down the 2-mile course. Less than a second behind the Volvo-Cannondale rider were countrymen Mickael Pascal and Nicolas Vouilloz. This is just the second race back for the reigning world champion Vouilloz, who missed

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in the pages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a line.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail tothis address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.Cipo's back. Oh happy dayEditors;Great News! (See "World'sfastest retiree turns in world's shortest 'retirement'")The cycling world needs Cipo’. We al hope to see him in the Tour nextyear and hope to see him win more races in 2003 including a new recordat the

Two rain delayed sessions have tightened the schedule and resulted in the cancellation of the final round of the team pursuit at the U.S. National Track Championships in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. Rains on Wednesday evening forced the postponement of the semi-finaland final rounds of the women's match sprint; the team pursuit finals andthe men's kilometer final. Re-scheduled for this morning, those eventswere further delayed because of weather. Facing an already compressed trackschedule, officials decided to award the men's team pursuit medals basedsoley on teams' performances in the

It's no secret that Lance Armstrong never used Shimano's SPD-R system. He rode what he liked and those were his old Look-compatible Shimanos. After three successive Tour de France wins, the Japanese manufacturer finally decided it had enough of watching its decade old equipment bring Armstrong to the podium and set out to build a pedal Lance would approve of. It looks like the new design got the nod of approval: Armstrong has kept them on his bike since spring. The svelte 276-gram/pair (plus 60 grams for the cleats, screws and washers) pedals are the fruit of their radical redesign labor.

After more than two days on his bike, Boulder, Colorado’s Chris Grealish won the grueling 750-mile Boston-Montreal-Boston ultra-marathon event. The one-time Colorado race promoter has returned to the saddle in style taking the race, which runs through Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Canada and back, in 53 hours and 48 minutes. Grealish attacked early – at least early in ultra-marathon terms – sliding off the front of the field just 50 miles into the race. The owner of Boulder/Denver Couriers delivery service continued through the first 579 miles of the race without a sleep break. After a

Rains in Trexlertown reshuffled the schedule at the national track championships, but competition resumed on Thursday night, with Jame Carney, Mike Beers and Tanya Lindenmuth taking home national titles. For Carney, it was a night of double duty, as the points race semifinals and finals were both contested in the Thursday evening session. After qualifying in the 60-lap semifinals, competitors had to turn right back around for the 120-lap final later in the evening. In the final, Carney (Prime Alliance) lapped the field twice to take the win. Navigators’s Marty Nothstein wassecond, and

The Kaprun course has lots of places to pick up speed.

Giove had the best day of the Americans, qualifying 2nd.

Aussie Nathan Rennie gets some airtime.

Making the trip to the top of the downhill course.

Prime Qualifier -- Little did the Prime Alliance squad know that this was their gold-medal performance.

Carney and Nothstein finished 1-2 in the points race

Lindenmuth took Uhl in two.

Beers

The Canadians like to call themselves the “powerhouse of world mountainbiking” and they’re not shy about talking about it. In Wednesday’s debutof the 2002 UCI World Mountain-bike Championships, the Canadians provedit was more than just hyperbole. The defending team relay world champions led every lap except the firstand proved, at least in this event, they are on top of mountain biking’sslag heap. France finished second and the Swiss third while the U.S. teamwas 11th. “This victory says a lot about the state of Canadian mountain bikingright now,” said Roland Green, the reigning world

He’s back. You just knew it wasn’t gonna last. Slightly more than a month after angrily announcing his “retirement” from cycling, Mario Cipollini has announced he will come out of said retirement in time for the Vuelta a España and the upcoming world championships in Belgium. Cipollini, a fearsome sprinter who won the Milan-San Remo World Cup and six stages at the Giro d’Italia this season, announced during the Tour de France he was hanging up his bike. He bitterly slammed the race organizers for not according one of the wildcards for the race to his Acqua e Sapone team despite his

It's all about the stripes -- Not zebra, not tiger, Cipo' wants rainbow stripes!

ANCHOR - Sydor had ample time to celebrate.

While we thought 2003 couldn't get any brighter for Shimano and its highly redefined XTR group, the Japanese manufacturer surprised us again this morning with the announcement that it would be producing its first XTR-level wheelset. Sources report the wheelset should go for around $850 and be available about the same time as the component group (around January, 2003.) Vital stats include: total wheelset weight of 1650 grams, both 24 spoke count in a paired lateral crossover pattern and, most significantly, are both tubeless and traditional-tire compatible. Although the wheels were not

Deutsche Telekom confirmed Tuesday that Australian Cadel Evans has signedwith the team for next season. The 25-year-old two-time winner of mountainbiking’s World Cup made a great first impression in his debut season asa road pro with Mapei-Quick Step.Evans and his teammates learned in July that long-time sponsor Mapeiis pulling out of the sport. However, on the heels of his impressive performanceat the Giro d’Italia, including a heroic day in the maglia rosa, Evanshas been a hot property.Evans’s signing, along with that of Flèche Wallone winner MarioAerts and 23-year-old Christian Werner,

First look: New XTR tubeless wheelset

First look: New XTR tubeless wheelset

CSC-Tiscali’s Tyler Hamilton said his season is over after breaking hisright collarbone and suffering two deep cuts in a bad crash during a trainingride Sunday before the GP Eddy Merckx time trial race in Belgium.Hamilton said he might have also suffered a mild concussion, something doctors checked for on Monday.“I look like bin Laden,” Hamilton told VeloNews on Monday justmoments after he left a hospital in Brussels where he underwent an MRI. “My arm’s in a sling. I have bandages. I look like bin Laden, but I’ll be okay.”Hamilton suffered a horrible crash Sunday while warming up on the

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was...Okay, I'll start from the beginning. I ride both road and mountain bikesprofessionally and recently I had my sanity tested by both. Here's my story.There's this race called the Saturn Cycling Classic, you may have heard ofit. It is 140 miles long and has 14,000 feet of high altitude climbing.It goes from Boulder to Breckenridge, Colorado, over seven mountain passesand up and down some pretty tore-up roads. So torn up, in fact, that atone point you actually change from a road bike to mountain bike and

At the Chris Thater Memorial Criterium in Binghamton, New York, on Sunday, Navigators Mark Walters and Trek Plus’s Laura Van Gilder took the wins at the National Racing Calendar event, each adding to an impressive season résumé. Walters, the winner of the USPRO road championship in Philadelphia, was part of a nine-rider breakaway group at Chris Thater that lapped the main field as the 50-mile race wound down. With 10 laps to go, the Navigators began to set things up for Walters, delivering him to the win on the last lap. Mercury’s Mike Sayers took second, while last year’s winner, John

One of the best teams in the history of mountain bike racing will not be returning for 2003. After nine years together, automaker Volvo and bikemaker Cannondale have announced the end of the Volvo-Cannondale racing team. According to Cannondale vice president of marketing Scott Montgomery, Volvo was the driving force behind the demise of the team. "I think Volvo has become a part of a large entity with lots of different directional requests," said Montgomery of the car company, which was bought by the Ford Motor Corporation in January of 1999. "There seems to be a contingent there

Marin Bikes just announced the launch of its patented Quad technology which will be featured on the company's XC full suspension bikes. The Quad was developed with chief designer John Whyte, an ex-Formula One engineer and cycling enthusiast. The Quad, named for its four-bar linkage system, four inches of rear wheel travel and quadratic wheel path equation will be available in four models including the East Peak, Rift Zone, Mount Vision and Mount Vision Pro. According to Marin, the Quad suspension design is a four-bar linkage system with a patented Intelligent Pivot (i.e. similar to VPP

England’s Jeremy Hunt sprinted to the biggest win of his career Sundayin the GP de Plouay, charging to the head of a field dominated by riders from English-speaking countries in the French race deep in the heart of Brittany. Hunt, 28, edged Australians Stuart O’Grady (Credit Agricole) and BadenCooke (FDJeux.com) in a bunch sprint in front of a raucous crowd undersunny summer skies. American Fred Rodriguez (Domo) finished fifth in one of France’s mostimportant one-day races on the calendar. “I stayed in the pack all day hoping it would come down to a sprint,”Hunt told French television. “I

GP Ouest France - 2002Results GP Ouest France -- Plouay1. Jeremy Hunt (GB), Big Mat, 4:44:022. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Credit Agricole3. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com4. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Phonak5. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Domo6. Jo Planckaert (B), Cofidis7. Peter Van Petegem (B), Lotto8. Serge Baguet (B), Lotto9. Laurent Jalabert (F), CSC-Tiscali10. Andrea Tafi (I), Mapei11. Raphael Schweda (G), Team Coast12. Luca Paolini (I), Mapei-Quick Step13. Björn Leukemans (B), Palmans-Collstrop14. Emmanuel Magnien (F), Bonjour15. Franck Renier (F), Bonjour16. Laurent Brochard (F), Jean-Delatour17.

Hunt led an anglophonic sprint to the line in Plouay

Mapei's Lazlo Bodrogi (L) and Fabian Cancellara

Belgian cyclist Johan Museeuw confirmed Saturday he has signed a 12-month deal with Quick Step and will finish his career with the Belgian team. "I've signed for a year even if I've still not decided how many months I'm going to race next season," said the 36-year-old cyclist, who joins from the Domo team. “The contract includes a follow-up when I stop cycling altogether. I will have a role in the Quick Step team which is in part public relations but also using my knowledge to scout and train young riders," added Museeuw. Museeuw has won two World Cup races this season, the

In a battle of wills, Petra Rossner was able to overcome a series of attacks from World Cup leader Mirjam Melchers Saturday and overtake her in the overall standings at the GP de Plouay in France. And at the finish line, it was fellow German, Regina Schleicher just edging out Rossner for the win. Rossner finished second in front of Susanne Lunjskog, hot off her second place finish in the Grand Boucle. Melchers was fourth. The seventh stop in the nine race series was held on a circuit course around the quaint town of Plouay. The field raced eight, 14 kilometer laps for a total of 113

Plouay hosted the Worlds in 2000 and I loved the course, the ambienceat the race and the support of the crowd.This year is the first year they have hosted a women’s World Cup eventhere. It seems a natural place for one since Brittany is the center ofcycling in France and I think Plouay is the center of cycling in Brittany.Each year the men’s race draws massive crowds and is one of the highlightson the French cycling calendar.The area brings back a lot of fond memories for me as Michael and Ispent a few good days here with our mothers in 2000. Earlier this year,when I started racing as a

Some of my friends and family at home seemed to think that the French WorldCup took place in a village called "Poulet" today. Pouletmeans chicken, and no, we really weren’t racing in a town called “chicken.”The race took place in the village of Plouay. I’m not sure if Plouay canbe translated into anything English, but I know it doesn’t mean chicken.Our five-woman Saturn squad came into this race motivated and excited.You just couldn’t tell by looking at us. We were all still quite worn outfrom La Grande Boucle. Ina had been telling me all week that I looked likehell. Hey thanks, Ina!I spent

Fassa Bortolo’s Kim Kirchen followed the wheel of Rabobank’sMichael Boogerd to ride all the way to final overall victory inthe final stage of the Tour of Holland. Kirchen earned valuable time bonusesalong the 205-km course through the hills of southern Holland to grab hisfirst major victory of his young career.Boogerd won the stage after he attacked with about 30 km left in thestage, but Kirchen followed and U.S. Postal Service rider Victor HugoPena, who started the day in the race lead, couldn’t reel in the breakand lost the race by 14 seconds. Kirchen started the day 40 seconds behindPena,

Records fell from a considerable height on Saturday as Tom Danielsonand Genèviève Jeanson tackled the 30th annual Mount WashingtonAuto Road Bicycle Hill Climb.The road up 6288-foot Mount Washington, the highest point in New Hampshire,is just 7.6 miles – but the climb is 4727 feet, with an average grade of12 percent, and the final 100 yards is a quad-shredding 22 percent.Quad-shredding for everyone but Danielson and Jeanson, that is. TheMercury man scaled the mountain in 49:24, clipping almost a minute offTyler Hamilton’s mark of 50:21, set in 1999. As for Rona’s Jeanson, sheobliterated

Lance Armstrong will race in Sunday’s GP Eddy Merckx, his lastmajor European race of the 2002 season. Armstrong will be hoping to repeathis victory from 2000 with Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov. The GP EddyMerckx started in 1980 and became a two-man time trial event in 1998.The pair take the start together again in the two-man time trial racewhich will also see the major comeback for cycling’s bad boy Frank Vandenbroucke,who will team with Domo’s Johan Museuuw.Armstrong has enjoyed his most successful European racing season sincehis dramatic comeback from cancer, winning Midi Libre, the Criterium

It’s the end of the world as we know it.REMIt’s probably just a coincidence that the badnews about the SuperCup arrived about the same time that the giantblack goat appeared on the local dude ranch where I do my cyclo-cross workouts.This unholy apparition, which spooked a couple of horses and sent twopilgrims flying, proved to be a peripatetic billy by the name of Goliathwhose anxious owners quickly reclaimed him. Nevertheless, after a summerof drought, fire, warfare and pestilence, this disquieting congruence ofevents set me to thumbing through my grandmother’s old Bible, checkingthe Book of

It’s hard as the devil to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, recently suspended without pay by Telekom for taking recreational drugs at a nightclub said Thursday he would like to make amends with his team. The 28-year-old Olympic road race champion and world time trial champion tested positive for amphetamines on June 12 and later admitted to taking ecstasy in at a disco while out with friends. "If I was a team manager or a team sponsor I would have 100 percent trust in Jan Ullrich," Ullrich said of himself in an interview with ARD television, his first since holding a press conference on July 6 to explain

Oscar Sevilla suffered in the Tour de France and abandonedin the Alps when he was expected to give Lance Armstrong a run forhis money. Instead, “El Nino” went back to Spain a frustrated and unhappyracer. This week, the Kelme rider is racing in Italy and finished fourth inthe Copa Agostini, a result that gives the Manchego rider some animationcoming into the Vuelta a  España.  “The most important this I have recovered the good sensationsI had in June,” Sevilla told the Spanish sports daily AS. “It givesme morale once again on the bike.” He races again Sunday in the Clasica a los Puertos

Following the USPRO Criterium Championship and the USCF elite women’s criterium championship, Navigators’s Vassili Davidenko and Diet Rite’s Tina Mayolo-Pic lead the VeloNews Bro Tour criterium rankings. Four events remain: this weekend’s Chris Thater Memorial, the San Rafael Cycling Classic, the Miami Cycling Classic and the Michelin Classic. VeloNews Bro Tour: criterium(after 6 of 10 events)Men1. (1t) Vassili Davidenko, Navigators, 982. (1t) Gord Fraser, Mercury, 823t. (3t) Dave McCook, Prime Alliance, 523t. (3t) Jonas Carney, Prime Alliance, 525. (9) Ivan Dominguez, Saturn, 436. (-)

George Hincapie was forced to skip Sunday’s Meisterschaft von Zürichand the Tour of Holland this week as the U.S. Postal Service rider is stillaching from injuries suffered during a fall in the Clasica San Sebastianon Aug. 10.Hincapie, however, says he still hopes to defend his title at the GPSan Francisco next month. “I’m trying to recover and be able to race there,”Hincapie told VeloNews on Tuesday from his European base in Girona,Spain. “I’m riding now a couple of hours a day. I just need to take iteasy and make sure it heals up right.”Hincapie put the rest of the 2002 season in doubt when

American Andy Lakatosh jump-started Team USA's performance at the 2002 World Junior Track Championships by winning a silver medal in the keirin on Wednesday. The keirin was the first event of the championships in Melbourne, Australia. Australia's Mark Jamieson won the gold to the delight of the hometown crowd. Lakatosh, who originally won the bronze medal, secured the silver after Colombia's Hernan Sanchez was disqualified for dangerous riding in the final heat. "I'm so excited about this," said a jubilant Lakatosh, whose parents and sister traveled to Australia to cheer him on. "Today's

Telekom's Erik Zabel  won the opening stage of the 2002Tour of Holland in a bunch sprint in Monday’s 220-km stage from Utrechtto Leeuwarden. Zabel edged Alexandre Usov (Phonak) and Jan Koerts,who came across the line third. The race will be a showdown between some of the hottest sprinters inthe game. With the world championships in early October, riders will beramping up their form. Joining Zabel at the start line Tuesday in Utrecht were 128 racers from16 teams, including Robbie McEwen (Lotto), world champion OscarFreire (Mapei), defending champion Leon Van Bon (Domo), IvanQuaranta

Mercury’s five-year run as a cycling team sponsor will come to an end at the close of the 2002 season. The Mercury Division of Ford Motors has announced that it will not renew the U.S. team's sponsorship for 2003. "We wish to express our sincere appreciation for all the devotion and passion demonstrated by the outstanding cyclists who are now or have been part of the Mercury Cycling Team," read a statement from Mercury management. In recent years, the team has been one of the most successful U.S. based cycling teams in terms of results, and has seen the likes of Baden Cooke, Floyd

Italian Dario Frigo's victory in the Zurich championship, the eighth eventof cycling's World Cup, hoisted him five places from ninth to fourth inthe UCI world rankings released Monday.The status of the top three riders remains unchanged, however, as Paolo Bettini's second place behind Frigo, and Lance Armstrong's third-place finish, solidified their position behind last year's reigning world number one Erik Zabel.1. Erik Zabel (Ger), 2224 pts2. Paolo Bettini (Ita), 21483. Lance Armstrong (USA), 20734. Dario Frigo (Ita), 15295. Erik Dekker (Ned), 15116. Oscar Freire (Spa),

It’s official – there will be no SuperCup Cyclo-cross Series this year, according to Lyle Fulkerson of the Kiron Group in Newton, Massachusetts. "We wanted to raise the bar of competition; we wanted to improve the production value; we wanted to get the sport of cyclo-cross into the psyche of American cycling,” said Fulkerson in a press release. “We did that. Unfortunately, sponsorship and event revenues have not kept pace with the expenses." Fulkerson had struggled to assemble his series over the past few years. Once a seven-race spectacular stretching from coast to coast, SuperCup managed

Belarussian Zinaida Stahurskaia (USC Chirio) won the 2002 women's Tour de France in Paris on Sunday after the 14th and final stage, a 7.4km individual time trial. Sweden's Susanne Ljungkog (Vlaanderen-T Interim) won the time trial. Stahurskaia topped the overall standings ahead of Ljungkog and Spanish two-time winner Joane Somarriba, who won in 2000 and last year. Letters from the Big Loop - The final entry of Kimberly Bruckner'srace diaryEvery team and the entire race organization stayed at the Ibis lastnight in Port de Clichy, just outside of downtown Paris. When our teamcame down for

The French police that have been assigned to this Tour have been the most professional staff I've ever encountered. They've done a superb job of keeping the roads safe, waving flags around all hazards, and guding the whole race caravan smoothly throughout the country. We've never had one problem with a random car that has snuck onto the course. The "gendarmerie" have traveled with us throughout the entire race, and during each transfer after the stage, we often see them speeding up behind us in groups of four. They draft very well off each other with their motorcycles! My teammate Ina

Two Italians and an American were the main protagonists Sunday in the eighth round of the 2002 World Cup disputed on a hilly course under warm sunny skies in Zurich, Switzerland. Winning the 236km Meisterschaft von Zurich was Dario Frigo (Tacconi Sport), the Italian who’s been on a hot streak this season. Frigo attacked on the final ascent of the hardest climb in the 41km circuit up the Pfannenstiel with 18km to go. Frigo’s form has been excellent since May, when he won the Tour of Romandie. That carried into the Tour de France, where he won a stage, and into the Clasica San Sebastian last

Discretion was the better part of valor Sunday, as John Kirkcaldie and Sabrina Jonnier did what they had to do to hold on for overall downhill titles at the NORBA National Championship Series finals in Mount Snow, Vermont. Kirkcaldie entered the day tied atop the standings with Australian Chris Kovarik, meaning the fastest of the two would likely walk away with the crown. That honor went to Kirkcaldie who finished fourth on the day, while Kovarik ran into mechanical problems and ended up 49th. The chain of events was a near duplication of the 2001 finals when Kovarik also blew his chance at

A massive crash helped shape the outcome of the USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois, on Sunday, with Mercury's Henk Vogel's emerging as the race winner and 7UP-Nutra Fig's Kevin Monahan taking the U.S. champion's jersey in a photo-finish for second place. Earlier in the day, the Diet Rite's Tina Mayolo snagged the women's championship, and James Baldesare (West Virginia-Gomart) won the elite amateur title. The 62-mile USPRO title race began as a wide-open affair, with almost all of the top teams boasting a legitimate contender for the race win, if not for the U.S. title.

Hot streak: Frigo continued his resurgent season.

All-arounder: Armstrong put more emphasis on the one-days this year.

Big three: Second-place Bettini took the World Cup lead.

The men's overall podium.

Waddell breaks down the first NORBA win of his career.

Sher is your national downhill champ.

Vogels

Mayolo-Pic emerged on top in a scramble for the finish

Baldesare took the win as Martin celebrated.

With the USPRO Criterium Championship set for Sunday, VeloNews sat down with one of the favorites on the eve of the race, Canadian Gord Fraser of Mercury. Fraser won the event in 1999. In 2000, he finished second, setting up teammate American Derek Bouchard-Hall for the win and the national championship. Who are your favorites? Who are you going to be watching out for? I think the usual suspects. First of all, I think if our team does its job properly, we’ll be in really good shape. Obviously, I think the major threat would be the Prime Alliance team, with their three sprinters -- McCook,

With the only real threat to their overall crowns coming from catastrophe, Alison Dunlap and Ryder Hesjedal each did just what they had to do Saturday at the NORBA NCS finals in Mount Snow, Vermont. Both riders entered the day's short track races with comfortable leads in the standings, then held on to take home the series titles. Dunlap also won the U.S. national title, while the men's stars-and-stripes jersey went to Mongoose-Hyundai rider Todd Wells. Meanwhile, Canadians Roland Green and Chrissy Redden were fastest on the day, each winning the final stop of the 2002 series on a scalding

American Brian Lopes and Australian Katrina Miller picked up the first ever NORBA mountain cross season titles in style Saturday, each taking wins on a twisty and treacherous track at Mount Snow Resort in southern Vermont. Lopes's win also gave him the U.S. national title, while 20-year-old Melissa Buhl did just enough to capture the women's U.S. crown. After qualifying first earlier in the day, Lopes (GT-Fox) cruised through his half of the bracket, getting into a final that included Haro-Lee Dungarees teammates Mike King and Mick Hannah, and little known rider Chris Powell (Profile

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Tina Mayolo-Pic (Diet Rite) took the race wins on Saturday night in Downers Grove, Illinois, as the warm-up events for the national criterium championships came down to field sprints for both the men and women. In the women’s race, there were attacks almost every lap up the sharp climb midway through the one-mile course, and several threatening breakaways, with the Talgo America squad usually the instigators. However, in the end, none of the breaks could stay away, setting up a battle between sprinters Mayolo-Pic, Nicole Freedman (Rona), Suzanne Sonye (Saturn) and

Hesjedal stood atop the overall short track podium.

Redden takes another win at Mount Snow.

Wells held on to take the jersey.