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VeloNews Q&A: Lyne Bessette

Italian rider Davide Rebellin retook the overall lead of Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday after the 223km seventh stage of the race ended in Ascoli. But Rebellin was edged out for the stage win as the in-form Dutchman Michael Boogerd sprinted past at the line. However, the 29-year-old Rebellin, who held the lead after Saturday's fourth stage but lost it the next day, will have to be on his guard in Wednesday's final 161km stage as Boogerd, second in the recent Tour of Valencia, trails by just three seconds in third place. Rebellin, though, said he was confident he could hold on. "I have

Kona-Ford Focus has signed former Saturn road star Bart Bowen to its team. Bowen will make his debut at the Sea Otter Classic, in Monterey, California this weekend. "Bart was looking to do less racing on the road on a full-on contract, high-pressure situation," said Kona team manager Mark Peterson. "The Kona team will be a much more relaxed atmosphere." Bowen joins Geoff Kabush, Tracey Moseley, and Scott Beaumont headlining the 2001 team. Bowen will also be part of Kona’s cyclo-cross team, which includes Dale Knapp, and Ann Grande. "Cross is where we'll be getting serious," added

One face you didn't expect to see at Redlands this year was that of Jeroen Blijlevens. But there he was, taking part in the 17th edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Dutch sprinter was in California, because of a "slight delay" to the start of his 2001 season. Though he has an impressive résumé that includes five stage wins at the Vuelta España, two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and four at the Tour de France, Blijlevens has most recently gained attention for a fight on the last day of the 2000 Tour. After finishing the final stage in Paris, Blijlevens charged at American Bobby

Blijlevens racked up some early-season miles at Redlands.

Latvia's Romans Vainsteins won the sixth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race Monday, a 136km run from Torre San Patrizio to Monte San Pietrangeli. Vainsteins defeated Swiss rider Markus Zberg in a sprint finish but the conclusion was marred by the fall of overnight race leader Sergei Ivanov of Russia who had to be taken to hospital after tumbling 500m from the finish. Ivanov was being treated at Fermo Hospital where he was undergoing tests while Italian cyclist Lope Boselli was also treated for injuries sustained in the same incident. Ivanov was credited with finishing the stage in

On the strength of their overall wins at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, Saturn's Trent Klasna and Rona's Genevieve Jeanson moved into the lead of the USCF's season-long NRC series. In the team rankings, Mercury-Viatel remains atop the men's standings, with Saturn leading the women. Men 1 Trent Klasna Saturn 252pts 2 Roland Green US Postal Service 175 3 Chris Horner Mercury/Viatel 155 4 Baden Cooke Mercury/Viatel 129 5 Levi Leipheimer US Postal Service 127 6 Michael Rogers Mapei-Quick Step 103 7 Eddy Gragus Jelly Belly 101 8 Gord Fraser Mercury/Viatel

Schwinn downhiller Leigh Donovan has announced she’ll retire from mountain bike racing after the 2001 season. The 29-year-old Donovan began her career in BMX, where she became a national champion. She started racing mountain bikes in 1992, and by ’93 had turned pro, signing with Team Iron Horse. In 1995, then with Mongoose, Donovan became the only person to ever win the U.S. downhill series, the U.S. slalom series and the downhill world championship. For her career Donovan has 14 NORBA dual slalom wins, nine NORBA downhill wins, and three World Cup wins. Last year she was third in both the

The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to immediately begin sponsorship of USA Cycling’s National Junior and Espoir teams. The U.S. Espoir squad competing at Redlands showed up for Saturday’s downtown criterium wearing redesigned jerseys sporting a new USPS logo to reflect the new sponsorship. At a press conference on Saturday, USPS senior vice president for sales, Gail Sonnenberg, said the sponsorship reflects the service’s long-term view of the sport. “The Postal Service is committed to the development of the next generation of cycling champions. We believe in the values of hard

Dario Frigo became the first Italian for 55 years to win Paris-Nice on Sunday while countryman Fabrizio Guidi won the seventh and final stage. Guidi gave Mercury the perfect end to a near-perfect week with a clinical finish for their third stage win out of eight in front of the sun worshippers and rollerbladers on Nice's promenade des Anglais. After late attacks from Big Mat's Loic Lamueller and the prologue winner Nico Mattan had been swept up, the peloton swept down the windblown finish straight led by Peter Van Petegem. He repaid Guidi his sterling work through the week by leading him

Saturn’s Anna Milward made it two-for-two when she won her second women's World Cup race in just over a week, at the Hamilton, New Zealand, World Cup. The Australian was part of a six-strong group that broke away on the seventh of 17 laps of the 6.3 km circuit. The group included Sarah Ulmer, Mirjam Melchers, Sara Carrigan and world road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia. World time trial champion Mari Holden missed the break, started when Melchers sprinted away on the circuit's biggest hill. But Holden launched a tremendous three-kilometer chase to join the group. The bunch increased the gap

While Dario Frigo was winning Paris-Nice, his Fassa Bortolo teammates were also lighting it up at Tirreno-Adriatico. Italian Roberto Petito, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in Torricella Sicura Sunday, a 14.2km time trial. The overall lead changed hands for the third time in three days, as Petito’s teammate Sergei Ivanov displaced Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. Petito finished ahead of second-placed Spaniard David Plaza Romero and his Russian teammate Sergei Ivanov, who takes over the lead in the overall standings. It confirms

Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna successfully defended their leads at the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic to emerge as the overall victors after Sunday’s tough Sunset Road Race through the hilly residential neighborhoods of south Redlands. While Jeanson simply rode away from the field adding to her already substantial lead, it was the U.S. Postal Service’s Levi Leipheimer who took the final sprint in the men’s event. Jeanson entered Sunday’s final stage with a nearly two-minute lead in general classification over Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner. While two minutes may be an

The Negresco Hotel in Nice

Frigo (in white) and Bartoli (r)

Jeanson decided to test her fitness by riding a 95km TT. She is apparently quite fit.

Saturn team director Jim Copeland congratulates Klasna after stage 6.

The Italian Fassa Bortolo team took over Paris-Nice today during the Col d'Eze time trial, with Dario Frigo winning the stage in decisive style to take the lead from Peter Van Petegem of Belgium, with his teammate Raimondas Rumsas moving into second overall. Frigo, who finished second in last year's Tour of Switzerland, and finished ninth in Paris-Nice behind Andreas Kloden, led throughout the 10km uphill test, posting a time 14 seconds faster than Rumsas at the 6km checkpoint, where it was clear that Van Petegem, who was 23 seconds slower, would relinquish the white jersey. The

Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin, of the Liquigas team, won Saturday's fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race, a 170km run from Isernia to Celano. Rebellin also took the lead in the overall standings after outsprinting Dutch rider Michael Boogerd and Russia's Sergei Ivanov. The first three and Italian cyclist Gabriele Colombo, who won the Milan-San Remo Classic in 1996, made a vital break from the rest of the peloton with Rebellin holding off a spirited challenge from Boogerd of the Rabobank team to win. Earlier Ivan Basso and Danilo Di Luca had attempted a vain breakaway which

Katrina Berger (800.com) and Chris Horner (Mercury-Viatel) both took advantage of small, early breaks and earned criterium victories in the fifth stage of the 2001 Redlands Classic. While overall race leaders Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna held on to their top spots, the men’s race again saw a dangerous break inflict still more damage on one-time race leader Roland Green (U.S. Postal). Berger said she found herself with a good gap on the field early in the 60-minute women’s race. Having just won a prime, the 800.com rider “figured I give it a shot and try to keep going

Frigo took the lead

Julich finished 14th

Klasna holds on the men's overall lead.

Another dangerous combination. With Klasna and Horner up front, this one would be hard to catch.

Safford and Gariepy

Rabobank’s Markus Zberg won a hotly contested sprint finish on Friday, while Russian Dmitri Konyshev (Fassa Bortolo) took over the race lead at Tirreno-Adriatico. Friday’s 156km third stage went from Benevento to Castelpetroso as the race continued its eastward journey across southern Italy toward the Adriatic coast. The day saw plenty of breakaway attempts, including Roberto Petito (Fassa Bortolo), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Sergio Barbero (Lampre-Daikin), who were caught within sight of the 1km-to-go banner. That set up the furious finish, in which Zberg came off of Konyshev’s wheel

The heavy back roads of the Var left no impression on the overall classification of Paris-Nice on Friday, which means that no less than 15 riders were poised within one minute of the race leader Peter Van Petegem (Mercury-Viatel) going into Saturday's vital time trial to the Col d'Eze. The stage into Saint Raphael did however provide a welcome respite for the new Belgian team Domo, under pressure since they failed to show at Het Volk two weeks ago. Their Pole Piotr Wadecki spent 115 of the 150 miles in front with Bonjour's Francois Simon and Matteo Tosatto of Fassa Bortolo, disposed of the

It was all according to the book for 19-year-old Canadian sensation Genevieve Jeanson as she simply rode the competition off her wheel on final climb to Oak Glen at the end of stage 4 at the Redlands Classic on Friday. But as Jeanson easily fulfilled expectations, the two biggest men’s teams found themselves scrambling after an early break that “accidentally” formed without any overall contenders from either the U.S. Postal or Mercury-Viatel squads. Saturn’s Trent Klasna, who began the day in seventh place, 1:10 behind overall race leader Roland Green, was the top GC rider in the break and he

On March 14, the race known as The Zinger Cycling Challenge officially changed its name to the Saturn Cycling Classic, reflecting the new title sponsorship of the epic road race through the mountains of Colorado. The 140-mile race from Boulder to Breckendridge over the Continental Divide was introduced last July, and instantly gained a reputation as the toughest single-day road race in the U.S. Saturn was the official vehicle of the race last year, and stepped up to title sponsor for 2001. “We developed this race in the spirit of the European classics and what we unveiled last year

Wadecki beats Tosatto

Van Petegem retains the white jersey

Behind the wheel. Andreu's got a new role.

Bruckner (l) and Jeanson waited to see how far Smith was

Klasna hit the climb with a big advantage.

Wohlberg and McCormack did the lion's share of the work in the break.

Scenes from Wednesday's Highlands Road Race

Alex Zulle scored his first sprint win since he was an amateur to give new Division I squad Team Coast its first win of the season, a first step toward building its case for a place in the Tour de France. Zulle outsprinted ONCE's Portuguese neo-pro Jose Azevedo with the main bunch close on their heels in Sisteron, after the pair broke away on the final descent with 10km to go. "It's a great win for us, which boosts morale, proves we are serious, and gives us more confidence about the Tour," said Zulle. Close behind in the peloton was race leader Peter Van Petegem, who held onto the leader's

Italian Endrio Leoni (Alessio) won the sprint finish of stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, sending German Erik Zabel to defeat for the second day in a row. On Thursday, Leoni won his fifth race of the season, beating out Zabel and stage 1 winner Biagio Conte at the end of the 163km stage between Sorrento and Benevento, which finished on with an uphill sprint on a 3 to 4-percent grade. The sprint was the only notable action on a day when the peloton stayed intact and rolled along at a steady, even pace all day long. With his Alessio team still seeking selection for Milan-Remo on March 24, Leoni

Canadians Roland Green (U.S. Postal Service) and Genevieve Jeanson (RONA) extended their overall leads at the Redlands Bicycle Classic on Thursday with convincing wins in the Stage 3 time trial. Jeanson beat out Saturn's Kimberly Bruckner by 28 seconds, while Green beat U.S. Postal teammate Levi Leipheimer by 37 seconds. Click on "View Results" for complete results and stay tuned for Charles Pelkey's report from Redlands.

Roland Green seemed pleasantly surprised on Tuesday as he won the opening time trial at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Volkswagen-Trek mountain-bike racer slipped on the leader’s jersey and figured he would be working for the next few days to hand it off to one of his (temporary) U.S. Postal Service teammates. But Green may have taken a big step to keeping the jersey on Thursday as he finished the Sun Highland time trial stage a full 37 seconds ahead of his teammate Levi Leipheimer and 40 up on 2000 Redlands winner Chris Horner (Mercury-Viatel). Meanwhile 19-year-old Canadian sensation

Zulle leads up Mont Ventoux

Nicolas Vogondy on the attack

Tonkov and Julich climb Ventoux

Fabrizio Guidi leads the Mercury-Viatel chase

An unfortunate ending for Bessette

Jeanson in the leader's jersey

Freedman and Jeanson

The women's field enjoys a perfect SoCal day

Harm Jansen hard at work

Up close and personal

The men's peloton

Cooke, Fraser and Blijlevens

Jeanson

Green (L) added to his overall lead Thursday, besting Leipheimer and Horner by more than half-a-minute.

Baden Cooke

Eddy Gragus

Jeannie Longo

Horner, Green, Leipheimer

The Redlands Bicycle Classic kicked off with a brand-new hillclimb prologue on Tuesday, and photographer Casey Gibson was on hand to capture all the action.

Jans Koerts strengthened Mercury-Viatel’s case for a start in the Tour de France this year by giving the U.S. team its second consecutive stage win Wednesday in the high-speed run down the Rhone Valley to Villeneuve les Avignon. His teammate Peter Van Petegem conserved the leader's white jersey. Koerts received a fine leadout from his teammate Fabrizio Guidi to finish more than a length ahead of Jean-Patrick Nazon and Germany's Danilo Hondo, at the end of a stage run at close to a 30mph average thanks to a strong tailwind. This is Koerts' third win of the season after winning two stages of

Italian sprinter Biagio Conte (Saeco) took the early lead in the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race on Wednesday when he won the 132km opening stage in Sorrento, Italy. Conte beat out Telekom’s Erik Zabel and Fassa Bortolo’s Dmitri Konyshev in the final sprint. Conte was given some freedom in the finish after Saeco team leader Mario Cipollini suffered a little bit on the Sant’Angelo climb during the race. "I am here to help Cipollini, and Thursday, I will return to my role as teammate," Conte said after his win. Thursday’s second stage will be a completely flat, 163km course between Sorrento and

It was expected to be an easy day. A long flat circuit north of Redlands offers a chance for the fields of 198 men and 110 women to stay together and fight out the finish in a bunch sprint. That’s the way it ended for both. Gord Fraser rode the Mercury train into the finish and cruised to an easy win, even beating Lotto’s new Dutch sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens to the line. But in the women’s race Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg was well on her way to winning stage 2 of the Redlands Classic on Wednesday, charging ahead of the 110-rider women’s field after the 122km Highlands Road Race, but bad luck and

Dylan Casey

Roland Green passes another rider on his way to the win.

A scenic hillclimb replaced the street sprints prologue

Pam Schuster

David Zabriskie

Koerts notched another win for Mercury

The peloton sped along the Rhone

Van Petegem in white

Fraser and Freedman take Highlands road race at Redlands

Freedman and Jeanson, without third-placed Bessette.

Fraser (c) credits Cooke (l) for a winning leadout. Blijlevens had to settle for second.

Heading in to the Redlands Classic, both Mercury-Viatel and Saturn have four riders in the top-10 standings of U.S. Cycling Federations National Calendar point standings, with Mercury's Baden Cooke and Gord Fraser in the 1-2 slots. In the women's standings, Saturn has one of its riders in the top spot (Lyne Bessette) and two others in the top 10. Overall, that squad has a 120-point lead over second place 800.com. Keep reading for complete standings. 2001 NRC RANKINGS(as of March 12, 2001) Men's Individual Rankings Name Team Points1 Baden Cooke Mercury/Viatel 1042 Gord

Tuesday’s hilly windy stage to Saint Etienne turned the Paris-Nice classification upside down, with Peter Van Petegem outsprinting the gutsy but luckless Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) to give Mercury-Viatel its first taste of the leader's jersey in a major European stage race. Vinokourov was on the attack for the entire stage, early on in a 19-strong group which included Floyd Landis (Mercury-Viatel) and Jonathan Vaughters (Credit Agricole). He split the break together with Laurent Dufaux (Saeco) and escaped on the final climb to hold on until the final meter, when Van Petegem came flying

Dueling big-guns Saturn-Timex and Mercury-Viatel made for high octane and unpredictable racing at the annual Sequoia Cycling Classic in Exeter, California. Men’s and women’s competition was fierce both in the Rocky Hill Road Race and in the Visalia Criterium the following day but Saturn made its presence known, taking the top spots in three out of four races. Day one of competition found riders seeing rings with Saturn dominating both the men’s and women’s Rocky Hill Road Race, a nine-and-half-mile loop with two climbs on each lap, totaling 600 feet of climbing per lap. Saturn and Mercury

She may have been biding her time in Arizona, rather than defending her title at Australia’s Tour de Snowy, but the lack of travel certainly hasn’t hurt Genevieve Jeanson. The 19-year-old Canadian blasted her way to the top of Riverside’s Mt. Rubidoux to take the opening stage of the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic and, coincidentally setting the stage for a win by her countryman, mountain-bike racer Roland Green, in the elite men’s event of this Southern California season opener. Jeanson (Rona) took on a strong women’s field — including 2001 Tour de Snowy winner Kim Bruckner (Saturn) and 2000

Van Petegem

Landis and Vaughters lead the break

The race continues toward Nice