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Ivan Quaranta joined Danilo Hondo and Mario Cipollini with two Giro stage victories by winning the field sprint at the end of this 142km stage finishing in Parma, the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi, to whom this Giro is dedicated in the 100th anniversary of his death. Endrio Leoni (Alessio), Cipollini, and Hondo followed Quaranta in at the finish. This 16th stage from Erbusco had one small climb with a KOM at km 4.7, won again by green jersey Fredy Gonzalez (Selle Italia), and it was flat the rest of the way. The first hour was traversed at a crawl — 30 kph — and it did not pick up a lot after

If you happened to be one of the many race fans who took in either of late-April’s big domestic races — the First Charter Criterium in Shelby, North Carolina, or the Twilight Criterium a day later in Athens, Georgia — you might have come away asking yourself, "Who the heck is NetZero?" Entering the weekend, most people had regarded this Los Angeles-based team as little more than pack fodder in the rough-and-tumble domestic racing scene. This territory belonged to teams like Mercury-Viatel and Saturn, the Navigators and Prime Alliance. Certainly the new NetZero pro team, made up of

Napa World Cup winner José Antonio Hermida might not be a household name in mountain-bike racing, but standing next to the under-23 world champion on the first World Cup podium of the 2001 season last month was someone even more unfamiliar to fans. So you could hardly blame Hermida when he goofed on the guy’s name. While talking with reporters, Hermida said, "I put an attack on the uphill and I [caught] Thomas." The 26-year-old German sitting immediately to the right of Hermida interrupted: "Marc." "Oh, Marc," apologized Hermida. "No problem. Don’t feel sorry for me today," answered Marc

Riva del Garda, a small town at the northern tip of Lake Garda, has become one of Europe’s major mountain-bike Meccas over the past decade, largely due to the spectacular trails coming down the mountains overlooking the dark waters of the deep, narrow Alpine lake nestled in Italy’s northern border. For the last eight years, Riva has hosted a springtime mountain-bike festival and manufacturer show that this year attracted around 10,000 visitors, mostly from Germany. Mountain bikers filled the town for five days and tried their legs en masse on the second day of the festival in an off-road

Salient features: The Deda Magic bar has a 31.8mm clamping area (rather than the standard 26.0mm) and comes in a medium-depth ergo bend or a deep-drop round bend. The bar has a "K.E.T." (Kinetic Energy Treatment) that hardens the metal by "bomb-peening" it with heavy shot. The Magic stem is cold-forged in three dimensions, a process that allows Deda to create unique shapes without compromising the strength-to-weight ratio. Likes: The stiffness of this stem and bar combination is immediately noticeable, especially in long sizes. When sprinting or climbing out the saddle there is no noticeable

Most cyclists have experienced a few aches and pains along the way. Most of the time, it just comes with the territory and a little bit of rest is all you need. Sometimes, though, the aches and pains can grow into something more serious: overuse injuries. Overuse injuries are prolonged rubs, grinds and tears of soft tissue that cause pain and limit riding. As the name implies, they occur over time and are caused by irregular or excessive forces applied to a soft tissue such as cartilage or tendons. Overuse injuries may also occur as a result of an improperly rested acute injury. Common

It’s a country roughly the size of Maryland, and with a population of less than 10 million. But when it comes to cycling, Belgium is one of the most tradition- and talent-rich powerhouses in the world. It can boast more elite men’s world road champions than France or Italy, and the little tri-lingual nation hosts a huge number of major UCI races, including classics such as the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Flèche Wallonne, Ghent-Wevelgem and Het Volk. In addition to the great names of the past — Merckx, Van Looy, Van Steenbergen, De Vlaeminck, Van Impe — Belgium continues to churn

24-hour nationals tries again for Winter Park The 2001 24 Hours of Adrenalin NORBA National Solo and Team Championship. The name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but what that longwinded tag is trying to say is that, for the second straight year, NORBA will sanction a 24-hour off-road national championship event. This year’s event will be held August 4-5, at Winter Park, Colorado. Last year’s championship was also scheduled for Winter Park, but that event was derailed when local U.S. Forest Service officials refused to grant Winter Park Resort the permits needed to run the event. In the

With a rest day tomorrow, Quaranta gets an extra day to savor a stage win

He's chill like that. Gabrielle Colombo takes a break on the road.

The NetZero squad work together for Miller's win at Twilight.

Hanisch is likely to have a smaller number next time you see him.

Some fair goers took the opportunity to ride the trails without leaving the tent, while others remembered golden rides in the pl

By moving the bridge to the back, Manitou adds stiffness and saves weight.

In RockShox Iore, Judy begat SID and SID begat Duke.

The Magic's big clamp makes this a seriously stiff combo.

Back off, buddy

Once a soccer player, Moeman now lives for cycling.

The Moermans host as many as eight riders at a time.

Athens was the fifth AMBC race this year.

Canada’s hockey teams may not have fared very well in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, but America’s neighbors to the north are having quite a spring when it comes to racing mountain bikes. Two weeks after Roland Green became the first Canadian male to win a World Cup cross-country race, countryman Ryder Hesjedal led a Maple-Leaf sweep of the short track cross country at NORBA national No. 1 at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. Hesjedal got his win by making a gutsy pass to overtake Seamus McGrath at the top of the climb on the race’s last lap. The 20-year-old Subaru-Gary

The dual slalom at NORBA national No. 1 will likely go down as the beginning of a youth movement. After years of seeing names like Brian Lopes and Wade Bootes at the top of the results sheet, it was a trio of under-21 kids who ruled the day at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. The winner was the youngest of them all, 17-year-old Mick Hannah of the Global Racing team. The Australian teenager was part of an all Global final where he squared off with Greg Minnaar, a 19-year-old from South Africa. Minnaar reached the final by knocking off Lopes (GT-Fox) and Bootes

Gilberto Simoni has been saying for two days, ever since he took over the pink jersey, that he would not lose much time in the time trial. He was good on his word, crushing former world time trial champions Abraham Olano and Sergei Gontchar and losing only 29 seconds to specialist and second-placed Dario Frigo in a 55.5km time trial on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. If it was not already apparent, especially after the disqualification of third-placed Wladimir Belli yesterday, this has become a two-man race. Frigo’s best hand to play was the time trial, so Simoni might very well have

Mick Hannah might not have known it, but he made a little history on Sunday. In winning the downhill at NORBA national No. 1 at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, he became just the second man to ever capture both the dual slalom and downhill on the same weekend. The other guy on that list: Brian Lopes, who did it once in 1995 and once in 1996. Throw in the fact that Hannah is just 17 years old, and he probably deserves a record all his own. In the downhill Hannah (Global Racing) started far back of the favorites because he lacked a NORBA ranking, but when the youngster stormed

Hesjedal outlasts McGrath, while Green comes across third.

Hesjedal on the attck in the early going.

Dunlap exults as she crossed the line.

Florit was out fron for much of the race, but couldn't hold on at the end.

Hannah takes out Minnaar in the final.

Bootes looked fast here, but ended up fourth.

Donovan on her way to another win at Big Bear.

Who me worry? Even yesterday, Simoni had numerous reasons to smile about the Giro.

On the road, Frigo closed to within seven seconds of Simoni.

It was all Aussies at the top of the men's downhill podium.

Despite his rainbow jeresy, Rockwell could do no better than 16th.

Streb heads for the win.

Goive couldn't match her teenage teammate.

The day after climbing four first-category passes, the riders hit two more, and the results were once again devastating for some top riders. The top two on GC, however, showed that they can recover overnight from a brutal stage, and once again, Simoni was the strongest climber and Frigo was almost as good. Carlos Contreras (Selle Italia-Pacific) won the 166km stage in a sprint from five others, just barely beating Wladimir Belli. Unai Osa (iBanesto.com) followed in third ahead of Simoni, Frigo and Contreras’s teammate Hernan Buenahora. But Fassa Bortolo’s co-captain Belli was thrown out of

Quebec's bicycle racing phenomenon Geneviève Jeanson has answered all naysayers to her abilities with a race-dominating performance at the Montreal Women's World Cup on June 2, which saw her finish over seven minutes ahead of her closest rival. Quebec's other cycling star, Lyne Bessette, finished third, losing a sprint to Sweden's Susanne Ljungskog. Jeanson came into the race, the fifth in the season long series, with fans anxious to see how the young Lachine rider would do against a full field of the top pros in the world. Among the 80 assembled riders was Bessette's Saturn racing team,

Simoni (in pink), Frigo, and the tifosi were the big players in today's stage.

Here's what we're all missing by not seeing this race in person. You gotta click to see this full size!

Wonder Grrl: Geneviève Jeanson

Her manager told her to go on the third climb. She listened -- and that's the last the peloton saw of her.

The World Cup math worked against Bessette (r) when Melcher (front) covered her move.

Montreal's podium (l to r): Ljungskog, Jeanson, Bessette.

After coming as close yesterday as one could without actually getting the maglia rosa, Gilberto Simoni took it from Dario Frigo by 48 seconds on a tough day in the Dolomites under sunny skies. And Mexican Julio Perez, already the sentimental hero of this Giro, finally broke through with the stage win he has shown himself so deserving of. Simoni finished with him, while Frigo placed third, 45 seconds back. The 225km stage climbed four first-category passes and totally shook up the overall standings. While at the start in Montebelluna there were a couple dozen names clustered within two

Day 1 of the 2001 NORBA national championship series looked a lot like the 2000 season opener. But anybody who said they weren’t surprised was probably lying. That’s because mountain biking’s No. 1 enigma, Californian Kirk Molday, went from having no team in January to winning the season opening cross-country race at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. Molday’s win, along with Mary Grigson’s victory earlier in the day, meant there was a pair of repeat winners at Big Bear. In the men’s race Molday was part of a four-rider break that pulled away from the field during the first of

The 23-year-old Perez (right) after the win: 'I’d trade two teeth for a day like today.'

Frigo (left) led the chase once Simoni jumped away, and kept his time loss to 45 seconds. The jersey, for now, is Simoni's.

Molday leads a four-rider breakaway near the top of the first climb.

Grigson explains another win.

Molday on his own on the second lap.

Dunlap got the hole shot but ended up second.

Disgraced Italian rider Sergio Barbero was unceremoniously ejected from the Giro d'Italia by his Lampre team prior to the start of the 12th stage in Gradisca d'Isonzo on May 31; the move followed the announcement that he was one of the two riders who tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin) during the Tour of Romandy at the start of May. Lampre general manager Giuseppe Saronni said he told Barbero not to turn up at the start line, although he could still have officially taken part in the race. "We asked him not to turn up for the day's stage," Saronni said. "He asked for a second

Gilberto Simoni once again showed attentiveness, sharp wits, courage and great descending skills to turn a sudden rainstorm to his advantage on final descent of the May 31 stage. The Lampre-Daikin team captain came up one second short of taking Frigo’s shirt from him, but he is poised ideally to take it tomorrow on the tough, long stage tomorrow in the high Dolomites. The 139km 12th stage was won by Frigo’s teammate Matteo Tosatto in a three-up sprint from Slovenian Zoran Klemencic and Simoni. The stage was animated by the other Verbrugghe, Ief, who made two long solo breakaways today, the

Team Saturn continues to hold down all the top spots in the National Racing Calendar standings, with Trent Klasna and Kimberly Bruckner leading the individual standings. Both the Saturn men’s and women’s squads lead the team standings as well following the U.S. national championships and the Tour of Somerville. Men 1. Trent Klasna, Saturn, 739 pts 2. Scott Moninger, Mercury-Viatel, 490 3. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Saturn, 385 4. Chris Horner, Mercury-Viatel, 339 5. Baden Cooke (Aus), Mercury-Viatel, 287 6. Levi Leipheimer, U.S. Postal Service, 240 7. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, 221 8. Danny

Laurent Chotard was fired from the U.S.-based Mercury-Viatel squad today, May 31, after it was announced that the French neo-pro tested positve for EPO at the Tour of Romandie. The sample was taken during that race, held March 8-13. "We fully support any action taken by the French Cycling Federation and by the UCI and commend their efforts to improve our sport. Chotard's actions were of his own initiative and without the knowledge of any staff or team member and his removal from the team was immediate," Mercury team director John Wordin told VeloNews.

Finally, after what seems like half a lifetime, the 2001 mountain biking season resumes in North America. Stop No. 1 of the NORBA national championship series commences Friday at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. It’s the 13th time the NORBA series has touched down in these tree-topped mountains just 90 miles from the sprawl of Los Angeles. Day 1 will feature the men’s and women’s cross country races. The ladies kick things off at 11 a.m. pacific time. The men follow at 2 p.m. The 8.47-mile course at Big Bear is a lung-buster, with a base elevation of 7200 feet and 1200 feet

National TT champion Trent Klasna

Dario Frigo (left) holds the lead by one second -- a thin margin to pin his team's hopes with Friday's big climbs.

Lotto Adecco's Lef Verbrugghe rode clear on two solo breaks, and it was on the second when the rain storm hit the peloton.

Belgium's Tom Steels (Mapei) narrowly beat World Cup holder Erik Zabel in yesterday's first stage of the Tour of Germany, a 210.4km stretch from Hamburg to Hanover on May 29. Steels, who has won nine stages of the Tour de France, said his win over the leader of the powerful Telekom team gave him a boost ahead of this year's Tour de France. "It was a great battle between me and Erik and I'm still breathing hard," said the 29-year-old. "It's good to have beaten him again and that encourages me for the Tour de France." The second stage is a 173km run from Goslar to Erfurt on

Pablo Lastras escaped a 10-man breakaway group with four kilometers to go and held a solo advantage of a handful of seconds to win this 187km stage that crossed the Slovenian-Italian border seven times. Giovanni Lombardi won the sprint from Uros Murn and the rest of the nine pursuers. The stage rolled east through hilly and beautiful forested country along the Austrian border north of Slovenia’s Triglavski national park and crossed into Italy before heading south up a large first-category climb of the Passo del Predil at 63km. At the top of the pass, it crossed back into Slovenia and

Telekom's sprint ace Erik Zabel won a field sprint to take the second stage of the Tour of Germany, on May 30. Today's 173km stage ran between Goslar and Erfurt. The German gained revenge on Belgian rider Tom Steels -- who beat him to the line on Tuesday -- to record his 12th win of the season and take the overall race lead. Zabel, the current World Cup leader, stopped the clock after 4:21:06 of racing, to come in ahead of Moldova's Igor Pugaci (Saeco) with Russian Guennadi Michailov (Lotto) in third position. The race centered around the early solo break of Swiss rider Roger Beuchat

You may have thought that Il Diablo, a.k.a. Didi Senft, is the craziest guy that follows the major European bike races. But that’s only because you see him waving his pitchfork on TV and you haven’t seen some of the unique race groupies who don’t get on TV. My current choice for most way-out is Skippy, an Australian who rides every single stage on his bike ahead of the peloton. He starts on the course a couple of hours before the race starts and finishes each stage just before the peloton. The publicity caravan that precedes the racers has around a hundred cars in it, each with a giant

IBanesto's Lastras scoring his biggest win of the season

With eight teams in the break, the odds were good that it would stick.

From the Giro, Skippy will ride each stage of the Tours of Austria, Switzerland, and France.

After 10 stages, Fassa Bortolo’s Dario Frigo continues to hold on to a slim lead in the Giro d’Italia as the race left Italy for a two-day detour into neighboring Slovenia. Liquigas’s Denis Zanette won the stage that finished in this former Yugoslav republic’s capital city of Ljubljana. Zanette broke away from a nine-man lead group about six kilometers from the finish of this 212km stage. Zanette finished three seconds ahead of another Italian, Marion Manzoni, with Spain's Isidro Nozal in third. Frigo came home more than 10min off the pace but since none of the lead group posed much of an

With 7km left in the 212km stage, Denis Zanette of Liquigas-PATA attacked eight breakaway companions he had been with for 123km and rolled in alone through the streets of the Lubljana, the capitol of Slovenia. He crossed the line, arms upraised, throwing kisses to the huge crowd that was happily welcoming the Giro on this warm, sunny day. Mario Manzoni (Alexia) outsprinted Isidro Nozal (ONCE-Eroski) three seconds later, and the rest of the breakaways finished at 15 seconds – 10 minutes up on the main pack. The top rankings didn't change, with a dozen riders wedged within a minute of overall

In the five-day Ronde de I'Isard d'Ariege, U.S. National teammates Michael Creed and Danny Pate racked up strong results. Though Pate eventually abandoned the French event due to sickness (but not before placing sixth in the opening stage), it was Creed who earned a second-place finish in stage two, a stage win in the race finale, and a podium spot for snagging third overall on the final standings. In that final stage, Creed was part of a four-rider break, and finished in a dead heat with Belgian Johan Van Summeren. The officials couldn't pick a winner from the finish photo, and awarded the

Following ther rules, Cipo' kept his regulation uniform

'I gave it everything I had, because if I had been caught I would not have been able to try it again,' Zanette said.

The break rode away with 130km to go -- but Zanette jumped clear in the closing kilometers.

It couldn’t have been easier for Mario Cipollini. Instead of having to duke it out in another physical sprint like other flat stages have ended in, the Lion King was able to roll to an easy sprint win because of a crash behind him in the last corner. While most of Italy is as up and down as a crumpled rug, over the millennia the mighty Po River has ground down every bit of topography in a crosswise swath where the country widens at the top of the boot. Consequently, stage nine, which ran northeast for 142km in the Po valley and crossed the river once, was flat as a pancake and certain to