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Motoring: Hvastija heads for the win.

Up they go: The Spanish countryside provided pleasant scenery.

The three-day Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix, Arizona, February 16-18, saw Mercury complete a three-stage sweep in the men’s Pro-I race, while Canadian Genevieve Jeanson continued her early-season preparations by winning the women’s title. Mercury’s Derek Bouchard-Hall won the opening time trial, and Aussie teammate Baden Cooke rounded out the weekend by winning the road race, criterium and overall title. Jeanson meanwhile won the time trial and road race. AutoTrader.com’s Tina Mayolo took second in the road race and first in the criterium, and her time bonuses allowed her to

Italian cyclist Mirko Celestino, riding for the Saeco team, won Tuesday's Trofeo Laigueglia, a 173km run starting and finishing in the town of that name. It was an all-Italian podium with last year's winner Daniele Nardello of the Mapei team finishing second, and Davide Rebellin, of the Liquigas outfit, in third. The 26-year-old Celestino, who joined Saeco from the now defunct Polti outfit, nipped his rivals in a sprint finish to clinch victory in the race that has historically been the curtain-raiser on the Italian cycling season, though other races have already been staged this

German Erik Zabel (Telekom) won a sprint to capture the third stage of the Ruta del Sol on Tuesday. But in the overall standings Erik Dekker (Rabobank) was able to preserve his lead, staying six seconds ahead of Belgium Marc Wauters. Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Sheffr, Belgian Andrei Tchmil, and German Jan Schaffrath round out the top five in the general classification. The stage was an 180km ride between Luque and Jaen. Zabel was the overall winner of the race in 1997. Max Van Heeswijk of The Netherlands and Italian Endrio Leoni finished second and third in Tuesday’s stage. Tomorrow’s 175km

Dekker leads the pack.

Alcala de La Real creates a nice backdrop for the Ruta.

Cannondale expanded its motorized product range this weekend with the release of its FX400 All-Terrain Vehicle. The ATV joins Cannondale’s MX400 motocrosser released last year and the XC400 cross-country motorbike, due for release in April. The first of the ATVs was delivered last week to Pennsylvania motorsports dealer Gatto Cycles to what the company says was a very enthusiastic reception. The $8000 FX400 sports a four-stroke engine with electronic fuel injection, and the industry’s first twin-spar perimeter aluminum ATV frame. Cannondale founder & president Joe Montgomery praised the

French cyclist Laurent Jalabert, who’s been in the hospital for the last week after falling off a ladder at his home, and fracturing three vertebrae in his lower back, could be heading home soon, according to his CSC-World Online team. But for now doctors at the hospital in Geneva have suggested Jalabert stick around at least a few more days. "The most important thing is that he returns to normal life," said CSC director Johnny Weltz. "It’s not much fun to stay in the hospital. But it’s necessary to keep him there for a few more days, and look after these fractures that can't be

Rabobank’s Erik Dekker took over the overall lead at the Ruta del Sol Monday after finishing second to Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Sheffr (Alessio) in the race’s second stage. Fellow Rabobank rider Marc Wauters was third, while Andrei Tchmil (Lotto) and Jan Schaffrath (Telekom) were fourth and fifth. Strong winds during the early part of the stage made for few attacks during the 178.5km ride from Sevilla to the mountain finish of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de Araceli. Dekker, Tchmil, Sheffr, and Mikhailov didn’t try their move until the stage’s final climb. Sheffr was the strongest, pulling

Well, at least the logo is familiar.

Breaking away. Sheffr pedals to victory.

The 2001 Tour de Langkawi has ended. After 12 stages and 1836 kilometers, Paolo Lanfranchi has led Mapei-Quick Step to a clean sweep of the overall awards. The final stage was anti-climactic, as expected, with the 7.6-kilometer circuit in downtown Kuala Lumpur, which the riders covered 12 times, not having any effect on the overall standings. Federico Colonna of Cantina Tollo took the field sprint to win the final stage.

Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) repeated his victory at the Tour of the Mediterranean as the five-day, six-stage season-opening stage race ended in Marseilles on Sunday, while Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) took his second stage win in as many days. Rebellin moved into the yellow jersey on Saturday, after race leader Ivan Basso crashed and then abandoned at the end of stage 4. Copyright AFP2001

Spaniard Diaz Lobato (Jazztel) survived a 120km breakaway effort to win the opening stage of Spain’s season-opening Ruta Del Sol. Diaz Labato slipped off the front of the peloton only 28km into the day’s 148.5km stage around the southern city of Cordova. Building an advantage that exceeded 15 minutes; Diaz Labato triggered a chase when the race’s powerhouse teams finally realized that he stood a real chance of taking a stage win. With Deutsche Telekom, Rabobank and Festina in pursuit, Diaz Labato still managed to hold on to a significant lead finishing 1:43 ahead of Deutsche Telekom’s Jan

Lanfranchi's yellow jersey was only one of many Mapei prizes.

On his own. Pedro Diaz Lobato went early and stayed away.

Spoils. Diaz Lobato held off cycling's big guns.

Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step) became the fourth rider to win two stages in the 2001 Tour de Langkawi, consolidating his lead in the green jersey points competition, while his team mate Paolo Lanfranchi easily finished in the pack, protecting his yellow jersey.

Thousands of mourners gathered in the Basque village of Berango Saturday to pay homage to Spanish cyclist Ricardo Otxoa who was killed during a training accident on Thursday. ]The cyclist's twin brother and Kelme teammate Javier, who finished 13th overall in last year's Tour de France and won the 10th stage, remains in a coma in hospital here. The brothers had been training on a small frontage road when they were hit by a car as they trained at Cartama in the southern province of Malaga. Ricardo, 26, died on his way to hospital and is to be buried later Saturday. Javier is

Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), winner of the 2000 Tour Méditerranéen, took over the lead of this year’s edition from Ivan Basso (Fassa Bartolo) after Basso suffered a crash in the first of Saturday’s two stages, a 108km race from Aigues Mortes to Beziers. The day’s stage wins were still the property of the peloton’s top sprinters as Gabriel Balducci (Tacconi) and Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won stages four and five respectively.Rebellin moved from second overall after Basso’s crash and now holds an eight second advantage over David Moncoutie and 23 seconds over Laurent Brochard.Basso was the

Basso - seen here in stage 2 -- lost the lead after a hard crash on stage 4

Spanish cyclist Javier Otxoa (Kelme) remained in critical condition on Friday from massive injuries received during a training accident that also killed his twin brother and teammate Ricardo, a hospital spokesman said. The 26-year-old, who finished 13th overall in last year's Tour de France and won the 10th stage on the strength of a long solo breakaway, was being treated in the intensive care unit of a Malaga hospital with serious injuries to his head, back and possibly his spinal chord, the hospital's intensive care chief Juan Antonio Benitez said. Otxoa was having difficulty

Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei-Quick Step) has weathered the last serious threat to winning his second Tour de Langkawi by surviving the stage 10 time trial, while his team mate Paolo Bettini has moved into second and Chris Wherry salvaged some Mercury-Viatel pride with a superb ride that jumped him up two places into third overall. Australian Nathan O'Neill (Ceramiche Panaria) took the stage to give his team their third victory of the Tour.

Former world road champion Alessandra Cappellotto is an energetic woman. She claims to be old for cycling (33), yet a normal February day for her consists of a five-hour training ride followed by an afternoon spent driving all around the area near Bassano del Grappa visiting suppliers for her bike shop. As she dashes from place to place in her silver Mercedes wagon, she handles calls on her cell phone regarding her bike shop, her teams, and the wellness center she will be opening in the fall. Her final meeting at saddle manufacturer Selle San Marco behind her, she rushes north to Bassano to

Olympic bronze medallist and one-time Linda McCartney team leader Max Sciandri is set to sign a two-year contract with the Italian Lampre team early next week, according to a news release issued by the McCartney squad’s former press officer John Deering.Sciandri and Deering were among a large group of riders and staff let go as Britain’s top pro road team collapsed last month under financial pressures. The team, once thought to be recruiting its way to Division I status, fell apart after failing to secure a major secondary sponsor and receiving only limited from its title sponsor, Linda

La Française des Jeux’s sprinter Jimmy Casper took the third stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean, a 127km race between Gréasque and Salon-de-Provence, on Friday. Casper outsprinted a tough field of top sprinters, beating Czech Jan Svorada of Lampre and AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu, the Estonian who lead the opening week of the 1999 Tour de France. Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo) maintained his hold on the overall standings with a four-second advantage over Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin. American David Clinger finished 8th in Friday’s bunch sprint, while Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) holds on to

Wherry moved up two spots with a strong time trial

Horner

Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei-Quick Step) was the substitute rider for an ill Andrea Tafi at the Tour de Langkawi. So far this 'substitute' has won both mountain stages and taken the yellow leaders jersey from team mate Paolo Bettini. Meanwhile, Mercury miscalculated big time by not paying attention to the time cutoff and losing Jans Koerts, Gord Fraser and Henk Vogels. The Genting Highlands stage - this year stage 9 - is legendary. After a 107 kilometer run up the riders face a 25 kilometer Hors Category climb that averages 8 percent and max's out at over 15percent. In the past, riders such as

Australian Robbie McEwen (Domo) took the second stage of the 28th Mediterranean Tour on Thursday, finishing the 139km stage between La Garde and La Seyne by outsprinting Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and France’s Damien Nazon. Fassa Bortolo’s Ivan Basso maintains his lead over Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. The finishing sprint was marked by serious crash in which Basso’s teammate, Alessandro Pettacchi suffered a broken collarbone.

Spanish rider Ricardo Otxoa was killed Thursday in a training accident while his twin brother and Kelme team mate Javier was taken to hospital with serious injuries, a team spokesman said. The two racers were hit by a vehicle as they trained at Cartama in the southern province of Malaga. Ricardo died on the spot while Javier, winner of the 10th stage of last year's Tour de France, suffered serious injuries to his head and body and was reported to be in a coma. Copyright AFP2001

As Frankie Andreu stood outside Tucson’s Westin La Paloma hotel on January 11, he looked introspective. For the first time in 13 years, he wasn’t suited up, heading off into the sunshine on a crisp, bright morning with the rest of his pro team colleagues. Instead, Andreu was in jeans and a windbreaker, watching the U.S. Postal Service squad start its first group ride of 2001. At that moment, a chapter in North American cycling closed. Andreu was officially starting a new career as Postal’s domestic program directeur sportif — thus ending a racing career that began in 1989 with America’s

The U.S. Postal Service team opened its 2001 season at the Tour of Algarve, a five-day, five-stage event in Portugal that ended Thursday in Loule. In a press release issued Thursday, the team’s assistant director sportif Dirk Demol reported that the squad is showing good form and riding better than they were at this time last year. Led by Viatcheslav Ekimov's 10th place finish in the overall standings, 25 seconds behind overall winner Andrea Ferrigato (Alessio), the Postals turned in a strong performance for their first race of the season, said Demol. George Hincapie finished sixth in

You’re on a descent, hitting speeds over 40 mph, with a 90-degree turn at the bottom. Suddenly, your glasses fog up.... If you’re a cyclist who wears glasses or contact lenses, you’re well aware of the special problems you face in a sport where clear vision is critical. Cyclists are exposed to a great deal of wind, which often carries debris. If this debris lodges itself underneath a contact lens, it can cause severe discomfort and affect your vision and depth perception — not something you want during training or racing. Eyeglasses offer an alternative to contacts, but they can get dirty,

Hand-off. Bettini lost his yellow jersey, but it was to teammate Lanfranchi.

How far the mighty... Koerts, once in yellow, found himself racing the clock. He lost.

Wherry still holds on to fifth.

McEwen scores one against Kirsipuu

French cycling star Laurent Jalabert has started walking, just two short days after breaking three vertebrae in a freak accident, his team boss said Wednesday. While changing a light bulb, Jalabert fell six feet from a ladder at his home near Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, fracturing three vertebrae and putting the 32-year-old's immediate career plans on hold. Hospital officials in Geneva have declined to comment on Jalabert's condition, but the CSC-World Online team manager Bjarne Riis said Jalabert’s injuries are a cause of great concern. "Something serious has happened to him,"

The mountains have spoken and the Tour de Langkawi has a new leader Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step). Bettini finished third in the frontgroup of four, behind his teammate Paolo Lanfranchi and Pascal Hervé(Alexia Alluminio), and ahead of American Chris Wherry (Mercury-Viatel). The riders faced 154 kilometers on stage 8 from Kuala Kubu Baru to Tanah Rata, climbing 2000 meters over the final 53 kilometers. There were a few attempts to get away before the climb, but Mapei and Mercury quickly brought them back, so that at the start of the first KoM (King of the Mountain) the peloton was

Fassa Bortolo’s Yvan Basso took the opening stage of the 28th Mediterranean Tour, stage between Antibes (the Alpes-Maritimes) and Mount Faron in the hills of the Cote d’Azur.Basso took charge on the final climb, a six-kilometer ascent of Mount Faron. 1. Ivan Basso (I) Fassa Bortolo, 3:13:252. Davide Rebellin (I) Liquigas, s.t.3. David Moncoutie (F) Cofidis, at 0:014. Laurent Brochard (F) Jean Delatour, at 0:165. Francisco Mancebo (Sp) Banesto, at 0:19

Wherry (center) finished with the leaders

The duel between Hervé and Lanfranchi set the stage for a Mapei win.

Mercury-Viatel brought along plenty of climbing talent.

The U.S. Postal team and the management of Kelme have settled their differences over payment terms for the remainder of Spanish rider Roberto Heras’s contract, Kelme’s manager told the French wire service AFP on Tuesday. The U.S. Postal, led by two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, bought out Heras' contract with the Spanish team which had been due to expire in 2002, Juan Mas said. Heras had been due to join US Postal last October but the two teams had been unable to agree terms. Last month, Kelme announced Heras would be staying at the Spanish team for the upcoming season, a

Ivan Quaranta (Alexia Alluminio) finally got on the winner's podium, but unfortunately a large crash marred the end of stage 7 at the Tour de Langkawi. Jans Koerts (Mercury Viatel) finished second and continues to hold the yellow jersey after the last stage before the mountains. The 172-kilometer stage from Melaka to Klang (on the outskirts of KualaLumpur) had a profile like a saw blade. None of the rollers wasparticularly long, but with over 1100 kilometers on their legs, and twomajor climbing stages to come, no one was in the mood for a fast run.

Laurent Jalabert will be off of his bike for at least a month after fracturing three vertebrae in a freak accident while changing a light bulb in his home in Geneva, Switzerland late Monday. The 32-year-old Jalabert was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors diagnosed the fractures in his lower back during a CAT scan on Tuesday. Jalabert was changing a light bulb when he lost his balance and fell. The one-time world’s number one is a member of the Danish CSC team — a team that most recently competed under the sponsorship of the computer component manufacturer Memory Card. The team is

Mercury-Viatel's Koerts holds a 42-second lead over Quaranta

This isn't the Giro, is it?

Lochowski was on his own for 85km.

After nearly two decades and seven world titles astride those venerable Ritchey steel frames, the Ritchey-Yahoo! Squad will not be riding Tom’s bikes in 2001. Thomas Frischknecht — 1996 world cross-country champion — and Martino Fruet will not only be riding bikes from other builders, it looks like they’ll be riding — GASP! — aluminum frames. Frishi for one, however, will have to wait a bit before racing on the scandium Scott that he is having built. Doctors have told him that he’ll be unable to race for at least a month after a February 7 training ride accident resulted in a dislocated joint

Red Zinger Bicycle Challenge race director Len Pettyjohn, said Monday that the 2001 edition of the race is “a 100-percent certainty,” though the event will probably take place under the name of a new title sponsor. Pettyjohn told VeloNews that he would be ready to announce the identity of the race’s new title sponsor within a month. He, however, did offer one hint, noting that this year’s winner “will probably be driving home in a new car,” from a race now scheduled for August 11. Pettyjohn was also the director of the former Mercury Tour, a mountain-bike stage race in Steamboat, Colorado,

Moninger took the 2000 Zinger. If he wins this year, he may be driving home in style.

So far, the Tour de Langkawi could be named the Tour de Jans Koerts, as the yellow jersey holder from Mercury-Viatel won his second stage on Sunday, the sixth day of racing in Malaysia. Koerts' victory came despite hitting the barriers 150 meters from the finish line and getting bopped on the head in the sprint. Sunday's stage from Kluang to Melaka was relatively short at 150km. It was probably also one of Koerts’s last days in the leader’s jersey - after Monday’s rest day there is one more day of relative flat and then two days of massive climbs, something Koerts is the first to admit is

Belgian cyclist Nico Eeckhout (Lotto) won the 31st edition of the Etoile de Bessèges by the slimmest of margins on Sunday after a final stage raced on a circuit around Molieres-sur-Ceze and Bessèges. France's Florent Brard (Festina) took the stage victory, and his compatriot Damien Nazon (Bonjour), who won the third and fourth stages, came in only 21 seconds behind his Belgian adversary from the Lotto team. However it was too little too late as Eeckhout put the finishing touches to a campaign which he got off to a perfect start with victory in the first stage. Eeckhout held on to

Belgian Bart Wellens (Spaar-Select) won the eighth and final round of the Superprestige cyclo-cross series in Harnes, France, on Sunday. Wellens outsprinted Dutchman Richard Groenendaal, who had already wrapped up the overall title after round 7 in Diegem, Belgium. 30 seconds later came Belgian Sven Nijs, followed by world champion Erwin Vervecken. With his win, Wellens finished second in the overall standings, one of eight Belgians in the top 10.

The race leader has everyone's attention

Tuft, Okazuki and Langella

The peloton enjoyed the scenery on the way to Melaka

All it took was one little mistake in the race map, and Enrico Degano (Ceramiche Panaria) beat out powerhouses Mercury Viatel and Mapei-Quick Step in a bunch sprint to take his second stage of the Tour de Langkawi. Jans Koerts (Mercury Viatel) continues to hold the yellow jersey, although his lead over Degano has been cut to 18 seconds from 25.

Frenchman Damien Nazon (Bonjour) won for the second straight day at the Etoile de Bessèges as he took the fourth stage in Les Fumades in a sprint from Jo Planckaert and Steffen Radochla. Lotto’s Nico Eeckhout held onto the race leader’s jersey. The stage featured a 10-rider break – Peter Farazijn (Cofidis), Bert Scheirlinckx (Collstrop), Chris Peers (Cofidis), Sebastien Demarbaix (AG2R), Lenaic Olivier (Jean Delatour), Thierry Gouvenou, Loic Lamouller (both BigMat), Andy Flickinger (Festina), Franck Perque (Francaise des Jeux) and Stuart O’Grady (Credit Agricole) -- that went off at the 20km

Degano had time to celebrate

The break stayed out for nearly 200km

Barry has been active all week

Average speed: 51.95 kilometers per hour for 135.5km. That’s all you need to know to understand stage 4 of the Tour de Langkawi. It was fast, brutally fast, more than a kilometer and a half per hour faster than Mario Cipollini's record Tour de France stage last year. And at the finish, overall leader Jans Koerts (Mercury-Viatel) added a stage win to his honors, easily outdistancing Ivan Quaranta (Alexia Alluminio) and Andris Nauduzs (Selle Italia-Pacific).

French rider Damien Nazon of the Bonjour team won the third stage of the season-opening Etoile de Bessèges race on Friday but Belgium's Nico Eeckhout kept the leader's jersey he has held from the start. Nazon leapt into second place overall after winning the 140km stage from Nimes to Ales in southern France. Jan Svorada of the Czech Republic was second in Friday's stage and lies third overall. The stage was marked by a number of falls, before a group of 22 riders broke away 10km from Ales. Denmark's Nicolay Larsen led in the closing kilometers before falling, allowing Nazon to pedal to

In the VeloNews road season preview issue (February 5, 2001), we inadvertently left Massachusetts’s Kevin Monahan off of the 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist team roster, and we heard about it quickly from some of our readers. We caught up with the entire team on Thursday at its Boulder, Colorado, training camp. Six inches of new snow on the ground and temperatures in the teens put a damper on the festivities. "This sucks," said newcomer Dave McCook. "I didn’t come here to ski." The team made plans for a snowshoe excursion on Friday, but Thursday was a day for indoor training, testing and team

Koerts scored Mercury's second stage win

Moninger leads the Mercury chase

Sure enough, Monahan was there.

Killing time in the meetings.

Juan-Carlos Pineda

No ride on Thursday

Australian neo-pro Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) won the overall title at the Majorca Challenge, while another Australian, Robbie McEwen (Domo-Farm Frites), finally beat Germany’s Erik Zabel in a field-sprint finish. The final stage was a 153.4km circuit around Palmanova, which the peloton covered in 3:45:04, for an average of 38.104kph. With Hayman holding a 1:46 lead over Francisco Cabello, the Kelme team was the animator of the race, placing five of its riders into a 15-man break, which rode out to a three minute lead over the day’s three climbs. Behind, the Rabobank squad organized the chase

Mapei-Quick Step finally made it onto the winner’s podium Thursday at the Tour de Langkawi, with Paolo Bettini just nipping Phonak's Alexandre Usov at the line. Mercury Viatel's Jans Koerts continues to hold onto the yellow leader's jersey, with stage 2 winner Enrico Degano (Ceramiche Panaria) and Bettini 10 seconds back. The 177km third stage along the east coast of Malaysia, from Kota Bharu to Kuala Terengganu, was led for much of the day by the breakaway duo of Svein Tuft (Team Canada) and Soren Petersen (Saturn). Tuft initiated the break a mere 6km into the stage, and was soon joined by

Festina’s Steffen Radochla won the second stage of the Etoile des Bessèges, 151km between Septèmes-les-Vallons and Miramas in France. Belgian Nico Eeckhout (Lotto-Adecco) retained the leader’s jersey. Under sunny but windy conditions, the 22-year-old German Radochla won a sprint finish at the end of an animated stage marked by many aggressive, but failed, breakaways. After a 45km breakaway by Jean Delatour’s Christophe Edaleine was brought back, the attacks kept coming until the final kilometer, but the peloton regrouped in time to set up the field sprint, with Radochla edging out Jaan