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Koerts and Fraser feel the heat

Frank McCormack keeps an eye on things for Saturn

The yellow jersey takes it to the line

In a deal that’s been rumored for some time, Tomac USA, the bicycle company owned and operated by legendary rider John Tomac and pioneer designer Doug Bradbury, has joined forces with American Bicycle Group, which owns Litespeed, Merlin and Quintana Roo. The deal will shift most of the marketing, production and day-to-day operations responsibilities from Tomac to American Bicycle Group. "It’s not a buyout where they own the business," Tomac said. "It’s a licensing agreement that gives us access to resources we were lacking in the past." The Tomac USA product line consists of three aluminum

Mercury-Viatel’s Jan Koerts held onto the yellow leader’s jersey at the Tour de Langkawi on Wednesday, but Italian Enrico Degano rocketed up to second-place when he beat out Koerts for the stage 2 win in Kota Bharu. The 226.3km stage featured two long climbs early in the race, one of about 14km and another of 19km, making for a hard day in the saddle. However, the 171 riders were all together for field sprint finish. Koerts and Mercury were looking for another stage win, but Degano shot ahead in the last 250 meters to take the win.

With his Rabobank teammates chasing behind, Dutchman Michael Boogerd was able to sit in for a free ride in the lead group up front, and he emerged freshest from a five-man breakaway to take the win on stage 4 of the Majorca challenge. The Boogerd group also included Swiss Fabian Jeker and Spaniards Felix Garcia Casas, Francisco Cabello and Juan José de los Angeles. Those four were forced to do the bulk of the work when Rabobank took up the chase late in the race, and at the finish, Boogerd took the sprint from Jeker with relative ease. Two minutes behind, Telekom’s Erik Zabel beat out Luca

Lotto-Adecco’s Nico Eeckhout took the leader’s jersey at the Etoile de Bessèges after winning the 141km first stage from La Ciotat to Aubagne. Eeckhout won a six-up sprint from fellow breakaways Nicolas Reynaud (Festina), Jakob Piil (CSC-World Online), Nicolas Jalabert (CSC-World Online), Chris Peers (Cofidis) and Christophe Bassons (Jean Delatour). Reynaud and Cyril Dessel (Jean Delatour) embarked on a long breakaway just 10km into the stage, on the climb of Ceyreste, eventually building a lead of 6:25. At the 100km mark, they were caught by the five other riders that made up the final

U.S. national criterium champion Laura Van Gilder will race for the TalgoAmerica.com squad for the 2001 season. In 2000, Talgo America, a North American train manufacturer with corporate offices in Seattle and Washington, D.C., signed on as a sponsor of the Altoona Cycling Team’s women’s squad. This year, Talgo takes over title sponsorship. The team will be called TalgoAmerica.com. Earlier this year, Van Gilder was expected to ride for the Canadian Intersports team, along with Catherine Marsal, Elizabeth Emery and Anne Samplonius. However, that team has yet to be finalized, and Van Gilder

There has still been no official word from the UCI regarding the fate of the cancelled mountain bike World Cup triple in Whistler, but VeloNews has learned that at least two Canadian locations, Sun Peaks Resort and Grouse Mountain, are in the process of submitting bids to replace Whistler, and are being considered by cycling’s world governing body. Sun Peaks, a ski area 45 minutes from Kamloops, British Columbia, has already been awarded this year’s Canadian national mountain biking championships. "They’ve been running Canada Cups there for a long time," said Aaron McConnell of Altitude

Koerts holds onto yellow for another day

Stage 1 winner Fraser leads the peloton

Defending champion Mercury-Viatel has picked up where it left off last year at the Tour de Langkawi, with Gord Fraser winning the first stage and teammate Jans Koerts taking the yellow leader's jersey.

Telekom’s Erik Zabel scored his second stage win at the Majorca Challenge on Tuesday, winning the field sprint at the end of the 163km stage three from Cala Bona to Cala Rajada on the island of Majorca. Zabel, who also won the opening stage on Sunday, again outsprinted fellow German Sven Teutenberg, with Australian Robbie McEwen grabbing third for the second day in a row. Following a last-kilometer attack by Juan José de los Angeles (Kelme-Costa Blanca), the peloton regrouped, only to be splintered into several small groups due to a crash in the closing meters. Zabel escaped harm, however,

The 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist team training camp got off to a rough start on Monday when rider-manager Jeff Corbett crashed hard on the first team ride of the year outside Boulder, Colorado. Corbett fractured the L1 and T12 vertebrae in his back and sustained other assorted lacerations and bruises. He’s expected to miss at least three months of the season. Riding in gusty winds, the squad was in a tight echelon when Corbett knocked bars with teammate Kevin Monahan. "Before I could back off or anything, I was on my way down," said Corbett. The team flagged down a passing motorist, who gave

Team rosters for the 2001 Tour of Langkawi. Ag2R PREVONYANCE (France) GILLES MAS, Manager LINAS BALCINUS STEPHANE BERGES PHILIPPE BORDENAVE LAURENT ESTADIEU ALEXANDRE GRUX THIERRY LODER INNAR MANDOJA ALEXIA ALLUMINIO (Italy) LEONARDO LEVATI, Manager IVAN QUARANTA ANDREA BROGNARA SERGUEI OUTSCHAKOV MARIO MANZONI CORRADO SERINA CHRISTIAN AURIEMMA TBA BONJOUR (France) CHRISTIAN GUIBERTEAU, Manager WALTER BENETEAU FREDERIC GABRIEL CHARLES GUILBERT OLIVIER PERRAUDEAU MICKAEL PICHON JEAN-CYRIL ROBIN THOMAS VOECKLER CANTINA TOLLO (Italy) ENRICO PAOLINI, Manager CLAUDIO ASTOLFI CESARE DICINTIO

Fraser takes stage 1

Telekom’s Erik Zabel scored his first win of the season on Sunday, taking the first stage of the Majorca challenge, an 80km circuit race in Palma de Majorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands. Zabel beat out Germany’s Sven Teutenberg in the final sprint, while American David Clinger scored a 10th-place finish. In Monday’s second stage, Australian Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) scored his first professional victory with a long solo breakaway. Run on a 10km circuit, the season-opening stage 1 was a nervous affair, and was marked by a big crash on the fourth of eight laps. That, coupled with the

Czech cyclo-cross fans in Tábor had plenty to celebrate this morning when their countrymen Martin Bina, Radomir Simunek Jr. and Jan Kunta grabbed all three podium spots in today’s junior men’s race. Indeed, Czech riders took four of the top six spots in the race and now added to the home team’s overall dominace of the championships thus far. Of the nine medals awarded to this point, Czech riders have won five. When the junior men’s team arrived in Tábor to prepare for their world championship event this morning, it looked as though attendance might be a bit on the sparse side. A week of cold

You start fast and stay out front. Simple and obvious words to live by in cyclo-cross. Here in Tábor that fast start has counted for everything. Hanka Kupfernagel, Sven Vanthourenhout and Martin Bina all rode like mad for the opening 800 feet of pavement and dove into the first stretch of dirt among the first and then stayed there. In the elite men’s race, Erwin Vervecken joined the winner’s club in the same fashion, but he had some pretty tough company when he rounded that critical turn. And starting his race at the other end of the 57-man field, American Marc Gullickson fought through the

Gully did himself proud

She almost wins on intimidation alone. When asked how they assessed their chances at start of the women’s race at the 2001 World Cyclo-cross Championships in Tabor in the Czech Republic, most riders framed their responses in terms of how they might fare against Hanka Kupfernagel. As the sport’s first world champion, the German has come to dominate the relatively young women’s side of cyclo-cross. And, in its second year as a world championship event, Kupfernagel made sure that the biggest competition of the day would be for second place.

It was all a matter of keeping his cool, said Sven Vanthourenhout about winning the men’s Under-23 world cyclo-cross title on Saturday. The 20-year-old Belgian said that when he came to Tabor for the world championships, he was beginning to have doubts about his chances. But it was the pros on the formidable Belgian squad, he said, who told him to relax and convinced him that he could do it. “I was nervous even when I rode warm-up laps this morning,” Vanthourenhout said. “I wasn’t taking the right lines, I wasn’t keeping my footing….” But after the start, when he ran into trouble,

Cyclo-cross, an admittedly small niche in a relatively small sport, has a passionate fan base, especially in Europe. The world championships this weekend in Tabor in the Czech Republic have attracted fans from across the continent. Busloads of Belgians, trainloads of Dutch and long car caravans of Swiss have descended on this Czech city. And with them, they bring all the markings of true fans, hoping to make their affiliations quite clear. Flags are everywhere, but hats and the occassional spike-spined orange jumpsuit can do a lot to clarify who it is you're cheering for. Racing

Cyclo-cross, an admittedly small niche in a relatively small sport, has a passionate fan base, especially in Europe. The world championships this weekend in Tabor in the Czech Republic have attracted fans from across the continent. Busloads of Belgians, trainloads of Dutch and long car caravans of Swiss have descended on this Czech city. And with them, they bring all the markings of true fans, hoping to make their affiliations quite clear. Flags are everywhere, but hats and the occassional spike-spined orange jumpsuit can do a lot to clarify who it is you're cheering for.

A little help from her friends. Kupfernagel celebrates with Germany's biggest fan.

Vantourenhout kept his cool... until he got the jersey.

Czech fans had reason to celebrate.

Long drive: they drove straight through from Brittany.

Djernis cheering section. He came from Copenhagen to cheer on Henrik

How many chickens died for these Belgian fans' toppers?

Lion in winter. More than a fan this Dutchman works for the national squad

If you keep count, Belgian colors are most prevalent

Long drive: they drove straight through from Brittany.

Djernis cheering section. He came from Copenhagen to cheer on Henrik

Lion in winter. More than a fan this Dutchman works for the national squad

If you keep count, Belgian colors are most prevalent

Groenendaal's cheering section should be large, loud and orange on Sunday

The Jelly Belly cycling team announced its 2001 line-up on Thursday, and the squad features several youthful additions. Eddy Gragus will once again head the team, joined by returning riders Kirk Albers, Norm Carter and Mariano Friedick. The newcomers are Brad Buccambuso, Jonathan Erdelyi, Damon Kluck and Jason McCartney. "Brad and Jonathan did well in the espoirs ranks, both in the U.S. and abroad; Damon was riding on his own all season, yet still placed consistently in the top 20 or 25 in NRC events; and Jason is a very aggressive rider who impressed our guys at Killington. Combined with

The newest entry in the Guiness Book of World Records belongs to a bicycle rider. On Wednesday, in the high desert of Southern California, the firstever bicycle speed-wheelie record was set by Kona Clump, freak rider Bobby Root, according to a press release issued by Kona. Riding his 2001 Kona Roast, equipped with a 54-tooth chainring, slick tires, disc brakes, high tech speed and angle meters, and miniature cameras, Root pedaled his bike — yes, pedaled, no tow — in a van-draft up to 86.1 mph. He then popped the front end up and rode a wheelie for over 35 yards. Then, with cops, cameras

The saga known as Missy took another twisted turn two weeks ago during a training ride near Durango, Colorado. According to Giove, she was riding just south of the small Colorado town when she crashed, then fell off the edge of a "17 to 25-foot high" sheer cliff. The ensuing landing left her with a broken left leg and severely strained ligaments in both knees. "It was just a routine crash until I slid right off, bike and all," said Giove, reigning national downhill champion and runner up in last year’s World Cup standings. "But broken bones are a lot better than tears, so I’m not even

"It’s Kansas … only with hills." On close inspection, Dale Knapp’s description of the world cyclo-cross championship course in Tábor in the Czech Republic is fairly accurate: The world’s course, huddled beneath a collection of Soviet-era concrete apartment blocks, is quite reminiscent of the U.S. national championship loop in Overland Park, Kansas. And, if weather predictions hold true, there may be a few more reminders of that weekend back in December. Knapp and the rest of the U.S. contingent are based at Tábor’s Goldbrick Hotel, just a mile from the course and, for the most part, the

Knapp is relaxed and ready.

Djernis says this may well be his last 'cross race.

Let it snow. The weather gods seem to like cyclo-cross.

Well, Kansas doesn't have these nifty Soviet-style apartment blocs.

Citing notification from the sport's international governing body, officials with the U.S. Postal Service team have given their approval for testing of all riders' blood samples that were gathered during last year's Tour de France. According to a team press release on January 31, the request was made on January 30 by the Union Cycliste Internationale after that organization was contacted by French authorities with a request to turn over the samples. The team has given its approval, and also requested that "an independent expert of our own choosing" be allowed to assist in the

Mapei's Paolo Bettini, who won the prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege race last year, was bitten by a female monkey while training in Malaysia, on January 31. The Italian champion was bitten while training in Malaysia for the Tour of Langkawi. Bettini and a group of riders were giving the monkey some sweets when, after a brusque movement by Bettini, it got scared and bit him on the left knee, according to team reports. The Mapei rider was given antibiotics as a precaution after medical advice. Copyright AFP 2001

A press release from the U.S. Postal Service team hit the digital in-box last night, and included a statement from the team's general manager regarding Roberto Heras's status with the team and ongoing negotiations to buy out his Kelme contract. The two-word summary for fans -- and perhaps Kelme management -- is: Sit tight. Here's the full content of the release: STATEMENT FROM U.S. POSTAL SERVICE PRO CYCLING TEAM GENERAL MANAGER MARK GORSKI CONCERNING ROBERTO HERAS There have been some questions raised today in media reports concerning the status of the transfer of Roberto

Team Saeco officials vowed to put their disappointing 2000 season behind them as they unveiled its 2001 team line-up, in San Marino on January 30. "The program for 2001 is to improve on last year," was the blunt assessment of team manager Claudio Corti. Last year was hardly a memorable year for a team that had little to celebrate on track or road, and whose talisman Mario Cipollini saw injury curtail his appearances. But Tuesday's launch served to turn the page and fuel hope for more prosperity in the team's seventh year of competition for the red-shirted outfit. "The year 2000 was

With UCI paperwork due into USA Cycling, the Division III line-up in the U.S. is becoming clear. Among the eight U.S. teams, six are previewed in the Feb. 5 issue of VeloNews -- 7-Up-Colorado Cyclist, Zaxby's, Jelly Belly, NetZero, Prime Alliance and Noble House. Details of the two remaining teams, DeFeet-LeMond and RealityBikes.com, have come out this week. The DeFeet-LeMond team makes the move from the amateur ranks to Division III after several successful seasons. Last year, highlights included third place at the espoir national time trial championship and fourth at the elite

Officials with Team Kelme have complained to the UCI that the U.S. Postal Service had recruited Roberto Heras, but hadn't honored the Spanish rider's termination clause. That clause's deadline -- essentially a contract buy-out, with $1 million (U.S.) paid to Kelme -- passed on January 25, and Kelme considers Heras part of its team. Kelme management claims that Heras remains under contract because his transfer clause remained unpaid as of the January 25 deadline. According to Joan Mas, Kelme's team manager, representatives for the U.S. Postal Service called at 8 p.m. on the 25th,

Team Telekom announced that it is throwing its biggest-ever budget at an assault on the Tour de France, won four years ago by its rider Jan Ullrich. Ullrich told journalists at the team's 2001 season launch, held in Bonn on January 29, that he was hungry for another yellow jersey, and said he was in the sort of shape to challenge reigning champion Lance Armstrong. "Every year that I don't win the Tour is a lost year," said the 27-year-old from Rostock in the former East Germany. "It's been a long time since I've been in such good shape and whatever happens I want to

Heras, earlier this month, riding at the Postie's Arizona training camp.

The Mapei team held its official team launch Saturday, revealing a massive outfit that enters the 2001 season with an emphasis on young talent and internationals. Twenty-four of Mapei’s 41 riders are Italian, but this year’s line-up includes athletes from 12 different nations. Mapei’s youth movement is carried by eight new professionals, including teenagers Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland and Bernhard Eisel of Austria. Other promising young riders making their debut in the professional ranks include under-23 world champion Yevgeny Petrov of Russia and Czech hope Pavel Zerzan. Petrov, 22,

A listing of product sponsors for the newly-formed Global Racing downhill team includes one stand-out surprise: Missy Giove and Co. will ride Orange downhill rigs. Until now, the British bike manufacturer Orange hasn’t had much visibility on the World Cup circuit, though one of its biggest success stories -- South African Greg Minnaar, who was ninth overall in the 2000 World Cup -- is one of the riders on the Global team. "After seeing Greg Minnaar’s excellent performances in 2000, we sent our head mechanic Patrick Griessen to make an evaluation of the Orange program, and he was extremely

U.S. Olympian Erin Mirabella has been added to the Jane Cosmetics cycling team. The 22-year-old track racer has won seven U.S. championships and competed with the U.S. Olympic team in Sydney last September. "With everything that’s happened at USA Cycling, I was a little worried about the 2001 season, but this is just great," Mirabella said in a statement released by the team on Friday. "I rode with Odessa Gunn on Timex last year, and I know Julie Hanson and Jane Quigley really well." With Mirabella added to the team, the Jane Cosmetics line-up is now as follows: Catherine Cardwell,

The Prime Alliance cycling team continued its whirlwind winter dealing on Friday, announcing that it had added Roy Knickman to the team's management group. "He just saw it as an opportunity to come into a rapidly expanding program," said team director Kirk Willett, Knickman's former teammate on the Mercury cycling team. "It gives him a position where he can be really pivotal in the team's development." Knickman, who was named general manager, was unavailable for comment, but in the team press release he stated: "I am very excited to be involved with the Prime Alliance Cycling

Future kingpin Roy Knickman

We received word on Thursday from John Deering, the spokesman for Britain’s Linda McCartney Foods pro cycling team, that the squad has folded after encountering serious financial problems. Deering denied reports that the team’s collapse was related to the alleged embezzlement of funds by a member of the team’s management. Instead, Deering attributed the failure to a combination of factors including "a low level of support” from Linda McCartney Foods, a vegetarian food producer based in Great Britain and owned by former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. Despite its relatively small budget, the

The Saturn cycling team unveiled its new look, and it hopes a new attitude, earlier this week as its pre-season training camp began in California. The camp opened with a one-day photo shoot at Universal Studios on Monday, and the following day the team moved to its camp base of Buellton, California, north of Santa Barbara. The men's team underwent a lot of turnover over the off-season, losing Bart Bowen, Brian Walton, Antonio Cruz, Seth Pelusi, Chris Wherry and Robbie Ventura, while adding Matt DeCanio, Eric Wohlberg, Tim Johnson, Chris Fisher, Søren Petersen and last year's

No more checkers: Saturn's new look.

Frank McCormack returns for his seventh season with Saturn.

New color scheme for the bikes, too.

Wilson (l) and Bessette (r) are key returnees.

Day 2: Atop Figueroa Mountain

DeCanio (l) and Johnson (r) join veterans like Michael Barry (c)

Marco Pantani learned Wednesday that he is again the target of a fresh criminal investigation - just weeks after receiving a suspended jail term for using performance-enhancing drugs. Italian prosecutors said the 31-year-old 1998 Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner, is being investigated over the abnormal red blood cell levels — hematocrit — revealed in a test prior to the penultimate stage of the 1999 Tour of Italy. Those test results forced him out of the race and derailed what appeared to be a certain win and a promising season. Prosecutor Bruno Giardina said on Wednesday that

The Linda McCartney-Jacobs Creek team was in crisis talks Wednesdayafter parting company with its management, OC Racing & Promotions. News of the split with OC Racing came hours after the team postponed itslaunch, which was due to be held in London's Trafalgar Square on Friday,January 26. Press officer John Deering said, "Talks continue between Linda McCartneyand the team's representatives, Max Sciandri and Sean Yates, about forming anew management structure to continue operating the team. "All riders and staff have given their approval and support to Max andSean. There is an

Not a happy camper - Pantani (seen here at the 2000 Tour) is facing still more troubles.

His training clothes sodden, his face flushed from riding in two hours of glacial rain, Lance Armstrong burst into the lobby of Tucson's swank Westin La Paloma hotel, dropped off his Trek with a bellhop and, shivering from the cold, asked for his room key. Welcome to "sunny" southern Arizona, the place chosen for this month’s U.S. Postal Service team get-together and sponsor weekend. "That was as cold as my hands have ever been," the Texan said in response to the first question of an interview he extended to VeloNews. Already, the cold ride was a memory. Now, installed on a comfortable

Mercury's Chris Horner moved to Bend, Oregon, this winter and started on a new look, arriving at training camp with a fledgling "mountain-man" beard. "I admit, it looks terrible right now, but I'm going to keep on growing it," he says. Should he keep going, or nip this problem in the bud? Click "more" to check Horner out, then make the call in the Velo Poll.

The U.S. Postal Service is one of 16 teams that now have an official slot in the 2001 Tour de France, according to an announcement from the Société du Tour de France at a press conference in Paris, on January 23. Look for additional information later today on VeloNews.com. The teams announced today include: Germany: Telekom Belgium: Domo-Farm Frites Spain: IBanesto.com, Kelme, ONCE United States: US Postal France: AG2R, Bonjour, Cofidis, Crédit Agricole, Festina, Jean Delatour Italy: Fassa Bortolo, Lampre, Mapei Netherlands: Rabobank Four additional teams will be included for the

At the sixth round of the cyclo-cross World Cup series in Pontchateau, France, some eerie bunkers from WWII served as powerful memories that I won’t soon forget. Another powerful memory I'll take home from the January 21 event is one of the toughest cyclo-cross courses I’ve ever raced on. The course was set in a river basin, and someone saw to it that we were to traverse up and down the side of the river valley a number of times just to make things interesting. It worked. With a number of power climbs, fast descents, and off-camber, muddy turns, my last Euro’ race of the season was a

The line-up for this year's Tour might be a little thin when it kicks off in Dunkirk on July 7. By favoring three French Division 2 squads in its 16 pre-selections for the 2001 Tour de France on Tuesday, the race organizers left out the teams of Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno-Albacom), Alex Zülle and Fernando Escartin (Team Coast), Laurent Jalabert (CSC-World Online), Pavel Tonkov and Chann McRae (Mercury-Viatel), Mario Cipollini and Laurent Dufaux (Saeco), Jeroen Blijlevens (Lotto-Adecco), David Etxebarria and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Christophe Mengin (La Française des

Mountain-man look: Keep it or lose it?

When the Mercury camp kicked off in Woodland Hills, California, last Monday, there were some big changes from years past. One big change was the move from team director John Wordin’s old house in West Hills to his spacious new digs. No longer does Wordin’s dining room serve as the team’s office, and gone are the days of the huge semi-trailer parked outside of his house, with mechanics laboring away in his garage. Team mechanics did most of the work in building the new garage-warehouse, and the concrete around the facility was poured just days before the start of training camp last week, but

For the first time since being knocked off his bike in Florida 10 days earlier, Fred Mengoni sat up in his hospital bed to eat a real meal on Sunday evening. A friend at his bedside in St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, said that the 77-year-old president of USPRO was "doing good." In the road accident, Mengoni was knocked unconscious, broke his pelvis and several ribs; and after surgery was placed on a respirator at the hospital's intensive care unit. During his stay, the Italian-born Mengoni has been swamped with get-well messages from friends around the world,

After receiving more than 14,000 comments in 30 days, the Bureau of Land Management chose not to group mountain bikes with motorized vehicles in a controversial management plan known as the National Off-Highway Vehicle Strategy. On December 4, the Bureau of Land Management released a draft of the plan that would ultimately rouse the cycling community to take action against a legislative act that threatened the future of the mountain-biking experience itself. At the heart of the issue was the BLM’s coupling of mountain bikes with other off-highway vehicles, all of which were

The new headquarters

Plenty of work and storage space