News

The Greek flag goes up

Merckx gave it all he had, but had to settle for bronze

Playing with fire.

Germany chases

Bettini wins the gold

Racing past the Acropolis

Running men.

Laurels for the podium

Canadian pride.

The big man, Backstedt, had an early go

The calm before kickoff.

And then there were three

The media vantage point.

A wiseguy suggested that the course was designed to show off the monuments ... like the Acropolis

The photographers perch.

It certainly suited Paolo Bettini

Excitement piqued.

Defending Olympic champ Jan Ullrich crossed 19th

Athletes of the world.

Just in front of Ullrich was Tyler Hamilton, the top U.S. finisher

The U.S. men's hoops squad.

Bobby Julich had himself a go

The ATHOC president addresses the world.

As did Levi Leipheimer

Stoneface prior to his metamorphosis.

The Germans and Aussies chased everything with a pulse

It’s an oft overused expression, but in this case it really did apply. Getting the chance to watch the Opening Ceremonies from a seat inside the Olympic Stadium was truly a once in a lifetime deal. The pre-Athlete procession show was like Cirque du Soleil on steroids with a Greek history lesson thrown in for good measure. My vantage point was a lower-level seat on the opposite end of where the torch was eventually lit. Not the greatest spot to see all in the action in the middle of the giant “lake,” but a good place to catch the expressions on athletes faces as they made their way around the

Macgregor takes the title

The top three and their laurels

My bosses may not approve, but I took a little me time on Thursday to check a few of the sights in Athens. And that meant a trip to the Acropolis. Set on a rocky hill, high above the city center, this is definitely one of the most amazing places you’ll ever come across. It’s dubbed the sacred rock in the brochure they hand out at the entryway, which also tells you that for centuries this was one of the most important religious centers in all of Athens. Parts of it date back to the Neolithic period, and it’s centerpiece, the Parthenon, was built in the middle half of the fifth century BC.

The Acropolis.

The Parthenon.

The city below.

The Porch of the Caryatids.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Looking back to the Acropolis.

The U.S. team addresses the media.

The cobbled section of the road course.

Team Norway fighting traffic.

Guys like this are all over the city.

A shadowy side street.

The backside of the road race course.

Nazon

Farrar en route to a national title

Spent a good chunk of Wednesday at the Olympic Village, the main housing location for all the athletes here in Athens. Reporter types like myself are only allowed in the International Zone, but you can still get a pretty good idea of what it’s all about. Besides providing sleeping quarters for most of the athletes, there’s a huge dinning hall, rec room, post office, Internet café, photo shop, flower shop and a big outdoor sound stage. Throughout the day groups of well dressed dignitaries file up onto the stage for pomp-and-circumstance presentations. This forced an NBC TV crew that was there

Voeckler will be on the team in '05

Hamilton does an interview near the Olympic Village sound stage.

Info at the fingertips

Path of least resistance.

The torch makes its rounds.

A third of the Greek population calls Athens home.

Four Spanish team riders get in some training near the base of the Acropolis.

Not a bad spot.

Don't bring the Amex here.

The commuter train.

U.S. softball starlet Jennie Finch.

The media compound is well fortified.

The torch is passed.

The new digs.

Striking a pose.

The starship v-drome.

The U.S. men get ready to reconnoiter

Office space.

Levi Leipheimer and Tyler Hamilton lead the way

The U.S. women's road team.

VeloNews diarist Dede Demet Barry joins the Dutch women for a spin

Hamilton's back bears the scars of the Tour.

Bobby Julich and Michael Rasmussen get in a few miles

Julich meets the press.

Teammates in '05?

Hamilton sporting Tugboat's tag.

Hincapie doing a phoner interview.

Yasas (or yasu if we know each other) from Athens. It’s Wednesday afternoon local time — nine hours ahead of the East Coast back in the States — and your intrepid reporter has found his way to the Olympic Village for a 1:30 appointment with Tyler Hamilton. The Phonak pro is out on a training ride at the moment, but assuming he shows up afterward we’re going to snap a photo of him in U.S. team kit for his column in VeloNews. In the meantime here’s a little rundown on my first days in Greece. The whole adventure (I’m calling it that because this is my first go round with the world’s biggest

The Olympic mascot thingy.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is looking for its next executive director. The Boulder-based non-profit organization has retained the search firm T. Malouf & Company, Inc., to find a replacement for outgoing executive director Tim Blumenthal, who will become executive director of Bikes Belong in September. With 32,000 members, 500 affiliated clubs and hundreds of corporate and retail members, IMBA is the world’s largest mountain-biking organization, dedicated to creating, preserving and enhancing trail opportunities for mountain bikers worldwide. Blumenthal’s

One of the country's leading exports.

Photographer Casey Gibson is in Athens for the 2004 Summer Games and sent us these glimpses of the U.S. team as they practice for the weekend's road races.

Sunset from the burbs of Athens.

Doping is cheating, periodEditor:I've been reading the exchanges on doping in your mailbags. Some interesting points are being raised on both sides, but it seems to me we're making this issue more complicated than is necessary. Doping is cheating, period. There are plenty of good reasons for a person to cheat on final exams (better grades), aptitude tests (better college), performance reports (bigger profits), the Friday poker game (bigger winnings), or the weekend bike race (better results). But the plain truth is, it's still cheating. Period. One who cheats to get something does not

The king of the pin collectors.