News

Now that is brand loyalty

Plusher than ever in deepest, darkest Baja

Okay, we get it. You are officially a 'geek.'

Apple CEO Steve Jobs

Mike Creed, U.S. Postal's newest recruit

Like many Mac addicts out there, I sacrificed a few hours of my Tuesday morning to watch the live Web cast of Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s keynote address at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Each year, the biggest geeks in the industry come together for several days in a large showroom to meet with designers and engineers and drool over the latest technological advances. Fluorescent lights hum, camera flashes sparkle, and schwag is freely distributed while people discuss issues of speed and performance. Right — just like Interbike, only nerdier, if you can imagine that. But Jobs’s

So what is a good use of their time?!?!?Editors;I just want to know what is in the water in Colorado Springs. Maybesome of the cost of licensing should go to higher education for such "nuances." (see "Dunlapa long shot for Athens?") That line from USA Cycling's Matt Cramer- "To translate every nuance of the UCI rule book is not the best use ofour time..." says it all.What? To be continually embarrassed is a good use of their time!?! Whatin the world are you doing that is more important than the Olympics? Iknow as riders we have to look out for ourselves, but you'd think thatour "Director of

Casero after winning the Vuelta in 2001

Dunlap may not get the chance for Olympic gold in '04

American pro Christian Vande Velde confirmed Tuesday that he is close to reaching an agreement with Roberto Heras’s Liberty Seguros team. The U.S. Postal team rider told VeloNews that he has been negotiating with the Liberty squad since late last year and that the two parties are close to finalizing a deal, “although nothing has been signed at this point.” Vande Velde, who spends much of his season based in Gerona, Spain, said that he still has a year remaining on his current contract, “and some of those details need to be worked out,” before he can formally make the switch to the team now

Vande Velde

Ballerini in 2002

Geneviève Jeanson was in the news a lot during 2003 - first, because she is one of Canada's biggest cycling stars, and second, because of the high hematocrit result she posted at the road world championships in Hamilton, which led to her withdrawal from the women's road race mere hours before its start. Although Jeanson tested negative in a subsequent doping control, the frenzy, particularly among the Quebec media, has taken a long time to die down. Jeanson has been sparing in her media contacts since, in part because of the Quebec College of Physicians' investigation of Maurice Duquette on

Tour of the Gila race director Jack Brennan has notified VeloNews that the Tour of the Gila will have a new title sponsor for the 2004 edition of the race. National Geographic Adventure magazine has signed on, replacing the Silver City Holiday Inn Express as title sponsor, with the motel remaining on board as a co-sponsor. Brennan explained that in a very unusual development, Mike Trumbull of the local Holiday Inn Express - the previous title sponsor - did the work to find the new one. Trumbull, who is chairman of the Silver City/Grant County Chamber of Commerce tourism committee, worked

Geneviève Jeanson spent a good deal of time in the spotlight during 2003, and she wasn't always celebrating

Hi, Bob,I signed a contract with a cycling-related manufacturer to endorse their product. I believe in the product and have used it successfully for several years. At the end of the nine-page agreement there was a clause called Force Majeure. This clause contains language about fires, floods, wars, etc. What’s up with this, and how does it apply to the contract? Thanks in advance,B.D. Dear B.D.,I suspect the Force Majeure was included as simply as boilerplate. In law, the term “boilerplate” refers to standard language contained in a legal document that is identical to language used in

Who else could win the GP Sven Nijs?

Berden, who won the last World Cup, settled for third

Why is this man smiling? Groenendaal finished 22nd

Page, meanwhile, scored another top-20 finish

Kovac charges up the hill to victory

Wellens was back on top Tuesday at the Azencross in Loenhout, Belgium

Adham Sbeih tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) at the U.S. Elite Track National Championships August 26 in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Olympic Committee. The USOC announced Tuesday that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's review board had found that "sufficient evidence of doping exists to proceed further in seven cases," including Sbeih's. The 30-year-old Sacramento resident, who raced for Sierra Nevada-Clif Bar in 2003, won the individual pursuit at this year's nationals and rode on the championship-winning team-pursuit squad. He and the six others, all

Adham Sbeih racing at the 2003 track nationals

The bunch rolls through the start-finish

Ciaran Power (Navigators) was the emphatic winner of Rás Turcaí in Carraroe, Ireland, on Sunday. On a 10km circuit, Power took control over the 89-man field when he attacked on each climb of the six laps and comfortably set himself into a 20-second lead just after the halfway point. Power was reproducing the sort of form that saw him take two stages in last year's Milk Rás as he powered away to increase his lead to more than a minute at the finish. The former Ofoto Lombardia rider David O'Loughlin came second after taking the first prime of the day, but he couldn't match Power, who was a

Grishkin and Aitken – and a few of their closest friends - have at it in stage five

Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) has been named cyclist of the year for 2003 by a panel of readers of the sporting newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian sprinter was favored by 31.7 percent of the 5527 people consulted on the Milanese daily newspaper’s website. Petacchi beat out compatriot Paolo Bettini, who garnered 23 percent of the votes, and American Lance Armstrong, who drew 19.3 percent. German Jan Ullrich got only 6.2 percent, while Italian Gilberto Simoni polled just 5.1 percent. Petacchi, who will celebrate his 30th birthday on January 3, won 24 times this

Wellens has been winning everything this season – until now

Today was Berden's day to shine

Richard Groenendaal shot away from the gun on Sunday

But he was shadowed by a host of Belgians, including the eventual winner, Ben Berden

Bart Wellens was having an off day, and could only manage fourth

Erwin Vervecken, meanwhile, copped the last step on the podium

And Jonathan Page flew the stars and stripes to 19th place

U.S. champ Page wore his Santa hat for the Christmas Day race

De Clercq doesn't look overjoyed to finish second again

The Health Net Pro Cycling Team, presented by Maxxis, announced on Thursday the signing of former Prime Alliance rider Danny Pate. The announcement came from Gregory Raifman, Chairman & CEO of Momentum Sports Group, LLC, a Piedmont, California, based company that owns and operates the Health Net cycling team. A resident of Colorado Springs, Pate, 24, has shown great promise as a professional, riding in Europe for Saeco in 2000 and returning to the U.S. to take the No. 2 ranking in the NRC Standings in 2002 while riding for Prime Alliance. To date, Pate is perhaps best known for his win at

Wellens claimed his fourth Superprestige race of the season

Vervecken found himself settling for the lowest step on the podium ...

... while Nijs missed the podium altogether

Vannoppen was right behind Nijs in fifth

American cyclist David Clinger has sealed a ride with Mario Cipollini's Domina Vacanze team for next season, the Italian team announced Wednesday. The 26-year-old from California, a former member of U.S. Postal, has been a professional for six years and rode with the Festina team before moving to Postal in 2002. He left Postal to race for Prime Alliance during 2003. –Copyright 2003/AFP

Quark will pick up where Saturn is leaving off – Team Sports Inc. announced today that it has signed the shoe company to a three-year deal as the title sponsor of a women's pro cycling team. Canadian Lyne Bessette will captain the team, which has also signed 2003 national champion Sarah Uhl. Quark is negotiating with three other athletes and looking for two additional riders. The Quark team will kick off the 2004 season with a March training camp in California, and make its racing debut on March 13 at McClane Pacific, in Merced, California. Team Sports will manage the team; former Saturn

Armstrong: Looking for No. 6

Wellens did it again on Saturday

De Clercq had to settle for second

Groenendaal still can't get a break

And U.S. champ Page wasn't having a banner day, either

In fact, everyone had that look on his face ...

... even Wellens, who was winning

Clinger

Houseman racing at Grouse Mountain

Although he signed with the domestic Health Net squad just six weeks ago, 26-year-old David Clinger is now rumored to be in negotiations with Mario Cipollini’s Domina Vacanze squad for the 2004 season. Health Net team management would neither confirm nor deny the rumor. “We can’t completely comment on that,” said Thierry Attias, President and COO of Momentum Sports Group, the organization that owns and runs the Health Net cycling team. “I’d say it’s half true. We have a completely valid and enforced contract with David. He does now have an opportunity to ride with Cipollini, and we’ve been

Will Frischkorn has signed with Colavita-Bolla for 2004, rejoining former Saturn teammates Mark McCormack, Ivan Dominguez and Nathan O’Neill. "I am very excited that both Will and Nathan (O’Neill) will be joining Ivan and I on the Colavita-Bolla team for 2004,” said McCormack. “We all shared in a magical season during 2003, and it will be great to be able to build upon the accomplishments we achieved together.” The 22-year-old Frischkorn turned pro with Mercury in 1999 while still a junior. He has won five national championships, including the under-23 national road-race title in 2002. In

Pablo Lastras models the new Balears-Banesto jersey

Angel Casero

Will Frischkorn at Redlands

As this is the time of year when many race promoters/directors are finalizing their 2004 dates, this is also prime time for VeloNews to update its 2004 race calendars. If you haven’t already, have a look at our web submission page or send us an email at vncalendar@7dogs.com. Please include the following information:Race category (i.e., road, mountain bike, cyclo-cross)Region (i.e., Pacific Northwest)Race nameDate(s) of eventContact nameContact emailContact phoneRace web site URLCity and state of race (not promoter) All race listings are free; magazine listings are subject to space

La Vuelta 2004: A route only a mountain goat could love

Two-time champ Roberto Heras gets the star treatment

Iban Mayo practices giving a Lancesque 'look'

Carlos Sastre: Is he already feeling the pain?

Pavel Tonkov sports an ... interesting ... hairdo

After his solo breakaway victory at the 2003 Univest Grand Prix, team rider/manager Ted Huang explained he was just pretending he was Chris Horner at the T-Mobile International. Next season, Huang and rest of the Webcor squad will have a much more intimate opportunity to work on their Horner impressions, as the 2002 and 2003 NRC winner has signed to ride for the Bay Area-based team in 2004. It’s a major acquisition for Webcor, a team that finished 16th in the 2003 national rankings, with Huang, ranked 39th, its highest-placed rider. “We’re looking forward to racing with him and for him,”

The Webcor Professional Cycling Team announced Tuesday that 2003 T-Mobile International Winner and NRC overall standings leader Chris Horner will join the Northern California-based team for 2004. “I look forward to racing with the Webcor Cycling Team and helping them bring it up to the next level,” said Horner. “This is a huge step forward for Webcor Cycling,” said Ted Huang, team rider and manager. “We’re looking forward to an epic season and to making Chris feel at home here.” “We’re going to have a great time,” Andy Ball, CEO of Webcor Builders, the team’s title sponsor added.”

Not yet available in the U.S., Tyler's bike will look similar to this production version.

Horner (left) with O'Neill and Roland Green after the 2003 Redlands Classic Oak Glen stage

Employed!

The agony of technologyEditors;There is no other sport that I know of (including alpine skiing, whichis crowded with "tech weenies") in which athletes/participants would writesentences like those offered by Keith, Metallurgist or Ben, (apparent)physicist (see "TechnicalQ&A, 12/16/03"), for publication in a magazine of general circulation.My head hurts - I think I'll go for a ride.Kevin KinnearBoulder, ColoradoSure, go ride, but will you know precisely how much drag your out-datedsteel bearings will be generating? - EditorGood luck TJ!VeloNews;Congratulations to Tim Johnson, I am so happy to

Tim Johnson, the Saturn rider who signed with the U.S.-based Division III Colavita-Bolla squad last month, is now poised to ink another deal with the new Spanish-based Division I Saunier Duval team. “This is the kind of thing I’ve been hoping to land ever since I started riding,” the 26-year-old Johnson told VeloNews on Monday. “I’ve always wanted to get on a European team, and suddenly this opportunity came up.” Johnson, who recently won the Vic Roads Herald Sun Tour in Australia, said he was pleasantly surprised when he brought word of the offer to Colavita owner John Profaci. “Man, my

Johnson at Dulles airport on Monday

Johnson wins the Sun Tour

Wellens

Sven Nijs

Erwin Vervecken

Britain's Roger Hammond

Mario DeClerq missed the big move

Czech Republic's Peter Dlask

Wellens leads the series