News

Aussie in yellow

Vogels held his own on the climbs and nailed them all in the sprint

Starting a U.S. with a full crew of Navigators in the mix was new to most of the field.

The sprint at Meza

More from Sea Otter; Lance's glimpse of the future

Leipheimer

More from Sea Otter; Lance's glimpse of the future

O'Neill

Hamilton will be there.

Tim Johnson

Green

Fred Rodriguez

Leiswyn

Henderson

Check out those levers...

Sub-16 pounds and steel? You betcha!

Profile

Flèche-Wallonne: A tough one to call

More from Sea Otter; Lance's glimpse of the future

More from Sea Otter; Lance's glimpse of the future

Ullrich, Mikael Reihs (Fakta) and Bert Scheirlinckx (Iteamnova) ride through Bensberg near Cologne on Monday.

They don't all end up like this.

Over the last few days I've been reading letters a few of you have writtenin response to my column regarding the situation in Redwood city (see“ Vaughters' view: Safety first!"). Most of them are positive and complimentary, but a few promoters have expressed concern about my painting the whole group with a very broad brush. Well, not to contradict myself in the same week, but some of these concerns voiced are valid. I will be the first to admit that I threw all race promoters in thesame bin by suggesting that they had their priorities skewed by not appearingto care about rider safety and

Vinokourov dedicated this one to Kivilev, too.

With 5km remaining, Vinkourov gambles all... and wins.

Armstrong and Boogered

Sacchi leads

Casagrande attacks

Rubiera was in the first break

On the Cauberg

The peloton was together for much of the day

Vino's Victory

Celebration

The podium

Cooke gets her first big win

Dear Editor;I hope you can help me out. On Wednesday, April 16, I was involved in a hit-and-run while riding my road bike. The accident took place on Cherryvale Road, near Boulder, Colorado, as it crosses over Route 36. Here is a summary (from a letter of thanks I wrote to Bell Helmets) of what happened:Ths is just a short note to say thanks to all the designers and engineers at Bell Sports. Two days ago, I was struck from behind while riding my road bike. According to an eye witness, the initial impact sent me backwards onto the hood of the car, where my head, encased in a Bell Ghisallo

Bisbee was a new kid once, too

Dog breath* Blinded by the white

Until recently, the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas, wasn’t really looking all that super. When the 250-meter EDS Superdrome opened in 1998, it was deservedly touted as one of the best outdoor velodromes in the country, if not the world. Financed in large part by the information technology firm, the track featured an impressive collection of hi-tech equipment, including a huge score and video board and on-site, computerized physiology training facilities. But with a new CEO and the bursting of the hi-tech bubble, EDS’s interest in cycling began to wane. Troubles were then exacerbated when the

Had a couple of friends over for a little spring barbecue the othernight and one of them showed up with a box full of Ding Dongs and a six-packof Miller Lite in plastic bottles. Nice to know there are still some goodpeople left in the world. Two weeks ago I wrote about hot dogs, baseball, bike racing and food.Now I’m off to the Tour de Georgia in search of some good finish-line foodin Savannah, Macon, Columbus, Rome and Gainesville, although I have a feelingI’m going to be itching to head to Athens by Saturday night for some finecurb-side dining at Athens Twilight. If anybody has any

I’m working on my tan. Oh, man. Working on my tan.– Tim Curry, “Working On My Tan” Colorado just sprinted past spring and plowed straight into summer,like Tom Boonen center-punching a finish-line photographer. This wouldbe a marvelous thing indeed, were it not for this pigmentation problemI seem to have developed over the winter. Where does this unearthly skin tone come from, this Day-Glo, über-ofayeggshell white, a pallor one might expect in the time-machine love childof a Wellsian Morlock and Bruce Willis in “Twelve Monkeys?” If a guy had something like an actual springtime to work with,

Off with the old! Volunteers remove boards on the backstretch of the Superdrome in Frisco. The first step in renovations is to remove over 700 old boards from the framework.

Ryan Crissey hangs on corner 2 to remove old boards at the Superdrome. The corners of the velodrome are banked at 45 degrees, making a climbing harness a necessity.

Father and son volunteers drill out the screws holding old boards at the start of the homestretch. More than 15,000 screws hold the boards to the metal framework.

Work continues in corner 3 to remove the old boards. After boards are removed the steel frame must be sanded and repainted to prevent future rust.

Volunteers pry off the top level of boards from the north end of the Superdrome. The step banking makes it a quick job to slide the removed boards off the frame.

Looking down the homestretch at corners 3 and 4, a new coat of anti-rust paint has been applied to the exposed metal frame. Additional cross supports must be added to hold the new, smaller boards.

Half of the new boards sit outside the Superdrome in Frisco waiting to be installed by volunteers who have traveled from as far away as Tulsa, Oklahoma to help.

Progress! The first section of new surface is installed.

Notes from the road: The Breakfast of Champions!

Kids! They can make you stronger... and happier.

Amstel Image Files

Amstel Image Files

Angel Casero won the 2001 Vuelta a España, but suffered through injuries and poor form in 2002. The proud Spanish rider is committed to returning to top form in the 2003 season and vows to challenge for the Tour de France podium. Despite problems at his Team Coast, Casero said he’s confident the team will be shining at the season’s major races. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with Casero earlier this season. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews: What are your sensations now that Coast is assured of going to the Tour de France and facing Lance Armstrong?

Hello Bob,At what point does a Canadian athlete need to pursue an American visato compete in the USA? If one receives a small stipend from a company,does that mean they are "working" in the U.S.? What are the tax laws surrounding winning prize money? It seems some athletes have been having problems with crossing the U.S.border as border agents seem to think they need visas, and I was wonderingif you could clarify who needs a visa, and who doesn't. -- M.M. Dear MM;I am assuming that you are a Canadian citizen. The United States Codeprovides for two categories of entrants into the United

Paola wants another?

Sheppard offers an opinion

New pedals

A conversation with Angel Casero

Petacchi

Class clown: As the peloton waits for a decision regarding the dangerous course, Chann McRae, Floyd Landis and Phil Zajicek listen as Dave Zabriskie suggests the peloton let him break away for a solo win.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this week I thought I’d put that theory to the test and quickly crank out a ten-thousand-plus word photo album from the two weeks I spent in California, covering the ins and outs of the Redlands and Sea Otter stage races. There was, no doubt, plenty of racing to see and report, but seeing as the results are, by now, old news and real race photos best left to the professionals (Casey B. Gibson, this means you.). Instead, I thought I’d try to give readers a glimpse behind the scenes.

Private Party: On top again, the Saturn trio of Chris Horner, Tom Danielson, and Nathan O'Neill swept the Sea Otter’s time trial.

Michele Ferrari, the Italian doctor formerly attached to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) who is alleged to have assisted an array of top athletes with detailed doping programs, took the stand in his own defense at his trial in Bologna, Italy on Wednesday. Ferrari, the physician and trainer for four-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, said he had never prescribed any banned substances. "I've never prescribed illicit substances because I know that doping, in other words the use of substances to improve performance, is a boomerang which will simply return to damage the athletes

Warming it up: Michael and Dede Barry and Jonathon Vaughters chat before the final stage’s 100-mile road race.

Professional riders will probably be forced to wear helmets during races no later than the start of the Giro d’Italia, UCI president Hein Verbruggen said Wednesday. Verbruggen said he hoped the plans, prompted by the death of Kazakh rider Andrei Kivilev (see “ Kivilev mourned at Paris-Nice”), would be put in place before the Giro's May 10 start date. "It is our intention to establish this new rule prior to the start of the Tour of Italy," Verbruggen said in a letter Wednesday to former rider Francesco Moser, the president of the professional cyclists' association (CPA). “And we will await

Taking the good with the bad, second-place overall Tom Danielson manages a smile after crashing on the wet Laguna Seca raceway, just one-mile from the finish on the final stage.

Charlie Hustle, AKA Pete Rose

Matt Decanio, left, and Michael Creed of Prime Alliance soak in some of the glory after winning the Sea Otter’s last two stages.

Motocross technology for your slalom bike

McEwen last year

Sea Otter Hustle

Ferrari

Litespeed goes lightweight freeride

...and so does Intense

One cool cat