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Joly Good Time: Sebastian Joly gets away from Virenque, but is caught by the field 600 meters from the line.

Hamilton started the day in the sprinter's jersey

O'Grady is now in yellow.

Daniele Bennati is the next big thing in Italian cycling. Many are hyping him as the natural heir to Mario Cipollini. In just his second year as a pro, Bennati is already an integral part of Cipo's train, filling the penultimate position, right behind Giovanni Lombardi. He's already scored a win this year, grabbing a stage at the Tour Mediterranean in February. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood sat down with Bennati at the team presentation in Egypt to talk about the Lion King, media and the spring classics. VeloNews: What have you learned most from riding with

As predicted, the 191km first stage of Paris-Nice finished in a field sprint, perhaps the only opportunity for the sprinters to show their stuff in this mountainous edition of this early season French stage race.VeloNews.com followed the action all the way to the finish line in Paray le Monial. Just click here to bring up our live update window.Check in soon for a complete stage wrap up from European correspondent Andrew Hood, full results and stunning photos from the camera of Graham Watson. 61st Paris-Nice, March 9-16, stages: Prologue, March 9 - Issy les Moulineaux , 4.8km Stage 1, March

It was a day's of two's for Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong. Each barely missed winning a race against the clock by just two seconds; Hamilton at the opening prologue of the 61st Paris-Nice and Armstrong in the final time trial of the Tour of Murcia in Spain. Both were making their respective season debuts this week and it's obvious both are already in fine shape heading into more important races later in the season. Here's a look at all the racing action Sunday in Europe: Hamilton debuts in P-N openerCSC's Tyler Hamilton just missed winning Sunday's opening

Fraser's teammates pulled hard to eventually get him across the line first

Fraser confidently took his second stage victory in as many days

Lyne Bessette took her first stage win of the race

Great Start: Hamilton finished second in his first race since August

Llorente surprised even himself on Sunday

What a difference a year makes

Practice pays

Damon Kluck

The 61st edition of Paris-Nice opens Sunday with an opening prologue justoutside of Paris and ends, as the name suggests, in Nice along the FrenchRiviera. The “Race to the Sun” is the first major stage race of the seasonand a difficult and challenging course will certainly deliver up an excitingrace. The race returns with its traditional climb up Mont Faron, but the finalein Nice is sure to keep the suspense all the way down to the wire. The160km stage hits the famed Col d’Eze, another Paris-Nice fixture, no lessthan three times on a demanding circuit course before a screaming 16kmdescent to

Michael Rasmussen and Joaquim Lopez

Leipheimer on the move.

When USA Today ran its recent series on "The 10 hardest things to do in sports,” with the Tour de France landing in eighth place, I was expecting a slew of e-mails to hit the VeloNews.com mailbox, similar to the flood of complaints we got last summer when MSNBC’s Ron Borges made his ridiculous “Lance is not an athlete” argument. Luckily, we were spared the dozens of e-mails from incredulous (and whining) readers asking, “How is ____, harder than riding the Tour!!??” Sure, I had a few of my own beefs with the series, like how did "Landing a Quad" make it on the list at all? (Haven’t we all

A day following the news that Team Coast was suspended by the UCI, former teammate and CSC team manager Bjarne Riis said Jan Ullrich is still welcome to join his team. Riis tried in vain to sign Ullrich over the off-season, but Ullrich opted for the German Team Coast, signing a three-year deal worth a reported $5 million. “There’s always interest, but if he wants to collaborate with us, it has to be him who makes the initiative,” Riis told the Danish newspaper BT. “I spoke before with (Ullrich’s agent) to hear about how things were going. It’s up to Jan if he wants to come to our

Bicycle racing and bicycle advocacy don’t often cross paths. But whether you ride with a pant leg strap or not, you were welcome at the third annual National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists in Washington D.C., March 5-7. The summit gives state, local and national advocates, as well as industry leaders, the opportunity to discuss pertinent cycling issues with government officials, and to lobby members of Congress. While the majority of attendees had no interest in strapping a number to their backs, the organizers clearly know the value of having a proven winner on

“Remember when being ‘up for the game’ used to be kind of a spiritual thing?Now, man…‘You up for the game?’ ‘Been up all week, man.’”--George Carlin, “FM & AM”If Scott Moninger happened to stumble across a story by Amy Shipley while surfing the ’Net on March 2, he must have wondered whether he fell down Lewis Carroll’s rabbit hole when he stepped off his bike last August in Breckenridge. Shipley’s piece on the Washington Post web site, headlined “Stimulants Are a Major League Hit,” recounted some professional baseball players’ fondness for a variety of stimulants that you can’t get for $5 at

Notes from the road: What's hard?

Zabel had reason to smile in Caravaca

Peña on the attack

Volunteers? Casero and Perez at Murcia on Friday.

All he is saying is give peace a chance

Friday's foaming rant: WADAp with that?

Zubeldia and Llorente got away on the climb to the Cresta del Gallo

Diaz Labato

Armstrong had time to chat with Cadel Evans

Fionn Griffths

Giove

Despite the insistence of director Juan Fernandez that his team is financially healthy the Union Cycliste Internationale on Thursday suspended Germany’s Team Coast for its failure to provide necessary financial guarantees. Fernandez had earlier said that the team is in a good position to retain the services of 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich (see “Ullrich still a Coastie, says Fernandez” below), but the UCI action now puts that contract in doubt. The troubled team's riders have been told they may continue participating in Spain’s Tour of Murcia, which ends on Sunday, however

Chris Carmichael, now renowned as Lance Armstrong’s personal coach,has been elected to the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame along with four otherswho will be formally inducted at a banquet on May 25 in Somerville, NewJersey.Hall of Fame President Ernie Seubert and Chairman of the Nominationand Selection Committee Ray Cipollini certified the votes after tallyingballots cast by industry leaders, cycling governing bodies and journalists.Carmichael, who lives in Colorado Springs, was selected as a Contributorfor his coaching, which includes serving as U.S. Cycling Federation’s Men’sRoad coach from

We need your help. As part of our ongoing series on the state of cyclingin the United States, VeloNews has been speaking with the leaders,managers and organizers of USA Cycling and an array of competing federationsthat now make up the Federation of Independent Associations of Cycling(FIAC).While their comments have been interesting, we figured it might be timeto listen to their customers. In an upcoming issue of VeloNews wewill print a cross-section of comments from readers and riders regardingthe current state of cycling governance in the United States.If you would care to have your thoughts

This week, I will delve into Part 2 of “The Perfect Waiver,” a discussionabout the usefulness and function of those “waivers of responsibility”that appear on the bottom of every participant entry form. But first, I want to take a moment out to reply to a message sentby "MM," an event promoter. MM believes that my factious "perfect waiver" in lastweek's column, the one that would protect an event from absolutely every possible lawsuit, whether justified or not, may portray promoters in a bad light. I admit his admonishment is not without some justification. In fact, one passage is so good

With all the road racing going on lately, it makes you wonder when theold mountain biking season is going to get rolling. Sure there’s a fewregional races here and there, but nothing that even closely resemblessay Het Volk, that road race in Belgium last week that attracted a worldclass field. Indeed, the first NORBA national isn’t until mid-May, and the mountainbike World Cup doesn’t commence until May 24. By that time five of the10 road World Cups will have been in the books for nearly a month. There is, however, at least one mountain bike race in March worthy ofyour interest. Between

After spending two years without major sponsorship backing, two-time world’s silver medallist Fionn Griffths has signed a deal to ride for the Foes-Azonic team in 2003. The young British downhiller, who doesn’t turn 21 until August, joins 2000 junior world downhill champion Julien Poomans on what is looking to be a formidable line-up for the California-based bike maker. The team’s profile could rise even higher if it can iron out some final details with 1994 world downhill champion Missy Giove. According to Foes general manager Rich Cleveland, negotiations are still ongoing but at the very

Still thumbs up? Ullrich joined Coast along with former Telekom director Rudy Pevenage and training partner Tobias Steinhauser

Nova Desert Classic

Waddell

The V10

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood:Here stays the neighborhood

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood:Here stays the neighborhood

Spring in Spain... and the livin' is easy

Contrini was caught with 50km to go

Svorada gets the win

With Paris-Roubaix and the spring classics season just around the corner,U.S. Postal’s George Hincapie is hoping for a quick rebound from a virusthat has sapped his strength so far in the 2003 season. What's worrying the Postal classics strongman are the nagging after-effectsof the virus he said he caught before returning to Spain in February, andhe's hoping it won't derail his form in the most important part of theseason. “It's getting close to the important races, so pretty soon I’ll haveto make a decision if I’ll be able to race them properly. If I'm not 100percent,

Editor:If Lance Armstrong did a fraction of the whining David Millar does(see “A conversationwith David Millar,” by Andrew Hood), he would be vilified, evenmore than he already is. Cofidis is right to say put up or go back to Britain. So far, he hasbeen largely a waste of potential. The Angliru was an embarrassment tohimself, his team and his sponsors. He is very fortunate to still havea contract. Paul HeyrothMidland, TX Care to respond? E-mail WebLetters@7Dogs.com … and he’ll never win a major tourEditor:Was David Miller for real? What an arrogant doofus! He will never wina major tour.

How and when does the “fat-burning” process take place? Some data sourcessay this occurs only after at least 20 minutes if exercise at a moderateintensity. Other data sources say that this occurs after 6 to 8 weeks ofhigh intensity exercise combined with a decrease in calories. Which iscorrect? Also, how does diet affect fat burning? Thanks -- MM Dear Ms. Ryan;I had a debate the other day regarding a basic question. What is thebest way to burn fat? Is it the old tried and true answer of going slow?I know that this burns a higher percentage of fat, but I was under theunderstanding that a

Proper respect is due. Having lifted the heading for this weekly web column from the man himself, I have to acknowledge the memory of Fred Rogers, otherwise known as “Mister Rogers,” who died last week at the age of 74 after a brief battle with stomach cancer. After Rogers’ death, I was asked if it might be appropriate to rename my weekly web column. I don’t think so, and my hope is that, after reading this short homage, no one else will, either. Like so many young people today, I grew up watching “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” humming along with his cheery songs and digging on magical

Hincapie wants to be healthy so that he can have fun in April

Bartoli at Amstel Gold in 2002

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn

Making it work: Using a torque wrench

Soon to appear on the roads of France

Nike's Poggio II

Avid's Juicy 7

Ritchey's WCS carbon road bars

IRC's Mythos XC II

Four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong makes his season debut in the five-stage Tour of Murcia in southern Spain on Wednesday. Armstrong’s been training in his European home-base in Girona since February and his presence at the Murcia tour will certainly bring a lot of media attention to the otherwise modest early-season race. Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service team will be looking to put last year’s winner Victor Hugo Pena back in the top spot of what’s a much more difficult, mountainous race than the 2002 edition. Hugo finished second overall at the Tour d’Algarve in Portugal in

Under pressure from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge,both the Union Cycliste International and soccer’s Federation Internationalede Football Association have tentatively agreed to adopt a new internationaldoping code that includes a minimum two-year suspension for first offenses.While neither Hein Verbruggen nor FIFA president Sepp Blatter were inattendance Monday at the opening day of the second world conference on dopingin sport in Copenhagen, representatives of both organizations concededthat Rogge’s threat of banning non-complying sports from Olympiccompetition

Ever since he burst on the scene with a surprise win in the prologue of the 2000 Tour de France, many have believed that David Millar could be cycling’s next superstar. There’s no doubting the Cofidis rider has the charisma and the look of the next big thing. On top of edging Lance Armstrong in the Tour prologue, he won a Tour road stage last year and consistently challenges in week-long stage-races. Despite his reputation as party animal, Millar says he’s more serious than ever and insists he’s on a trajectory that will take him even higher in 2003. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew

Four years after reaching an impasse on the establishment of a universal anti-doping policy, Olympic and government officials have pretty much resumed where they left off: stalled due to the opposition of cycling and soccer. Meeting in Copenhagen this week, delegates to the second world conference on doping have been reviewing a 53-page document from the World Anti-Doping Agency outlining uniform testing procedures and sanctions that can be applied across all sports and international borders. But one key element of the proposed World Anti-Doping Code is a mandatory two-year suspension for

Mountain biker Carl Swenson of Boulder scored a career-high fifth-place finish in the 50km freestyle race this weekend at the 2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Swenson, 32, a two-time Olympian and six-time U.S. national champion who raced mountain bikes for RLX-Polo Sport last season, snapped a pole in a crash early in Saturday’s race, but recovered to finish just 1:24 behind Czech Martin Koukal, who claimed the gold in 1:54.25.3. Swedes Anders Soedergren and Joergen Brink took the silver and bronze, respectively. Swenson’s performance was icing on this year’s

Employees began returning to Cannondale’s bike factory in Bedford, Pennsylvania, on Monday as the company resumed full-scale bike production after the company declared bankruptcy in January. A Cannondale press release issued Monday noted that employees had worked sporadically over the past several weeks building frames for the Connecticut-based company's European subsidiary, but Monday’s shift signaled that the company is well on its way to resuming full production. After taking a risky dive into the motorcycle business, Cannondale was forced into bankruptcy in January as the company

At the world's in Zolder in 2002

Dutch racer Roy Sentjens (Rabobank) won Sunday’s 56th Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, finishing alone 19 seconds ahead of Belgian Leif Hoste (Lotto-Domo) in the semi-classic that shares the same weekend with Het Volk to open the Belgian season. With 2km to go, the 22-year-old Sentjens attacked the remnants of a group of eight riders that escaped early in the race to score the first victory of his career. Eight riders, including Postal’s Tony Cruz, broke clear early in the race in horrible weather and built up a 12-minute gap with 80km to go. Volker Ordowski (Gerolsteiner) accelerated and trimmed the

The first break was started by the peloton's chief headbanger, Jacky Durand (rear)

Bettini leads what is almost a Quick Step TTT

Van Heeswijk fought to stay with Museeuw