News

Johan Museeuw showed no signs of age as he roared to victory in Saturday’s Het Volk, the opener of the Belgian racing season. His Quick Step team dominated the 200km course across the cobbles of Belgium, finishing with four riders in the top-five. Only U.S. Postal’s Max Van Heeswijk challenged the team’s gauntlet and there was little he could do on his own but hang on to finish second ahead of Paolo Bettini at 16 seconds back. Het Volk marked the Quick Step debut of Tom Boonen and the return of Franck Vandenbroucke, who crossed the line hand-in-hand to take fourth and fifth, respectively, at

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

“You have to pay to learn things.” – Joseph and Mary, the Patrón, in “Sweet Thursday” by John Steinbeck What a season it’s been. And we haven’t even made it to Het Volk yet. Lance and Kristin Armstrong are feeling the strain, Manolo Saiz proclaims today’s Tour too grande and its riders too pequeño, The Shirt of Many Colors seems a wee bit heavy for Mario Cipollini, David Millar and team manager Alain Bonduer hiss at each other in the press like cats in a sack, Elefantino gets his ears pinned back again (by a plastic surgeon this time), Jan Ullrich, Frank Vandenbroucke and Erik Dekker have

Petra Rossner, leading Germany's strong Nürnberger team, is a clear favorite heading into Sunday's opening round of the women's road cycling World Cup at Geelong, south of Melbourne. Rossner won the Canberra round last year on the way to claiming the overall World Cup title. The powerful Nürnberger team also features German Judith Arndt, who like Rossner moved to the team after a successful run at the American Saturn squad. The team also includes Australian Margaret Hemsley, who won stage two of this week's Geelong tour. The Nürnberger riders featured prominently in that

Three years ago, if you were to name off the U.S. domestic “powerhouse” teams, it would be a pretty easy, and short, list. Mercury and Saturn, followed by Shaklee and Navigators.The following year, Shaklee folded, but adding 7UP to the list, you got: Mercury, Saturn, Navigators, 7UP. Then last year, Prime Alliance, in its second season, pretty much made it the “Big 5.” But what about this year?Mercury is gone, but who steps up? Schroeder Iron, in its second season, with the additions of Chann McRae and Miguel Meza, for sure. The first-year Health Net team? With former Mercury riders Mike

Sea Otter & Redlands to Combine Men's Elite Road Events2004 Will Launch New Two-Week Stage Race in CaliforniaMONTEREY, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2003) - Sea Otter Classic and Redlands BicycleClassic are combining their Elite Men's Road Stage races in April 2004for a joint venture, the American Cycling Classic, presented by the twopromoting organizations.The new stage race, scheduled at the time of this release to kick offin Southern California on March 23, 2004, will travel through southern,central, and northern California, running in tandem with the Redlands BicycleClassic en route to its

Spain's Martin Perdiguero came out of nowhere to win Friday's difficult climbing stage in the Tour of Valencia while Dario Frigo moved back into the overall lead. The pint-sized Domina Vacanze rider is known more for his sprinting prowess, but vaulted past Frigo in the final 50 meters to claim a surprising stage-win. Perdiguero insisted the win shouldn't come as any surprise. "I've lost a lot of weight and came into this season with a lot of motivation to show I can climb better. Look what happened today. I was at the front and now I have won," Perdiguero said. Frigo drove

Frigo held on for second and on to the lead

Tour de Gravity at Sea Otter

Would you consider doing an article on a generic disclaimer thatmany small triathlon or bicycle race directors could use for their races?Thanks,J.M.Dear J.M.;When a legal matter arises in a participation sport event, the waiverand pre-event release that the participants were required to sign as acondition of entering the contest, is often at issue. This is a developingand unsettled area of law that differs from state to state. In general,releases of liability are disfavored in law and are strictly construed,but this seems to be changing.If a "perfect waiver" existed, it might read something

Saeco's Igor Astarloa sprinted to victory in the third stage of the Tour of Valencia on Thursday, charging out of a lead group of 52 riders that finished in Puerto de Sagunto 30 minutes sooner than organizers had originally expected. The lead group flew over a difficult three-climb stage and came into this industrial port ready for a sprint. Saeco teammate Santos Gonzalez put down a strong lead-out and Astarloa held out against compatriots Angel Edo (Milaneza-MSS) and Angel Vicioso (ONCE) to score his first win of the season. "I was afraid that I might have gone too early, but I had a

How’s this for a sobering thought: If America’s male cross-country riders have another year like they did in 2002 (top World Cup finish 17th, top world’s placing 28th), the country that gave birth to mountain-bike racing could have only one space on the men’s starting grid come the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Just like in 2000, the number of entrants in the 80-rider field will be determined by each country’s place in the UCI nation rankings at the end of the year prior to the Olympics (that’s this year). Countries in the top five will receive three entries, while those ranked six to 15 will get

Editor:Fred Baldassare wrote that "one of the beautiful things about our sport”is that “those who can cut it do it because they have a passion for cycling."Oh, yeah, beautiful. While some superstar juniors in Europe can make a nice amount of money to race, our guys are forced to survive on passion and motivation.Expecting guys to race for $5000 a year (or less), plus some travel, and thinking that those with the determination and passion to persevere will be the most deserving, is pure horse crap. It is one thing to make six figures and be mediocre, a la U.S. ball-and-stick sports, but it is

Fast times in Puerto de Sagunto

Rafael Casero still in command

De los Angeles scoots away on the Alto de Alcudia de Veo

The great American hope?

Andrew Neethling

Frigo (followed by DiLuca) began his chase a little too late

The Midwest never tasted so good

The Project One division has its own production area

Normally this place is Off Limits

Roland Green's OCLV Fuel awaiting assembly before being shipped to team camp

Editor;So Bob McKinney's got a problem with the French?Apparently McKinney knows how to jump on a good trend when he sees one.As a French guy living in the U.S., I don't mind reading and hearing themoronic clichés that some Americans love to rehash (Jerry Lewis,berets, eating frogs) about the French, which they believe as gospel, nomatter how used-up and grossly stereo-typical. But I fail to see Mc Kinney'spoint about " just being French is insult enough." (see McKinney's letter"Cherchez lesFrogs" in Tuesday's mail).What the hell is your problem with us, McKinney? Did you

A prototype LeMond Tete de Course undergoing its final round of testing

Rafael Casero´s been on podiums before during his three-year pro career, but he´s never been on the podium wearing a race leader’s jersey or as a stage-winner. Typically, Casero will get the day’s best points jersey or best climber’s jersey after a long break that falls short. In Wednesday’s difficult three-climb 159km second stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a Communidad Valencia, however, he had the top spot. In fact, he pretty much hogged the podium celebration. Not only did he win the stage and take the race lead by 4 seconds over Dario Frigo, the Fassa Bortolo rider who won Tuesday’s

Despite losing its corporate backing following the 2002 season, the Global Racing mountain bike team will continue to exist, though in a significantly trimmed down version. After two years as one of the fat-tire circuit’s biggest teams, the downhill/four-cross squad will carry only four riders: Spain’s Cesar Rojo, Finnish rider Matti Lehikoinen, South African Andrew Neethling, and Australia’s Lindsay Klein. With sponsorship money harder to come by than ever, team director Martin Whiteley has been forced to fund much of the team’s expenses out of his own pocket. “I’ve decided that in the

For the second year in a row, Oregon’s Tour of Willamette, regarded as one of the premier stage races in the U.S., has been canceled. According to race director Larry Smith, the lack of a title sponsor, combined with overwhelming costs for police escorts, killed the race. “We’d been holding our breath, hoping to secure a title sponsor,” Smith told VeloNews. “But it just didn’t go fast enough. The economy is just soft right now. Everyone is holding on to their money." Without a title sponsor, Smith could not cover the cost of police escorts, which he has deemed crucial to running a safe

Casero takes over

Cuenca and Casero

Matti Lehikoinen

Lindsay Klein

Cesar Rojo

Casagrande: out for now

Tuesday's Euro-File: Frigo marks strong return to Fassa; an American in Cuba

Mr. Rogers' neighborhood: Rapping with Lil’ Kim

Mr. Rogers' neighborhood: Rapping with Lil’ Kim

Frigo's back

Zülle

Dario Frigo is back with Fassa Bortolo and he’s back to his winning ways, taking Tuesday’s opening time trial of the Vuelta Ciclista a Communidad Valencia. Two years ago, Frigo was fired by Fassa Bortolo after he admitted he had in his possession banned doping products during the “San Remo blitz” of the 2001 Giro d’Italia. Last year he returned to racing with Tacconi Sport and won stages in Paris-Nice and the Tour de France as well as taking overall victory in the Tour of Romandie. This year, Frigo is back in the white and blue jerseys of Fassa Bortolo and easily won the flat, 9.7km

Three-time national champion Kimberly Bruckner is such a genuinely nice,friendly person, that in order to get some real dirt on her, it becomesnecessary to dice it up a bit. Catching up between the Cooma Snowy Classicand the Geelong Women's Tour in Australia, she found time to answer a fewmore “scandalous” questions thrown her wayWhen was the last time you…Felt embarrassed? Finishing fourth out of a four-woman break at the road race in Cooma. Some things never change.Ate something raw? Raw fruits and vegetables are about as faras I go. No sushi for me...I find it disgusting.  It's

Editor:Contrary to the opinion of Robert Schuchert, I believe that the explosionof Division 3 teams in the United States can only help U.S. racing.While the majority of members of these teams may not be much betterthan the top amateur racers in each region, each team surely fields sometop-notch talent. And Mr. Schuchert (see "D3'pros' make designation meaningless"), fails to understand that most NRC eventshave always had a substantial number of amateur racers filling out theirfields anyway. What's the difference if these racers are amateurs or D3pros?If being a "pro" team brings

February is winding down after what’s been exciting start to the European racing season with only a few surprises. Some familiar names have already made a mark in the 2003 season, with Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) winning three races already, Rabobank’s Oscar Freire two and Saeco’s Danilo Di Luca taking Giro dello Liguria and Quick Step’s Paolo Bettini the Tour Mediterranean. Two-time U.S. champion Fred Rodriguez started off his season for Sidermec on a good note after taking the second stage of the Tour of Rhodes in Greece last Tuesday. His win is the first by a North American in Europe this year.

Editor:The term “professional” no longer has the slightest meaning in regardsto road racing in the United States, because now everyone is a pro - evenif they don't earn enough to pay for a bag of groceries and are workinga full-time job.We're looking at as many as 16 U.S.-based Division 3 pro teams in 2003- more than Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain combined.That's good, right? Wrong.The Division 3 Trade Team designation was created by the UCI as a developmentaltool, to allow younger racers the opportunity to compete in the pro ranks,albeit in lower-category

A last day at training camp in Italy should include the following: a relaxed 60km ride, a cappuccino in a cobbled Etruscan hill town, a hot shower, bruschetta, pizza, pasta, wine, veal, and a succinct post-dinner team meeting. The Navigators covered all these bases, if slightly stretching the definition of the word "succinct.” After sleeping in, they left for their ride at 11 a.m. It was the first day since their arrival that they wound slowly through the vineyards and hillsides, always at a tempo that encouraged conversation. Most of the guys stopped in the town of Cassale Marittimo to join

Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) had an easy time winning the would-be Spanish classic Trofeo Luis Puig on Sunday in Valencia. Petacchi easily handled Kelme’s Isaac Galvez to win the 178km race, which fell flat in its hyped showdown among the stars of sprinting, many of whom were MIA. Rabobank’s Oscar Freire, fresh off two wins at Ruta del Sol last week, fell ill to stomach flu and didn’t start. World champion Mario Cipollini was dropped on the opening climb to make a rather disappointing start to his 2003 season. And Telekom’s Erik Zabel finished more than two minutes off and

Cipo' - Not a brilliant debut

Rising French star Sylvain Chavanel (Brioches La Boulangère) delivered the goods in Saturday's 180km Tour du Haut Var, nipping Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) to grab the victory. A 10-rider rider break went away at the Cote de Tuilieres with about 20km to go. With 2km to go, Chavanel, Sanchez, Cofidis' Andrei Kivilev and Stephane Goubert attacked off the group and came in for the sprint. Chavanel nipped Sanchez and Kivilev took third. "There were a lot of breaks in the last 10km, but nobody wanted to arrive at a final sprint with me," said Quick Step's Paolo Bettini,

Last week’s column on prize-winning candy wrappers and Internet self-help got the wheels turning, and I think I finally came up with a way to combine a get-rich-quick scheme with my current job. Coming soon to a Web column near you: cyberbegging. If all goes well, I’ll raise enough to put my kid through college, and it all goes really well, the readers could essentially buy me out of this Friday slot.While we’re working out the legal and ethical details, in order to make my life a little easier, I’m encouraging your mail. E-mail your questions or comments, and hopefully I’ll be able to do a

American Fred Rodriguez (Sidermec), won the second stage of Greece’s Tourde Rhodes on Friday.Rodriguez beat Holland’s Rudi Kemna and Czech rider Jan Svorada to thefinish at the end of the 120km stage, a large loop that left Rhodes traveledthrough Apollona and finished again in Rhodes.Rodriguez’s shot at a win was uncertain until the final kilometer ofthe race as a three-man breakaway headed by Vlaanderen-T Interim’s RudolfWentzel lasted from the day’s first sprint at 20km until the very lastkilometer.Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), holds on to the overall lead, thoughhe he is now tied with

“Terrorism forces us to make a choice. We can be afraid. Or we can be ready.” – Tom Ridge, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security“Be afraid. Be very afraid.” – Veronica Quaife in “The Fly”A lot of people were making fun of Tom Ridge the other day, and I’d love to be able to say I wasn’t one of them. But having been raised amid the duck-and-cover slapstick of the Cold War, when a grade-school desk on an Air Force base was my best defense against a Soviet SS-7 ICBM, the notion of swaddling my World War II-era house in plastic and duct tape was a real blast (you should pardon the

Be prepared

Juan Pascual Llorente takes the Ruta

Ivanov was the strongest in the break.

Alessio’s Ruslan Ivanov was simply stronger than four others in the breakaway that closed out the fifth and final stage Thursday in the 49th Ruta del Sol in southern Spain while Kelme’s Juan Pascual Llorente held on for final victory. Ivanov dropped Inigo Chaurreau (AG2R) and Gustavo Toledo (Paternina) on a Category 2 climb just 5km from the finish and unleashed a stage-winning attack on the flats with 1km to go. Jose Luis Martinez (Paternina) and Santi Blanco (Relax-Fuenlabrada) tried to hang on, but the veteran Alessio rider simply out-muscled the Spanish riders in the Ruta’s final

My boyfriend is considering getting his pro card either this year or next. What are the tax implications of this move? What if he still has a regular job? What if he does not? What specific of expenses can he write off, and does he have to somehow change his legal working status to reflect this? How about claiming either payment or product from sponsors Thanks so much,B.E. Dear B.E.,I am not a tax attorney and a good accountant will have more to say on the subject than I- so you should consult with one before making any decisions. However, I address some of the applicable issues below. By

He’s not ready to broach retirement talk just yet, but Marc Gullickson is smart enough to see the writing on the wall. While most of the high-profile mountain-bike teams have finalized their rosters for 2003, the 35-year-old finds himself without a contract very late in the off-season-signing game. “I’m still holding out hope, but it’s not looking great,” says the 10-year pro who spent the last three seasons with the Mongoose-Hyundai squad before being let go after the 2002 campaign. “They lost a couple co-sponsors, so now it’s just down to Todd [Wells] and Eric [Carter].” Gully, as he’s

MTB News and Notes: Gully, Green and the Olympics

Gully is a regular presence at 'cross world's

It's all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T

In weather that’s more reminiscent of his home back in Holland than sunny Andalucia, Dutch rider Remmert Wielinga endured a long day in the saddle through cold, wind and rain to deliver Rabobank its third stage victory in the 49th Ruta del Sol. Wielinga – winner of a stage at the Mallorca Challenge earlier this month – outmuscled Kelme’s Ivan Parra and ONCE’s Joaquin Rodriguez to win Wednesday’s difficult stage, which featured no less than four category-two climbs. The trio peeled away from Quick Step’s Patrik Sinkewitz and Euskaltel’s Unai Extebarria on the final climb of the day. Parra

Rodriguez

The weather returned to normal in Andalucia

Javier Pascual Llorente

Marco sporting a trim even Michael Jackson hasn't asked for yet... we think

Manitou 2004 World Exclusive!--Almost

Minute

Vogels (c) is the new guy, but with lots of experience.

The Navigators in Tuscany - Part IV

2002 Giro d’Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli’s injuries caused by a training fall last weekend in Spain are not as bad as originally thought, reports his Telekom team. In an interview posted on the team’s web page, Savoldelli said he didn’t break his jaw as originally feared and he expects to miss just two weeks of training after crashing in Tenerife on Saturday. “My guardian angel must have been with me,” said Savoldelli, recounting the accident. “We were riding and came upon some motorcycles and we each turned the same way. I slammed my face against his helmet. Luckily, I only broke my