News

Mapei's Lazlo Bodrogi (L) and Fabian Cancellara

Belgian cyclist Johan Museeuw confirmed Saturday he has signed a 12-month deal with Quick Step and will finish his career with the Belgian team. "I've signed for a year even if I've still not decided how many months I'm going to race next season," said the 36-year-old cyclist, who joins from the Domo team. “The contract includes a follow-up when I stop cycling altogether. I will have a role in the Quick Step team which is in part public relations but also using my knowledge to scout and train young riders," added Museeuw. Museeuw has won two World Cup races this season, the

Fassa Bortolo’s Kim Kirchen followed the wheel of Rabobank’sMichael Boogerd to ride all the way to final overall victory inthe final stage of the Tour of Holland. Kirchen earned valuable time bonusesalong the 205-km course through the hills of southern Holland to grab hisfirst major victory of his young career.Boogerd won the stage after he attacked with about 30 km left in thestage, but Kirchen followed and U.S. Postal Service rider Victor HugoPena, who started the day in the race lead, couldn’t reel in the breakand lost the race by 14 seconds. Kirchen started the day 40 seconds behindPena,

Records fell from a considerable height on Saturday as Tom Danielsonand Genèviève Jeanson tackled the 30th annual Mount WashingtonAuto Road Bicycle Hill Climb.The road up 6288-foot Mount Washington, the highest point in New Hampshire,is just 7.6 miles – but the climb is 4727 feet, with an average grade of12 percent, and the final 100 yards is a quad-shredding 22 percent.Quad-shredding for everyone but Danielson and Jeanson, that is. TheMercury man scaled the mountain in 49:24, clipping almost a minute offTyler Hamilton’s mark of 50:21, set in 1999. As for Rona’s Jeanson, sheobliterated

Lance Armstrong will race in Sunday’s GP Eddy Merckx, his lastmajor European race of the 2002 season. Armstrong will be hoping to repeathis victory from 2000 with Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov. The GP EddyMerckx started in 1980 and became a two-man time trial event in 1998.The pair take the start together again in the two-man time trial racewhich will also see the major comeback for cycling’s bad boy Frank Vandenbroucke,who will team with Domo’s Johan Museuuw.Armstrong has enjoyed his most successful European racing season sincehis dramatic comeback from cancer, winning Midi Libre, the Criterium

It’s the end of the world as we know it.REMIt’s probably just a coincidence that the badnews about the SuperCup arrived about the same time that the giantblack goat appeared on the local dude ranch where I do my cyclo-cross workouts.This unholy apparition, which spooked a couple of horses and sent twopilgrims flying, proved to be a peripatetic billy by the name of Goliathwhose anxious owners quickly reclaimed him. Nevertheless, after a summerof drought, fire, warfare and pestilence, this disquieting congruence ofevents set me to thumbing through my grandmother’s old Bible, checkingthe Book of

It’s hard as the devil to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, recently suspended without pay by Telekom for taking recreational drugs at a nightclub said Thursday he would like to make amends with his team. The 28-year-old Olympic road race champion and world time trial champion tested positive for amphetamines on June 12 and later admitted to taking ecstasy in at a disco while out with friends. "If I was a team manager or a team sponsor I would have 100 percent trust in Jan Ullrich," Ullrich said of himself in an interview with ARD television, his first since holding a press conference on July 6 to explain

Oscar Sevilla suffered in the Tour de France and abandonedin the Alps when he was expected to give Lance Armstrong a run forhis money. Instead, “El Nino” went back to Spain a frustrated and unhappyracer. This week, the Kelme rider is racing in Italy and finished fourth inthe Copa Agostini, a result that gives the Manchego rider some animationcoming into the Vuelta a  España.  “The most important this I have recovered the good sensationsI had in June,” Sevilla told the Spanish sports daily AS. “It givesme morale once again on the bike.” He races again Sunday in the Clasica a los Puertos

Following the USPRO Criterium Championship and the USCF elite women’s criterium championship, Navigators’s Vassili Davidenko and Diet Rite’s Tina Mayolo-Pic lead the VeloNews Bro Tour criterium rankings. Four events remain: this weekend’s Chris Thater Memorial, the San Rafael Cycling Classic, the Miami Cycling Classic and the Michelin Classic. VeloNews Bro Tour: criterium(after 6 of 10 events)Men1. (1t) Vassili Davidenko, Navigators, 982. (1t) Gord Fraser, Mercury, 823t. (3t) Dave McCook, Prime Alliance, 523t. (3t) Jonas Carney, Prime Alliance, 525. (9) Ivan Dominguez, Saturn, 436. (-)

George Hincapie was forced to skip Sunday’s Meisterschaft von Zürichand the Tour of Holland this week as the U.S. Postal Service rider is stillaching from injuries suffered during a fall in the Clasica San Sebastianon Aug. 10.Hincapie, however, says he still hopes to defend his title at the GPSan Francisco next month. “I’m trying to recover and be able to race there,”Hincapie told VeloNews on Tuesday from his European base in Girona,Spain. “I’m riding now a couple of hours a day. I just need to take iteasy and make sure it heals up right.”Hincapie put the rest of the 2002 season in doubt when

Telekom's Erik Zabel  won the opening stage of the 2002Tour of Holland in a bunch sprint in Monday’s 220-km stage from Utrechtto Leeuwarden. Zabel edged Alexandre Usov (Phonak) and Jan Koerts,who came across the line third. The race will be a showdown between some of the hottest sprinters inthe game. With the world championships in early October, riders will beramping up their form. Joining Zabel at the start line Tuesday in Utrecht were 128 racers from16 teams, including Robbie McEwen (Lotto), world champion OscarFreire (Mapei), defending champion Leon Van Bon (Domo), IvanQuaranta

Mercury’s five-year run as a cycling team sponsor will come to an end at the close of the 2002 season. The Mercury Division of Ford Motors has announced that it will not renew the U.S. team's sponsorship for 2003. "We wish to express our sincere appreciation for all the devotion and passion demonstrated by the outstanding cyclists who are now or have been part of the Mercury Cycling Team," read a statement from Mercury management. In recent years, the team has been one of the most successful U.S. based cycling teams in terms of results, and has seen the likes of Baden Cooke, Floyd

Italian Dario Frigo's victory in the Zurich championship, the eighth eventof cycling's World Cup, hoisted him five places from ninth to fourth inthe UCI world rankings released Monday.The status of the top three riders remains unchanged, however, as Paolo Bettini's second place behind Frigo, and Lance Armstrong's third-place finish, solidified their position behind last year's reigning world number one Erik Zabel.1. Erik Zabel (Ger), 2224 pts2. Paolo Bettini (Ita), 21483. Lance Armstrong (USA), 20734. Dario Frigo (Ita), 15295. Erik Dekker (Ned), 15116. Oscar Freire (Spa),

It’s official – there will be no SuperCup Cyclo-cross Series this year, according to Lyle Fulkerson of the Kiron Group in Newton, Massachusetts. "We wanted to raise the bar of competition; we wanted to improve the production value; we wanted to get the sport of cyclo-cross into the psyche of American cycling,” said Fulkerson in a press release. “We did that. Unfortunately, sponsorship and event revenues have not kept pace with the expenses." Fulkerson had struggled to assemble his series over the past few years. Once a seven-race spectacular stretching from coast to coast, SuperCup managed

Mayolo-Pic emerged on top in a scramble for the finish

Baldesare took the win as Martin celebrated.

Hot streak: Frigo continued his resurgent season.

All-arounder: Armstrong put more emphasis on the one-days this year.

Big three: Second-place Bettini took the World Cup lead.

The men's overall podium.

Waddell breaks down the first NORBA win of his career.

Sher is your national downhill champ.

Vogels

Hesjedal stood atop the overall short track podium.

Redden takes another win at Mount Snow.

Wells held on to take the jersey.

Dunlap helped pass out medals to the juniors after winning the national title.

Lopes heads to the mountain cross title.

Carter crashes out in the first turn.

Miller leads Jonnier and Buhl in the finals.

Redden suffers up one of the Mount Snow climbs.

Dunlap was slowed by her cast.

The eighth round of the 2002 World Cup will be disputed on a hilly coursearound Zürich, Switzerland, on Sunday. The Meisterschaft von Zürichis the most challenging of the three remaining World Cup races and overallleader Johan Museeuw (Domo) will be starting simply with the intentionof trying to score points.Second-place rival Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step) at 68 pointsback is the main challenger for the veteran Belgian rider. Bettini is thedefending champion but pulled out of the Tour of Denmark earlier this weekcomplaining of tendonitis. Bettini needs to score the win or finish secondand

Green went 5-for-5 in 2002.

Horgan-Kobelski is your national champion.

Florit celebrates another win.

Despite missing the final event, The International, with a broken collarbone,Prime Alliance's Chris Horner won the inaugural VeloNews Stage RaceBro Tour with an eight point cushion over International winner and teammateDanny Pate, with John Lieswyn (7UP-Nutra Fig) finishing third. The women'sstandings were unchanged at the top after the final race, with KimberlyBruckner (Saturn) beating out Lyne Bessette.August also saw the fifth round of the (single-day) Road Race Bro Tour,the Saturn Cycling Classic. After his emotional victory in the 140-mileepic, Mercury's Chris Wherry moved

Women riders can take their cycling to the next level this fall at theAlison Dunlap Adventure Camp in Moab, Utah.The "girls' weekend" will include four instructional and rigorous daysof riding with 2001 World Champion and coach, Alison Dunlap and six ofWestern Cycling's women coaches. In addition to daily rides on some ofMoab's most grueling trails, the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps offer educationalseminars on nutrition, health, stretching and trail maintenance."I want women to walk away as more competent riders. I hope that theyfeel inspired with not only a better love of

Editor's note -- Last Saturday's Saturn Cycling Classic (see"Wherrytakes emotional win at Saturn Classic") will be the subject of ahalf-hour television report by veteran sports producer Ric LaCivita thisSunday, August 18, at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern time) the on ESPN-2television network. While LaCivita is concerned about cramming seven hoursof racing into less than 25 minutes of television, the man who enteredthis year's race as defending champion is concerned that the programmay end up showing just a little too much.Getting in touch with my inner two-year-oldBy Jonathan VaughtersRight

Former mountain bike world champion Michael Rasmussen shined inthe mountains of Spain on Thursday, winning the “etapa reina” or queen’sstage of the 2002 Vuelta a Burgos. iBanesto.com’s Francisco Mancebotakes the overall lead with just one day left in the key Vuelt a Españawarmup race.CSC-Tiscali’s Rasmussen, who skipped the 2002 Tour de France to be freshfor the second half of the season, made a big impression in the difficult165-km climbing stage to the Lagunas del Neila high in the Sierra de laDemanda mountains of northern Spain. He finished with a time of 4 hours,11 minutes, 4 seconds,

In what is being described as “part of a continuing effort to streamlineour services,” USA Cycling CEO Gerard Bisceglia this week eliminated threetop management positions at the organization’s main office in ColoradoSprings, including that of Jeff Pierce, vice president of athletic performance.Bisceglia, who started as chief executive officer on July, told Pierce,membership vice president Lisa Herdelin-Doherty  and MIS directorChuck Henry that they were fired and that their positions would not befilled. Bisceglia, who is traveling to the NORBA finals in Mount Snow,Vermont, could not be

Green is after his second straight NORBA XC championship.

Florit could win the XC overall.

Hesjedal is the favorite in short track.

Kirkcaldie has a shot at DH overall title No. 2.

Jonnier is tops in both downhill and mountain cross.

Lopes is looking for a double in mountain cross.

Rasa Polikeviciute soloes to a stage win.

Reigning world cross-country champion Alison Dunlap will race this weekend at the NORBA NCS finals in Mount Snow, Vermont with a broken wrist and badly bruised hip, both injuries she sustained while riding near her home in Colorado Springs last Friday. The incident occurred when Dunlap came upon a man walking his dog on a trail that Dunlap was training on. To avoid hitting either of them, Dunlap veered off the trail and crashed. Doctors later discovered a hairline fracture at the tip of her left ulna bone. According to team officials, the break is not severe and her physician has designed a

Jan Ullrich was operated on again Tuesday on his troublesome right knee,the German news wires reported Wednesday. Telekom team officials calledthe operation “a success.”The 1997 Tour champion is currently serving a six-month suspension fortesting positive for amphetamines after he took ecstasy pills in a nightout partying in June. Ullrich said he took the pills because he was depressedafter his last knee surgery in May didn’t relieve the pain that sidelinedhim from the 2002 Tour. Just last week, Ullrich said in an interview witha German newspaper he recognized it will be difficult for him to

Dunlap

The on-again-in-off-again career of Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke is off again – sort of – after the Flemish Community’s disciplinary commission rejected his appeal of a six-month drugs ban on Tuesday. The suspension, which only applies to events in the north of Belgium, starts on September 1. The ban follows the discovery in a police raid on Vandenbroucke's home in March of quantities of EPO (erythropoietin), clenbuterol (anabolic steroid), morphine, and Nesp, EPO's newly-arrived chemical cousin. According to Vandenbroucke’s agent, Paul de Geyter, said he was disturbed by

Banesto’s Jose Ivan Gutierrez won Tuesday’s 172-km second stageof the Tour of Burgos in northern Spain while Fassa Bortolo’s MicheleBartoli moved into the overall lead. The stage was marked by a crash in the final five kilometers that causedmajor splits in the peloton. Defending champion Juan Miguel Mercado(Banesto) lost 16 seconds while U.S. Postal’s Roberto Heraslost 1:48. Two riders – Gerrit Glomser (Saeco) and Alessandro Bertolini(Alessio) – stayed away in a long break until 7 km to go and the bunchcame in together when a crash split the group. Wednesday’s stage featuresa team time

It was a bit delayed, but late Tuesday USA Cycling released the complete roster for its 2002 mountain bike world championships team, adding 20 discretionary picks to a roster that already included 30 automatic qualifiers. Among the late additions were 2000 short track national champion Carl Swenson and 2000 world downhill champion Myles Rockwell. Membership on the team does not necessarily include expenses (juniors typically receive more support than seniors) so don’t be surprised if some of the 50 riders don’t make the trip to Kaprun, Austria, where competition commences August 28. One

George Hincapie is scraped and bruised after a dangerous spill in Saturday’sClasica San Sebastian race, but he’s quietly relieved because he knowsit could have been much worse. Hincapie suffered perhaps the worst spill of his career when he slippedon a wet portion of asphalt while descending at speeds topping 70 mph offthe Jaizkibel, a Category 1 climb late in the race. He actually slid under a U.S.-style traffic guard rail, disappearedoff the road, avoiding very serious injuries by inches. “I just hit a slippery patch on the road and that was it,” Hincapietold VeloNews on Monday. “There

The judge investigating the case of Edita Rumsas, the jailed wife of Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas, has rejected a request for her release, her lawyers said Monday. Lawyers acting for Edita Rumsas had asked magistrates to free her from the women's prison at Bonneville in the French Alps where she has been held for the past two week on suspicion of drug smuggling. But the judge in charge of the affair offered a negative recommendation to the judge who authorizes the release of prisoners. The latter will make his decision known on Tuesday or Wednesday. Lawyer Veronique Coudray said

Valentina Polkhanova wins Sunday's 8th stage

The key break on stage 11 -- Valentina Polkhanova; Zinaida Stahurskaia; Joane Somarribade and race leader Zinaida Stahurskaia

For Jalabert this was 'a good course.'

Jalabert tries his luck.

The whole family was waiting at the finish in Breckenridge.

Steve's ring.

Soon-to-be-retiree: Jalabert knows how to exit in style.

Always a team rider, Wherry won this one for his family.

Boulder's marquee cycling event kicked off in front of the Boulder Theater.

In Harm's way -- Jansen was one of the early escapees

Wherry drives the chase on Guanella.

Zarate earned the climber's prize, while his teammate took the win.

On his way -- Wherry had a healthy lead on the final drop into Breckenridge.

Vaughters was probably the fastest on Guanella.

More than a hundred Lithuanians, including politicians and show-business figures, gathered in front of the French embassy in Vilnius on Friday against the detention of Edita Rumsas, wife of cyclist Raimondas Rumsas. Carrying national flags and with the French national anthem blaring the protesters criticized France’s judicial system and demanded the immediate release of Edita Rumsas from her French jail. She was incarcerated on July 30 after being caught with performance-enhancing drugs in her car. "We gathered here to pay attention to violation of human rights in France and to demand: let

UCI president Hein Verbruggen, who recently resigned from the world anti-doping agency (WADA) reportedly as a protest of the administration of the organization’s president, said on Friday that he actually resigned for purely personal reasons. Verbruggen, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who is in Beijing this week to assess the city's preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, said his decision to resign from WADA two months ago was unrelated to differences with the agency's president over an allegation that a cyclist took drugs. "I took a decision two months ago

“I think we’re just gonna bank on a horrible day that makes everybodywant to quit, go home and cry.” Saturn’s Tim Johnson, discussing this weekend’s Saturn Cycling Classic during an interview with VeloNews senior writer Bryan Jew In the wake of public outrage over revelations that steroids are ascommon in pro baseball as televised cup adjustments, the players’ unionhas finally proposed submitting to a regimen of unannounced dope testingthat at first glance seems every bit as rigorous as the accounting oversightat WorldCom. This should be entertaining. Judging from the tone of the ongoing

Of the hundred or so starters, most are happy to be there!

OUCH!

Wet and wild: Tim Johnson's Saturn Classic predictions

It's gotta be the suit.