News

Mr. Prologue remains in the lead

Jeanson

Rik Verbrugghe won the opening prologue Tuesday in the Tour of Romandie, the top race of the week in Europe. The Lotto racer posted a time of 4:13 in the prologue course in Geneva, Switzerland, edging two national riders to take the leader’s jersey. The six-day race through the Romandie region of Switzerland is the final warm-up before the May 11 start of the Giro d’Italia and many of the Giro contenders are here honing their form. Results:1. Rik Verbrugghe (B), Lotto, 4:132. Alexandre Moos (Swi), Moos, at 0:013. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Phonak, at 0:024. Saulius Ruskys (Ltu), Gerolsteiner, at

Sierra Nevada-Cannondale rider Ryan Smith was stabbed to death in theearly morning hours of Sunday, April 28, in Sacramento. According to team director Mike Neel, the 23-year-old first-year pro was fatally wounded during an argument inside his girlfriend’s apartment building and collapsed in the street. Police later arrested the woman’s formerboyfriend, 21-year-old Ryan Moreno. “From talking to his roommate who witnessed the whole thing, Ryan wasn'teven aware he had been stabbed," Neel told VeloNews. Smith collapsed in the street in front of his girlfriend's apartment building as

The National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) announced three changes this week to the 2002 Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championship Series. The U.S. pro national dual slalom champion will be crowned in a one-day showdown at the season opener at Snow Summit, California. The Snow Summit event goes down May 9-12 in Big Bear Lake, California. The top American finisher in the pro men's and women's categories on Saturday, May 11, will be awarded the 2002 pro national dual slalom title. The five-race series traditionally uses all its stops to determine pro champions in various

Telekom’s Jan Ullrich will start his European season on May 22 in the Tour of Bavaria after difficult spring season punctuated by a nagging knee injury. According to a Telekom statement released Monday, Ullrich will not race at the Giro d’Italia (May 11 to June 3), but will begin his season with the Bavarian race and then go on to the week-long Tour of Germany which begins on June 3. “We have opted for caution," said Telekom team doctor Lothar Heinrich, who said that competing in the Giro might compromise Ullrich’s chances in the Tour de France later in the year. The 1997 Tour de France

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a  line.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.Hoping to see DaveI've heard worse...In reference to Patrick O'Grady's recent OLN rant (see "Friday'sFoaming Rant: Indoor living with Outdoor Life"), I'd have to agreeand add that the only thing worse than having to listen to Eurosport'scommonwealth

Bartoli leads the final group on the Cauberg

Armstrong was there in the end but outmatched by Fassa Bortolo

Bartoli continued Italy's hot streak at the classics.

David (Duffield) is a really nice guy, but he's losing it. Apartfrom pointing out Lance Armstrong after 10 minutes or so, we learned nothingof the (Liège-Bastogne-Liège) participants until Eurosport put up a caption naming the breakaway riders. We had, however, a lecture on mussels, Hotel Mercur, sprockets and past winners of the race. – Julie Jones, on the newsgroup rec.bicycles.racing Hey, now wait a minute! Remember the bad old days of televised cycling coverage in the United States? Of course you do. Our demographic is composed almost entirely of forty-something masters racers, USA

Amstel: Gold for Armstrong?

Ángel Casero could have a very busy summer, especially if thingsgo well for his Team Coast. The 2001 Vuelta a España champion isalready planning to race in the Giro d’Italia in May and the Vuelta a España in September and might even go to the Tour de France in July if his team earns a wild-card bid in May. “I will race in the Giro, because I have focused my preparation on thisrace. If we are invited to the Tour, I will also have to go. Of course,I want to defend my title at the Vuelta,” Casero told the Spanish sportsdaily AS. “It’s obvious that you cannot race all three at the highest

Casero may be on that bike a lot this summer

The Domo-Farm Frites team has pulled out of the Giro d'Italia and will be replaced by the Colpack-Astro outfit, race director Carmine Castellano announced Tuesday.The line-up of 22 teams will be: Acqua Sapone (I), Alessio (I),Panaria (I), Selle Italia (Col), Colpack (I), Fassa Bortolo (I), Gerolsteiner(G), Alexia (I), Kelme (Sp), Lampre (I), Colnago (B), Lotto (B), Mapei (I), Mercatone Uno (I), Mobilvetta(I), Phonak (Swi), Rabobank (Nl), Saeco (I), Tacconi (I), Team Coast(G), CSC-Tiscali (Dk), Deutsche Telekom (G).Kelme, the only Spanish lineup committed to the Giro, will have Aitor

Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, was cleared of doping allegations stemming from police raids conducted during last year's Giro d'Italia by the German cycling federation (BDR). Ullrich was among a number of riders and team members who fell under suspicion following a police raid on the Tour of Italy last June where a number of illegal but also medicinal substances were seized. However the majority of the cases have led to little in the way of what could be classified real doping. The BDR's decision on Wednesday follows that of the Union Cycliste Internationale

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to thisaddress, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.Listen to the numbersI recognize that your polls are not scientific, but with such a disparitybetween road and mountain enthusiasts, why do you keep putting mountainbiking on your covers?  Maybe you should just have a section insidefor mountain stuff and leave

Training Bible Studies with Joe Friel

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.comthat causes you to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com. Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to thisaddress, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. Of Sandbaggers and Cherry Pickers I was fortunate to witness this year's little Indy 500 in BloomingtonIN. The controversy surrounding Josh Weirs eligibility (see "Finishline: April 22") was well known by every person I spoke with in thecommunity.

It’s hard to believe Thomas Frischknecht is only 32 years old. That might seem ancient to young upstarts, but Frischknecht has been a leading figure in mountain biking since he showed up at the very first mountain bike worlds back in Durango in 1990. Since then, he’s done just about everything a mountain bike racer could accomplish. Like many big-name stars, Frischknecht now has his own team where he will he will act as coach and racer. VeloNews’ Andrew Hood caught up with Frischknecht last week as he prepares for the 2002 racing season. VeloNews: How are you feeling coming into the

Paolinetti calculates his chances

The Spring Classics are winding down following the Italian sweep at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.Sunday’s Amstel Gold is the final stop of a month-long fest of epic one-dayraces across northern France, Belgium and Holland.The winners came from surprising corners, with veterans such as MarioCipollini (Ghent-Wevelgem), Johan Museeuw (Paris-Roubaix) andAndrea Tafi (Tour of Flanders) proving that experience counts. LanceArmstrong offered his hand to U.S. Postal Service teammates GeorgeHincapie and the young Tom Boonen, who surprised the cyclingworld with an impressive third-place at his Paris-Roubaix

Thirteen Italian cyclists have been effectively cleared to compete in the Giro d'Italia after the Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) disciplinary commission decided not to impose bans that would prevent them from taking part, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported Monday. All 13 riders were among those implicated in last year's Giro doping scandal but only Giuseppe Di Grande was suspended, earning a six-month ban but one that is academic as the rider had already served that term. Five riders have had the cases dismissed while the disciplinary commission has asked for more information

Rossner, Schleicher, Melchers

At the start

One-two Mapei

Reason for concern: Bettini and Garzelli were in the day's most dangerous break.

Salanson and Kloden were off for more than 200km

Heavy traffic: the scene on the Cote St. Roche

Fast times in Little Italy: Garzelli and Bettini thrilled a partisan crowd

Belem shows off her two medals from Monterrey.

Arnaud Tournant

Josiah Ng

Thomas leads Lindenmuth in the 3-4 sprint final.

Mirabella

Pearce and Carney take on the Madison

Merckx, aggressive in Wednesday's Fleche Wallonne, drew the biggest cheers in Liège Saturday.

Casagrande is one of the Italians favored to be in the mix at the end of the 258km L-B-L.....

... Pantani is not.

Carney

Belarus powered to a team pursuit win

Lindenmuth

Josiah Ng: a diamond in the rough?

Friday’s foaming rant: You can’t get there from here

Sergi Escobar

Erin Mirabella

Mike Tillman

LIÈGE -BASTOGNE-LIÈGE: An epic in the offing?

Lopes and the 3-man sprint squad

Jamie Staff

Manning

Arnaud Tournant

An appeal by Belgian rider Franck Vandenbroucke was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, Friday leaving the disgraced former Domo team rider with a six-month ban from cycling and few options ahead of him. Vandenbroucke was banned by the Belgian cycling federation and sanctioned 10,000 Swiss francs ($6000) after police discovered banned products, including EPO (erythropoietin), anabolic steroid clenbuterol and morphine, at his home following a raid in February. The raid came a day after his French physiotherapist Bernard Sainz, known ominously in the

Judging by the staggering popularity of our new online letters page, many of you have questions about the direction VeloNews is taking, especially since the debut of this “Friday’s Foaming Rant” column. “What the hell do you idiots think you’re doing?” is a frequent query, and one that is easily answered. We don’t know. I’m not kidding. We’re making it up as we go along, just like USA Cycling, except we’re still involved to some degree with bicycle racing. With the Euro’ peloton cranking out more positive dope tests than Robert Downey Jr., and the UCI’s off-road World Cup down to a single

Europe seems to be treating the Navigators very well indeed. The teamreports its heading back to the Continent following its recent trip, when the team won two races and several other podium finishes and numerous top-10 finishes. The team reports after a quick trip home, the Navigators willhead back to Europe for five races during a two-week period. Theculmination of the racing junket will be the Four Days of Dunkirk, oneof the top spring races in France. The team will resume its domestic racing schedule on May 19th with the Housatonic Classic in Danbury,Conn.Here are the events added to the

Editor's note: Michael Scherer is an American who has been living and racing in Oostende, Belgium, for the past month. Originally from Casper, Wyoming, Scherer spent last season riding for Prime Alliance while living in Boulder, Colorado. He moved to Belgium this year to take the next step and "to prove that I have what it takes to be a bike racer." Scherer will be sending back regular updates throughout the season. This past weekend my ABC-Aitos teammates and I raced the G.P. de La Ville de Nogent Sur Oise, a UCI 1.6 race in France. The race organizers took exceptional care of us, yet

There´s still an awful lot going on in Europe, and we´re noteven talking about the Belgian Classics here.First off, Lance Armstrong will test his form at the 54th DauphineLibere, June 9-16, according to race organizers in France. Armstrong alreadyconfirmed he will race at Midi Libre as he hones his form for a run ata fourth straight Tour de France. Also expected to start among 14 teamsare Christophe Moreau, last year´s winning now racing withCredit Agricole, and Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali).The race features a climb up Mont Ventoux, which will be part of thisyear´s Tour. "We have made

News from the gutter: An American in Europe

Final touches are made at the Velodromo.

The Mexican team gets in some practice.

Monterrey at sunset.

Luperini earns her third win at Fleche'

Heppner and Zulle try their luck

Cheering on the home team.

Meet The Press

Up the Mur de Huy

Aerts supporters

Training Bible Studies with Joe Friel

At first it’s odd not to see Tyler Hamilton in the blue and white uniform of U.S. Postal Service. The 31-year-old had spent his entire career with the team since turning pro in 1995. But Hamilton finally had the chance to ride for himself when CSC-Tiscali came calling last year with a two-year deal to lead the team through 2003. The team was looking for a rider to complement Laurent Jalabert in the grand tours. More specifically, they were looking for someone to ride for GC. It was a perfect fit for both CSC-Tiscali and Hamilton. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with

Italian cyclist Marco Pantani has been summoned to appear before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) anti-doping panel in one week, a CONI spokesman announced Wednesday. Pantani will be called to account for evidence seized by Florence prosecutors during last year's police raids on the San Remo hotel rooms of teams competing in the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) - the documents pertaining to the case have since been transmitted to CONI. Pantani, dubbed 'il pirata' (the pirate), remains hugely popular in Italy after winning the 1998 Giro d'Italia and Tour de France

Hamilton on the attack

New uniform, new responsibilities

Aerts survives the Mur to take Fleche

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC),the U.S. distributor of LOOK cycling products, Veltec Sports, Inc. of SandCity, California, is voluntarily recalling LOOK Ergopost 3 bicycle seatposts.  One Hundred Twenty Four (124) of these products were soldin the United States.  No injuries have been reported, but Veltechas received reports that the aluminum crown of the seatpost can fail asa result of metal fatigue, which may cause the bicycle seat to dislodgeand result in a rider losing control or falling.  This recall is beingconducted to prevent the possibility of

CSC-Tiscali captain Laurent Jalabert is expected to return to racing in late April for the first time since he abandoned Milan-San Remo witha virus.Jalabert, who won a stage and finished third overall at Paris-Nice,will also race at GP Midi Libre, May 22-26. Lance Armstrong confirmedhe will start the race as well as part of preparations for a run at a fourthconsecutive Tour de France. It will be Armstrong's debut at Midi Libreand continues his efforts this season to add variety to his pre-Tour racingschedule.The stages:May 22: Salses-le-Chateau-CarcassoneMay 23: