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It was a hilly stage on Tuesday

Fakta's Kurt Arvensen (L) leads the break

Arvensen knows he's won.

Arvensen strikes the pose

First, the champagne ...

... then the kiss.

Garzelli in pursuit

A dangerous move

Norways' road champion takes the stage

Will these guys aim for 43 tomorrow?

Where's Mario? Let's just say this was not the Lion King's type of course

The final cut

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn

Last week, we left the comfort of the gutter in Belgium to tackle the hills of Luxembourg in the 54th running of the Fleche du Sud. There were some great moments this weekend, topped off with Mark Fitzgerald winning the second stage and taking the GC on the same day and Mariano Friedrick placing 8th in the first two stages. I don't really have a whole lot to say about the race. Yep, it was hard, scary at times (descending mountains in the rain at 50 mph), and yep, I am definitely not a climber right now. What I can say is this: Mark rode in a break for 50 kilometers and then attacked the

Mark on the top step.

The move.

Arcs-en-ciel en juillet?

Riding through Chianti

Garzelli still in pink

One face will be missing from the Tour portrait

Tinker lives up to his race number

Kobin just kept on riding through the winds and the cold

Jon Brown finished second

Riding through Tuscany

Charging to the line

Cipollini nailed 'em all

Number 42

Cipollini drinks a toast to Jean-Marie

World road race champion Mario Cipollini's team has been ruled out of this year's Centenary Tour de France. Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc announced the last four teams for this year's race which starts July 5 but overlooked Cipollini's Domina Vacanze team. "Cipollini hasn't had a very convincing start to the season despite the fact he won a stage in the Giro yesterday," Leblanc said Monday, noting that it had been "very difficult" to make the final choice. “At the age of 36 we felt he doesn't fit into the profile of the race which after a week of racing on the flat will head into the

How completely bogus (yet entirely predictable) that Mario Cipolliniwas again denied an invitation to this year's Tour de France. Not invite the world champion? I'll bet they wish they didn't have toinvite Lance either. Not to worry Mario, because everyone knowsyou deserve to be there; the fact that you won't be only makes the Tourdirectors look more petty and foolish than they already do. So, they wanted to "give a little boost to the French cycling?" Maybethey should invite only French teams - that way they can be sure of a win.Time to re-run that cartoon from last year - "Le Tour de

To the line

A couple of new faces were atop the short track podium.

Bonilla was understandably gassed after his win.

An exultant Haywood.

Hanusova's face shows the pain of the day.

Carter's second trip to the podium.

Top qualifier Hannah settled for fifth in the final.

Moseley was all smiles after her win.

Mayolo-Pic takes the sprint

Matched... but still not bettered

Davidenko

No talk of retirement on Sunday

Work horses: Pate (L) and Vaughters kept tabs on the front of the field

Marco Pantani was not having one of his better days.

Gilberto Simoni and Stefano Garzelli dueled all the way to the top.

Prime Alliance's David Clinger salutes the crowd in Connecticut.

Saturn's Chris Horner went early - a little too early.

Hesjedal sets a fast early pace.

Dunlap was at the front all day.

Bisaro had plenty to smile about.

Carter takes NORBA No. 1.

Kintner tops the women's podium.

Tubeless tires were on-order for the day, as well as Shimnao's new XTR M-956 wheelset

Ryder left his granny in the pits

I’ve got to admit, I’m a little on edge. After months of writing longingly about donuts, greasy spoons and the like, it suddenly struck me that I could become a target. What is it that has me worried, you ask? In California earlier this week, a public interest lawyer in San Francisco filed a lawsuit seeking to ban the sale of Oreo cookies to minors. The argument: Oreos contain trans fats, which, according to the suit, are too dangerous for children to eat. Stephen L. Joseph argued that the general public is unaware of the danger of trans fats, which are present in about 40 percent of the

Cristian Moreni (Alessio), Costantino Gutierrez Zaballa (Kelme) and Team fakta's Magnus Backstedt sparked the early action.

Fassa Bortolo comes to the fore.

Saturn's Eric Wohlberg wins the fast heat at the Tour of Connecticut opener.

From a gastrointestinal perspective, it’s been a bad week for former Mercury teammates Tom Danielson and Chris Wherry. Danielson and Saturn teammate Nathan O’Neill were forced to abandon the eastern European Peace Race after a bout with the stomach flu, while, for better or for worse, Wherry, now with Navigators, has finally nailed down what’s been ailing him this season — a parasite. A common microscopic parasitic organism found throughout the world, Blastocystis hominis has invaded Wherry’s system, leaving him weak and unable to fully recover from hard efforts on the bike. It’s a

One of the greatest all-around athletes in cycling history, Hendrik (“Rik”) Van Steenbergen, died in an Antwerp, Belgium, clinic on May 15 after a long illness. He was 78. At 6-foot-3 and 183 pounds, Van Steenbergen was big for a professional cyclist, but his renowned resilience made him a formidable rider on both road and track throughout his exceptionally long career. In 24 seasons as a professional (1943-1966), Van Steenbergen won 270 times on the road, including three world road championships, eight classics, and 25 stages of the grand tours; and 715 times on the track, including 40

Team Coast’s loss is the Postal team’s gain. Nope Lance Armstrong hasn’t recruited Jan Ullrich for this year’s Tour de France, but the team did announce on Thursday that it had signed former Coastie Manuel Beltran for the remainder of the 2003 season. Following Team Coast’s second suspension of the year for financial problems, UCI rules allow riders to negate their existing contracts with the team and become a cycling equivalent of a free agent. Ullrich announced his plans to leave Coast on Wednesday and Beltran finalized a deal with Postal on Thursday. "This is a great addition to our

How many more bottles in store for Petacchi?

Deja Vu: Cipo' has been close twice.

Garzelli's back.

Pantani has showed good form this first week

The Navigator

Van Steenbergen celebrates his win at Milan-San Remo in 1954

Beltran leads Heras in the 1999 Tour of Catalunya

Dear Bob;Here’s an odd one for ya: Can someone get their driver’s license revoked for cycling while drunk? Is it illegal and, if so, what can they do to you if you are caught riding while intoxicated?OtisNorth Carolina Dear Otis;I have to admit that at first, I didn’t think this question was really all that applicable to readers of this column. But, the more I thought about it, the more relevant it seemed. For instance, I’m sure many cyclists have attended a summer barbecue by bike only to partake in all that is offered before riding home. Then there is former 7-Eleven rider Alex Steida’s

We are preparing for the first stage race of the year: the Fleche de Sud, in Luxembourg. The longer that I spend in Europe, the greater appreciation I have for the incredible support needed to race. Going to a stage race in the U.S. is a lot easier, really. Yes, it is comforting to have someone in the feedzone to hand up a bottle, but not necessary. I know plenty of riders, good riders, that have done races like Gila, or Fitchburg unassisted. Well, that’s just not possible in Europe. At a minimum, you need someone in the feedzones, and someone driving the team car in the caravan (that