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While the world focuses on Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal Service teamduring this year’s Tour de France, the team will be looking toward a personwhose work will be seen by few. Jeff Spencer is officially listed as thePostal team’s chiropractor, a job that requires attending to the variousaches, pains and injuries incurred by riders during every stage of theTour. Spencer is the team’s own special sauce, and his work has helpedput Armstrong in yellow for the last three years. "I don’t know what to call myself, because there are so many thingsthat I do that fall into so many disciplines and

Friday's Foaming Rant: A failure of intelligence

Sponsor: maker of wheel rims for carsBudget: $2.8 millionManager: Bruno CenghialtaDirecteurs sportif: Dario Mariuzzo, Valerio TebaldiRidersBROGNARA Andrea (I), May 26, 1971CASAGRANDE Stefano (I), March 23, 1973DUFAUX Laurent (Swi),  May 20, 1969GOTTI Ivan (I), March 28, 1969HVASTIJA Martin (Slo), November 30, 1969IVANOV Ruslan (Mol), December 18, 1973MORENI Christian  (I), November 21, 1972PIERI Dario (I), September 1, 1975SHEFER Alksandr (Kaz), August 26, 1971Ambitious, but limited Thanks to its team victory at the 2001 Giro, this Italian team snaggeda direct ticket to the 2002 Tour. Team

Americans at the Tour: A banner year?

In the peloton since 1997Sponsor: Telephone credit bankerBudget: $4.9 millionManager: Alain BondueDirecteur sportif: Bernard QuilfenAssistants: Alain Delœil, Francis Van LonderseleConsultant: Tony RomingerRidersATIENZA Daniel  (Sp),   September 22, 1974CUESTA Inigo  (Sp),   June 3, 1969FERNANDEZ Bingen (Sp)KIVILEV Andréï  (Kaz),   September 21, 1973LELLI Massimiliano  (I),   December 2, 1967MATTAN Nico  (B),   July 17, 1971MILLAR David  (GB),   January 4, 1977MONCOUTIÉ David   (F),   April 30, 1975VASSEUR Cédric  (F),   August 18, 1970 Raised ambitions This French team will try to

Vinokourov

In the peloton since 2000Sponsor: Jewelry store chainBudget: $2.6 millionManager: Serge BarleDirecteur sportif: Michel GrosAssistants: Jean-Luc Jonrond, Patrick PerretRiders (as of June 30)AUGÉ Stéphane  (F),   December 6, 1974BERNARD Jerome (F)BROCHARD Laurent  (F),   March 26, 1968DESSEL Cyril   (F),   November 29, 1974EDALEINE Christophe (F),   November 1, 1979GOUBERT Stéphane  (F),   March 13, 1970HALGAND Patrice  (F),   March 2, 1974LEFèVRE Laurent  (F),   July 2, 1976SEIGNEUR Eddy  (F),   February 15, 1969A sign of destiny?The Jean Delatour team had resigned itself to not riding the

Zülle and Tonkov were among those in the winning break.

In the peloton since 2000Sponsor: free newspaper chainBudget: $3.4 millionManager: Philippe RaimbaudDirecteur sportif: Jean René BernaudeauAssistants: Thierry Bricaud, Christian Guiberteau, ChristopheFaudotRiders (as of July 1)BÉNÉTEAU Walter   (F),  July 28, 1972BOUYER Franck   (F),  March 17, 1974CHAVANEL Sylvain   (F),  June 30, 1979MAGNIEN Emmanuel  (F),  May 7, 1971NAZON Damien   (F),  June 26, 1974PINEAU Jerome (F)RENIER Franck   (F),  April 11, 1974ROUS Didier   (F),  September 18, 1970SIMON François   (F),  October 28, 1968 IntroductionJean-René Bernaudeau’s team again needed a

Zülle has the lead now.

In the peloton since August 1998Sponsor: French bankBudget: $5 millionManager and directeur sportif: Roger LegeayAssistant: Michel LaurentTrainer: Denis RouxRidersBESSY Frédéric  (F),  January, 9, 1972HINAULT Sébastien  (F),  February 11, 1974HUSHOVD Thor  (N),  January 18, 1978LANGELLA Anthony (F)MOREAU Christophe (F),  April 12, 1971MORIN Anthony  (F),  June 27, 1974O’GRADY Stuart  (Aus),  August 6, 1973VAUGHTERS Jonathan (USA),  June 10, 1973VOIGT Jens   (G),  September 17, 1971The top French team?Of all the managers of the French team managers, Roger Legeay achievedthe most spectacular

Valen

In the peloton since 2001Sponsors: CSC: Internet access provider; Tiscali: informationtechnology companyBudget: $5.6 millionManager: Bjarne RiisDirecteur sportif: Alex PedersenAssistants: Johnny Weltz, Christian AndersenRidersJALABERT Laurent (F), November 30, 1968HAMILTON Tyler (USA), March 1, 1971PERON Andrea (I), August 14, 1971PIIL Jakob (Dk), March 9, 1973PIZIKS Arvis (Lat), September 12, 1969SANDSTÖD Michael (Dk), June 23, 1968SASTRE Carlos (Sp), April 22, 1975SÖRENSEN Nicki (Dk), May 14, 1975VAN HYFTE Paul (B), January 19, 1972 Riis’s piecesDenmark’s love affair with cycling

Rona chases... for no apparent reason

In the peloton since 1994Sponsors: Telecommunications company, and the Basque Countryregional authorityBudget: $2.8 millionManager: Miguel MadariagaDirecteur sportif: Julian GorospeAssistant: Ruben Gorospe RidersARRIZABALAGA Gorka (Sp),  April 14, 1977ETXEBARRIA David (Sp),  July 23, 1973ETXEBARRIA Unai (Ven), November 21, 1972FLORES Igor (Sp),  December 5, 1973GONZALEZ Gorka (Sp),  September 28, 1977LAISEKA Roberto (Sp),  June 17, 1969MAYO Iban (Sp),  August 19, 1977SANCHEZ Samuel (Sp),  February 5, 1978ZUBELDIA Haimar (Sp) Bigger goals For the first time since its creation two years

Ralph proves that bicycle racing is serious business.

“The American government is leading the country towards hell.”—Osama bin Laden, in a 1998 ABC interview If I see a distraught Forest Service worker on one of my rides, droppinga crumpled piece of tear-stained stationery into a campfire ring with onehand and reaching for a Zippo with the other, I’m headed upwind as fastas my middle-aged legs will drive the bike. The aroma of roasting fat isone thing if you’re sipping a powerful beverage while a thick steak broils,and quite another if your ass is on fire. One fragrance that will never make my olfactory podium is the stenchof stupidity, a

Jeanson takes time to relax

With as many as 10 riders slated to start the Tour — including threeteam leaders — this could be a banner July for the U.S. Lance ArmstrongHometown: Austin, TX Age: 30Height: 5 ft. 10 in. Weight: 165 lbs.Team: U.S. Postal Service Number of Tours: 7 With his well-documented cancer comeback and three consecutive Tourvictories — and the marketing power of Nike — Lance Armstrong has becomean American sports figure on par with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, anunheard of accomplishment for an American cyclist. And like those othertwo, Armstrong’s season preparation comes under intense scrutiny

Lembo still in the lead

With a little help from her friends - Arndt takes over

Jeanson and Bessette (left) were clearly unwelcome at the Saturn party.

Rid of company, Saturn gets to work.

Rona gives chase

German cyclist Andreas Kloden will not compete in next month's Tour deFrance because of a knee injury and will be replaced by Telekom teammateDanilo Hondo, the German outfit confirmed on Thursday.Kloden, 26, has been hospitalized after pulling out of Tuesday's secondstage of the Tour of Catalunya, where he was making his comeback aftera two-month layoff with the recurring knee problem.But his misfortune has turned in Hondo's favour with the 25-year-oldfinally getting a chance to compete in the Tour de France from July 2-28."I'm really delighted," said Hondo, who won the second

Spanish television has reported that organizers of the Vuelta a Espana have won preliminary UCI approval for a unique approach to organizing Spain’s national tour in a fashion that will allow it to invite as many as 32 separate teams this fall. Current UCI regulations limit the number of riders participating in a grand tour to just 22 9-man teams, but Vuelta officials have proposed turning the first week of the race into a sort of play-off, involving two separate 16-team races. At the end of the opening week, the top nine teams from each group would then go on to contest the remainder of

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.What a great idea!If the Vuelta goes ahead with the plan of having the new 32 team firstweek (See "Vueltagets preliminary okay for new approach") it would make the race pretty damn exciting. Just imagine, No boring first week, twice the racingwith teams fighting for their lives. There

The names Ryder Hesjedal and Alison Sydor were surprisingly absent when the Canadian Cycling Association released its full Commonwealth Games roster on Thursday. Sydor had initially been an automatic selection but opted out to focus solely on this year’s world championships. "I think at the end of the day she decided that it would be too much travel," said Canadian national team coach Yurri Kasharin. "I was a little surprised, though. Sometimes you think you know an athlete, but it turns out you don’t." With Sydor out, that roster spot fell to Marie Helen-Premont, who joins Chrissy Redden

Zabel edges out Teutenburg

Unless you live in Philadelphia, you probably didn’t get to see the FirstUnion USPRO Championship on television.While it obviously won’t be live, if you have Outdoor Life Network onsatellite or cable, you will get to see highlights of the race in the comfortof your own living room. (If you haven't seen or read about it, we won't spoil the finish for ya, but you can clickhere to read VeloNews.com's coverage if you care to.) The network will broadcast its one-hourwrap-up on several occasions beginning Thursday, June 20.If you are an early riser, you can even get up to watch the

Lembo

Jeanson finally bested Saturn

Rossner and Teutenburg were in the early break

Arndt was spent at the finish

The organizers of the Tour de France have outlined a stringent new set of anti-doping measures designed to erase the nagging doubts and suspicions that have plagued the race since the Festina scandal of 1998. In a Paris press conference on Tuesday, the directors of Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), the parent company of the Société du Tour de France, said that a new program of random drug tests and strict penalties will help restore the “emblematic values” of the Tour. Riders who could potentially start the Tour de France on July 6 in Luxembourg are now subject to random drug tests up to and

Resistance is Futile -- Rossner's second; Saturn's fourth.

Bruckner was alone for 20 miles

Up and over Galena

Jeanson and Bessette each face a big fight to overcome Saturn.

Oscar Sevilla has finally had enough. After not being paid for more than two months, the 2001 Vuelta a Espana runner-up contacted the UCI on Monday asking for cycling’s governing body to step in. Kelme has been foundering since spring when its co-sponsor – the regional government of Alicante and its tourism arm Costa Blanca – has not paid its share of the sponsorship budget, leaving the team without cash to pay its riders.

The original 1985 Kamikaze downhill course would be part of the 2.7 million acres to be added to California’s 14 million acres of federally designated wilderness closed to cycling under Sen. Barbara Boxer’s recently introduced California Wild Heritage Act of 2002, according to Gary Sprung, senior national policy advisor with the International Mountain Bicycling Association.The California Democrat’s bill, S2535, introduced in late May and forwarded to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is labeled as a measure “to designate certain public lands as wilderness and certain

Bolstered by three straight World Cup wins, Australian Chris Kovarik has taken over the No. 1 spot in the UCI’s world downhill rankings. Kovarik jumped from third to first, deposing Frenchman Cédric Gracia, who dropped to second. Also moving up was reigning world champion Nicolas Vouilloz, who climbed from sixth to third. Mickael Pascal and Greg Minnaar completed the top five. Eric Carter is the top ranked American in 11th. There was no change at the top of the women’s rankings, with Anne-Caroline Chausson still No. 1. Sabrina Jonnier, Fionn Griffiths, Marielle Saner and American Missy Giove

Tyler Hamilton will race at the 2002 Tour de France despite fracturinga bone in his left shoulder at the Giro d’Italia last month.That’s according to CSC-Tiscali team manager Bjarne Riis, who confirmedHamilton will start the 89th Tour on July 6.“The shoulder is a lot better,” Riis told VeloNews. “He’s hada good break after the Giro. He needed that.”Riis said Hamilton returned to his home in Marblehead, Mass., followinghis success at the Giro, where he finished second overall and won a stagedespite a crash in the first week when Hamilton landed hard on his leftshoulder.X-rays taken a day after

The troubled saga of Marco Pantani continued Monday as Italian Cycling Federation officials suspended the 1998 Tour de France winner for eight months and fined him 3000 Swiss francs ($1913) for illegally using insulin during the 2001 Giro d’Italia. The management of Pantani's Mercatone Uno team has also been fined 5000 Swiss francs for his use of a banned substance during the 2001 Giro. Traces of the drug were found in a syringe in his hotel room during the San Remo police raids that shut the race down for a day as investigators searched the rooms of every rider competing in the race

The day after his victory in the Dauphine Libere, American Lance Armstrong continues to work his way up the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rankings, climbing one spot into second place just behind world’s number one, Erik Zabel. U.S. Postal team leader Armstrong, who kicks off his bid for a fourth consecutive Tour de France triumph in less than three weeks time, sits behind Germany's Erik Zabel of the Telekom team. Colombian Santiago Botero was also on the move climbing 15 places to 18th following his triumph in the Alps Classic.UCI Rankings – June 17, 20021. Erik Zabel (G),

Shozo Shimano, Chairman Emeritus of Shimano Inc., died Saturday due to heart failure. He was 74. Born January 3rd, 1928, Shozo Shimano served as President of Shimano Inc. from 1958 to 1992. During his 34-year tenure, the company grew to be the world’s largest component manufacturer and one of the leading corporations in Japan. He is survived by his wife Aiko and son Yozo, both of Sakai City, and daughter Setsuko of Tokyo. Yozo Shimano is the current President of Shimano, Inc. A privately held funeral was held Monday at the Sakai City home of Shozo Shimano. The company expects to hold a

Jaromir Friede (Wüstenrot - ZVVZ), the early leader during thetwo-up sprint opener to the 2002 Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, hung onto take the first leader's jersey. Friede, the Czech national road champion,finished just ahead of Canadian track rider Alexandre Cloutier (VW-Trek)and Charles Dionne (7UP Nutra Fig). Another Canadian, Pierre Olivier Boilly(Équipe du Québec) was fourth, and Alex Candelario (PrimeAlliance) rounded out the top 5.The riders raced head to head, in pairs, along a 300 metre strip ofRue St-Jean, finishing under one of the gates to the old city.  The'real'

Hamilton finished second at the Giro with a broken shoulder. How might the Tour be if he's healthy?

From drawing board to bike in 18 days.

The Saturn squad checks the results page

Jeanson found the wind to be a challenge.

T-Mobile's Dotsie Cowden time trialing in Stanley

Millward and Polikeviciute

Bruckner

Armstrong

Kovarik sails to another win.

Hannah just missed his second NORBA downhill win.

Jonnier takes on the opening drop.

Streb just moments before her crash.

Any Questions? Armstrong proves the Joux-Plane is just another climb.

Green rolls to another win.

No one could match Dunlap.

Lopes out front in the final.

Llanes was quickest to the finish.

Rossner wins with a comfortable margin

The field stayed together this year

Not the ideal saddle, but Hesjedal still finished.

Gullickson showing his 'cross skills.

Horgan-Kobelski took second.

The doping investigation into the U.S. Postal team may be near its completion after judicial sources in Paris said Friday that the case "was going nowhere." The team headed by three-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and has been under investigation since tapes produced by a France 3 television crew were released in November 2000. The tapes showed Postal team staff disposing of a bag of medical waste at a highway rest stop during that year’s Tour de France. After the Postal team car left the area, the television crew retrieved the bag and eventually turned it over to investigators.

Lance Armstrong is poised for his second major victory of the 2002 seasongoing into this weekend's finale of the Criterium du Dauphine Libere. Thethree-time Tour de France champion retained the overall lead in Friday'sfifth stage and remains 16 seconds ahead of U.S. Postal Service teammateFloyd Landis.Armstrong, a winner at the Midi Libre in May, faces an old nemesis inSaturday's 145-km climbing stage through the French Alps: the Col de JouxPlane. Armstrong "bonked" on the narrow, steep climb on Joux Plane in the2000 Tour and nearly lost the race when he didn't eat enough

And then I saw a bike-car altercation that went from horn-honking togiving the finger to full-on hit-and-run. The late-model, white SUV withlicense plate 007-something full on took this cyclist out. Drove rightinto him, knocked him down and drove away.- Big Jonny recounting a Sundaytraining ride on www.drunkcyclist.com(a site bound to give your porn filter a coronary)Ah, ’tis spring, and the psychos are in bloom. A correspondent recently forwarded alink to a cheery column by Wendy Crooks, a contributor to a thing calledThe Villager, in The Woodlands, a subsidiary of Houston. In it,Mrs.

The resurgent Dede Demet-Barry has signed a multiyear agreement with Team T-Mobile following a string of podium appearances, according to USA Cycling. The 29-year-old Boulder resident, a former Saturn rider who had been racing in Talgo America kit after taking nearly two years off from racing to continue her education, scored a victory in the Montréal World Cup on June 1, then followed that up with a second place at Le Tour du Grand Montréal June 3-4 and a third place at the First Union Liberty Classic June 9 in Philadelphia. Her first race with Team T-Mobile will be at the U.S. Elite

Jalabert leads the break before the collapse of civility

Friday's Foaming Rant: Share the Road

Dunlap running towards the win.