News

Afghan cycling enthusiasts, forced off their bikes by the Taliban, are back in the saddle. About 20 cyclists in full gear staged their first race in five years from the capital, Kabul, on Sunday after the city fell to forces of the Northern Alliance. Braving a potholed road that crosses the heavily mined former front line, they traveled 40 km (25 miles) north to the town of Charikar at the base of the Panjsher valley. The Taliban had outlawed public sports events in line with their strict interpretation of Islamic law that also obliged men to wear beards and women to leave their homes only

Spain's Olympic track cycling champion Juan Llaneras said that on Monday he would take legal action after being cleared of doping. Llaneras, who won the men's points race title at the Sydney Olympics and holds five world titles, had been suspended on September 30 after, in official parlance, testing "non-negative" for the endurance-boosting drug EPO at the world championships in Antwerp, where he won the silver medal. But last week the UCI cleared him of all accusations after analysis of a second urine sample. "I've lived through a nightmare," Llaneras said. "I was innocent and

Mick Hannah cashed in on his world-champion potential Monday, signing a deal to ride for the Haro-Lee Dungarees mountain bike team in 2002. Hannah, who just turned 18, first made waves in the gravity-racing world at last March’s Sea Otter when he nearly knocked off Brian Lopes in the dual slalom. Three months later Hannah hit the mark, taking out Lopes — and everybody else — at the NORBA season opener at Big Bear, where he won the downhill and dual slalom. The young Aussie also took third at the World Cup downhill in Vancouver, but saw his season cut short at the NORBA finals in Vermont

Ten new races highlight the 2002 AMBC schedule, which was released by USA Cycling on Monday. All told the series will consist of 25 stops, starting in Gainesville, Florida in February, and finishing up at the Piney Hills Fall Classic in Ruston, Louisiana in late October. New events on the calendar include the High Point Ranch Roundup in Ada, Oklahoma, The Stump Jump 2002 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Chile Challenge in Angel Fire, New Mexico, and Blast the Mass in Snowmass, Colorado. AMBC events are good places for those riders who are just entering the racing scene. The races allow

For the past four years, University of Colorado doctoral student Allen Lim has been conducting research on some of the top cyclists in the U.S. pro peloton. This Friday, Lim will give a lecture on the use of power meters in cycling training, to be followed by a roundtable discussion featuring several top professionals. The evening, entitled "The science and art of training with power," will feature a presentation by Lim on his doctoral research, followed by a panel featuring Jonathan Vaughters, Clark Sheehan, Doug Ziewacz, Michael Barry, Dede Demet Barry and Colby Pearce. The event will take

Hannah in his new duds.

Hannah is one of the numerous talents to come out of Australia recently.

Belgian Matthew Gilmore and Australian Scott McGrory won the 61st edition of the Six Days of Ghent, which concluded Sunday. They beat out the Swiss duo of Bruno Risi and Kurt Betschart, while Etienne De Wilde and Andreas Kappes took third, the only other team on the same lap as the winners. Page ninth in Switzerland American Jonathan Page (Richard Sachs) took ninth at the UCI Category 2 race in Meilen, Switzerland on Sunday. On a cold, rainy day, Page picked his way through the pack on a muddy, grassy course to record his best result of his European campaign. Page will contest the second

The doping case against Spanish track cyclist Juan Llaneras has been closed by the UCI, according to the Spanish cycling federation. Llaneras had tested "non-negative" at the world track championships in Antwerp, Belgium, on September 30. However, Llaneras’s second sample showed no trace of erythropoietin (EPO) according to the Spanish federation, and the case has been closed.

On Tuesday night, Kristin Armstrong gave birth to her and Lance Armstrong’s twin daughters, Isabelle Rose and Grace Elizabeth, who arrived at 8:54 p.m. and 8:57 p.m. respectively. Isabelle Rose weighed in at 5 lb. 12 oz., Grace Elizabeth 5 lb. 2 oz. Parents and children are doing well.

The chief executive officer of USA Cycling is close to signing a new two-year extension of her employment contract, the organization’s outgoing president Mike Plant confirmed this week. According to sources, the board of directors of USA Cycling voted to renew the contract of chief executive officer Lisa Voight in an executive session during the organization's October meeting. Plant reportedly proposed offering Voight a two-year deal, a recommendation later endorsed by a majority of the board. Voight confirmed that the board had approved the extension proposal, though the contract was

A local politician in Italy's southern province of Puglia has made a formal protest to the government and the organizers of the Giro d'Italia over what he sees as an exclusion of the south of Italy in next year's race. The 2002 Giro will take in five European countries outside Italy (Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, France and Germany) in honor of the advent of the Euro but its southernmost point will be at Benevento near Naples in the Catania province. That means the country's four southernmost provinces - Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily - will all be excluded. "It is

Since the start of the cyclo-cross season, American Jonathan Page has been living in Switzerland, contesting a European ’cross campaign. His biggest test to date came on Saturday at the opening round of the World Cup, in Monopoli, Italy. Page finished 23rd, 3:01 behind race winner Sven Nijs. With a top 20 placing, Page would have met a selection criteria for an automatic berth on the U.S. team for cyclo-cross world’s in Belgium. The following day, Page was back in Zurich for a local Swiss race. He’ll have one more crack at a top 20 World Cup finish, in Spain, December 2, before returning

2002 Giro to pass through six countries

Grande led Bessette for most of the race

Grande gets the jump after the 'six-pack.'

Gullickson, Johnson and Candelario

Wells' attack set up Gullickson's win

There’s a new Steve Larsen these days and he seems a heck of a lot happier than the old one.

Dutch sprint specialist and four-time Tour de France stage winner Jeroen Blijlevens signed a one-year contract with the Belgian Domo-Farm Frites squad on Friday. The 29-year-old, whose name means 'good life', has had two dreadful seasons and failed to add to his 73 career wins at all this past season, riding for Lotto. Blijlevens, who also has four career stage wins in the Tour of Spain, barely did better than that in the 2000 campaign chalking up two victories with Italian Polti team. Blijlevens has also fallen foul of the sport's authorities on more than one occasion. He

Deer Valley, July 2000

Where's the bike?!?!? With an improvement in his run, Larsen may prove to be unbeatable in triathlon.

Larsen surprised 'em all at Wildflower

After solicitations from several European teams after his third place at September's Vuelta a España, American Levi Leipheimer signed a lucrative contract with the top Dutch team, Rabobank. It was an offer that his present team, U.S. Postal Service, couldn't match. Rabobank is hoping that Leipheimer will be the Tour de France contender it has been seeking for a number of years. Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni will ride for the Italian Saeco team next season. Simoni signed a two-year contract with the team and will join Tour of Lombardy winner Danilo Di Luca, who transfers

Money talks: Leipheimer will ditch the Postal colors for Rabobank in '02.

The U.S. Postal Service team announced its 2002 roster on Wednesday, with seven new additions including Americans David Clinger, Floyd Landis and Chann McRae, along with Canada’s former Saturn rider Michael Barry. Other new faces on defending Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong’s squad are Belgian Tom Boonen, Italian Gianpaolo Mondini and Czech rider Pavel Padrnos. "I think we have put together a very well balanced group of new riders to the team, which wasn't an easy task after losing riders such as Viatcheslav Ekimov, Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer," said team director Johan

After two years of partnership, Zaxby's Franchising will not renew its sponsorship of the Zaxby's professional cycling team for the 2002 cycling season the team announced in a press release on Wednesday. The team is currently searching for a new title sponsor. According to the release, Zaxby's Franchising, a franchiser of chicken restaurants in the Southeast, decided to pull all sports sponsorships -- including sponsorships of its ASA racecar driver and several professional golfers -- in order to redirect that money toward television advertising. "Television is really a more

U.S. Postal Service announces 2002 squad

Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari has been summoned to testify in front of the anti-doping panel of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), the panel announced Monday. Ferrari, set to face doping-related allegations in a trial next month and the subject of a separate probe by Ferrara magistrates, has been asked to appear on November 21 after CONI received documents relating to the two cases. Ferrari, based in Ferrara and a pupil of another controversial physician Professor Francesco Conconi, has been the mentor of many leading cyclists including America's three-times Tour de France

After Gullickson rolled a tire, Johnson was pretty much on his own.

Gullickson came back from an unlucky start to take second.

Rookie? The only thing Bessette doesn't know about 'cross is losing.

Editor’s note: Following the court's first rejection of their lawsuit, Earnest and his co-plaintiffs advised attorney Andrew Rosen to offer to drop their right to an appeal if USAC would withdraw its claim against Earnest for nearly $3000 in copying costs. Rosen sent the letter on January 4, 2000Date: January 4, 2000To: Barton Enoch, via facsimile transmissionFrom: Andrew RosenRe: Earnest v. USA CyclingDear Mr. Enoch: I still have received no ruling on our objection to your Bill of Costs. However, in light of the final ruling on our motion for post-trial relief, the time clock on

USA Cycling and Les Earnest have been waging a legal battle ever since the governing body’s board of directors adopted a reorganization plan nearly three years ago. The lawsuit and appeal process have cost both sides a great deal of time and money and left the functional structure of the organization in limbo. But, according to documents recently acquired by VeloNews, that battle would have ended in January of 2000, had USA Cycling accepted a settlement offer forward by Earnest’s attorney.

Former Alessio and Mercury pro Nicklas Axelsson has been thrown of the Swedish team after admitting to "knowingly" using the banned endurance drug EPO during the world road championships in Lisbon last month. Axelsson, who was riding for the Italian Alessio team, tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) on the last day of the October 9-14 championships where he finished 18th in the men's road race. The 29-year-old rider, whose career highlights were a third place in the Tour of Lombardy one-day race and sixth overall in last year's Tour of Italy, admitted to a Swedish newspaper

The U.S. chase for UCI cyclo-cross points returns to the mid-Atlantic region this weekend with Saturday’s Chameleon Cyclo-Cross Championship in Landisville, Pennsylvania. UCI points serve as the primary criteria for U.S. team selection to next February’s world cyclo-cross championships in Zolder, Belgium. Confirmed starters in the Men’s Elite field include reigning national champion Tim Johnson (Saturn), Jonathan Sundt (K2 Bike) and Adam Hodges Myerson (Bikereg.com). Other top riders expected to come in search of points include SuperCup National Series Champion - Marc Gullickson

Former 7-Eleven pro and Tour de France stage winner Jeff Pierce has been named USA Cycling’s vice president of athletics. Pierce will oversee competition, athlete development and coaching development programs, filling a position quite similar to that recently vacated by director of competition Sean Petty. The appointment and Petty’s recent shift to the post of vice president of marketing represent an organizational shift, with top-level administrators now responsible for the operations of all of USA Cycling’s road and mountain bike programs, rather than having separate directors for both the

The 13th year of the NORBA national championship series will feature two new locations. But two standbys are absent from the calendar, meaning for the second year in a row the series will consist of just five events. New for 2002 will be stops at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, and Durango, Colorado. Gone will be Mammoth Mountain, California, and Deer Valley, Utah. Holdovers include Snowshoe, West Virginia, Mount Snow, Vermont and Big Bear Lake, California. According to a USA Cycling press release, Deer Valley was pulled from the lineup due to scheduling conflicts, while planned capitol

The International Mountain Bicycling Association is hoping to bring mountain biking advocacy leaders, top federal land managers and key representatives of other trail and conservation groups from around the world together at the organization’s 2002 Mountain Bike Advocacy Summit, near Moab, Utah, April 18-21, 2002. The summit scheduled to be held at the brand new Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge on the banks of the Colorado River in the majestic Castle Valley, 15 miles east of Moab. By bringing together a dynamic, diverse group for four days of workshops, panel discussions and brainstorming, IMBA

Wedge

Thomas leads Hall

Gullickson leads early.

Sundt

Mapel

Hall

Italian cyclist Massimo Strazzer and Spaniard Juan Llaneras are facing six-month bans from the sport after having returned “non-negative” EPO test results at the recent world track championships. Strazzer and Llaneras both returned the so-called "non-negative findings" from tests carried out in Antwerp, Belgium at the 2001 World Track Championships in which Llaneras won a silver medal in the Madison and Strazzer competed in the team pursuit. Currently both riders are considered innocent until the results of their “B samples” are released. If that confirms the finding of the first they will

According to an Associated Press report from earlier this week, French judicial officials have not found any evidence of doping in their ongoing investigation into the U.S. Postal Service team. The French investigators are testing blood and urine samples from the team from the 2000 Tour de France, the second of Lance Armstrong's three consecutive Tour wins. "For now, we don't have test results that prove that doping products have been taken," said Francois Franchi, the assistant to Paris prosecutor Sophie-Helene Chateau. The investigation began in November 2000, following

After highly successful seasons on both the men's and women's fronts, the team Saturn line-ups won't look much different for the 2002 season. The men's team will welcome three new riders -- Damon Kluck, Will Frischkorn and Jay Sweet -- while the women will add only one new face, 23-year-old Jessica Phillips. The men will see two departures this off-season, with Canadian Michael Barry heading to the U.S. Postal Service and Matt DeCanio joining Prime Alliance. In Kluck, 24, Frischkorn, 20, and Sweet, 26, Saturn will get an infusion of young talent on the men's side. Kluck

"In light of the overwhelming vote of the membership for Proposition A at the 2001 annual meeting, the Board of Directors believes it is necessary and appropriate to take steps to support that vote and the mandate of the members given the pending Wade litigation that seeks to invalidate the vote. Therefore, be it moved that the Board amend and restate the bylaws of USA Cycling in the form dated October 23, 2001, to become effective on January 1, 2002, should the Wade action result in the membership vote for Proposition A at the 2001 annual meeting being declared invalid or void, or an

The USA Cycling board of directors last week adopted a proposal designed to "protect the mandate," of votes cast in support of a reorganization plan approved recently by voters in a membership-wide election. The board approved a measure as a means of establishing a second method of implementing the recently passed "Proposition A," a proposal offered by USA Cycling Development foundation board member Mick Hellman. The board took the action in anticipation of the possible success of pending legal action by USCF members Bret Wade and Les Earnest. Contacted on Wednesday, Earnest said he had

Klein Bicycle Corporation has announced that it will move its manufacturing operations from Chehalis, Washington, to the home base of its parent company Trek, in Waterloo, Wisconsin, in February of 2002. A news release issued on Tuesday stated that "the move is part of an overall Klein strategy to make the product line more competitive, reduce lead times to better serve customers and prepare for an exciting 2003 product line manufactured in Waterloo." According to the company, all Chehalis-based Klein employees will be offered similar positions with Trek while Klein founder and CEO Gary

USA Cycling competition director Sean Petty has been named as the governing body’s new vice president of marketing, filling a position similar to that recently vacated by Mary Monroe. Monroe resigned as USA Cycling’s chief marketing officer two weeks ago. Chief operating officer Steve Johnson said Petty’s appointment represents an internal restructuring in which the organization will no longer rely on executive directors overseeing the operations of affiliated organizations like the U.S. Cycling Federation and NORBA. NORBA director Leslie Klein was fired in April and USCF director Evan

The Fort Lewis team.

Marc Gullickson and Mark McCormack rode together until McCormack's last-lap surge.

Fourth-place finisher Todd Wells shows his mountain biking skills.

Lyne Bessette dominated the women's field again.

Carmen D'Aluisio and Ann Grande battled with Gina Hall for the remaining podium spots

BASSANO, Italy — It is Monday morning and I’m still too drowsy to fully engage in the level of excitement with which my Italian work mates face the most mundane of activities. Our PR guy Marco mentions some event that evening hosted by Ciclismo magazine and so I somewhat reluctantly volunteer to go along, thinking it will be good to show my face and help schmooze some free press. I didn’t really understand exactly what we were going to, but figured it would be good for the company. My first clue was as we were leaving and he said "you’re going to wear that?" We arrive at an auditorium and

Mark McCormack wins at Amherst.

Police raided the headquarters of the Italian cycling federation in Rome on Saturday in connection with an ongoing probe into doping in the sport, judicial sources said. Detectives seized documents relating to disciplinary measures taken by the federation against nine Italian riders, including Dario Frigo and Daniele De Paoli. Both riders were suspended for six months by the Italian federation's disciplinary commission following the highly publicized police raids at this year's Giro d’Italia in June. Frigo was immediately fired by his Fassa Bartolo team. Frigo and De Paoli's bans

Reigning world cross-country champion Alison Dunlap was at the VeloSwap in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, hawking some old gear and signing autographs. In the midst of the swap madness Dunlap informed VeloNews that her rumored deal with Team Luna Chix is now a done deal. Dunlap added that former GT teammate Kelli Emmett will also be flying the Luna colors in 2002. The pair will join downhiller Marla Streb, who signed on earlier this fall. The Luna team is a new-for-2002 women’s only outfit, that plans to focus attention on women’s specific issues such as breast cancer. Others spotted at the

French cyclist Stephane Barthe will be the sole French rider in Lance Armstrong's US Postal team as of next year, following the departure of Cedric Vasseur. The 28-year-old Barthe, the 1997 French champion, has been retained in the American team as they make preparations for a fourth consecutive Tour de France title. Armstrong has led the team to victory in the past three editions of the world's biggest bike race. Barthe was largely missing from action in 2001 having fractured his forearm at the start of May in the Four Days of Dunkirk race. Copyright AFP 2001

We'll never forget the last time the Tour de France started in Luxembourg, in 1989. Going into the race, defending champion Pedro Delgado of Spain was the race favorite. That tag soon disappeared. Delgado, incomprehensibly, showed up late for his prologue time trial start. Two minutes and 40 seconds late! The next day, still in Luxembourg, Delgado bonked in the team time trial stage. His Reynolds teammates had to wait for him, and they finished dead last, losing almost five minutes. So, after two days of racing, the Spanish hero was 7:20 down on the new race favorite, Laurent Fignon.

French cyclist Richard Virenque has signed a two-year extension to ride for Belgian team Domo-Farm Frites. "I am happy to continue with this team in as much as none of the French teams made a move for me and that is sad," Virenque told the French wire service AFP. The 31-year-old Virenque returned to racing on August 15 after purging a nine month suspension for taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs. One of the most popular cyclists in France, Virenque was shunned by his home teams and eventually signed a three-month contract with Domo-Farm Frites. Wearing Domo colors, he made a

Personalities present at Thursday Tour presentation in Paris had a generally favorable impression of the race’s 2002 route. Here’s what some of them told the reporters for the Agence-France-Presse. Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno, 1998 winner): "It seems to be a well-balanced Tour. It’d be necessary to be vigilant in the Pyrénées. Then, the time differences for the podium could be made on the Ventoux. The stage to La Plagne is the one that pleases me the most." Richard Virenque (Domo-Farm Frites, five-time KoM): "I’m in a hurry to be in the month of July, for sure, the Tour de France being my

Giro d’Italia champion Gilberto, who will race for the Saeco team next year, is confident that he has what it takes to deny Lance Armstrong what would be his fourth consecutive victory in the Tour de France. "I have had a look at the route for the 2002 Tour and I like it," said Simoni on Thursday, speaking via the Internet from Japan. "Assuming I am racing [the Tour], I will certainly have a chance of winning it. I am stronger than Armstrong on the climbs." The Italian’s main problem will be getting to the start line, as Saeco is not one of the 16 automatic team selections. Even so, he went

A look at Tour 2002: Shorter but tougher

According to a report in the Danish newspaper Extra Bladet, three-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong called Dr. Michele Ferrari during a stage of the 2000 Tour. In an interview with the paper, Ferrari, who is suspected of having distributed and administered doping substances to athletes, said Armstrong telephoned him during the stage from Courcheval, which saw an attack by Italian Marco Pantani. Ferrari's trial in Italy, a country where sports doping is a criminal offense, resumes December 12. Ferrari said, "Pantani's attack took place a good distance from the finish and I

The domestic cyclo-cross season continues Saturday, October 27, at the Amherst International, a selection race for the U.S. team that will compete in the world championships in Zolder, Belgium. The Amherst race will also crown the 2001 North Atlantic regional champions. A UCI category 3 race, Amherst International is the third leg of the seven-race Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series and will pay out $3500 in prize money. The event began 11 years ago as a University of Massachusetts dorm-room project by then-student Adam Hodges Myerson, who is still promoting the race today. National

Armstrong

An Italian court of appeals has overturned Marco Pantani’s recent conviction for sporting fraud on the grounds that he was convicted for using drugs in 1995, when the practice was not yet illegal in Italy. The court did not dispute the original facts of the case. Pantani had been sentenced to a suspended three-month prison term for doping-related allegations surrounding a race in 1995 but on Tuesday the court ruled that 'the deed was not enshrined in law as an offence.' Pantani had been admitted to hospital after crashing during the 1995 Milan-Turin classic and medical tests revealed the

Damon Phinney died peacefully at Boulder County Hospice on Sunday, October 21, after a 15-year struggle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 73. Phinney was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts with roots going back to the earliest times in New England. Both grandfathers were sea captains. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1951 and worked five years for Westinghouse, 10 years for Sundstrand Aviation in Denver, and more than 30 years for Ball Aerospace.

Kona-VoiceStream’s Bart Bowen will be out of action for 12 weeks following a broken femur at the Monkey Hill Cyclo-Cross race. Bowen crashed on the second lap of the race, landing hard on a pavement section of the course. According to his team, the break in his bone occurred 4 inches below the head of his femur and will require surgery to insert a steel rod into his leg. In a team release, Bowen said, "It’s amazing how fast it happened. One minute you’re having a blast and the next your whole world is upside down." The injury effectively ends Bowen’s cyclo-cross season, as the national

Giro d’Italia winner Gilberto Simoni will ride for the Italian Saeco team next season, the team announced on Monday. Simoni signed a two-year contract with the team and will join Tour of Lombardy winner Danilo Di Luca, whose transer from Cantina Tollo was announced several weeks ago. In other team news, Fassa Bortolo announced that it has added former world time trial champion Sergei Gontchar, up-and-coming Swiss-American rider Sven Montgomery and Italian Giani Faresin for the 2002 season.

Bowen before his crash.

Gully makes his way to the win.

The unbeatable Besette.

Going up at Monkey Hill.