Road

Two-time Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins expects a tough battle on Monday when he leads Britain out in a bid to claim its first Olympic gold in the coveted team pursuit. Britain’s four underlined their credentials as heirs to defending champions Australia by beating their own world record in Beijing on Sunday in a time of 3:55.202 seconds. It allowed the Brits to finish fastest in the first round and book the gold medal match against Denmark. An impressive New Zealand quartet will face Australia in the fight for bronze.

Newly-crowned Olympic keirin champion Chris Hoy is primed for a semi-final clash with three-time world sprint champion Theo Bos as he looks for more gold in the men's sprint. Scottish sprint king Hoy continued his bid for his third Beijing gold medal after coasting into the quarter-finals of the men's sprint Sunday. Hoy, 32, beat a 12-year-old Olympic record for the 200 meters flying start in the qualifying round in a stunning time of 9.815 seconds.

Britain's Rebecca Romero made Olympic history in Beijing Sunday when she became just the second woman to claim medals in two different sports at the summer Games. England's Romero dominated the 3km individual-pursuit final to leave Wendy Houvenaghel of Northern Ireland with the silver medal after posting a winning time of three minutes, 28.32 seconds. Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine defeated New Zealand's Alison Shanks to win the bronze medal.

To the cheers of a partisan crowd, BMC’s Jeff Louder won the queen stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Saturday, a grueling slog from Park City to Snowbird Ski Resort that delivered 15,000 feet of climbing and three KOM points over 98.7 miles. At Snowbird Ski Resort at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon the Salt Lake City native finished seconds ahead of Garmin-Chipotle’s race leader Blake Caldwell, who finished second on the stage. Team Type 1’s Glen Chadwick, less than one week off a return flight from Beijing, finished third.

Greg LeMond has reached a $39.5 million settlement with the owners of an exclusive retreat for the super rich that has its own ski resort and uses ex-Secret Service agents for security. Last week's settlement resolves a two-year legal dispute in which LeMond, his in-laws and an associate accused businessman Tim Blixseth of trying to buy out their minority stake in the Yellowstone Club for less than its actual value. A related settlement between Blixseth and his estranged wife, Edra Blixseth, in their divorce case also resolves a bitter struggle over control of the enterprise.

With three golds, a silver and a two bronzes through four events on the Laoshan Velodrome, Great Britain is living up to its pre-Olympics hype as the track dominator. So far it hasn’t been a benevolent ruler. Day Two saw Chris Hoy take a crushing victory in the men’s keirin (with Ross Edgar in silver), just 24 hours after the Brits mowed their way to gold in the Team Sprint.

Spaniard Joan Llaneras produced a stunning display of endurance and sprint riding here at the Laoshan velodrome to reclaim his Olympic crown in the men's points race. Germany's Roger Kluge took the silver with Britain's Christopher Newton taking the bronze. Llaneras, 39, reclaimed the title he won at Sydney in 2000 after a stunning ride in the 160-lap race which he finished with 60 points. Kluge, the halfway leader, finished on 58 with Newton on 56.

Wiggins sets new standard in pursuit

Jennie Reed is heading into Sunday’s sprint qualifying rounds with the added air of confidence that comes with owning a world championship gold medal. True, Reed did not take her world title at this year’s worlds in Manchester in the sprint — she won it in the keirin, which is not an Olympic event. But the fast and furious keirin is often a litmus test for how strong a track sprinter’s legs are firing. And this year, Reed’s legs have been firing full blast.

The motorcade of team cars raced through downtown Beijing, the usually congested roads virtually emptied for the Olympics, to the start. In each unbranded white car, the riders were piled in the back, as the directors drove. A small flag on the side was the only thing differentiating each team. On the roof, the bikes were covered in tape and the carbon wheels logo-less to appease the Olympic rules that control which companies can be featured in their event.

While Mother Nature teased participants with tiny showers up to about an hour before the start, this year’s Mt. Washington Hillclimb went off without a hitch. At start time the temp at the base of the New Hampshire peak was a mild 61, while the summit was a sunny 46 with literally no wind. [nid:81910] The 600-rider field — containing none of the more well known riders of the past few years such as Tyler Hamilton, Tom Danielson or Ned Overend — left the field wide open for up-and-coming riders.

Before the Tour of Utah's stage 4 twilight criterium began Friday, the start line was buzzing with the news that Toyota-United would not be returning in 2009. “Maybe some guys are more surprised than others, but I’ve been in this game long enough to know that the sponsorship search is not an easy one,” Toyota-United team director Scott Moninger said, adding that he didn’t foresee other domestic teams being able to absorb Toyota’s roster into its own.

American Taylor Phinney held his head high as he rolled off the wooden track at Beijing’s Laoshan velodrome. The American’s quest for an Olympic medal had just fizzled in the semi finals of the men’s Individual Pursuit, as Phinney fell to New Zealander Hayden Roulston. Above the American, his parents — cycling greats Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney — chanted “We love you buddy!” as Phinney stepped off his bike to end his whirlwind 2007-08 season.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins of Britain successfully defended his Olympic crown when he won the individual pursuit track cycling gold in Beijing on Saturday. New Zealand's Hayden Roulston took silver with Britain's Steven Burke winning the bronze medal. American Taylor Phinney missed a spot in the medal rounds, riding 4:26.6 in Round 1. The 27-year-old Wiggins clocked a time of 4:16.5 in Round 1 to secure his place in the final against the New Zealander, who finished in 4:19.2.

Disproving critics that downplayed his Successful Living team’s chances of taking victory at the national level in 2008, Argentinean Ricardo Escuela won the stage 3 criterium of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Friday evening in downtown Salt Lake City. It was Successful Living’s third NRC win of the 2008 season.

Toyota-United team riders are free to seek new teams, and — though the team's owners continue to search for a new title sponsor for 2009 — the team is unlikely to continue next year with anything resembling its current lineup. And the team's owner says the UCI is partly to blame. Managers told team members in a conference call on Friday that they are released from their contracts because the team will be unable to sign up a new title sponsor in time to meet a UCI team license registration deadline.

Scotland's Chris Hoy anchored Britain to an historic victory in the coveted Olympic team sprint final in Beijing Friday to leave world champions France with the silver. Hoy, who is aiming for a further two gold medals in the five-day, ten final race anchored the team home after stunning rides from England's Jamie Staff and Jason Kenny in a time of 43.128. France took the silver in 43.551 with defending champions Germany beating Australia to the bronze medal.

In the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, American track pursuit cyclist Sarah Hammer graced the pages of both Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazines. As her sport’s world champion in both 2005 and 2006, Hammer was touted in print as America’s best shot at grabbing a medal in track racing.

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The top stage racers in the country wasted no time Thursday in tearing apart the general classification at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. A select group of 13 riders emerged during the day’s third and final mountain pass as the most likely contenders for overall victory, while Garmin-Chipotle’s 24-year-old Blake Caldwell took his second career Tour of Utah stage win. For the second consecutive day, the stage winner came out of a small breakaway, and for the second consecutive day the winner wore a Garmin-Chipotle jersey, which was then traded for yellow atop the podium.

Call it MaskGate.

Four world-class track cyclists land in one of the most polluted cities in the world and want nothing more than to protect the one organ – their lungs – that most determines whether or not they’ll win an Olympic medal.

They don masks, given to them by their Olympic governing body, and an international scandal erupts.

Sarah Hammer, Jennie Reed, Michael Friedman and Bobby Lea unintentionally created a furor on August 5 when they walked into Beijing’s international airport wearing USOC-issued masks to cover their nose and mouths.

What a way to

Here are some interesting factoids and other non-essential, but mildly entertaining, factlets from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games data base: DOUBLE TIME: Fabian Cancellara (Swi) did more than win gold in the time trial and bronze in the road race. “Spartacus” became only the fifth rider to win a medal in both road events in the same Olympic Games.

Dutch rider Thomas Dekker has confirmed that he is looking for a new contract after a fallout with his Rabobank team over alleged “abnormal blood values” in a UCI test earlier this year. Dekker’s agent, Jacques Hanegraaf, told the Dutch news service ANP that both sides decided it would be “mutually beneficial” for the rider to look for another team.

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Phinney and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) bridged to an early breakaway and then won the Tour of Utah's first stage after working a day-long break. Donald's win in the 101-mile flat-to-rolling stage gives him the early overall lead in the stage race. Second place went to Sheldon Denny of the Fan Sports Network team; third was Brad White of Successful Living. Thursday's second stage is hillier: the University Health Care Road Race, at 84.6 miles, has four climbs. It begins in downtown Ogden and ends in Salt Lake City.

World Anti Doping Agency president John Fahey said earlier this week that the Olympic movement should consider banishing cycling and weight lifting from the Games because they are sports that have doping problems. UCI president Pat McQuaid immediately shot back that no other sport is doing as much as cycling to fight the cheats, and that several major sports have been dragging their heels on anti-doping issues for years.

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German rider Linus Gerdemann (Team Columbia) won the Tour de l'Ain cycling race after the fourth and final stage on Wednesday. Gerdemann clocked 14:14:03 over the four stages to finish 12 seconds ahead of French rider David Moncoutie of Cofidis, with AG2R rider Stephane Goubert of France third at 36 seconds. The 25-year-old German, holder of the yellow jersey after his victory on Tuesday, and his Columbia teammates were dominant on the hilly Bugey stage.

Suggested retail: To be determined Size: 26 x 2.00 Weight: 630 grams Web site:www.geax.com The Geax Saguaro Tubular is 26 x 2.00 tubular mountain bike tire, part of Geax's revamped 2009 model line. The Saguaro has very round profile, with a polycotton casing derived from road racing tires. The casing is designed to offer comfort and low rolling resistance. The casing is hand made of Corespun K 290TPI cotton and Kevlar fibers.

Suggested retail: $9.99 Capacity: 21 ounces Web site: www.rocketsciencesports.com The Rocket Bottle is an aerodynamic water bottle that fits standard bottle cages. Rocket Science claims that wind-tunnel testing shows the bottle has 16 percent less drag than a standard bottle, which the company says equates to saving 53 seconds in a 40km time trial.

A few days ago I was chatting with American Christine Thorburn about Wednesday’s individual time trial. The Californian went through a laundry list of meticulous technical and training specifications she had nailed down in preparation for the race against the clock — an event that historically rewards a rider’s attention to detail. I said something like, “wow, that sounds really Type-A.” Dr. Thorburn, the rheumatologist, cracked a smile.

Price: $119.99 Weight: 94 grams per set OLD: 100mm front and 130mm rear (Fits standard road bikes). Web site: www.fullspeedahead.com FSA's new K-Force QR quick release levers feature a 3K-weave full carbon fiber lever, designed to be aerodynamic and ergonomic. The skewer, pivot barrel and springs are stainless steel. The set weighs 94 grams.

Cadel Evans said he is unlikely to compete at the world championships this year after revealing the extent of his knee injury following the Olympic cycling time trial on Wednesday. After finishing 15th in the road race last Saturday, the Australian battled through the pain to finish a commendable fifth in the 47.3km race at 1min 23sec behind unstoppable Swiss winner Fabian Cancellara. The 31-year-old Australian admitted he was happy with the result as he had spent the run-up to the Games trying to recover from a damaged anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.

Fabian Cancellara’s finish-line salute at the end of Wednesday’s Olympic time trial erased any concerns that the big Swiss rider has lost his edge in the race against the clock. He rolled into the finishing straight with 33 seconds in his pocket over Swede Gustav Larsson, stopped pedaling, lifted his arm in a very un-aero fist and punched the air.

It’s not often that a domestic event strives for UCI stage-race designation, falls short on sponsorship, is cancelled and then returns the following year as the country’s highest-elevation stage race. But that’s exactly what the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah has gone through in recent years. After going national in 2006, the Tour of Utah was postponed last year when race owners determined the event was not ready due to fiscal troubles.

Toyota-United's Canadian strongman Dominique Rollin won the 2008 Rochester Omnium after winning the rain-soaked Twilight Criterium and coming in second in the opening time trial of the three-stage event. Rollin, a Tour of California stage winner and former Canadian national champion, also scored points in the road race to lock up an overall win over BMC's Tony Cruz, who won the 101-mile road race.

Tony Martin (Columbia) won the second of two stages on Tuesday in the Tour de l'Ain while teammate Linus Gerdemann retained the leader’s yellow jersey. Martin won the 8.9km time trial in the town of Saint-Genis-Pouilly, crossing the line in 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Gerdemann finished second at 10 seconds back with David Moncoutie (Cofidis) third at 18 seconds.

Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo has been banned for two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an appeal by the UCI, the Lausanne-based court said on Tuesday. Mayo tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO on July 24 during last year's Tour. However, the Spanish national federation refused to discipline Mayo, saying the testing process at laboratories in Paris and Ghent, Belgium, was flawed. The UCI appealed, and a CAS panel of three lawyers decided EPO was present in Mayo’s urine.

The Olympic peloton returns to the Juyongguan Pass sector of the Great Wall on Wednesday for a 23.5km individual time trial that has its ups and downs. The circuit, which features a climb and descent just beneath the wall, proved the pivotal point in the weekend's road races and will decide the victors once again on Wednesday. It begins with the gradual 12.5km climb up Badaling Pass, which averages just 4 percent as it winds to the summit. The ensuing descent, on a wide-open highway and into a headwind, is for power riders. Men race two laps, women one.

Dear Lennard,
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It’s a good question, but one I thought might be best answered by the folks at Zipp.
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It’s easy to spot recently arrived journalists in Beijing. They’re the ones haunting the hotel lobby at 3 a.m., emailing like mad to fill the jet-lag time after a 12-hour trans-Pacific flight. By mid day, there is a crowd of new arrivals milling around the information desk at the Main Press Center (MPC), all clutching tattered maps and Chinese-English translation cards as if their lives depended on it. Around 4 p.m., the new recruits make a run on the coffee machines. Or they simply slouch in their chairs and nap. Many drool.

UCI president Pat McQuaid has called for more support from the World Anti-Doping Agency following comments by WADA president John Fahey which placed doubt on cycling's future at the Olympics. WADA chief Fahey said Monday that cycling was among several sports, including weightlifting, that risked their Olympic futures if they continue to be plagued by doping. McQuaid, speaking a day after it was announced that Spanish cyclist Maria Isobel Moreno had tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin), admitted that cycling has been left with an unwelcome legacy.

The 2008 USA Cycling Elite Nationals concluded Sunday in Orange County, California, with the men's elite, U23 and Junior 17-18 road races. U23 Road Race

Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (Silence Lotto) team won the second stage of the Tour de l'Ain on Monday. The 23-year-old edged ahead of Czech Frantisek Rabon and Maxime Bouet of France in a sprint to the line after the 169km stage from Trevoux to Hauteville. Sunday's stage winner Floris Goesinnen of the Netherlands finished in 18th and slipped to second in the overall standings, now tied with Van Avermat on time.

Travis Woodruff (MomentumEndurance) and Abigail Strigel (Polska/Fond du Lac Cyclery) won Sunday's Sunburst Showdown at Wisconsin's Sunburst Ski Area.. The race was the eighth event of the Wisconsin Off Road Series. After five laps of the course, Woodruff took the Elite Men's win (1:24:39), ahead of second-place Brain Matter (Geargrinder-Hyundai; 1:24:57) and third place Jeff Melcher (Team Pedal-Moraine; 1:28:05). By coincidence, all three rode Gary Fisher Superfly bikes.

When they call Swiss time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara “Spartacus,” it hits the mark. The 27-year-old battled uphill to a well-deserved Olympic bronze in the road race on Saturday, and is ready to fight off the specialist climbers to stand two steps higher on the podium of the time trial on Wednesday. "I've been building towards the Games for a long time and I've showed with this bronze medal that I'm on great form," said Cancellara, who has a list of victories that would make any professional proud.

Spanish cyclist Maria Isobel Moreno became the first athlete to fail a doping test here at the Olympic Games, the IOC revealed on Monday. The 27-year-old tested positive for EPO having undergone the test on July 31. She left the athletes' village on the evening of the 31st before she knew of the results of the test. Giselle Davies, IOC spokeswoman, announced Moreno's positive test.

Floris Goesinnen (Skil Shimano) sprinted to victory in the first stage of the Tour de l'Ain in eastern France on Sunday. The Dutchman took the leader's yellow jersey after crossing ahead of Paul Moucheraud (Roubaix Lille Metropole) with the peloton led by Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) arriving close behind. A breakaway group gained a 10-minute lead ahead of the pack early in the 149km stage from Lagnieu to Montreal-la-Cluse but the gap narrowed as the course became more mountainous.

Moments after finishing her seventh Olympic Games, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli was asked the inevitable question. Would she be back for an eighth Olympics in 2012 in London? “Well, it rains a lot in London, just like today,” the 49-year-old coyly said after finishing a solid 24th at 33 seconds back in the women’s road race under torrential rain Sunday in Beijing. With that non-denial denial, she left the door firmly wide open for a London appearance. The idea that French cycling legend might be back for an eighth Olympic Games isn’t poppycock.

Dave Wiens pulled away from Lance Armstrong in the final ten miles of Saturday's Leadville Trail 100 in Colorado, winning the race for the sixth time, in record time. "The guy that I raced today was not the guy who won the Tours," the modest Wiens said at the finish.

Our man, Casey B. Gibson, braved a very soggy day in the Juyongguan Pass area of the Great Wall to bring you some great photos of the women's road race.

It took about 14 months for Nicole Cooke and the British cycling team to concoct a plan that would give her the best possible chance of winning an historic gold medal. But some would argue the 25-year-old Welshwoman has been preparing for an Olympic triumph all her life. Cooke on Sunday handed Britain its first gold of the Games and became the first Briton to win an Olympic road race when she beat Sweden's Emma Johansson to the finish line of the women's event here on Sunday.

Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke didn’t raise her arms in glory after uncorking a winning sprint at the end of Sunday’s rain soaked Olympic road race. The blonde Welshwoman, 25, instead let fly with an ear piercing shriek that echoed throughout the Juyongguan Pass area of China’s Great Wall.

George Hincapie is one cool character, but before starting his fifth Olympic Games on Saturday in Beijing, the veteran American broke into a sweat ahead of what’s being hailed as the hardest Olympic race ever. Why? Torrid is one word to describe conditions for what was, at 245km, the longest road race in Olympic Games history. Some were quickly calling it the most demanding as well.

French cyclist Jimmy Casper has been provisionally suspended from his team, Agritubel, following positive doping tests taken while he was riding in last month's Tour de France. Casper was in a list of five riders whose tests revealed positive during the Tour which finished in Paris on July 27, L'Equipe newspaper reported on its website. But the 30 year old racer denied any wrongdoing, saying he has an official dispensation – a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) – to take medicine for asthma.

Tibco’s Brooke Miller scored a big win at the 2008 USA Cycling National Road Championships on Friday, outsprinting Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Katharine Carroll (Aaron's) at the end of 123-kilometer race in Irvine, California. Miller was national collegiate road champion in 2005, but the win on Friday marked her first elite title.

On a sweltering day that saw many riders succumb to Beijing’s heat and humidity, Samuel Sanchez timed a last-minute acceleration to perfection to win the 2008 Olympic men’s road race. The Spanish climber crossed the finish line beneath China’s Great Wall just inches ahead of Italian Davide Rebellin. Swiss world time-trial champ Fabian Cancellara, who was riding without any teammates, collected the bronze.

On the eve of the women’s Olympic road race, the best female riders in the world are wondering just how the event will play out. “There’s only two circuits, so that should be enough to break it up. But it really depends on if people are willing to set a good tempo on the climb,” said American Amber Neben. “It comes down to whether people choose to actually ride. A lot of times you get the selection over the top but people aren’t willing to ride afterward so it comes back together.”

American Kristin Armstrong is making only her second appearance at the Olympic Games, but she already has a few ideas about how to improve things — particularly when it comes to the women’s road race. Although road cycling is a team sport, the Olympic format makes it more of an individual event, says the 35-year-old from Boise, Idaho.

Justin Williams (Rock Racing) and Beatriz Rodriguez (SC Velo) won their respective under-23 criteriums on Friday as the USA Cycling junior, U23, and elite road national championships continued in Anaheim, California. The criterium championships were held on a fast, flat 1.7km course in Angels Stadium. In the 35-lap U23 men’s race, the 19-year-old Williams threw his bike at the line in a massive bunch sprint to barely squeak past second-placed Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast) with Daniel Holloway (VMG-Felt) third.

Chris Horner believes he should be gearing up to ride in support of Levi Leipheimer in Saturday’s Olympic road race, not sitting at home with a broken collarbone. Speaking from his home in Bend, Oregon, the 36-year-old Astana rider lambasted USA Cycling for not selecting him as part of its five-man team for Beijing.

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