Road

Cycling's international governing body, the UCI, on Saturday upheld its earlier decision to exclude Spain’s Alejandro Valverde from the World Cycling Championships in Stuttgart at the end of the month. The announcement comes after the Spanish cycling federation openlydefied the UCI by registering Valverde for the championships. Valverde's participation at the event on September 25-30 had been up in the air because of growing suspicions over his alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping affair in Spain. Operación Puertoerupted in May 2006 after police raided the premises of

Perhaps Oscar Freire has a sixth sense. After winning three out of the first six stages at the Vuelta a España, the Rabobank sprinter had his crash radar up and decided to take himself out of Friday’s sprint into Zaragoza. Sure enough. There was a nasty spill with about 30km to go that took down American Christian Vande Velde (CSC) when the peloton was roaring at 65kph to erase the day’s main breakaway.

Evans believes in Vuelta chancesCadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) was the big question mark coming into this year’s Vuelta a España. Would the Tour de France runner-up come to Spain intent on winning the Vuelta or was he here instead to prepare for the world championships? Evans admitted he didn’t even know the answer to that question until Tuesday’s climbing stage at Lagos de Covadonga. Despite having the Spanish Armada and Russian émigré Denis Menchov ganging up on him, Evans held tough and enters Saturday’s decisive time trial as the heavy favorite to ride into contention for overall

I love it when a plan comes together!Col. John "Hannibal" SmithThe A-Team We don't have the strongest team out there, but we made the most outof every member of the team on Tuesday. In the process we squeezed outevery possible second from the opposition.Carlos is looking good and he is more secure with the team by the daywhich makes him calm and relaxed and that makes us calm......and on andon.Placing three of us in the break sounds better than it really is, giventhat there were 38 of us! But two of us climb quite well and we used thatto launch Carlos up the Covadonga: Me for the middle

It’s going to take more than a nasty crash to keep Christian Vande Velde from finishing this year’s Vuelta a España. The 31-year-old American is racing what’s his last major European race in a Team CSC jersey before switching to the up-and-coming Slipstream squad for the 2008 season and he wants to go out on a winning note. “I didn’t want to stop the race. The truth is, I felt horrible and I’m still pretty beat up. I still don’t feel great,” Vande Velde told VeloNews. “I want to go out with CSC on a good note. I hope to feel better in the coming days.” Vande Velde crashed twice in the

Oscar Freire (Rabobank) is slipperier than a fish in the fast-moving waters of the bunch sprints at the Vuelta a España. For the better part of Thursday’s 184.3km sixth stage across Spain’s Rioja wine country, Freire was jabbering with friends at the back of the peloton, flitting around as if killing time before getting down to the business end of the stage.

Bjarne Riis’s self-imposed exile is over and the controversial Dane returned to his spot behind the wheel of the CSC team car following weeks of seclusion in the wake of his admission that he doped on the way to his 1996 Tour de France victory. It’s Riis’s first race appearance since deciding to skip the 2007 Tour following a dramatic confession that he used the banned blood booster EPO and other illegal performance-enhancing drugs during his racing career. “I considered leaving the sport. It was a very difficult period for me, but I took my responsibility,” Riis said outside the Team CSC

With a few short weeks before the 2007 world championship road race, Oscar Freire (Rabobank) looks almost unbeatable in the sprint as he aims for his fourth rainbow jersey in Stuttgart on September 30. [nid:40358]The three-time world champ scored his second win in five days in Wednesday’s 157.4km fifth stage at the Vuelta a España with an explosive sprint that left the rest in the peloton shaking their heads in disbelief.

I don't know if it is Carlos, the team or just the Vuelta, but we have stayed at some very nice hotels. Last night we stayed in the middle of Oviedo. Oviedo is the capital of Austurias, one of the nicest provinces of Spain. So we arrived at AC hotel in Oviedo after a hard stage and a one hour plus transfer. Karsten had been knocked out in the back of the bus for past 30 minutes as we pulled into the hotel. As we stumbled through the modern lobby and crammed into the elevator, Karsten, still half sleeping proceeded to spill half his lemonade on a business man, his silk suit and 1000 euro

Gerolsteiner team boss Hans-Michael Holczer says he was left in tears after the German mineral water company announced it would not extend its sponsorship. Gerolsteiner will not sponsor the team past the end of the 2008 season, and riders such as German Stefan Schumacher and Italian Davide Rebellin will be left without a team. The German mineral water supplier has sponsored the ProTour team since 1998, but with several high-profile doping scandals involving riders from other teams tarnishing the sport's image, the German company decided to call it a day. "There were tears in my eyes,"

German cycling team T-Mobile has been rocked by a new doping scandal after Italian rider Lorenzo Bernucci was sacked on Tuesday for failing a drugs test. Bernucci, 27, tested positive for the banned appetite suppressant Sibutramine on August 15 during the Tour of Germany. "We do not know if this was an attempt at performance enhancement or just poor judgment," said team general manager Bob Stapleton. "But we know it is unacceptable that riders take any medication without the approval of the team doctor. It's a clear violation of our code of conduct and we have acted on that

[nid:40341]Good thing Vladimir Efimkin's twin brother, Alexander, isn't at the Vuelta a España. Just moments after surprising the favorites on the Vuelta's hardest climb to surge into the overall leader's jersey, the 25-year-old Caisse d'Epargne rider was beating the drum of Alexander, who rides on rival Barloworld. "My brother is the one who you will be hearing about in the coming years," said Efimkin, who soloed to victory in Tuesday's epic climb to Lagos de Covadonga. "He trains harder than me, he's a better climber than me.

Reigning world champion Paolo Bettini says he’s not superstitious, but he was probably having his doubts after what’s been a long season for the usually prolific Tuscan tiger. Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) came into the Vuelta a España with just one victory on the 2007 season and was relieved with his sprint victory Monday ahead of Óscar Freire Gómez (Rabobank) and Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) to end a winless streak dating back to February’s Tour of California.

Unlike Interbike in the United States, Eurobike’s final day is open to the public. Anyone with 20 extra euros can show up at the Messe Friedrichshafen and see the bicycle industry’s best. Because of this, most of the show's business is done by Saturday afternoon, freeing exhibitors from spec’ and sales meetings, plus the press, just in time to be thrown to an inquisitive public. We saw a lot on Saturday, some of which can be quickly explained and some that will require more attention. Over the next few weeks, in a lead-up to Interbike, we will try to explore in detail some of those

We are off and running. September 1st has come and gone. The Vuelta is a rare and special race with an interesting peloton, facing different circumstances. Some have raced a lot; some very little; some have a contract; some don't; some are Spanish; many are not. Racing in your own country in front of your people, eating your food and enjoying your customs can give you that little bit of an edge. As for the rest of us, this race serves as a good test of desire and mental strength. For myself, I like the Vuelta, have a friend and teammate who can win the race and I can have some success

Discovery Channel went one-two on Sunday at the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championships in Greenville, South Carolina, with Levi Leipheimer soloing to victory by more than a minute over defending champion George Hincapie with Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe’s) third.

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) escaped to victory at the Grand Prix de Plouay on Sunday. Voeckler, a hero in France after valiantly and improbably holding on to the Tour de France's yellow jersey for 10 days in 2004 before losing it to Lance Armstrong, shot off from the pack with 2.5km to ride and held off the fast-finishing peloton to secure the win. Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) finished second with Italian Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas), the ProTour leader, in third. As he passed the red flag marking the final kilometer, Voeckler only had a few seconds' gap

If you have to go looking for work, it helps to have a solid résumé, and Levi Leipheimer isn't exactly lacking in that department — plus he has a nice red-white-and-blue suit to wear to the interview. Just ask Casey Gibson, who was on hand to see Leipheimer win the U.S. professional road race on Sunday in South Carolina.

A day after finishing second, Spanish ace Oscar Freire (Rabobank) got it right in Sunday’s crash-marred second stage to win and move into the overall lead at the Vuelta a España. And a day after American climber Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) was KO’d with a broken shoulder, it was Christian Vande Velde’s turn. The Team CSC rider crashed twice but was able to finish the hilly stage despite some nasty road rash.

[nid:40251]Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) picked up where he left off, putting a nice bookend victory in Saturday’s 154.4km opener at the Vuelta a España to go along with his triumph in the final stage on the Champs Elysées at the Tour de France. The brawny Italian hitched a ride on Milram’s setup train and out-kicked a superstar field to win for the eighth time this season ahead of three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), who came through third.

This year hasn’t been stellar, results-wise, for Team CSC’s David Zabriskie. But his second consecutive time-trial win at the 2007 USA Cycling Professional Championships on Saturday may have brightened things up a bit.

If the scale of parking problems are an indication of interest, then Eurobike qualifies as a success. The line just to park at the Messe Friedrichshafen on the second day of the trade show was an hour long. Bumper-to-bumper traffic, all of it bound for Eurobike. The show, held on Germany’s southern border, attracts exhibitors from more than 36 countries — and that includes everyone, from the biggest players to the most obscure little guys. Here’s what caught our attention on Friday. LightweightThe famous German Lightweight wheels have a new look these days. The new black all-carbon spokes

Vuelta a España organizer Unipublic released the final start list for the three-week national tour, which begins on Saturday, with a 146.4-kilometer stage in Vigo, Spain. 2007 Vuelta a España - Start ListAg2r Prevoyance1. Arrieta Lujambio José Luis, (Sp)2. Deignan Philip, (Irl)3. Dion Renaud, (F)4. Mandri Rene, (Est)5. DuPont Hubert, (F)6. Goubert Stéphane, (F)7. Krivtsov Yuriy, (Ukr)8. Usov Alexandre, (Blr)9. Turpin Ludovic, (F)Andalucia - Cajasur11. Perez Rodriguez Luis, (Sp)12. Lopez Gil José Antonio, (Sp)13. Martinez Perez Francisco Jose, (Sp)14. Olmo Menacho Juan, (Sp)15. Ortega Ocana

It looks like Johan Bruyneel’s planned retirement could be a short one. The Belgian sport director of Discovery Channel is in talks with the troubled Astana team to take over as general manager just weeks after announcing he would retire from cycling at the end of the 2007 season. Bruyneel confirmed he’s been contacted by officials from the Astana team to join the Kazakhstan-sponsored squad for the 2008 season and beyond. “It’s true I’ve had conversations with them but I’ve just returned from vacations and I haven’t had a chance to fully consider it,” Bruyneel told journalists ahead of

Some people think time trials are boring. But not us — especially not when Dave Zabriskie pips Danny Pate by a second to score his second consecutive stars-and-stripes jersey, and Saul Raisin returns to racing after a long convalescence. Casey Gibson was there, too, and sent us these shots of the day's action.

Once home to the early 20th century’s famous Graf Zeppelin factory, the southern German town of Friedrichshafen now plays host to retirees and tourists visiting Lake Constance and – once a year – to what is becoming one of the world’s biggest bicycle industry trade shows. Thursday marked the opening of the 16th Eurobike show, with more than 850 exhibitors from 36 countries showing their wares in an astounding 13 exhibition halls. Despite the ample space, navigating the aisles was already tough Thursday — and that’s before the show opens to the general public on its final day on

Tom Danielson lines up Saturday for the Vuelta a España with a clean bill of health following a painful and sometimes bizarre battle with debilitating stomach problems. Danielson missed what was expected to be a Tour de France debut this year following a series of recurring stomach problems that derailed efforts at the Volta a Catalunya and the Dauphiné Libéré earlier this season. “I was in so much pain I wanted to cut open my stomach and give birth to an alien,” Danielson told VeloNews. “June and July were really dark months. My body was screwed up, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t pedal. I was

SRAM finally unveiled its top-of-the-line component group last month. The company outlined details of the "Red" group during the Tour de France, where the group - still in prototype - saw action. Now, on the eve of the industry tradeshow season’s start, at Eurobike in Friedrichschafen, Germany, SRAM introduced a round of ready-to-ride pre-production parts, manufactured on the line's final tooling. Red’s specifications were finalized in conjunction with SRAM’s entry into the ProTour, by means of its sponsorship of Saunier Duval-Prodir. The relationship proved challenging to say the

Ever since the Vuelta a España moved to September in the racing calendar a decade ago, the Spanish race has been trying to reinvent what a three-week grand tour should look like. High-octane shorter stages, opening day team time trials, closing day time trials, finales inside 80,000-seat football stadiums, nothing wasn’t worth a try for season’s third big tour. There was once an even a zany idea about having 26 or so teams starting and then get rid of the four slowest squads through elimination rounds. It all gave the Vuelta an exciting, unpredictable edge. No one really knew what to

Erik Zabel's inclusion in a preliminary squad for the world road cycling championships has led to the resignation of German cycling federation vice-president (BDR) Dieter Kuehnle. Zabel, a six-time winner of the Tour de France's green jersey, was named Wednesday in a preliminary 21-man squad for the competition to be held in Stuttgart from September 26-30. However the fallout from Zabel's recent confession to having "briefly" used the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) in 1996, when he won the first of his six points competitions at the Tour de France, has failed to

Spanish rider Jose Ivan Gutierrez beat Britain's David Millar to claim the Tour of Benelux title on Wednesday. The Caisse d'Epargne rider claimed victory after finishing seconds behind Belgian Sebastien Rosseler in the seventh and final stage, a 29.6km time-trial. It was the first professional success for 26-year-old Rosseler who timed 36:50 with Gutierrez two seconds behind. Millar crossed in fourth to finish 11 seconds behind the Spaniard with Sweden's Gustav-Erik Larsson completing the podium. Overnight leader Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) paid the price of his fall on Tuesday,

Controversial cyclist Erik Zabel looks set to take part in next month's World Road Championships after the German Cycling Federation (BDR) named him to its provisional squad on Wednesday. The 37-year-old, who won silver at last year's world championship road race in Salzburg, has been named in a preliminary 21-man squad which will be trimmed down before the championships which are in Stuttgart from September 26-30. Despite his close finish last year, Zabel's inclusion was opposed by many because of confession in May to using banned blood-booster EPO (erythropoietin) for a short

The UCI announced Wednesday that it has barred Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, the UCI ProTour champion in 2006, from riding in next month's world championships in Stuttgart, Germany. A UCI statement issued Wednesday noted that investigators suspect Valverde may be involved in the Spanish police's Operacion Puerto inquiry into Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor said to have designed doping programs for athletes in several sports. "During the meticulous studying of the 6000-page Puerto dossier, the UCI has concluded that several documents may show the involvement of Alejandro Valverde in

Cyclists rightfully focus their dietary attention on consuming the properfoods in adequate amounts so that they can sustain energy during long trainingrides, and replenish muscle fuel stores and recover nutritionally duringthe season.  But you should also consider how your daily food intakeand on-bike nutrition can affect and feed your brain. Just like your heart,your brain is an organ that benefits from optimal nutritional care. Nutritioncan affect brain chemicals, brain cell structure and function and theability of the brain to transmit electrical messages. Though nutritionalneuroscience is

Predictor-Lotto star Cadel Evans came within a scant 23 seconds of winning this year’s Tour de France and narrowly held on to second place, a mere eight seconds ahead of third-place Levi Leipheimer. It’s fair to say that Evans’ podium performance is thanks in part to his two breakthrough time trial rides. Evans placed second in both long time trials, behind Alexandre Vinokourov in stage 13 and behind Leipheimer in stage 19. With final time differences that slim, it is interesting to look at small time contributions among the top three riders overall, especially in long time trials, where

Dutch rider Thomas Dekker grabbed the overall lead in the Eneco Tour as Spaniard Pablo Lastras of the Caisse d’Epargne team won a crash-marred sixth stage from Beek to Landgraaf on Tuesday. Rabobank rider Dekker took the red leader’s jersey from Belgian Nick Nuyens (Cofidis), who was forced to abandon after a fall 40km into the penultimate stage of the race through the so-called Benelux countries. The Spaniard went it alone about 10km from the line after attacking an earlier breakaway and held off a push by Dutch rider Maarten Tjallingii to finish ahead of Belgian Steven Caethoven and

Former mountain-bike star Miguel Martinez – known as Little Mig for his small stature but big winning ways – looks to be coming out of retirement for another stab at the road scene. Martinez flirted with road racing in the 2002 and ‘03 seasons, as a member of Mapei, before returning to the mountain bike circuit disillusioned with his inability to secure results on skinny tires. Martinez, 31, retired from competitive cycling at the end of last season, but is poised to return to road racing for the 2008 season with Agritubel. “I was already pro’ on the road in 2002 and 2003, but all the

Aaron Olson always seems to save the best for last. Last year, some of his best results came late in the 2006 campaign, capped by second in a Tour of Poland stage. The T-Mobile rider scored his best-ever result in a European stage race with third overall at the inaugural Tour of Ireland. Olson snatched second place in the race-winning breakaway in stage one and hung on to the podium spot in the surprisingly tough five-day Irish tour. “It’s not bad considering I crashed 10 days ago,” said Olson, referring to a nasty training spill in Spain. “It’s a nice way to finish off the European

Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini (Saunier Duval-Prodir) won the fifth stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux over 180km from Terneuzen to Nieuwegein on Monday. Pagliarini edged out Britain's Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) and Australia's Graeme Brown (Rabobank) in a sprint finish. "This is the best win of my life. My first bunch of flowers in a ProTour race," said an elated Pagliarini, who dedicated the win to his newborn daughter. "This week has been fantastic for me. I've waited for such a long time for a win like this. These last months were really difficult." Belgium's Nick Nuyens

Belgian Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step-Innergetic) won the fourth stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Sunday. Weylandt crossed the line ahead of Norway's Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and Matthew Goss (CSC) after 182km of racing from Maldegem, Belgium, to Terneuzen, Netherlands. Belgian Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) kept the leader's red jersey. "It's revenge for the previous stages where I failed in the final meters," said Weylandt after his sixth success of the season. "I feared Thor Hushovd was coming back strong as we neared the line but I held on." A breakaway containing Italian

Stijn Vandenbergh (Unibet.com) won the Tour of Ireland on Sunday as Marco Marcato (Team LPR) won the final stage, outsprinting two breakaway companions on the finishing circuit in Dublin. Vandenbergh finished safely in ninth place to clinch the overall with Marcus Ljungqvist (Team CSC) second and Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile) third. David O’Loughlin (Navigators Insurance) put the hammer down just after the intermediate sprint in Kinnegad, some 60km into the 147km stage from Athlone to the Irish capital, where Matti Breschel (Team CSC) scored five points to take the lead in the points

Proving that he is one of the stronger American crit racers, Kyle Wamsley won the 24th edition of the Chris Thater Memorial on Sunday in Binghamton, New York. "I'm ecstatic ... just ecstatic!" the Navigators Insurance rider said as he caught his breath. Wamsley figured into every part of the race, leading out the first lap, hanging in the day's major break, and pulling a "caution to the wind" move at the end of the race. "This season's winding down, so I thought I'd through everything into the race. If I didn't make it, so be it. But I really wanted to win today,” he

Australian Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) won Saturday's third stage of the Tour of Benelux in a sprint finish ahead of Italian Francesco Chicchi and Thor Hushovd of Norway. Britain's Mark Cavendish, winner of the second stage on Friday, took fourth with Belgian Nick Nuyens, of the Cofidis team, finishing in the main peloton to keep the leader's red jersey. Despite his stage victory, McEwen expressed anger at his team's decision not to enter him in the Vuelta a España. "I was not ready to race this Tour of Benelux," he protested. "I would have preferred to do the Vuelta

Danny Pate rode all but four kilometers of Saturday’s epic 232.5km fourth stage over the foggy mountains of Galway on the attack, but it was Norwegian hope Edvald Boasson Hagen (Maxbo-Bianchi) who took the cake at the Tour of Ireland. The Slipstream captain attacked 2km into the spectacular route across Ireland’s rugged Connamara country and was reeled in with about 2km to go as the heralded Boasson Hagen surprised the veterans with an early sprint to snag the win. “It was a lot of work for not a lot of reward,” said Pate, who was part of a five-man breakaway that dominated the Irish tour’s

T-Mobile’s Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux, prevailing in a sprint here on Friday. The British rider beat American Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) and Belgian Wouter Weylandt after the 200-kilometer race from Antwerp. Cofidis’ Nick Nuyens retained the leader's red jersey. It is the second win in Belgium this year for the 22-year-old Cavendish after the Escaut Grand Prix, and his eighth success this season following wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk, Tour of Denmark and Ster Elektrotoer. "The team worked very well at the end. My teammates put me in an

The Tour of Ireland continued Friday with a 194-kilometer stage from Tralee to Ennis. Our man Andrew Hood is there covering what he has described as his "favorite race of the year... maybe my favorite since I began doing this." Given his annual work schedule - which includes all of the classics, the Tour, the Giro and the Vuelta - those are pretty high marks.

Sprints are always a question of timing. Go too soon, you might get caught. Wait too long, you’re sucking fumes. A day after going too soon at the Tour of Ireland, Slovenian speedster Borut Bozic (LPR) timed it just right to pip a pair of ProTour boys in Friday’s undulating and windy 194km third stage from Tralee to Ennis. The main pack roared in for a bunch sprint after a promising six-man break featuring Pat McCarty (Slipstream) and Ben Day (Navigators Insurance) was reeled in with less than 10km to go. Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) bolted away with 300 meters to go on a rising right-hander

Belgium's Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) won the first stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Thursday after a tough day of racing over the climbs made famous by some of cycling's Belgian one-day classics. Nuyens dominated Dutch ace Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) and Spaniard Jose Luis Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne) on the uphill finish at the end of the 189.5km race from Waremme to Eupen, taking the overall lead from Dutch teammate Michiel Elijzen. Elijzen, who had won the prologue on Wednesday, finished several minutes in arrears as some of the climbs, which feature on the one-day classics

Andrew Hood has been enjoying his time in Ireland. We're glad he's camera, but a little disappointed that we didn't get the assignment, too.

In June I discussed my concern regarding psychological effects of use of performance enhancing drugs. I had also heard from some of the riders about medical injuries related to doping. On Monday August 13th, Joe Papp, addressing a South Florida high school coaches’ conference on behalf of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, discussed the doping-related medical complications he encountered in July of 2006. I asked Papp to tell me more about his injury to illustrate the medical dangers of doping. These are injuries the riders keep to themselves as part of the shame and secrecy of doping.

It almost seemed unfair when the world No. 1 team ganged up on an untested youngster in Thursday’s hilly second stage at the Tour of Ireland. But Stijn Vandenbergh, Unibet.com’s unheralded neo-pro, proved he’s savvier than his 23 years when he fended off a collective effort by Team CSC to keep his yellow jersey dreams alive in the 166km run from Clonakilty to Killarney along Ireland’s stunning southwest coast. That’s not to say there weren’t some dicey moments for Vandenbergh, who surprised the favorites in Wednesday’s opener into Cork and take a huge 13-minute head start on all but nine

The UCI is ready to renegotiate the structure of the ProTour, Pat McQuaid said Wednesday, but the organization’s president said he is not prepared to compromise on the overall “governance of cycling.” McQuaid and the organizers of the sport’s three grand tours – the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España – have argued for more than a year over the structure the ProTour, the number of teams and economic issues, including television rights. Much of that dispute involves Tour de France organizer Amaury Sports Organization (ASO), which also promotes such major races as Paris-Nice,

We finally managed to wrest our boy Andrew Hood away from his frothy, dark liquid breakfast this morning and sent him off to cover the first stage of the Tour of Ireland on Wednesday. We remembered to grab his camera before sending him on his way.

Hardship is the middle name for any professional cyclist, but Aaron Olson and Craig Lewis both overcame more than their fair share of setbacks to make it to Wednesday’s start of the reborn Tour of Ireland. Olson (T-Mobile) was broadsided by a car just 10 days ago in Spain while Lewis (Slipstream) shook off jet lag after arriving in the start in Kilkenny barely 12 hours before starting the decisive 174km stage to Cork. Despite the stumbling blocks, both managed to sneak into the winning 10-rider move with Olson slotting into second at 14 seconds behind the late-attacking Stijn Vandenbergh,

Levi Leipheimer says he is “sad” that the Discovery Channel team won’t continue after this year and that he is having to look for a new team, especially as he is enjoying his “best season ever.” But after finishing on the podium at the Tour de France and winning the Tour of California and two stages of the Tour de Georgia this year, Leipheimer should have no trouble finding a new sponsor for 2008. But he would rather stay put at Discovery. Asked to comment about the team’s departure from the sport at the end of 2007, Leipheimer said in a telephone interview with VeloNews Tuesday night, “It’s

Dear Lennard,Was there any official report as to why David Millar's rear wheel fellapart during the stage 19 time trial at the Tour de France. I have neverseen anything like that. He seemed to have multiple wheels with the sameproblem right up to his mechanic riding a new bike out to him. How weirdwas that?Christopher Dear Christopher,Yes, I saw that, too. We tried to find out that day what happened,but didn't get any official word as the team handed off the wheel to themanufacturer for analysis. Fortunately, we contacted Mavic to see whatthey had learned.LennardAnswer from Mavic:As

Vuelta a España organizer Unipublic released a preliminary start list for the three-week national tour, which begins on September 1 with a team time trial in Vigo, Spain. Americans Christian Vande Velde (CSC), Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) and Tom Danielson (Discovery) are scheduled to start the race. Horner and Vande Velde both completed the Tour de France last month. Americans Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) and Jason McCartney (Discovery) are listed as reserves for their respective teams. 2007 Vuelta a España - Preliminary Start ListAg2r Prevoyance1. Arrieta Lujambio José Luis, (Sp)2. Deignan

After a way-too-long 15-year hiatus, the Tour of Ireland is back on the international racing calendar with a race worthy of one of Europe’s most colorful and rich cycling traditions. Twenty years after Stephen Roche won cycling rare treble of the Giro, Tour and world title and more than a decade after Sean Kelly finally hung up his cleats, Irish cycling could see a big boost from the return of a popular national tour marking its return after the 1992 demise of the Nissan Classic. A new generation of racers will be writing a new page in Irish cycling history with Wednesday’s start in

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans and three-time world time-trial champion Michael Rogers say next year's road race at the Beijing Olympics will be tougher than expected. The Australian pair made their assessments after racing on the circuit Saturday as part of at the Good Luck Beijing Road Cycling International Invitational, the official 2008 Olympic test event. Italian Gabriele Bosisio won the race, three seconds ahead of Kazakh Alexandr Dyachenko with Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali third at 0:47. Evans took fifth in the same time. Jon Garcia was the top finisher for the six-man U.S.

Rainy conditions soiled Saturday’s pro/am “test-run” criteriums in Downers Grove, Illinois, prompting many riders to either pull out early or opt out of racing altogether in order to save themselves for Sunday’s national-championship events. At the end of the day a pair of winners — Ken Hanson (BMC) and Brooke Miller (TIBCO) — each emerged from breakaways to take waterlogged wins. Rain was heaviest during the women’s 40-minute race, where Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home rider Alison Powers slipped off the front early. Miller was first to jump across, followed by Katharine Carroll (Aaron’s

Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) had to work hard to win the 12th Vatttenfall Cyclassics on Sunday in Hamburg. The 27-year-old Italian held off Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and German Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) to win a bunch sprint at the conclusion of the 229.1km race around Hamburg. Ciolek, 20, the world under-23 road champion, said he chose the wrong moment to make his move. "It is always tough to judge when to attack and I guess I didn't quite time my attack properly this time," said Ciolek. "But I am very pleased with third. Against such strong competition this is a giant

Tina Pic (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home) collected her fifth national title in six years while Daniel Holloway (VMG Racing) picked up his first on Sunday at the USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. As in Saturday’s Pro-Am Challenge, rain played a starring role — particularly in the 80km elite men’s race, which saw crashes in each of the last four corners and perhaps half the 163 starters finish. The field mostly stayed together during the 50km elite women’s race, until trackie Anna Lang (Karl Strauss-SDBC) took a dig with four laps

Canadian Martin Gilbert brought his Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team its biggest win yet on Sunday by winning the USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois. Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) finished second to collect the national-championship jersey as first American across the line. Teammate Shawn Milne took third. As in the earlier races, rain was a factor — a light drizzle was the best the heavens had to offer during the 100km race, and crashes were commonplace. The Kelly Benefit squad had hoped to put Dave McCook into the jersey, but he was having

It was a wet weekend in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, as the country's zippiest assembled to name the champions of American criterium racing.Soaked to the bone, our man Casey Gibson was there for Sunday's big events.

A clash of generations is theatening to usurp an anticipated Italian win at the Hamburg one-day cyclassics Pro Tour race this Sunday. But for reasons perhaps better explained by the Italians, the likelihood of up-and-coming German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) claiming victory ahead of aging compatriot Erik Zabel (Milram) appears an outside bet. In 11 previous editions Italian riders have won five times, and always made it on to the podium of a race which, thanks to its mainly flat profile, is favored by the sprinters and late breakaway specialists. If a bunch sprint is on the cards at

Defending champion Jens Voigt (CSC) sealed his second consecutive victory in the Tour of Germany and German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) picked up his third stage win as the 2007 race concluded Saturday in Hanover. The 35-year-old Voigt had all but sealed victory after winning Friday's time trial in Fuerth. The German finished the 1292.5 km tour in 30 hours, 57 minutes and 21 seconds, 1:57 ahead of American Levi Leipheimer (Dscovery Channel). Third was Spaniard David Lopez Garcia (Caise d’Epargne) at 2:10 back. "I enjoyed a pretty quiet day today, I was able to appreciate the

Colombian Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) won the 29th edition of the Vuelta a Burgos on Saturday. Vasil Kiryenka (Tinkoff) won the fifth and final stage, a 158km leg between Ona and Burgos. Vuelta a BurgosStage 51. Vasil Kiryenka (Blr), Tinkoff, 158km in 3:39:422. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:093. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone, at 0:114. Daniele Nardello (I), LPR, same time5. Antonio Olmo Menacho (Sp), Andalucia-Cayasur, s.t.Final overall1. Juan Mauricio Soler (Col), Barloworld, 14:31:372. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:023. Carlos

Horizontal sleet, rime ice, 87-mph gusts of wind and freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of this year’s Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb on Saturday. Six hundred cyclists had come from all over New England and from as far away as the West Coast for the chance to race the 7.6 miles to Mt. Washington’s summit in what is called, all too aptly, “the world’s toughest hillclimb.” Now they’ll wait another year to battle the Auto Road’s 12 percent average grade. “We have agonized over this decision,” said Howie Wemyss, the general manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, noting

If Jens Voigt hangs on after Friday’s decisive 33.1-kilometer time trial and wins the Deutschland Tour, he can be grateful to reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and the rest of his CSC teammates. It’s thanks to victory in the 42.2km team time trial in stage 2 that Voigt was able to defend the yellow jersey in Wednesday’s climbing blitz up high in the Austrian Alps. Powered by Cancellara, Team CSC took 25 seconds out of runner-up Discovery Channel and 57 seconds out of Caisse d’Epargne. Those seconds gave the renowned rouleur Voigt an invaluable head start as he faced off

Several elite ProTour riders, who have built solid reputations in the European peloton, are slated to compete Labor Day weekend in the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships. Medalist Sports confirmed that George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Bobby Julich (CSC), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), and David Zabriskie (CSC) are among the athletes who will compete in one or more of the dual championship events September 1-2. "We are very pleased to see George, Dave and Levi return along with many of the top Pro Tour riders who don't often compete in the United

Brad Huff will be facing some serious competition if he intends to keep his stars-and-stripes jersey at Sunday’s USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois. National criterium titles will also be awarded in the elite men’s and women’s categories, while various amateur events will be held over the 1.2-mile course throughout the day on Saturday. Although it doesn’t offer prize money like this month’s earlier top-dollar races in Charlotte, North Carolina or neighboring Elk Grove, Illinois - overall prize money for all 13 races held over

Jens Voigt of CSC surprised several time trial specialists by winning the Tour of Germany's eighth stage Friday and all but ensuring a repeat of last year’s overall victory. Voigt, the defending champion, dominated the penultimate stage, a 33.1km time trial, in a time of 39:42 to hold off Laszlo Bodrogi of Hungary and American Levi Leipheimer. Bodrogi finished second at 14 seconds while Leipheimer, who finished third overall in the Tour de France thanks mainly to his efforts in the race's second time trial, was third at 25. Leipheimer, who is on the lookout for a new team following

T-Mobile’s Gerald Ciolek won his second consecutive stage on the Tour of Germany on Thursday after holding off a determined challenge from sprint specialist Erik Zabel (Milram). The 20-year-old German was again the first home after covering the predominantly flat route from Kufstein, Austria, to Regensburg, Germany, in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds. In damp conditions with persistent drizzle, the under-23 road world champion had to hold his nerve and battle all the way to the line as Zabel, who had pushed Ciolek close on Wednesday, again threatened in the final meters. CSC's Jens

Soler keeps lead at BurgosJuan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) finished safely in the pack at Thursday’s 158km third stage to maintain his slender grip on the overall lead at the Vuelta a Burgos in northern Spain. French rider Aurélien Passeron (Acqua e Sapone) nipped Aivaras Baranauskas (Agritubel) after a seven-man break held off the peloton in the rolling stage into Aranda de Duero along some of Spain’s best wine country. Soler finished 31st with the main pack that roared in 54 seconds off the winner’s pace to retain the leader’s jersey a day after winning the decisive climb up Laguna de

T-Mobile speedster Gerald Ciolek won the sixth stage of the Tour of Germany after a sprint finish through the foothills of the Austrian Alps into Kufstein on Wednesday. The 20-year-old German was the first home after covering the largely flat route from 175km from Laegenfeld in three hours, 57mins and 40 seconds as CSC's Jens Voigt retained the yellow jersey. Ciolek had to work hard to hold off a challenge from the chasing pack including strong finishers such as Italians Danilo Napolitano, Paolo Bettini and German Erik Zabel which pushed him hard to the line. "I waited until the last

Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) still had enough gas in the tank after winning the polka-dot jersey at the Tour de France to claw his way to victory in the grueling stage at the Lagunas de Neila on Wednesday and slip into the overall leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a Burgos. The Colombian climber dropped the favorites on the final ramps of the always-decisive climbing stage in the five-day race in northern Spain. He soloed across the line 17 seconds ahead of Carlos Castaño (Karpin-Galicia) and José Ángel Gómez Marchante (Saunier Duval-Prodir), with pre-race favorite Alejandro Valverde

The Belgian-Swedish Unibet.com team will cease operations at the end of the season, Belgian TV network Sporza reported on Wednesday. “We knew it was coming,” general manager Koen Terryn told Sporza. “Unfortunately, we need to tell our riders that they have to look for new teams next year.” While it had successfully obtained a ProTour license at the onset of the 2007 season, Unibet.com soon became the focal point of an ongoing power struggle between the sport’s governing body and the organizers of the three grand tours, the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. In

What say we give tire rolling resistance a rest this week?First, I wanted to tell you a little about the party we threw on August5 for the 25th anniversary of Zinn Cycles. Such a milestone does not comealong too often, and it was very interesting putting together the memorabiliacollected over a quarter of a century for the party. While it became brutally clear that the people who tell me and my wifethat we look the same as we did in college are stretching the truth, afar more interesting thing was to see how bikes have changed since 1982.I hope this doesn’t bore you (if so, skip to the

Caisse d'Epargne’s David Lopez Garcia won the fifth stage of the Tour of Germany between Sonthofen and the 2671-meter hors categorie mountain-top finish on top of Austria’s Rettenbachferner climb. Lopez Garcia took the win, but CSC’s Jens Voigt rode impressively to retain his grip on the overall race lead. The Spaniard moved out of a strong lead group some three kilometers from the finish and resisted a strong effort by defending champion Voigt to cross the line at 2670 meters altitude alone after 157.6km of racing. Voigt, wearing the yellow jersey since Saturday, finished just 12

Alberto Contador is on vacation this week, but he’ll probably be spending more time than he would like working the phone after last week’s news that his Discovery Channel team is disbanding at the end of the season. The standing Tour de France champion is without a secure future – not to mention most of the other riders and staff on the Discovery Channel payroll. Where Contador could likely end up depends on what kind of reception his new manager, Tony Rominger, receives from prospective ProTour teams. Doubts over Contador’s alleged links to the Operación Puerto investigation could