Road

No one expected Barloworld to be in the Tour de France, let alone win a mountain stage in the Alps and field a contender for the points jersey. Indeed, the continental pro team’s season goal was merely to be invited to cycling’s biggest show. But when it found out it was the last team invited, its goals evolved. Riders and management alike promised to be on the attack everyday, until they won a stage. Now the team has won two. “The goal originally was to get into the Tour,” said Gary Blem, a mechanic with three years tenure at Barloworld and the first South African to spin wrenches for a

A continent away, as drugs and scandal appear to be perennially linked to the Tour de France, we hope - perhaps now even pray - that what we are seeing at China’s Tour of Qinghai Lake is the real deal. Allan Davis' name was linked to Operación Puerto, but he was cleared to race late last year. Despite taking an unprecedented fourth stage win in Xining Thursday ahead of the Ukraine's Yuriu Metlushenko and Wiesenhof's André Schulze, it's hardly what one would call inhuman: the Discovery rider lost the lead three days ago because he wasn't climbing well enough, but stuck to

A decade after his first Tour de France stage win, 36-year-old Frenchman Cedric Vasseur gave the host country something to cheer about on Wednesday, taking the 10th stage of the 2007 Tour, a 229.5km rolling run from Tallard to Marseille. Vasseur (Quick Step-Innergetic) shot out the right side of a five-man breakaway 200 meters from the finish, narrowly holding off countryman Sandy Casar (Française des Jeux); the difference at the line barely more than a tire width. It was the first victory by a Frenchman at the Tour since Pierrick Fedrigo took stage 14 into Gap a year ago.

Until Wednesday, many believed overall victory in China's Tour of Qinghai Lake would go to one of two teams: Selle Italia with Gabriele Massaglia, or Relax-Gam with Francisco Mancebo. But a 26-year-old Englishman by the name of Daniel Lloyd, a relative unknown who hails from a small London suburb a stone's throw from Heathrow Airport, has set out to prove them wrong. Courtesy of a five-second bonus after finishing third in a 42-man sprint, won for the third time by Discovery Channel's Allan Davis, the DFL-Cyclingnews rider earned the privilege to don the yellow jersey on

You will never see a general classification rider hooked up to SRM’s telemetric data system. By beaming real-time power meter data directly to SRM’s servers television stations and websites can see the exact effort whatever rider on the other end is expending. The transmission provides all of the information a SRM power meter can gather to commentators, but it gives anyone, including other teams a look at the wired rider’s cards. It’s up to the team and the individual rider to decide if they want to participate in the program. This year riders from a handful of teams including, T-Mobile,

The last wild-card team picked for the 2007 Tour de France showed Tuesday that the organizers made the right choice, after Barloworld's Colombian climber Juan Soler earned an impressive solo win in the 159.5km stage 9 haul from Val-d'Isère to Briançon.

On Tuesday, the first real day in the high mountains at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, the expected assault on Discovery Channel saw overnight leader Allan Davis knocked off the top spot on the overall classification, and replaced by Selle Italia's mountain man Gabriele Massaglia. A late offensive on the 3880-meter-high Laji mountain by Selle Italia and Relax-Gam, the team of race favorite Francisco Mancebo, almost saw the blond-haired Aussie rejoin the front group on the 50km-long descent. Though unfortunately for Davis, just as his group began to close in on the front 17, he wiped out on

It’s tough to tell what Rabobank’s Michael Rasmussen is better known for: His aptitude for winning the Tour’s climbing jersey or his phenomenal meltdown in the 2005 Tour’s final time-trial. [nid:39592]On Sunday’s stage 8, Rasmussen once again established the former, and placed doubts in everyone’s mind that anyone else will be able to take the Tour’s polka-dot jersey in the near future. He also established a solid foundation for his newly proclaimed aspirations to win the overall classification.

Keith Norris (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) won the U23 stars-and-stripes jersey in a field-sprint of 174 riders on Sunday, July 15, at the USA Cycling National Festival in Champion, Pennsylvania. It was a close call for Norris, who jumped out front early to position himself for the final sprint, proving his strength and holding the lead without a lead-out. Cody O’Reill (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) and Jacob Keough (CL Noonan-Coast to Coast) finished second and third, respectively. “The whole race was much faster than I anticipated,” Norris said. “My plan was to be in the top three coming out of

On the eve of the U.S. National championships RockShox has quietly put a new cross-country fork into the hands of its top sponsored athletes. Reports put at least four riders onto the new fork for the upcoming Mount Snow, Vermont event. The championship race will not be the first competitive event the fork has seen, it is currently being raced in the European Transalp race by Karl Platt. Gary Fisher-Subaru’s Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski has had one of the new forks for roughly a week. He was shipped the fork to ride during the week leading up to the national championship race, and had it mounted

Mountain bike racer, Barry Wicks was the first to sign on with Giro for eyewear. But in the week prior to the Tour de France, Giro signed Discovery Channel’s Alberto Contador and Caisse d’Epargne’s Nicolas Portal. At the prologue in London the ink was still wet on both contracts. Nonetheless, Giro produced a special pair of green glasses to go along with Contador’s Discovery Channel team’s newfound eco’ conscience.

Despite a barrage of attacks designed to ruffle their feathers, Discovery Channel has again emerged on top at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, as race leader Allan Davis claimed his second stage triumph with a last-minute lunge to the line in Xihaizhen. After 152 kilometers in the saddle, the plucky Australian learned his lesson from yesterday, this time going head-to-head with Stage 2 winner André Schulze and matching each other meter by meter - with only a perfect throw of the bike deciding the outcome. "It was close, but I knew I had it," said Davis. "I've got really good legs - a lot better

On the lead-up to the 2007 Tour de France, Michael Rasmussen proclaimed that a third straight polka-dot jersey was not his No. 1 ambition. The Danish climbing specialist was targeting a place on the final podium in Paris. Sunday Rasmussen took a big step to making that dream come true, winning the brutal stage 8 run between Le Grand Bornand to Tignes, and taking over the race lead in the process.

With another mountain-top finish on the schedule, Saturday’s fifth stage at the Cascade Classic held the promise of shaking up the overall standings in the men’s race. But while Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis) won the day, Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance) retained his GC lead by coming across on his wheel for second in the stage, followed closely by Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), Scott Moninger (BMC)and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell).

Opening up the throttle 200 meters from the line in Bird Island, Weisenhof's Andri Schulze chose to sprint long and hard towards the finish of the second stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, and his result surprised everyone but himself. Immediately gapping the peloton right behind him, the German's bold move and strong legs combined in perfect unison to deliver the 32-year-old his second season victory and his second at Qinghai Lake, out-sprinting race leader Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) and Selle Italia's Alberto Loddo. "The team worked the last 10 kilometers for me, and in

In what he described as “the most painful 3k I’ve had in quite awhile,” Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) outsprinted second place Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com-ParkPre) and third place Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) to take the sixth and final stage of the Bend Memorial Cascades Cycling Classic on Sunday.

In the Tour de France's first foray into the mountains, it was race newcomer Linus Gerdemann stealing all the headlines. The baby-faced German wunderkind escaped a 15-rider breakaway late in stage 7, and then rolled solo to the finish in Le Grand Bornand, taking the stage win and possession of the yellow and white jerseys.

Expect to see more North American riders on T-Mobile next season. That’s according to team manager Bob Stapleton, who told VeloNews the once-heavily-German team wants to bolster its profile in the United States and Canada by bringing on big-name domestic talent for next season. “We’re expanding our North American presence because we want more riders from where T-Mobile has strong markets,” Stapleton said Friday. “There are a lot of talented North American riders. It’s a win-win for us. We can gain top cycling talent and increase our exposure in one of our key markets.” Several top American

In the eponymous town that gives this race its name, a perfectly timed move 150 meters before the line delivered Discovery Channel's Allan Davis to victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Qinghai Lake. The 26-year-old Australian, who hails from the Queensland town of Bundaberg, beat Intel-Action's Denus Kostyuk and Denmark's Casper Jorgensen to claim his second victory of the season. It was by no means an easy one because of the altitude - the Qinghai Lake finish being some 3,231 meters above sea level – and Davis said he left his finishing sprint a little later than

Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance) beat teammate Ben Day by just one second in Friday morning’s Cascade Classic stage 3 time trial, but put enough time on the other GC contenders to take the leader’s jersey away from Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), retaining it through the evening’s stage 4 twilight criterium in downtown Bend. As the sun set in Central Oregon, Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) returned to stage racing after his mid-May crash at the Tri-Peaks Challenge with a resounding win in a dramatic bunch sprint at the crit. Time trial

All the talk of big Tom Boonen not being able to hang with the pure sprinters was silenced Friday, as the burly Belgian took a commanding win at the finish of Stage 6 of the 2007 Tour de France, a mostly flat, 199.5km run from Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse. The Quick Step-Innergetic star burst from the right side of a scrambled sprint, took the front, then drifted left and right, keeping second-place finisher Oscar Freire (Rabobank) at bay. German Eric Zabel (Milram) was third on a day when the bunch spent 5:20:59 in the saddle.

Billed as “the highest race in the world,” the Tour of Qinghai Lake kicks off Saturday from Xining, 2,200 meters above sea level and the capital of China's stunning Qinghai Lake province. Situated in the northeast region of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, Qinghai Lake is the largest inland saltwater lake in the country, and much of the nine days of racing to follow are centered around this remarkable natural wonder. This year marks the sixth edition of the race; inaugural winner Tom Danielson was said to be back for another crack at the title, but a nagging virus that saw him miss out on a

After the finish of stage 2 in Ghent, Belgium, the Quickstep-Innergetic team bus was mobbed. At the sight of Tom Boonen leaving the podium pen with the green jersey, a father and his teenaged daughter opened into a full sprint trying to get to their country’s hero for an autograph. One can only imagine what the scene was like yesterday after his stage 6 win in Bourg en Bresse. Tom Boonen will never pay for a beer in Belgium. Tom Boonen has Belgian pop songs written about him. For god sakes, in Belgium he has his own breakfast cereal — the man is a god. And he will probably stay that way for

While Italian heartthrob Filippo Pozzato earned a hard-fought sprint win in stage 5 of the Tour de France, Thursday's big news developed at the back of the pack, where pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov lost 1:20 to his fellow GC contenders after crashing hard with 26km to go in the testing 182.2km run from Chablis to Autun.

For Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell), patience was truly a virtue on Thursday, as he jumped at just the right moment to pass a string of GC hopefuls and take the second stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Classic. He didn’t put enough time on Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), however, to keep him from slipping on the leader’s jersey when he came across the line just three seconds later.

The year is barely half over, but it's already been a busy one from a technical perspective. Campagnolo finally dropped the square taper for Ultra Torque, one of the smartest outboard-bearing, two-piece, bottom-bracket-and-crank combinations in the industry. And SRAM has sent its Force group to its first Tour de France while unveiling a premium performance group called Red. What about Shimano, you ask? Well, they’ve been busy, too. The company’s updated carbon wheels blossomed in spring, and an electric group and a prototype carbon crank appeared at the Dauphiné Libéré. All of these

One year ago, how could I possibly have dreamed where my life would be taking me? I’m living in the shadows of Utah’s beautiful Wasatch Mountains beside the love of my life, Aleeza. This area is a bicyclist’s paradise. There are lots of great climbs through the mountains, bike paths and bike lanes throughout the city, and a big population of fellow cyclists. I love meeting people while I ride. It’s amazing what a “hello” can lead to. The other day, for instance, I got into a conversation with a guy I happened to ride past. He mentioned that he was a cinematographer and I told him a bit about

As a child I loved watching the videos of the champions in the wake of their teammates as they shredded the peloton while setting a violent tempo. To me, there was something unique about the complete physical sacrifice as they selflessly emptied their energy on the road for their teammates until they could no longer pedal fluidly. Lance Armstrong had eight riders who did this to the utmost every year for him, never questioning his leadership while totally devoting themselves to the goal of victory in Paris. In many ways they were the reason he won seven Tours with barely a hiccup. Riding on

Two days after being caught behind the mass pileup on the run into Ghent, Thor Hushovd had a much better view of the finish line on Wednesday. Bolstered by a blistering leadout from Crédit Agricole teammate Julian Dean, Norway's No. 1 cycling star was first across the line in Joigny on stage 4 of the Tour de France.

Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com-ParkPre) crossed the line alone on Wednesday to take the 92-mile first stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic atop Pilot Butte, just outside Bend, Oregon.

After experiencing problems getting service to riders in need within the peloton, Bruno Gormand had an idea — why not devise an means of offering immediate neutral assistance to race leaders and serving as a liaison between the caravan vehicles and racers? And so he created Service Course, Mavic’s neutral race-support system. The first race handled by Mavic Service Course was the 1973 Paris-Nice, and since it has become one of the company’s most revered legacies. This year Mavic has three of its Service Course cars in the Tour de France peloton. VeloNews caught up with Nate Field, four-year

In a stunning display of tactics, courage and pure power, race leader Fabian Cancellara timed his jump to perfection, overtaking a four-man breakaway with 500 meters to go and then holding off the hard charging sprinters to win stage 3 of the Tour de France Tuesday.

By now, it’s pretty clear that T-Mobile is moving in a new direction. Of course, there was little choice after a year of scandal that started with the ejection of Jan Ullrich from last year’s Tour.

Two first-time road champions were crowned Tuesday at the Canadian national road championships in St-Georges, Québec. Gina Grain (Expresscopy.com), a rider better known for her sprinting and track results than her road racing, took the elite women's title, while Christian Meier gave Symmetrics its first title of the 2007 nationals when he took the espoir men's national jersey. An espoir women's title was also awarded to Emilie Roy (Vinci Specialized Menikini), although the UCI does not officially recognize that category. The heavy rain that plagued the time trials Monday

If things had gone as scripted, Quick Step’s Tom Boonen would have burst out of a huge, fast-moving peloton into Ghent, in front of thousands of adoring fans, as the Tour de France made its sole foray into Belgian territory on Monday.

Canada’s elite and espoir categories began their national road championships on Monday with the individual time trial, and the elites saw two new faces on the top step of the podium — though both are longtime top performers, surprisingly neither has won an elite national title. Anne Samplonius (Expresscopy.com), took the women's title over an “unretired” Lyne Bessette (Equipe du Québec) at St-Georges de Beauce, Québec, while Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net-Maxxis), finally beat Svein Tuft (Symmetrics), for the men's title. David Veilleux (Jittery Joe's), repeated for the men's

Judging by his incredible acceleration away from the rest of the world’s best sprinters, you would never know that just a few kilometers before, Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) had been off the back, chasing with an injured wrist after a crash. Nonetheless, the Aussie handily won stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de France from London to Canterbury, collecting his 12th career stage victory in the world’s greatest race. CSC’s Fabian Cancellara finished safely in the bunch to retain the overall lead.

After 38 grueling laps through the streets of West Chester, Pennslvania, Priority Health rider Emile Abraham parlayed a bid for a standard race prime into a 22-lap kamikaze effort that brought him first place in this year’s Iron Hill Twilight Criterium. “After winning a few primes, I went for an attack and got a gap. I didn’t think it would stay away but I kept rolling,” he said.

While some team mechanics were scrambling to deal with the UCI’s clarification of equipment regulations, others were still building special bikes for the prologue late Friday afternoon. With dinnertime rapidly approaching Aussie Michael Rogers of T-Mobile was seen in conference with his team’s mechanics. They were speaking in front of a half-built aluminum time-trial bike. Across the parking lot, Saunier-Duval Prodir mechanics were busying themselves with tidying up the team truck. All of the bikes were snugly packed and ready for tomorrow’s ride into the heart of London. The common bond

Many riders finished their 7.9km prologue effort with an all-out sprint;world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara began his winning ridewith a furious sprint, and maintained that blazing pace throughout thewinding course among London's historic sites to take the first yellow jerseyof the 94th Tour de France. Before the race, Cancellara said he wanted to show the world why he wore theworld-champion skinsuit for the time trial. And indeed he did.

The Cervélo’s P3 Carbon just keeps on winning races, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that this is indeed a fast bike… especially when you put a motor like Fabian Cancellara on top of it. Cancellara also powered the same P3 Carbon to a victory in the world time-trial championship. Indeed, the rest of the team was riding an even newer version of the P3 Carbon emblazoned with the world champion’s rainbow. Funny thing, Cancellera’s was an older bike without the famed arc en ciel, prompting teammate Jens Voigt to ask one obvious question. “Why is it actually that Fabian is the only one

The tires are glued and bikes are prepped, but at 5 p.m. on the eve of the 2007 Tour de France. Many teams still have plenty to do. Earlier in the day, teams were scrambling because of an 11th-hour “clarification” of an equipment regulation that effected time-trial position. The problem is a poorly written rule that governs hand position when using the aero’ extensions on time-trial bikes. As the rule stood, at Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse, teams were left to interpret what was within the boundaries for positioning when using the aero‘ position that Floyd Landis pioneered last year. At

While the days leading up to Saturday’s prologue and start of the Tour de France is a time for the racers to go for easy spins and top off their stores of energy with nice meals and daily naps, its truly crunch time for their staff — especially those responsible for the bikes. We caught up with Gerolsteiner mechanic Rajen Murugayan, while he was loading one of the team’s sprinter vans with time-trial bikes for a pre-prologue reconnaissance session, and got a special tour of the team’s gear. MORE IMAGES BELOW The Tour de France is cycling’s biggest show so naturally it’s a perfect time to

It’s easy for forget that SRAM’s Force group has never been used in the Tour de France. The company had such a strong entry into the road market, and ProTour competition, it’s easy to assume that it’s old hat for the brand. But come Saturday, even if it’s overlooked, SRAM will achieve the final milestone in its coming-of-age party on the road — starting the sports biggest event, the Tour de France. “SRAM Force is in its first Tour,” said Michael Zellmann, SRAM’s road PR manager. “This is a big deal for the Force [group]. I just want to remind people that Force did well in the Giro and we

Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes – the controversial doctor at the center of the Operación Puerto doping scandal – made his first public appearance since the alleged doping ring was uncovered last May in Spain. Fuentes refused to answer journalists’ queries as he left a conference at the University of King Juan Carlos in Aranjuez on Wednesday. “I support protecting athletes’ health, and the professional life of an athlete is 10 to 12 years, and after that, they have the rest of their lives to live, and doping can go against your health,” Fuentes said after participating in a conference titled,

Team Fuji-Salamander teammates Shane Kline and Nik Reinert both collected their third national titles of the week Monday as the 2007 USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships continued at the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kline won the men's 17-18 sprint and later teamed up with Reinert to win the Madison, adding a second and third stars-and-stripes jersey to the one he won in Sunday's kilometer time trial. For Reinert, the victory in the Madison complemented his earlier wins in the individual pursuit and the points race. Kline posted the fastest time in

Rabobank will see a passing of the baton as Michael Boogerd, the major Dutch rider of his generation, starts his final Tour de France while emerging star Thomas Dekker makes his Tour debut. Boogerd will be starting his 12th consecutive Tour that will also be his last. The 36-year-old will retire at the end of the 2007 season. A winner of two Tour stages and twice in the top 10, Boogerd dreams of one more glory ride before hanging up the cleats this year. “In other years, I started strongly and felt weaker while nearing the end of the race. Right now, I am not feeling that well because of a

Sunday was a big day for Team Fuji-Salamander at the 2007 USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colleen Hayduk collected her second national title of the weekend at the 7-Eleven Velodrome with a victory in the women’s 17-18 sprint. Nik Reinert also captured a second title, in the men’s 17-18 3km individual pursuit. And Shane Kline won the men’s 17-18 kilometer time trial. After earning the top seed with a 200-meter qualifying time of 12.273 seconds, Hayduk took two straight rides from Dana Feiss (Young Medalist Cycling) in the final to claim another

Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) outsprinted Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) in the final stretch of Sunday’s Manhattan Beach Grand Prix criterium. Bahati’s teammate Kayle Leogrande hit two birds with one stone by towing Bahati into the final sprint and finishing third overall. Successful Living teammates Curtis Gunn and Daniel Ramsey dominated the first half of the race. A three-man breakaway containing Gunn formed in the first lap, and when a prime was announced for the second lap, Gunn picked up the pace, leaving the other two to be caught by the peloton. The second big attack came from

Four national champions were crowned on Friday as the 2007 USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships kicked off at the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colleen Hayduk (Team Fuji-Salamander) set a national record in the women’s 17-18 500-meter time trial and earned an automatic nomination to represent the United States at the UCI Junior Track World Championships later this summer in Mexico. Hayduk’s time of 36.656 seconds surpassed the old record of 37.280 previously held by Missy Thompson. Behind Hayduk, Dana Feiss (Young Medalist Cycling) took second in 38.740, while

France — AG2R team leader Christophe Moreau continued to display his race form ahead of the Tour de France by winning his first-ever French road-race crown Sunday in Aurillac. The 36-year-old winner of last month’s Dauphiné Libéré escaped late in the race and finished with a two-minute lead on Pierrick Fedrigo and Patrice Halgand. The Netherlands — Rabobank rider Koos Mourenhout won the Dutch national road race championship Sunday in Maastricht. Mourenhout finished ahead of Sebastien Langeveld and Maarten den Bakker after a solo attack in the final lap of the race. Switzerland —

German Jörg Jaksche, one of dozens of cyclists implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal that erupted last year, admitted Saturday that he used banned substances for years. In an interview published in Saturday's edition of the German weekly Der Spiegel, Jaksche admitted his involvement in the blood-doping network run by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, where he was known by the pseudonym "Bella." "I'm Bella. It's my blood which was found in three bags (at Dr Fuentes offices). I was a client of Dr. Fuentes from 2005 to 2006 in Madrid," admitted the 30-year-old former

In an apparent vote of confidence, the Milram team has named Alessandro Petacchi to its Tour de France team despite suspending the sprinter for a suspicious doping test at the Giro d'Italia. The 33-year-old Petacchi won five stages at this year's Giro, however last week it was revealed he tested positive for elevated levels of Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma.Salbutamol is a banned substance but riders suffering from asthma are allowed restricted use of the drug if they can provide a medical certificate. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list notes,

The lightest buckle road shoe on the market, a 184-gram helmet worn by five ProTour teams and a host of new and refined bicycles were just a few of Specialized’s planned road offerings for 2008, shown to the international media late this week in Navacerrada, Spain. There was plenty to gawk at, including the Transition time-trial rig with hidden rear brake and the new Tarmac SL2 featuring a beefy 1.5-inch lower steerer tube and massive chainstays. The Tarmac SL2 also offered the first semi-public glimpse of the upcoming top-shelf road group from SRAM, dubbed Red. Although none of the demo

Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca and Milram sprint star Alessandro Petacchi have been asked to appear before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) next week as part of two separate doping investigations. Petacchi hopes to to clear his name in time for the Tour de France, which begins a week from Saturday in London. The 33-year-old Italian sprinter, who as a precautionary rather than an official measure has been suspended by his team, will be interviewed on the morning of Monday, July 2 by CONI's anti-doping prosecutor, Ettore Torri. CONI is the governing body for all sport in

If the past three weeks are any indication, Trek is going to have a very good year in 2008. Earlier this month, Trek unveiled thenew 2008 Madone. It’s an impressive bike that challenges a number of age-old approaches to frame – and component - design. Lennard Zinn saw the technology first hand, reported on it here and has a more detailed impression in the latest issue of VeloNews, issue 13, due out July 9th. Following that tough act, Trek’s mountain-bike suspension designers, engineers and product managers unveiled a completely new version of the Fuel EX, as a side note to the Madone

Alessandro Petacchi faces a race against the clock to prove his innocence over an alleged doping offense so that he can take part in the Tour de France, which starts in London on July 7. The 33-year-old sprinter produced a "non-negative" urine sample when tested by Italian anti-doping officials after the third of his five stage wins at this year's Giro D'Italia at Pinerolo on May 23. The Milram sprint star also won the Giro's points jersey. His sample showed unusually high levels of Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma. Salbutamol is a banned substance but

Discovery Channel unveiled the nine-rider cast that will try to rekindle the Lance Armstrong glory years when it heads to London for the start of the 2007 Tour de France. As expected, Levi Leipheimer got a full vote of confidence from Discovery sport director Johan Bruyneel on Wednesday, and will lead America’s lone ProTour team at the Tour. “He’s capable of being on the podium,” claimed Bruyneel during an hour-long telephone-conference call that included cycling and mainstream media from both sides of the Atlantic. Bruyneel said he wasn’t concerned with Leipheimer’s failure to defend his

Discovery Channel returns to this year’s Tour de France with aspirations of finishing on the top-three podium when the race ends July 29 in Paris. That’s a marked contrast from the days when Lance Armstrong ripped through seven consecutive Tour victories from 1999-2005. The American team thought they had another winner in Ivan Basso, but the Italian has since been banned for two years for his involvement in the Operación Puerto case that threw Discovery’s plans into chaos. The team will reload with veteran Levi Leipheimer, who was brought on as outright team captain months before Discovery

Dear readers,I’ve been wanting to write about rolling resistance for years, and I’ve had ongoing e-mail conversations with a number of you on the subject. Indeed, I’ve built up enough of it to compile a collection of some of the most interesting.Lennard WaterDear Lennard,As I was riding though an unexpected rainstorm, I noticed that, even with the rain, it seemed to take less effort to ride on the wet road than when it is dry (all other things – especially wind and temperature – being constant). I know that there is less friction when it comes time to stop or to turn. Could it be possible

Although news about the inaugural Tour of Missouri has been sparse over the past few months, the race is all systems go, says Medalist Sports managing partner Chris Aronhalt. Medalist Sports, which oversees race management for the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia and the USA Cycling National Professional Championships, will also manage the Tour of Missouri, scheduled for September 11-16. The race will begin in Kansas City and finish in St. Louis. In a year that has seen both the Tour of Utah and the Montréal-Boston UCI stage races canceled due to lack of sponsorship, some had

It really has been a hell of a year for Oscar Pereiro. Ever since he gained nearly 30 minutes on the road to Montélimar in stage 13 of last year’s Tour de France, his life hasn’t been the same. He finished runner-up to Floyd Landis, but his life was thrown into turmoil after the American failed anti-doping controls. Everyone in Spain hailed him as the virtual winner of the 2006 Tour, but as the 2007 Tour is a week away from starting in London, the case remains unresolved. Last winter, the French alleged that Pereiro didn’t provide necessary paperwork to prove he had clearance to use an

The structure of bicycle racing always carries with it a built-in contradiction: It takes a team to win the general classification in the name of one rider, and it takes a group of strong individuals to win stages in the name of the team. Sunday's results in the Nature Valley Grand Prix put a fine point on this truism. Under a blazing hot sun and light breezes, Ivan Stevic and the Toyota-United team micromanaged the peloton to win the overall contest on Chilkoot Hill in Stillwater, Minnesota. But they could barely contain Health Net, a team that is bursting at the seams with talent and

Danish cycling team CSC defended its title at the Eindhoven team time trial in the Netherlands on Sunday. CSC clocked a time of 53 minutes and 36 seconds to win the 48.6km ProTour race, just one second ahead of surprise podium finishers Team Tinkoff. Milram finished third at 13 seconds. American Bobby Julich was delighted with the team's ride. "We're the best in the world for the second straight year, and I think we deserve it," said Julich, one of the main protagonists of the eight-man group, which included David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, Michael Blaudzun, Matthew Goss,

Spaniard Oscar Sevilla (Relax) won the Route du Sud after Sunday's final stage. French rider Frederic Finot (Roubaix-Lille Metropole) won the 181km finale between Vielha and Saint-Gaudens. Final overall1. Oscar Sevilla (Sp), Relax, 17:06:512. Massimo Giunti (I), at 1:063. Markus Eibegger (A), at 1:564. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), at 2:035. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), at 2:066. Moises Duenas Nevado (Sp), at 2:167. Pasquale Muto (I), at 2:448. Tomasz Marczynski (Pol), at 2:499. Nicolas Hartmann (F), at 2:5010. Amael Moinard (F), at 3:24

Reversing a half-minute deficit to his teammate and maillot jaune Vladimir Efimkin at the start of the day, Caisse d'Epargne's Vladimir Karpets produced a superlative time-trial performance in the streets of Bern to capture overall victory at the 2007 Tour de Suisse. "The time trial was very difficult, so I'm really, really happy to have this yellow jersey," said Karpets. "This is my second important victory this season after winning the Tour of Catalunya. The other favorites performed as I expected, but for me, the big surprise was [Stijn] Devolder." Less surprising was the

Kristin Armstrong and Ivan Stevic both put a decisive stamp on this race Friday, but there was plenty of cake to go around for consolation. Toyota-United's Stevic, who regained the yellow jersey from Health Net's Kirk O'Bee in Friday morning's time trial by a six-second margin, had his hand firmly on the wheel for almost the entire race — the second of the day, run on an exciting 1km course set in the heart of Minneapolis in front of a captive audience of 30,000. With a fair sky and cool breezes, Toyota-United weren't just protecting Stevic's lead — they were

Who is he? And how did he do it? These were the questions being asked over and over again in at the finish line in Schwarzsee Saturday, after a complete unknown from Unibet escaped a ravenous bunch in the final kilometer to win the eighth stage of the Tour de Suisse. His name's Uran — Rigoberto Uran. He's from Colombia, and barely 20 years old. As a junior, he was four-time junior national champion, three times on the track and once on the road. Since turning professional for Italian team Tenax Salmilano two years ago, before switching to Unibet this year, he had no results to speak

The penultimate stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix was an 86-mile tour through the cornfields of Southern Minnesota. But in its final miles, the route dropped into the river city of Mankato, and finished on a brutal 1000-meter climb that was repeated three times. It was the Midwest's approximation of a mountain-top finish, particularly after a long day on hot and humid rollers. For the women, the cornfields were all prelude, with two small breakaways — one for 25 miles by Rushlee Buchanan (Apple Jazz) — that turned out to be fruitless. When the women hit the first circuit, Kristin

Cornfields, climbing and kids — our man Casey Gibson caught it all during Saturday's penultimate stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota.

Atop the dizzying heights of the Grimselpass, 2614 meters above the sea, Discovery Channel's Vladimir Gusev emerged out of the mist, and after a 120-kilometer break, to claim the seventh leg of Tour de Suisse. A distant second was Predictor-Lotto's popular American Chris Horner, two minutes in arrears, while Astana's Andreas Klöden finished 2:37 back to round out the top three. Victory for 24-year-old Gusev came after he instigated a three-man escape less than 10 kilometers into the stage, on a day that contained three of the biggest climbs in the country. "It was my

Dave Zabriskie still doesn’t know if he’ll be racing next month’s Tour de France. Fresh off notching his best-ever European result with fifth overall at the mountainous Dauphiné Libéré, the Team CSC rider said he won’t know his Tour fate until team manager Bjarne Riis finalizes the nine-rider selection after the Tour de Suisse concludes this weekend. “He’s keeping me in the dark. I talked to him the day after the Dauphiné and he’s still waiting to make a decision,” Zabriskie told VeloNews. “I feel really good and I know I could handle it, but it’s up to him.” The 28-year-old reached new

Friday morning's time trial along the Mighty Mississippi turned out to be decisive - at least for the next ten hours, while the caravan returns to Minneapolis for tonight's much-anticipated downtown criterium. More than 20,000 cycling fans are expected to show up for the event - a massive party for this bike-loving community. As expected, Kristin Armstrong shot out of the chute like a roman candle, delivering a world champion performance and possibly the coup de grace to leader Catherine Cheatley of Cheerwine, who until today has protected her hold on the yellow jersey of the

Thursday's seventh stage of the Tour de Suisse that ended in Crans Montana saw the first sign that the fight for the overall classification is by no means decided. As overnight leader Frank Schleck faltered on what was on paper a relatively straightforward climb, Romandie champion Thomas Dekker of Rabobank showed when in Switzerland he's often at his best, victorious ahead of Volksbank's Gerrit Glomser and Saunier Duval's Gilberto Simoni. 22-year-old Dekker, who won the stage by attacking a select eight-man group towards the top of the final ascent, has no doubt cemented his

Discovery Channel sport director Johan Bruyneel expressed confidence that a new title sponsor will be secured for the 2008 season. Discovery Channel announced February it would end its three-year title sponsorship with the team at the end of the 2007 season. Bruyneel, who, along with Lance Armstrong and Bill Stapleton, owns a part of the team, said the title sponsor hunt continues. “I’m confident. I am optimistic about the future of the team,” Bruyneel told VeloNews. “There are still a lot of things going on as we speak. We’re pushing hard and it could happen at any moment.” Bruyneel also

JEFF OATLEY: TOP AMERICAN IN RAAM ‘07 Training for the Race Across America is a challenge for any rider. To have the stamina and conditioning to ride 20-hours a day for more than a week in June, a competitor must put in long rides in January, and beyond. How does a guy do that in Fairbanks, Alaska, where temperatures in January can drop lower than 30 degrees below zero? “You ride,” Alaskan Jeff Oatley said in a pre-race interview, explaining that he uses his “snow-bike” with double wide rims and tires. “We ride on sled-dog tracks, which when they’re packed down, is kind of like riding

Building on Wednesday night's second place finish in the opening stage of Minnesota’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, Kirk O'Bee launched a perfectly timed attack on a long uphill finish in Thursday's Cannon Falls road race, putting his Health Net team back where its riders are most comfortable - on the top of the podium and in the yellow jersey. With a 15-second time bonus for first place, O’Bee managed to bump Toyota-United's Ivan Stevic out of the lead. Stage 2 Video Highlights There was no wind or weather to speak of on this normally tumultuous Cannon Falls road course

Cadel Evans was more than satisfied with his Dauphiné Libéré performance, but the fighter inside the Australian couldn’t be held back when he had a chance for victory. The Predictor-Lotto captain couldn’t shake Christophe Moreau up the Col du Télégraphe in Saturday’s critical climbing stage and settled for second overall in his first crack at the Dauphiné. “I still have room for improvement before the Tour. I changed my program this year. The past few years I raced the Tour de Suisse before the Tour, but this year we decided to come to the Dauphiné,” Evans said. “I’ll tell you in July which

Proper dietary preparation is essential to your best efforts.

Riders’ commitment to a new cyclingThe Puerto affair highlighted the serious problem of doping in cycling.This, like all other doping cases, greatly harms my sport and me personally.The uncertainty surrounding the identity of riders and other peoplewho could be involved in the Puerto affair is also very harmful and willcontinue to be until the case is closed.Currently, there is a climate of suspicion. It is undermining the credibilityof my sport and is eroding the trust of the public, authorities, organisersand my colleagues.For these reasons, I want to make a contribution to putting the