Road

Those who began to hail Bradley Wiggins as the likely winner of the Tour de France prologue spoke too soon. On Saturday in Olten, reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) smashed the prologue of the Tour de Suisse and his rivals, sending out a flashing red warning light to his adversaries all over Europe. "This victory is a confirmation that everything is working right, that I am back to winning form," announced Cancellara, who by default also took the first yellow jersey as race leader. "The Tour de France [prologue] will be completely different, because the roads

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road. Saturday — Fatigue has taken its toll in the 2007 Race Across America. Jure Robic is still in the lead, but his average speed has dropped to 15.21 mph, ending any hope he may have had of breaking Pete Penseyre’s 1986 record of 15.4 mph. And there’s a very real possibility of there being no women finishers in this year’s event. First, the men. The order at the front remains unchanged — Robic is out front, with Wolfgang Fasching

Mike Sayers (BMC) won Saturday’s Twilight Criterium in Reno, Nevada. The race concluded with a tactical sprint between Sayers and Jaior Perez of the Colombian National Team. Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) used his explosive sprinting ability to win the chase-group sprint, finishing third in the stage and first in the omnium. Saturday’s race was extremely fast from the moment it began. Once again, the Colombian team kept the pace painfully high on the 0.8-mile loop, turning the 90-minute criterium into a race of attrition. An early breakaway by Perez was followed by 10 of the field’s

With an 11th-hour burst of speed, Frank Travieso placed a commandingfootprint on the 2007 AT&T Downtown Austin Criterium which went downon Saturday, June 16th. Coming out of the final turn of the four corner,1KM circuit Travieso clearly demonstrated that he had gotten the betterof his competition.

Alexandre Vinokourov is playing kingmaker at the Dauphiné Libéré. A day after stepping aside on Mont Ventoux to let Astana understudy Andrey Kashechkin move into the leader’s jersey, the 33-year-old gifted Friday’s 195km fifth stage to Astana teammate Toni Colom. The Astana captain powered away from Friday’s winning 22-rider breakaway on the day’s final hurdle on the Cat. 2 Col du Corobin with about 20km to go to latch on to the attacking Colom and the pair drove home the victory 3:27 ahead of the chasing favorites. Vinokourov then insisted the Spanish journeyman take the scalp because he

There won’t be a Tour de France debut for Tom Danielson this year. Recurring stomach ailments – which forced him to pull out of the first stage of the Dauphiné Libéré -- have scuttled Tour hopes for the 29-year-old Discovery Channel rider. “Tom is off the Tour team,” Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel told VeloNews. “He’s sick. We’re trying to find out exactly what the problem is. He’s had stomach problems throughout the year at several key moments. It’s definitely a disappointment.” Danielson was hoping to earn a spot on the nine-man Discovery Channel team in what would be his

Conflicts with the USA Cycling Elite National Championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, have forced organizers of the Cascade Cycling Classic to cancel this year’s women’s stage race. A decision was made this week to postpone the women’s Pro 1-2 race until 2008. Race organizer Chad Sperry called it “one of the toughest decisions in recent history.” “We are just heartbroken about this situation,” said Sperry, who also directs the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. “Last fall I sat down with the owners of the event, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF), and we had decided to take the

For the second consecutive day, the Tour de Beauce saw a change in the lead, with Australian Ben Day (Navigators) taking over the yellow jersey from Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) after scorching the competition in the individual time trial. Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle), the defending time-trial champion at Beauce, finished second with Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) third. Tuft moves into second overall at 33 seconds behind Day, with Pate taking over third at 1:04. The 20km out-and-back time trial was held under near-perfect conditions, with temperatures in the mid-20's (Celsius) and almost

Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) won the first of two criteriums in thisyear’s Tour de Nez on a beautiful Friday evening in Truckee, California. The local favorite took advantage of a mid-race break and capped offhis effort with a ferocious sprint. Finishing just half of a wheel length behind Candelario was Juan PabloForero of the Colombian National Team, and just behind Forero was TonyCruz (Discovery), the overall winner of last year's Tour de Nez. During the first 30 minutes of the race, the field was at the mercyof the Colombian National Team, which maintained a blistering pace,

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road.Friday - Jure Robic continues to dominate the solo men’s field. As of this afternoon (Friday) he’s already reached the Marthasville, Missouri, time station. His closest rival, Wolfgang Fashing is approximately five hours back, with third place Daniel Wyss riding another two and half hours back. Robic is currently averaging 15.56 miles and hour. While that’s still slightly better than Pete Penseyres’ 15.4 mile an hour record the

Traces of drugs were found in the urine samples taken from three stage winners at this year’s Giro d'Italia, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday. The paper said sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) tested positive for Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma, and Piepoli’s teammate Iban Mayo showed signs of an elevated testosterone level. Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate. Basque television channel EITB confirmed

There were two races going on today in stage three of the Tour de Beauce - the one to claim victory at the top of Mont Megantic, and one for the yellow jersey of overall race leader. Glen Chadwick (Navigators) took his second consecutive win for the former, and Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) won the fight for yellow, deposing Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). The Mont Megantic stage is the 'big one' at Beauce. It is not the longest, but it does have 4 KoM climbs, ending with a five kilometer ascent to over 1100 meters atop Mont Megantic. The average gradient for the final 3

Mont Ventoux served up a dandy in Thursday’s 197km fourth stage as the Dauphiné Libéré remains anything but decided with six riders within 53 seconds of each other in the overall standings. Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) attacked to his second win in three days as Andrey Kashechkin inherited the race leader’s jersey from Alexandre Vinokourov just as Astana promised, but it didn’t come without pain.

Traces of drugs were found in the urine samples taken from three stage winners at this year’s Giro d'Italia, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday. The paper said sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) tested positive for Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma, and Piepoli’s teammate Iban Mayo showed signs of an elevated testosterone level. Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate. Basque television channel EITB confirmed

In the time-trial stage at last year’s Dauphiné Libéré, Americans swept the top four en route to Levi Leipheimer’s overall victory in a stunning display of national prowess against the clock. In Wednesday’s 40.7km undulating course with two Cat. 4 climbs, it was the Kazakhs’ turn to show who’s boss. Alexandre Vinokourov won his first race since last year’s Vuelta a España, claiming the overall leader’s jersey, while faithful sidekick Andrey Kashechkin was second to stake his claim as the leading candidate for overall victory. Dave Zabriskie (CSC) was third at 38 seconds off the pace to

Let's see. Over the past twenty weeks, my bike hasn't fit, my camera traveled underwater, and I finally kicked the demon's butt and conquered Squaw Pass on the third try. Come June 17th, playtime is over and I've got to Ride the Rockies for real. I can't believe that I've been playing with all this stuff since February, when Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine told me, in a way that only Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine can, that my bike -- my brand new, I saved a year for this darned thing, bike -- did not fit. That

Christian Vande Velde rode through Wednesday’s time trial at the Dauphiné Libéré licking his wounds. Vande Velde crashed on a steep descent in Tuesday’s hilly stage when his drive train slipped and he lost all resistance in his pedals, sending him “high-siding” over the handlebars. “I just catapulted over the handlebars,” said Vande Velde, who added he couldn’t touch his chin to his chest because of stiffness in his neck. “Remember the crash Tyler (Hamilton) had at the Tour a few years ago? My back looks just like that.” Vande Velde rode Wednesday’s time trial as a high-speed recovery

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) successfully defended his race leader’s jersey in the second stage of Canada’s Tour de Beauce on Wednesday. A group of nine riders - nine minutes down on the leaders - was able to break away 40 kilometers into the race, with Glen Chadwick (Navigators) then soloing in the final 27 kilometers to win the stage. The 171 kilometer stage represented a new circuit for the Tour, north of the race hub town of St-Georges. The stage opened with a KoM climb, which was guaranteed to cause some action among riders hoping to make up for missing the split in the

An open dialogue about the problem of doping has been, up to this point, the third rail of cycling. Touch it and you die. The culture insists that anyone wishing to continue working in the sport remain silent on the issue, which perpetuates the problem. But the tide appears to be turning. Team managers and riders are not being immediately fired for admitting a prior history of doping in the era before EPO testing. Breaking the silence is a huge step towards solving the problem. As the biggest names in the sport are falling, the anti-doping movement seems to be throwing a haymaker at the

Christophe Moreau started the Dauphiné Libéré hoping to test his form before next month’s Tour de France. If Tuesday’s bumpy ride into Saint-Etienne was any indication, he’s done that and more with a stage victory that also put him into the race leader’s yellow jersey. At 36, Moreau is no spring chicken, but he rode hard enough to bridge out with about 40km to go, joining a two-man breakaway that pulled away early in the 157km hilly route from Saint-Paul-en-Jarez to Saint-Etienne. Riding Moreau’s vapors were Juan Antonio Redondo (Astana) and Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step-Innergetic). The

Two years ago, Magura moved its suspension production out of Holland toBad Urach, Germany, where the company’s brake factory is based. This stepwas taken to ensure greater control over the new suspension fork’s production. The 2008 line will represent the second production model-year to comefrom the new German facility. Once again, it brings Magura a step closerto becoming a major player in the front suspension market. For 2008, Maguraputs its top-level cross-country fork on a radical diet, pairing closeto three quarters of a pound off of its 2007 equivalent. The Durin Race, a completely

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) took his first victory in more than two seasons on the opening day of the Tour de Beauce with an extremely bold solo breakaway from the lead group after 158 kilometers of racing. Walters' team mate Dominique Rollin, the Canadian national champion, took the 10 rider sprint for second, while the original break initiator Jacob Erker (Symmetrics) took third, giving Canada a sweep of the podium. The 171-kilometer Lac Etchmin stage is a classic Beauce race: long, steady and constant climbs, rough roads and steady wind. Temperatures in the high 80s

If the Dauphiné Libéré is just as much about a preview of the upcoming Tour de France as it is about actually winning the race, then Monday’s 219km first stage changed the plotline just slightly. The 219km hilly trek from Grenoble to Roanne followed the script throughout most of the day. A two-man no-hope breakaway slipped away in the early going, built up a seemingly large lead of nearly 10 minutes, only to be reeled in by the collaborative efforts of Cofidis – looking to defend the leader’s jersey for Bradley Wiggins – and Quick Step-Innergetic – looking to slip Tom Boonen in for the

Discovery1. Levi Leipheimer (USA)2. Alberto Contador (Sp)3. Tom Danielson (USA)4. George Hincapie (USA)5. Egoi Martinez (Sp)6. Benjamin Noval (Sp)7. Sergio Paulinho (P)8. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit)AG2R11. Christophe Moreau (F)12. Arrieta José-Luis (Sp)13. Sylvain Calzati (F)14. Cyril Dessel (F)15. Goubert Stéphane (F)16. Julien Loubet (F)17. Blaise Sonnery (F)18. Ludovic Turpin (F)Gerolsteiner21. Bernhard Kohl (A)22. Markus Fothen (G)23. Heinrich Haussler (G)24. Torsten Hiekmann (G)25. Ronny Scholz (G)26. Tom Stamsnijder (Nl)27. Fabian Wegmann (G)28. Peter Wrolich (A)Rabobank31. Denis

French veteran Didier Rous already knew that the 2007 season would be his last, but a double herniated cervical disc pushed his retirement date up a few months earlier than he had hoped. Rous, 36, told French journalists he’s putting an end to his suffering and bringing an earlier than expected close to his 14-year career in the face of the debilitating injuries. “This was my last season, I knew that, but I would have liked to have had another ending,” Rous told L’Equipe. “All this is against my will. I have pain in the neck and shoulders. I cannot hold the handlebars correctly with my

American cross-country mountain-bike racer Adam Craig has his sights set on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That means for the next two seasons, he will be battling it out on the World Cup and National Mountain Bike Series with his fellow Americans for a slot on the U.S. team. And VeloNews.com is along for the ride.—Editor As globetrotting bike racers, we face various challenges — staying in shape, food, travel, sleep, navigation, luck, etc. Over the years you develop a respectable skill set to deal with these challenges. One skill set I’m still struggling with, however, is controlling

World pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) tore through the 4.2-kilometer prologue time trial of the 2007 Dauphiné Libéré, narrowly edging out defending Dauphiné champion Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) on Sunday. Wiggins covered the course in 4:50, one second better than Leipheimer and two seconds better than Andrey Kashechkin (Astana). Leipheimer's teammate George Hincapie rounded out the top four, three seconds off of Wiggins' time. The 27-year-old Wiggins is looking to prove his credientials ahead of the Tour de France, with a prologue time trial that begins in London, just a

When a 156-mile race ends in a massive field sprint it’s easy to think that nothing much happened. But that wasn’t the case in the 23rd edition of the Commerce Bank Philadelphia Championship on Sunday. Indeed, there were many subplots behind the final result: a clear victory for Team CSC’s rapid Argentinean J.J. Haedo from his rookie Australian teammate Matt Goss, with T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel placing third to easily clinch the Commerce Bank Triple Crown after winning the first two events of Philly Week. It seemed like a logical result, but several factors affected the outcome, including a

Hot racing, steep hills and water-squirting fans — must be the Philly International Championship, the only hors-catégorie pro men's one-day race on this side of the big ditch. Our man Casey Gibson was on hand for that spectacle and the women's Liberty Classic on Sunday, and sent a few snaps home. Here they are.

Levi Leipheimer lines up for Sunday’s start of the Dauphiné Libéré as the defending champion with an eye toward the Tour de France. Last year, he came to the important French race to settle the score. Second overall in 2005 when a long breakaway stole away with the leader’s jersey, Leipheimer was determined make the Dauphiné his own. He became the third American to win in seven years with a smashing performance. This year, the 33-year-old enters with Dauphiné with some important results already in the bag (two stages and overall at Tour of California and two stages at Tour de Georgia),

The 60th Dauphiné Libéré lives up to its tradition of serving up a mountainous challenge that continues to serve as the best barometer of fitness ahead of July’s Tour de France. With Mont Ventoux and a seven-climb “queen’s stage” over the Croix de la Fer and the Télégraphe, the eight-day Dauphiné will give a clear indication of where everyone stands less than a month before the Tour’s start. There’s no shortage of candidates, but like every June, it’s sometimes hard to read who’s firing at all cylinders and who’s simply looking to make some tests of fitness ahead of July’s big show. First

German telecommunications company T-Mobile announced on Saturday that it wants to withdraw its sponsorship of the Tour de France's television coverage in Germany in a damage-limitation exercise. Cyling's image in Germany has been rocked by several high-profile doping admissions from cyclists competing for the former Team Telekom, now known as Team T-Mobile, and the company is keen to prevent any further damage to its image. But German state broadcasters ARD/ZDF do not want to accept the withdrawal of the Bonn-based team, according to an article to appear in Monday's edition of

A booming thunderstorm cleared out the humid, 95-degree air above Philadelphia Friday night, making way for cooler, breezy weather at this weekend’s climax of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. Also Friday evening, Giant Bicycles hosted a dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant, where the mighty T-Mobile team’s general manager Bob Stapleton introduced the eight men and six women who are seeking to give their team a perfect record in this year’s Triple Crown. Already this past week, Austrian Bernhard Eisel and German Ina Teutenberg have notched up victories in Lancaster and

Michael Barry couldn’t figure out why he had trouble breathing nearly all spring. His doctors told him it was likely allergies or perhaps asthma. Like professionals often do in the face of pain or setback, he kept pushing on. His breathing problems became so bad, however, he was forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia after just one stage. He finally went to see a local doctor in his European home in Girona, Spain. The diagnosis: pneumonia. “I got really sick at Paris-Nice and I never really felt normal all spring. I had problems with my breathing,” Barry told VeloNews. “It was about 10 days

T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel and Ina Teutenberg are well on their way to clinching the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling after they both won Thursday afternoon’s Reading Classic in central Pennsylvania. They also won the first leg of the Triple Crown series last Sunday in Lancaster. One big difference between Sunday and Thursday was the weather. Following tropical rainfall that drenched the men in Lancaster, the 172 starters enjoyed sunshine, low humidity and 80-degree temperatures in Reading for the second edition of the Reading Classic. The change in the weather didn’t faze Eisel, the

Valverde simply works harderIt seems a day doesn’t go by without someone accusing beleaguered defending ProTour champion Alejandro Valverde of being linked to the Operación Puerto doping investigation. Spanish authorities have never publicly connected Valverde to the alleged blood doping ring orchestrated by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, but some are insisting that codenames and bags of blood rounded up in police raids last year correspond to the Spanish phenomenon. The latest was a full-page interview published this week in L’Equipe with Spanish cycling whistleblower Jésus Manzano

I remember a line from the movie, "The Right Stuff." It went something like this: "There's a demon out there, he lives out there in the thin air, right around Mach One ..." I was thinking about that last Sunday on my second attempt on Squaw Pass Road near Bergen Park. It's not that the road is impossible, plenty of people were doing it, sailing past me like nobody's business, and it's not that it was impossible for me, because, despite grunting and groaning and being overly dramatic about it all, I was doing it as well. Slowly, perhaps, but doing it nonetheless. I had

Jesús Manzano – the former Kelme rider and whistleblower about alleged doping infractions within Spanish cycling – has leveled new allegations against Alejandro Valverde with a month to go before the start of the 2007 Tour de France. Manzano, who blew the whistle in a series of paid interviews in 2004 about the practices of alleged Puerto ringleader Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, told the French sports daily L’Equipe that “nothing’s changed in Spanish cycling.” The ex-pro continues to push his story that “those incriminated (in doping) continue to do their work” and accused Valverde of being

The T-Mobile team has opted not to select Ukrainian time trial specialist Sergei Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Honchar, the winner of two time trial stages in last year's Tour, was sidelined from T-Mobile’s Giro d'Italia squad last month after a blood test showed “abnormalities,” suggesting that he had doped. T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton said the one-time Soviet rider, who will turn 37 four days before the July 7 start of the Tour, will not race for the team next season. "A blood health check showed abnormalities four

Dear Monique,In your April 25th column (More prepping for long rides), you mentionweighing before and after a ride. Is the weight differential entirely fluidor food in the stomach? Can you say a bit more about this differential?Should riders shoot for some change, no change, under what circumstances?Thanks,JoelHi Joel,The difference between your weight before and after a training riderepresents the amount of sweat that you did not replace with fluid intakeduring the ride. Even losing 2-percent of your body weight, about 3.5 poundsfor a 165-lb. cyclist can decrease your endurance, particularly

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”Henry FordIn a move surely destined to strike fear into the hearts of high-end seatpost manufacturers, Trek unveiled its new Madone road bike at a gathering of Trek dealers and cycling media on May 31. Under the soaring white trusses and glass of the stunningly beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum, Lance Armstrong joined Trek president John Burke in introducing a bike that is could alter the direction of bicycle design in a number of ways. To start, the new frame has no threads in a very unique 90mm bottom bracket

Following the string of revelations from former Telekom riders that they used banned performance-enhancing products during the team’s heyday in the mid-1990s, former team manager Walter Godefroot has denied having a role in the doping bonanza. Godefroot, who was the Telekom’s team manager from 1992 before retiring in 2005, held a press conference Tuesday in Ghent, Belgium, to refute speculations that the team had systematic doping. Seven former Telekom riders, including 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne Riis, have admitted to doping following the revelations of a former soigneur, Jeff

For those who didn’t know him before last year’s Tour de France, David de la Fuente was just another Spanish journeyman who happily did the unglamorous work of a domestique with the occasional breakaway thrown in for good measure. No one could have guessed that the son of a butcher would be one of the main protagonists, winning the most agressiver rider prize and giving climbing king Michael Rasmussen a run for his money in the hunt for the polka-dot best climber’s jersey. De la Fuente gained his 15 minutes of fame last year in the Tour’s second stage, when the Saunier Duval-Prodir rider

Organizers of the 2007 Teva Mountain Games were quick to credit the “Floyd Factor” for the record number of participants registered for the Trek Hill Climb, a 9.8-mile road time-trial up Colorado’s Vail Pass. More than 150 elite and amateur cyclists showed up for the event — 40 more than in 2006. For all riders, the race was a unique chance to test their legs against that of Floyd Landis, the embattled 2006 Tour de France Champ. For Landis, the ride marked his first road race since he learned that he had tested positive for exogenous testosterone after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour. The

1. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 92:59:39
2. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 1:55
3. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 2:25
4. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 3:15
5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 3:49
6. Riccardo Ricco' (I), Saunier Duval, 7:00
7. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), Tinkoff Credit Systems, 8:34
8. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 10:14
9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 10:44
10. David Arroyo Duran (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 11:58
11. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 13:08
12. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 13:30

After 3442 kilometers and 21 grueling stages, Danilo Di Luca stood above all others atop the Milan podium Sunday, as overall winner of 90th Giro d'Italia.

Discovery Channel rider Vladimir Gusev won the overall title in the Tour of Belgium on Sunday. The Russian classics specialist finished 39 seconds ahead of Maaten Tjallingii with Leif Hoste nabbing third at 40 seconds back. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) snagged his first win since returning to competition after a three-week break to recover from injury after sprinting to victory in the 148.8km final stage from Aywaille to Putte. Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) was second with Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) coming through third. Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) was 10th. “This morning I asked my teammates

Consolation was the theme for the winners of Sunday’s finale in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the stage-6 Downtown Hood River Criterium. For men’s winner Heath Blackgrove of Toyota-United, the win was a welcome return to racing after a spring season derailed by a nagging knee injury. The win was also a gift to his Toyota-United team, which had not yet won a stage and was not able to land a rider on the podium overall. For women’s criterium winner Katherine Carroll, who collected her second stage victory, it was the next best thing to her Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings team winning the

T-Mobile’s Austrian sprinter Bernhard Eisel, fresh off his flight from Europe, shook off his jet lag by winning the first race of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown series, the Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic in Pennsylvania. Riders were greeted by rain as the remains of a tropical storm passed through the area, leading to numerous flats and a few tumbles over the early stages of the 13-lap race. Eisel first emerged with 3 laps of the 6.5 mile circuit remaining, going clear of the field in a seven-rider move that rolled away following a series of brief attacks. With Sergey Lagutin (Navigators),

Maglia rosa Danilo Di Luca's victory in the 90th Giro is all but assured after his performance Saturday, which saw him finish eighth to Astana's Paolo Savoldelli in a 43km time trial to Verona. With an enviable two-and-a-half minute advantage to Team CSC's Andy Schleck at the start of the day, Di Luca was never really in danger of losing his overall lead. The Liquigas captain finished just 29 seconds slower than the young Luxembourger, with Schleck also doing more than enough to retain his second place overall.

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s Wy’East Road Race lived up to all expectations, delivering suffering, anguish and heartbreak for many of the day’s stage and overall contenders, and ultimately relief for the GC leaders of the pro men’s and women’s fields. Saturday’s epic 89.5-mile slog from Cooper Spur Mountain Resort to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort dished up 9200 feet of elevation gain and saw a pair of first-time Mt. Hood stage winners in Darren Lill (Navigators Insurance) and Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Neither rider was able to take over the general classification,

Rashaan Bahati delivered his first-year Rock Racing team its biggest win yet on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Virginia, blazing to the head of a field sprint to take home the 10th edition of the CSC Invitational. Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) won the women’s race, outsprinting race-long breakaway companion Rebecca Larson (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine) was third. Bahati in the heatWith temperatures hovering around the 90-degree mark, it was once again a race of attrition on the notoriously difficult 1km, five-turn course, which winds its way through Arlington’s

Italian Fabiana Luperini (Menikini-Selle Italia-Gysko) ignited the definitive break and outsprinted American Mara Abbott (Webcor) to win the sixth round of the Women's World Cup series in Montréal on Saturday. Luperini rode Abbott's wheel into the finishing straight and easily came around her in the final 100 meters for the win. Once again, the quality of the Montréal course came to the forefront. With 11 laps of an 11km circuit, including the famed climb up Mont Royal, attrition is always the name of the game here. Numerous attacks always take place, but it is a difficult course to

Friday's foul weather did nothing to curb the inner aggression of Basque Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), whose beautiful pedaling motion returned, to the bane of his breakaway companions, on the 19th stage of the Giro, triumphing with a solo victory in Comano Terme. Not content to sit in a seven-man lead group after the midway climb of the Pian delle Fugazze, especially with Acqua & Sapone's Stefano Garzelli by his side, Mayo chose fellow Spaniard Alberto Losada (Caisse d'Epargne) as his partner in crime.

Spanish star Alejandro Valverde finds himself treading increasingly dangerous water in the face of increasing speculation that he might be one of the unnamed riders among the Operación Puerto papers that continue to haunt cycling. Valverde admitted that he knows controversial doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the alleged ringleader at the center of the Puerto doping scandal, during his tenure at Kelme from 2002-04 when Fuentes worked as the team’s doctor. Valverde even said he has a dog named Piti, but denied it links him to the ongoing doping scandal. “I know Fuentes from my time at Kelme, but

The individual time trial is often referred to as the race of truth, and after two time trials in four days at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, Health Net-Maxxis rider Nathan O’Neill has a pair of yellow leader’s jerseys to testify to his dominance over the pro-1-2 field assembled in Hood River, Oregon. As expected, the race’s defending champion won the 18.5-mile Scenic Gorge individual time trial on Friday. But the eight-time national Australian time-trial champ didn't quite dominate the stage as had been predicted by many, including O’Neill. Instead O’Neill’s time of 40:25 narrowly beat

Tyler Farrar is racing his “home tour” this week in his adopted country of Belgium in his return to major European competition since crashing out of Ghent-Wevelgem in April. The budding Cofidis classics rider sprinted to third in Thursday’s second stage at the Tour of Belgium and fourth in Wednesday’s first stage in a clear sign that he’s doing better than expected after his nasty fall on the notorious Kemmelberg cobblestones last month. “After my crash, I went back to the U.S. to see a specialist and tests showed it wasn’t as bad as first that, so I was back on the bike after three weeks

On a summery Thursday afternoon in Riese Pio X, 33 year-old La Spezia speedster Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) avoided a final corner crash to claim his fourth victory in the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia. Largely unaided up to the line, Petacchi, seemingly unperturbed after what happened in front of him, closed the gap to Quick Step's Matteo Tosatto with casual aplomb, launching himself down the finishing straight with nearly 600 meters remaining and charged to the line largely unchallenged.

With just 10km remaining of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s hilly stage 3 Cooper Spur Circuit Race, Navigators Insurance rider Glen Chadwick was the virtual race leader on the road, nursing a 45-second lead over a dwindling peloton. But the final climb proved to be a few kilometers too long for Chadwick to take the yellow jersey from Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) — and almost a bit too long for Chadwick to take the stage win. Chadwick entered the day seventh on GC, 24 seconds behind Jacques-Maynes. Three and a half hours later, the Aussie attacked off the front of a dwindled

Exactly a week after his EPO confession, German cyclist Erik Zabel admitted he was emotional after claiming his first victory of the season when he won the second stage of the Tour of Bavaria on Thursday, AFP reported. It has been an emotional week for the six-time winner of the green jersey in the Tour de France, who confessed last Thursday that he took the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) while competing for German team Telekom in 1996. His current employers, Team Milram, only announced Tuesday they would honor his contract for the remainder of the 2007 season after a crisis

Tour de France organizers on Wednesday announced the three wild-card teams that will join 18 others for this year's race. Agritubel and Barloworld will join 19 of the 20 teams from the UCI ProTour series for the three-week epic, which begins July 7 in London. Astana, which competes in the Pro Tour, was the third team to be handed a wild-card invitation although its invitation was at the discretion of the organizers as Astana was not ranked on the ProTour last season. It means there will be no place in the Tour de France peloton for the Swedish-registered team Unibet, which this season

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said it would be "shocking" if Bjarne Riis, who has admitted doping when he won the 1996 Tour de France, was involved in this year's race as CSC's sporting director. Riis did not include Ivan Basso at the start of the 2006 Tour de France because of suspicions hanging over the Italian rider in the wake of the Operación Puerto blood-doping scandal. "We have the right to challenge whichever rider or team official we want to," Prudhomme told AFP. "We are speaking with teams and sponsors, but at this time, it would be shocking to have Riis

NRC individual points leader Ben Jacques-Maynes showed that he is one of the top riders in America by winning stage 2 of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Wednesday. The Priority Health-Bissell team leader's bunch-sprint win, ahead of Navigators Insurance rider Phil Zajicek, came with a 15-second time bonus, propelling Jacques-Maynes into the race lead. Wednesday's Columbia Hills Road Race, a long, hot affair at 112 miles in dry 90-degree heat, began with a correction in general classification after race officials determined that overnight leader Devon Vigus (California Giant

Saunier Duval's climbing king Gilberto Simoni has prevailed again on the wickedly steep slopes of the Monte Zoncolan. "To have won here on Monte Zoncolan means an enormous amount to me, more than being on the podium," the two-time Giro winner panted at the finish line on Wednesday. "It was important to win a stage, more so that it was the Zoncolan, which is the most beautiful.”

John Devine followed in the footsteps of some of America’s best young talent following his overall victory at the four-day Ronde de l’Isard this weekend in France. Devine, who is set to join the Discovery Channel team in July, won Friday’s 170km third stage to claim overall victory with a 49-second margin ahead of Belgian Francis De Greef. Foul weather cancelled a morning sector of Saturday’s action, but Devine finished 13th in the 24km time trial to retain his lead. The former mountain biker finished sixth in Sunday’s finale, 14 seconds off the pace set by stage-winner Oscar Sanchez of

In the shadow of the state Capitol, an enthused North Carolina crowd watched Frank Travieso (AEG-Toshiba-Jet Network) take one of the most uncompromising wins of his career at this year's Raleigh Downtown Criterium May 25. Running over a six-turn, L shaped course, the 3-year-old event took place on the front end of the Memorial Day weekend. A high pace did not discourage breakaway attempts, and eventually six men got away —Travieso, Tom Soloday (Kelly Benefit Strategies) John Delong (Alliance), local boys Rich Harper (Abercrombie & Fitch) and David Duncan (Time), and Jittery Joe's

Heading into stage 1 of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, Navigators Insurance rider Phil Zajicek had never heard of Devon Vigus. Neither had defending champion Nathan O’Neill of Health Net-Maxxis, nor Toyota-United veteran Burke Swindlehurst. But Vigus, who races for the amateur team California Giant Strawberries-Specialized, was the surprise winner of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s 3-mile stage 1 time trial — the only rider to finish in under six minutes, with a time of 5:50. O’Neill finished second, 12 seconds back, with Priority Health-Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes in third at 20 seconds

Armed with the cunning – and innate sense of timing – that come from 11 years as a professional, 33 year-old Stefano Garzelli, just as he did three days before in Bergamo, gave a textbook display of controlled aggression Tuesday in Lienz, Austria. The reward? His second victory of the 2007 Giro.

We should have known. Ever since the opening day of Giro in Sardegna, when the Liquigas leader shouted at his team-mate Enrico Gasparotto to peel off the front of the train so that he could take the first maglia rosa, we should have known Danilo Di Luca really wanted to win the race more than anyone. The events on that day were downplayed somewhat, with Di Luca saying: "I was not upset, it is important that we as a team win." But out of all the pre-race favorites - Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego, Paolo Savoldelli, and Di Luca - it is the latter who has arguably the weakest team. Each

The next stage race on USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar, the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, kicks off Tuesday in Hood River, Oregon. Now in its fifth year and its third as an NRC event, the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic has quickly emerged as one of the top stage races in the U.S., drawing professional and amateurs from several different categories. But with the Commerce Bank Triple Crown series beginning in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, June 3, the final day of Mt. Hood, many teams are either splitting their squads or simply skipping the Oregon race. That’s not to say that the six-stage

Russian rider Vladimir Karpets (Caisse d’Epargne) won the Volta a Catalunya Sunday in Madrid. Spaniard Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the seventh and final stage, a 119.3km ride from Lloret de Mar to Barcelona. Karpets, the 2004 winner of the Tour de France's white jersey for the best young rider, thus picks up his fourth victory of the season. "To win such an important race like the Volta a Catalunya is something significant in a rider's career,” said Karpets. "The team started perfectly well, by being the best in the team time trial. After that we were able to control the

High up the savage slopes of the Tre Cime Di Lavaredo, 23-year-old young gun Riccardo Riccò came of age with a brilliant victory in the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday. In a show of strength, unity and sportsmanship, the Saunier Duval duo of Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli out-foxed and out-climbed all others on the queen stage of the race in the Italian Dolomites. With arms aloft, Riccò crossed the line just ahead of maglia verde Piepoli, followed by Ivan Parra (Cofidis), 10 seconds adrift, and Mexican Julio Pérez (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare), a further 32 seconds behind.

Tina Pic gave the United States Cycling Team its ninth medal and sixth continental title with a victory in the elite women's road race at the 2007 Pan American Road and Track Championships on Saturday. Pic won the 72-kilometer road race to conclude competition for the American squad by outsprinting silver medalist Yumari Gonzales of Cuba and bronze medalist Gina Grain of Canada. Pic's victory gave the American women a sweep of the road events after Alison Powers won Friday's time trial. Given the relatively flat course and short distance of the road race, Pic was designated as

Fresh off a successful European road trip, the professional continental Navigators squad announced its return to domestic criterium racing with a dominant performance at Saturday’s Kelly Cup in Baltimore, Maryland. The team put six men in a 20-strong escape that formed with 15 laps of the 1-mile course remaining, and it was Aussie Hilton Clarke (Navigators) that struck the winning blow, soloing the final four laps to victory and nearly lapping the field in the process. Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) won the women’s event in tight field sprint over U.S. national criterium champion Theresa

If Danilo Di Luca expects to ride into Milan a week from Sunday wearing the maglia rosa on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia he’s going to have to fight for it before that. Had there been any doubt about that, it was certainly erased during Saturday’s 192-kilometer ride from Cantu to Bergamo. In one of the most exciting stages in modern Giro history, Acqua & Sapone's Stefano Garzelli took the fourteenth stage in emphatic fashion Saturday in Bergamo, barely edging out Saunier Duval's Gilberto Simoni and world road champ Paolo Bettini of Quick Step-Innergetic.

Till this 13 kilometer uphill race of truth, surprises have been few at this 90th Giro d'Italia. But Marzio Bruseghin's performance Friday was exactly that. With nowhere to hide on the slopes leading to the Santuario Di Oropa, 32 year-old Bruseghin defied the odds to win the thirteenth stage and stun everyone including himself with a superlative ride against the clock.

[nid:38705]Liquigas leader Danilo Di Luca has emerged unscathed and on top in the Giro's first big day in the mountains, taking the stage in Briançon and the maglia rosa to boot. Only five riders finished within 20 seconds of Di Luca, and only two-time Giro champion Gilberto Simoni was able to match him stroke for stroke on the savage slopes of the Col d'Izoard.

Showing a bit of its strength, the Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team, presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. stamped its mark on stage three of the FBD Insurance Ras. Team racer Dominique Rollin had a convincing stage win, extended his lead in the points contest and moved up to third in the general classification while 21-year-old Jesse Anthony moved into the race leader’s yellow jersey, extended his lead in the King of the Mountain contest and took the lead in the competition for best young rider. The field rolled out of the village of Loughrea under dark skies and with a sense of anticipation

This is the Alessandro Petacchi we all remember, the world-class sprinter delivered to the line by a well-orchestrated machine of a lead-out team and fending off a field of the world’s best over the last meters of a stage. It’s enough to make a guy forget the last 12 months.

Jennie Reed won her second medal of the week at the 2007 Pan American Roadand Track Championships on Wednesday, adding a silver medal in the matchsprint to the gold she won on Monday in the keirin.After securing a spot in Wednesday's semifinals on Tuesday, Reed tooktwo out of three head-to-head sprints from Mexico's Nancy Contreras toadvance to the gold-medal final against Cuba's Lizandra Guerra.  Guerra,who finished second to Reed in the keirin two days ago, got the best ofReed to claim the gold.In his first race since announcing his return to competitive cycling,Colby