Road

Sunday - There’s a new crater from an incoming rocket just off myroute on this morning’s ride.This afternoon, outside a company headquarters, there’s a makeshiftmemorial for a fallen Soldier, victim of a roadside bomb many miles away.The memorial - dog tags, rifle, boots, and helmet - were property of the Soldier only a day before. His teammates take turns standing guard, bravelymourning their loss.Sobering reminders of a reality we’d all rather forget.But life goes on. Cheers from a softball game echoed in front of the vigil at the company headquarters, the game a pleasant distraction from

You couldn’t blame fans lining the route in Saturday’s sixth stage at the Dauphiné Libéré if they did a double-take when a slender Italian rider in a CSC jersey slipped by on the Col du Galibier. Was that Ivan Basso? The reigning Giro d’Italia champion and key Team CSC teammates rode the entire 169-kilometer route of Saturday’s stage – the same route they will face in next month’s Tour de France – as part of a three-day training camp high in the French Alps. “It’s nothing special, just some small interval work, nothing particular hard,” Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis told VeloNews. “We have

On the second day of racing, the competition at the front of the pack showsno sign of slowing down. Jure Robic regained his #1 spot and had6 minutes on Marko Baloh at Time Station,#11 in Kayenta, Arizona, . A littleover two hours behind them, but riding within minutes of each other areJonathan Boyer, Tinker Juarez and Kenny Souza. (Souza fell back aspot when he missed a turn and lost approximately 40 minutes.)Valentin Zeller, of Austria, dropped out in Flagstaff, Arizona, after a valianteffort to overcome the serious dehydration he suffered on Sunday. In the women’s race, Shanna “Banana”

Racers at Philadelphia’s Liberty Classic would be wise to beware of the Germans. Following the retirement of Petra Rossner, who won seven editions of this race, Ina Teutenberg (T-Mobile) stepped in to defend her country’s honor, winning out of a break in the 2005 edition. This year, it was reigning world champion Regina Schleicher (Nürnberger) who would deliver the win for Germany in the 57.6 mile contest. Teutenberg looked primed for the win until the closing 50 meters, having received a picture-perfect lead-out from three of her T-Mobile teammates. But the world champion was lined up on

A month ago, New Zealander GregHenderson didn’t know whether or not he would race at the CommerceBank Triple Crown series, which culminated in Sunday’s 156-mile PhiladelphiaInternational Championship. A broken hip, suffered in a crash in March,had sidelined the Health Net-Maxxis rider for most of April and May, missingout on important races like the Ford Tour de Georgia, where he won thepoints jersey last year. On Sunday, Henderson won one of the biggest races of his career in aphoto-finish field sprint, just beating out former teammate IvanDominguez of Toyota-United. Navigators Insurance

This is a report filed by Paul Skilbeck, Danny Chew and Allen Larsen from the front of the Race Across America at approximately 7:30 p.m. PST/10:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 11: There have been a wide range of tactics employed by the Solo Enduro riders as they try to figure out the optimal way to conquer the newest division in the Race Across America. A group of four riders -- Jure Robic, Marko Baloh, Jonathan Boyer, and Valentin Zeller -- got away on the first good climb of the race, though from here these solo riders took different tacks. Two-time defending champ Jure Robic threw down the

Levi Leipheimer realized a childhood dream Sunday, winning the Dauphiné Libéré after finishing safely in the lead bunch of 55 riders in the wild and woolly 131km finale over four short but steep climbs into Grenoble. The Gerolsteiner rider received a congratulatory handshake from Russian nemesis Denis Menchov (Rabobank) after the pair rolled across the line behind stage winner Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole). Leipheimer becomes the fourth American to win the Dauphiné Libéré, joining Greg LeMond, Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong in the winner’s circle. "I am very proud to win this race,"

Italian Daniele Contrini (LPR) won the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday in Einsiedeln. Contrini, 31, made a stunning lone breakaway to finish more than five minutes ahead of the peloton led home by Lampre's Daniele Bennati, who thus claimed the leader's yellow jersey. Contrini went ahead after 40km of the 165km stage and finished five minutes three seconds in front of Bennati to secure the best win of his career and a notable success for LPR - the only team in the race not part of the ProTour circuit. "I suffered. I had cramps everywhere for several kilometres,"

When Christian Vande Velde lines up for the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland this weekend, the 30-year-old American will be thinking beyond the nine-day ProTour race. He wants to show his CSC team boss Bjarne Riis that he has the fitness, climbing form and all-around strength that will make him a valued support rider for Ivan Basso at next month’s Tour de France. He certainly has the form, having won the Tour of Luxembourg last Sunday. Not only was that victory Vande Velde’s first win since he took California’s Redlands Classic in 1999 but it was also the first time he has won a pro

Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer rode a tactically perfect race Saturday to inch closer to overall victory in the Dauphiné Libéré during a dynamic 169km climbing stage that saw Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) return to the winner’s circle. With Russian challenger Denis Menchov (Rabobank) crashing on the tricky descent off the Cat. 2 Col du Mollard with about 30km to go, Leipheimer rode with calm confidence to finish fourth at 1:37 behind winner Mayo to widen his lead to 1:48 over Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) with just one stage to go. "Today was a big day and it turned out perfect," said

Belgian world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) won a bunch sprint to claim the leader's jersey at the end of the first stage of the Tour of Switzerland, held over 154.8km around Baden on Saturday. Italian Daniel Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) was second with Spanish sprinter Oscar Freire (Rabobank) third. Boonen, 25, paid tribute to his Quick Step-Innergetic team for cranking up the tempo to dominate potential rivals such as Australian Robbie McEwen and Austria's Bernhard Eisel on the final slope. Lead-out man Matteo Tosatto took him to within 250 meters of the line. The

Since 1985, the image of an international peloton charging up Philadelphia’s Manayunk Wall, with a healthy prize list and a USPRO national title on the line, has become woven into the fabric of the national road-racing community. But in 2005 the event ran up against multiple walls of another sort, including the loss of its national-title status, the departure of its title sponsor and financial troubles with its organizer, Threshold Sports. Originally sponsored by regional bank CoreStates, the title sponsor behind the Philadelphia event evolved over the years, from CoreStates to First Union

If you want to know how Discovery Channel is going to race in next month’s Tour de France, watch how the team performs during this week’s Dauphiné Libéré. While all nine Discovery Channel riders who will race the Tour aren’t here or not quite in top condition, this week’s French race provides a nice preview of what fans can expect in the Tour. With the retirement of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, the American team is no longer the dominator or the reference point in the peloton, but that hardly means the proud squad is ready to rest on its laurels. Just look how the

No more Mr. Nice Guy from Levi Leipheimer in the Dauphiné Libéré. After watching Denis Menchov (Rabobank) ride his wheel all the way up the final 6km of Thursday’s grueling climb to Mont Ventoux without taking one pull — only to pip him and Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) for the victory — Leipheimer wanted to see what the Russian was made of in Friday’s 155km roller-coaster over the Izoard high in the French Alps. The Gerolsteiner captain finished eighth at 48 seconds behind stage winner Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) to retain his 28-second lead to Menchov, but this time he forced the stoic Russian to

Two victories in four days are helping David Zabriskie secure a return ticket to the 2006 Tour de France. Last year, Zabriskie won the opening stage in his Tour debut to become just the third American to wear the yellow jersey, but the 27-year-old finds himself on the Tour bubble because of the depth of talent on Team CSC. CSC manager Bjarne Riis is mulling which eight riders will support Ivan Basso in pursuit of July’s crown as the Italian aims to become the first rider since 1998 to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour in the same season. Zabriskie’s impressive victory in Wednesday’s 43km

Coming off of a fractured hip suffered in March, Health Net-Maxxis sprinter Greg Henderson showed the domestic peloton that he’s back with a vengeance in Reading, Pennsylvania, Thursday, easily winning the Reading Classic, the second leg of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown, out of a 10-man group ahead of Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance) and Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF). Henderson, the 2004 world scratch-race champion from Dunedin, New Zealand, chose to race at the Mt. Hood Classic stage race last week, helping teammate Nathan O’Neill take the overall win, rather than return to defend his title

Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) surged into the overall lead Thursday at the 58th Dauphiné Libéré after a superb performance up Mont Ventoux on a day that saw many of the top favorites succumb to the giant of Provence. 2005 Vuelta a España winner Denis Menchov (Rabobank) grabbed the victory ahead of Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) in the 186km fourth stage after the pair rode Leipheimer’s wheel up the final 5km of one of cycling’s most feared climbs. “The most important thing today was taking the jersey,” said Leipheimer, who finished third at 15 seconds back. “I want to win the Dauphiné this year

Editor's Note: We began corresponding with Major Jason A. Bryan during the Giro d'Italia. Bryan, a dedicated cycling fan, is currently stationed at a U.S. military compound, south of Mosul, in Iraq. Bryan's firstsubmission to VeloNews.com generated an overwhelming response, as well as offers of components, bikes and even socks (all of which have been forwarded). As a result we offered to make Major Bryan's Iraq diary a regular featureon this site...

Editor's Note: We began corresponding with Major Jason A. Bryanduring the Giro d'Italia. Bryan, a dedicated cycling fan, is currentlystationed at a U.S. military compound, south of Mosul, in Iraq.Bryan's firstsubmission to VeloNews.com generated an overwhelming response, as wellas offers of components, bikes and even socks (all of which have been forwarded).As a result we offered to make Major Bryan's Iraq diary a regular featureon this site... at least until he comes home, something we're all hopinghappens quite soon.Well, it’s official. Like Navin R. Johnson, I am

Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie did what he did best to lead an American sweep of the top four places in Wednesday’s 43km individual time trial at the 58th Dauphine Libere. Zabriskie was fastest to win for the second time in four days, but it was an American showcase in cycling’s Tour de France dress rehearsal, with Floyd Landis (Phonak), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) finishing two-three-four. “For some reason, the Americans are talented in time trialing,” said Zabriskie, who’s now among the best in the world now in the race of truth. “I have a theory.

Christian Vande Velde (CSC) enjoyed a nice chilled bottle of Spanish cava Sunday night after his overall victory at the five-day Tour of Luxembourg. The win marked his first in Europe and signals a rebirth for the 30-year-old’s racing career. With new freedom to attack and hunt for victories at Team CSC, Vande Velde said he’s having more fun than ever racing a bike. The Luxembourg tour perfectly reflected this new attitude and Vande Velde’s aggression in Friday’s stage paid off when he attacked for a stage-win that put him in position to win the overall. “I was thinking about it.

The United States Cycling Team captured a continental title on Tuesday as Amber Neben (Irvine, California) rode to a win in the time trial at the Pan American Cycling Championships in Cabreuva, Brazil. Kori Seehafer (Louisville, Colorado) earned her second medal of the week, riding to a bronze in the race against the clock. On Sunday, Seehafer gave the U.S. its first medal of the championships with a silver-medal performance in the 87km elite women’s road race in Indaiatuba. Seehafer finished behind Ymari Gonzalez of Cuba among a final group of 15 riders. Teammates Sarah Uhl (Philadelphia,

Just back from the Giro d’Italia, I thought I’d give you a few photos from the Pontedera-Pontedera time trial and that you might not have seen elsewhere, including from the Piaggio (Vespa) museum in Pontedera, where the time trial (won by Jan Ullrich with Ivan Basso a close second) started and finished. David Millar came to the time trial to hang with his Saunier Duval teammates. He is very lean to the point that his pants also hang, ready to fall down at any time. My guess is he will be fit for the Tour prologue. It seemed to take me forever to ride from the 5K to go sign to the Monte

Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) joined an early breakaway effort in the 203km second stage of the Dauphiné Libéré Tuesday and not only managed to stay away but now holds a solid five-minute lead in the traditional warm-up race for the Tour de France. Gilbert finished more than five minutes ahead of the peloton on a generally flat stage from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Saint-Galmier in eastern France. Gilbert, winner of this year's Het Volk in Belgium, joined a three-man break with teammate Sebastien Joly and Quick Step's Cedric Vasseur at the 44km mark, but was the only survivor,

Alexandre Vinokourov will race the Tour de France one way or another, but said he supports team manager Manolo Saiz despite allegations that the Spanish director is linked to an alleged blood-doping ring. Saiz was detained two weeks ago by Spanish authorities after making an alleged exchange of suitcases with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in a Madrid café. Police later found one suitcase with $60,000 in cash while another was an insulated bag allegedly filled with containers of blood and doping products. Vinokourov spoke to reporters ahead of Sunday’s start at the Dauphiné Libéré, where

Two-time Giro d'Italia winner Gilberto Simoni on Monday retracted accusations that new champion Ivan Basso asked him to pay for a win during the 20th stage of this year's race. Last month, Simoni claimed Basso had asked for money to let him win the 20th stage of the Giro after the pair were left alone on a breakaway to slug it out for victory. Basso went on to win the stage by more than a minute but was stung by his fellow Italian's accusations after the finish. But after being grilled for more than an hour by an Italian disciplinary commission in Rome, Simoni retracted his

Monday’s longest stage of this very mountainous Dauphiné Libéré looked to be one for the sprinters. The 207km course from Annecy to Bourgoin-Jallieu was only interrupted by three rather innocuous Cat. 4 ripples late in the course profile. Early on, a lone avenger, in the form of Frenchman Nicolas Inaudi (Cofidis), stole away at 15km and at one point boasted a lead of nearly 18 minutes.CompleteResults That prompted Team CSC and Credit Agricole to cooperate, with Bjarne´s Army anxious to either keep prologue winner Dave Zabriskie in the race leader’s jersey or bounce Stuart O´Grady, who

Christian Vande Velde (CSC) secured the biggest victory of his European career Sunday after locking up the overall title at the five-day Tour of Luxembourg. Vande Velde grabbed the lead in Saturday’s difficult climbing stage and finished with the favorites Sunday to secure the first European stage-race victory of his career. Team CSC put four teammates to support Vande Velde in the winning 15-man break to ensure victory for the American. "I was a bit nervous before the stage, but as soon as we started, I was okay," Vande Velde said. "Right from the beginning of this race I've been

Jackson Stewart (KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada) scored a breakthrough win at Sunday’s Lancaster Classic ahead of Toyota-United’s J.J. Haedo and Navigators’ former U23 world champion Sergey Lagutin. With the win at Lancaster, Stewart becomes the leader of the newly-created Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, which continues with the Redding Classic on Thursday and the Philadelphia International Championship on Sunday. Contested over 13 laps of its traditional 6.5 kilometer circuit from the town’s historic downtown to the Lancaster County Central Park, Lancaster is known as one of the

Hood River, Oregon -- If the men's race was predictable, the women's was anything but, Sunday at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic near Hood River, Ore. Symmetrics rider Leah Goldstein, still recovering from a crash from almost ayear ago, rolled clear of race leader Alison Powers of the Rio Grande/SportsGarage team on the last of three climbs to win her first big race in 2006. "I've won some local races, but this is the first NRC race I've done since crashing at (the Cascade Classic in Bend, Ore.) last year," Goldstein said."I needed 45 seconds to win (the overall) and that's

When it’s straight and flat, there aren’t many better against the clock than Dave Zabriskie. On a 4.1km out-and-back course Sunday in Annecy, the American picked up where he left off in last year’s Tour de France, beating George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) in the opening prologue of the Dauphiné Libéré by two seconds – the same margin he had over Lance Armstrong last July. "Two is my magic number," said Zabriskie, after his first win of the season. "I won the Tour’s opening time trial by two seconds last year, and now I’ve beaten George by two seconds as well." Zabriskie won in 4 minutes,

Based solely on his performances thus far this season - winning every week-long stage race he’s started - Floyd Landis (Phonak) would have to be the favorite for victory in the 58th Dauphiné Libéré when it kicks off on Sunday. A flat, 4.1km prologue marks the start of an impressive route that hits some of cycling’s established giants, serving up the perfect backdrop as the Tour de France favorites go through a final dress rehearsal before July’s big show. In all, 168 riders from 21 teams will be in Annecy for the start. Joining the 20 ProTour teams will be Agritubel, which lines up with

Veteran campaigner Mark McCormack (Colavita-Sutter Home) drew on years of criterium experience to win the 9th edition of the CSC Invitational in Arlington, Virginia, on Saturday. The 35-year-old led out the sprint in front of a decimated field and held off Carl Menzies (Health Net) and Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) to give the Colavita men’s squad its second win in three days. Davide Frattini (Colavita) won the CapTech Classic in Richmond on Thursday. CapTech winner Tina Pic (Colavita) rounded out the Colavita squad’s day by taking her second victory of the week in a bunch-sprint win over

Hood River, Oregon-- For Alison Powers, winning the fifth stage of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic before an estimated 10,000 spectators in downtown Hood River was bitter sweet.The Rio Grande/Sports Garage rider soloed with two laps remaining in Saturday's criterium to hold off a charging field and capture the win, but five laps prior, race leader Dotsie Bausch of the Colavita/ Cooking Light Cycling team crashed on a sweeping downhill turn and was unable to continue. Preliminary reports indicate that Bausch, who was leading Powers by 43 seconds on general classification, suffered a broken

After illness forced him to abandon the Giro d’Italia with just two stages to go, Tom Danielson will return to the United States this month to take a break before rebuilding his form with eyes toward a run at the overall at the Vuelta a España later this summer. Danielson, 28, will return to Colorado and then visit Connecticut for the first time in several years to visit his parents’ home and take advantage of the proximity to watch his wife take on NORBA races in the Northeast. Any chance of the former mountain biker getting back on fat tires? “No way. Johan might not like that,” Danielson

Manolo Saiz has found a new sponsor to underwrite his ProTour team, barely a week after insurance giant Liberty Seguros pulled the plug on its $8.5 million-a-year deal. A consortium of five of Kazakhstan’s largest companies will immediately take over as title sponsor, and the team will ride under the name Astaná-Würth, likely debuting its new colors at the Dauphiné Libéré beginning Sunday in France. Astaná is the name of the Kazakh capital. The team made a brief announcement Friday, but didn’t provide details of which companies are contributing or how much they will contribute, saying only

Hood River, Oregon -- If there's a chink in Nathan O'Neill's armorthus far at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, it's not easy to spot.On Friday near Hood River, Ore., the Health Net rider -- a burly manfor climbing purposes -- climbed with the first group and sprintedfor second place earning a 10-second time bonus and thus tightening hisgrip on the general classification.How discouraging it must be to discover that one of the best time trialistsin the world can stay with the best climbers at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classicon a 95-mile day when the course features 9,000 feet of

Jan Ullrich – fresh off riding most of the 89th Giro d’Italia – will race the Tour de Suisse later this month as part of his preparations ahead of the Tour de France. Ullrich, who abandoned during the 19th stage at the Giro, was considering racing the hilly Vuelta a Asturias in northern Spain, but opted for the Swiss tour (June 10-18) because it’s four days longer and features harder climbs than the Spanish race. Three-time world time trial champion Michael Rogers, who was forced to abandon the Giro with a toothache in stage 13, will also race alongside Ullrich, which the German won in

Davide Frattini took advantage of a moment’s hesitation in a four man break and slipped away to victory on the final lap of the 100k CapTech Classic in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday. A few seconds behind Frattini (Colavita-Sutter Home), Uzbekistan national champion Sergey Lagutin (Navigators) out sprinted Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United) for second place. The winning break, initially containing Ben Jaques-Maynes (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada), Mark Walters (Navigators), Frattini, Lagutin, and Stevic, emerged mid-way throughout an attrition-heavy race. The demanding 2k-course featured a

Hood River, Oregon -- It didn't take Dotsie Bausch long to figure out that she placed herself in the leader's jersey at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic in Hood River, Oregon on Thursday.The women's race, like the men's, ended in bunch sprint with Bausch earning second place on a technical downhill run-in over twisting, chip-seal roads. She was nipped by Brooke Miller of the PABW powered by TIBCO team, but second was enough to earn the 10-second time bonus that vaulted her past Alison Powers (Rio Grande/Sports Garage) and into the overall lead by seven seconds.Health Net's

Spanish continental team Comunidad Valenciana could lose its wild-card bid to start the 2006 Tour de France following implication of its assistant sports director in an on-going doping investigation in Spain. The Spanish sports daily AS reported Wednesday that the Societe du Tour de France could rescind the team’s Tour invitation as soon as Thursday. AS reported that the decision has already been made, but that Tour officials are waiting in part because of the funeral of Philippe Amaury, the owner of the media group that bears his name which includes the Tour, L´Equipe and Le Parisien.

Nathan O'Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) and Alison Powers (Rio Grande-Sports Garage) won the opening stage of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic on Wednesday in Hood River, Oregon. O'Neill covered the three-mile time trial stage in six minutes and seven seconds. Powers did it in 7:17. The course gained only 150 feet in elevation, but it was not flat. Riders were greeted with a steep hill immediately out of the start house followed by a descent of more than a mile and a steep climb at the finish. Second for the men was Ryan Trebon (AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork) in 6:16, followed by Ian McKessick

The Simoni-Basso spat shows no signs of dying a quick death. Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) and Ivan Basso (CSC) have been trading barbs ever since Simoni accused Basso of trying to sell Saturday’s 20th stage over the Gavia and Mortirolo climbs in the Giro d’Italia. According to a report on the Italian wires, Simoni is scheduled to appear before the Italian cycling federation to offer his version of claims that Giro winner Basso wanted money to let Simoni win the Giro’s penultimate stage. The dispute has been fueling headlines since Simoni’s finish-line diatribe, when he accused Basso of

The fourth edition of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic in Hood River, Oregon, starts Wednesday with NRC recognition for the second year despite the fact that the event is a jewel won annually by regional talent since its inception in 2003. As in years past, the race is sponsored by Full Sail Brewery, which is headquartered in Hood River, about 50 miles west of Portland on the Columbia River George. The quaint mountain-river town with a population of 20,000 is regarded as a Mecca by sailboarders worldwide and is a pushing-off point for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, backpacking and climbing

A Spanish magazine on Tuesday printed the names of four riders supposedly linked to Spanish doctors under scrutiny by authorities as part of the so-called "Operación Puerto" blood-doping investigation. The weekly magazine Interviú said Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), Santiago Botero (Phonak) and Ángel Vicioso (Liberty Seguros-Würth) were videotaped with a hidden camera as they entered a Madrid building that housed the clinic of José Luis Merino Batres, a hematologist who authorities suspect ran an extensive blood-doping operation. The story, which used police sources, also linked recorded phone

The competition for the overall women's road World Cup title tightened up Saturday after the Montreal round, the seventh in the season-long series. Judith Arndt (T-Mobile) took a closely contested win over series leader Nicole Cooke (Univega) to move to within 49 points of the lead. Oenone Wood (Nurnberger Versicherung) did not race in Montreal and is now a distant third in the standings, with the World Cup fast becoming a battle between Cooke and Arndt. The traditional circuit added a 1km false-flat section along the base of the main climb, with the number of laps correspondingly

Sunday marked the official opening of the Basso Era as Ivan Basso (CSC) won the 2006 Giro d'Italia in a dominant fashion that many expect to continue into July’s Tour de France. Basso, 28, insists he’s not out to ascend to Lance Armstrong’s vacant throne and that his overpowering victory in the 89th Giro d’Italia came in a style all his own. "I’m not looking to replace anyone and I have the utmost respect for Lance, but I have my results and I have earned my place in the group," Basso said Sunday morning ahead of the final stage. "I have my name and I only have to show that I am Ivan

Team CSC’s Ivan Basso barnstormed to victory Saturday in the final hard stage of the 89th Giro d’Italia in the style of the man everyone expects Basso to succeed – Lance Armstrong. Basso wasn’t in a giving mood when he dropped an exasperated Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) with about 4km to go in Saturday’s grueling, 211km 20th stage to win for the third time and widen his grip on the maglia rosa to more than nine minutes with just one day left. An angry Simoni called Basso an "extraterrestrial" for his crushing performance and accused him riding unfairly by asking him to ride easy on the

The fourth round of the cross-country mountain-bike World Cup took riders to the Scottish Highlands on Saturday. Despite cold rain, which was torrential at times, the event featured some of the best racing of the World Cup so far. Julien Absalon (Bianchi Agos) took his third consecutive victory in the men's race, but perennial women's favorite Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) ceded the top spot on the podium to her young teammate Nina Göhl after suffering a flat on the first lap. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher), meanwhile, had a breakthrough ride to finish on the podium

Tom Danielson, weakened by fever and sinus problems, ended his Giro d’Italia just two days shy of finishing but Discovery Channel officials revealed that he’ll reload for the Vuelta a España as the team’s GC rider. Danielson, who was sitting 16th overall at 23:24 back, didn’t start Saturday’s 20th climbing stage over the Gavia and Mortirolo when his conditioned worsened overnight Friday and team sport director Johan Bruyneel decided to pull the plug on his Giro. “He'd been suffering from sinusitis and taking antibiotics ever since the stage to La Thuile last week," Bruyneel told

Riders from Liberty Seguros-Würth vow to keep racing despite the departure of the team’s title sponsor in the wake of the detention of team manager Manolo Saiz as part of a blood-doping scandal in Spain. Officials from Liberty Seguros – the American insurance giant that sponsored the team to the tune of $8.5 million per year – formally ended association with the team’s holding company Saturday, but promised it would pay riders and staff salaries through the 2006 season. "The agreement says that the salaries will be paid until the end of the season if we cannot find another sponsor," team

There’s no stopping Team CSC in this Giro d’Italia, unless they decide to stop themselves. Team CSC was everywhere in Friday’s epic seven-hour haul in the 221km 19th stage that hit such legendary climbs as the Fedaia, Pordoi and San Pellegrino. Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt were in the day’s winning 19-man break, five other Team CSC jerseys were pinned at the front of the main bunch and race leader Ivan Basso widened his hold on the maglia rosa to more than six minutes with just two days left. So what was Voigt doing when he reached over and patted Juan Manuel Garate (Lampre) on the back

Lately, it seems, when there’s been a doping scandal involving cycling, Italy and the Giro d’Italia figured at the center of the storm. Think of Marco Pantani’s expulsion in 1999, the San Remo raids in 2001 and the ejection of Stefano Garzelli while in the leader’s jersey in 2002. This time around, a brewing tempest in Spain involving Liberty Seguros team manager Manolo Saiz, Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and three others reached all the way to the Giro's 18th stage, which began in the mountains of Austria Thursday morning. Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) won his second stage of

Thus far in the Giro d’Italia, the key mountain stages have all featured a singleclimb at the end of an otherwise flat of rolling course. It has been apattern that’s proved perfect for race leader Ivan Basso. Every time —on the Passo di Larciano of stage 8, the Colle San Carlo on stage 13 andMonte Bondone on stage 16 — the CSC team leader has ridden away from allof his chief opponents. Indeed, Wednesday's Stage 17 would have featured a huge climb in the middle, but weather forced the eliminationof the Passo del Erbe from what was to have been the "Queen stage" of theGiro.Perhaps it will

The Queen of stages at the Giro d’Italia proved to be something of a letdown Wednesday as rain, cold and even a bit of late-spring snow forced organizers to eliminate the goat path they had planned to herd the peloton up the 2273m summit at Plan de Corones. Winter-like whiteout conditions high in the Italian Dolomites prompted race organizers to remove the difficult Passo dello Erbe at 97km and then lower the summit finish by about five kilometers, shorting the 133km stage by 18km. Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) won his second stage in five days while Team CSC’s Ivan Basso took more time

If there was a shred of doubt about who was going to win the 89th Giro d'Italia going into Tuesday's climbing stage up Monte Bondone, Ivan Basso emphatically erased it with a dramatic statement high in the Italian Dolomites. If Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) was racing on pride on his "home mountain," Basso was looking to carve a defining moment in what's been a flawless and dominant performance for the 28-year-old Varenese. With just under seven kilometers to go on the steep Bondone climb, Simoni could only watch Basso and the race leader's pink jersey slip away as Basso

Charly Gaul, perhaps the best pure climber the sport of road cycling has ever produced, should have been standing at the Monte Bondone summit finish of Tuesday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia. But Gaul, who won an epic victory on the Bondone climb in 1956, died last December at age 72. The Giro organizers chose the Bondone as the stage 16 finish to mark the 50th anniversary of Gaul’s stage win, which was achieved in apocalyptic conditions. Gaul was only 20 when he turned pro for a French team, Terrot, in May 1953. Within a month he was racing in the second biggest stage race in France, the

While no one can do much about the 24-percent pitches on parts of the roadto the finish of Wednesday's 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia, road crewsare making progress in terms of improving the surface on the final fivekilometers on the road to Plan de Corones. VeloNews reader IgorTavella, who sent us a photo update lastweek , has returned and reports that there are great improvementson most of the final portions of the climb. Race officials say that atthis point, if work on the final few hundred meters remain unfinished thosestretches of road will simply be eliminated from the stage.

Reigning Olympic champion Paolo Bettini Quick Step) put an end to a streak of frustrating finishes this season with a decisive win at the end of Monday’s 190km 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia. Overall race leader, CSC's Ivan Basso, enjoyed what could be described as this Giro's easiest, a completely flat ride from Mergozza to Brescia in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy. Bettini, 32, ended a string of frustrating near-wins, by grabbing the victory from this Giro's other bridesmaid, Pollack, who has also come frustratingly close to victory in most of this Giro's sprint

Cañada wins Catalunya, Bennati takes finaleDavid Cañada (Saunier Duval) held on to his slender two-second lead to claim the biggest win of his decade-long career with overall victory Sunday in the 86th Volta a Catalunya in Spain. Cañada only had to follow the wheel of Santiago Botero (Phonak) in the hilly 121km march from Lloret de Mar that ended with a sprint in downtown Barcelona. Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) finished third at eight seconds back. “Winning here was complicated, there were lots of decisive moments,” the 31-year-old Cañada told reporters. “My team played a crucial role and there

Sundays in Italy are usually reserved for quality time with the family, a nice meal out and an afternoon passeggiato. Not that nearly six hours on the bike and two tough mountains is ever easy, but Sunday’s 224-kilometer 14th stage from Aosta to Domodossola might seem like a Sunday stroll when the hit the likes of Pla de Corones and the Mortirolo on tap later this week. With the 11-man breakaway taking center-stage in the two-climb affair, an impromptu cease-fire between the favorites gave everyone a chance to reflect on what awaits them in the final week of the 89th Giro. Luis Felipe

Cañada takes over in CatalunyaDavid Cañada (Saunier Duval) took over the leader’s jersey at the sixth stage of the Volta a Catalunya after a frenetic stage that saw Slovenian sprinter Matej Mugerli (Liquigas) grab the win. Overnight leader Carlos Castaño (Kaiku) gave up more than five minutes after the group split on the hilly stage and he could only watch his 1:18 lead evaporate on the road in the 166km sixth course from Manlleu to Lloret de Mar and he dropped 23rd overall. The bumpy profile proved fatal to Castaño’s modest Kaiku team, which got out-gunned when 46 riders pulled away early

Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) has won just about every major mountain climb in Spain, including a stage victory in the 2004 Vuelta a España, but the veteran Italian climbing specialist had never won in the Giro d’Italia. Piepoli, 34, has spent much of his 12-year career racing in Spain and all of his wins since 1999 have come on Spanish roads. The featherweight Italian changed that with an emphatic victory in Saturday’s rainy and cold 13th stage over the Colle San Carlo high in the Italian Alps. Piepoli was the only rider strong enough to follow Ivan Basso (CSC) when he turned on the

Tour nine shaping up for Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is zeroing in on its nine riders who will defend the team’s colors in the first Tour de France of the post-Lance Armstrong era. According to sport director Dirk Demol, the nine pre-selected riders include two new faces which have yet to ride the Tour with Discovery Channel. Young Russian Vladimir Gusev and promising Basque rider Egoi Martinez are both penciled in to earn a Tour start position. “It’s not like the past, when we had the whole team for Lance. The team comes with different goals,” Demol told VeloNews. “Of course, there

Joan Horrach (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears) brought a Spanish accent to the 89th Giro d’Italia in a rough and tumble race that saw Emanuele Sella (Panaria) and Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval) crash twice while they were streaking toward victory. Horrach was the last man standing of a 15-man group that tore away from main bunch in the 171km 12th stage along Italy’s spectacular Cinque Terre coast. A frenetic final half of the stage saw the group whittled down by Sella’s and Mori’s aggression, but the pair crashed while nursing about a 20-second gap and Horrach was able to sneak through for the

Spanish rider Carlos Castaño gave his Kaiku team sweet revenge for being left out of this year’s Vuelta a España with an impressive win in Thursday’s 225km “queen stage” in the Volta a Catalunya. Kaiku was overlooked for a wild-card spot to join this year’s Vuelta and the team’s been simmering ever since. Castaño poured that frustration into his pedals to reel in the attacking Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) on the final climb to Arcalis to win and snatch the overall lead. “I was just thinking about winning the stage, so to take the leader’s jersey is a double bonus for the team,” Castaño said.

It’s hard to believe that on a day when Ivan Basso nearly doubled his hold on the overall standings at the 2006 Giro d’Italia, the big story was another rider. But that’s just what happened when German Jan Ullrich stole the show — and the stage 11 win — in the 50km time trial from Pontedera to Pisa and back. Starting long before the Giro’s top GC hopefuls on a sunny, warm Thursday afternoon near Italy’s Ligurian Sea, Ullrich blistered the flat, oval shaped course that passed by Pisa’s famed leaning tower, posting a day’s best 58:48. From there, the waiting game began. It was more than three

After the Giro d’Italia’s second long transfer, this one taking therace from Pescara on Italy’s east coast to Pisa on the west, riders wereusing the rest day in Tuscany to scout out Thursday’s time trial courseand take stock of the race before heading into the upcoming week of climbsand more climbs. Stage 11 is a Tour de France-style time trial on a completelyflat 50km circuit around the Arno Valley between Pontedera and Pisa. JanUllrich scouted the course during an April training camp and likes it alot: “Flat and straight — perfect!” Race leader Ivan Basso predicts thatUllrich will ride a

You may have heard about a study recently published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolsim that brought that old childhood favorite drink of chocolate milk into the headlines. This attention getting study did bring up a lot of practical questions regarding your best food and fluid recovery nutrition choices, and a good opportunity to clarify the proper use of various sports nutrition supplements. Let’s take a quick look at the study. Researchers provided subjects with either chocolate milk, a sports drink, or a commercially available recovery drink (there

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) sat in the shade of some palm trees Wednesday morning saying he’d like to win a stage at the week-long Volta a Catalunya as "a test" before tackling more important goals later this summer. Well, if his sprint victory in Wednesday’s third stage ahead of riders he’s due to square off against in a few weeks is any indication, the big Norwegian seems to be on the right path for the Tour. "It was a tough sprint because of strong headwinds in the finale," Hushovd told reporters. "I’m particularly delighted to win, because today is Norway’s national holiday. I’m on

On the second and final rest day of the 2006 Giro d’Italia, current race leader Ivan Basso spent most of Wednesday afternoon relaxing at his team’s seaside hotel in the beach town of Lido Di Camaiore. Basso did sneak in a two-hour training ride to reconnoiter Thursday’s 50km time trial course that does an oval loop from Pontedera to Pisa and back. The 2005 Tour de France runner-up also held a short press conference at the team hotel. Here are some of the highlights along with comments from Team CSC director Bjarne Riis. Basso on his expectations for the time trial:“I expect to have a good

For many of the 20 ProTour teams lining up for the 86th Volta a Catalunya, the week-long race is an obligation to fulfill their end of the ProTour bargain to get assured starts in important races like the Tour de France. For small teams like Andalucía-Paul Versan, which got snubbed in its bid to earn a start in the Vuelta a España later this summer, races like these become their Tour. Luis Perez, a 25-year-old Spanish rider who had never won a race before as a professional, earned his modest Andalucía-Paul Versan squad some bragging points after soloing to victory in the 156.8km second

While the Giro d’Italia enters its second rest day on Wednesday, noteveryone in Italy is resting.We received an e-mail from reader Igor Tavella, who was on the upper reaches of the Plan de Corones this past Sunday and saw that road crews are still working to pave the final 5km of what will be the steepest section of road in this Giro d'Italia. "Maybe it is of interest to you to know that I took some pictures aboutthe works on the new road to the Plan de Corones," Igor writes. "Now theyare working day and night to be able to finish the road. Due to the last snowfalls they had to stop

It wasn’t quite as painful as the Nordic ski jumper that went spiraling down the hill all those years during the intro to ABC’s Wide World of Sports, but watching poor Axel Merckx throw several backward glances as a fast-moving chase group caught the Phonak rider just 150 meters from the line clearly rated as one of cycling’s agony-of-defeat moments. Instead of a heroic solo stage 10 win for the Belgian with the famous name, it was Liquigas lieutenant Franco Pellizotti who got to pop the champagne at the end of the 190km run south from Termoli to Peschici on Tuesday at the Giro

Steep, steep, steepDear Lennard,I recently read that Discovery director Johann Bruyneel is planningon putting a 34X29 on some of his riders' bikes for Stage 17 of the Giro.I don’t think Shimano makes either a compact Dura-Ace crank or a 29 cog.Any idea what they plan on using?James Dear James,I am in Italy now putting on a bikecamp with Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney. We will be hookingup with the Giro starting at the Pontedera time trial on Thursday. I ameager to see the Stage 17 finish climb and the gearing teams use for it,too. According to Shimano USA and confirmed by Shimano

Team CSC’s Fabian Cancellara hadn’t raced since winning Paris-Roubaix more than a month ago, but nothing could stop the adrenalin and killer instincts from kicking in when the big Swiss rider clipped into the pedals ahead of Monday’s opening 12.5km time trial to open the 86th Volta a Cataluyna. Once he got his big motor warmed up, the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder just let it rip. "I never dreamed of winning today until I rode the course this morning and I thought to myself, ‘Why not risk it and try to win?’" Cancellara said. "My next big goal isn’t until the Tour, but this was an opportunity I

Tomas Vaitkus pulled off two great feats at the close of Monday's 132km run from Francavilla al Mare to Termoli. In winning the bunch sprint down the main drag of this sleepy beach town on the Adriatic, Vaitkus became the first Lithuanian to win a Giro d'Italia stage. But maybe more impressive was the fact that Vaitkus did so ahead of Robbie McEwen, heretofore unbeatable in mass gallops at this year's Giro. McEwen actually finished fourth on stage 9, with Vaitkus (Ag2r), Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) and Olaf Pollack (T-Mobile) all besting the Davitamon-Lotto rider.

After a double day of competition on Saturday at the Joe Martin Stage Race, Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) retained his overall lead in the men’s race and Erinne Willock (Webcor-Platinum) moved into the top spot in the women’s general classification. Fraser won the field sprint of a 92-mile road race in the morning, then finished ninth in the 2.5-mile uphill time trial – 19 seconds behind teammate Scott Moninger – to stay in the lead. Meanwhile, Tina Pic (Colavita-Cooking Light) took the women’s 69-mile road race, but Willock won the afternoon’s time trial to move into first overall, 20

Collegiate athletes mobbed the streets of downtown Lawrence, Kansas, on Sunday for the third and final race of the 2006 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships. The finale, a criterium run on a one-mile course, saw Division I and II men’s fields race 65 minutes plus three laps and the women’s fields race 55 minutes plus three laps. The D-II men hit the streets first. The race held extra importance, as the team omnium was nearly tied after Friday’s team time trial and Saturday’s road race. Defending champions Whitman College trailed Lees-McRae College by a mere seven points. Both

Arkansas has been good to Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis). In the final event of the Joe Martin Stage Race, a technical downtown criterium, Fraser won his third sprint finish and maintained his overall title. In the women’s race Erinne Willock finished fourth, 10 seconds down on race winner Kori Seehafer, to maintain first in general classification. Entering the final stage with the top two riders on general classification, Fraser and Scott Moninger, the Health Net-Maxxis racers had one thing on their mind – playing defense. On a criterium course in downtown Fayetteville featuring eight