When Italian superstar “Super Mario” Cipollini failed to contest the opening sprint stage of the Dodge Tour de Georgia on Monday, the sport’s cognoscenti immediately questioned what might be amiss with 2002 world champion.
Was it the criterium-style finishing circuits that slowed down his Domina Vacanze lead-out train? Was he out of sorts in the near 90-degree heat? Perhaps he had simply arrived in the U.S. out of shape, or maybe, some supposed, the realities of age had finally caught up with the 37-year-old sprinter.
Like an annual rite of spring, the Sea Otter is not only the first major outing of both domestic and international-caliber mountain and road teams, but it’s also one of the best opportunities to see next year’s product now. Here’s a quick look at an assortment of mountain bike related goodies spotted while we roamed the pits.
Photo #1 The most significant question of the day for the pro racers competing in the super XC was tire selection. Choices ranged from traditional size 26x2.0 knobby and semi-slick tires to 700x32c cyclo-cross tires. On of the race’s favorites, Trek/VW’s Sue Haywood
The reigning French national women’s champion Sonia Huguet scored her first international victory at Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne, but it was the fight for the 2004 UCI World Cup that held center stage at the hilly 97.5km event. And that brought added success to Australia’s Oenone Wood, who extended her overall lead by 20 points on Russia’s Zulfia Zabirova.
So after five of the year’s nine World Cup races, Wood has 202 points to Zabirova’s 154, while Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands remained in third with 115 despite finishing outside the points Wednesday.
After Wood, 23, crossed the line
Just in case anyone thought Tuesday's victory was a fluke, Italian Damiano Cunego (Saeco) won Wednesday's demanding five-climb second stage to secure his hold on the leader's jersey in the Giro di Trentino. Cunego, the 1999 junior world champion, shot off alone to win the 171km second stage to win in 4 hours, 50 minutes, 23 seconds. The 22-year-old finished 34 seconds ahead of Saeco team captain and Trentino defending champion Gilberto Simoni.
The four-stage Giro di Trentino continues Thursday with the 165km third stage from Roncone Breguzzo to Fiavè.
Giro di Trentino (ITA 2.2), Stage 21.
Dear Lennard,The question is simple enough: What is the quickest/best way to change/fixa tubeless tire? While I love the ride characteristics and generally betterflat resistance of tubeless, fixing a flat--when it eventually does happen-orsimply swapping tires for another tread pattern is nothing short of anordeal. Skinned knuckles, broken tire levers (which you're not supposedto use anyway) and at least a half-hour's worth mano-a-rubber WWF styleaction seem to be the minimum commitment.
On a recent ride, a friend who used a tubeless sealant nicked his sidewallon a sharp rock, adding a
Canadian veteran Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) took the opening stage of the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia Tuesday, beating sprint specialist Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) and last month’s Criterium International winner Jens Voigt (CSC) to the finish line in front of an enthusiastic downtown Macon crowd. Fraser’s lead-out man Greg Henderson finished fourth, with Landbouwkredit-Colnago’s Ukrainian sprinter Yuri Metlushenko in fifth.
Defending Dodge Tour de Georgia champion Chris Horner made a bold pre-race press conference statement Monday when he announced he would not be content with anything less than overall victory.
“My form is very good,” said Horner, who is fresh off an overall win at the Sea Otter Classic to add to his stage race wins at Redlands, Pomona Valley and just about every other domestic stage race he has chosen over the past two years. “I’ve got the legs and I’m here to win. Anything less and I won’t be satisfied.”
It’s not the first time Horner has predicted victory. Last September, on the eve of the
Former junior world champion Damiano Cunego (Saeco) delivered his first big victory as a pro in the opening stage of the four-day Giro di Trentino in northern Italy.
The 22-year-old, who won the junior world title in 1999, attacked late in the 168km opening stage and held off Jure Golcer (Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave) to take the stage. Vaunted as one of the future grand tour hopes in Italy, Cunego is a keen climber eager to show his stuff in the next month’s Giro d’Italia.
Two-time Giro champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) came to life under the Italian (not Tuscan) sun and finished sixth in the
Gilberto Simoni admitted he’s not on the same form as he was this time last year after stumbling through a lackluster string of performances in Spain.
The defending Giro d’Italia champion said cold, rainy weather during the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour of Aragon were not to his liking. He abandoned both races while arch-rival Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) took victory in Aragon on final-day time bonuses.
"I know I’m not in the same form as I was last year and I know that Garzelli is definitely riding better than me at the moment,” Simoni said on the team’s web page. “However,
Pro racers from across the U.S. and Europe trickled in to the town of Macon,Georgia, over the weekend as organizers of the country’s richest stagerace, the Dodge Tour de Georgia, made final preparations to commence racingTuesday, April 20.
In only its second year, the event received a huge boost with the Januaryannouncement that five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong wouldbring his U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor team to the event and use therace as preparation for a sixth consecutive Tour win. Shortly thereafter,2003 title-sponsor Dodge renewed its commitment for 2004, and a more
Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) outfoxed – and outsprinted – Denis Menchov (Illes Balears) to snatch overall victory in the 49th Tour of Aragon in Spain.
Garzelli finished third behind stage-winner Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) to earn a four-second time bonus to put him in a tie with Menchov, who held the lead since winning the opening stage Wednesday to the ski area at Valdelinares.
Based on stage placements, however, Garzelli earned the tie-breaker and the overall title in an important victory as he prepares for next month’s Giro d’Italia.
“The objective was to arrive in good
It had been seven years since Gerolsteiner’s Davide Rebellin had taken back-to-back World Cup victories at the Clasica San Sebastian and Championship of Zürich. And despite having won 30 races since then, he was desperate to regain the prestige that had been grabbed in recent years by his fellow Italians Paolo Bettini and Danilo Di Luca.
Alison Dunlap and Filip Meirhaeghe entered Sunday’s cross-country races with the same goal but entirely different strategies. Dunlap needed do little more than follow the wheels in front of her, knowing that as long as she stayed close her 1:03 lead in the overall standings was safe. Meirhaeghe, meanwhile, had some work to do. Trailing GC leader Seamus McGrath by 14 seconds, and with three other riders in front of him, the reigning world champion would need to go on the attack if he hoped to end up with the day’s biggest prize.
In the end both plans worked, as Dunlap and Meirhaeghe left
Reigning champion Alexandre Vinokourov leads a growing list of contenders for victory at Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, where the Dutch hosts will be hoping that Michael Boogerd's ship comes in.
Along with compatriot and Rabobank teammate Erik Dekker, the 31-year-old Dutchman is the most popular rider in the country, but since his only win here in 1999 he has had to stop short of the top step on his other three visits to the podium. Dekker has also won the race, in 2001.
Last year, “Boogie,” a stage winner on the 2002 Tour de France, had to shuffle with Lance Armstrong in the final kilometers
A day after losing a stage by inches in the Tour of Aragon, Spanish rider Oscar Laguna (Relax-Bodysol) got it right in Saturday’s 192km fourth stage from Huesca to La Muela.
Laguna, who lost to compatriot Constantino Zaballa (Saunier Duval) in a photo-finish Friday into Sabiñanigo, nipped Colombian rider Ivan Parra (CV-Kelme) to take his team’s first win of the 2004 season.
Laguna and Parra were the only survivors out of a seven-man break that split away early in Saturday’s relatively flat stage. The hard-working main bunch slowly picked off the break, but the two stayed away. Parra started
Chris Horner wasn’t shy when talking about his strategy for today’s 100-mile road race finale to the 2004 Sea Otter Stage Race: wait as long as possible to attack for the stage and overall win. Neither was he coy when discussing the reason for his simple plan: save his legs as much as possible for the Tour of Georgia, which starts on Tuesday.
The beauty of Horner’s simple plan was that it actually worked, giving the 32-year-old Webcor rider the stage and overall victories in the three-stage event. With a few fruitless breaks punctuating the first three-quarters of the stage, and with the
With a stiff crosswind blowing across the Laguna Seca Raceway, the third event of the Sea Otter Classic mountain-bike stage race saw a former (Alison Dunlap) and current (Filip Meirhaeghe) world champion take short track wins on a cool Saturday afternoon.
In the women’s race it was overall race leader Dunlap (Luna) breaking away from a lead group of four on the last lap, earning her second stage win in three days. Right on Dunlap’s wheel was Canadian Melanie McQuaid, who made the initial last-lap move that would eventually spring Dunlap to the win.
“Melanie really split the field by
For 16 of the 17 laps in Friday’s women’s circuit race at the Laguna Seca Raceway it seemed that the winner would emerge from the lumbering pack. But after a disappointing ride in yesterday’s prologue, Lyne Bessette (Quark) decided that leaving her fortunes to a field sprint was a bad idea. So with less than a lap to go, Bessette launched a go-for-broke attack on the course’s main climb. And it worked.
“I wanted to take one shot,” said Bessette. “I didn’t want to do two attacks at 80 percent, I wanted to do one at 100 percent. I knew it wasn’t going to come down to a field sprint, because
Representatives of French cycling, which has been rocked recently by the Cofidis doping affair, have agreed that doping testers should be allowed to carry out random controls at riders' homes.
Random dope testing at athletes' homes is against the law in France – however, since the Cofidis affair exploded in January, a number of top riders have spoken out about the need for harsh measures.
A roundtable meeting held in Paris Friday brought together the management of top teams, the French cycling federation, riders and race organizers in a bid to thrash out the possible solutions to the
Canadians Seamus McGrath and Kiara Bisaro walked away with stage wins on day two of the Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race. But Friday’s time trial didn’t change the names at the top of the overall standings, as American Alison Dunlap and Swiss rider Thomas Frischknecht maintained their GC leads.
The women kicked off racing, taking on the 5-mile TT course under mostly clear skies at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. The course started next to the finish of the dual slalom track, heading up a slight rise before dumping riders onto the raceway tarmac.
There another short
The action was hot despite the cold and rain in Friday’s third stage of the Tour of Aragon in Spain. Constantino Zaballa (Saunier Duval) won a photo-finish, seven-up sprint against Oscar Laguna (Relax-Bodysol) as Denis Menchov (Illes Balears) retained the overall lead.
Zaballa and Laguna were part of a seven-man break that peeled away from the main bunch over the final Category 3 climb about 25km from the finish line, and the chase was on. Illes Balears checked an early move that chugged away over the day’s main obstacles – two Cat. 1 climbs in the opening 90km.
Menchov was part of the
A Spanish judge will launch an investigation into the accusations of professional cyclist Jesus Manzano that a system of organized doping existed while he was riding for the Kelme team.
Although Spain has no specific anti-doping laws, an unnamed Madrid judge said through a statement that he had opened the investigation because of a possible breach of public-health legislation.
According to the penal code, such offenses can carry a sentence of up to six years in prison.
Manzano, who rode with the Kelme team for three years but was dropped from the squad last September, published his
Last Friday we finished up racing in the Tour of the Basque country. Nice terrain, green hills, and cold wet weather. The race is a five-day Hors Categorie UCI race which many teams have as an objective for the early season or use as a trampoline to gain fitness before the Ardennes classics.
The race offers up undulating and mountainous terrain, with several climbs each day - 25 over the five days - with much of the distance of the race being covered on narrow farm roads.
Our team went to Pays Basque with loose objectives. Floyd knew he would be able to race for the overall but the rest of
Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) was the easy winner in Thursday’s 167kmsecond stage in the Tour of Aragon in Spain. Russian Denis Menchov (IllesBalears), winner of Wednesday’s climbing stage, easily retained the leader’sjersey in the sunny day in the saddle.Petacchi won by two bike lengths ahead of Massimo Strazzer (SaunierDuval) in the Italian’s first victory since his dramatic breakdown in lastmonth’s Milan-San Remo.“I’m very happy to win today,” Petacchi said. “Illes Balears helpedus control the stage and my team worked perfectly for me in the sprint.The team said this was a stage for
With 75 percent of the 2.9-mile track on pavement, it was no surprise that road tactics played a big part in the opening mountain bike event at the 2004 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California on Thursday. It was also no surprise that a pair of supreme riders — Alison Dunlap and Thomas Frischknecht — walked away with the inaugural wins in the first-ever super cross-country.
In the women’s race, Dunlap (Luna) took a sprint win ahead of Canadian Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher). The pair was part of a 28-rider group that separated itself from the field early in the 75-minute race, which
World road champion Igor Astarloa appears set to leave the embattled Cofidis team if he cannot compete in two one-day classics next week.
Cofidis president Francois Migraine announced last Friday that France's top team would be suspended from all racing while an investigation into alleged doping among several former and current riders is held.
The decision meant that another of the team's reigning champions, Britain's David Millar - who won the time trial title in Canada - was prevented from competing in his World Cup track debut at Manchester on Saturday. Millar has expressed support for
On paper a three-kilometer, downhill time trial would seem perfectly suitedto a rider with power to burn and trained in the art of the short hardeffort. As it turned out, that’s exactly the type of ride that did wintoday’s prologue at the Sea Otter Classic road stage race. New ZealanderHayden Godfrey (Health Net) spends a big portion of the season racing theteam and individual pursuits, making his physiology ideally suited forthe sub-3:00 effort.
Godfrey’s win, and Health Net placing all six riders in the top 10,marked the first crack in Chris Horner’s dominance of the domestic racingscene
While scaled back in size for 2004, the Sea Otter Classic road stage race still aspires to be one of the better multi-day races in the U.S. With only three stages, down from the four in 2003, Sea Otter organizers have chosen to center all of the racing around the grounds of the Laguna Seca raceway, with every stage starting and finishing on the track’s familiar tarmac. Racing commences Thursday, and runs through Saturday.
As the final event of the active California spring stage race season, Sea Otter seems the perfect opportunity for Webcor’s Chris Horner to complete the Golden State sweep.
Tom Boonen (Quick Step) proved he’s the natural successor for the departingJohan Museeuw after the young Belgian won Wednesday’s Scheldeprijs Vlaanderenon the same day his mentor, teammate and friend raced his last as a pro.
In what was the final race for Belgian classics legend Johan Museeuw, fittingly, it was his 23-year-old Quick Step team-mate who took the plaudits.
Boonen, whom many believe is worthy of emulating his revered compatriot, held off Lotto’s Robbie McEwen and De Nardi's Simone Cadamuro at the finish line of the 200km race between Antwerp and Schoten. It was his second
Dear Monique,Since the beginning of the year, I've been exercising regularly to lose weight. As a former competitive cyclist, my preferred method, up to this point, has been to take part in "spinning" sessions, or riding my indoor trainer, four to five days per week. I've also recently started to mix in some moderate weight/resistance training two to three times per week.
Here's my problem. Since the beginning of January, when I started my routine on a more regular basis, I have not been able to lose a single pound. According to my heart rate monitor, I've burned enough calories in four
The doping investigation which prompted France’s top team to withdraw from competition has already cast a deep shadow over July's Tour de France. The Cofidis affair has stirred up memories of the 1998 "Tour of Shame" which was rocked by police raids and led to the Festina trial in 2000 in which Richard Virenque and his teammates revealed the widespread use of doping in cycling.
Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc has so far declined to take any measures against Cofidis, even though he has already barred Spanish team Kelme from the race on doping grounds.
"Let's be patient. Let's
French rider Franck Bouyer (La Boulangère) won the Paris-Camembert race in France on Tuesday, edging Thomas Lovkist (FDJeux.com) to take the French semi-classic.
Bouyer, a winner of a stage last week in the Circuit de la Sarthe, escaped with Lovkist and held off the Swede to take the victory. Johan Coenem (Mr Bookmaker) led the main bunch in at 20 seconds back.
Paris-Camembert was the sixth leg of the French Cup series and Bouyer moves into third overall behind series leader Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole).
65th Paris-Camembert Lepetit (FRA 1.2)1. Franck Bouyer (F), La Boulangère, 4:29
Dear Lennard,I would like to know how to assess whether a bicycle crank arm or the pedal shaft is bent following a road crash or just hitting an object with the pedal as often happens off-road.
Apart from obvious signs like the crank arm hitting the frame or other visible damage, there should be a way to determine that the pedal shaft is perfectly horizontal and 90 degrees to the frame. Hitting an object with the pedal may slightly bend parts upward when the pedal is at the bottom. Then when the pedal is at the 12 o'clock position the damage is effectively doubled as the effective bend is
Bobby Julich (Team CSC) is scheduled to fly to the United States on Tuesday, where he will race in the Tour of Georgia later this month.
It’s the first time the American has raced in front of the home crowd since 1996 and Julich is expecting a strong race following his impressive spring campaign in Europe.
Julich finished third at Paris-Nice in March and won the final time trial at the Tour of the Basque Country on Friday, his first win in Europe since 1997.
“Anything that happens in Georgia now will be icing on the cake,” Julich said after nipping compatriot Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) by
Australian veteran Scott Sunderland couldn't have asked for a better debut on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, the third round in the ten-race World Cup on Sunday.
Sunderland, at 37 made his debut on the world's toughest one-day cycling race over 261 km - 51 of which were over 26 bike-rattling cobblestones. Afterwards, the Aussie positively gushed with delight as teammate Magnus Backstedt secured an historic victory for Sweden, and for their Italian team Alessio. Backstedt, a 29-year-old sprinter, signaled his intentions with a second place finish behind Tom Boonen in Wednesday's
FDJeux.com’s Baden Cooke said Monday that he is about to file suit against a French newspaper over an article suggesting that he had injected himself with a banned stimulant.
Tuesday's edition of Le Monde includes extracts from a telephone conversation recorded by the police in September 2001. In it French cyclist Philippe Boyer, who was handed a one year prison sentence last year for drug trafficking, is claimed to be talking to a supposed friend of Cooke's, a woman called Sandrine.
She tells Boyer that Cooke, who won the Tour de France green points jersey last year, had felt ill after
Dear Joe,I am 41-years-old and I do just about any activity that involves cycling, including triathlons and duathlons. One of the things that I noticed is that I can maintain a higher heart rate running than I can while on my bike.
Is there a different lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR) for running than there is for cycling?Thank you,Steven Crane
Dear Steven,Yes. Actually, this is quite normal for an athlete to have differences in heart rate at lactate threshold for different sports.
Part of the answer involves the amount of muscle fibers used within different sports. Running simply
Magnus Backstedt (Alessio) was as surprised as anyone after realizing a childhood dream by winning the 102nd edition of Paris-Roubaix in a sprint finish on Sunday.
The big Swede, 6-foot-3 and just under 200 pounds, outsprinted Tristan Hoffman (CSC) and Roger Hammond (MrBookmaker.com) to win the grueling 261km “Hell of the North.”
As a former two-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, Marc Madiot knows all about the effects the weather can have on anyone's chances of victory on the race known as the "Hell of the North.”
Madiot, now the team manager with Fdjeux.com, won the race in 1985, sandwiched in between the two victories of Irish sprinter Sean Kelly, then did it again six years later, in 1991.
In good conditions, Paris-Roubaix is enough to give any pro rider cause for concern. But add a sprinkling of rain on one of the race's 26 cobblestone sections, and buoyant hopes of victory can soon drown in despair.
"When it
Cofidis, the sponsor of France's top cycling team, has made no decision on its future in the sport following its decision to pull the team out of all competitions.
The credit company's president, Francois Migraine, said very little after an emergency meeting Saturday in Marcq-en-Baroeil, France, with his team managers and a select few riders.
"It was a discussion between me and them," said Migraine.
Team sprinter Jimmy Casper, meanwhile, said Cofidis simply wanted to put things right and expressed confidence that its future could be assured.
"The boss told us we have to get back on the
During the days preceding Paris-Roubaix, the talk is often of the weather, which, over the years, has often put the hell in the Hell of the North at this one-of-a-kind spring classic.
TUNE IN TO VELONEWS.COM beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern time Sunday for our live updates from the 102nd Paris-Roubaix, with on-the-spot assistance from VeloNews editor Kip Mikler, European correspondent Andrew Hood and photographer Graham Watson.
If it rains for Sunday’s 102nd running of the race, as it did memorably two years ago, the 26 cobblestone sections of the 261km route will become the enemy of the 184
American Jennie Reed won gold in the keirin on Saturday during round three of the UCI Track World Cup in Manchester, England.
Reed, of Kirkland, Washington, fourth in yesterday’s women's sprint, beat Susan Panzer (Germany) and Daniela Larreal (Venezuela) in the keirin to take the first gold medal of the event for the United States.
ResultsWomen500 meter time trial1. Yvonne Hijgenaar (Ned) 35.1892. Yonghua Jiang (Chn) 35.3103. Victoria Pendleton (GB) 35.4993000 meter individual pursuit1. Katherine Bates (Aus), 3:35.352, beat 2. Emma Davies (GB), 3:42.768; 3. Hanka Kupfernagel (G), 3:43.275,
One of the greatest episodes in the history of cycling's World Cup will come to an end Sunday when Belgian classics king Johan Museeuw races his final Paris-Roubaix.
Considered the toughest one-day race in the world, the French classic needs no introduction. Tour de France legend Bernard Hinault once described it in less-than-glowing terms.
"It's not a race, it's more like a cyclo-cross," raged Hinault, who, nonetheless, had to have a go and eventually tamed the "Hell of the North" himself in 1981.
The 38-year-old Museeuw, who will finally hang up his wheels three days afterwards at the GP
Bradley McGee signaled his intentions to better his Olympic bronze medal from four years ago when Athens comes around by scoring a comprehensive World Cup win in the 4000-meter individual pursuit Friday night in Manchester, England.
The Australian, who rides with the French professional road team FDJeux.com, finished nearly seven seconds ahead of Sergi Escobar Roure in the final with a time of 4:19.696. Great Britain's Paul Manning won the ride-off for bronze against Russian Alexander Serov.
The event was McGee's only chance of staking his claim to a spot on the Australian Olympic team
Johan Museeuw seeks a record-equaling fourth victory in the Paris-Roubaix classic on Sunday, knowing that most of his rivals come from within his own Quick Step-Davitamon team.
Victory would put Museeuw on a par with compatriot Roger de Vlaeminck, the only man to have conquered the cobblestones of "The Hell of the North" four times.
Apart from last year's winner, Peter Van Petegem, Musseuw's leading rivals will be familiar faces. Belgian hopeful Tom Boonen, winner of the Ghent-Wevelgem classic this week, Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi, 2001 winner Servais Knaven from the Netherlands and
Bobby Julich (CSC) was back in the spotlight Friday at the Vuelta a Pais Vasco after nipping compatriot Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) by less than one second to win his first race since 1998.
Julich was ecstatic with the narrow victory on a technical, rain-slicked 8.5km course that featured a short, steep climb in the rugged mountains of northern Spain.
“It’s unbelievable. What a comeback in less than a couple of months,” Julich said after covering the course in 11 minutes, 57 seconds (42.62 kph). “The moment I signed with Bjarne Riis I knew this was possible. This feels really good.”
Russian
France's top cycling team, Cofidis, will not be entering any more races for the foreseeable future, beginning with Sunday's Paris-Roubaix classic, the third race in the 10-leg World Cup.
Cofidis is battling a series of doping allegations, and press reports in Friday's newspapers only served to further put the team in the mire.
Today, the team's sponsor, credit company Cofidis, issued a statement that said in part: "In the face of the seriousness of recent allegations, the Cofidis company has decided to take some time out to reflect on the current situation. As a consequence, as of today and
With 4 to 8 inches of snow expected to fall over Boulder, Colorado, between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, the Colorado Roubaix road race has been rescheduled for late May.
The tough event, which features a rolling, 17-mile loop circumnavigating washboard dirt, paved and gravel roads around the Boulder Reservoir, was being billed as the stateside race most closely resembling a Paris-Roubaix-style event. Scheduled one day before the European classic, the race was expected to draw Colorado-based members of Health Net, Ofoto, and TIAA-CREF-5280, and many in the area’s elite-level
Poke around our sport a bit and you’re sure to find a handful of ex-pro’s still making a healthy living as shills… er… spokespersons for a particular product. Sometimes, like George Foreman pitching his line of “Double Knockout” grills, many of the cycling spokespeople know (or care) little about the product they’ve associated themselves with (no offense George).
Still, even if you throw out the long list of “big time” names connected to product solely to make a quick buck, you’ll get a healthy list of riders who are seriously committed to improving the sport and bettering a particular
Four American racers were poised to jump into contention for the overall title at the demanding Vuelta al Pais Vasco going into today’s challenging climbing stage to Lekunberri, won by Denis Menchov (Illes Balears).
Floyd Landis (U.S. Postal Service) and Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) started Thursday’s stage in the select group of 20 riders tied with the same time as leader Alejandro Valverde (Kelme).
Bobby Julich (CSC) and Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) sit just eight seconds out of the lead going into the climb-riddled stage, which features a long Category 1 climb that tops out just 3km from the
Denis Menchov, a quiet Russian on the Illes Balears team, ruined the party for the hometown heroes of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team in Thursday’s decisive climbing stage in the Vuelta a Pais Vasco.
Menchov punched the accelerator with 500 meters to go up the short but steep Category 1 Alto Azpiroz climb near the finish of the 182km fourth stage to quickly drop David Etxebarria (Euskaltel).
The Russian didn’t look back as he crested the summit and hammered the final 3km to the finish line to score his second stage win this season and seize the overall lead. Menchov, the best young rider of the
Germany's Jan Ullrich said Thursday he is happy to amble along at the back of the peloton in preparation for his main challenge of the year - facing Lance Armstrong during what is bound to be an unmissable Tour de France in July.
Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner who returned to form with another runner-up finish behind Armstrong last year, is taking part in this week's Circuit de La Sarthe race with no ambitions of winning stages or the race itself.
While 32-year-old Armstrong has increased his training load ahead of the July 3-25 showpiece, during which the American U.S. Postal rider will bid
It would have been a shame, really, if it had ended any other way.
After treating the local fans to a display of power in the 66th running of Ghent-Wevelgem in Belgium on Wednesday, the Quick Step-Davitamon team turned to its young gun Tom Boonen to close the deal. The 23-year-old did so magnificently, continuing his rise to stardom by outfoxing a group of seasoned sprinters including Magnus Backstedt (Alessio-Bianchi) and Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R), who finished second and third respectively.
The troubled Kelme team hopes winning will help erase the bad memories of the past few weeks.
The Spanish team brushed off recent doping allegations by ex-rider Jesus Manzano and won Wednesday’s third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country and bounced back into the overall lead.
First-year pro Carlos Zarate held on during an epic solo move to win his first pro victory while Alejandro Valverde, winner of the opening stage, shot ahead of the peloton to claim second and recapture the overall lead.
“I still can’t believe I won,” said Zarate, who held a nearly two-minute lead over the Category
Ludovic Turpin gave France its second winner in two days at the Circuitde la Sarthe as the Ag2r rider held off a pair of Aussies to win the secondstage.Two riders -- Yuryi Kristvov (Ag2r) and Luis Sanchez (Liberty Seguros)– went on the attack early on to build up an eight-minute lead. Kristvovwas reeled in with just 5km to go to set up the sprint.Franck Bouyer (La Boulangere) retained the overall lead after finishingsafely in the main pack that came into Montreuil for a mass gallop. Turpinedged Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) and Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros), whocame through third. American Fred
Dear Lennard,For the sake of example, let’s say you are in 39/17 and switch to 53/23 (or whatever the equivalent ratio is). Assuming the gear size is the same, is the 53/23 more efficient because the chain is on a larger tooth cog?When compared, does the rider have more leverage on generating rotation of the rear wheel when using the larger ring? Also, does the 53T chainring reduce leverage that the crank arm exerts on the chain and thus the back wheel?TreyFrom Wayne Stetina at ShimanoAn interesting question to be sure. Basically at the heart of the debateabout any potential advantages for
It’s spring in Basque Country and that means rainy, cool weather. Tuesday’s 180km second stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco followed that script as riders hit a string of short, but steep climbs in the rugged mountains of northern Spain.
Beat Zberg (Gerolsteiner) was fastest out of a group of 40 riders that cleared the day’s many hurdles to claim the stage victory ahead of Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel). Danilo Di Luca (Saeco) started his sprint too early and faded to fourth, but it was a good move as he slipped into the overall leader’s jersey.
The rollercoaster stage featured a tough
Spanish cyclist Jesus Manzano appeared in court in Turin, Italy, on Tuesdaywhere he was questioned by prosecutors who are trying to find out moreabout doping in the sport.Manzano, whose recent claims about doping practices at his former Kelmeteam have rocked the sport to its foundations in Spain, appeared in frontof public prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello at the city's Palace of Justice.Guariniello, who is leading his own investigation into doping practicesin the sport in Italy, quizzed Manzano for three-and-a-half hours."It was a long and tough interrogation," said the 25-year-old, who
Kelme’s Alejandro Valverde won the first stage of the Tour du Pays Basque – the Tour of the Basque country – a 139km run around Bergara, on Monday.
Valverde, recent winner of the Tour of Murcia, prevailed in a sprint finish at the end of the opening day's stage, which featured three climbs. His compatriot Angel Vicioso and Davide Rebellin of Italy filled the minor placings.
While Valverde was celebrating, fellow Spaniard Joseba Beloki retired before the end after failing to keep up with the pace.
I the final Category 2 climb nine kilometers from the end the Saeco riders Gilberto Simoni and
Getting back on the horse that threw yaDear Joe,I'm a 60-year-old recreational rider (2500 miles per year) who endo-edand fractured my C1 and C2 vertebra last July.Ignoring the fact that everyone thinks I'm crazy to get back on thebike, what are some things to watch out for as I recondition my body aftera six-month layoff?My physical therapist has me doing isometric, stretching and weighttraining to increase my neck flexibility and strengthen my neck and backmuscles. I have some residual limitation in my neck movement as a resultof my injury. For example, it's hard for me to look left and
As a team, we made the most of our time between the Castilla and Flanders World Cups by scheduling a sponsor visit to our sponsor to SRM in Germany, getting in some solid training rides and organizing a pre-ride of the course in Flanders.
The SRM headquarters is close to the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands. Ulrich Schoberer, the inventor of the SRM, welcomed us to the company. The company is named after him, though for English speakers, Schoberer Rad Messtechnik is a little bit more difficult to say than “SRM.” Schoberer is a great host, he took us for nice dinners, did some testing
Zulfia Zabirova took a page from the men’s playbook to win the women’s Tour of Flanders. Like many past Flanders champions, she used the cobbled slopes of the day’s penultimate climb, the infamous Muur de Geraardsbergen, to catapult to a solo victory in the first World Cup edition of the race.
After starting in Oudenaarde and scaling the Kruisberg, the 96km Ronde Van Vlaanderen Vrouwen merged with the men’s course just before the Boigneberg, the first of the final eight climbs the two races shared on the day. Despite Farm Frites-Hartol’s concerted efforts to control the race for Leontien Van
Many longtime observers of the Tour of Flanders, the traditional kickoff to northern Europe’s World Cup classics, estimated Sunday’s crowds to be the largest in recent memory for the Belgian race known here as the “Ronde.”
From the frigid morning start in Bruge’s historic Grote Markt to the surprise finish in the small town of Meerbeke, thousands pressed against the barriers lining the 257km course. Most were straining to see, among other things, one last glimpse of Johan Museeuw in action: a legendary Belgian in a legendary Belgian event.
The Tour of Flanders, the second leg of the ten-race World Cup, smiled unkindly on a few of the Australian riders competing over a tough 257km of cobblestones and short steep climbs from Bruges to Meerbeke on Sunday.
Victorian Baden Cooke, one of a handful of realistic contenders for theFlemish classic known as the Ronde --won by the relatively unknown but experienced German Steffen Wesemann -- crashed out just after the halfway stage. His Fdjeux.com team-mate Matt Wilson, the Australian national champion, failed to finish as steady crosswinds pounded the peloton throughout. With 64km
Boston, MA (April 3-4, 2003) - Hundreds of collegiate cyclists from the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) convened on the Boston area for the third annual Boston Beanpot Classic.
The races included the BU team time trial in historic Concord, a criterium on the Tufts campus in Somerville, and the Grafton Hills road race promoted by Harvard. Saturday night featured a catered banquet dinner by Wentworth with keynote speaker Jonathan Vaughters providing tales and tips to the hundreds of attendees. The University of Vermont took top honors in Division 1 for the weekend, and fought
When Johan Museeuw began racing as a professional cyclist, in 1988, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States, Dustin Hoffman’s “Rain Man” was selling out movie theaters, and the Netherlands became the first European country to be linked to the Internet. Museeuw, now 39, competes in his final four races in the first part of April, determined to add at least one more victory to his record haul of 11 World Cup classics.
Nothing could make Museeuw happier than winning Sunday’s Tour of Flanders (the Ronde van Vlaanderen), or April 11’s Paris-Roubaix. The legendary Belgian rider has won
Cycling's most successful active one-day rider – Johan Museeuw, the “Lion of Flanders” — will continue winding down his lengthy career on the second race of the 10-leg World Cup here on Sunday.
Museeuw, who is gunning for a record fourth victory in the 88th Tour of Flanders before he retires after the GP de l'Escaut on April 14, admits that as he approaches hanging up his bike for good, what should be his final roar on the “Ronde” could turn out to be more of a whimper.
The 38-year-old Belgian conceded this week that his failing legs "on the harder climbs" mean he could end up playing a
This time of year is almost like Christmas for those of us who love bicycles and the annual improvements to the technology that adds to the pleasureof riding them. That's right, it’s time for the 2005 product roll-outs!
I've really been enjoying the fact that next year’s suspension product lines are going to be marked by serious competition and some major developments. Manufacturers have been particularly eager to showcase technology to help them hold or regain a foothold in the lucrative bicycle suspension fork and shock market. Manitou was first this year to debut its 2005 product
After finishing third in the fourth and final stage, U.S Postal’s George Hincapie has won the overall title at the Three Days of De Panne, the warm-up before this weekend’s World Cup race, the Tour of Flanders.
Quick Step’s Hungarian time trial specialist, Lazlo Bodrogi, won the final stage a 13.7km time trial at Le Panne in northern Belgium.
Hincapie's victory is the ninth of the season by the Postal team. Hincapie entered Thursday's 13.7km time trial in third place overall, 16 seconds back of race leader Baden Cooke of FDJeux.com. Hincapie finished the stage five seconds behind Bodrogi to
One January 1, 2004, caffeine was removed from the World Anti-DopingAgency prohibited list, after being a “controlled to restricted drug” inthe world of athletic performance for years, and moved to the “monitoringlist.”
Prior to this change caffeine urine levels of greater than 12 microgramsper millimeter were considered illegal. The reason for this change, notesWADA, is really very practical. This old limit has always given caffeinea unique position as a “potentially” performance-enhancing drug, implyingthat higher doses of caffeine are required to improve performance. However,this is
FDJeux’s Aussie sprinter Baden Cooke moved into the overall lead after scoring a win in stage 2 of the Three Days of De Panne, a 237km race from Zottegem to Coxyde in Northern Belgium Wednesday.
Cooke, who finished second in Tuesday’s opening stage, beat Saeco’s Giosué Bonomi and Rabobank’s Steven De Jongh, who took third.
The day was marked by an early escape by Rabobank’s Matt Hayman, Bart Voskamp (Chocolade Jacques) and Stefan Van Dijk, who eventually built a lead of nearly eight minutes on the main field, before the Gerolsteiner team of race leader Daniel Hondo took up the chase.
Upon
Gerolsteiner’s Danilo Hondo won the first stage of the Three Days of De Panne on Tuesday, taking a sprint win at the end of 196km race from Middelkerke to Zottegem, Belgium.
Hondo charged to the line, beating Baden Cooke (fdjeux.com), U.S. Postal’s George Hincapie and Luca Paolini (Quick Step) and 20 others who had formed a strong breakaway group about 9km from the finish.
With time bonuses considered, Hondo now enjoys a four-second lead over Cooke on GC, with Hincapie rounding out the top three at six seconds. American David Clinger (Domina Vacanze) also made the break and finished the day
Avoiding the grindDear Lennard,I'm having a problem with my 13-39 X 53/39 Campy Chorus (2003) set-up.When it is on the 39 ring and in the 26 or 29 cog, the space between thecog and the upper roller/jockey of the derailleur is so close that thechain is rubbed/grinded in between. I have tried turning the screw on thederailleur cage but to no avail. It appears that the chain is too longeven if I followed the somewhat confusing instruction of the Campy manual.Can you please share any other tip to determine proper chain length? I'vesearched the VeloNews archives for your feature on this asI
Dear Joe and Dirk,Mine has to be a pretty common problem. With work, kids, a job, a mortgage… well you know the drill. When it gets down to it, I can really only ride maybe three days a week for two hours max. Some weeks it is only two days with one of the rides being on the trainer.
With such minimal training time, should I spend a larger percentage of my time doing hard riding (intervals, etc) since I am less likely to over-train? How should you adjust the time spent in each zone when you have more than adequate recovery time?Thanks,Don
Don,You are not uncommon and trying to get the
Usually when the time changes in the spring of each year, it is accompanied by an improvement in the weather, but here in Salamanca, we experienced a serious digression in the conditions over night as Europe moved into to daylight savings time.
We awoke to dark skies and snow flurries. It was hard to believe we were in Spain or that it was the end of March. In keeping with the mood, Cathy Marsal wished me a “Merry Christmas” as we were warming up. It seems like the spring weather has been especially harsh this year in Europe.
Michael sent me a text message from France, where he was racing
Over the past week, I have been in Northern Europe getting reacquainted with the cold weather. I have had a good schedule in the last months as I have only raced in the south of Spain and Portugal and have not had to suffer and endure the frigid temps in the rest of Europe.
In Dwaars door Vlandaaren, a one-day race in Flanders; I was initiated to the cobbles, bergs, wind and cold. All in all, it was a pretty good experience and one I would go back and fight through again. This year we have a great team for the classics, as Max, Devolder, George and Eki’ are all riding well enough to win any