Road

Italy’s Fabiana Luperini (Team 2002 Aurora) on Thursday won the fifth stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 101.5-mile run between Argentière-la-Bessée (Hautes-Alpes) and Vaujany (Isère). Spaniard Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Panda Spiuk), second on the stage, retains the overall lead. –Copyright 2003/AFP Stage results:1. Fabiana Luperini (I), Team 2002 Aurora, 101.5km in 3:00:09 (average speed: 33,805 km/h)2. Joane Somarriba (Sp), Bizkaia Panda Spiuk, at 0:033. Nicole Brändli (SUI), Prato Marathon Bike, at 0:154. Suzanne Ljungskog (Swi), Bik-Powerplate, at 1:305. Edita Pucinskaite (LIT),

Pascual Llorente (Kelme-Costa Blanca) was reported to be the rider who tested positive for the performance boosting drug EPO (erythropoietin) during this year's Tour de France, the sports daily Marca claimed Wednesday. Kelme director Juan Mas told AFP that one of his riders had indeed tested positive, with confirmation coming after the rider´s B-sample had been tested. But Mas said he was reluctant to specify which of the nine members of the Tour squad tested positive. "I can't reveal the name of the rider until he has received official notification," said Mas. The Spanish rider was the

The 2003 season is over for reigning world time trial champion Santiago Botero, his Telekom team announced Wednesday. Nagging stomach problems that forced the Colombian to pull out of the 2003 Tour are still bothering him, and his team said Botero will neither race the Vuelta a España in September nor defend his world title in October. "Santiago must first fully recover," said team doctor Lothar Heinrich. Medical tests revealed a stomach bacterial infection and lingering virus. Botero finished fourth overall in the 2002 Tour, but pulled out of this year's race after stage 17 after

Italy’s Fabiana Luperini (Team 2000 Aurora) won Wednesday's abbreviated fourth stage of Le Grande Boucle Féminin, which was trimmed to 31.2km between Guillestre and Puy-Saint-Vincent because of a mudslide. By finishing third on the day, Spain’s Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Panda Spiuk ) seized the leader’s jersey that the Russian Olga Zabelinskaia (Vélodames-Colnago) had worn since the beginning of the race. Initially envisaged between Val d'Allos (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) and Puy-Saint-Vincent (Hautes-Alpes), the stage was disturbed by a mud flow the previous day between Barcelonnette and

Italian Cristian Moreni (Alessio) won Wednesday’s first stage of the 19th Regio-Tour, a 189.4km run between the German city of Heitersheim and Guebwiller in France. Moreni was the man of the moment in this first of five stages, which cover 814km in the area of the Upper Rhine, claiming not only the yellow leader’s jersey but also those of best climber and best sprinter. The 116 racers from15 teams began the stage slowly amid hot conditions. But with the approach of the Vosges, the race became animated and breakaway attempts multiplied until a group of about 30 went clear. About 3km from

A quick recap for those just joining the program: in my column last week I made mention that the Trek TT bikes used in the Tour de France were showing up in the worldwide media sporting modified Shimano headsets. I went on to discuss how I felt this odd, considering Chris King was the official headset sponsor for the team. Most interesting was the response I received from Chris King representative Jacki Sterner, indicating that the Postal mechanics didn’t “have time” to install headsets on the Tour bikes. A simple technical reason (stack height, cup fit) would have quelled my curiosity, but

Bianchi's Jan Ullrich confirmed he will race in October's world championships but remained doubtful on whether he'll use the Vuelta a España as his warm-up. "The focus of the remaining season is the world championships," Ullrich told German television after the HEW Cyclassics race Sunday. "There's a question mark whether I'm going to do the Vuelta, but I will see in two weeks’ time." Ullrich confirmed he'll race in the next two rounds of the World Cup - Saturday's Clasica San Sebastian and GP Zurich on Aug. 17 - but left his participation in the Vuelta up in the air. "I would love to do

Spaniard Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Spiuk Panda) won the third stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin on Tuesday, an 88km run from Fayence to Valberg. Swiss Nicole Braendli (Prato Marathon Bike) crossed second at 0:50 with Fabiana Luperini (Team 2002 Aurora) third at 1:49. Olga Zabelinskaïa (Vélodames-Colnago) finished in a bunch that finished more than four minutes behind the leader. She retained her yellow jersey, but just barely, as Somarriba moved to within 30 seconds of the Russian. Wednesday’s fourth stage is a 116km run from Val d’Allos to Puy-Saint-Vincent. –Copyright 2003/AFP

The wave of fires that has swept Portugal for a week could disturb the Tour of Portugal, which starts Wednesday in Albufeira, according to his organizers. On Friday and Saturday, the race will traverse the areas most seriously touched by fire, during the third stage (Campo Maior-Castelo Branco) and the fourth (Castelo Branco-Coimbra). For the moment, nothing indicates that it is necessary to modify the routes of the stages, according to Lusa Fernando Petronilho, press spokesman for the race organizers. "We are in daily contact with the mayor of Castelo Branco and with civil protection, and

Dear Monique:Working at a bike shop, I see customers every day spending hundreds of dollars on high-tech hydration and recovery mixes. I however, do not use them, and I’ve never felt like my performance is sub-par compared to my buddies and teammates. I hydrate only with water and Gatorade, and I recover with chocolate milk and a PB & J sandwich. I’m curious as to whether there has ever been any independent testing of these products, and whether they actually do provide an edge over my “over-the-counter,” homemade diet - either in terms of a week of racing or training, or during a weeklong

Spanish cycling took a blow Monday when perennial team sponsor ONCE announced it will end its 15-year support of cycling at the end of the 2003 season. Rumors began circulating last week that ONCE (a Spanish agency that serves blind people and runs a national lottery) would pull the plug at the end of the year instead of continuing through the 2004 season as planned. The team will compete in the 2003 Vuelta and the remainder of the racing calendar, but an internal decision taken Monday leaves Spain's premier team without a title sponsor come November, reported the Spanish daily

Spaniard Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Spiuk Panda) soloed to victory Monday in the second stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 106km run from Corte to Saint-Florent. Just past Oletta, 84.5km into the race, six riders escaped the bunch – Fabiana Luperini and Jolanta Polikeviciute (Team 2002 Aurora), Judith Arndt (Nürnberger), Nicole Braendli (Prato Marathon Bike), Somarriba and Edita Pucinskaite (Michela Fanini). A few kilometers from the Col de Teghime, Somarriba attacked and took the lead by a handful of seconds over her breakaway companions. On the descent, covered at more than 80 km/h,

Stuttgart’s world track championships wrapped up on a high note for Germany as its sprinters showed the host country’s riders were still capable of a bit of teamwork. After the implosion of its team pursuit squad, Germany demonstrated the depth of its sprint program by fending off a strong challenge in the gold medal round from the French to secure the world team sprint competition on Sunday. The final in the three-lap event – formerly tagged with the somewhat confusing moniker of “Olympic Sprint” – pitted Germany’s Carsten Bergemann, Jens Fiedler and Rene Wolff against a strong French

Quick Step's Paolo Bettini tried for three weeks to win a stage at the 2003 Tour de France but fell short. Now, a week later at Sunday's HEW Cyclassics race in Germany, the Italian upstaged local favorite Jan Ullrich (Bianchi) to win his second World Cup victory of the season. "This is a great race, no matter what people say," said Bettini, who moved into second overall in the World Cup standings. "Some criticize it because the course is relatively undemanding, but look how exciting it was. I'm delighted with this victory, and I'm looking forward to winning this race again." Ullrich and

Just moments before a sudden rainstorm swept across Lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, former track-racing superstar Marty Nothstein delivered a lightning bolt of his own when he unleashed his world-class speed to win the second annual New York City Cycling Championship on the streets of New York. "I’ll tell you what," said Nothstein, whose rich track-racing resume includes the Olympic gold medal he won at the Sydney Games in 2000. "Since winning the Olympics, I’ve only been focusing on one thing, and that’s coming out to these criteriums to try and become one of the dominant

At the International-Tour de Toona, Saturn completed a sweep of the men’s and women’s races as Lyne Bessette wrapped up the women’s title on Sunday, while Tom Danielson overtook Navigators Chris Baldwin to win the men’s race, which concluded on Saturday. Danielson entered the final stage trailing Baldwin by 20 seconds, but the Saturn rider broke clear in the race, bridging to early breakaways Tim Johnson (Saturn), Brice Jones (7UP-Maxxis) and Baldwin's Navigators teammate Mark Walters. With Johnson and Danielson powering the breakaway, Danielson rode into the race lead. Walters sat on and

Russian Olga Zabelinskaia (Vélodames Colnago) won the opening stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin Sunday, a 105km run under blazing sun from Sarténe to Ajaccio. Zabelinskaia crossed the line alone in 3:03:03, trailed nearly four and a half minutes later by Austrian Sara Carrigan. Lisbeth Simer was third at 5:28. American Katrina Grove was fifth at 5:54. The Russian collected both the leader’s jersey and the jersey for best climber. Prerace favorite Susanne Ljungskog is sitting 18th on GC at 6:27. –Copyright 2003/AFP Stage results1. Olga Zabelinskaia (Rus), Vélodames Colnago, 105km in 3:03:03

Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein (Navigators) outsprinted the rain and Saturn's Victor Rapinski to win the New York City cycling championship on Sunday. Winner of the match sprint on the track at the Sydney Olympics, Nothstein has been making an impressive transition to road racing and blasted past Rapinski in the final 100 meters of the 62-mile event through the streets of New York. American David Clinger (Prime Alliance-TIAA-Cref) was third. "Since winning the gold medal in 2000, this has been a big transition from the track to the road," said Nothstein. "With proper training

They’ve said the track in Stuttgart, with its aged wooden surface is a fast one. It took the Australian pursuit team to prove just how fast as the four-man team of Graeme Brown, Peter Dawson, Luke Roberts and Brett Lancaster smashed the existing world mark – set by the Aussie squad a year ago – by more than two seconds Saturday. Facing a British team that included Robert Hayles, Paul Manning, Bryan Steel and individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, the Australians knew they had to ride a sub-four-minute pursuit just to remain competitive in the final. The two teams both appeared nervous

Jan Ullrich won the Night of Hannover cycling race Saturday, a midnight event which also turned into a celebration for 85,000 of the Bianchi rider's fans. Ullrich beat out local German Grischa Niermann in a sprint at the end through the city, with Mario Cipollini third, as Ullrich continues a series of city races since finishing second at the recent Tour de France. The German was bombarded by well-wishers and autograph seekers after his recent Tour de France comeback. The 1997 winner finished second to Lance Armstrong. "Everybody's great, I'm very happy about that," Ullrich said.

According to USPRO road racing champion Mark McCormack, there are two things the 105 racers scheduled to start Sunday’s New York City Cycling Championship will be concerned with. The first is a problem that anyone who has negotiated the streets of Manhattan will be familiar with: potholes. The second thing that could make things interesting in Sunday’s 100km race, held in New York’s Financial District beneath the skyscrapers of Wall Street, is a forecast that’s calling for rain. "The taxis don’t have the most leak-proof engines, so you’re dealing with a lot of oil on those roads," said

World champions Australia boosted its chances of defending its team-pursuit title after topping qualifying here Friday at the world track cycling championships. The foursome of Graeme Brown, Peter Dawson, Ashley Hutchinson and Stephen Wooldridge clocked an impressive 4:03.26 to launch their bid for Australia's first gold of the championships. Britain, who came third in the team event last year behind second-placed Germany, came a close second with France qualifying in third and New Zealand placing fourth. In the absence of a pursuit team from the hosts, who are the reigning Olympic

Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel wasn’t sure what to think when she lined up against Katie Mactier to successfully defend her title in the women’s individual pursuit final at the world track cycling championships on Friday. “Before the world championships, I really had no idea who she was,” remarked Van Moorsel just before her start, “but you have to admit she’s riding really well, no?” Van Moorsel was by no means alone in the Stuttgart velodrome this week. As far as the track world is concerned, Mactier is a complete neophyte, having taken up the discipline only after encountering visa

Broadmark Capital’s Cameron Evans and Saturn’s Laura Van Gilder took the stage wins on Friday at the International-Tour de ’Toona, while Chris Baldwin (Navigators) and Lyne Bessette (Saturn) lead the overall standings. Baldwin assumed the race leadership when Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill couldn’t start the day’s stage, as a result of injuries suffered at the end of Thursday’s stage. On Friday, the men’s race saw an eight-man breakaway group form at the end of the first of four 20-mile circuits. Included in the group were Evans, Kris Hedges and Ian Dille of Snow Valley, Oscar Piñeda (7UP-Maxxis)

Britain's Bradley Wiggins will meet Australian Luke Roberts in the final of the men's individual pursuit Thursday at the world track cycling championships. Wiggins, 23, who set a blistering time of 4:17.34 in qualifying on Wednesday, sailed through his 16-lap heat against Russian Alexey Markov in 4:20.243 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Roberts booked his second consecutive championship final. The 26-year-old won silver last year in Copenhagen behind compatriot Bradley McGee, who is not competing. The winner of the prologue in this year's Tour de France is undergoing tests to determine the cause of

Bradley Wiggins got a bit of scare Thursday night in Stuttgart, but he had a plan, a schedule and a touch of confidence and held on to win the world individual pursuit title in a tighter than expected gold-medal final against Australian Luke Roberts. Wiggins, who had set the high mark in qualifying rounds and turned in the best time in the semi-final, said he enjoyed the role of being the favorite going into the final. “At least the others knew what they had to aim for,” Wiggins said of his impressive 4:17 he set on Wednesday. And aim is precisely what Roberts did, leading the 4000-meter

On Tuesday, Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill and Lyne Bessette took the day’s stage wins and moved into the overall leads at the International stage race in Altoona, Pennsylvania, displacing previous race leaders Chris Baldwin (Navigators) and Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker). After a day of heavy attacking by Saturn and RONA, Bessette broke clear late in the race, soloing over the final climb and then powering her way to the race win, 34 seconds ahead of defending champion Heather Albert (Team Basis), with the main field of about 20 another nine seconds behind. After entering the day trailing Jeanson

It's transfer season and there's been plenty of action in the days following the conclusion of the 2003 Tour de France. Here's a recap of some of the week's major contract extensions and transfers in the pro peloton: >> Transfer news: Mayo flavor of the month No less than seven teams are said to be in the bidding for Alpe d'Huez winner Iban Mayo, the most exciting Spanish rider to come through the ranks in years. Mayo's contract with Euskaltel-Euskadi runs out at the end of the 2003 season and there's a long list of foreign teams hoping to sign the 25-year-old rising star from Spain's

The International race leader Nathan O’Neill crashed in the final few hundred meters of the Hollidaysburg circuit race on Thursday, resulting in a broken vertebra according to his team and taking the Australian Saturn rider out of the six-day stage race. O’Neill was tangled up in a crash that took down about a half dozen other riders and hit the ground head first. Although he would be credited with the same finishing time as the main pack and retain the overall lead at day’s end, O’Neill didn’t get up to cross the finish line, and was taken away in an ambulance. Up front, Navigators Burke

There's no rest for the weary Lance Armstrong. Two days after wrapping up a record-tying fifth straight Tour de France victory, cycling's top star won a 37-mile race in Graz, Austria. Armstrong finished the Altstad-Kriterium -- 55 laps on a course through the city -- in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 40 seconds. The 31-year- old Texan pulled away from the field on the 50th lap and edged Berhard Eisel for the victory. Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. All-star Vuelta shaping upAn all-star roster is shaping up for September's Vuelta a

Stefan Nimke spent a long and nerve-wracking spell in the “hot seat” Wednesday night as the 25-year-old German set an early standard in the men’s kilometer time trial at the 2003 world track championships in Stuttgart. Pounding out an impressive personal best of 1:01:225, Nimke thought that perhaps he stood a chance of making the podium “but not a gold medal with a field like this here, no.” But despite his early start and a field of serious contenders – including defending world champion Chris Hoy, three-time world champion Shane Kelly and the feared Frenchman Arnaud Tournant, the first

With a month's worth of Tour tech coverage tucked away, I feel obligated to adjust the spotlight back to the mountain bike. But before I get knee-deep in dirt donkey tech, I feel compelled to bring-up one remaining Tour question still rolling around in my head. If Chris King [headsets] is such a big supporter of U.S. Postal, why didn't Trek's TT bikes (there will be more photos run of Lance on his TT bike than on any other bike) have King headsets installed? Instead, the TT bikes sported the antiquated threaded 1-inch Shimano mountain-bike headsets. These headset have had their threads

Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg and Snow Valley’s Kris Hedges grabbed the stage wins at stage 2 of the International stage race in Pennsylvania, while RONA’s Geneviève Jeanson and Navigators Chris Baldwin retained the overall race leaders’ jerseys. With both RONA and Navigators riding to defend their race leaders, the men’s race saw several opportunists take advantage to break clear, while the women’s race came down to a field sprint at the end of the 74-mile day in Johnstown. The three-man breakaway in the men’s race contained Hedges, Webcor’s Marc Hagenlocher and 7UP-Maxxis’s Oscar Pineda. The

Italian Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) took the overall lead from France’s Stephane Berges (AG2R-Prevoyance) Wednesday by winning the third stage of Belgium’s Tour des Regions Wallonnes, a 200.3km run from Namur to Bouillon. Bartoli, 33, outkicked a group that had broken away on the last of eight climbs, including Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych, Luxembourger Kim Kirschen (Fassa Bortolo) and Belgians Peter Farazijn (Cofidis), Jurgen Van Goolen (Quick Step-Davitamon) and Dave Bruylandts (Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf). Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Davitamon) took the bunch sprint at eight seconds back.

Franco Marvulli of Switzerland defended his men's 15km scratch title at the opening day of the world track cycling championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The 24-year-old Swiss won the inaugural scratch world title last year in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, Olga Slusareva of Russia won the women's 24km points title. Edita Kubelskiene of Lithuania came second with Yoanka Gonzalez of Cuba taking the bronze in the 22-lap race.

After racing in the afternoon the first four days of Thuringen Rundfahrt, we had an early start in the rain on Saturday morning. I have to admit, I was feeling a little groggy when I woke up, and wasn't too excited when I saw the rain, but three cups of coffee and two cups of green tea got me motivated. I give my teammates a hard time about all the Diet Coke they consume, as I don’t really think it is particularly healthy, so they were paying me back with a little grief over my coffee consumption. I guess we all have our vices. The morning stage was short, only 73km, and passed by quickly,

Eddy Merckx, rated the greatest cyclist ever, believes Lance Armstrong can surpass his record five Tour de France triumphs. Merckx, winner in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974, told Le Parisien daily he would not even be surprised to see Armstrong win a seventh Tour. "He can win a sixth and, why not, a seventh Tour, if he concentrates solely on that one race," the Belgian said. "He knows how to prepare himself and with his drive and talent a sixth win is foreseeable. When you know how much he suffers in the heat you have to recognize how intelligently he raced this year." Armstrong lost

Navigators Chris Baldwin and RONA-Esker’s Geneviève Jeanson jumped to the early lead at the International stage race in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening. In the 3.5-mile opening time trial, Baldwin beat out Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill by 10 seconds to take the stage win, while O’Neill’s Saturn teammate Tom Danielson was a further eight seconds behind. In the women’s race, Jeanson took 30 seconds out of her Saturn rival Lyne Bessette, while Bessette’s Saturn teammate Jessica Phillips rounded out the top three. The International continues today with 74-mile Johnstown circuit race and runs

America's quintuple Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong, and Germany's five-time runner up, Jan Ullrich, will continue their renewed rivalry in the World Cup in Zurich on August 17, race organizers announced. Aside from Armstrong and Ullrich, who won the 1997 Tour de France, the field will include six-time Tour de France King of the Mountains Richard Virenque; his teammate Paolo Bettini of Italy, the World Cup leader; two-time world road race champion Oscar Freire of Spain; and Switzerland's 1998 world champion, Oscar Camenzind. – Copyright 2003/AFP

Hi, Monique, I hope you are doing well - I really enjoy your VeloNews columns. I am writing because I am curious about the balance of my sports drinks. Everyone seems to have their personal preference, but is there one that is better than another? Would you chalk it up to personal preference? I have also found that I get cramping when using sports drinks at full strength, but when I water them down to half or three-quarters strength I do not cramp up. Is my body disagreeing with the formula and should I switch to something else? Thanks a ton! –IV Hi, Monique, I heard somewhere that when

Sometimes when you do everything wrong, things just go your way regardless. Other times, no matter how hard you try to do all the right things, everything goes wrong. I had my mind set on trying to win Downer Avenue on Saturday. Contesting the Kenosha criterium on Friday night was not part of the plan, until I found myself in the winning break five laps into the race. I've been trying like crazy to get in the break since day two, but it never happened until I stopped trying. There's probably a moral or lesson in all of this. If you figure it out, let me know. The Schroeder Iron guys

On Sunday in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Belgian Danny In’t Ven (ICSA) took the final stage of the 17-day International Cycling Classic-Superweek, beating Saturn’s Ivan Dominguez in the Bodyworks by Concours Whitefish Bay Classic. Earlier in the weekend, Prime Alliance’s Jonas Carney took his second stage win of Superweek when he beat Ofoto-Lombardi’s Jackson Stewart in the Bank One Food Folks & Spokes on Friday. On Saturday, Stewart took a stage win of his own, winning the Great Downer Avenue Bike Race in Milwaukee ahead of Jacob Erker (Schroeder Iron). In the overall, Saturn’s Viktor

Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and world champion Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen) emerged as winners from a dry, dusty cross-country course on Northern Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain, round four of the five-round NORBA National Championship Series. For Redden, the win brought her within 68 points of series leader Jimena Florit (RLX Ralph Lauren), while Green moves up to 15th place in the series, with two wins out of the four events. Although the temperature was ideal on the 10.6-mile course, with its 950 feet of elevation per lap, a long dry spell in the region has left heavy dust

A pair of Intense-Fox riders — Chris Kovarik of Australia and Sabrina Jonnier of France — took top honors at the round four of the NORBA mountain-cross championship series at Schweitzer Mountain Saturday, albeit in a very different manner. Jonnier, the 22-year-old from Nice, won after cutting inside on Australian Katrina Miller (Jamis), who crashed out of the lead. Kovarik, the event’s fastest qualifier, held his first gate and simply jumped first and rode away from Eric Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai), and teammates Mike King and Greg Minnaar (Haro-Lee Dungarees). “I had my hardtail and flat

I am excited to be competing again, as I have not raced since early June. I was having some tendonitis problems that began in late June and as a result did not start the Giro d’Italia with my team. I rested my leg and took my time in allowing it to heal. It is hard to take time off the bike mid-season, as everyone is racing and it is easy to start worrying about falling behind with your fitness. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason, though, and perhaps the rest was needed. In any case, I am happy to be racing my bike again and feeling fresh. Thuringen Rundfahrt is a race I

Ooo-la-la, I am feeling lactic acid in my legs at the moment. Racing in Thuringen involves traveling up and down short, steep climbs all day. They are the type that make one feel maxed out over the top, but since they are not too long, one has time to recover on the descent before the next ascent. I like the terrain here, but it certainly produces painful sensations in the legs. The hills are worse than the famous Manayunk “Wall” in Philadelphia and seem to come more frequently. The past two stages have been fast and challenging. Yesterday, right from the starter’s pistol there was a

Bradley McGee will not be defending his individual pursuit title at next week's world track championships after suffering from suspected hypoglycemia in the Tour de France. The Australian, who wore the yellow jersey for the first three stages of the Tour after winning the prologue, is to have tests immediately after Sunday's finish to establish the reasons behind the attacks, which drain him of all energy. "I do not feel in good enough shape to go straight from the Tour de France to the world championships on Monday," said the 27-year-old McGee. "I prefer not to go because I am certain

Fourteen stages down and three to go here in Superweek 2003. Pain reigns at Holy Hill In the infamous Holy Hill Road Race, all the big players schlammed from the gun. A large break containing all the toughest riders rode away from the field on the first lap. They proceeded to inflict pain on each other until Gordon McCauley took his second stage of Superweek. Holy Hill Road Race:1. Gordon McCauley (NZ), Schroeder Iron2. Aaron Olson, Schroeder Iron3. Tim Johnson, Saturn>4. Adam Bergman, Jelly Belly5. Harm Jansen (Ned), Team Rectal Thermometer Our man off the front The Lakefront Road

Losing a minute and a half to Jan Ullrich over the 47km between Gaillac and Cap’Decouverte in the Tour’s first long time trial was probably not what Lance Armstrong had in mind when he worked with Nike to develop the Swift Spin skinsuit that he, his teammates and the category leaders wear in the Tour time trials. The suit should "give about 30 seconds to a minute advantage in a 58km Tour de France individual time trial depending upon what version of the suit is worn," according to Dr. Chester Kyle, the cycling aerodynamicist heading up the Swift skinsuit project. Armstrong also did not

Over the past five years, we have gotten used to writing about American victories in the Tour de France on an American bicycle equipped withAmerican wheels. However, until today, we always meant Armstrong. But the same could now be said about stage 16’s stage winner, Tyler Hamilton, who displayed true American grit in toughing out an amazing solo ride to Bayonne after being dropped in the early going and then catching and dropping the breakaway. Tyler was riding on Zipp wheels and a Cervélo frame, both of which are as North American as pumpkin pie. FramesOver the years, we have heard a

The Schlitz Park Criterium, right in the heart of Milwaukee, has turned out to be one of the best spectator events in the Superweek series. Tons of people gather on the climb with their coolers to watch the pros suffer. The climb itself isn't too bad – it's just that you have to do it 90 times. The race features some pretty gargantuan primes and a lucrative KOH competition. A large early break got away that included some heavy hitters – Johnny Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis), Sven Teutenberg (Bianchi), Gordon McCauley (Schroeder Iron), Paul Martin (Gomart-West Virginia), etc. Somehow, after taking a

Gilberto Simoni, whose nickname is Spider (or Spiderman), finally came away with some glory in the Tour today. The spider is known for its ability to climb vertical surfaces, and Simoni demonstrated that today. But his special autographed Cinelli Ram bar shows off the Spider even more! The paint job on his Ran is unique, but so is the tilt of the drops relative to the stem, which were custom-made by Cinelli for Simoni. In fact, a number of Rams were built custom to riders on Saeco and ONCE for the Tour, all whipped out within a month. To meet the requirements of each racer, Cinelli

The final day of the weeklong Whistler Gravity Festival came to close Sunday with the crowning of Canada’s last pair of 2003 national mountain bike champions. Roland Green and Marie-Helen Premont each took convincing cross-country wins on a tough, technical track that wound its way through Whistler, British Columbia. In the men’s race Green (Trek-Volkswagen), Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees) cracked open a small gap during the first of five laps around the 7.6km course, then steadily pulled away from a group of chasers that included Mathieu Toulouse

Pacific Northwest riders turned in solid performances Friday as the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge kicked off in Portland, Oregon. In its fifth year, the AVC – the sixth race in the American Velodrome Challenge Series – featured temperatures in the mid-90s baking the 268-meter concrete oval with its steep, 43-degree banks. And the racing was equally hot. Portland’s Larssyn Staley (Hot Tubes), just back from winning gold in the pursuit and points race at junior nationals, opened the morning session by taking a hard-fought victory in the women’s 3000-meter pursuit with a 4:05:47. Heather

You may have noticed Armstrong’s flat carbon handlebar in the team time trial on his new superlight Trek time-trial bike. According to Trek, one of Lance's goals going into this year's Tour was to lighten his entire time-trial setup. His frame has been stiffened and lightened with a composite honeycomb inside the carbon in the areas around the bottom bracket and head tube, technology that was premiered on the Trek OCLV mountain-bike frames a number of years ago. The aero’ bars Armstrong had previously used weighed anywhere from 800 to 1000 grams for the bar/stem combo, according to Trek.

Fair or unfair — a topic that’s been debated extensively — the 2003 women’s Canadian national downhill champion is Vancouver’s Michelle Dumaresq. The reason for the deliberation: Six years ago Dumaresq was a man. But after living “two many years in the wrong body” Dumaresq underwent sexual reassignment surgery, and with the blessing of the UCI, she’s been racing as a female pro downhiller for the last two years. Saturday she grabbed the biggest win of her career. “I’ve trained a long time for this and this is what I was always pointing to,” said Dumaresq, after besting Claire Buchar by 2.62

Four more stages have been completed here at Superweak 2003. The first few road races are out of the way, and there weren't any huge surprises. This year the road races have double points, and so they should dictate who is going to contest the overall. The Alpine Valley Road Race is probably the hardest race of the series. It is also where Stevie Ray Vaughn lost his life in a helicopter crash. Every year I choose not to race there for one of those two reasons. The course has several very steep hills that repeatedly beat you down like a red-headed stepchild. There is also very little shelter

I broke my collarbone, left side, last Monday. I’ve been off the bike since then. I am going to set my trainer up on Saturday for some indoor spinning. Do you have any ideas on how to make things heal any faster? Any advice would be a great help.Bob Cozzetti. Dear Bob,Since the clavicle ("collarbone") is the most commonly broken bone in the human body, your question is a good one for us to take a look atin detail. It's such a common injury for cyclists that I think we tendto not give it the attention it deserves. Certainly, it has had Tyler Hamilton's attention the past few days.I won't

Day two of the Whistler Gravity Festival saw France’s Cédric Gracia grab his second victory in as many days, while Great Britain’s Tracy Moseley was the women’s downhill victor. The stage Tuesday was Whistler’s famed A-Line trail, where riders contested a jump littered 4-minute-plus run down from the midway point of the Whistler Village Gondola. After qualifying second behind Aussie Nathan Rennie (Iron Horse-MadCatz), Gracia (Siemens-Cannondale) blasted down the hill in the final to unseat Be One’s Bas De Bever. Gracia and De Bever were the only two riders to go below the 4:11 mark, with

Stage 1 of Superweek was held in the South Chicago suburb of Beverly. The race was scheduled for 5:35 p.m. on Friday evening. All the athletes enjoyed an authentic taste of Chicago, being treated to several fun-filled hours of bumper to bumper traffic. Everything got off to a late start though, and nobody seemed to miss the start. It was the first year for the stage in Beverly, but surprisingly the crowd was great. Prior to our race, they had a Big Wheel race for the kids, which is always cool. There was also live music and food adjacent to the racecourse. All the fans seemed super excited

It’s one of the most overused adjectives when it comes to mountain-bike racing, but in this case “epic” really did apply. With heavy rain moving in and out all day, and a legitimately tough course serving as the stage, the fourth stop of the UCI World Cup concluded with a pair of cross-country races that produced enough drama to fill a week of daytime television. When it was all done, the day’s heroes were Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle and Belgian Roel Paulissen, each taking World Cup victories after spending full days at the front. For Paulissen, the win was a long time coming, erasing his name

The final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 1km afternoon criterium, was held Sunday in Bend, Oregon, and as expected, Saturn’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette held onto their overall leads, with Bessette and Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) winning the stage. Held in the town’s Old Mill district, the flat five-corner criterium offered no real possibility for changes in the general classification: Bessette held a near five-minute lead on second-placed Heather Albert (Team Basis), while Danielson’s 49-seond lead over Jonathon Vaughters (Prime Alliance) was protected by the strongest

Swiss rider Nicole Brandli won the 2003 Giro d’Italia Femminile in dramatic fashion on Sunday, overtaking Edita Pucinskaite on the final day of the race to win by a scant 17 seconds. Trailing by five seconds heading into the 22.9km stage 9 time trial, Brandli put enough time on her Lithuanian rival to take the final pink jersey in Venice. The Giro had become a two-woman race after the mountainous stage 3, won by Brandli, when Pucinskaite assumed the race lead with the Swiss just five seconds behind. Following that came a sprinting display by German Regina Schleicher, who posted four

With the Tour raging on less than 100km away, it seems fitting that Shimano chose the sleepy salt-mining town of Bex, Switzerland, to hold its official Dura-Ace unveiling. As the Japanese group gets thoroughly put through its paces by the world's fastest racers just over the Swiss border in France, a few journalists are quietly getting the official lowdown on the high-end group. And while many of its technical details are already known, this is the first opportunity for us to ride the next-generation road group. The sleek new Dura-Ace boasts some pretty bold promises. Shimano claims its

On the morning of Saturday July 12, had you called up your bike-race bookie (if such a person existed) and told him you wanted some action on the five-rider World Cup podium parlay of downhillers Gary Houseman, Ivan Oulego, Kirt Voreis, Colin Bailey and Stu Thomson, Mr. Bookie would have laughed, then given you some astronomically high odds figuring he’d just made a quick buck. But when it comes to downhill racing, there’s one factor that even the world’s wisest odds makers (or best riders) cannot completely account for — rain. And that’s just what happened on the steep slopes of British

The yellow-and-red of the Saturn Cycling dynasty remains atop the general classification at the Cascade Cycling Classic, with Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette all but assured victories heading into Sunday’s final criterium stage after a Friday night criterium and Saturday’s hilly circuit race. The Twilight ZoneA volatile twilight criterium held Friday night in downtown Bend, Oregon, yielded no change in the overall, with Heather Albert (Team Basis) and Chris Horner (Saturn) taking the stage wins. Bessette powered off the front halfway through the women’s 45-minute race, followed by Albert

Ya know, it’s important to be noticed. Sure, it’s great for everyone, fans included, for riders at the Tour de France to have good equipment. The riders go faster with a higher margin of safety with properly designed equipment. But it doesn’t do the equipment sponsor any good if no one knows whose equipment they are using. And sometimes, it takes someone unfamiliar with the intricacies of the sport to point out the very obvious. A case in point involves the winningest rider in both the Tour and the Giro this year, Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi. Everyone knows that Petacchi won six

Stage 3 of the Cascade Classic was held Friday morning in Tumalo, Oregon. Just outside of Bend, the 7-mile time trial loop began and ended with a gradual climb, forcing riders out of the saddle immediately. The masters Cat. 3 racers raced first, followed by the pro/1-2 women, who rolled out in 30-second increments. As expected, race leader Lyne Bessette (Saturn), the Canadian national time trial champion, posted the fastest time of the day — 15:31 — a time that would have beat all but three of the masters men. Teammate Jessica Phillips was second in 16:26, followed by Team Basis rider

Mike King said that it only took a few practice runs to figure out his strategy for the World Cup four-cross at Grouse Mountain. With a short, fast course providing the stage for the event on British Columbia's famed North Shore, King knew qualifying would be key. “That was my focus the whole way,” said King of the Friday night event, “and that was the race.” Indeed, after posting the top preliminary time of 23.44, the Haro-Lee Dungarees rider/manager surged through the finals bracket, riding his No. 1 seed all the way to a World Cup win. It was the 34-year-old’s first Cup win of 2003, and

Chris Horner (Saturn) won stage four of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 60-minute-plus-five-laps criterium held Friday evening on a six-turn course in downtown Bend, Oregon. Horner outsped the bunch to finish in 1:05:31, dogged by Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) and Jackson Stewart (Ofoto.com-Lombardi), who were awarded the same time – as were the first 81 riders to cross the line. Horner’s teammate Tom Danielson retained the overall lead, 49 seconds up on Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance) and nearly a minute ahead of Chris Wherry (Navigators). In the women’s stage-three crit, Heather

Last week, Dr. Dawn Richardson discussed the medical implications of hypertension in endurance athletes. Since there may be many cyclists, triathletes and other athletes who are pre-hypertensive or hypertensive, I would like to review the dietary guidelines currently recommended for these conditions. When diagnosed with pre-hypertension or hypertension, your first reaction may be to cut back on your salt intake, and lose excess weight. While these measures may be appropriate and necessary for some individuals, there are nutritional strategies that go well beyond eating less salt. This may

It was another episode in the season-long Saturn show at the Cascade Cycling Classic Thursday, with the team’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette taking the hilly 69-mile road race up to the base of the Middle Sister outside of Sisters, Oregon. Danielson’s win came after breaking away from a 14-man group on the uphill finish with Prime Alliance’s Jonathan Vaughters and Navigators’ Chris Wherry. Bessette’s day played out much differently – she rode away from the 57-woman field early on and time-trialed in alone for nearly 40 miles. The first real move of the day in the men’s race came from

Prime Alliance rider David Clinger took Wednesday’s opening stage ofthe Cascade Classic in Bend, Oregon, beating out a seven-man bunch sprintthat included Saturn’s Tom Danielson and returning champion Chris Wherryof the Navigators. While women’s racing begins Thursday on the decisive McKenzie Pass roadraces stage, the men began a day earlier and many of the major domesticteams showed, including Health Net, Webcor, Sierra Nevada-Clif Bar, SchroederIron and the Trek-VW All Stars. One name that seems to be synonymous with this race belongs to Saturnrider Chris Horner, who lives in Bend.

Regina Scheleicher (Chirio Forno D’asolo) outkicked breakaway companions Tina Mayolo-Pic (Team Sats) and Andrea Bosman (Ondernemers Van Nature-Powerplate/Bik) in the fourth stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Tuesday. The three escaped in the final kilometers of the 141.1km stage on the climb from the Via Adriatica gate to the old town of San Vito Chietino. Schleicher launched her sprint in the last 200 meters, neatly passing her rivals. The 141.1km stage, from Frosolone to San Vito Chietino was animated from the start – indeed, the first hour was spent racing at over 40kph. Overall

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) has taken his second stage win of the Tour de France, taking a field sprint at the end of the 168km third stage from Charleville-Mézières to St. Dizier. On the strength of bonus time earned from the day's three intermediate sprints, Jean Delatour's Jean-Patrick Nazon has taken the yellow jersey from prologue winner Bradley McGee (fdjeux.com). Nazon becomes the first French rider to hold the yellow jersey in two years. To see how today's stage unfolded, just Click Here to pull up our Live Update window. Then check back soon for complete results, a full

Nicole Braendli (Prato Marathon Bike) and Edita Pucinskaite (Michele Fanini) broke away from the bunch and fought their way through terrible weather to finish one-two in the third stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Monday. Braendli took the stage win, while Pucinskaite took the pink jersey of overall leader away from Rasa Polikieviciute (Team 2002 Aurora Rsm). "It is a dream come true," said the new race leader. The 84.2km third stage from Monteroduni to Castelpizzuto had three mountain-points primes, but the race was characterized primarily by terrible weather. When the riders

Zinaida Stahurskaia (Chirio Forno D’asolo) outsprinted the major contenders on the final climb to San Marco dei Cavoti to win the second stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Sunday. Lithuanian Rasa Polikieviciute (Team 2002 Aurora Rsm) remains in the pink jersey despite having given up nine seconds to her closest rival, countrywoman Edita Pucinskaite (Michele Fanini). American Amber Neben (T-Mobile) holds 10th place overall. The attacks were continuous on the 85km stage. All were in vain, though, and the stage concluded with Stahurskaia just barely beating Pucinskaite to the line. "I am

Rasa and Jolanta Polikeviciute are laying down the law at the 2003 women’s Giro d'Italia. Their adversaries are surrendering to the twins; the two Lithuanians, along with their countrywoman, Edita Pucinskaite swept the first three positions on the tour’s opening stage and sit comfortably atop general classification. The first stage of the Giro d'Italia started in Grumo Nevano, seen off by a large group of spectators, and it concluded 119 kilometers later in Guardia Sanframondi, in the province of Benevento. Rasa attacked 10 km from the line, on the second ascent from Castelvenere to

Usually, it’s Colorado that finds itself invaded by Texans come summertime. But at the 2003 USCF Junior/Espoir Road National Championships, held over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, it was Colorado on the attack in the Lone Star State – along with young racers from Oregon to Pennsylvania and all points in between. Junior and espoir road races Zak Grabowski (Lafayette, Colorado) claimed the first stars-and-stripes jersey of the weekend by winning the relatively flat 90-mile 17-18 road race on Thursday in Normangee. Despite the sweltering Texas temperatures, Grabowski shot away in the