Road

When Kelme's Aitor Gonzalez crossed the finish line of Saturday’s difficult eighth stage of the Vuelta a España, he didn't look particularly excited. The reason why? He hadn't realized he'd won. Gonzalez chased hard in the very technical finishing 20 km into Ubrique, a white-washed Andalusian village surrounded by rugged mountains, and was so exhausted that he thought someone had slipped past him in frantic charge to the line. "At first I didn't know I had won, because I thought riders had come around me. Well, it's a nice surprise," Gonzalez said after reeling Team Coast's Luis Perez with

On a sunny day in the shadow of Mission San Rafael, the men’s professional road teams warmed up for Sunday’s San Francisco Grand Prix, but for the women, it was an important showdown in the Pro Cycling Tour at the San Rafael Cycling Classic. Overcoming full teams from Saturn and Diet Rite, Laura Van Gilder (Trek Plus) pulled off a convincing win and moved into the overall lead of the PCT. In the men’s race, Mercury launched Gord Fraser past the Prime Alliance leadout train and delivered the Canadian to the win. In the absence of Tour leader Petra Rossner (Saturn), Van Gilder was poised to

For the second year, big-time road racing hits the streets of San Francisco for Sunday’s San Francisco Grand Prix. Last year, with the presence of Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong to bolster interest, the inaugural event was a huge success, with people lining the streets of the 10-mile course, including crowds four and five deep on the two major climbs on the course, on Fillmore and Taylor Streets. This year, the hype machine has been turned up another notch. Not only will defending champion George Hincapie and U.S. Postal teammate Armstrong be on hand, but the event will feature

It was a repeat performance for the Lion King on Friday as Mario Cipollinitook his third stage win at the 2002 Vuelta a España taking a furiousfield sprint into the coastal city of Málaga.Cipollini and his Acqua e Sapone team held back until the final two kilometersbefore launching a text-book lead-out for their super sprinter. On the wheelof his reliable lead-out man Giovanni Lombardi, Cipollini easily beat theVuelta's points leader Erik Zabel (Telekom). Kelme's Oscar Sevilla finishedwith the main field and retains the overall lead in the Vuelta.Check back soon for complete results, a stage

Acqua & Sapone put down a text-book sprint Friday to deliver Mario Cipollini his third stage-win in the 2002 Vuelta a España that was executed so well it should be taught in Cycling 101. Cipo's boys in zebra stripes were flawless. They helped reel in a breakaway, hammered at the front leading into Malaga and then the Lion King rode the rails to victory in the 196-km seventh stage from Jaen to Malaga. With speeds topping 65kph, Mario Scirea pulled until 2 km to go, then Italian-American Guido Trenti took over until 1 km to go, followed by final set-up man Giovanni Lombardi pulled to 400

Live updates from Stage 6 Good morning to our U.S. audience. Welcome to Thrsday’s live coverage ofthe sixth stage of the 2002 Vuelta a España. Stage six is a 153kmrace from Granada to Sierra de la Pandera. This is a difficult rolling stage leading to a "special category" summitfinish at La Pandera at 1840 meters. There are three point sprints en routeand the category-three Alto de la Encebras at 46 km, the category-two Puertode los Villares at 140 km and the eight-km climbing finish to La Pandera.The short, but steep climb features ramps as steep as 15 percent with anaverage grade of 6.4

Roberto Heras and Oscar Sevilla put the fiesta back into the Vuelta a Españain Thursday’s difficult 153-km climbing stage to La Pandera. The duel between U.S. Postal Service’s Heras and Kelme’s Sevilla isshaping up as the story of the 57th Vuelta. Heras attacked with 5 km togo up the “category especial” climb to La Pandera to win while Sevillafinished third at 18 seconds back to move into the “jersey oro” race leader’sjersey. Heras’ victory is the first stage-win by an American-sponsored teamat the Vuelta a España and his first Vuelta stage since 2000, whenhe won two stages and the overall

Today's Live UpdatesGood morning to our U.S. audience. Welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverageof the fifth stage of the 2002 Vuelta a España, 198km between El Ejido and Sierra Nevada. Today’s stage includes two climbs of intermediate difficulty – the Category 2 climb of Bérchules at 62km and the Cat. 3 at Lanzarón at kilometer 117 – before the long “Special Category” climb to Sierra Nevada at the finish.That final climb will be the first real opportunity for those hoping to challenge Joseba Beloki for the overall lead in the Vuelta to mount a serious attack.The slopes on the way to Sierra

Kelme's Oscar Sevilla finally did Wednesday what he couldn't do at theTour de France. Sevilla attacked hard on the first major climbing stage in the 2002Vuelta a España and, although he didn't deliver a knockout blow,he let everyone else know he's now the man to beat. Sevilla jumped with five kilometers to go and left the rest of the favoritesin his wake. U.S. Postal's Roberto Heras, ONCE's Joseba Beloki and ItaliansGilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande all lost nearly a full minuteto "El Nino." Sevilla couldn't reel in Cofidis' Guido Trentin, who scored Italy'sfourth straight stage at

La Vuelta: Live updates from Stage 4 Good morning to our American audience. Welcome to VeloNews.com's live coverage of Stage 4 of the 2002 Vuelta a España, another short and fast day that should favor sprinters like Erik Zabel and Mario Cipollini, who took yesterday’s 134-km stage to Murcia. Today’s 149.5-kilometer ride from Aguilas to Roquetas de Mar opens witha 60km jaunt along the Mediterranean and then cuts inland, across the Cabode Gata and then heads to a finishing flat again along the Mediterraneanat Roquetas de Mar. There are three "hot sprints" along the route and no mountain

The last two days have been pretty flat and not too hard... that is untilthe sprinters’ teams start winding it up for the finishes.Riding through one of the towns today we spotted a guy riding next tous on a side road. He was going pretty fast and not really watching wherehe was going. I said to Christian “he's going to go down.” I guess he didn'tsee the wall that suddenly stopped him. It looked painful but the bunchcouldn't help but laugh about it.On one of the downhills all I could see was the ocean down below I thinkit was a pretty steep cliff, it made me feel like I was in a video gamefor

For the third day in a row, an Italian won a stage in the 57th Vueltaa España. For the second day in a row, it was Mario Cipollini witharms wide spread. El Rey Leon, as the Lion King is called in Spanish, made it lookeasy in Tuesday’s 149-km fourth stage from Aguilas to Roquetas de Mar alongSpain’s white-hot Mediterranean Coast. Cipo easily won the stage and senta strong signal to his would-be rivals for next month’s world championships. “It was another fabulous work by my team. They put me in perfect positionand (Giovanni) Lombardi did great work as the last man,” said Cipolliniafter

The Lion King came out of hibernation Monday to win the third stage of the 2002 Vuelta a España in an exciting shootout between the top sprinters. Mario Cipollini's retirement plans are definitely on hold again as the Italian superstar showed that missing more than 90 days of competition doesn't mean that much to cycling's top sprinter. "I'm here to prepare for the world championships. That is my mission, but it's nice to show I can still win. It's important for the sponsor and it's a good test," Cipollini said after winning in 3 hours, 7 minutes, 37 seconds with an average speed of 42.917

Good morning to our American audience. Welcome to another day of live updatesfrom the Vuelta a España. Today's third stage is another short one:a 134.2 km from San Vicente del Raspieg to Murcia, dead flat along Spain'sCosta Blanca for the first 80 km, then heading west to the finish in Murcia.There are three "hot sprints" along the route and no mountain points. Thefinish is flat and straight on for the final two kilometers. The peloton'swill have a golden opportunity to measure their strength against each otherin one of the flattest stages in the whole Vuelta. This third stage, betweenSan

Good morning to our U.S. audience and welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the second stage of the 2002 Vuelta a España. The second stage is a short 144.7km from Valencia to Alcoi.Sunny skies and huge crowds welcomed the peloton for the start of the second stage of the 57th Vuelta a Espana. Big cheers for Oscar Sevilla, Joseba Beloki and Roberto Heras as the joined the 206riders who signed in.It's warm today, highs in the upper 80s, and Mario Cipollini started with a sleeve-less Acqua & Sapone jersey. The race winds through some spectacular countryside just inland from the Med, passing

The first road stage of the 57th Vuelta delivered just what everyone expected since the advent of shorter stages and a peloton packed with 23 teams and more than 200 riders: attacks and more attacks.The final 27-km circuit of the 144-km second stage from Valencia into the finale at sun-baked Alcoi saw a string of blistering attacks over narrow roads. With 16 km to go, Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla shot off the front to try to grab a gap with five other riders and ONCE put the pedal to the metal to preserve its golden jersey for Joseba Beloki.The beneficiary of this in-fighting was Saeco’s Danilo Di

Svetlana Boubnenkova (Edilsavino) took the win in the eighth round of the women’s road World Cup in Embrach, Switzerland, on Sunday, but Mirjam Melchers’ (Farm Frites) fourth place in the 118.8km event means that the back-and-forth contest for dominance in the nine-race series will continue down to the wire. The race drew a large and talented field, but the focus of early attention was largely on the two women vying for the Cup lead, with just six points separating Rossner and Melchers. Changed from previous years, the 10.8 kilometer course for 2002 featured narrow roads and two main

Okay, done with Stage 2. It didn't start out too fast so that was good, the field is really big here207 riders. The first climb was very hard but it broke up the field a littlebit. I went up the hill with Cipo's team knowing that they would ride sometempo to bring him back to the group for the sprint. After that hill therace went very fast, and on the last hill I was at my limit and the groupwas descending super fast too. My roommate, housemate, and dear friend Antonio Cruz hit the pavement hardtoday. I didn't know this until after the race and he walked into the roomreally bloody and in

Joseba Beloki is back in the lead of the Vuelta a España. The question now is whether or not he’ll be wearing it when the race ends Sept. 29 in Madrid. Nearly a year after he abandoned the 2001 Vuelta in tears while leading the race into Andorra, Beloki grabbed the first “jersey oro” of the 57th Vuelta a España after his ONCE squad won the 24.6-km team time trial. Beloki enters the Vuelta with the pressure of an entire nation on his shoulders after finishing second in the Tour de France for his third consecutive podium appearance in cycling’s most important race. But Beloki’s never been

Today was the team time trial. The big debate the team has been having is if we should do a double line or a single line. So we did a little bit of both, we did a double line as long as we could because it is faster and then when guys started getting tired we called the audible for a single line. I'm so glad the race has started. I was going out of my head sitting in this hotel for the past few days. Victor and I were so bored we went swimming naked in the hotel pool. At lunch today my nerves started acting up and I was getting a lot of butterflies in my stomach. We rode to the start of

The last major stage-race of the 2002 season kicks off Saturday in typicalSpanish fashion with fiesta, paella, pretty podium girls and bicycles alllined up and ready to go. Final destination: Madrid.The 57th Vuelta a España promises to be one of the most hotlycontested races of the year, perhaps topping the 2002 Giro d’Italia inthe nail-biter category. A bevy of stars come loaded to the 21-stage, 3128-kmSpanish tour looking for redemption, salvation, confirmation or simplyresults to snag a contract for next year.Only three Americans are scheduled to start – four if you count GuidoTrenti of

The U.S. Postal team’s Dave Zabriskie is in Valencia, Spain, getting ready to ride in thisyear’s edition of the Vuelta a España, the American’s first major tour.The Postal squad will consist of team leader Roberto Heras, fellow Spaniard Jose Luis Rubiera, Americans Antonio Cruz, Christian Vande Velde and Zabriskie, Colombian Victor Hugo Pena, Steffen Kjaergaard of Norway,Canadian Michael Barry and Australian Matt White. Zabriskie will be sendingdiary entries to VeloNews.com throughout the Vuelta, which begins on Saturdaywith a team time trial in Valencia.Monday, September 2 -- So I'm getting

Editor's Note: Joe Friel is author of the successful "TrainingBible" series of books, a regular columnist for VeloNews and InsideTriathlon magazines and the founder of www.ultrafit.com. Dirk Frielraces professionally and coaches along with Joe at Ultrafit Associates.The Friels also offer answers to a selection of questions in this weeklycolumn here on VeloNews.com. Readers can send questions to Joe and DirkFriel in care of VeloNews.com at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.(Be sure to include "Friel" in the subject line.)Dear Joe,I will be eligible for social security benefit next year and currentlyusing

VeloNews technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder, a formerU.S. national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bikemaintenance. This is Zinn's VeloNews.com column devoted to addressing readers'technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riderscan use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can sendbrief technical questions directly toZinn. We'll try to print a representative sample of questions regularly.Question: One of my riding partners had a ticking (not a creak)sound in his ride.  It would only happen when pedaling

There were no late-race flat tires, no mysterious illnesses and no bad luck Sunday for Gunn-Rita Dahle, as the Norwegian won the world championship title that’s eluded her throughout her up and down career. Following last year’s heartbreak at Vail when she flatted while leading late in the race, the popular Norwegian pulled away from 1999 world junior champion Anna Szafraniec of Poland on the third lap to seal the deal. Heavy rain turned the women’s cross-country race into a two-hour hike-a-bike and Dahle simply endured the troubles better than her rivals. "I was focusing on easy pedaling

Marty Nothstein and Sarah Uhl each ended a week of frustration by taking gold medals and national championship jerseys in the final men’s and women’s events of the 2002 U.S. Track Cycling Championships on their home track at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, PA. Nothstein easily outsprinted nemesis Jame Carney in the final sprint of a crash-marred men’s 10-mile scratch race to secure his spot at the World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark at the end of September. Uhl, the former junior world women’s sprint champ competing in her first year as an elite senior, won a

It would have been tough enough on a normal day, but put Julien Absalon in the muck and mud of Sunday's under-23 cross-country race at the world championships in Kaprun, Austria, and the rest of the field never had a chance. For the second straight year the Frenchman proved he is the top young rider in the world, taking a decisive win in brutal conditions he likened to his "backyard" in northern France. Absalon finished the 28.8km race in 1:59:01, 2:32 ahead of Swiss rider Ralph Naef. Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, the silver medalist last year, settled for bronze this time around, coming across

Roland Green on Sunday did what only one other male mountain biker has done since 1990 – win the world championships back to back. Whether or not he can three-peat to match Henrik Djernis’ record will have to wait another year. For now, the Canadian is going to soak up his victory, at least as soon as he can wash off all the mud. "That’s the best race I ever had. The race conditions were so hard. After awhile it turned into a running race," said Green, after winning 19 seconds ahead of Belgian Filip Meirhaeghe. "I couldn’t feel my legs in the last lap there was so much adrenaline. I

Jeff LeBauve (Focus 2004) powered over teammate Gideon Massie in the second ride of the match sprints finals to take the national championship Friday night at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. LeBauve joins teammates Tanya Lindenmuth (women’s match sprint) and Garth Blackburn (keirin) on top of the podium this week at the track nationals in Trexlertown, PA. "It was a lot tougher than it looked," the 23-year-old New Orleans native said. He was concerned, he said, about Massie’s ability to hold a long sprint but also confident in his superior speed. LeBauve’s win made it three of four in the speed

Australia had another banner day in the junior men's downhill, taking twoof the three medals for the second year in a row. The French junior womenfinished 1-2 with American Leana Gerrard finishing fourth to post the bestAmerican result so far in the 2002 UCI world mountain bike championships.Sam Hill gave the Aussies their third junior men's gold medal in fouryears, proving that Australia has replaced France as the source of hotyoung downhill talent. Hill rode cleanly on the 1.99-mile course to winin 5 minutes, 22.01 seconds with an average speed of 22.23 mph."I made a couple of little

What can you say? When the pressure is on, there is no one better than Nicolas Vouilloz and Anne-Caroline Chausson. The latest evidence came Saturday at the world championships in Kaprun, Austria, where the pair of French downhillers blazed their way to two more rainbow jerseys. Between them they now own 14 elite titles (seven apiece) and six junior crowns (three each) for an amazing total of 20. Vouilloz was the first to hit double digits, as the men's race was slotted ahead of the women to accommodate live TV coverage, including an hour on the BBC. The English TV network had tuned in in

Put their names in the history books. American Brian Lopes and Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson are the first ever four-cross world champions after each took victory on a warm Saturday night in Kaprun, Austria. In the men's final Lopes squared off against compatriot Eric Carter, Frenchman Cédric Gracia and Czech rider Michal Prokop, but none had the skills to stay with Lopes who took the lead early and never looked back. "EC killed me out of the gate but he didn’t block me out of the natural line and I bumped him a little and came by," Lopes explained. "Then I just held on." Behind

A pair of teenagers from Down Under proved Australia isn’t just for downhillers, sweeping the junior cross-country races at the mountain bike world championship in Kaprun, Austria on Friday. Inspired by the likes of Cadel Evans, Mary Grigson and Paul Rowney, youngsters Lisa Mathison and Trent Lowe each took wins on a sunny and muggy day in this picturesque ski town an hour drive from Salzburg. For Lowe it was his second trip to the world's podium, adding rainbow stripes to a bronze-medal effort last year at Vail. The 17-year-old took the lead on the first of three laps around the tough

It's no secret that Lance Armstrong never used Shimano's SPD-R system. He rode what he liked and those were his old Look-compatible Shimanos. After three successive Tour de France wins, the Japanese manufacturer finally decided it had enough of watching its decade old equipment bring Armstrong to the podium and set out to build a pedal Lance would approve of. It looks like the new design got the nod of approval: Armstrong has kept them on his bike since spring. The svelte 276-gram/pair (plus 60 grams for the cleats, screws and washers) pedals are the fruit of their radical redesign labor.

Rains in Trexlertown reshuffled the schedule at the national track championships, but competition resumed on Thursday night, with Jame Carney, Mike Beers and Tanya Lindenmuth taking home national titles. For Carney, it was a night of double duty, as the points race semifinals and finals were both contested in the Thursday evening session. After qualifying in the 60-lap semifinals, competitors had to turn right back around for the 120-lap final later in the evening. In the final, Carney (Prime Alliance) lapped the field twice to take the win. Navigators’s Marty Nothstein wassecond, and

All the talk of Australia supplanting France as the world's No. 1 downhilling nation was squelched for at least a day Thursday, after French riders took seven of the eight top places in men's and women's qualifying at the world championships in Kaprun, Austria. On the men's side it was a clean sweep of the top three, with Cédric Gracia posting the day's fastest time of 5:23.88 down the 2-mile course. Less than a second behind the Volvo-Cannondale rider were countrymen Mickael Pascal and Nicolas Vouilloz. This is just the second race back for the reigning world champion Vouilloz, who missed

Two rain delayed sessions have tightened the schedule and resulted in the cancellation of the final round of the team pursuit at the U.S. National Track Championships in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. Rains on Wednesday evening forced the postponement of the semi-finaland final rounds of the women's match sprint; the team pursuit finals andthe men's kilometer final. Re-scheduled for this morning, those eventswere further delayed because of weather. Facing an already compressed trackschedule, officials decided to award the men's team pursuit medals basedsoley on teams' performances in the

While we thought 2003 couldn't get any brighter for Shimano and its highly redefined XTR group, the Japanese manufacturer surprised us again this morning with the announcement that it would be producing its first XTR-level wheelset. Sources report the wheelset should go for around $850 and be available about the same time as the component group (around January, 2003.) Vital stats include: total wheelset weight of 1650 grams, both 24 spoke count in a paired lateral crossover pattern and, most significantly, are both tubeless and traditional-tire compatible. Although the wheels were not

At the Chris Thater Memorial Criterium in Binghamton, New York, on Sunday, Navigators Mark Walters and Trek Plus’s Laura Van Gilder took the wins at the National Racing Calendar event, each adding to an impressive season résumé. Walters, the winner of the USPRO road championship in Philadelphia, was part of a nine-rider breakaway group at Chris Thater that lapped the main field as the 50-mile race wound down. With 10 laps to go, the Navigators began to set things up for Walters, delivering him to the win on the last lap. Mercury’s Mike Sayers took second, while last year’s winner, John

Marin Bikes just announced the launch of its patented Quad technology which will be featured on the company's XC full suspension bikes. The Quad was developed with chief designer John Whyte, an ex-Formula One engineer and cycling enthusiast. The Quad, named for its four-bar linkage system, four inches of rear wheel travel and quadratic wheel path equation will be available in four models including the East Peak, Rift Zone, Mount Vision and Mount Vision Pro. According to Marin, the Quad suspension design is a four-bar linkage system with a patented Intelligent Pivot (i.e. similar to VPP

GP Ouest France - 2002Results GP Ouest France -- Plouay1. Jeremy Hunt (GB), Big Mat, 4:44:022. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Credit Agricole3. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com4. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Phonak5. Fred Rodriguez (USA), Domo6. Jo Planckaert (B), Cofidis7. Peter Van Petegem (B), Lotto8. Serge Baguet (B), Lotto9. Laurent Jalabert (F), CSC-Tiscali10. Andrea Tafi (I), Mapei11. Raphael Schweda (G), Team Coast12. Luca Paolini (I), Mapei-Quick Step13. Björn Leukemans (B), Palmans-Collstrop14. Emmanuel Magnien (F), Bonjour15. Franck Renier (F), Bonjour16. Laurent Brochard (F), Jean-Delatour17.

Plouay hosted the Worlds in 2000 and I loved the course, the ambienceat the race and the support of the crowd.This year is the first year they have hosted a women’s World Cup eventhere. It seems a natural place for one since Brittany is the center ofcycling in France and I think Plouay is the center of cycling in Brittany.Each year the men’s race draws massive crowds and is one of the highlightson the French cycling calendar.The area brings back a lot of fond memories for me as Michael and Ispent a few good days here with our mothers in 2000. Earlier this year,when I started racing as a

In a battle of wills, Petra Rossner was able to overcome a series of attacks from World Cup leader Mirjam Melchers Saturday and overtake her in the overall standings at the GP de Plouay in France. And at the finish line, it was fellow German, Regina Schleicher just edging out Rossner for the win. Rossner finished second in front of Susanne Lunjskog, hot off her second place finish in the Grand Boucle. Melchers was fourth. The seventh stop in the nine race series was held on a circuit course around the quaint town of Plouay. The field raced eight, 14 kilometer laps for a total of 113

Some of my friends and family at home seemed to think that the French WorldCup took place in a village called "Poulet" today. Pouletmeans chicken, and no, we really weren’t racing in a town called “chicken.”The race took place in the village of Plouay. I’m not sure if Plouay canbe translated into anything English, but I know it doesn’t mean chicken.Our five-woman Saturn squad came into this race motivated and excited.You just couldn’t tell by looking at us. We were all still quite worn outfrom La Grande Boucle. Ina had been telling me all week that I looked likehell. Hey thanks, Ina!I spent

American Andy Lakatosh jump-started Team USA's performance at the 2002 World Junior Track Championships by winning a silver medal in the keirin on Wednesday. The keirin was the first event of the championships in Melbourne, Australia. Australia's Mark Jamieson won the gold to the delight of the hometown crowd. Lakatosh, who originally won the bronze medal, secured the silver after Colombia's Hernan Sanchez was disqualified for dangerous riding in the final heat. "I'm so excited about this," said a jubilant Lakatosh, whose parents and sister traveled to Australia to cheer him on. "Today's

Belarussian Zinaida Stahurskaia (USC Chirio) won the 2002 women's Tour de France in Paris on Sunday after the 14th and final stage, a 7.4km individual time trial. Sweden's Susanne Ljungkog (Vlaanderen-T Interim) won the time trial. Stahurskaia topped the overall standings ahead of Ljungkog and Spanish two-time winner Joane Somarriba, who won in 2000 and last year. Letters from the Big Loop - The final entry of Kimberly Bruckner'srace diaryEvery team and the entire race organization stayed at the Ibis lastnight in Port de Clichy, just outside of downtown Paris. When our teamcame down for

Two Italians and an American were the main protagonists Sunday in the eighth round of the 2002 World Cup disputed on a hilly course under warm sunny skies in Zurich, Switzerland. Winning the 236km Meisterschaft von Zurich was Dario Frigo (Tacconi Sport), the Italian who’s been on a hot streak this season. Frigo attacked on the final ascent of the hardest climb in the 41km circuit up the Pfannenstiel with 18km to go. Frigo’s form has been excellent since May, when he won the Tour of Romandie. That carried into the Tour de France, where he won a stage, and into the Clasica San Sebastian last

Discretion was the better part of valor Sunday, as John Kirkcaldie and Sabrina Jonnier did what they had to do to hold on for overall downhill titles at the NORBA National Championship Series finals in Mount Snow, Vermont. Kirkcaldie entered the day tied atop the standings with Australian Chris Kovarik, meaning the fastest of the two would likely walk away with the crown. That honor went to Kirkcaldie who finished fourth on the day, while Kovarik ran into mechanical problems and ended up 49th. The chain of events was a near duplication of the 2001 finals when Kovarik also blew his chance at

The French police that have been assigned to this Tour have been the most professional staff I've ever encountered. They've done a superb job of keeping the roads safe, waving flags around all hazards, and guding the whole race caravan smoothly throughout the country. We've never had one problem with a random car that has snuck onto the course. The "gendarmerie" have traveled with us throughout the entire race, and during each transfer after the stage, we often see them speeding up behind us in groups of four. They draft very well off each other with their motorcycles! My teammate Ina

A massive crash helped shape the outcome of the USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois, on Sunday, with Mercury's Henk Vogel's emerging as the race winner and 7UP-Nutra Fig's Kevin Monahan taking the U.S. champion's jersey in a photo-finish for second place. Earlier in the day, the Diet Rite's Tina Mayolo snagged the women's championship, and James Baldesare (West Virginia-Gomart) won the elite amateur title. The 62-mile USPRO title race began as a wide-open affair, with almost all of the top teams boasting a legitimate contender for the race win, if not for the U.S. title.

With the only real threat to their overall crowns coming from catastrophe, Alison Dunlap and Ryder Hesjedal each did just what they had to do Saturday at the NORBA NCS finals in Mount Snow, Vermont. Both riders entered the day's short track races with comfortable leads in the standings, then held on to take home the series titles. Dunlap also won the U.S. national title, while the men's stars-and-stripes jersey went to Mongoose-Hyundai rider Todd Wells. Meanwhile, Canadians Roland Green and Chrissy Redden were fastest on the day, each winning the final stop of the 2002 series on a scalding

American Brian Lopes and Australian Katrina Miller picked up the first ever NORBA mountain cross season titles in style Saturday, each taking wins on a twisty and treacherous track at Mount Snow Resort in southern Vermont. Lopes's win also gave him the U.S. national title, while 20-year-old Melissa Buhl did just enough to capture the women's U.S. crown. After qualifying first earlier in the day, Lopes (GT-Fox) cruised through his half of the bracket, getting into a final that included Haro-Lee Dungarees teammates Mike King and Mick Hannah, and little known rider Chris Powell (Profile

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Tina Mayolo-Pic (Diet Rite) took the race wins on Saturday night in Downers Grove, Illinois, as the warm-up events for the national criterium championships came down to field sprints for both the men and women. In the women’s race, there were attacks almost every lap up the sharp climb midway through the one-mile course, and several threatening breakaways, with the Talgo America squad usually the instigators. However, in the end, none of the breaks could stay away, setting up a battle between sprinters Mayolo-Pic, Nicole Freedman (Rona), Suzanne Sonye (Saturn) and

With the USPRO Criterium Championship set for Sunday, VeloNews sat down with one of the favorites on the eve of the race, Canadian Gord Fraser of Mercury. Fraser won the event in 1999. In 2000, he finished second, setting up teammate American Derek Bouchard-Hall for the win and the national championship. Who are your favorites? Who are you going to be watching out for? I think the usual suspects. First of all, I think if our team does its job properly, we’ll be in really good shape. Obviously, I think the major threat would be the Prime Alliance team, with their three sprinters -- McCook,

This Sunday, the top U.S. professional road teams will gather in theChicago suburb of Downers Grove for the USPRO Criterium Championship. Ninety-fourriders are on the start list for the 62-mile (100km) race on the difficultone-mile, eight-turn Downers Grove circuit, including last year's winnerHarm Jansen (Saturn) of the Netherlands.Absent from the roster, however, is the defending USPRO criterium champion,Kirk O'Bee (Navigators), the first American finisher last year, who isserving a suspension for a positive doping test.Like the USPRO road championship in Philadelphia, USPRO Crit is opento

I was definitely more awake for today’s stage. Of course it was mainlydue to the fact that we got lost on our way to the start.Directions from the hotels to the start are not clear at all. We shouldhave followed the three other teams that were staying at our same hotellast night, but they all snuck out before we could tag along. Thank goodnessfor the stickers on our car that say “La Grande Boucle.” Randompeople out on the street saw those stickers, could tell we were lost, andpointed us in the right direction. “A droite!” or “A gauche!”We finally found it with plenty of time to spare. But my

Not since the days of Juli Furtado has the NORBA National Championship Series seen the kind of dominance that concluded with the circuit's final cross-country race of 2002 on Friday at Mount Snow Resort in southern Vermont. Following a runaway win by Argentinean Jimena Florit in the women's race that gave her the overall title, Canadian Roland Green captured his seventh straight NORBA cross-country race on a tough and technical Mount Snow track to take his second-straight overall crown.

“Allez les filles! Allez les filles!”The number of French cycling fans that come out to cheer us on continuouslyamazes me. They really love this sport over here. What race director PierreBoué has done for women’s racing is really incredible.When I think of all the planning and organization and effort he andhis staff have put into this race, I really admire the man....even if hedid give us those long neutrals in the beginning.Each day Pierre rides in the front caravan vehicle and when we cometo the end of our neutral section, he’s the one that stands up in the carwaving the big “DÉPART” flag.

In all honesty, this year’s La Grande Boucle is pretty exciting.Unlike the men’s Tour de France of the last four years, where Lance hasbeen the clear-cut winner, this women’s Tour winner is still completelyup in the air. The top four are separated by just over one minute, thetop five, by 2.5 minutes. It’s still anybody’s race. Zinaida Stahurskaia,Susanne Ljugskold, Edita Pucinskaite, Joanne Sommariba, or Nicole Brandliare all within range. And this even with all the climbing days we’ve had.Very impressive, ladies.Our little Saturn team was made even smaller today with Cathy Marsalfinally

I am sitting in the warmth and sunshine of Gerona, Spain now - far away from Les Alpes, where I was competing in the La Grande Boucle Feminin just yesterday. Yesterday’s stage was perhaps one of the most epic days on the bike I have ever experienced. It was our third day in the rainy, cold Alps. It was the most difficult stage on the race profile, heading up three major climbs: le col de Madelaine, le col de Glandon, and Vaujuny. It was cold and pouring rain at the start, and the organizers decided to allow us to skip the first fifteen kilometers of the stage, which traveled down a steep

Even though this morning’s stage was short, just 32 kilometers, it was an abrupt wake-up call to the legs after resting for a day. I forced myself to ride the trainer before the start, not to scare anyone that I was going to attack from the gun, but just so I wouldn’t get dropped from the gun. Ina’s been talking about winning this stage since she first saw our race bible. She knew it could be a stage for her. And seeing that she’s about 2.5 hours down in GC, is not a super threat to anyone! I’m sure a lot of the sprinters were looking forward to this day after suffering in the mountains, but

…and then there were four. It feels like there’s a big void in our team; an emptiness that can only be filled by a certain person. Our teammate, Petra Rossner, finally headed home today. She dropped out of the Tour two days ago because she was too sick to go on. But she remained with the team for a few more days and was, as always, our biggest source of support and direction. Her knowledge, humor, kindness, and tactical brilliance have guided this team to so many wins. Petra is priceless. We are really going to miss her. It was especially hard for Petra to say good-bye to another incredible

While the mountain goats were in Colorado over the weekend for the Saturn Cycling Classic, the criterium specialists were in Southern California for the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. Now in its 41st year, the criterium is a fixture on the Southern California racing calendar, and a yearly stop on the National Racing Calendar. In the men’s race, Gord Fraser took Mercury’s second win of the weekend, adding to Chris Wherry’s victory in Colorado the day before, while in the women’s race, Saturn’s Suzanne Sonye took top honors. In the men’s race, 188 riders lined up for 90 minutes on the 1.4-mile

The last two days’ races have proved to be the toughest of my entire shortcareer so far. I came very close to throwing in the towel todayand hopping in the team car. Only because the team car was so very farbehind me did I stay in the race. I was contemplating stopping at the nextcafe and begging them through my very blue lips for a cup of tea untilmy team car came by, but of course, there were no cafes to be seen onceI had made that decision. Now that the race is over and we have a RESTDAY on Monday (hurray!), I’m glad I stayed in. It was no small feat. Stage 7 Aix-les-Bains to Courcheval,

The Alps – Stage 7 - We are in the Alps and it has been pouringrain, but the scenery is incredible despite the water dumping down. Wehave been pedaling through the clouds, up and down the cols and along thelush green valley floors. We’ve covered some amazing terrain.The organization at this race gets better and better each year, althoughthere are always long transfers, sometimes before and after the stage.We had what was supposed to be a thirty-five kilometer transfer to thestart of today’s stage, but turned out to be at least sixty, on mountainroads, which turned into one hour in the cars.At

Laurent Jalabert scored the big victory Saturday in the Clasica San Sebastianthat eluded him during three weeks at the 2002 Tour de France. After a string of close calls in his final Tour, Jalabert can go tothe retirement home a happy man. The Frenchman helped break the race onthe category-one Jaizkibel climb in the 223-km seventh stop of the 2002World Cup and was fastest in a five-up sprint coming into the windy finishin San Sebastian. Jalabert scored his second straight Clasica victory in what is his first-- and last -- race in Spain this year. Jalabert’s CSC-Tiscali team won’tbe racing

You probably couldn’t have scripted a better finish if you had tried. The Saturn Cycling Classic, easily the toughest bike race in America, with what is arguably one of the most challenging courses in the world, was won Saturday by one of the most deserving competitors in the field: Chris Wherry, the man who has twice finished third in this grueling climber’s epic; Chris Wherry, the man who saw his shot at a U.S. Pro title evaporate when he flatted in Philadelphia this year; Chris Wherry, the quintessential team rider who has stuck with his Mercury squad through thick and thin and Chris

Stage 6 Today was the Tour’s first major day in the mountains. Rain was fallingwhen we woke up, but by the start the skies were just plain gray and therewas no rain.It was another odd start. They had us ride three laps along the boulevardthat ran in front of the start stage for  5km. Then they stopped usagain, and restarted us for 11km of neutral heading out of town and finallya running start into the actual race.Attacks started even before the first sprint bonus at 10km, with a brilliantone coming from Dede Demet-Barry.That started the trend and attacks kept going well into the first

The Clasica San Sebastian always opens the summer fiesta season of thisposh seaside resort in Spain's Basque Country. The Basques are crazy forcycling and they love a good party and the two passions mix together likea good paella.With four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong takingthe start against rival Joseba Beloki and Paolo Bettini hopingto bounce ahead of Johan Museeuw in the overall World Cup standings,the 2002 Clasica has the makings of a classic.Armstrong is back in Europe after lighting up the streets of New YorkCity last weekend. The Texan has a home in Girona on the other

Quebec riders dominated the time trial event at the National Cycling Championshipson Thursday, taking three of six medals in the elite categories.Leading the way was Rona's Genevieve Jeanson, winning her first everelite national title in the women's category after battling back from aknee injury that forced her to drop out of the Commonwealth Games. Defendingchampion Lyne Bessette (Quebec) finished third in the women's category,while Alexandre Cloutier (VW-Trek) took the silver medal in the men's eventbehind Eric Wohlberg (Saturn), who took his seventh consecutive title.Mountain biker Ryder

Bike riders, tramps and thievesYesterday, after a long day in the saddle and a long drive afterward,we arrived at our very quaint French hotel last night only to find outthat the front desk manager had mistakenly been told that our team wasa bunch of thieves. So he refused to open any of our phone lines for fearthat we wouldn’t pay our bills. And he asked our team director for paymentin full as soon as we arrived. As we later found out, after a bit of argument, one of the Italian teamshad left the Dutch hotel without paying for about 200 euros worth of phonecalls. So the faxes had been

Since the middle of July, New Englander Tim Johnson of Saturn has been camped out in the Boulder, Colorado, at the home of teammate Will Frischkorn, preparing for this Saturday's epic, 140-mile Saturn Cycling Classic from Boulder to Breckenridge. Four days before the race, VeloNews caught up with Johnson, who was doing his best to prepare for the nearly 14,000 total feet of climbing over seven mountain passes. "When I got out here after Cascade, the main thing was to try to get used to the altitude.," Johnson said. "I'm not an altitude boy, but given enough time, I think I can do okay. Long

Stage 4 - What a long day in the saddle. I think we pedaled close to fivehours today, including the neutral. Granted, the 20km of neutral was casualpace at best, while the actual race yo-yo’d depending on the terrain andthe mood of the riders. The Saturn girls were kind of hoping a non-threatening break would beallowed up the road so we wouldn’t have to cover attacks all day. Afterthe first sprint at 12km, American Mari Holden and a French national teamgirl made a break and got up to 50 seconds before the pack got nervousand chased them down. Mari’s done very well at this race before and

Stage 3 -- So to sum up yesterday, now that I have the resultsin front of me, Judith is in the yellow jersey with 28 seconds over Polkhanovafrom Iterra. Leontien Van Moorsel is in third, 1:28 back. Judith’s moveyesterday was great, as it put many of the GC threats a few minutes behindher..which is a great cushion to have before heading into the mountains.Every day is a good day when it starts off with our soignuer, Ellen,making us Swiss muesli. She made a huge bowl of it for us to share...withyogurt, rice pudding, cereal, and fruit. With that kind of breakfast inour stomachs, we can make it

Editor's note: T-Mobile's Dede Demet-Barry is sending regular reports back from the Grande Boucle Feminin -- once called the Women's Tour de France. This is the first of her reports I am three days and four stages into La Grande Boucle Feminin.It’s been neat to be back at this race, as it presents the utmost challengesin women's cycling. We will race for fifteen days – starting in S’Hertogendenbosch, The Netherlands traveling through Belgium and into France, hitting the Alps and the Massifs Centrales before finishing in Paris. All the best women in the world are here.I am

The espoir and junior national road championships concluded on Sunday in Clemson, South Carolina with the time trials for all categories. In the men's espoir race, Prime Alliance's Michael Creed beat Saturn's Will Frischkorn by more than a minute to take the national champion's jersey. In the 17-18 races, Saturn Development riders Zak Grabowski and Larsynn Staley won the men's and women's races, respectively. Grabowski beat teammate Oliver Stiller-Cote, while Staley beat Magen Long, to whom she had finished second in both the road race and criterium. For results from other categories,

Stage 2For reasons I still don’t fully comprehend, the race director – whose name I really should learn – just loves to make long stages even longer by adding 20km of neutral before our actual race begins. So we need toremember to not pay attention to depart rèal in our racebibles, but to depart fictif, the actual time of departure withhowever many extra neutral kilometers he’s decided to tack on. Mr. Race Director really wants longer stages for the women, but as theUCI won’t let him make stages too terribly long, he just adds onmore neutral kilometers to make up for it. Fortunately, the

Johan Museeuw skipped the Tour de France to be fresh for the second half of the season. The 36-year-old veteran proved just how fresh after winning Sunday’s HEW Cyclassics race, the sixth round in the 2002 World Cup series. On a 253-km flat course that was supposed to be a rematch of the battle for the Tour’s green points jersey between Lotto’s Robbie McEwen and Telekom’s Erik Zabel turned into another inspiring win by the Belgian, who consolidates his lead in the 10-round World Cup. The hyped showdown between the Australian and the German wasn’t in the cards. McEwen crashed early in the

The USCF junior national championships continued on Saturday in Clemson, South Carolina, with Mercury's Josh Kerkhof taking the men's 17-18 road race and Magen Long (OBRU-The Bicycle Store) winning the women's race. Long's win made her a double winner on the weekend, with her road victory going along with the criterium title she earned on Thursday. Kerkhof, meanwhile, bounced back from a crash in his criterium race to take the road national title. The championships conclude with the junior and espoir time trials on Sunday. For road race results from all categories, click on "view results"