Road

Davide Rebellin of Italy won the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race here Wednesday after what amounted to a photo-finish with countryman Gabriele Colombo. Rebellin was given the same overall time of 29hr 41min 09sec for the eight-stage race as Colombo, but was adjudged the winner by a fraction of a second and on better stage placings. The final stage over 161km along the Adriatic coastline went to another Italian, Endrio Leoni who clocked 4hr 28min 57sec. Rebellin, who grabbed the leader's white jersey in the seventh stage Tuesday, said that he never felt confident of winning the race until

She came to Redlands in top form, ready to act as team leader for the Saturn-Timex women's team in North America's road season opener. But on the second stage of the six-day event, Bessette gave a strong lead out to teammate Ina Teutenberg who then crashed at the line in front of her. Teutenberg suffered some serious cuts to her face, requiring 32 stitches. Bessette, meanwhile, broke her collarbone, putting a temporary halt to what could still be a very productive season. We had a chance to chat with Bessette at the side of the road during the Sunset Road Race, the final stage at

Italian rider Davide Rebellin retook the overall lead of Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday after the 223km seventh stage of the race ended in Ascoli. But Rebellin was edged out for the stage win as the in-form Dutchman Michael Boogerd sprinted past at the line. However, the 29-year-old Rebellin, who held the lead after Saturday's fourth stage but lost it the next day, will have to be on his guard in Wednesday's final 161km stage as Boogerd, second in the recent Tour of Valencia, trails by just three seconds in third place. Rebellin, though, said he was confident he could hold on. "I have

One face you didn't expect to see at Redlands this year was that of Jeroen Blijlevens. But there he was, taking part in the 17th edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Dutch sprinter was in California, because of a "slight delay" to the start of his 2001 season. Though he has an impressive résumé that includes five stage wins at the Vuelta España, two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and four at the Tour de France, Blijlevens has most recently gained attention for a fight on the last day of the 2000 Tour. After finishing the final stage in Paris, Blijlevens charged at American Bobby

Latvia's Romans Vainsteins won the sixth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race Monday, a 136km run from Torre San Patrizio to Monte San Pietrangeli. Vainsteins defeated Swiss rider Markus Zberg in a sprint finish but the conclusion was marred by the fall of overnight race leader Sergei Ivanov of Russia who had to be taken to hospital after tumbling 500m from the finish. Ivanov was being treated at Fermo Hospital where he was undergoing tests while Italian cyclist Lope Boselli was also treated for injuries sustained in the same incident. Ivanov was credited with finishing the stage in

The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to immediately begin sponsorship of USA Cycling’s National Junior and Espoir teams. The U.S. Espoir squad competing at Redlands showed up for Saturday’s downtown criterium wearing redesigned jerseys sporting a new USPS logo to reflect the new sponsorship. At a press conference on Saturday, USPS senior vice president for sales, Gail Sonnenberg, said the sponsorship reflects the service’s long-term view of the sport. “The Postal Service is committed to the development of the next generation of cycling champions. We believe in the values of hard

Dario Frigo became the first Italian for 55 years to win Paris-Nice on Sunday while countryman Fabrizio Guidi won the seventh and final stage. Guidi gave Mercury the perfect end to a near-perfect week with a clinical finish for their third stage win out of eight in front of the sun worshippers and rollerbladers on Nice's promenade des Anglais. After late attacks from Big Mat's Loic Lamueller and the prologue winner Nico Mattan had been swept up, the peloton swept down the windblown finish straight led by Peter Van Petegem. He repaid Guidi his sterling work through the week by leading him

Saturn’s Anna Milward made it two-for-two when she won her second women's World Cup race in just over a week, at the Hamilton, New Zealand, World Cup. The Australian was part of a six-strong group that broke away on the seventh of 17 laps of the 6.3 km circuit. The group included Sarah Ulmer, Mirjam Melchers, Sara Carrigan and world road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia. World time trial champion Mari Holden missed the break, started when Melchers sprinted away on the circuit's biggest hill. But Holden launched a tremendous three-kilometer chase to join the group. The bunch increased the gap

While Dario Frigo was winning Paris-Nice, his Fassa Bortolo teammates were also lighting it up at Tirreno-Adriatico. Italian Roberto Petito, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in Torricella Sicura Sunday, a 14.2km time trial. The overall lead changed hands for the third time in three days, as Petito’s teammate Sergei Ivanov displaced Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. Petito finished ahead of second-placed Spaniard David Plaza Romero and his Russian teammate Sergei Ivanov, who takes over the lead in the overall standings. It confirms

Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna successfully defended their leads at the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic to emerge as the overall victors after Sunday’s tough Sunset Road Race through the hilly residential neighborhoods of south Redlands. While Jeanson simply rode away from the field adding to her already substantial lead, it was the U.S. Postal Service’s Levi Leipheimer who took the final sprint in the men’s event. Jeanson entered Sunday’s final stage with a nearly two-minute lead in general classification over Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner. While two minutes may be an

Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin, of the Liquigas team, won Saturday's fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race, a 170km run from Isernia to Celano. Rebellin also took the lead in the overall standings after outsprinting Dutch rider Michael Boogerd and Russia's Sergei Ivanov. The first three and Italian cyclist Gabriele Colombo, who won the Milan-San Remo Classic in 1996, made a vital break from the rest of the peloton with Rebellin holding off a spirited challenge from Boogerd of the Rabobank team to win. Earlier Ivan Basso and Danilo Di Luca had attempted a vain breakaway which

Katrina Berger (800.com) and Chris Horner (Mercury-Viatel) both took advantage of small, early breaks and earned criterium victories in the fifth stage of the 2001 Redlands Classic. While overall race leaders Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna held on to their top spots, the men’s race again saw a dangerous break inflict still more damage on one-time race leader Roland Green (U.S. Postal). Berger said she found herself with a good gap on the field early in the 60-minute women’s race. Having just won a prime, the 800.com rider “figured I give it a shot and try to keep going

The Italian Fassa Bortolo team took over Paris-Nice today during the Col d'Eze time trial, with Dario Frigo winning the stage in decisive style to take the lead from Peter Van Petegem of Belgium, with his teammate Raimondas Rumsas moving into second overall. Frigo, who finished second in last year's Tour of Switzerland, and finished ninth in Paris-Nice behind Andreas Kloden, led throughout the 10km uphill test, posting a time 14 seconds faster than Rumsas at the 6km checkpoint, where it was clear that Van Petegem, who was 23 seconds slower, would relinquish the white jersey. The

Rabobank’s Markus Zberg won a hotly contested sprint finish on Friday, while Russian Dmitri Konyshev (Fassa Bortolo) took over the race lead at Tirreno-Adriatico. Friday’s 156km third stage went from Benevento to Castelpetroso as the race continued its eastward journey across southern Italy toward the Adriatic coast. The day saw plenty of breakaway attempts, including Roberto Petito (Fassa Bortolo), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Sergio Barbero (Lampre-Daikin), who were caught within sight of the 1km-to-go banner. That set up the furious finish, in which Zberg came off of Konyshev’s wheel

The heavy back roads of the Var left no impression on the overall classification of Paris-Nice on Friday, which means that no less than 15 riders were poised within one minute of the race leader Peter Van Petegem (Mercury-Viatel) going into Saturday's vital time trial to the Col d'Eze. The stage into Saint Raphael did however provide a welcome respite for the new Belgian team Domo, under pressure since they failed to show at Het Volk two weeks ago. Their Pole Piotr Wadecki spent 115 of the 150 miles in front with Bonjour's Francois Simon and Matteo Tosatto of Fassa Bortolo, disposed of the

It was all according to the book for 19-year-old Canadian sensation Genevieve Jeanson as she simply rode the competition off her wheel on final climb to Oak Glen at the end of stage 4 at the Redlands Classic on Friday. But as Jeanson easily fulfilled expectations, the two biggest men’s teams found themselves scrambling after an early break that “accidentally” formed without any overall contenders from either the U.S. Postal or Mercury-Viatel squads. Saturn’s Trent Klasna, who began the day in seventh place, 1:10 behind overall race leader Roland Green, was the top GC rider in the break and he

Scenes from Wednesday's Highlands Road Race

Alex Zulle scored his first sprint win since he was an amateur to give new Division I squad Team Coast its first win of the season, a first step toward building its case for a place in the Tour de France. Zulle outsprinted ONCE's Portuguese neo-pro Jose Azevedo with the main bunch close on their heels in Sisteron, after the pair broke away on the final descent with 10km to go. "It's a great win for us, which boosts morale, proves we are serious, and gives us more confidence about the Tour," said Zulle. Close behind in the peloton was race leader Peter Van Petegem, who held onto the leader's

Italian Endrio Leoni (Alessio) won the sprint finish of stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico, sending German Erik Zabel to defeat for the second day in a row. On Thursday, Leoni won his fifth race of the season, beating out Zabel and stage 1 winner Biagio Conte at the end of the 163km stage between Sorrento and Benevento, which finished on with an uphill sprint on a 3 to 4-percent grade. The sprint was the only notable action on a day when the peloton stayed intact and rolled along at a steady, even pace all day long. With his Alessio team still seeking selection for Milan-Remo on March 24, Leoni

Canadians Roland Green (U.S. Postal Service) and Genevieve Jeanson (RONA) extended their overall leads at the Redlands Bicycle Classic on Thursday with convincing wins in the Stage 3 time trial. Jeanson beat out Saturn's Kimberly Bruckner by 28 seconds, while Green beat U.S. Postal teammate Levi Leipheimer by 37 seconds. Click on "View Results" for complete results and stay tuned for Charles Pelkey's report from Redlands.

Roland Green seemed pleasantly surprised on Tuesday as he won the opening time trial at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Volkswagen-Trek mountain-bike racer slipped on the leader’s jersey and figured he would be working for the next few days to hand it off to one of his (temporary) U.S. Postal Service teammates. But Green may have taken a big step to keeping the jersey on Thursday as he finished the Sun Highland time trial stage a full 37 seconds ahead of his teammate Levi Leipheimer and 40 up on 2000 Redlands winner Chris Horner (Mercury-Viatel). Meanwhile 19-year-old Canadian sensation

The Redlands Bicycle Classic kicked off with a brand-new hillclimb prologue on Tuesday, and photographer Casey Gibson was on hand to capture all the action.

Jans Koerts strengthened Mercury-Viatel’s case for a start in the Tour de France this year by giving the U.S. team its second consecutive stage win Wednesday in the high-speed run down the Rhone Valley to Villeneuve les Avignon. His teammate Peter Van Petegem conserved the leader's white jersey. Koerts received a fine leadout from his teammate Fabrizio Guidi to finish more than a length ahead of Jean-Patrick Nazon and Germany's Danilo Hondo, at the end of a stage run at close to a 30mph average thanks to a strong tailwind. This is Koerts' third win of the season after winning two stages of

Italian sprinter Biagio Conte (Saeco) took the early lead in the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race on Wednesday when he won the 132km opening stage in Sorrento, Italy. Conte beat out Telekom’s Erik Zabel and Fassa Bortolo’s Dmitri Konyshev in the final sprint. Conte was given some freedom in the finish after Saeco team leader Mario Cipollini suffered a little bit on the Sant’Angelo climb during the race. "I am here to help Cipollini, and Thursday, I will return to my role as teammate," Conte said after his win. Thursday’s second stage will be a completely flat, 163km course between Sorrento and

It was expected to be an easy day. A long flat circuit north of Redlands offers a chance for the fields of 198 men and 110 women to stay together and fight out the finish in a bunch sprint. That’s the way it ended for both. Gord Fraser rode the Mercury train into the finish and cruised to an easy win, even beating Lotto’s new Dutch sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens to the line. But in the women’s race Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg was well on her way to winning stage 2 of the Redlands Classic on Wednesday, charging ahead of the 110-rider women’s field after the 122km Highlands Road Race, but bad luck and

Tuesday’s hilly windy stage to Saint Etienne turned the Paris-Nice classification upside down, with Peter Van Petegem outsprinting the gutsy but luckless Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) to give Mercury-Viatel its first taste of the leader's jersey in a major European stage race. Vinokourov was on the attack for the entire stage, early on in a 19-strong group which included Floyd Landis (Mercury-Viatel) and Jonathan Vaughters (Credit Agricole). He split the break together with Laurent Dufaux (Saeco) and escaped on the final climb to hold on until the final meter, when Van Petegem came flying

Dueling big-guns Saturn-Timex and Mercury-Viatel made for high octane and unpredictable racing at the annual Sequoia Cycling Classic in Exeter, California. Men’s and women’s competition was fierce both in the Rocky Hill Road Race and in the Visalia Criterium the following day but Saturn made its presence known, taking the top spots in three out of four races. Day one of competition found riders seeing rings with Saturn dominating both the men’s and women’s Rocky Hill Road Race, a nine-and-half-mile loop with two climbs on each lap, totaling 600 feet of climbing per lap. Saturn and Mercury

She may have been biding her time in Arizona, rather than defending her title at Australia’s Tour de Snowy, but the lack of travel certainly hasn’t hurt Genevieve Jeanson. The 19-year-old Canadian blasted her way to the top of Riverside’s Mt. Rubidoux to take the opening stage of the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic and, coincidentally setting the stage for a win by her countryman, mountain-bike racer Roland Green, in the elite men’s event of this Southern California season opener. Jeanson (Rona) took on a strong women’s field — including 2001 Tour de Snowy winner Kim Bruckner (Saturn) and 2000

Crashes took their toll on a rainy Paris-Nice today, with Axel Merckx the principal victim of a 25-rider pile-up two-and-a-half kilometers from the line. Merckx finished the stage, but was taken to the hospital after the race. Earlier, Joseba Beloki, third finisher in the Tour last year, was put out by a broken rib after he collided with another rider while taking nature's call on the move. A reduced lead group fought out the stage finish in Clermont Ferrand, where Stuart O'Grady led out from 250 meters, but was overhauled just before the line by the Belgian Fabian De Waele. He took the

Belgian rider Nico Mattan (Cofidis) won the Paris-Nice cycling prologue over 6.2km through the streets of Nevers on March 11. The 29-year-old came in ahead of British teammate David Millar (at 0:08), with France’s Florent Brard in third, a further second behind during the stage made difficult by persistent rain. Mercury-Viatel's Peter van Petegem finished fifth and Floyd Landis 11th. Defending champion Andreas Kloden of Germany, who shot into the limelight with his surprise win last year, but who has had recent health problems, was 24 seconds behind the leader. Paris-Nice, under the

Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez (Kelme) won the Tour of Murcia on March 11 after winning the fifth and final stage, a 12.9km time-trial through the streets of Murcia on Sunday. Gonzalez was joined on the podium by compatriots Javier Pascual Llorente and Mikel Zarrabeitia, second and third respectively. The Spaniard, who turned professional 1998, was the only rider to finish the time-trial in under 15 minutes (in 14:57), with Italy's Marco Velo second in 15:07 and Spaniard Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano 15:18. U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong finished in fifth position in the TT (in 15:25), with former

Spain's Francisco Cabello came from behind to take the overall lead in the Tour of Murcia cycling race after winning the 166.2km fourth stage between Alcantarilla and Aledo on March 10. "We've been looking for this victory since the beginning of the season and we dedicate it to the Ochoa brothers," Cabello said, visibly moved at the thought of his Kelme team-mates. Ricardo Ochoa was killed during an accident near Malaga on February 15. which left his twin Javier (13th overall in the 2000 Tour de France) in a deep coma. Cabello's time of 4:15:15 brought him in three seconds ahead of

Australian Anna Millward (Saturn-Timex) won the Canberra World Cup cycling race with a devastating sprint finish here on March 10. Millward, 29, beat Dutch champion Mirjam Melchers and fellow Australian Rochelle Gilmore in a mass sprint finish to the 20-lap 102- kilometer race. It was her third win in the race in as many years and earned her the first World Cup leader's jersey for 2001. "I was extremely nervous before the race today, trying to do it for the third time running. In bunch sprints, so many things can happen -- you might not get a clean run through and it might all come to

Argentina's Martin Garrido won both the stage and the leader's jersey of the Tour of Murcia on March 9, as he outsprinted Italians Enrio Leoni (yesterday's winner) and Giovanni Lombardi. The time bonus helped the Team Relax rider take over the yellow jersey from Nuremberg's Werner Riebenbaur, who now is third overall, at 7 seconds. The stage, on a 152.4km route between Cieza and Archena, was marked by a long break by Guido Trenti and Tony Bracke, but like previous days, the teammates of sprinters worked to chase down the break and position their power riders for the final

France's Tour VTT -- the granddaddy of mountain bike stage races -- may be reincarnated next season. The race, which first ran in 1994 and folded after the 1997 event, is organized by the Société du Tour de France; the company is looking at reviving the event in August of 2002, according to comments made on March 8. "There has been a kind of frustration on behalf of mountain bike enthusiasts," declared Jean-François Pescheux, sporting director of the Société. One option being studied is to open the event to the general public, rather than restricting it to elite riders, as was done in

Okay, okay we admit it; we've lusted after Campagnolo Record components about as long as we've been riding (which in our case means five-speed freewheels and friction shifting). Normally we wouldn't make a big deal about someone's promotional contest, but… hey, you can win a Campy 10-speed Record group and, oh yeah, wheels and clothes, too. Log on to win.campagnolo.com and give its "Win Your Record" contest a shot. If you win because you went through this site, you owe us a set of pedals, okay?

Once again the Tour of Murcia ended in a field sprint, but today's fastest rider was Team Alessio's Endrio Leoni, while Jeroen Blijlevens and Bjorn Leukemans finished second and third, respectively. Yesterday's sprint king, Werner Riebenbaure (Nuremberg), held on to the leader's jersey after rolling in sixth for the day. The stage was marked by the long break by Italian Fabio Roscioli and Belgian Sven Njis, who rode clear at the 24km mark. But the pair was reeled in after 120km, and the sprinters worked to position themselves in the closing 17km. Lotto's Tayeb Braikia (Lotto) was expected

For Alain Gallopin, Mercury-Viatel’s new French assistant directeur sportif, the team’s 10-day training camp in Southern California was a chance to get acquainted with many of his new riders. In particular, Gallopin got the chance to meet the American riders who weren’t too familiar to the European-based Gallopin. But with at least one American, Gallopin already had a bond that was rock solid. “Horner, he is my friend for life,” Gallopin said of Chris Horner, who was with Gallopin for three years in the Française des Jeux program. “I am his spiritual father.” Horner had an up-and-down time

Kim Bruckner and the Saturn team fended off final-day challenges from world road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia (GAS Sport) to win Tour de Snowy, the Australian stage race that marks the unofficial start to the women's road season. In another of the race's many two-stage days, most of the attention was focused on the climbs in the morning's 69.3km stage from Tumbarumba to Tumut, especially a long 12km climb near the start. That climb represented the last real chance for Stahurskaia to knock Bruckner out of the lead. But Saturn would have none of that and the team successfully shadowed every

Team Nuremberg's Werner Riebenbauer won the 147km first stage of the Tour of Murcia on March 7, while American Antonio Cruz (US Postal) grabbed third, and Argentina's Martin Garridoa (Realx-Fuenlabrada) finished second in the mass sprint. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantini, had an easy ride, finishing in the main bunch on the route between Murcia and Aguilas, in the southeast of Spain.. The sprint finish brought about a huge fall of riders, with Lotto's Tayeb Braikia the main victim. Breikia, 27, and winner of Saturday's Classique d'Almeria, suffered facial injuries and

Italy's 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani extended a warm welcome to two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on March 6, when he declared he'd like to teach the Texan a lesson in this week's Tour of Murcia. The race in Spain runs March 7-11. Pantani, who's currently enmeshed in a series of judicial investigations in Italy over doping offences, pits his wits against Armstrong and the 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in this week's 640km race. While both Armstrong and Ullrich are making their seasonal debuts, 31-year-old Pantani will be seeking to put the disappointment

It was supposed to be another match up between Tour de Snowy race leader Anna Millward and reigning world road champion Zinaidaia Stahurskaia … and it was, to a point. As the season-opening Australian stage race moved into serious climbing, Stahurskaia challenged Millward and forced her out of the leader's jersey. But Millward's Saturn team was ready and just as she faltered, her teammate Kim Bruckner was ready to take up the challenge winning the stage and keeping the jersey in the family. Saturn has clearly dominated the race from the start, with Millward winning the first three stages and

The two top teams from last year’s National Racing Calendar kicked off the 2001 NRC season with impressive sweeps at the McLane Pacific Cycling Classic in Merced over the weekend. On the men’s side, Australian Baden Cooke took both the road race and criterium for Mercury-Viatel, while Ina Teutenberg and Lyne Bessette took one win apiece for the Saturn women’s team. The weekend began with the Downtown Grand Prix on Saturday. With 19 laps remaining in the 45-lap, 36-mile women’s race, a group of seven escaped on the fast, eight-turn, 0.8-mile circuit. Teutenberg made an attempt at a solo

Mercury-Viatel’s Belgian recruit, Peter Van Petegem, scored his first victory for the American team on Sunday at the 54th Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne semi-classic in the north of Belgium. Van Petegem was in a group of five that had escaped from a lead group of 14 late in the race. Van Petegem faced off against Hans De Clercq (Lotto), Jo Planckaert (Cofidis), Marc Wauters (B) and Chris Peers (Cofidis) in the finale and beat De Clercq to the line for the win in Kuurne. "I absolutely wanted to win something very quickly for my new team," said Van Petegem after the 188km race.

World women’s road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia (GAS Sport) showed that this year’s Tour de Snowy would not be the exclusive realm of Saturn’s hometown favorite Anna Millward as she rode away from the field on the first major climb of this five-day, season opening Australian stage race. But Millward, too, proved herself to be a worthy competitor as the Australian worked tirelessly to catch Stahurskaia in the closing kilometers of the day’s 77.3 km stage, preserving her lead in the overall standings. Stahurskaia had been touted as Millward’s biggest threat, even as the Australian charged her

Sunday, the second day at Australia’s five-day Tour de Snowy offered a bit of a repeat of the first: a two stage day, marked again by the dominance of the Saturn women’s team and by Anna Millward in particular. The morning kicked off with a very short 35.9km stage from Jindabyne to Thredbo. Despite a series of breakaway attempts, the Saturn squad kept reign on the field and reeled in the final attackers with just a kilometer to go. Again, the stage was set for a Saturn-led field sprint and the team followed its script as written: Millward scooted home to take her third successive stage in

Saturn’s Anna Millward quickly established herself as the woman to beat in the 2001 Tour de Snowy as the 1999 World Cup winner took both stages contested on the opening day of the Australian stage race that marks the start of the women’s road season. Millward scored an impressive early win in the opening 30km criterium around the town center of Cooma. Fighting off riders from an impressive field of European, Australian and American riders – including the reigning world champions Zinaida Stahurskaia and Mari Holden -- Millward teamed up with fellow Aussie Kristy Scrymgeour, one of the newest

Switzerland's Fabian Jekker (Maia) won the Tour of Valencia following the fifth and final stage, a 23.5km time-trial around the east coast city of Valencia. Dutch rider Michael Boogerd, who predicted on taking the lead Tuesday that the race would hinge on the time trial, was proved correct when Jeker, who finished 15th in the stage, nipped him by 13 seconds overall and 13 seconds on the day to snatch victory. "This is a great victory for me," said Jeker after the biggest win of his career. The time trial through the streets of Valencia was affected by lashing rain. "At the end I was

Italian national champion and multi-classic winner Michele Bartoli sent a strong message today with a convincing win over a world class field in the Belgian season opener Het Volk. The 30 year-old Mapei-Quick step rider returned to form late last season following a difficult knee injury, and with today’s win showed that he may again be on the level that has already placed him among the sport’s legendary classics riders. The 200 kilometer test between Gent and Lokeren, covering much of the same terrain as the classic Tour of Flanders, got off to a chilly start with temperatures barely

Showing fine form heading into the spring classics, Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd won the toughest stage of the Tour of Valencia on a rainy day in Spain. The Dutch World Cup threat won Friday’s 147.2km stage 4, a mountainous journey between Benidorm and Campello pass. Boogerd, who also won the first stage, beat Fabian Jeker of Switzerland, Italian rider Leonardo Piepoli and Alexandre Vinokurov of Kazakhstan in a sprint finish to tighten his grip on the overall lead. Mercatone Uno’s Marco Pantani had failed to start Friday's stage because he was suffering from a high fever and bronchitis.

In its third year of existence, the GAS women’s road team promises to be a force to be reckoned with in everything from major Tours to World Cup individual races and overall. Sponsored by an Italian jeans and sportswear company, the team has added more power this season to an already star-studded roster. At the team introduction on February 26, GAS spokesman Piergiorgio Dal Santo said, "We want to be the Mapei team of women’s cycling, both in terms of setting the standard for professionalism as well as by being the best team in the world." Joining 1997 world road champion and 2000 Giro

A lot of question marks hang over the men who will be battling for supremacy in this year's spring classics, which kicks off Saturday with the traditional Belgium season-opener, the Omloop Het Volk. The only sure things are that the weather will be cold -- a max of 37 degrees F. is forecast -- and the 200km race will be played out on its nine short climbs and 16 sections of cobblestones. It was raining Friday, ensuring that Saturday's course, under partly cloudy skies, will be as treacherous as ever. Double-comeback man Johan Museeuw will be defending his title, this time at the

Euskatel-Euskadi rider David Etxebarria gave Spanish fans a home win in the third stage of the Tour of Valencia Thurday. The Spaniard won a sprint for the line at the end of the 149.5km stage between Denia and Benidorm. Extebarria outsprinted fellow Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez and an on-form Erik Dekker (Rabobank) to win from the lead group of seven with a time of 3:43:59. Dekker’s teammate and fellow Dutchman Michael Boogerd, who won Tuesday's first stage, holds the overall leader's yellow jersey, ahead of Switzerland’s Fabian Jeker and Italian Leonardo Piepoli. Thursday's stage, featuring

The 2001 Pro Cycling Tour will begin in March on the West Coast and conclude eight months later on the other side of the country in October. The 14-race series will include some of the highest-profile road races in the United States. On Thursday, Threshold Sports unveiled the schedule for the season-long series, which begins March 22 at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. Among the events returning to the Pro Cycling Tour line-up are the BMC Software series, the First Union Cycling series, the U.S. Postal Service Clarendon Cup and the Chris Thater Memorial. New additions include

For Telekom’s sprint star Erik Zabel, it almost looks too easy. Zabel took stage 2 of the Tour of Valencia in Spain Tuesday, adding to his pile of early season victories by winning a sprint finish in the 179.5km race between Segunto and Denia in eastern Spain. U.S. Postal Service rider George Hincapie finished third, just behind second-placed Biagio Conte of Italy. Rabobank’s Dutch classics rider Michael Boogerd retained the overall lead by finishing sixth. Right behind Boogerd in the overall are Swiss riders Fabian Jeker and Alex Zulle, along with Italian Leonardo Piepoli, all with the

Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd won the first stage of the Tour of Valencia on Tuesday, while Telekom’s Jan Ullrich made a last-minute decision to withdraw from the event. Ullrich made his decision on Monday night, and will instead make his season debut at next week’s Tour of Murcia, where Lance Armstrong and Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal) will also kick off the racing season. The first stage of the Tour of Valencia was contested on a 166.5km circuit beginning and ending at Puerto Sagunto. Thirty kilometers from the finish, Swiss Alex Zulle (Coast) set a rhythm up the Cat. 1 Garbi climb that only

Telekom's Erik Zabel won Sunday's 21st edition of the Luis Puig Trophy, 182km from Benidorm to Valencia, Spain. Zabel won the race for the third time in his career, outsprinting Sven Teutenberg (Festina) and U.S. Postal Service's George Hincapie. A trio of Spaniards - Xavier Zandio, Cesar Garcia Calvo and Juan Antonio Flecha - maintained a breakaway of about 100km, but the sprinters' teams held the threesome in check, finally bringing them back with 8km remaining in the race. On Tuesday, the five-day Tour of Valencia will commence, marking the debut for Zabel's teammate, 1997 Tour de France

Dutch cycling ace Erik Dekker won the Ruta del Sol race here on Thursday, easily retaining his lead during the 171km fifth and final stage, which was taken by Spaniard Mickel Artetxe. Dekker, 29, who won three stages in last year's Tour de France, was never troubled by his main challengers on Thursday letting a group of riders, who were not going to challenge for the overall lead, slip away to share out the finish. Dekker first took over the race lead on Monday, when he finished second in stage 2, the 178.5km ride from Sevilla to the mountain finish of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de

Slovenian Martin Hvastija (Alessio) took the fourth stage of the Ruta del Sol in Spain on Wednesday — a 175km run from Cabra to Benalmadena. Hvastja finished in a time of 4:39.27. Leonardo Piepoli (iBanesto.com) was 27 seconds back in second, while Dave Bruylandts (Domo-Farm Frites) was third, 48 seconds off the pace. There were no changes in the overall standings, as Rabobank’s Erik Dekker finished 10th, maintaining his lead. Rabobank teammate Marc Wauters remained second, six seconds back of Dekker, while Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Sheffr (Alessio) is still third, trailing by nine seconds.

German Erik Zabel (Telekom) won a sprint to capture the third stage of the Ruta del Sol on Tuesday. But in the overall standings Erik Dekker (Rabobank) was able to preserve his lead, staying six seconds ahead of Belgium Marc Wauters. Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Sheffr, Belgian Andrei Tchmil, and German Jan Schaffrath round out the top five in the general classification. The stage was an 180km ride between Luque and Jaen. Zabel was the overall winner of the race in 1997. Max Van Heeswijk of The Netherlands and Italian Endrio Leoni finished second and third in Tuesday’s stage. Tomorrow’s 175km

The three-day Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix, Arizona, February 16-18, saw Mercury complete a three-stage sweep in the men’s Pro-I race, while Canadian Genevieve Jeanson continued her early-season preparations by winning the women’s title. Mercury’s Derek Bouchard-Hall won the opening time trial, and Aussie teammate Baden Cooke rounded out the weekend by winning the road race, criterium and overall title. Jeanson meanwhile won the time trial and road race. AutoTrader.com’s Tina Mayolo took second in the road race and first in the criterium, and her time bonuses allowed her to

Italian cyclist Mirko Celestino, riding for the Saeco team, won Tuesday's Trofeo Laigueglia, a 173km run starting and finishing in the town of that name. It was an all-Italian podium with last year's winner Daniele Nardello of the Mapei team finishing second, and Davide Rebellin, of the Liquigas outfit, in third. The 26-year-old Celestino, who joined Saeco from the now defunct Polti outfit, nipped his rivals in a sprint finish to clinch victory in the race that has historically been the curtain-raiser on the Italian cycling season, though other races have already been staged this

Cannondale expanded its motorized product range this weekend with the release of its FX400 All-Terrain Vehicle. The ATV joins Cannondale’s MX400 motocrosser released last year and the XC400 cross-country motorbike, due for release in April. The first of the ATVs was delivered last week to Pennsylvania motorsports dealer Gatto Cycles to what the company says was a very enthusiastic reception. The $8000 FX400 sports a four-stroke engine with electronic fuel injection, and the industry’s first twin-spar perimeter aluminum ATV frame. Cannondale founder & president Joe Montgomery praised the

Rabobank’s Erik Dekker took over the overall lead at the Ruta del Sol Monday after finishing second to Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Sheffr (Alessio) in the race’s second stage. Fellow Rabobank rider Marc Wauters was third, while Andrei Tchmil (Lotto) and Jan Schaffrath (Telekom) were fourth and fifth. Strong winds during the early part of the stage made for few attacks during the 178.5km ride from Sevilla to the mountain finish of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de Araceli. Dekker, Tchmil, Sheffr, and Mikhailov didn’t try their move until the stage’s final climb. Sheffr was the strongest, pulling

The 2001 Tour de Langkawi has ended. After 12 stages and 1836 kilometers, Paolo Lanfranchi has led Mapei-Quick Step to a clean sweep of the overall awards. The final stage was anti-climactic, as expected, with the 7.6-kilometer circuit in downtown Kuala Lumpur, which the riders covered 12 times, not having any effect on the overall standings. Federico Colonna of Cantina Tollo took the field sprint to win the final stage.

Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) repeated his victory at the Tour of the Mediterranean as the five-day, six-stage season-opening stage race ended in Marseilles on Sunday, while Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) took his second stage win in as many days. Rebellin moved into the yellow jersey on Saturday, after race leader Ivan Basso crashed and then abandoned at the end of stage 4. Copyright AFP2001

Spaniard Diaz Lobato (Jazztel) survived a 120km breakaway effort to win the opening stage of Spain’s season-opening Ruta Del Sol. Diaz Labato slipped off the front of the peloton only 28km into the day’s 148.5km stage around the southern city of Cordova. Building an advantage that exceeded 15 minutes; Diaz Labato triggered a chase when the race’s powerhouse teams finally realized that he stood a real chance of taking a stage win. With Deutsche Telekom, Rabobank and Festina in pursuit, Diaz Labato still managed to hold on to a significant lead finishing 1:43 ahead of Deutsche Telekom’s Jan

Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step) became the fourth rider to win two stages in the 2001 Tour de Langkawi, consolidating his lead in the green jersey points competition, while his team mate Paolo Lanfranchi easily finished in the pack, protecting his yellow jersey.

Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), winner of the 2000 Tour Méditerranéen, took over the lead of this year’s edition from Ivan Basso (Fassa Bartolo) after Basso suffered a crash in the first of Saturday’s two stages, a 108km race from Aigues Mortes to Beziers. The day’s stage wins were still the property of the peloton’s top sprinters as Gabriel Balducci (Tacconi) and Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won stages four and five respectively.Rebellin moved from second overall after Basso’s crash and now holds an eight second advantage over David Moncoutie and 23 seconds over Laurent Brochard.Basso was the

Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei-Quick Step) has weathered the last serious threat to winning his second Tour de Langkawi by surviving the stage 10 time trial, while his team mate Paolo Bettini has moved into second and Chris Wherry salvaged some Mercury-Viatel pride with a superb ride that jumped him up two places into third overall. Australian Nathan O'Neill (Ceramiche Panaria) took the stage to give his team their third victory of the Tour.

Former world road champion Alessandra Cappellotto is an energetic woman. She claims to be old for cycling (33), yet a normal February day for her consists of a five-hour training ride followed by an afternoon spent driving all around the area near Bassano del Grappa visiting suppliers for her bike shop. As she dashes from place to place in her silver Mercedes wagon, she handles calls on her cell phone regarding her bike shop, her teams, and the wellness center she will be opening in the fall. Her final meeting at saddle manufacturer Selle San Marco behind her, she rushes north to Bassano to

La Française des Jeux’s sprinter Jimmy Casper took the third stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean, a 127km race between Gréasque and Salon-de-Provence, on Friday. Casper outsprinted a tough field of top sprinters, beating Czech Jan Svorada of Lampre and AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu, the Estonian who lead the opening week of the 1999 Tour de France. Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo) maintained his hold on the overall standings with a four-second advantage over Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin. American David Clinger finished 8th in Friday’s bunch sprint, while Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) holds on to

Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei-Quick Step) was the substitute rider for an ill Andrea Tafi at the Tour de Langkawi. So far this 'substitute' has won both mountain stages and taken the yellow leaders jersey from team mate Paolo Bettini. Meanwhile, Mercury miscalculated big time by not paying attention to the time cutoff and losing Jans Koerts, Gord Fraser and Henk Vogels. The Genting Highlands stage - this year stage 9 - is legendary. After a 107 kilometer run up the riders face a 25 kilometer Hors Category climb that averages 8 percent and max's out at over 15percent. In the past, riders such as

Australian Robbie McEwen (Domo) took the second stage of the 28th Mediterranean Tour on Thursday, finishing the 139km stage between La Garde and La Seyne by outsprinting Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and France’s Damien Nazon. Fassa Bortolo’s Ivan Basso maintains his lead over Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. The finishing sprint was marked by serious crash in which Basso’s teammate, Alessandro Pettacchi suffered a broken collarbone.

As Frankie Andreu stood outside Tucson’s Westin La Paloma hotel on January 11, he looked introspective. For the first time in 13 years, he wasn’t suited up, heading off into the sunshine on a crisp, bright morning with the rest of his pro team colleagues. Instead, Andreu was in jeans and a windbreaker, watching the U.S. Postal Service squad start its first group ride of 2001. At that moment, a chapter in North American cycling closed. Andreu was officially starting a new career as Postal’s domestic program directeur sportif — thus ending a racing career that began in 1989 with America’s

Fassa Bortolo’s Yvan Basso took the opening stage of the 28th Mediterranean Tour, stage between Antibes (the Alpes-Maritimes) and Mount Faron in the hills of the Cote d’Azur.Basso took charge on the final climb, a six-kilometer ascent of Mount Faron. 1. Ivan Basso (I) Fassa Bortolo, 3:13:252. Davide Rebellin (I) Liquigas, s.t.3. David Moncoutie (F) Cofidis, at 0:014. Laurent Brochard (F) Jean Delatour, at 0:165. Francisco Mancebo (Sp) Banesto, at 0:19

The mountains have spoken and the Tour de Langkawi has a new leader Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step). Bettini finished third in the frontgroup of four, behind his teammate Paolo Lanfranchi and Pascal Hervé(Alexia Alluminio), and ahead of American Chris Wherry (Mercury-Viatel). The riders faced 154 kilometers on stage 8 from Kuala Kubu Baru to Tanah Rata, climbing 2000 meters over the final 53 kilometers. There were a few attempts to get away before the climb, but Mapei and Mercury quickly brought them back, so that at the start of the first KoM (King of the Mountain) the peloton was

The U.S. Postal team and the management of Kelme have settled their differences over payment terms for the remainder of Spanish rider Roberto Heras’s contract, Kelme’s manager told the French wire service AFP on Tuesday. The U.S. Postal, led by two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, bought out Heras' contract with the Spanish team which had been due to expire in 2002, Juan Mas said. Heras had been due to join US Postal last October but the two teams had been unable to agree terms. Last month, Kelme announced Heras would be staying at the Spanish team for the upcoming season, a

Ivan Quaranta (Alexia Alluminio) finally got on the winner's podium, but unfortunately a large crash marred the end of stage 7 at the Tour de Langkawi. Jans Koerts (Mercury Viatel) finished second and continues to hold the yellow jersey after the last stage before the mountains. The 172-kilometer stage from Melaka to Klang (on the outskirts of KualaLumpur) had a profile like a saw blade. None of the rollers wasparticularly long, but with over 1100 kilometers on their legs, and twomajor climbing stages to come, no one was in the mood for a fast run.

So far, the Tour de Langkawi could be named the Tour de Jans Koerts, as the yellow jersey holder from Mercury-Viatel won his second stage on Sunday, the sixth day of racing in Malaysia. Koerts' victory came despite hitting the barriers 150 meters from the finish line and getting bopped on the head in the sprint. Sunday's stage from Kluang to Melaka was relatively short at 150km. It was probably also one of Koerts’s last days in the leader’s jersey - after Monday’s rest day there is one more day of relative flat and then two days of massive climbs, something Koerts is the first to admit is