Road

Another world's road race is over. And, for the third year running, the blue-ribbon event came down to whom was fastest in the final straightaway. Two years ago, in Verona, Italy, a dozen riders were still together when "unknown" Spanish rider Oscar Freire sprinted out of the last turn to win by four seconds. In 2000, at Plouay, France, there were two dozen that fought out the finish, with Latvian Romans Vainsteins taking the sprint and Freire in third. Now, in Lisbon, Portugal, almost four dozen riders were still together to contest the finish -- an unimaginable outcome for a race that had

Erwin Vervecken and Lyne Bessette each made it 2-for-2 for the weekend by winning the second stop of the ECV Cyclo-Cross series on Sunday at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, Massachusetts. A day earlier, the pair took victory in the opening round of the SuperCup series held on a slightly different track at the same seaside park in the famous New England fishing town.

It’s called 24 Hours of Moab, but it actually took the Trek-Volkswagen team of Travis Brown, Chris Eatough, Sue Haywood and Alison Sydor 25 hours and two minutes to take the Coed Pro/Am title in one of the most exciting 24-hour team races to date. After 25 hours of four-person relay racing (two male, two female) in the Utah desert, it all came down to a last-lap showdown between Sydor, a 24-hour rookie despite her three world titles and multiple World Cup wins, and Gretchen Reeves of Team Beaver Creek II. When Brown finished the team’s 21st lap at 11:53 a.m. on Sunday and handed the baton

There have been some most unusual numerical coincidences at the 2001 world road championships here in Lisbon, Portugal, this week. Of the five time trials contested on the first three days, four of the eventual winners were fourth fastest at the first time split. The exception was elite women's winner Jeannie Longo, who was second at that first time check. The road races started in similar vein on Friday: Both of the races ended in solo winners who finished exactly 17 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Could this trend continue through the final three races of the weekend? That might be too

After losing the junior men's time trial by 44 hundredths of a second last Wednesday, 18-year-old Oleksandr Kvachuk from Ukraine was in tears. So close, but so far. On Saturday, Kvachuk put that disappointment behind him and made a blistering solo break, to win the 121km road race by 1:07 over a chase group of four that was brought home by Dutchman Niels Scheuneman — whose silver medal joins the bronze he scored in the time trial. Commenting on his win, Kvachuk said, "After the time trial I was sad -- so today I decided to show that I am a real champion." He proved that with an astonishing

For the past eight years, the Italian national pro men's road squad has been the team to beat at the world's. And each time, the team has been beaten. The closest the famous azzuri have come to taking the supreme rainbow jersey was a silver medal by the now-retired Claudio Chiappucci in 1994. Two others have won bronze medals: Marco Pantani in 1995 and Michele Bartoli in 1996 and ’98. Bartoli is back as one of the Italian team's leaders, and his recent transfer to the Fassa Bortolo trade team should bring some focus to his newest assault on the title. That's because Fassa Bortolo also has

In a long career at the elite level Lithuanian twin Rasa Polikeviciute has almost won a host of big races -- a time-trial bronze medal at last year's world's, second at the women's Tour de France in 1994 and ’96, a silver medal in the road race at the 1996 world's, and third overall at this year's Hewlett-Packard Challenge and the Tour of Tuscany. Finally, on Saturday afternoon, the 31-year-old sprinted to her own rainbow jersey in an ultimately exciting elite women's 121km road race. Polikeviciute knew she was in good form -- fourth in the time trial on Wednesday -- but as she said: "In the

One has nearly a lifetime’s worth of experience. The other was riding in the second cyclo-cross race her career. Still, the results were the same, as reigning world champion Erwin Vervecken and ‘cross newby Lyne Bessette walked away with wins at the opening round of the SuperCup series on a foggy Saturday afternoon in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

After taking her second rainbow jersey of the week, and her fourth world title in 12 months, Nicole Cooke said something quite insightful about the key to her amazing success. The defending junior women's road race champion was asked if she had an idol. After thinking for a few seconds, she replied, "Not really.... I set my own targets rather than following the lead of others." And that's exactly what the 18-year-old Brit did in the six-lap, 72.6km race on Friday morning. After the 64 starters rode as a pack for two easy laps, they reached the start of the main climb on lap 3. Feeling

He's only 21, but Yaroslav Popovich from Ukraine already seems like a seasoned veteran. And he should fit right into the pro peloton when he joins the Domo team next year. One quality that will stand him in good stead in the paid ranks is his ability to overcome the pressure of expectation. He was expected to win Friday's grueling under-23 road race -- and he did. A year ago, he came up short by three seconds at the world's, beaten into second place by the young Russian Evgeni Petrov. And if Popovich hadn't had to race the final lap-and-a-half stuck in the 53 chainring after his front

As night fell on Lisbon Thursday, workers at the world cycling championship venue in Monsanto Park were busy changing its configuration from an intricate time-trial course of 19.5km to a more straightforward road-race circuit of 12.1km. The final five events all use the same circuit, starting Friday morning with the shortest (six laps totaling 72.6km for junior women) and closing on Sunday with the longest (21 laps totaling 254.1km for elite men). Heading in a clockwise direction, the peloton rides on a flat smooth highway to reach the first climb after 1.2km. In two parts, this hill has an

Results from day 4 of the world master's track championships in Manchester, England. Click on "View race results."

With 6.2km remaining of Thursday's elite men's time trial, at the high point of the Lisbon course, 770 feet above sea level, it looked as though the race was over. Leading the 38.7km world championship by seven seconds over Colombia's Santiago Botero was Britain's David Millar, while prerace favorite Jan Ullrich seemed to be fighting a losing battle in third place, 10 seconds back. All that remained was a steep descent, a short uphill and a fast downhill to a tail-wind run to the finish, 500 feet below. And when Millar crossed the line to improve Botero's earlier best time of 52:01 by five

The world masters track championships continue this week in Manchester, England. The U.S. continued its strong performance, with American riders picking up five more gold medals on day 3. For results from day 3, click on "View race results."

In what was probably the closest finish in any world time trial championship, only 78 hundredths of a second covered the first three finishers in Wednesday morning's junior men's event. The one who came up lucky in the 19.2km time trial was Jurgen Van den Broeck, a pale-faced, crewcut, 18-year-old who bec ame the first Belgian to win any sort of medal at a world's time trial. He beat runner-up Oleksandr Kvachuk from Ukraine by less than half-a-second, while Dutchman Niels Scheuneman took the bronze medal.

Even Jeannie Longo herself said it! "This title was more emotional than the others ... the crowning of my career,” said the veteran French phenom after taking the 13th world championship in her illustrious career. Why so emotional? "Well, you know my age," added Longo, who will be 43 on October 31. It was also emotional for the manner in which she snatched the elite women's time-trial by four-tenths of a second over the startling Swiss racer Nicole Brändli -- who was just six years old when Longo won her first rainbow jersey 16 years ago! Brändli set out like a rocket on the 19.2km course

The U.S. took home five gold medals in the opening two days of competition at the world masters track championships in Manchester, England. On the men’s side, Keith Harrison (60-64) and Stan Gregg (55-59) won their respective 500-meter time trials, while Alphonso Whaley took gold in the 40-44 750-meter time trial. On the women’s side, Linelle Betts (45-49) and Suzie Tignor (35-39) won their 500-meter time trials. For results from Manchester, click on "View Race Results."

Lance Armstrong would have loved racing on the world time trial championship course here in Lisbon. It's a course that favors strong riders who, like Wednesday's winners Jeannie Longo and Jurgen Van den Broeck, also know how to climb. In Longo's assessment, it is the most difficult world's TT course since the hilly, point-to-point, into-the-head-wind affair at Tunja, Colombia, in 1995. Yes, Armstrong would have loved the 40 turns, 10 climbs and descents, and the 2450 feet of climbing that the 53 elite men will tackle in 38.7km of racing (over two laps) on Thursday. But the Texan hung up his

American Danny Pate won the men's under-23 world championship time-trial in Lisbon, Portugal Tuesday. Pate was an easy winner posting a time 38 seconds faster than silver medallist Sebastian Lang of Germany, while South Africa's James Perry was just one-third a second slower than Lang. Pate later said he’d had difficulty setting aside thoughts of the tragic events of September 11 as he prepared for the world championships.

Since the individual time trial first became a world championship event in 1994, there has rarely been a course quite as technical and challenging as the one laid out around the vast forested Monsanto Park in central Lisbon, Portugal. On Tuesday, opening day of the 2001 road world's, abbreviated versions of the course produced resounding victories for American Danny Pate in the under-23 category and Britain's Nicole Cooke in the junior women's division. On Wednesday, junior men and elite women will both compete over one lap of the full 19.2km time-trial course -- which is based on the main

A year ago in the road world’s at Plouay. France, the petite but powerful Nicole Cooke gave Britain a startling gold medal in the junior women’s road race. She expected to win, and in her press conference said that she was very upset that she hadn’t been allowed to ride at the Sydney Olympics -– she was too young. Cooke was clearly a young woman who knew what she wanted and seemed determined to go places. This year, her rabid ambition took her to the world junior women’s cross-country title at Vail a few weeks ago, and on Tuesday morning in Lisbon, Portugal, she added a third rainbow jersey

The National Racing Calendar is drawing to a close, with the final weeks of racing hitting the south and southeast regions of the country. This past weekend saw a pair of NRC events, the Mercy Celebrity Classic in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the CycleFest 2001 in West Palm Beach, Florida. At the Mercy Celebrity Classic, Chris Horner (Prime Alliance) and Rachel Purvis (Athlete’s by Design) took the men’s and women’s races respectively. In West Palm Beach, Ivan Dominguez (Saturn) and Rebecca McClintock (jane Cosmetics) took the wins in the NRC event on Sunday. Sunday’s Bill Bone Grand Prix NRC

It wasn’t the expected sprinter who won the 95th Paris-Tours in France on Sunday, it was a climber. And it wasn’t just any climber, it was Frenchman Richard Virenque, who pulled off a major personal coup in winning the second-to-last race of the 2001 UCI World Cup series. Virenque, formerly of Festina and now riding for Domo-Farm Frites, just returned to competitive racing in August after serving a lengthy suspension from the sport after the Festina doping scandal of 1998. Spaniard Oscar Freire (Mapei-Quick Step) finished second in Sunday’s 254.5km race in France, and German sprinting ace

A trio of one-day classics in Italy last weekend gave a late indication on how the world road championship will play out on October 14 in Lisbon. First, Russian champion Dmitri Konyshev, 35, led home a five-man breakaway in the uphill finish to a fast, tough Coppa Sabatini. Then, in the very hilly Tour of Emilia, Olympic and German champion Jan Ullrich broke clear with Italian standouts Davide Rebellin and Francesco Casagrande — and then outsprinted them for the win. And finally Belgium's 38-year-old Andreï Tchmil joined a late attack, jumped away from them with a kilometer to go, and held

Las Vegas, the beacon in the desert, is a particularly bright one for the bicycle industry in this challenging year. Coming into the fall, the bike business was already reeling from high-profile bankruptcies like Schwinn and GT and from having many other companies on life support. Then came September 11, and it seemed unlikely that many would even be willing to fly to Las Vegas for the major selling event of the entire year and the only time that small and mid-sized companies get to put their products in front of bike dealers. The heaving of a collective sigh of relief was almost audible

Stage 17 I woke up pretty slow this morning. Benoit, who usually out sleeps us all, was out the door before I even sat up. The hotel we were in was the same one we stayed at during the Vuelta Murcia. The town of Murcia is very nice and they love cycling. After breakfast it was back to the room to stretch and watch Benoit doze in and out of sleep as the radio speaker in the bathroom blared out with Europop songs that never make it back home. Benoit woke up for a second, stared at me in wonder and said, "Man you stretch too much." Soon after we were downstairs and on our bikes to the

There were tears of joy and tears of disappointment Sunday in the final stage of the 56th Vuelta a Espana. U.S. Postal’s Levi Leipheimer broke down in tears moments after finishing second in the 38km time trial and discovering he passed teammate Roberto Heras to vault onto the final podium, the first-ever American finish in the top-three of the three-week Spanish tour. Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla shed tears of disappointment after forfeiting the race leader’s jersey to rival Angel Casero in the 21st stage and losing the 3012km race by just 47 seconds. Casero cemented the biggest victory of his

Here’s a look at Saturday and Sunday’s action at the track world championships from Antwerp, Belgium. — Frenchman Arnaud Tournant upset pre-race predictions to win the world sprint title on Saturday, the main event of the world track championships. The 23-year-old from Roubaix near the Belgian border dominated compatriot and race favorite Laurent Gane over three heats after Gane won the first round and Tournant pulled level in the second. Another Frenchman, Olympic keirin champion Florian Rousseau grabbed bronze after he beat Germany's Jens Fielder in the match for third place. Gane, the

In the final day of competition at the world track championships in Antwerp, Belgium, a dramatic keirin final ended with only two men left upright. Australian Ryan Bayley was first across the line ahead of France’s Laurent Gane. The other four finalists — Jens Fiedler, Jobie Dajka, Pavel Buran and Florian Rousseau — were lying in a tangle of bikes and bodies on the back straight. The high-speed pile-up saw bike parts and riders flying through the air. Fiedler ran the final 125 meters carrying his bike to become possibly the first track cyclist to win a world bronze medal on foot. France’s

After 20 stages and more than 1,800 miles of racing, the 56th Vuelta a España will be decided in Sunday’s final 23.5-mile individual time trial. Saturday’s final climbing stage, the 112-mile 20th stage featuring two category-one climbs up Alto de Abantos high in the mountains north of Madrid, failed to rattle race leader Oscar Sevilla (Kelme), who retained his 25-second lead over Festina’s Angel Casero. Giro d’Italia champion Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) sprinted ahead of iBanesto.com Jose Maria Jimenez on the final switchback to win while U.S. Postal’s Jose Luis Rubiera crossed the line third

Nancy Contreras gave Mexico its first ever world championship victory when she won the women's 500-meter time trial at Antwerp, Belgium on Saturday afternoon. Contreras, 23, was fastest over the first 250 metres, clocking 19.539 and finished strongly in 34.996. A student of languages based at Metepec, some 70 kilometers from Mexico City, Contreras' previous international performances include a silver medal in the Pan American Games. Her husband and coach, Guillermo Guteirrez, was in tears as Contreras received the rainbow jersey. Canada's Lori-Ann Muenther followed her sprint bronze by

Swiss six-day star Bruno Risi took the world points race title for the fourth time in nine years at the Antwerp Sportpaleis on Saturday evening. Risi controlled the race throughout. He led a nine-man group that lapped the field just before half distance and built an unbeatable points score. Argentina’s Juan Curuchet took the silver after finishing the 40-kilometer race in the same lap as Risi but with six fewer sprint points. Franz Stocher of Austria placed third, a further six points in arrears. America’s only rider, Jame Carney, led the race on points in the early stages but missed the

The Vuelta a España’s “other American” -- Guido Trenti -- won Friday’s transition stage while the favorites held their ammunition in check for this weekend’s shootout. With everyone looking forward to the final battle for the overall title of the 56th Vuelta on Saturday and Sunday, it was a perfect day for a breakaway. The peloton followed the script perfectly. Rabobank’s Karsten Kroon and ONCE’s Mikel Zarrabeitia were the first to instigate the break just 30 miles into Friday’s 168-km (112-mile) 19th stage from Cuenca to Guadalajara. Other riders quickly bridged out to form a group of

Tammy Thomas came within one race of achieving her dream in her debut at the track world championships in Antwerp, Belgium on Friday. But instead the 31-year-old personal fitness instructor from Mississippi took the silver medal on her first world championship appearance. Thomas had to settle for a silver medal, after being beaten 2-0 by Russia’s Svetlana Grankovskaia in the best-of-three sprint finals. "I just didn’t have the legs in the race for the gold," Thomas lamented. "She was faster than me and I just couldn’t get it done. I’m happy with the silver though. This makes my

For more than two weeks, the numerous Italians in the peloton seemed more interested in chatting with the gorgeous Vuelta a España podium girls than winning stages. The flirting stopped long enough during Thursday’s 95-mile 18th stage from Albacete to Cuenca for an Italian finally to score, a stage victory that is. Cantina Tollo’s Filippo Simeoni profited by an untimely crash by iBanesto.com Santi Blanco, who held a comfortable margin over a 12-man breakaway but slipped on an oil patch while descending off a category-three climb just 12 km from the finish. Simeoni was the lead chaser and

First-time world championship rider Tammy Thomas won through to the last four of the women’s sprint in Antwerp, Belgium on Thursday. Beaten by Germany’s Susan Panzer in the first match of the quarterfinals, Thomas hit back to level the scores and then won the decider with an attacking ride from the front, clocking 12.257 and 12.435 seconds. Also through to the semis is Canada’s Lori-Ann Muenzer, who took the first match against Szilvia Szabolcsi (Hungary) only to be relegated to second place for straying across the sprinters line. Unfazed by the upset, Muenzer took no chances in the two

The first rainbow jersey of the 2001 World Track Championship went to Arnaud Tournant of France who won the kilometer time trial for the fourth straight year. Tournant, the final starter in the 21-rider field brought the event to a thrilling climax with a time 1 minute, 2.571 seconds, for a clear victory over last year’s silver medalist, German Soren Lausberg who clocked a 1:03.363 on Tuesday in Antwerp, Belgium. Tournant was the huge favorite, having dominated the event for the past four years since taking Australian Shane Kelly's title in 1998. But the Frenchman went one better than

The winds of change blew through the 56th Vuelta a España and it was the U.S. Postal Service team at the center of the storm. With 35 km to go in the 159-km 17th stage, U.S. Postal Service attacked hard and split the group in the windy flats from Murcia to Albacete across Spain’s barren meseta. Juan Miguel Mercado (ibanesto.com), who started the day third, and David Plaza (Festina), who started fifth overall, were among the casualties. Postal kept driving and finished 1 minute, 12 seconds ahead the second group. Lampre’s Robert Hunter bounded out of the lead group to take his second

Stage 14 This is longest stage of the Vuelta, with a nice profile to boot. The legs seem to be OK this morning on the way down for breakfast. It's a shame sometimes we are not able to enjoy our surroundings and accommodations to the fullest. We were right on the coastline just south of Valencia. After breakfast it was back to the room to try and squeeze in another half-hour of sleep. On the way over to the race everyone seemed a little quiet. I think we all had today's stage on our minds. The team meeting was short and to the point: Benoit, Victor and myself in the early breakaways. It was

Last night was another opportunity to try to catch some extra zzz's, but it wasn't to be with the heavy machinery working outside our window. At breakfast for the first time since the start of the Vuelta a Espana I was at the table before anyone else. Hey, at this point I need all the firsts I can get. Maybe this was a could sign for today’s stage. I signed a couple of autographs on our way to the start and the people replied, "Gracias Victor Hugo Pena." There's only one way to change this confusion amongst the fans: I need a stage win! Even Victor is calling me Victor in the peloton. I

The 56th Vuelta a España entered its final week with another fast day in the saddle in Tuesday’s 153-km (95-mile) 16th stage that finished well under the expected time following Monday’s rest day. Domo’s Tomas Konecny was fastest to the line while Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla easily retained the overall lead for the sixth day. U.S. Postal’s Roberto Heras and Levi Leipheimer remained in their respective fourth and sixth places overall. A steady breeze pushed the peloton along at a brisk pace to the day’s major obstacle, the category-two Cresta del Gallo just 13 kilometers from the finish line in

Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) and Jenny Eyerman (jane Cosmetics) won the pro men’s and women’s races at the Mercury Cycling Classic of Irvine in California on Sunday. Held on a 1.5-mile loop at the Irvine Spectrum in Orange County in front of Mercury's newly-opened international headquarters, each lap included nine turns and an out-and-back section. With the Saturn Cycling Team virtually absent from the inaugural event, the racing was wide open. In the 90-minute men's race, Pro Cycling Tour leader Trent Klasna was the only member of the Saturn team in attendance. He faced domestic powers

Chris Eatough called it the "toughest race" he’d ever done, and Mary Grigson likely would have agreed. But that didn’t stop the pair from taking the 2001 24-hour solo world championship titles at Hurkey Creek Park in Idyllwild, California, on Sunday. Things didn’t go so well for some of the other race favorites, however, as reigning 24-hour national champion Tinker Juarez dropped out after completing just five laps, and mountain-biking legend Rishi Grewal was good for just seven laps before he bowed out. The primary culprit for all those troubles was the heat. Temperatures topped out near

Sunday’s 207-km (128-mile) 15th stage was the longest of the 56th Vuelta a España and the accumulation of the kilometers two weeks into the race took its toll on the peloton. It was a good day for U.S. Postal Service but a bad one for Levi Leipheimer, whose chances of finishing on the final podium suffered a setback when he lost contact with the lead group on the final climb to the beyond-category Alto de Aitana. The miles didn’t slow down Milaneza’s Klaus Moller, who followed an attack by U.S. Postal’s Jose Luis Rubiera all the way to the top of the beyond-category Alto de Aitana. “I used

Jens Voigt of the Credit Agricole team succeeded Lance Armstrong as Grand Prix des Nations champion when he won the 74km time trial event in France Saturday. Voigt’s American teammate Jonathan Vaughters finished 15th, 4:20 off of the German’s winning time of 1:34:13. Hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi was second, 11 seconds back. Last year, Armstrong cruised to victory in the Grand Prix des Nations while preparing for the 2000 Sydney Olympics in September. The three time Tour de France winner won that contest by 1:41.

Stage 11 Today was one of those stages that you try and put in the back of your mind until the day arrives. I remember looking at the entire Vuelta profile on line stage by stage. I thought to myself, OK, oooh, oh that's a good one, and then stage 11 comes up and you don't say anything, you just move onto the next stage as if nothing had been seen. Down at breakfast the mood was relaxed with everyone eating a little extra to help fuel those legs to victory. At our team meeting Johan gave the specific orders to each of the riders as to their role for the stage. Mine was to go with the early

There was no calm before the storm in Saturday’s transition stage along Spain’s Mediterranean Coast. Heavy rains pounded the peloton during the 170-km (105-mile) 14th stage from Tarragona to Vinaros on the eve of the difficult and decisive climbing stage to Alto de Aitana. Lampre’s Juan Manuel Garate won his first-ever professional victory, easily beating iBanesto.com’s Jon Odriozola after the pair pulled away from a 14-man breakaway. Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla retained the overall lead, but racers were already thinking about Sunday’s long, steep climb to Alto de Aitana. “It’s going to be a very

Joseba Beloki is unlikely to start Saturday's 14th stage of the Vuelta a España, a source close to the Spaniard's ONCE team reported Friday. Beloki, who has placed third in the past two editions of the Tour de France and was a co-favorite for the Vuelta here, is thought to have a viral infection. ONCE team officials sent blood tests away for analysis on Wednesday afternoon and Friday's subsequent results indicated that Beloki had the start of a respiratory infection. Beloki was seen in tears on Tuesday as he struggled in the 12th stage in the Pyrenees while he was wearing the leader's

Markus Zberg was the first rider to abandon the 56th Vuelta a España when he crashed in the opening time trial on Sept. 8 in Salamanca and dislocated his shoulder. In Friday’s 206-km (128-mile) 13th stage, brother and Rabobank teammate Beat Zberg won one for the family. Zberg held off seven other riders in a breakaway in a frenetic sprint to take his first stage victory in a three-week grand tour. But his victory was just as much for his brother as it was for himself. “This victory means a lot to me. My brother was very distraught when he crashed and I dedicate this victory to him,” said

The three-day battle of the Pyrénées is over and Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla walked away standing tall in the overall leader’s jersey. There were no major shake-ups in the overall standings in 12th stage of the 2001 Vuelta a España, a 17-km (10.5-mile) climbing time trial Thursday to Arcalis, deep in the heart of the Andorran Pyrenees. The top-four riders in the overall maintained their positions but defending Vuelta champion Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal Service) slipped to sixth as stage-winner Jose Maria Jimenez (ibanesto.com) continues his steady climb in the g.c. Jimenez won his third

It was the best of times and the worst of times in the 11th stage of the Vuelta a España, depending, of course, on who you talked to. Wednesday was very good for Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla, who regained the overall lead. It was very bad for ONCE’s Joseba Beloki, who bonked and dropped like a rock to 26th in the overall standings after losing nearly 20 minutes to the leaders in the tough, six-climb 154-km (95-mile) stage over the Andorran Pyrénées. It was pretty good for U.S. Postal’s Levi Leipheimer and Roberto Heras, who moved up to fourth and fifth overall, respectively. It was better still

The first day of the Vuelta a España’s shootout of the Pyrénées ended with puff instead of bang in the first of three-straight climbing stages, but everyone expects the fireworks to begin for real in Wednesday’s six-climb etapa reina. Santiago Blanco won his biggest stage of his career, delivering a dramatic solo victory high in the Catalan Pyrénées during Tuesday’s 168-km (104-mile) 10th stage from Sabadell, a suburb of Barcelona, to La Molina, a ski resort already sprinkled with the first snow of the season. ONCE’s Joseba Beloki easily retained his overall lead for the third day when he

My rest day started at 9:30 on Monday morning with a knock on the door from one of our staff. I think I could have easily slept another 10 hours. That probably wouldn't have been too wise. Breakfast was more on the light side, since in the past I've had a tendency to eat too much between races and then paid the price. Juice, bread, cereal, and fruit were plenty for the training we had planned. Roberto Herras knew exactly where to ride in the busy streets of Barcelona to get us out of town quickly and into the surrounding hills. Johan thought between two and two-and-a-half hours was plenty

The final day of the Tour de l’Avenir in France belonged to a Russian and an Australian, who dashed French hopes at the world’s premier stage race for riders 25 years and younger. iBanesto.com’s Denis Menchov snuck away for the overall victory, snatching the race lead from Frenchman Florent Brard (Festina), while Mercury’s Baden Cooke took his second stage win of the race and the green points jersey. Cooke and Menchov escaped the peloton on the last of five climbs up the Cat. 1 Côte du Chauffaud, escaping 4km from the summit of the climb. They crested the climb with 28 seconds on the chase

Germany’s Judith Arndt won the final round of the UCI Women’s World Cup, the 140km Rotterdam Tour in the Netherlands on Sunday. Saturn’s Anna Millward took the overall World Cup title, despite abandoning the final round on a rainy, windy day in the Netherlands. At the start of the final finishing circuit, with about 20km to go, Arndt escaped from a group of seven which had gone off earlier in the race. Despite the wind and the rain, the German powered away on the final lap, putting more than three minutes on the closest chaser in those closing kilometers. At the finish, Arndt had her first

Riders from the U.S. Postal Service team went on a three-hour training ride during Monday’s rest day to keep their legs fresh for the upcoming battle in the Pyrenees. The 56th Vuelta a España hits a trio climbing stages Tuesday to Thursday that will determine whether or not Roberto Heras can repeat as Vuelta champion. So far, the quiet Spanish rider has had difficulty in the Vuelta’s first two climbing stages and sits in eighth place overall at 2:47 back. “I haven’t thrown in the towel yet,” Heras said. “It’s true I am not going well right now. I don’t know exactly why, but at the same

My apologies for not having any reports for the last few days. Due to the tragedy in New York and the spotty phone and Internet service that followed, my agent – who lives about a mile away from the World Trade Center – was unable to consistently reach me. I will be filing a catch up report tomorrow along with the daily report. Yesterday was the last day before the rest day. The peloton was definitely not ready to rest quite yet. We set a record time of around 55km an hour! The day was extremely windy and everyone -- including our team -- seemed to be on the attack, hoping to split up

The under-23 men’s cross-country category is one that breeds rivalries. It’s this middle ground between junior and elite categories where young riders looking to make a career of it have a lot to prove. Junior achievements spell potential, under-23 achievements spell contracts. Past all-star rivalries have included Cadel Evans versus Miguel Martinez, and today’s top battle seems to be the one between 21-year-old Julien Absalon of France and 20-year-old Ryder Hesjedal of Canada. Both are top World Cup threats — Absalon scored his first win at Durango this year — and both came to the world

Alison Dunlap said she started thinking about the 2001 world championships when she hit a tree during the cross-country race at last year’s Olympics in Sydney. On that day, the Colorado Springs, Colorado resident would have to settle for seventh, but she vowed things would be different when the world championships came to her home state. A year later, the 32-year-old made good on that pledge, putting together a stunning last-lap charge to win the cross country on the damp slopes of Vail Mountain. Dunlap entered the final lap of the race in third place, 54 seconds behind race leader Gunn-Rita

With the sun setting on the Vail Valley and the 2001 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Colorado on Sunday, Canadian Roland Green put the finishing touches on an historic season that saw many firsts for him and for Canada. First Canadian male to win a World Cup, first Canadian male to win the overall World Cup, and now, first to win the world championship. Green, who made it clear all year long that the world championship was the main focus of his season, started the day as one of a handful of favorites. In the end, the man who put up the toughest battle against the Canadian was Dane

Strong crosswinds and tailwinds blasted the peloton in Sunday’s 179-km (111-mile) ninth stage of the Vuelta a España from Logrono to Zaragoza, splitting the race into echelons across the flats of northern Spain. ONCE’s Igor Galdeano shot free of the lead group of 40 riders in the final three kilometres. He finished alone to earn his third career Vuelta stage victory as well as the record for the fastest-ever road race at an average speed of 55.17kph. Teammate Joseba Beloki retained the overall lead Sunday and Galdeano says his ONCE team is reinvigorated following Beloki’s big ride

The topsy-turvy 2001 Vuelta a España delivered up its fifth leadership change in eight days in Saturday’s 195-km (121-mile) stage from Reinosa to the first-category summit finish at Alto Cruz de la Demanda. Joseba Beloki (ONCE) took the “maillot oro” after finishing second behind stage-winner Jose Maria Jimenez (ibanesto.com), marking the first time the young Basque rider has ever led a major three-week stage race despite twice finishing third overall in the Tour de France. Beloki accelerated with two kilometers to go and opened up a gap on the struggling Oscar Sevilla (Kelme), who started

All is back to normal in the world of downhill racing, with the rainbow jerseys draped safely over the shoulders of their rightful owners. Those owners, of course, are French. On a picturesque autumn day in Colorado’s Vail Valley, Anne-Caroline Chausson and Nicolas Vouilloz won the elite world downhill championships during the second day of competition on Saturday. Between them, the two French downhillers now have 18 world downhill championships. For Vouilloz, whose time of 3:35.20 on the 1.43-mile course was more than two seconds faster than his nearest competitor, it was a bit of

Festina’s Florent Brard retained the overall lead at the Tour de l’Avenir as Italian Graziano Gasparre won the second-to-last stage, 175.5km from Belfort to Montbenoit, France. Brard leads the race for the second straight day, eight seconds ahead of another Frenchman, Sylvain Chavanel (Bonjour), in the overall standings. Mercury’s Baden Cooke, already a stage winner earlier in the week, took second on the day. Another French rider, Big Mat’s Guillaume Auger, set off on the first serious attack of the day, 55km into the race, and was joined by Kevin Hulsmans (Mapei-Quick Step) and Eddy Lembo

American Kimberly Bruckner (Saturn) took the overall victory at the Tour de Suisse Féminin in Switzerland after she and her Saturn team won the prologue and three other stages in the four-day race. Saturn began the week with Anna Millward winning the prologue, and then following up with sprint wins on stage 1 and 2. Saturn was defending Millward’s lead, but on Thursday, a group of five riders escaped and gained nearly six minutes. Bruckner not only marked the break, but attacked on the final climb to take the stage win and the overall lead. On Friday, Germany’s Trixi Worrack took the win in

Kelme´s Santiago Botero got revenge Friday in the hills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and regained the overall lead of the 56th Vuelta a España after a blistering victory in the 44-km individual time trial. The Colombian won his first stage of this year’s Vuelta after finishing second twice to Cofidis´ David Millar. Pre-race pick Millar was not in peak form, finishing 8th, but American Levi Leipheimer continued to surprise the Europeans with another electrifying ride, finishing second on the hilly, technical course just 29 seconds behind Botero. "I normally start slow in a time trial and

The gang from Canada wouldn’t say it, but you know they were thinking it. Thursday probably won’t be the last time O Canada gets cued up at an awards ceremony here at the UCI mountain bike world championships in Vail, Colorado. The first rendition came courtesy of the country’s team relay squad, which had little trouble taking the four-rider race where each member (junior man, under-23 man, elite man and woman) does a single shortened lap of the cross country course. With Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher) riding the anchor leg, the Canadians finished the 30.16km race in 1:35:13, 26 seconds

Spaniard Constantino Zaballa (Kelme-Costa Blanca) won the eighth stage of the Tour de l’Avenir on Thursday, while Florent Brard (Festina) took over the leader’s yellow jersey after the mountainous 125.5km stage from Gerardmer to Belfort in eastern France. Over the summit of the Col d’Oderen, 64km into the race, one rider was out front, Franck Pencole (BigMat-Auber), chased by Jesus Manzano (Kelme) at 50 seconds and the peloton at one minute. Manzano would catch and drop Pencole on the following climb, and the Spaniard was pursued by a chase group of seven that included Brard and Sylvain

David Millar continued on his winning ways Thursday, taking his second stage of the 56th Vuelta a España. Spain’s Oscar Sevilla of Kelme retained the overall lead in the speedy 180-km (112-mile) 6th stage from Cangas de Onis to Torrelavega that finished 25 minutes ahead of schedule. But this time it wasn’t a prologue or even a time trial for the determined Cofidis rider. Millar proved he’s more than a one-trick pony, winning a fast, tough stage across the foothills of the Cantabria Mountains in northern Spain, holding off Kelme’s Santiago Botero in a two-up sprint. "This proves I am one of

Hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi (Mapei-Quick Step) took over the race leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de l’Avenir in France on Wednesday after winning the 26km time trial in Rambervillers, France. Bodrogi, who held the race lead for six days last year, took over from Spaniard Juan-Miguel Cuenca, who fell to fourth place overall. On the technical course in Rambervillers, Bodrogi averaged 47.561kph to finish with a time of 32:48, five seconds better than Festina’s Florent Brard. None of the remaining members of the U.S. National Team – David Zabriskie, Danny Pate, Jeff Louder, Damon Kluck and

The first mountain stage of any grand tour typically reveals who won’t win, thinning out the pretenders from the contenders. But after Wednesday’s 160-km (99-mile) climbing stage to Lagos de Covadonga, a beyond-category finish high in Spain’s Picos de Europa, the only thing that was clear is that it would probably be a Spanish rider atop the winner’s podium in Madrid when the Vuelta ends Sept. 30. Thirteen Spanish riders filled out the top of the leader board at the end of the Vuelta’s fifth day, with Tour de France revelation Oscar Sevilla holding a narrow 15-second lead over Wednesday’s

An eerie calm returned to the 56th Vuelta a España Wednesday, a day after terrorist attacks back in the United States. Riders from the U.S. Postal Service and Cofidis teams arrived at the start Wednesday morning in sunny Gijon with black armbands. The Vuelta’s fifth stage started with a minute of silence to pay homage to the victims. The troubles back in the United States seemed far away, but the images burned in the minds of many here at the Vuelta. “Last night wasn’t a good night for the team,” admitted U.S. Postal Service director Johan Bruyneel. Members of Spain’s Guardia Civil,

The coordinated terrorist attacks in the United States sent shockwaves through the Vuelta a España on Tuesday, overshadowing the 175-km (108-mile) fourth stage from Leon to Gijon. Racers from the U.S. Postal Service team and others heard whispers of what had happened in the United States, but didn’t realize the extent of the attack until they reached the finish line in Gijon. “We heard a little bit during the race but we didn’t know how severe it was,” said Chann McRae, riding in his first race with U.S. Postal Service. “Once we got onto the team bus, we were all watching CNN and all the

Mercury’s Baden Cooke won the sixth stage of the Tour de l’Avenir, a 193km stage that finished on a Category 2 climb in Gerardmer, France. Spaniard Juan-Miguel Cuenca (Kelme-Costa Blanca) held onto the yellow leader’s jersey, finishing 22nd on the stage. The peloton reached the 3km final climb together, after reeling in lone breakaway Sergei Kruszhevskiy (Saint Quentin-Oktos), the last of many escapees on the day. On the final climb, iBanesto.com’s Russian Denis Menchov launched the attack, with only Cooke able to follow. The Australian Mercury rider, known more for his sprinting prowess

Crashes disrupted the third stage of the 2001 Vuelta a España on Monday, with a late-race crash splitting the peloton and causing some of the pre-race favorites to lose time. Erik Zabel (Telekom) easily won his second consecutive stage in a bunch sprint while Cofidis’ David Millar retained the overall lead in the flat but windy 87-mile (140-km) stage from Valladolid to Leon across Spain’s desolate meseta. Only 34 riders finished with the Zabel group after several riders went down on the narrow streets of Leon just eight kilometers from the finish. Riders got hung up behind the spill and

I woke up at around 10 am. My weight is still at 64 kilos. Breakfast of rice, eggs, croissants and coffee. Felt pretty good, not tired at all. Rode to start for sign in. Lots of cheers, even songs for Roberto. We had a team meeting in the bus. Basically the same plan as yesterday, keep Roberto near the front and out of trouble. Today Benoit and Victor would be his shadows. There was a small hill at start of the race so Johan stressed the importance of keeping Roberto up front early on. Matt White offered a little entertainment on the bus when he put a techno tape on the sound system,

Telekom’s Erik Zabel has never raced in the Vuelta a España, but the veteran German sprinter let the peloton know Sunday he’s the quickest man in the race when it comes to a bunch sprint. Zabel won his first career Vuelta stage in the first chance he got. Saturday’s individual time trial was dominated by David Millar (Cofidis), who easily retained his overall lead in Sunday’s 147-km (91-mile) second stage from Salamanca to Valladolid across Spain’s flat meseta. The stage was flat as a pancake until the final kilometer, when the course shot up a steep hill to the finish. The profile blew up

Just minutes after George Hincapie won the San Francisco Grand Prix, San Francisco mayor Willie Brown addressed the huge crowd assembled in front of the Ferry Building along the waterfront. "You want the race next year?" said the mayor, dressed in a mustard sportscoat and matching hat. And he was met with an enthusiastic roar from thousands of spectators. By all measures, the first-year race was a huge success. "This was a Barry Bonds home run into the water," said Mark Gorski, U.S. Postal Team general manager and head of Tailwind Sports, the organization that put together the Grand

Woke up felling pretty good. Weight still at 64 kilograms. Breakfast was bread with honey, bread with Nutella, cereal combo of muesli and Special K and an omelet. Sign in was at the traveling village similar to the one at the Tour de France. My assignment today was to be with Roberto for the entire race. Benoit and I were to be his shadows. We have to stop with him if he pees, flats or has some other mechanical and take him back to the group. Basically we are supposed to make sure that Roberto never has to hit the wind, we have to close all the gaps for him move him up in the field when he

David Millar won the opening time trial of the 2001 Vuelta a España on Saturday, confirming that he’s one of the top time trialists in cycling. The 24-year-old Cofidis rider said his crash in the opening prologue of the 2001 Tour de France weighed heavily on his mind during the technical, tight 12-km course through the streets of Salamanca. “This victory means as much to me as the victory in the Tour last year in the prologue,” said Millar, who won in 14 minutes, 56 seconds with an average speed of 48.214 km/h. “In every curve, I was thinking about the crash in the Tour. I was trying to