Road

AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu captured the leader’s pink jersey after winning a sprint for the first stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk on Tuesday. The Estonian rider covered the 164.8km between the northern French towns of Dunkirk and Steenvoorde in 3 hours, 46 minutes, pipping Australia's Baden Cooke (Mercury-Viatel) and French champion Christophe Capelle of BigMat-Auber. Meanwhile, American Dylan Casey (US Postal) crashed just after crossing the line when he collided with a sound engineer from a French television station. According to early medical reports Casey suffered a fractured pelvis and

Defending champion Paolo Savoldelli of Italy won the opening 6.9km prologue of the six-day Tour of Romandie in Pfaffnau, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Saeco rider was clocked in 9:00.63 between the towns of St. Urban and Pfaffnau to lead compatriot Dario Frigo by 0.83 and Australia's Bradley McGee by 1.15. "I didn't think I had the right rhythm. The first 4km uphill really broke my legs," said Savoldelli, who won last year's prologue here, but does not feel in top form this time around. "I didn't take part this year in the Tour of the Basque Country, which is a really hard race

The 2001 Tim Schoeny's Tour of the Gila ended on Sunday with the Gila Monster road races, an epic 100-mile test for the men and 66 miles for the women. The final stage gave the overall race winners one last chance to show who was strongest, as Scott Moninger (Mercury-Viatel) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) each added to their win totals en route to the overall, with Moninger taking his third and Jeanson her fourth stage win. Jeanson dominated the final day in the same way that she did every other road race stage, ending the day with a 5:56 advantage over Saturn's Kimberly Bruckner and 17

Jelly Belly’s Mariano Friedick earned a long-sought-after win on the fourth day of the Tour of the Gila after outsprinting three breakaway companions at the end of a 43-mile criterium Gila in Silver City, New Mexico on Saturday. In the women’s race, Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg crossed the line ahead of teammate Anna Millward as this season’s top women’s team enjoyed a win in a stage race dominated by the young Canadian phenom’ Genevieve Jeanson. Jeanson maintains a seven-minute lead in the overall standings, while Mercury’s Scott Moninger maintains a grip on the overall lead in the men’s

Gorazd Stangelj of the Liguigas team won the Tour of Tuscany in Italy Sunday. Stangelj came to the finish with Alexia’s Pascal Herve and beat the Frenchman in a sprint to win the 194km race with a time of 4:50:45. Spaniard Garcia Lastras (iBanesto.com) finished third, another 41 seconds back.

For Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg and the rest of the men’s field chasing Scott Moninger at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico, any hopes of overtaking Mercury’s race leader will most likely have to wait until Sunday’s finale. For the women, any slim hopes of catching race leader Genevieve Jeanson pretty much vanished after another solo victory by the Canadian teenager. Friday’s men’s race saw a south-of-the-border sweep, as a trio of Mexicans went 1-2-3 on the day. Jesus Zarate of the Tecos team took the win, outsprinting his breakaway partner Siddharta Camil of Corona. Mostly, though, it was a

On Friday, Mercury-Viatel’s team director at the Tour of the Gila spoke to VeloNews about the recent news of Viatel’s bankruptcy filing. Eddy Borysewicz, one of the men behind the Mercury-Viatel merger over the off-season, said that the news will not affect operations of the cycling team. "It’s only the U.S. division that filed [Chapter 11] for protection," he said. "The division in Euorpe, with its own network, is fine. So, we have money in the bank, everything is fine …. With the team, everything’s fine. And the European [division of Viatel] is very happy with the team." Borysewicz also

Union Cycliste International president Hein Verbruggen said Friday that Tour de France organizers have placed parochial interests ahead of the sport in their decision to issue wildcard invites to two Division II French teams and not to the teams of Italy's 1998 champion Marco Pantani and sprint ace Mario Cipollini. Verbruggen, in an interview with the Dutch news agency ANP, said that in the future different measures will be in place as to who was invited to the major Tours if they did not qualify automatically through the world rankings. "The Tour organizers placed chauvinistic and

On Thursday, the racers at New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila encountered their second test of the five-day stage race, and once again, Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson and Mercury’s Scott Moninger came out on top. Jeanson and Moninger each won their second consecutive stage, increasing their overall leads over chasers from Saturn. In the women’s race, Jeanson had already established a big lead with her day 1 time trial, which meant that the other teams would be on the offensive, trying to wear down the 19-year-old Canadian. Saturn took the initiative early, launching Lyne Bessette at the first bonus

Tour de France race director Jean-Marie Leblanc ruled out any chance of reversing Wednesday’s decision not to invite Mercatone Uno and their team leader Marco Pantani, Italy’s1998 Tour champion, to this year’s race. Leblanc admitted the choice hadn't been easy, but in the end was unanimous among the electors. "However, we mustn't go back on the decision because that would be admitting we were wrong," LeBlanc said on Thursday. "Anyway, if we made an exception of Mercatone-Uno [Pantani's team] why not then Saeco [the team of ace sprinter Mario Cipollini]?" he added. Defending

The Tour of the Gila stage race got underway in Silver City, New Mexico, with a 15.7-mile time trial contested under typical windy conditions. On day 1 of the five-day race, Mercury’s Scott Moninger and Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson jumped out to the early race leads. Moninger beat Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg by 36 seconds on the out-and-back course that featured a climb on the way out and the way back. 7UP-Colorado Cyclist’s Doug Ziewacz and Clark Sheehan took third and fourth, respectively. In all, the top eight consisted of three 7UPs, three Saturns and two Mercurys before Landis-Trek-VWs Scott

The Société du Tour de France on Wednesday surprised many by announcing the names of five wild-card teams that will be invited to compete in the 2001 Tour. The announcement brings the total number of participants to 189 riders, representing 21 teams. As expected, the Belgian Lotto-Adecco team topped a list that also includes Denmark’s CSC-World Online, the Basque country team of Euskaltel-Euskadi and two additional French teams, BigMat-Auber 93 and La Française des Jeux. Notably absent from the list are the Mercatone Uno team of 1998 Tour winner Marco Pantani, the Saeco squad of super

In selecting two more French teams and excluding Mercatone Uno and Mercury-Viatel, Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc has devalued this year’s 88th Tour. Wednesday morning in Paris, Leblanc announced five wild-card selections — not four as originally scheduled — to create a field of 21, nine-man teams that will contest the race, July 7-29. The “new” teams are BigMat-Auber 93 and La Française des Jeux of France; CSC-World Online of Denmark; Euskaltel-Euskadi of Spain; and Lotto-Adecco of Belgium. “To invite 21 teams is a circumstantial measure,” said Leblanc, in explaining that French

Five years after his brother Beat won here, Marcus Zberg (Rabobank) of Switzerland ended Telekom's two-year home monopoly to win the Frankfurt Grand Prix on Tuesday ahead of Italy's Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Kurt Van de Wouwer (Lotto-Adecco) of Belgium. Zberg and Rebellin made the decisive move 70km from the finish as they broke away from a group of ten riders, which included last year's winner Kai Hundertmarck (Telekom), while ascending Mammolshainer, a climb leading to the Taunus mountains. On the final approach a fresh looking Zberg beat off Rebellin while Van de Wouwer put

The Navigators came knockin’ all week long, but never quite got the door down at the Circuit des Mines in France, April 26-May 1. On the final stage, Tuesday’s stage 8 112.3km road race in Hayange, the American team’s Russian connection of Vassiliy Davidenko and Oleg Grishkine took second and third, respectively, behind Robert Sassone (Cofidis) of France. For Davidenko, it was his fourth podium finish of the race, to go along with second place on stage 2 and third place on stages 3 and 5. In the overall, Great Britain’s Chris Newton (British National) took the race lead after then-race leader

While America is asleep Wednesday morning, six French officials from the Société du Tour de France will be meeting in Paris for a couple of hours to select the final teams that will contest this year's Tour. By 11 a.m. local time, at the Maison du Nord-Pas de Calais in the 9th Arondissement, their director, Jean-Marie Leblanc, will address a news conference, announcing the four wild-card picks -- or will it be five? When Leblanc revealed the first 16 teams in January (see list below), he said that the number of starters at the 88th Tour de France would, as last year, be limited to 180 -- 20

The U.S. national team placed two riders in the top 10 of the Under-23 Tour of Flanders on Sunday, with Danny Pate finishing second and Josh Thornton taking sixth place. Pate finished second to Dutchman Roy Sentjens in the 174km race over many of the same roads and climbs as the professional Tour of Flanders World Cup. The U.S. team had a total of four finishers in the race, with Brice Jones in 29th place and Pat McCarty 44th. Last Wednesday, Pate took eighth place at the French race, La Cote Picarde. The U23’s will be in action again on Tuesday, at their version of Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Lance Armstrong climbed a notch in the UCI rankings, which were updated and posted on Monday. The defending Tour de France champion’s second place finish in Saturday’s Amstel Gold World Cup put Armstrong at No. 2, up from his previous ranking of No. 3. Dutch Rabobank rider Erik Dekker, who squeaked by Armstrong to win Amstel Gold, was the big mover, climbing five spots to No. 3. Fassa Bortolo’s Italian Francesco Casagrande kept his No. 1 tag, while two of his compatriots, Mario Cipollini and 1998 Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, wallow in 73rd and 179th respectively. Germany's

Nancy Brunner, a 45-year-old cyclist from Broomfield, Colorado, died Sunday morning from injuries sustained in an accident in a road race near Boulder, Colorado. According to police, Brunner lost control on a descent and crashed into a guardrail during the Carter Lake Road Race. She was attended to by paramedics immediately after the crash, but died from head and neck trauma. Andrew Rosen, chief referee of the Carter Lake race, told the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper that it was the first death from an accident in a Colorado road race that he was aware of. Brunner, a member of the

The U.S. Postal Service has entered a three-year extension of its sponsorship of the American-based cycling team of Lance Armstrong. Tailwind Sports, the agency that owns and manages the U.S. Postal Service team, issued a release Monday stating that the Postal Service has extended its support through 2004. "We are honored and excited that this extension will enable us to continue to build an already successful program into a true dynasty in the sport," said Mark Gorski, the CEO of Tailwind Sports. "We are equally as proud of the marketing success of our program and what we have

Lance Armstrong’s bad luck run at the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands continued Saturday with an ugly repeat of a narrow loss to a Rabobank rider. Two years ago, Armstrong lost by inches to Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd, heralding the Texan’s dramatic return to racing following his comeback from testicular cancer. In a repeat of a bad dream, Armstrong lost to Rabobank’s Erik Dekker this year as the pair charged into the finish in Maastricht clear of the chase group.

Belgian cycling was reeling on Saturday after the Belga news agency reported that Jose De Cauwer, the national coach for the professional team, was under investigation for supplying doping products. According to the report, police discovered syringes at his house and he is under investigation for breaking the law regarding the taking of growth hormones, a charge which De Cauwer denies. However, Laurent De Backer, president of the Belgian Cycling Federation, hinted that De Cauwer would be fired if the case was proved against him. "If it is proved he broke the law my organization will meet

It was closer to midnight than twilight when racing finally ended, but that didn’t stifle the celebration of the NetZero squad. The newly formed gray-and-red clad team picked up its second win in as many days when Graeme Miller rolled across the line first to win the Twilight Criterium on the streets of Athens, Georgia. A day earlier it was teammate Jamie Paolinetti getting the win at the First Charter Criterium three-and-a-half hours to the north in Shelby, North Carolina. In Athens, the 40-year-old Miller was part of an eight-rider break that slipped away from the field early in the

Jamie Paolinetti thanked all the right people after his win Friday at the First Charter Criterium in Shelby, North Carolina. His sponsors were great. His teammates did their jobs. And, oh yeah, the Saturn team helped out quite a bit too. See, for all but the first few laps, plus the one that counts the most -- the last one -- a Saturn rider was near the front pushing the pace. "Having Saturn up there forced Mercury and Prime Alliance to chase all day," said Paolinetti, who rides for NetZero. "There’s no question that helped at the end because they weren’t around." And at the end it was

When most people think of Holland, they think cheese, windmills and tulips. Maastricht is all that, plus some surprisingly tough hills, that, when packed in tight make for a formidable challenge for the 36th Amstel Gold Race on Saturday, the fifth leg of the 2001 World Cup. While the hills, or beklimmingen in Dutch, at only a few hundred meters each hardly rival the giants of racing lore, 29 climbs over the 254km (152-mile) course at breakneck World Cup speed can prove punishing. In the tradition of the spring classics, weather forecasts call for a cold, blustery day with a chance

At the16th running of the Tucson Bicycle Classic, Canadian Olympian Genevieve Jeanson again showed the form that has made her a dominant force in 2001. Jeanson (RONA) easily won all three stages, plus the overall, at the race run April 6-8. Her time of 5:11.41 in the stage 1 time trail bested the previous record by 10 seconds, her nearest rival by 36 seconds, and would have been good enough for second place in the Pro-1/2 men’s field. "I felt good," Jeanson said. "The changes in rhythm were hard, the climb was not steady, but I went as hard as I could. I liked the course." Stage 2 was

Italian Endrio Leoni (Alessio) got the best of the other sprinters at the Scheldeprijs Schoten in northern Belgium on Wednesday, taking his second win in a row at the Belgian one-day race. The race was marked by several crashes, including Mercury-Viatel’s Jans Koerts, whose springtime bad luck continued. Koerts crashed with 50km remaining and was taken to the hospital with numerous cuts and abrasions. After several late-race breakaways were thwarted, the race came down to a mass sprint, and Leoni beat out Lotto’s Jeroen Blijlevens and Fakta’s Kurt-Asle Aversen. Just behind, U.S. champion

First it was foot-and-mouth disease in England. Now it’s bad weather in Switzerland. In both cases the outcome is the same: cancelled mountain bike races. The latest casualty is the second race in Switzerland’s Swiss Cup series scheduled for May 6 in Luekerbad. The cancellation came after severe weather in the last few weeks dumped six-and-a-half feet of snow on the upper section of the course, and made other sections inaccessible because of the danger of falling rocks and landslides. This latest cancellation has messed up the schedules of some of the world’s top pros. Thomas Frischknecht

A Danish newspaper claims to have the inside line on which teams will be given the four remaining Tour de France spots and Marco Pantani's Mercatone Uno team and the American Mercury squad aren't among them. Copenhagen’s daily Berlingske Tidende reported on Monday that CSC-WorldOnline, the team of France's former world number one Laurent Jalabert, is going to get one of the four wildcard entries to this year's Tour de France. Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc will reveal the names of the four teams on May 2, but the newspaper reported that sources within the Tour

Oscar Camenzind outsprinted Davide Rebellin, David Etxebarria, Francesco Casagrande and Michael Boogerd in an exciting finish to the Ardennes classic. Earlier in the race, American Tyler Hamilton suffered a broken elbow involved in a crash at the base of the Côte de Wanneranval. Camenzind the Swiss Lampre-Daikin star followed the moves of the powerhouse Fassa Bortolo team of Casagrande and Raimondas Rumsas, who led in the bunch 25 seconds behind the first five. Another Fassa Bortolo rider, Dario Frigo, had been off the front with Camenzind’s teammate, Max Sciandri, for well over an hour

Ukraine's Sergei Gontchar, of the Liquigas team, won the overall title in the 31st Settimana Lombarda in Bergamo, Italy Sunday. Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi, won the fifth and final stage, a 163.4km run from Colzate to Clusone. Petacchi outsprinted Latvia's world champion Romans Vainsteins and Giuseppe Di Grande, also an Italian. Copyright AFP2001

Oscar Camenzind outsprinted Davide Rebellin, David Etxebarria, Francesco Casagrande and Michael Boogerd in an exciting finish to the Ardennes classic, Liége-Bastogne-Liége. The Swiss Lampre-Daikin star followed the moves of the powerhouse Fassa Bortolo team of Casagrande and Raimondas Rumsas, who led in the bunch seconds after the first five. Another Fassa Bortolo rider, Dario Frigo, had been off the front for well over the hour in a group that shrunk from 13 down to six by the time it was caught with a mere 10km to go. Fassa Bortolo then lined the field out on the approach to the

It looks to be a fine day tomorrow for Liége-Bastogne-Liége. The weather reports call for mostly sunny skies with scattered rain and temperatures in the high 40s. Expect a strong ride from Fassa Bortolo, especially Raimondas Rumsas. His teammates Francesco Casagrande, Dario Frigo, Wladimir Belli and Ivan Basso, second Wednesday in the Fléche Wallonne after a day-long breakaway, will all be dangerous on this course too. Mapei’s Michele Bartoli and Paolo Bettini, last year’s winner, Rabobank’s Michaël Boogerd, and Liquigas-PATA’s Davide Rebellin are all be riders to watch as well. The

Mercatone Uno’s Marco Pantani pulled out of the Settimana Lombarda prior to the start of Saturday's 187km fourth stage from Roncadelle. The 31-year-old rider, winner of the 1998 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia double, also pulled out of the Tour of the Basque Country earlier this month, because of a recurring bronchitis problem. “There was no question that he would take any risk before the Giro. It's better for him to train on roads he knows and in more favourable climatic conditions," said Mercatone team manager Giuseppe Martinelli. After three stages of the five-day event, Liquigas’s

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)edged out Domo’s Fred Rodriguez at the end of the second stage of the Settimana Lombarda. Petacchi finished at the head of a mass sprint after a 174-kilometer race near the city of Alzate Brianza in Lombardy. Petacchi, recently injured in the Tour of the Mediterranean, also narrowly beat Serguei Yakovlev (Cantina Tollo) and Liquigas's Daniele Contrini. With three stages of the five-stage Italian tour remaining, Tacconi Sport’s Stefan Rutimann moved into the overall lead. Copyright AFP2001

Organizers of the classic Amstel Gold Race have been forced to alter the event's course due to fears of foot-and-mouth disease, the Dutch news agency said Tuesday. New sections had to be added as roads along the border between Belgium and the Netherlands have been closed. In particular, the Pietersberg climb, the final difficulty in the race, has been eliminated as the road is closed to traffic. All bicycles and accompanying vehicles will be disinfected before the race gets underway in Maastricht on April 28. The Amstel is the fifth event in the UCI World Cup and one of the

On a day that started in the rain, passed through driving hail, and finished in bright sunshine, Fabiana Luperini confirmed that she is indeed on form this season with a dominating victory on the Mur de Huy in the women’s fourth World Cup of the season, Belgium’s Fleche Wallone, held April 18. The diminutive climber waited until the final climb to unleash a devastating attack that left her closest challengers, Anna Millward (neé Wilson) of Saturn and Trixi Worrack (German National) nine seconds back. Throughout the 93.5km race over six steep hills in the Ardennes region of Belgium, the

When Rik Verbrugghe won the Criterium International, he said he would improve on his placing in the Flèche Wallonne from last year, when he finished second to Francesco Casagrande. The lean Lotto rider kept his word, chasing down an early breakaway of eight riders alone, dropping all but three by the final climb, and finishing alone on the steep ascent of the Mur de Huy. The eight riders in the initial break were Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo), Grischa Niermann (Rabobank), Luca Paolini (Mapei), Koos Moerenhout (Domo), Jörg Jaksche (ONCE), Marcelino Garcia Alonso (CSC), Constantino Zaballa

With four riders in the final top-10, Saturn men appeared to have had a stranglehold on the six-stage Tour of Willamette -- but the placings didn't come without a battle. At the top of the it was Eric Wohlberg, with Matt DeCanio in third, Soren Petersen sixth and Tim Johnson, 10th. Prime Alliance's Danny Pate, and Jelly Belly's Damon Kluck squeezed in for second and fourth, respectively. And on the women's side, GT's Alison Dunlap out-rode the other squads in Sunday's snow-accented stage to take back the leader's jersey for the overall title. Hail, rain, wind and 5-foot high snow banks were

For all the exposure they receive in July, Tour de France contenders rarely cross each other's paths in the preceding months — particularly in a competitive situation. That's why the French classic Paris-Camembert on Tuesday was so unusual. Americans Lance Armstrong and Bobby Julich, along with British standout David Millar, all came to the start line with something to prove. Armstrong is nearing the end of his phase-one race preparations for this year's Tour, and wanted to improve on the second place he took in Paris-Camembert last year. Julich, too, was after a win — “This and

Lotto’s Andreï Tchmil crashed in a training accident on Tuesday and is now questionable for Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in his home country, according to team sources in Belgium. Tchmil sustained bruises to his elbow when he collided with a camper van. He had also fallen in Sunday's Paris-Roubaix race although he remounted to finish eighth. Copyright AFP2001

Just a few hours after finishing Paris-Roubaix, George and I met for dinner. We talked about the day, about the season, and about the future. All in all, George is happy. He knows he can win Paris-Roubaix, and that the best years are still to come. Everything was going great up until the Arenberg Forest. George made a good move and said he was having no real problems finding a good line. He was leaving people behind and making it look easy. When the front tire punctured, controlling the bike was almost impossible. Johan Bruyneel told him on the radio that there were wheels waiting at the

All week long the reports from northern France promised epic conditions for the 99th edition of Paris-Roubaix, and the race on Easter Sunday lived up to all the hype. This year’s race served up 24 sections of cobblestones in absolutely awful condition, turning the race into total chaos from the beginning. Although the heavy rain at the start diminished throughout the day, and the sun finally popped out late, it truly was an epic race all day long. And once the race hit the cobbles in the second half of the race, the Belgian Domo-Farm Frites team showed that it is ready to assume the title of

When the Crédit Agricole team’s Jérome Neuville crashed on the cobblestones at Quievy, 110km into the Hell of the North, he could not have known how close he was to becoming a human pancake. But as the bright yellow Mavic neutral service car slid toward the Frenchman’s prostrate body, the fear in his eyes registered the danger. That was the last we saw of him from inside the car, as driver Antonio Pacheco swerved to the right to avoid Neuville’s legs sprawled across the road. We hit something, and hard, but we could not tell if it was only his bike or if we had hit him as well. We jumped

This report filed at 12:06 p.m. Eastern: Domo-Farm Frites finshed 1-2-3 at today’s Paris-Roubaix. Servais Knaven won, then teammate Johan Museeuw jumped away with one kilometer to go and finished second, and then Romans Vainsteins, the world champion, outsprinted U.S. Postal’s George Hincapie for third place. Hincapie’s fourth place is the same spot he earned here two years ago. Vainsteins now has taken the lead of the UCI men’s World Cup. Domo’s Wilfried Peeters finished fifth, and Telekom’s Steffen Wesemann finished sixth. After the finish, Hincapie said: "There was nothing I

Wednesday morning, a spring snow storm hit Colorado Springs. I managed to get to the airport, but soon learned that my departure for France would be delayed until Thursday. When I arrived back at the office, the entire staff was silently huddled around one computer. I peered over their shoulders to see live images of the final kilometer of Ghent-Wevelgem. Thank you, Mother Nature, for closing the airport George Hincapie is the strongest I have ever seen him. His power outputs are the highest they have ever been and his ability to maintain intense efforts is great. His strong performances

Saturday’s Paris forecast called for early rain and gradual clearing. It seems the French weather experts can’t guess any better than their North American counterparts. The day was dry – until about 7 p.m. (local time) when a steady rain began to fall, with temperatures hanging around 50 degrees. Riders will likely go to sleep tonight listening to the rain, and roll to tomorrow’s start line of the 99th Paris-Roubaix with temperatures in the 30s. Sunday’s start, slated for 11 a.m. (5 a.m. Eastern), will see 248 riders from 25 squads contest the 254-kilometer route. Check back tomorrow,

Going in to Friday's third stage of the Tour of Willamette, Jelly Belly's Damon Kluck wears the men's leaders jersey, while Intersports Sandy Expeseth holds the same distinction in the women's field. Both hold only slim leads (4 and 2 seconds respectively) with another tough climbing day slated for both fields on April 13. The men face 5000 vertical feet in its 109-mile route, with the women getting 3200 vertical in 88 miles. Kluck earned the men's lead with two second-place finishes in Tuesday's Skinner's Butte prologue (finishing 2 seconds behind Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg), and Wednesday's

The organizers of Paris-Roubaix are constantly looking for ways of making their cobblestone classic a little more challenging. And the course for the 99th edition this Sunday looks to be the most challenging yet -- both from the perspective of its rugged route and the expected weather conditions: cold, wet and windy. From the start outside Napoleon's former palace in the town of Compiëgne -- 80km northeast of Paris -- the opening two hours of the race are on smooth, straight, rolling roads through Noyon, Ham and St. Quentin. With a forecast for west wind, the field of 190-or-so riders

George Hincapie scored a huge victory on Wednesday, becoming the first American to win Ghent-Wevelgem and the first American to win a European classic since Lance Armstrong won Fleche Wallonne in 1996. But now Hincapie turns his attention to his biggest personal objective of the season, Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. "It gives me good confidence," Hincapie said about his win in Wevelgem. "I knew I was riding well. Obviously I’m going to be more marked now, because I’ll be one of the favorites. But it’s a good confidence booster for Sunday." And despite the hoopla surrounding his win, Hincapie

Britain's David Millar (Cofidis) won the nine kilometer individual time-trial to take the overall lead at the Sarthe-Loire cycle race on April 12, at Angers, France. Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu won the 94km third stage between Tierce and Angers earlier in the day after Laurent Brochard, leader since the first stage, fell. He managed to remount and continue but was evidently hurt. Millar put in a blistering time in the afternoon's time-trial, taking just 10 minutes and 41 seconds to complette the course. The Scot, who famously won the first leg of The Tour de France 2000, finished 46 seconds ahead

The Giro d'Italia remains the top priority for Italian cyclist Marco Pantani despite his withdrawal from the Tour of the Basque Country this week. Pantani met his Mercatone Uno team president Felice Gimondi and team manager Giuseppe Martinelli Wednesday to discuss his preparation for the Giro, but is yet to define a clearcut program. Martinelli said. "Before long we will define a specific list of races he will take part in April and May that will be suited to his technical characteristics and his state of health at the moment." Martinelli hinted that the rider would next enter the

Texan Lance Armstrong has denied that strong-arm tactics with his team-mates has turned him into some kind of team despot as he aims for a third yellow jersey at this year's Tour. However the 29-year-old (who is participating in the Sarthe-Loire stage race this week), readily admits to forcing "excessive demands" on his US Postal team as a way of pushing his deputies beyond their perceived limits. "To start with, I'm hard on myself. I make a lot of sacrifices, so it's just as important that the other team members be just as professional, which is logical," said Armstrong,

At last! American George Hincapie can finally breathe a big sigh of relief, after taking home a major classics win for the first time in his career. The U.S. Postal Service rider made it look almost easy as he won the 63rd edition of Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday afternoon in Wevelgem, Belgium. And while it was close at the finish -- the tall New York native just barely edged Mercury-Viatel's Leon Van Bon at the line -- Hincapie had all the right moves throughout the 215km ride through western Belgium.

The Tour of Flanders produced an unexpected winner on Sunday, and it proved to be a nice surprise for the Italians, as Taconni-Vini Caldirola’s Gianluca Bortolami edged Erik Dekker (Rabobank) in a photofinish, while the pre-race favorites had to settle for a ninth-place sprint. Bortolami turned up as the top survivor on a day that began with a big crash, and ended with an eight-man sprint that contained the remnants of a once-20-man breakaway.

The Tour of Flanders produced an unexpected winner on Sunday, and it proved to be a nice surprise for the Italians, as Taconni-Vini Caldirola’s Gianluca Bortolami edged Erik Dekker (Rabobank) in a photofinish, while the pre-race favorites had to settle for a ninth-place sprint. Bortolami turned up as the top survivor on a day that began with a big crash, and ended with an eight-man sprint that contained the remnants of a once-20-man breakaway. The race began in the historic town center in Brugge, which was packed with Belgian fans under a cloudy, sometimes drizzly sky. Despite some early

An estimated crowd of 30,000 fans lined the streets of the entertainment district in Austin, Texas, to watch the Navigator’s Cycling Team take control with 10 minutes to go and never look back at the opening event of the BMC Software Cycling Grand Prix, the Lance Armstrong Criterium. Russian rider Vassili Davidenko was on the receiving end of a near perfect leadout from the Navigators Squad. Mercury-Viatel rider Baden Cooke took second, while Charles Dionne rounded out the podium spots. Several breaks managed to escape with only the final break attempt gaining significant time. With 20

A cold rain fell on the cobbled streets of Brugge on Saturday, possibly a sign of things to come for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, which traverses the famed cobblestone climbs of northern Belgian. The 269km World Cup classic includes 16 sharp hills, almost half of them on steep, narrow pitches of cobblestone roads through the countryside of Flanders. If conditions are wet, the slick, treacherous climbs become even more of a challenge as the race favorites slug it out. Wet or dry, there will be plenty of contenders to choose from, including the past five Tour of Flanders winners — Andrei Tchmil

According to a report in the Sunday edition of the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich thinks the end of his career may be in sight. Ullrich says he believes he is not up to the challenge of competing at the top level "as long as other riders." "I think I already took my body to the limit of physical extremes when I was 22 and 23," the Telekom rider said. "But I can't keep that (kind of effort) up as long as other riders. This year I'm going to try to beat Lance Armstrong in the Tour. But maybe near the end of my career I'll no longer

Italian rider Andrea Tafi will take part in this Sunday's Tour of Flanders, the second event in the World Cup season, alongside Mapei teammates Michele Bartoli and Paolo Bettini. The 34-year-old Tafi, who had been doubtful for the race due to intestinal problems, was finally declared good to go by his Mapei team Friday. The Tuscany rider, who already has four World Cup victories to his name, pulled out of this week's Trois jours de Panne last Tuesday. Copyright AFP 2001

One of the staples of the summer racing season is no more. The Killington Stage Race, which was first run in 1987, has been cancelled due to financial problems. "It was just costing to much to do the race," said Tom Vinson, USA Cycling’s North Atlantic regional coordinator, who added that he was informed of the news by race organizers on Thursday. "I didn’t know it was coming, but it wasn’t a surprise either. It’s been a financial battle every year." The race, which was held over Labor Day weekend, made its debut 14 years ago as a two-day event. In its heyday it ballooned to a four-day,

If the spring storm parked over the San Francisco Bay area doesn’t move out soon, it could be a gloomy start, weather-wise, to the 2001 Tissot-UCI World Cup series, which kicks off in Napa, California, this weekend. The amateur riders will slog it out in the rain on Friday, before the pro action — featuring all but one of the six medallists from the 2000 Olympic Games — starts Saturday. A little rain — or in this case, a lot — won’t put much of a damper on an event held at the most elegant of World Cup venues, the Domaine Chandon winery. This year marks the fifth year that the series will

Cofidis’s Nico Mattan won the closing time trial at the Three Days of De Panne to overtake Lotto’s Hans de Clercq for the overall title in the three-day race in the western part of Belgium. Mattan jumped from ninth place to first on the strength of his time trial. The Belgian covered the 14km time trial course in 17:41, four seconds faster than runner-up Levi Leipheimer (U.S. Postal Service) and six seconds faster than third place Erik Dekker (Rabobank). In the overall standings, Mattan finished ahead of Dekker and Postal’s Viatcheslav Ekimov. Ekimov led a trio of Postals in the top five,

Tour de France organizers unveiled their version of cycling's Ten Commandments in Paris Thursday — a plan of action aimed at stamping out doping in the peloton this year and setting a precedent for the future. The 10-point plan, costing over 10 million francs ($1.4 million) over the next three years, focuses on banning riders who are caught doping from the start of the race, maintaining vigilance throughout the three-week event, and promoting "clean" sports practices in the future. The measures are aimed at assuring the skeptical, and preventing a fiasco similar to that which nearly

The HP Women's Challenge cycling race will return to network television when CBS Sports broadcasts the 2001 race on Saturday, July 14. The one-hour telecast will highlight all 13 stages of the 12-day race, including the grueling mountain climbs. Organized by Women's Challenge, Inc. and sponsored by Hewlett-Packard Company through 2002, the event is one of the world's toughest races both for the caliber of competitors and the demanding nature of the courses. The 2001 race will be run from June 13-24 and will cover over 688 miles of tough Idaho terrain. The 2001 HP Women's

The American Velodrome Challenge kicked off the season this past weekend in San Diego. Throughout the year riders will compete for ranking points that will assist USA Cycling coaches in determining future U.S. national cycling teams and athletes for upcoming international races. In addition to the San Diego stop, the American Velodrome Challenge will travel to eight other velodromes. For more information on the series check out www.americantrackracing.com Here’s the rest of the year’s schedule: April 19-April 20: San Jose, California;May 4-May 5: Frisco, Texas;June 1-June 2: Houston,

The boys from Mercury-Viatel finally broke through, as Chris Horner barely edged out Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg to win the overall title at the Solano Bicycle Classic. On the women’s side it was Intersport’s Ann Samplonious winning the GC crown ahead of Susy Pryde (AutoTrader.com) and Katrina Berger (800.com). Horner earned his victory during the race’s third stage, the 90-minute GeniSoy Criterium, where he picked up a crucial intermediate time bonus. That gave him a scant 2-second lead over Wohlberg going into the race’s final day, and with the help of some hard working teammates, Horner was

Belgian Rik Verbrugghe won the third and final stage of the Criterium International stage race in France on Sunday. Verbrugghe covered the 8.5km time trial from Charleville to Mézières with a time of 10:19, one second faster than German Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole), who was second. Riding for the Lotto-Adecco team, Verbrugghe, who also won the stage 1 road race, took the overall win, 16 seconds ahead of Spaniard Alberto Martinez. He is the first Belgian to win Criterium International. American Floyd Landis of Mercury-Viatel finished third in the stage 3 time trial, just two seconds off

Belgian Rik Verbrugghe of the Lotto team won the first stage of the Criterium International in France on Saturday. Verbrugghe was one of 12 riders to escape with less than 15km left in the 190km stage. On a day that included three category 4 climbs, the breakaway occurred on the last climb and despite chase efforts by Saeco and ONCE, the group gained 18 seconds on the rest of the field.

Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd held on to win the overall title at Setmana Catalana Friday, finishing the fifth stage safely in the main group. Italian Marco Zanotti (Liquigas) won the 152.4km stage between Berga and Cornella de Llobregrat in 3:17:34. American Lance Armstrong was the most consistent of the big-name Tour de France contenders in the five-day stage race in Spain, finishing eighth overall, 1:13 off the winning pace. Italian Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno) showed some aggression early in the week, going wheel to wheel with Armstrong in the mountains, but he withdrew on Thursday’s

Italian Danilo Di Luca of the Cantina Tollo team won the 162km fourth stage at Setmana Catalana Thursday, while Rabobank star Michael Boogerd took the leader’s jersey by finishing second, 11 seconds behind Di Luca. American Lance Armstrong put in a strong effort to finish eighth, 1:24 back, while his Tour de France rival Jan Ullrich continued to go easy in the Spanish stage race, finishing more than 20 minutes off the winning pace. The final stage of the five-day stage race is Friday. 2001 AFP

Sometimes it pays to gamble. Spaniard Aitor Silloniz, ranked 1077 in UCI standings at the start of the 2001 season, took a flyer just 50km into Wednesday’s 173.3km stage 3 at the Setmana Catalana. With a time of 4:29:25, the Euskatel rider hung on to win, beating second-place Jose Manuel Vasquez, also a Spaniard, by 6:39. Finishing third on the day was Italian Denis Zanette, 7:06 back. Zanette, of Liquigas, moved into the leader’s jersey with two stages remaining in the Spanish stage race. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, and Marco Pantani all finished the day with the main group, 7:06 behind

With his back-to-back wins at Redlands and Sea Otter, Saturn's Trent Klasna moved out to a sizeable early-season lead in the USCF's National Racing Calendar standings, ahead of U.S. Postal Service's Levi Leipheimer and Mercury-Viatel's Chris Horner. Meanwhile, Saturn's Kim Bruckner moved closer to Genevieve Jeanson (Rona), following Bruckner's second-place finish at Sea Otter. Jeanson skipped Sea Otter and instead raced at Another Dam Race in Parker, Arizona. Men: 1. Trent Klasna, Saturn, 435pts;2. Levi Leipheimer, USPS, 240;3. Chris Horner, Mercury-Viatel, 234;4. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly,

Jazztel rider Serguei Smetanine won the second stage of the Setmana Catalana stage race in Spain Tuesday, while Spain's Angel Edo held onto the overall lead in after a 169km race from Lloret to Empuriabrava. Smetanine was part of a five-man break that built up a maximum 17-minute lead before the first of two mountains, one a category 1 climb. That group was eventually pulled back to within two minutes of the main group, but Smetanine, a Russian, outsprinted teammate Carols Torrent of Spain, Italan Eilo Aggiano and Spaniard German Nieto, to the line for the win. "We took the hill at our own

Angel Edo of the Spanish outfit Maia won the first stage at the Catalan Cycling Week in Spain on Monday. Edo outsprinted Italians Denis Zanette and Stefano Garzelli at the end of the 143km route around Lloret De Mar. Earlier in the race, Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong tested each other in the mountains, and both finished with the lead group. "I'm thrilled to win on home territory," said the Barcelona-born Edo, a 30-year-old pro who also won here in 1994. On reaching the foot of Alt de Sant Grau, a category 1 climb, Pantani attacked, leaving much of the peleton stretched out behind

Susanne Ljungskog sat in for 110km of the Varazze-San Remo, but just before the top of the Poggio climb with 8km to go, the 25-year-old Swede made a blistering attack. The Vlaanderen-T-Interim rider had a 200-meter gap at the high point in the village of Poggio overlooking the green waves of the Ligurian sea below. She said later, “I am a good descender, and I thought I could hold it until the finish. When I looked back with one kilometer to go and saw that I still had a good gap, I knew that I would win.” Mirjam Melchers (Acca Due O/Lorena) won the sprint in this World Cup stop number

It looked like a magical finish in the making for the Italian throngs lined up along Via Roma in San Remo. Super Mario, the guy whose face was on half of the T-shirts being hawked in the crowd, had caught back onto the front group on the descent of the Poggio, and he had a four-man Saeco train pulling him to the front. [nid:20289]But Erik Zabel’s Deutsche Telekom train was also working well, and despite Cipollini closing the gap rapidly, he was still a half bike-length behind at the line after charging past world road champion Romans Vainsteins with 25 meters to go.

As the designated finisher for Mercury on the final day of the Sea Otter road race Saturday, Australian Baden Cooke was on the hot seat. His team – accustomed to taking wins in buckets with sprinter Gord Fraser – had been stymied by a hot Saturn squad and hadn’t won all weekend. With Fraser feeling under the weather, Cooke did just fine, outsprinting Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens, among others, to chalk up the biggest win of his young career. In the women’s Laguna Seca circuit race, Anna Millward just kept rolling, winning the stage and the overall Sea Otter title. Joining Millward in the

Levi Leipheimer, who thought the Mercury Sea Otter Classic would be a two-man race after he won the difficult opening time trial on Thursday, needed time to compose his thoughts. Sitting in the back of the U.S. Postal Service team van, Leipheimer pulled off his race leader's jersey and pulled on his dark-blue team sweats. A few minutes earlier, he had crossed the line in the company of his closest rival, Mercury's Chris Horner, but they were almost four minutes behind Saturn's two-man express: Harm Jansen and new race leader Trent Klasna. The first words out of a shattered

Milan-San Remo is the first big classic and the chance for many riders to cop a big win. It has ended many times in a large sprint, as well as in solo victories. Erik Zabel (Deutsche Telekom) has won three of the last four editions and looks to be the strong favorite again, having shown good form in February and March races in Spain. After interviewing many team mechanics the day before the race, in fact, those who would make a prediction of a rider not on their own teams, Zabel was the one. Milan-San Remo is not only the first of the major classics, but it is also the longest. The course is