Road Racing

It’s obvious Yaroslav Popovych enjoys life. The Ukraine attacker usually has a smile on his face and is quick with a joke, except when he’s on his bike. Then he’s everyone else’s worst nightmare. Popovych dropped the ax with 30km to go on the last of four rated climbs in Friday’s intense 178km fifth stage from Sorgues to Manosque to motor away from a breakaway that included Dave Zabriskie (CSC) and sent a panic jolt through the peloton.

For the second time in two weeks, Alberto Contador delivered a big win in the 2007 season ahead of some pretty heady company. Last month at the Tour of Valencia, he beat Spanish sensation Alejandro Valverde at the key climbing stage up Alto de Campello. Contador hit the repeat button Thursday in the explosive 169.5km fourth stage at Paris-Nice. The new Discovery Channel recruit dropped the likes of L’Alpe d’Huez winner Frank Schleck and Tour de France candidate Cadel Evans on the short but steep summit finish to La Croix-Neuve to take an impressive win.

You can’t blame Tom Boonen if he shot his arms up in triumph thinking that he had won a hard-fought, rising sprint into Maurs at the end of the lumpy 215.5km third stage at Paris-Nice. When he heard over his course radio that Russian rouleur Alexandr Kolobnev -- the lone holdout from the day’s four-man breakaway -- was dangling 20 seconds off the front with 7km to go, he assumed like everyone else his Quick Step henchmen would finish off the job to set up the mass gallop.

I spent a couple of days last week in Las Vegas, with Paul Lew, ridingand inspecting his new superlight Pro VT-1 wheels. The pair I rode weighedless than – get this - 850 grams for the set. That’s not a claimed weight, either. I pulled the tires off after theride, checked the scale by using my standard calibration unit (otherwiseknown as a good old American quarter) and then measured the front at 350.5grams and the rear at 501.1. Keep in mind that includes what I’d guessto be about 10-15 grams of rim cement on the wheels. Now here comes the hard part. The wheels cost $5000 a pair with

[nid:37751]The 177km second stage of the eight-day Paris-Nice started with a lot of high hopes. David Millar was talking a wire-to-wire yellow jersey run. Thomas Voekler almost held off the peloton to steal a dramatic breakaway win. Everyone else was looking at Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen. No one was looking at Franco Pellizotti.

[nid:37738]It was expected to be a showdown between Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen in the first stage of Paris-Nice, but it was French sprinter Jean-Patrick Nazon who surprised everyone with a long charge to the line in Buzançais on Monday. Nazon, who’s been all but invisible since winning a pair of Tour de France stages in 2003-04, burst down the left side of the peloton after sniffing out a hole with 200 meters to go.

[nid:37731]Last year, David Millar underwent wind-tunnel testing for the first time and settled into a new, sleeker aerodynamic position that on paper should have made him faster. Instead, the Scot found he actually lost power — so this season he chucked the scientific posture and replaced it with his tried-and-true position, honed over years of trial and error.

TorqueDear Lennard,I recently purchased my first full carbon bike, absolutely love it. Yet, I'm scared of over-torquing the seatpost clamp. Is there a torque wrench you could recommend that works on Allen wrenches? What's the worst that happens, the seatpost clamp needs replacing or I have this fear of the actual seat tube deforming, I'm not doing the Samsonite luggage monkey torque on it, but "hand tighten" is just too open to quantify.ThomasDear Thomas,First of all, carbon frames generally have a separate band clamp to tighten the seatpost, and, yes, the worst that can happen,

There were plenty of power meters being used at this year’s Tour of California, largely because it offered a unique early season opportunity for riders to test themselves against some of the world’s best. Indeed, four teams made racing with a power meter a very high priority at the eight-day California race, because this would be the best field the world would see prior to Paris-Nice. What better opportunity to start collecting crucial numbers? The professional teams Predictor-Lotto (Belgium), T-Mobile (Germany) and Slipstream (USA) as well as the U.S. National Team each stressed the

Questions, and suggestions, about stuck seatposts, especially carbon posts

Overall 1. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, 24:57:24 2. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 0:21 3. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:54 4. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 1:06 5. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), CSC, at 1:16 6. Christian Vandevelde (USA), CSC, at 1:24 7. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, at 1:32 8. Ben Day (Aus), Navigators Insurance, at 1:38 9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 1:41 10. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net Maxxis, at 1:57

Shoreline Drive in Long Beach may not be the Champs-Élysées, but just as the Tour de France traditionally ends with a sprinters’ showdown, so the 2007 Amgen Tour of California climaxed Sunday afternoon with a spectacular mass charge to the line. And just as a surprising winner often takes the Tour’s final stage, so Cuban Ivan Dominguez shocked the heavy hitters of the UCI ProTour and give the stage 7 victory to his domestic American team, Toyota-United.

[nid:37650]When people look back at the developing history of the Amgen Tour of California they will say that the race came of age on stage 6 of the 2007 edition. Even though Saturday’s 105.4-mile stage from Santa Barbara ended in a mass sprint in sunny Santa Clarita, won by Team CSC’s J.J. Haedo from T-Mobile’s Greg Henderson and Quick Step’s world champion Paolo Bettini, this was no parade.

Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins returned to the track with a winning individual-pursuit ride on Friday during the final round of the 2006-07 UCI Track World Cup series in Manchester, Great Britain. In his first individual pursuit since winning gold in Athens in 2004, the 26-year-old beat Russia's Alexander Serov in a time of 4 minutes, 17.864 seconds while Australia's Brad McGee was almost five seconds slower. "To do that in a first competitive race - I'm really pleased," said Wiggins. "Because you can go as hard as you like in training but you never know until you get on the

[nid:37630]Seconds after Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer hurtled across the finish line in Solvang to win Friday’s time-trial stage of the Amgen Tour of California, he repeatedly punched the air and let out a guttural scream of excitement. The thousands of fans lining the finishing straight roared their approval for his stunning performance, realizing that it virtually wraps up his overall victory in the eight-day race.

[nid:37614]Just as sunshine followed rain on Thursday’s beautiful ride along the Big Sur coast at the Amgen Tour of California, so the stage 4 victory in San Luis Obispo by world champ Paolo Bettini of Italy was just a trailer for Friday’s time-trial showdown. Going into the rolling 14.5-mile TT in Solvang, Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer still has a three-second margin over his main challenger, Jens Voigt of CSC, but a half-dozen others remain in contention, including three-time world TT champion Michael Rogers of T-Mobile, who’s 19 seconds back.

[nid:37587]Things didn’t start well for Team CSC at this year’s Amgen Tour of California. Largely due to shifting wind conditions, the squad’s time-trial specialists, including Dave Zabriskie and Fabian Cancellara, who went one-two at the 2006 world time trial championships, were shut out of the top three spots in the opening prologue in San Francisco.

Argentinean ace J.J. Haedo blasted to the front of another all-ProTour sprint finish Tuesday to win the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California. After yesterday’s chaotic finish, Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) was happy to have remained intact and safely inside an upright peloton after three circuits of downtown Sacramento concluded the 116-mile stage from his hometown of Santa Rosa.

For the second year in a row, American Levi Leipheimer took the podium of the Amgen Tour of California as the race leader in his hometown of Santa Rosa. This year, however, it wasn’t under circumstances the Discovery Channel rider would have chosen. Australian sprinter Graeme Brown (Rabobank) won Monday's Stage 1 after Leipheimer went down in a 50-rider pile-up with two 3-mile laps of a downtown finishing circuit remaining in the 156.4km stage.

Defying an increasing wind that saw the likes of world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC) fall out of contention, Levi Leipheimer stormed to the Amgen Tour of California prologue win on Sunday atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. The last rider to leave the starting house, Leipheimer flew down the flat one-mile stretch of The Embarcadero along the water before turning onto the steep Telegraph Hill climb towards Coit Tower with pitches as steep as 22 percent.

Buyer’s Guide CorrectionBrain fade set in on the finishing sprint for the VeloNews Buyer’sGuide. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show, March 2 – 4, takes placein San Jose, California, not San Diego as the Buyer’s Guide states. Forcomplete information, visit the Show’s site: www.handmadebicycleshow.com 

You can’t rest on your laurels in the world of cycling. The old adage that you’re only as good as your last race appears to apply doubly in the product world these days. Barely have consumers had time to get their hands on the stuff introduced at Interbike, when new, lighter, faster (and probably pricier) product is making early appearances in the peloton. This year’s Mallorca Challenge turned into a prime opportunity for manufacturers to try out new gear on teams and to offer reasonably orchestrated “sneak peeks” at the some beautiful product that will likely appear in shops by year’s

Less than a week after SRAM announced a voluntary recall of a limited numberof Force frontbrake calipers, the company has expanded the recall to include rearcalipers. The expansion is due to incorrect grain structure in the titaniumused to manufacturer the caliper mounting bolts of both front and rearbrakes.SRAM urges consumers not to ride a bicycle equipped with the affectedbrakes. The mounting bolt can fail causing the brake caliper to detachfrom the frame of fork.SRAM assures its partners that the issue has been corrected and thatit has ended its relationship with the suspect supplier. The

Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau wrapped up the overall victory at the Tour de Langkawi on Sunday as Alberto Loddo added yet another win to his tally, equaling the record of five stage wins in a single year.

Anthony Charteau is well on his way to winning the Le Tour de Langkawi overall title, following a largely tactical ride from Putrajaya to Seremban on Saturday. Although the ninth – and penultimate – stage of the Tour put the Crédit Agricole rider up against the winding roads of Kuala Klawang, he kept up with the leaders over the course of day’s many climbs to maintain his 1:02 over Jose Serpa (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovannio), who won Thursday’s decisive stage to the Genting Higlands.

For the second time in as many years Jose Serpa was first man across the line at the top of the hors categorie Genting Highlands stage, but the Colombian Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni rider couldn’t make up enough time to unseat the overall race leader Anthony Charteau.

Due to a quality issue with the titanium alloy used in the mountingbolt of a limited number of the new Force road group’s front brakes, SRAMhas issued a voluntary recall to consumers in possession of the brakes.Roughly 10 have failed. SRAM asks consumers discontinue riding until the front Force brake caliperhas been replaced.According to SRAM' media manager, Michael Zellmann, the problem was identifiedthrough SRAM’s internal quality process. A small number of the titaniummounting bolts failed during the installation process. There have beenno injuries associated with the defect. Affected

Japan’s Shinichi Fukusima proved that persistence and hard work are the key to success as he became the first Asian to win a stage in this year’s Tour de Langkawi following a strong 174km ride from Kuantan to Karak. The stage win for the rider from the Nippo-Meitan Hompo team was only the third stage victory for an Asian rider in the 12-year history of the tour, following wins by Wong Kam Po in 2000 and Koji – the younger brother of Shinichi – Fukushima in 2005.

The man is on a streak. Alberto Loddo scored his fourth win at the Tour de Langkawi Wednesday, again frustrating Ceramiche Panaria’s Maximiliano Richeze in a charge to the line at the end of a 137-kilometer ride from Kuala Terengganu to Cukai. Loddo (Selle Italia-Serramenti) charged across the line ahead of the main field, which included Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau, the overall race leader who was more than content to finish in 59th place, secure in the knowledge that he holds a four-minute buffer with Friday’s short, but decisive, ride to the Genting Highlands ahead.

Italian Alberto Loddo pulled off a hattrick of stage victories at the Tour de Langkawi Tuesday, winning the Tour’s fifth stage in a field sprint at the end of a 167-kilometer race from Kota Bharu to Kuala Terengganu. With the most of the field finishing together, Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau easily held on to the comfortable four-minute lead in the overall standings, a buffer he earned on Sunday in the stage to Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands.

The Cable GuyDear Lennard,To my untrained eye, Vision Tech brake cables look strikingly similarto Shimano STI derailleur cables. I notice that Team CSC uses Nokoncables with the Vision Aero Brake Levers. What are my options fordifferent brands of cables (and housings) to use with the Vision levers,other than the Vision cables. (I already have extra STI cables, soinstead of buying new Vision cables, if it is safe and compatible, I wouldthink I could use these.)ChrisDear Chris,The Vision DragOn Brake Cable is just a brake cable with a shift cableend to fit into one of those little tiny Vision

Italian Alberto Loddo claimed his second stage victory at the Tour de Langkawi Monday in an intense bunch sprint that resulted in at least 10 riders crashing just 50-meters from the finish line.

Anthony Charteau Sunday became the first Frenchman to claim the yellow jersey after conquering stage three of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, which saw racers ride up the popular Cameron Highlands. It was an unexpected finish for Charteau, who is not considered to be among the more renowned climbers in the race and was to have set the pace for teammate and main rider, Francesco Bellotti.

Argentine Maximiliano Richeze earned an impressive win at the end of the second stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday, edging out a hard-charging field at the end of a 166-kilometer stage between the Malaysian cities of Kangar and Kulim. Richeze, who along with his Ceramiche Panaria teammate, Ruben Bongiorno, were pipped at the end of Friday’s opening stage by Italian Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia), fought hard in the final 250 meters to fend off a big group of strong sprinters, earning both the checkered flag and the overall leader’s jersey.

Lastweek I reported on the first day of the CyclingScience Symposium and Expo at the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado. The conference featured a second day of lectures, followed by a third expo day at which purveyors of equipment and services for improving cycling performance offered their products for public view. Tied up by other commitments, I was unable to attend the expo, but I did find the second lecture day to be fascinating. Computer-modeling your musclesDan Heil, Ph.D., FACSM, an associate professor of exercise physiology at Montana State University in Bozeman gave a very

Katie Compton gave the United States its second silver medal in two days at the World Cyclo-cross Championships today in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, as France’s Maryline Salvetat overcame a rough start to battle her way to victory in the women’s race on Sunday. Salvetat’s teammate Laurence Laboucher hung on for third, while pre-race favorite Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) faded to fifth after crashing at the halfway point while in the lead.

Belgians narrowly averted what could have been viewed as a national tragedy at this year’s Cyclo-cross World Championships as defending champion Erwin Vervecken came from behind to win the elite men’s race on Sunday. In an event often swept by the Belgian squad, Vervecken was the only one of his countrymen who managed to step onto the podium in front of a huge home crowd in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, as the efforts of pre-race favorites Sven Nys and Bart Wellens were hampered by crashes and a series of difficulties throughout.

Belgians and Americans got off to a great start at the world cyclo-cross championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, Saturday, as host-country prospect Joeri Adams and U.S. rider Danny Summerhill sprinted to a tight finish in the junior men’s event. Summerhill battled back from a crash with two laps to go to earn second, as pre-race favorite Jiri Polnicky (Czech Republic) crossed the line one second later in third.

"Last year," said Lars Boom, "I was not happy with second." On Saturday, the young Dutchman made up for that disappointment by finally winning the under-23 title at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, in his final year as an espoir. Belgium's Niels Albert took the silver and Roman Villa of France the bronze, while defending champion Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) could manage no better than fourth.

Tuesdays at VeloNews.com usually feature Lennard Zinn's "Technical Q&A"column, in which VeloNews' senior technical writer fields questionsfrom you, our readers. But this week, Boulder, Colorado, is playing hostto the first (and hopefully annual) CyclingScience Symposium and Expo, organized by the Serotta InternationalCycling Institute. Yup, it's a sort of bike geek Woodstock (albeit on a much smaller scale) and we knewexactly where we'd find our friend Lennard. For the next few daysZinn will be attending the seminar and, when he gets some time, even sendingus a few reports

American Sarah Hammer’s trophy case could soon need structural reinforcing. The world individual pursuit champion added another gold medal to her stack with a win in her signature event during day two of the track World Cup in Los Angeles. Earlier in the day, Hammer set a new U.S. record of 3:32.058. After the effort Hammer said she would just "put it on cruise" in the evening’s gold-medal match against Germany’s Verena Joos. Sure enough, Hammer quickly made up time against her rival, gaining time with every lap to build such a comfortable lead she sat up well before the line and waved to

Another day, another gold for Sarah Hammer — our man Casey Gibson was on hand and snapping away. Here's what he saw.

Sarah Hammer put to rest any ideas that she’s not a top mass-start racer with a gold medal in the Los Angeles World Cup scratch race, her third win of the three-day event. Hammer won the opening-night points race and followed it up with gold in the individual pursuit. Hammer and American Becky Quinn repeated the tactic that put them one-two at last year’s World Cup scratch race in Los Angeles. Hammer hit the front with a few to go, Quinn battled to get on her wheel, then Hammer dialed up the pace so high no one could come around her. There was no need for the UCI officials to check the photo

That's a wrap — three days of racing, three golds for Sarah Hammer and three cheers for our man Casey Gibson, whose shutter kept clicking from lights on to lights out.

It may be the off-season to you, but not to the intrepid Casey Gibson, who has lugged his bag of camera bodies, lenses and computer gear from snowy Colorado to the ADT Event Center in Carson, California, for the UCI track World Cup. Here's a peek at what he sent home.

World individual pursuit champion Sarah Hammer (Ouch Pro Cycling) set a national record in a qualifying ride on day two of the Los Angeles World Cup. Hammer turned a 3:32.058 on Saturday to beat the old mark of 3:32.865, which she set in October at the 2006 track national championships. The record-breaking ride followed Hammer's victory in the points race the night before. "I really didn’t expect to break the record after doing the points race last night," Hammer said while getting her legs rubbed down after the effort. "It wasn’t a good ride, legs-wise. I was hurting. But the goal

It turns out there is a little something to those rainbow stripes. At the opening night of the Los Angeles Track World Cup, American Sarah Hammer, Brit Chris Hoy and Aussie Anna Meares showed their respective fields just why their biceps are circled with cycling’s most powerful design. Tour de France winner Floyd Landis and his friend, CSC rider Dave Zabriskie, were among the crowd of thousands at the Home Depot Center velodrome. Hammer, a world champion in the individual pursuit, won the January 19 women’s points race with some last-lap assistance from her American teammate Becky Quinn.

Questions about cutting carbon, shifting problems, chain length and more

Questions regarding Hincapie's broken steerer and slipping carbon seatposts.

For a little pre-Christmas change of pace, I thought I’d share with you some new technology I’ve been using in a different context that I think could be a great tool for studying efficiency of movement in cycling and triathlon. From December 6-10, I was at Tamarack, a beautiful ski resort near McCall, Idaho for a technique-intensive masters cross-country ski retreat. Three-time Olympian and eight-time masters world champion Jon Engen, a Norwegian transplant to Sun Valley, Idaho, led the camp. JoAnn Hanowski, who has won more ski marathons than any other American, and Jim Fredericks, former

Dutch track cycling star Theo Bos on Saturday set a new world record for the 200 metres flying start in a time of 9.772 seconds. Bos set the new benchmark during the second leg of the track cycling World Cup here, smashing the 11-year record of Canadian Curt Harnett, who clocked 9.865 seconds at altitude in Bogota, Colombia, on September 28, 1995. Bos, the 23-year-old world champion in the men's coveted speed events of the sprint and keirin, came close to topping Harnett's record in the morning heats for Saturday's race, in a time of 9.892. That time was the fastest ever

South Korea's Jang Sun Jae on Thursday became only the third cyclist in Asian Games history, and the first in 36 years, to win three or more golds at the same games. Jang went into the record books — and celebrated his 22nd birthday in style — when he won the Madison on the last day of action at the ASPIRE velodrome. He was already a gold medalist in the individual and the team pursuit and on Thursday teamed up with Park Sung Baek to win the Madison with 35 points. Kazakhstan took silver with Ilya Chernyshov claiming his third medal of the games following his team road race time-trial

China's Guo Shuang outraced compatriot Gong Jinjie in the finals of the women’s sprint at the 15th Asian Games in Qatar on Wednesday. The 20-year-old Guo took the gold in two straight races, winning the second in 11.986 seconds. South Korea's You Jin A took the bronze. It was Guo’s second gold of this year’s games. She won the 500-meter time trial on Saturday, setting an Asian Games record of 35.175 seconds. In the men’s sprint, Japan's Tsubasa Kitatsuru took the gold ahead of South Korea's Choi Lae-seon. China's Tang Qi collected the bronze. Meanwhile, Cheung King

Questions on mix-and-match components, fraying cables, carbon comfort, compact cranks and more.

South Korea showed why they were the 4km team-pursuit favorites at the Asian Games by smashing the Asian record en route to gold on Tuesday in Qatar. The Korean quartet swapped the lead with Iran until the sixth lap before making the final their own, finishing in 4:12.746, slicing 0.016 second off the previous record, which they set in Sydney in November. Iran had to settle for silver in 4:14.226. "We weren't expecting to beat the record. We knew it was good. This was all about winning the gold medal,” Park told Reuters. Defending champions China took bronze, beating Japan in the

South Korea's Lee Min Hye won the women's 3km individual pursuit at the 15th Asian Games on Monday, breaking her own record in the process and snapping China’s perfect winning streak over the past four games. Lee won in three minutes, 44.146 seconds, beating the record by 0.073 second. She had set the previous best on Sunday. "I feel like I'm flying in the sky. I want to continue beating the Asian record and join the world stage after this," Lee told the Xinhua news agency. "In the qualifying round, I beat the Chinese riders, so I have expected today's performance.” Li

Guo Shuang won the women's 500-meter time trial in record time and teammate Feng Yong took the men's 1-kilometer time trial with another Asian Games' record as China claimed both titles contested Saturday in track cycling. Guo, who trains at the UCI's world cycling center in Switzerland, won her event in 35.175 seconds, an Asian Games record, well ahead of silver medalist Hsiao Mei Yu of Taiwan, who was clocked at 36.190. You Jin-a of South Korea, racing with a knee injury, was third with a time of 36.961. "I feel good and proud," she said. "I tried my best to win the

Bart Wellens (Fidea) showed his heels to Sven Nys (Rabobank) in round eight of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup on Friday in Milan. Wellens finished more than a minute ahead of the World Cup leader, who in turn was trailed five seconds later by teammate Sven Vanthourenhout, making for yet another all-Belgian podium. American Ryan Trebon (Kona) finished 22nd at 5:34. UCI Cyclo-cross World CupRound 8 — Milan, ItalyTop 101. Bart Wellens (B), Fidea, 1:06:202. Sven Nijs (B), Rabobank, at 1:023. Sven Vanthourenhout (B), Rabobank, at 1:074. Francis Mourey (F), Française des Jeux, at 1:145. Klaas

Sure, they're all like that, sirDear Lennard,I go through at least two chains (Shimano 7701) every year and replacethem myself. They have always come sealed in a plastic package withtwo connecting pins. I recently ordered a couple of Shimano 9-speedchains (7701) from an Internet retailer. When they arrived they werein boxes for a 10-speed chain (CN 7800) and were not sealed in the usualplastic wrapper. The connecting pin was also already partially insertedinto the outer link with the guide snapped off. All 116 links werestill there. The customer service rep’ told me this is the way

The indomitable Sven Nys (Rabobank) added another win to his collection on Sunday, claiming round seven of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Igorre, Spain. It was the fifth World Cup victory for the Belgian national champion, and a Belgian sweep of the podium, with Fidea teammates Bart Wellens and Klaas Vantornout finishing second and third, respectively. Nys attacked on the second lap and rode faultlessly to solo across the line with nearly a minute’s gap over Wellens. "The choice of tires was decisive," Nys said, explaining that on the second lap he switched to narrower tires while his

The 2007 Giro d’Italia will kick off May 12 with a team time trial on the island of Caprera, ascend the feared Monte Zoncolan — a 10.1km ascent with an average gradient of 17 percent — and finish in Milan on June 3, organizers announced Saturday in Milan. "It will be a beautiful tour," said 2006 winner Ivan Basso, who will be racing in Discovery Channel colors next year. "It's more varied than last year and should be more open. I think it will be a spectacular race." The 90th running of the Italian national tour includes eight stages for the sprinters, five mountain stages, another five

Things to consider on a descentDear Lennard,What speed can a standard road bike achieve? I know there are a lotof factors. I am a 125 lb. rider and my max is 56.8 mph on a long downhill.I am talking standard road-race bike and attire. At what speed will a standard bike and rider's drag keep him from going any faster?It's hard to word this but I think you know what I mean.Chris Dear Chris,Yes, I can figure out what you are asking.When cycling, you must consider the forces of rolling resistance, airresistance and gravity, which when added together, give the power the riderputs out to

Can a smaller Q-factor help knee pain?

What's the advantage of ceramics?

Australia finished the top nation in this weekend's opening round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Sydney, propelled by its women riders. Australia's women won four gold medals and their consistent performances across the board lifted the team to 103 points to finish four points clear of defending series champion the Netherlands after 16 events over three days. Russia finished third with 90 points ahead of Germany (75), France (54) and Great Britain (50). The highlight of the round was the world record ride by Australian Anna Meares, whose time of 33.944 seconds for

Anna Meares, Australia's Olympic and Commonwealth Games track cycling champion, set a world record for the women's 500-meter time trial on Saturday. Meares clocked a time of 33.944 seconds to break her own world record by eight one-thousandths of a second in the final of the event at the UCI World Cup track meet in Sydney. The 23-year-old Queenslander set her last world record when she won gold at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Meares beat reigning world champion Natalia Tsylinskaya of Belarus in the final, and her achievement was all the more welcome after a back injury last

World champion Theo Bos of the Netherlands won the keirin, beating close rival and Olympic champion Ryan Bayley on the opening night of the UCI World Cup track cycling leg in Sydney on Friday. Bayley was awarded the silver medal despite fellow Australian rider Mark French crossing the line in second place behind Bos. French was relegated from second to sixth place after he was ruled to have caused interference two laps from the finish of the final, with former world champion Rene Wolff taking the bronze medal. Bos made his move two laps from home and proved to strong, holding off strong

Australia's Olympic champion Ryan Bayley and Dutch world champion Theo Bos will highlight the opening round of the four-leg UCI World Cup track cycling in the keirin and team sprint events in Sydney on Friday. The pair's sprint match-ups have been some of the closest fought in the track cycling with Bayley upstaging the then reigning world champion Bos at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Bos is the current world champion for the sprint and the keirin but missed a medal in the teams sprint at this year's world championships in Bordeaux when the Australians defeated the Netherlands in

Belgian Sven Nys (Rabobank) won Sunday’s UCI World Cup cyclo-cross in Pijnacker, the Netherlands. The Belgian national champion finished 30 seconds ahead of France’s Francis Mourey (Française des Jeux) to take the fifth round of the World Cup, with Netherlander Gerben de Knegt (Rabobank) crossing third a further 10 seconds in arrears. In the women’s race, Germany’s Hanka Kupfernagel rode to a decisive solo win some 41 seconds ahead of runner-up Daphny Van Den Brand of the Netherlands with Germany’s Birgit Hollmann third at 1:11 UCI Cyclo-cross World CupRound 5 — Pijnacker, the

Well, I know it's from Europe...Dear Lennard,Last year, my coach gave me an old track frame he's had sitting inhis garage for umpteen years (I believe it's a 1976 Gitane Super Pista)on the condition I'd restore it and treat it well. I've had it powdercoated and completely rebuilt it, with the exception of the bottom bracket.Thankfully, the Campy bottom bracket was still in the frame. Ithink it's a weird thread pattern...perhaps French, but for some reasonI thought it was Swiss after doing some research.The bottom bracket has a 35x1 imprinted on it. I don't know

This past weekend, Colorado's Front Range hosted rounds three and four of the 2006 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, the first time national-caliber ’cross had visited the state since the 2000 SuperCup kicked off in Boulder. More than 100 men and 50 women contested the elite races, including virtually all of the top U.S. ’crossers. And with all this talent descending into VeloNews territory, most of the staff had a chance to report on some aspect of the events. Today, we'll highlight some of the top riders' equipment. While elite racers showed up with two or even

Is Stan the solution?Dear Lennard,I read the article in the latest issue of VeloNews about Hutchinson's tubeless road tires and up and coming new tubeless road rims.What prevents me from using a Stan's No-Tube kit along with Mavic Ksyriums and a pair of new Michelin Pro Race tires or even a new pair of cross tires. Is it a safety issue?By the way, I have used Mavic Crossmax SL, a Stan's No-Tube kit with my tire of choice with great success off road.JoeDear Joe,Yes, it most certainly is a safety issue! I had the same idea whenI got my first bottle of Stan’s NoTubes. I slapped a

Twenty-three-year-old Radomir Simunek Jr. (Palmans-Collstrop) won the third round of the UCI World Cup cyclo-cross series held Saturday in the Czech Republic. Simunek celebrated his first World Cup win in front of a Czech crowd at the site of the 2001 World Championships in Tabor. Simunek joined an early attack by Bart Wellens (Fidea)and rode with the former world champion for the bulk of the hour-long event. Simunek, however, proved to be the stronger of the two on Saturday and he powered away from the Belgian on the final lap. "I tried a little acceleration," Simunek said, "and I found I

A bright, vibrant light has gone out in the cycling community as well asin the community of cancer survivors.Karen Hornbostel, a four-time master’s national road champion and recipientof the 2003 Lance Armstrong Spirit of Survivorship award passed away peacefullyat home in Littleton, Colorado, surrounded by family and friends on Tuesday,October 24, eight days past her 54th birthday. She had battled metastaticbreast cancer for over 13 years. Hornbostel made a difference in the cyclingcommunity with her devotion to improving opportunities for women in cyclingas well as with her infectious wit

Belgian national champion Sven Nys won round two of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Sunday in Kalmthout, Belgium, riding away from breakaway partner Francis Mourey of France on the final lap of the hour-long event. Nys (Rabobank) thus solidified his hold on the overall World Cup lead, having also won the opening round October 1 in Aigle, Switzerland. On Sunday, Nys and Mourey (Française des Jeux) joined Czech rider Zdenek Mlynar in setting an early lead in the 10-lap race. With four laps remaining, however, Mlynar faded back and then rolled a tire, completely falling out of contention. Up

Why does my Mavic freehub squeal?

Crunch timeDear Lennard,I have Campagnolo record 10-speed shifters. In fact the componentsare all campy record, except the wheels. I have been having a terribletime with the front shifter. It gets hung up and won't shift or is veryhard to shift and then it makes a terrible crunching noise. I have theCampagnolo triple front derailleur. Two different mechanics have lookedat it, without taking the levers apart, and nether has been able to diagnoseit or fix it. Any suggestions?DebbieDear Debbie,That’s the beauty of Campagnolo Ergo Power; you can fix it if somethinggets jammed inside.

In Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia, Paolo Bettini discovered the best way to ease the pain of the recent death of his older brother was to win in his name. The recently crowned world champion nearly retired after his brother, Sauro, died in a car crash just days after Bettini won the rainbow jersey Sept. 24 in Salzburg, Austria. Only insistence by Bettini’s father convinced the Quick Step-Innergetic captain to carry on. On Saturday under cool fall skies, an emotional Bettini poured all his anguish into his pedals to win the season final in the 245km Lombardia. “Today I was not pedaling alone,”

How can I re-finish my titanium frame?

Why are my Mavic wheels noisy?