Road Racing

The Giro d’Italia just wouldn’t be the same without a good dose of polemica, the favored pastime of this passionate nation of 60 million souls, and there was plenty of it in Saturday’s opening stage of the 90th corsa rosa. [nid:38529]UCI president Pat McQuaid got things off to a good start when he showed up an hour before the team time trial between the Caprera and La Maddalena islands to tell Italian journalists there would be no deal-making for scandal-marred Ivan Basso (see "McQuaid:No breaks for Basso").

Our man Andrew Hood found himself with a little extra time on his hands Friday (okay, a lot of extra time), and so he shot a few snaps of what he called the "unique" opening ceremonies of the 2007 Giro d'Italia, which entailed ferrying the riders, support staff, organizers, officials and press to the deck of Italy's only aircraft carrier — to say nothing of a fair amount of just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. Finally, it did, and Andy sent us the pix to prove it.

With Operación Puerto eliminating defending champion Ivan Basso and potential contenders Michele Scarponi and Tyler Hamilton, the list of potential winners is much shorter. This will lead to a more uncertain Giro, but the podium is almost sure to be contested by the big four: Cunego, Simoni, Savoldelli and Di Luca. TOP FAVORITES Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital Age:25 Giro highlights: Overall winner, four stage wins and 11 days in the maglia rosa in 2004, 4th overall in 2006 (but almost 20 minutes back), 18th in 2005, 34th in 2003. The skinny: After being zapped by mononucleosis in

UCI PROTOUR TEAMSAg2r (F)Race numbers: 51-59GC contender: New team leader Rinaldo Nocentini (I) is most interested in winning a stage.Best sprinter: Alexandre Usov (Blr) had a top-three stage finish in the 2004 Giro. Other rider to watch: Carl Naibo (F), a late replacement, is a useful climber.Giro will be a success if: Nocentini wins a stage.Astana (Swi)Race numbers: 11-19GC contender: Paolo Savoldelli (I) is looking for his third Giro title after contending and then falling sick in 2006Other rider to watch: Eddy Mazzoleni (I) is a strong climber riding support for Savoldelli.Giro will be a

The course for the 90th Giro d’Italia offers something for everyone — but the climbs in the final week should decide the winner. The May 12-June 3 grand tour has eight “flat” stages, five “mixed” stages, five mountain stages (with four summit finishes), two individual races against the clock (one of them a hill climb), and an opening team time trial that could see a bitter battle between the top teams — with CSC, starting with world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and U.S. TT champ Dave Zabriskie, the favorite. Indeed, the opening stage TTT is a challenging 25.6km long, linking the

How can I record my bike position so I can duplicate it?

Making the transitionDear Lennard,I have spent a couple of years "tinkering" with my position on thebike. I feel like my position is now as close to perfect as possible.I am now worried that if I change shoes or damage my bike, etc. that Iam going to lose my "perfect position". What measurements shouldI record in order to duplicate my current setup on a new bike in the future?Also, I currently wear Sidi cycling shoes. How difficult is it toduplicate my cleat placement on a different manufacturer's shoes if I chooseto switch brands in the future?RyanDear Ryan,This is a perfect question for

Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) won the final time trial and the overall on Sunday at the Tour of Romandie. The lanky Netherlander, who was Dutch time-trial champion in 2005, covered the 20.4km course around Lausanne in 26 minutes and 36 seconds to leap past overnight leader Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) in the overall standings. Horner’s 27:31 put him in seventh position on the day and dropped him to fifth overall. He could console himself with having correctly predicted the final outcome after taking the leader's jersey in Saturday's stage. "If I had to pick someone now, I would pick

Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid) scored his second victory in the 2007 USA Crits Southeast series on Friday, crossing the line with relative ease on a cool, cloudy night in Spartanburg, South Carolina. With some of the more well-known squads exiting the series for other races and rest blocks (among them Health Net and BMC), the dynamic throughout the SmithBarney Classic was a mixture of agitation and fatigue as tired riders looked for fresh opportunities in a shrinking assembly.

Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) seized the overall lead of the Tour of Romandie on Saturday as Igor Anton Hernandez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the penultimate stage in Morgins. "The Tour of Romandie is a great race and this was a great mountain stage, so it's a great win for a climber like me," Anton told Reuters afterward. Anton Hernandez was off the front with a lead of some 10 seconds when Horner attacked with 3km remaining in stage 4, a rain-soaked, crash-marred 155.9km leg between Charmey and Morgins. Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) and John Gadret (Ag2r) quickly grabbed his wheel, and soon

Ramping up to speeds of nearly 37 mph, Dominique Rollin (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) roared out of the darkened streets of Walterboro, South Carolina, Wednesday night to take his second win on this year's USA Crits Southeast series. Rollin, who beat Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) by just a half a wheel in the Walterboro Cycling Classic, said the layout of the fourth leg of the series prompted the fast pace. "Since it's a long drag on both sides, it just allows us to reach speeds of 30, 31 miles per hour. And I think the heat just helped us to keep that speed,” he said.

Fresh from his fourth-place finish at the 2007 Tour of Virginia, Rite Aid's Alejandro Borrajo made his presence felt at Tuesday’s Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic, pipping Cuban sprinter Frank Travieso (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) at the line. "I'm very happy. Now I'm getting the outcome that I was hoping for,” said Borrajo. “I think the racing in Virginia served me very well. I'm recovering well and I have momentum now, so I'm very content."

Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) won the first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday. The German outsprinted Spaniards Francisco Perez and Joaquin Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne) to win the 157.8km stage from Granges-Paccot to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Italian Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) retained the leader's yellow jersey. Fothen's win in the northern Swiss town took him to third place in the general standings behind the 32-year-old Savoldelli and Czech Roman Kreuziger. Five riders broke away just 18km into the stage and their valiant effort only came to an end 125km later. Veteran

Last year, SRAM’s RockShox brand debuted a line of new long-travel single-crown suspension forks capable of competing with the market’s best. But at the same time SRAM admitted that it did not have the industry’s best-in-class rear-suspension components, especially after Fox Racing Shox introduced its RP23 air shock in 2006. This is what you call motivation. SRAM got busy, digging down deep into its BlackBox program. And at Sea Otter, program manager Jeremiah Boobar showed what had been unearthed: a 1998 BlackBox four-way coil-over rear shock that was ridden to two World Cup overall titles.

A quarter of a century is a milestone. It’s real history. When someone or something has been around that long it has had a chance to grow into its true being. In 1981, Yoshi Shimano, president of Shimano’s U.S. sales office, noticed a weird new segment of bikes popping up in the U.S. bicycle market and immediately informed corporate headquarters in Japan that Shimano needed to be a part of this new “mountain” bike movement. The following year, Shimano introduced the Deore XT component group to the world. Since other full component group options were virtually non-existent, both bicycle

Italian Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) won the prologue of the Tour de Romandie on Tuesday, leaving his main rivals trailing in the hilly 3.5km time trial through the streets of Fribourg. The 34-year-old, two-time Giro winner claimed his fourth prologue win in the Swiss race, finishing with a five-second lead over Czech Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) and seven seconds ahead of third-placed American Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto). Complete results "I didn't come here to win but to test myself and to do the best possible," Savoldelli said after tackling the long steep climb and a flat sprint to

Old-school rims at Paris-RoubaixDear Lennard,I noticed that all the teams for Paris-Roubaix used old-school tubular rims for the race. How come they don't use the fancy composite tall rims as they do during the rest of the season? Did it have to do with their stopping power in the dry, dusty conditions or the punishment of the cobbles?Peter Dear Peter,Both. Carbon rims, especially deep-section ones, are so much stiffer that they are likely to crack rather than flex and bend like an aluminum rim would. In a crash, jagged carbon edges are worse than bent aluminum. And of course,

Coming into the 93rd Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the number of riders named as potential race favorites was almost overwhelming. Nearly a dozen men were believed to have a serious shot at winning the hilly classic on its demanding course that suits a variety of riders. In the end, the cadre of serious contenders proved to be a hindrance for all the favorites, except one — Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas). The Italian, who won the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone in 2005, completed a career triple of the Ardennes Classics by bridging across to a late attack by CSC’s Frank Schleck and then jumping away

Long after this spring classics season passes into history, the spate of races that stretch from the baking Tour of Flanders of several weeks ago through this Sunday’s expected 80-degree Liége-Bastogne-Liége might be most remembered for their balmy, unseasonable weather. And when the day comes that the 2007 spring classics results are but answers to a trivia question, Gerolsteiner veteran Davide Rebellin might still be winning races.

During this month’s Sea Otter Classic, Princeton Tec invited some of us on a night ride to roll out its new Switchback lights. Princeton Tec’s Sean Leslie lined up local Monterey bike mechanic, single-speed devotee and high-school senior Erik Ebberoth to lead the ride. Ebberoth took us on some great trails, perfectly suited to testing lights, weaving in and out and up and down through thick underbrush and overhanging trees laden with long strands of moss dangling low over the trail. We slapped the lights on our borrowed full-suspension Konas, which was easy thanks to the quick-open slotted

Final Overall Standings
1. Janez Brajkovic (SLO), Discovery Channel, 1058.9km in 25:26:33 (41.619kph)
2. Christian Vande Velde (USA) CSC, at 0:12
3. David Canada Gracia (Sp) Saunier Duval, at 3:04
4. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval, at 3:06
5. Kevin Seeldraeyers (B) Quick Step-Innergetic, at 4:22
6. Scott Nydam (USA) BMC, at 5:35
7. Jeff Louder (USA) Health Net Maxxis, at 6:00
8. Timothy Johnson (USA) Health Net Maxxis, at 6:59
9. Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream-Chipotle, at 10:08

As the ProTour’s Amstel Gold Race was underway a couple of hours away, mountain-biking’s top pros were starting their own season with the opening World Cup race in Houffalize, Belgium. Often viewed as the European classic of the World Cup circuit, Houffalize stands as the one race every rider wants to win. This year saw two new faces at the top of the podium, as Jose Hermida (Multivan Merida) overcame mechanical problems and a crash with the lead motorcycle to beat Julien Absalon (Orbea) for the men's title, and China's Chengyuan Ren (China National team) won the first World Cup

It would take a true trivia buff to remember the last time a rider won a spring classic with a dozen stitches in his knee, but 26-year-old German Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner did just that at the 42nd Amstel Gold Race on Sunday in the Netherlands. Schumacher, who crashed during the final stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on April 14, came into the Ardennes Classics quite unsure of his fitness, after taking four days completely off the bike in the week before Amstel Gold. He rode on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leading into the race, and decided to give it a go.

Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic cruised across the line at the end of the 66.8-mile circuit race that capped off the fifth edition of the Tour de Georgia, comfortably ensconced in the overall leader’s jersey as the sprinters in the peloton battled for the day’s stage honors and points.

It’s been a long dry spell for the man they call “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez. But on Saturday the American blazed back into the winner’s column, taking a blistering bunch sprint that concluded the Tour de Georgia’s stage 6 run from the Lake Lanier Islands to Stone Mountain Park. The win was Rodriguez’s first since stage 4 at this same race exactly a year ago to the day. The victory also moved the Predictor-Lotto rider out of a first place tie with Canadian Gord Fraser on the race’s all time stage wins list. Rodriguez now stands alone with four.

Lest any doubt remain about Discovery Channel’s Tour de Georgia dominance after the team took the stage win and the race lead on Thursday, the team repeated the feat Friday atop Brasstown Bald. Storming away from the peloton on the heels of an all-day breakaway, Levi Leipheimer and then Tom Danielson roared up the mountain to finish one-two. And the mountain roared back. Throngs of fans created a wall of sound up the steepest parts of the hors categorie climb to Georgia’s highest point, Brasstown Bald, at 4784 feet.

The Discovery Channel juggernaut continued its rampage through the 2007 race season on Thursday, with American Levi Leipheimer taking victory in the Tour de Georgia’s stage 4 time trial, while teammate Janez Brajkovic moved into the overall race lead. Now, with massive climbing horsepower behind him in the form of Leipheimer and Tom Danielson, it’s all but assured that the lithe, 23-year-old Slovenian will be wearing yellow three days from now when this seven-day race finishes up in downtown Atlanta.

[nid:38252]Janez Brajkovic wasn’t even supposed to be at the Tour de Georgia. Originally the lithe Slovenian climber was slotted to race Pays Basque for Discovery Channel, while Tour de France veteran Jose Rubiera was coming to America.

It’s a sign of the times. It used to be that the 29-inch mountain-bike was the thing of the fringe elements of the cycling world. No more… at least if the tech expo at Sea Otter was any indication. Major labels – Mavic, Hutchinson and Manitou among them – have recently embraced the concept and have rolled out a host of products including tubeless 29er wheel and tire sets and new long-travel 29er forks. Another theme is that of the event itself as well as many of the products promoted at it being ever more green. Clif Bar ran all of its vehicles for the event on recycled-cooking-oil Bio

Last Friday afternoon, under dark gray skies that made the moment feel as if night were about to fall, I stepped aboard our team bus, gingerly, and sat down. The bus was empty except for one soigneur who pulled out a washcloth and lotion and began scrubbing the grime off of my tender legs. Moments later Axel and Scott stepped on the bus, neither smiling, and sat down, legs outstretched, leaning way back in the chairs waiting their turn to get cleaned up. They looked beat, and if I could have seen my own face I would imagine it was just the same. Beat, but relieved. The last road stage of a

After a frustrating finish to Monday’s opener, Toyota-United was rejoicing on Tuesday as Ivan Stevic sprinted to victory in stage 2 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. J.J. Haedo (Team CSC) and Freddie Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) crossed second and third, while Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems) retained the leader’s jersey after a 135-mile day filled with crosswinds, crashes and a long, three-man break that wasn’t mopped until the peloton began marching on Rome. Complete results

Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems) won stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia on Monday, leaping away from a breakaway to cross the line alone in downtown Macon. The 33-year-old Italian made his move during a series of finishing circuits, using a brick climb to spring away from Ben Day (Navigators Insurance), Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mike Sayers (BMC) to win the 98.5-mile stage from Peachtree City to Macon. Full results

Sunday’s Sea Otter downhill race served as the gravity season’s opener. While the cross-country competitors had a chance to dust of the cobwebs at the NOVA National in Fountain Hills, Arizona, a couple of weeks ago, the gravity crew had yet to meet up. The short two-and-a-half minute course produced a surprise win for Brit Rachel Atherton (Animal-Commençal), while Nathan Rennie (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took his third Sea Otter downhill win. Saturday’s rain exacted chaos over the road, short-track and dual slalom races. The latter was postponed four hours — gravity riders finally took to the

It’s not often a rider enters the Roubaix velodrome alone, and an Australian has never done it in the 105-year history of cycling’s hardest one-day race. Stuart O’Grady did both Sunday in an emotional and powerful victory to become the first Aussie to win Paris-Roubaix in the hottest “Hell of the North” as far as anyone can remember.

It could be an option if California officials ever have to find a solution to a drought. Hold an edition of the Sea Otter Classic and then just wait for rain. This year the rains came on Saturday, just in time for a weekend of serious racing. The rain came quickly and biblically, temporarily shutting down the dual slalom and ending the women’s road circuit race prematurely. The heavy rain also sent the cross-country racers scrambling for the right tire for the short-track event. Thomas Frischknecht (Swisspower) pulled out a special weapon for the race; a pair of 26-inch Dugast Rhino tubular

Bumping elbows with the pros — that’s what Sea Otter is about. Subaru-Gary Fisher professional racer Sam Schultz knows the feeling. The young racer was at Laguna Seca raceway on Friday for SRAM’s launch of its new Monarch air shock platform. He recounted a time not so long ago when he would come to the big events looking around to see what the fast guys were riding. Now we’re checking out what he’s riding, whether he knows it or not. But Sea Otter is about more than just who's using the stuff. The cycling festival gives tech geeks a chance to check in with a host of industry engineers,

The 17th edition of the Sea Otter Classic opened Thursday under sunny skies and blustery winds. The wind brought cooler temperatures, but no one was complaining too much after a soggy setup on Wednesday. For the VeloNews tech crew, our day opened offsite at the re-launch of Tomac Bicycles, during an event hosted by Joel Smith, a former employee of Answer Products, and brand namesake John Tomac. The company is taking it small this time, testing the waters with only eight employees and a product line built around three core frames. Tomac’s name first graced the down tube of a bicycle in 1999

Here we are, just getting ready to head full steam into the 2007 racing season, and the 2008 product is already starting to ship. When did we have a chance to enjoy our '07 bikes? Trek just started shipping copies of Travis Brown’s 69er single-speed to its dealers last week. And here in Santa Cruz, California, just north of Monterey and the Sea Otter Classic, we’re seeing 69ers with gears and even suspension. It’s the same on the Gary Fisher side. There was hardly even time to get excited about its new economical aluminum trail bike, the HiFi, a bike with great value and even greater

German rider Marcus Burghardt outfoxed one of the savviest riders in the peloton to win a crash-marred Ghent-Wevelgem ahead of three-time world champion Oscar Freire. The T-Mobile prospect scored the first win of his career in impressive manner after powering away from Freire and three other escapees with 1.3km to go in the 220km march across western Flanders.

PressureDear Lennard,Regarding your March 27 column, I work for Boeing and have traveled a lot with my altimeter. At cruising altitude (41,000 feet) the internal fuselage altitude is effectively 6600ft, and will be even lower with the new 787. We all climb passes that high.I also wanted to point out that the entire fuselage is the same pressure, that includes the lower cargo section and passenger space. Think of it as one big balloon. So, I travel with inflated tires, primarily to provide that extra measure of rim protection.JohnDear John,Thanks; you've answered the one question I had

Don’t tell Alessandro Ballan he’s heir to Italian classics heroes such as Andrea Tafi and Franco Ballerini after his dramatic sprint victory ahead of Leif Hoste in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. The panache shown by the 27-year-old in winning the crash-laden 91st edition is just the stuff Italian journalists love to turn into legend, but Ballan sees himself as more than a one-trick pony after the biggest victory of his career.

Heading into the inaugural U.S. Open Cycling Championships in Richmond, Virginia, a few names of race favorites were on everyone’s lips: Toyota-United strongmen Henk Vogels and Ivan Dominguez topped the list. Other riders, such as Health Net-Maxxis riders Karl Menzies and Kirk O’Bee and current NRC leader Ben Jacques-Maynes of Priority Health-Bissell were also tossed around. But in the end, two riders not considered favorites — Svein Tuft of Symmetrics and Patrick McCarty of Slipstream-Chipotle — turned the race upside down after forming a winning two-man breakaway more than 15 miles from

In what is being billed as the “true North American Championship,” the inauguralU.S. Open CyclingChampionships are set for Saturday, April 7, in Richmond, Virginia.The 112-mile men’s race, a stop on the international UCI Americas Tourand the national USA Cycling Pro Tour, will begin in colonial Williamsburg,Virginia and follow the route along the historic Jamestown Plantationsand Civil War battlefields, ending with eight 5.5-mile circuits in downtownRichmond including a brutal cobblestone climb up Libby Hill. The men’s race begins at 8:10 a.m., and the men are expected to enterthe Richmond

After a seven-year partnership, Nike and Trek will part ways at the end of 2007. The decision, a result of the $15 billion sports giant’s new exclusive focus on high-end cycling shoes and apparel, sparked rumors that Nike is abandoning the sport altogether. Since 1999, Trek has been a Nike licensee and the primary distributor for Nike Cycling, the marketing of which had centered on seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. Nike recently downsized its in-house cycling division. However, the Nike-Trek split doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the Nike’s cycling division, said Maggie

The first big mountain-bike race of the season isn't just a chance to see which racers have been following their off-season training programs — it's an opportunity for gearheads to gauge which manufacturers have been doing their homework. For most companies, design, prototyping and testing generally take place one, two, even three years ahead of production. So the racecourse is one of the best places to get a look at what may be coming down the production pike. At this week’s NOVA National at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona, there were plenty of

The sourceDear readers,I received a boatload of great responses on creaking noises from the March7 column, and it is something so commonly plaguing all of us as cyclists that I’m running a whole list of the fixes for them that I did not mention.LennardIt's the headsetI also have a Basso Diamante that I occasionally have creaking issueswith. Like many creaking issues, it's hard to track down where the noiseis coming from. I suggest it isn't coming from the seat area with the riderwho sent you the question. I would check the front of the bike. First,make sure the quick release

Jens Voigt (CSC) won the Critérium International on Sunday after soloing to victory in stage 2 and taking seventh in the final time trial. With his victory, the German became the first man to win the race three times since Sean Kelly in 1987. "Ever since I was a little kid Sean Kelly was my hero," Voigt said afterward. "Because he was a rider who was successful from the start to the end of the year, ready to compete for the win at each race, like Jaja [Laurent Jalabert] later on, or Erik Zabel.

Chris Hoy continued Great Britain’s gold medal rush at the Palma de Mallorca world track cycling championships after laying claim to his fourth career world title in the men’s kilo. Already a surprise winner this week in the men’s keirin, Hoy dominated his favorite event with the winning time of 1:00.999 in what was his final competitive kilo. “This is the last time I will race kilo, so it was really important that I won,” Hoy said. “I felt really good all day and I just tried to relax before the race. I felt strong right to the end and I’m relieved and happy to win.” Jamie Staff (Great

Defending Olympic champion Anna Meares beat her own world record with a new time of 33.588 to win Australia’s first gold medal at the Palma de Mallorca world championship. Meares set the previous record in November with 33.944, but shaved nearly a half-second off on the new boards at the Palma velodrome. “I felt really good right from the gun,” said the tearful Meares. “Just as this season has progressed, I’ve gotten better and better. "I wasn’t sure if a world record would be possible because I didn’t know the condition of this track. I didn’t think about it. I just went through the

German Olaf Pollack (Wiesenhof) won the first stage of the Critérium International on Saturday. Pollack took the 179km leg from Asfeld to Charleville after a violent storm pounded the racers in the final 15km, disrupting what proved to be a bunch sprint. The German easily outpaced Italian Angelo Furlan (Crédit Agricole) and Spaniard Mikel Gaztanaga (Agritubel), all of whom were given the same time as the winner.

What should have been the third consecutive day of medal celebration for the resurgent U.S. track team turned into bitter disappointment Saturday when Rebecca Quinn was relegated in the women’s 10km scratch race after sprinting to third. Quinn made a spectacular finishing surge to squeeze between two riders coming out of turn four to earn what most observers thought was a well-deserved bronze medal. Moments after celebrating with her coaches, however, a UCI official whispered to USA Cycling’s athletic director Pat McDonough the bad news. By the time McDonough had a chance to review the

It was another full day at track world's in Spain — the Aussies finally got themselves a medal, as did the host nation, and the Brits continued their winning ways. Casey Gibson was on the job once again and sent us the following photos.

Sarah Hammer put down a dominating performance Friday in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, defending her world title in the women’s individual pursuit Friday and putting the world on notice that she’s the rider to beat going into next year’s Olympic Summer Games. Hammer becomes the first American to defend a world track title since Rebecca Twigg in 1984-85. She also set a new U.S record and personal best with 3:30.213. “I wanted that so bad. To do it twice is amazing,” Hammer told VeloNews at the finish. “I thought going in I was going to win. I was confident in myself.” Hammer was fastest in

As it stands, China's hopes of an unprecedented Olympic gold medal in track cycling currently lie with women's sprint star Shuang Guo, women who turned in the fastest time in Friday’s sprint qualifying round. But in 17 months time, the medal odds could look decidedly better for the hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and it could be thanks to one of the sport's biggest legends. China's first Olympic track medal came through Yong Hua who won silver in the women's 500 meter time trial at Athens in 2004. But former four-time Olympic champion Daniel Morelon, who also amassed

It was raining gold in Spain, and the U.S. and Britain had their buckets out. Casey Gibson was on hand with his array of cameras and lenses; here's what he sent home.

Charles Bradley Huff couldn’t quite believe it when he ended up with a bronze medal in the inaugural world track championship omnium. The Slipstream-Chipotle rider has been suffering through a chest cold, a two-day bout of diarrhea and self-described “bad legs,” but consistency and a third-place in the day’s fifth and final event in the kilometer time trial pushed him onto the medal’s podium. “To have such bad legs today yet it’s exciting that I was able to get third somehow,” said Huff. “It just shows in cycling as much as you suffer, you have good days and bad days, you gotta get on your

At least when it comes to business, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James is something of a multi-sport athlete. The 22-year-old NBA star has purchased an undisclosed ownership stake in the bicycle manufacturer Cannondale, the company announced this week. The 6 foot 8 inch James is no stranger to the bike, according to a Cannondale spokesman. James, a number-one draft pick by the Cavaliers in 2003, spends a lot of time riding in the off-season and organizes the annual “King for Kids Bike-a-thon” in Akron, Ohio, a fundraiser designed to generate funds for local single mothers and their

A golden homecoming for Bradley Wiggins; a podium appearance by an ailing Brad Huff; and a French team-sprint defense that barely registered on a chronometer. It was a busy day at the track world championships in Spain, and our man Casey Gibson was all over it like a sweaty skinsuit. Here's what he sent home.

Flying Dutchman Theo Bos will be among the riders hoping to blaze a gold-medal trail on the freshly laid Siberian pine boards that will host the world track cycling championships this week in Palma de Majorca, Spain. The four-day competition begins on a note of novelty on Thursday when the inaugural, five-race omnium event, the team pursuit and men's individual pursuit are raced in a brand-new velodrome on which the paint is still drying. Bos, who will shoulder the Netherlands’ gold-medal hopes on his lithe frame at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will be hoping to leave a big

Help packingDear Lennard,I am preparing to take a trip to Puerto Rico with my family and, for the first time, my bike (a LeMond Zurich). I bought a Pro Bike Case to pack the bike in. I was wondering about my tires – do I have to deflate them in order to prevent blowouts in the plane? Also, are there any subtleties regarding things to bring (or not) that I haven’t thought of (eg. CO2 cartridges, pumps, etc)?Thanks,Tom Dear Tom,Even if you live at sea level, your atmospheric pressure is at most one bar, or about 14psi. That means, if you were to go all of the way out of the atmosphere to

This time there won’t be an asterisk next to his victory. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) unleashed a masterful sprint to win Saturday’s centenary celebration of Milan-San Remo ahead of Allan Davis to claim victory in emphatic style to erase the memories of 2004 when he won by a whisker ahead of the celebrating Erik Zabel.

Oakley has produced its incredibly popular M-Frame sunglasses for 17 years, and while the design has been tweaked over its long lifetime, the M-Frame has always held onto its distinct shape and reputation as one of the best functioning sport shields on the market. Now, the M-Frame has a little brother — Radar, which even in its infancy seems to be reaching for grandeur. Look for Oakley’s newest sports shield on riders from Team CSC, T-Mobile and Slipstream-Chipotle during 2007. “In the beginning we sponsored 7-Eleven, then Motorola, Saturn, Rabobank, ONCE and Phonak,” said Steve Blick,

Component manufacturer Full Speed Ahead has confirmed plans to join the drivetrain market with full road and mountain-bike groups. There were plenty of rumors as far back as last year’s Taipei Cycle Show. We even reported a few, but as the industry entered last year’s fall trade show season the buzz had quieted. “We just don’t want too much attention because the worst mistake we could make would be to come out too early,” said Ric Hjertberg, FSA’s new technology manager. Although the tricky parts of the drivetrain — the shifters and the derailleurs — have not surfaced, FSA will introduce

[nid:37799]The future is now for Alberto Contador after the Spanish climber pulled the double at Paris-Nice on Sunday to win the final stage and claim the overall prize that positions him as Spain’s next great hope. The 24-year-old Discovery Channel rider uncorked a searing attack on the Cat. 1 Col d’Eze to gap overnight leader Davide Rebellin and drove home a stirring victory on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais to turn a six-second deficit into a 26-second winning margin.

[nid:37790]The Spanish armada threw down an attack in Saturday’s brutal 200km sixth stage at Paris-Nice, but Davide Rebellin stood firm to retain the overall lead with one stage to go. Climbing sensation Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) unleashed a brutal acceleration on the last of nine rated climbs, the Col du Tanneron with 20km to go, to gap the Gerolsteiner leader by 25 seconds. Rebellin never panicked and found some friends in the lead pack to check the aggression with less than 2km to go to retain his six-second grip on the maillot jaune.

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.