Road Racing

On a steamy, cloudless Thursday in Southern California, David Zabriskie and Christine Thorburn each grabbed time trial wins at the Pool Gel USCF National Road Championships. Besides the stars-and-stripes jersey, Thorburn also earned an automatic berth on the U.S Olympic team, which will compete in Greece in August. “I’m very surprised,” admitted Thorburn (Webcor) of a win that came at the expense of the heavily favored T-Mobile team. “I didn’t even do the time trial last year because I didn’t have the right equipment.”

Charles Dionne (Canadian National) finally scored the result he has been hoping for - a stage win at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce. Dionne was one of the most dominant riders all day in the 180 kilometer stage that began and finished in the small town of Lac Etchemin, helping to initiate the day-long break, and then attacking repeatedly in the last 30 kilometers to finally engineer a solo win. Tomasz Brozyna (Action ATI), the overall leader, rode comfortably in the pack all day, as his team set tempo at the front. With three ranked climbs (two Category 2 and one Cat. 3), plus the

It’s always an interesting mix at the startline of the elite men’s road race held annually at the U.S. national road championships. For every aspiring, young Cat. 1 who’s hoping to parlay a podium performance into a pro contract, you’ll find a guy like Chris Walker. The 42-year-old was a pro with Nutra-Fig back in the mid 1990s, but today he’s sporting the kit of California-based amateur team Labor Power. The squad’s name is a reference to the law practice of primary sponsor Roger Worthington, whose client base is people who’ve been injured in the workplace. But Walker stamped his own

Tomasz Brozyna (Action ATI) took the yellow leader's jersey from Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) on day two of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, after an early race split in the field reduced the number of contenders dramatically. Brozyna won the 180-kilometer stage in front of Viktor Rapinski (Navigators) and Radoslaw Romanik (Hoop CCC Polsat), while Dominguez finished a whopping 17:36 back with the decimated main peloton. Stage two was packed with the kind of terrain Beauce is infamous for a seemingly unending series of two- and three-kilometer climbs of seven and eight percent. Eric

Ivan Dominguez (Colavita-Bolla Wines) outsprinted Canadian Olympic hopefuls Charles Dionne (Canadian National) and Mark Walters (Navigators) to take the first stage and the leader's jersey at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce Tuesday in Quebec City. Dominguez also donned the Points jersey, while Adam Wadecki (Action ATI) took the Climber's jersey after a race-long breakaway that was only caught in the final lap. Stage 1 threw riders into hard terrain right away, with 10 laps of a 12-kilometer circuit that featured a sharp kilometer-long 11-percent climb and an upward sloping finish into

Michael Rasmussen, the willowy Dane who came late to road racing after winning the 1999 world mountain-bike championship, was all smiles Saturday evening after taking a brilliant solo stage win at the Dauphiné Libéré. Tyler Hamilton, despite maintaining his second place on GC, 36 seconds down on Ivan Mayo, was just relieved to have finished the four-hour mountain stage in one piece. Phonak team leader Hamilton crashed halfway down the long, dangerous descent of the Col de la Morte (“Pass of the Dead”) along with two others, his Spanish teammate Santos Gonzales and Frenchman Walter Beneteau.

The image of McGuire Pro Cycling’s Dave McCook surging across the finish line, arms raised triumphantly in the air, was repeated — again — at the Nature Valley Grand Prix as the 34-year-old sprint veteran made it three-for-three Saturday, piloting his red Jamis Comet across the finish line in Red Wing, Minnesota, ahead of Emile Abraham (Monex) and Erik Saunders (Ofoto-Lombardi Sports.) From a spectator’s standpoint, Saturday’s sprint finish was as exciting a finish as one could ask for, as the field closed in on a three-man breakaway of Eric Wohlberg (Sierra Nevada), Erik Saunders

When they came into pro cycling a decade ago, American George Hincapie and Aussie Stuart O’Grady were hot-shot sprinters. They loved mixing it up with the true field sprinters. Over the years, as Hincapie transformed himself into a one-day classics rider and a devoted Tour de France lieutenant for Lance Armstrong, Hincapie sacrificed his finishing speed. As for O’Grady, he still goes for the bunch finishes, but rarely wins one. On Friday, though, there were no other racers around when O’Grady of Cofidis and Hincapie of U.S. Postal sprinted out the stage 5 finish of the Dauphiné in Sisteron.

One year after a dramatic crash nearly ended his cycling career, Aussie hardman Henk Vogels (Navigators Insurance) returned to the top step of a race podium, assuming the overall race lead at the Nature Valley Grand Prix following Friday's wet downtown criterium . Vogels didn’t take the criterium win — that honor went to McGuire Pro Cycling’s Dave McCook, who went two-for-two in sprint finishes following Thursday’s stage win in Virginia, Minnesota. Still, returning to the spotlight was a poignant moment for the man from Perth, given an ankle-shattering crash at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic

Back in 1999 at the Dauphiné Libéré, on a sun-filled June afternoon of 80-degree weather, Jonathan Vaughters raced up the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux, faster than anyone in history. His record time for the 21.6km between the tree-shaded village of Bedoin and the bare, exposed 6263-foot summit was 56:50, an average speed of 22.8 kph. It was a record that the now-retired Colorado climber expected to be beaten on Thursday, when the weather was almost identical to that of five years ago. There were several factors that backed up Vaughters’s prediction. First, bicycle technology and training

On a day that began in disarray for the pro men’s field and ended in disasterfor a handful of pro women, Gina Grain (Victory Brewing) and Dave McCook(McGuire Pro Cycling) took chaotic field sprints to win the second stageof the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Virginia, Minnesota. With high winds blowing across Northern Minnesota for the Iron Rangeroad race, both the women’s and men’s fields found it difficult to escapethe safety of the peloton, culminating in the pair of field sprints after80-plus miles of racing. (The women raced 84.79 miles, while the men raced83.) Both finishes could be

Watching the Giro or catching some of the action from Wachovia week, did you happen to notice “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez’s choice of pedals? While his team is officially sponsored by Look pedals, keen eyes may have spotted the fact that the newly recrowned USPRO National Champion was riding a pair of Crank Brothers Triple Ti Egg Beaters. We asked the folks at Crank Brothers about that one and marketing director Christina Orlandella said Rodriguez has been using the pedal for most of the year. “He’s been riding the Egg Beaters for the last four months and in that time he's won three big

Davis Phinney may well qualify as a cycling legend. These days, though, the man who has won more bike races than any other American is facing the toughest challenge of his life: Living with early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Each May, during the final week of the Giro d’Italia, I have the pleasure of working to put on a bike camp in northern Italy with Phinney and his wife, 1984 Olympic Gold medalist Connie Carpenter. The two have been hosting bike camps in the U.S. and in Europe for many years, but now the physical difficulty ramps up steeply each year as his disease progresses. Phinney,

Under sunny skies on an afternoon that had seen rain in Minneapolis earlierin the day, Canadian Lyne Bessette took the opening time trial of the NatureValley Grand Prix, held along the Mesabi Trail in Virginia, Minnesota. The Quark rider posted a time of 11:23.90 (28.5 mph) over the narrow,rolling and often falsely-flat 5.4-mile pedestrian/bike path, 2.16 secondsfaster than RONA’s Katrina Grove, whose early time of 11:26.06 had heldup for most of the afternoon. After a hard-luck performance at the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia,where Bessette had multiple mechanicals followed by a crash

The earliest predictor came courtesy of the local weathermen. While it rained all day Saturday, the forecast for Sunday’s USPRO Championship in Philadelphia was for a cool but dry day. Just the kind of conditions that would make for a relatively easy trip during the 156-mile race held on a primarily flat circuit in the City of Brotherly Love. And while no one could have been feeling particularly fresh after this near-six-hour effort, 44 riders were still in play on the race’s long finishing stretch down Benjamin Franklin Parkway. That left both the race outcome and the U.S. national title in

After surrendering the title for a year to Canadian Lyne Bessette (Quark), Petra Rossner (Nurnberger) reasserted her dominance in the Wachovia Liberty Classic, rocketing to a seventh win in a bunch gallop

World champions became World Cup leaders in the first round of the Downhill World Cup Sunday in Fort William, Scotland. Anne-Caroline Chausson (Commencal-Oxbow) and Greg Minnaar (Team G-Cross Honda) both rode totally new bikes to their victories as well. The 2.66km course required a complete range of skills, with fast, rocky, technical sections at the top, a high-speed section in the middle and a series of jumps spread throughout. Add the constant showers that swept through the region to make slick surfaces, and you had a true World Cup course. Despite not liking the course, Chausson was

For the third consecutive week Gunn-Rita Dahle (Merida) won the women's World Cup cross-country race, and for the third consecutive week there was a new winner in the men's race, with Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) soloing in ahead of teammate and World Cup leader Roel Paulissen. It was no surprise to see Dahle off the front by the end of the first of four laps, but the woman chasing her was new: Marie-Helene Premont (Oryx). Premont rode an impressive race - only her third of the season - and only conceded 1:46 to Dahle by the end, the closest result of this season. "I was

Look introduced a line of high-tech, French-made carbon goodies during the company’s 2005 product unveiling Thursday in San Jose, California. Most impressive is the latest incarnation of the HSC fork line, the HSC 5 SL. Retailing for $500, this all-carbon fork is truly “all-carbon.” Using a new proprietary process working with super-high-modulus carbon fiber, Look has been able to produce the first road fork with a carbon steerer, legs and even drop-outs. No bonding is used in the production of this breakthrough fork; instead, the unit is molded as one continuous element. “This is designed

Looking over my notes from the Big Bear national mountain bike race, I realize there were quite a few interesting bits of info that I wasn’t able to include in the print article I wrote for VeloNews issue No. 10. First off, this third round of the 2004 off-road race season had more roll-outs than an oriental rug factory, so here are my brief notes on the following subjects: Mongoose FreedriveMongoose’s Chris Holmes grabbed my arm and hustled me into the Mongoose pits to take a peek at a bit of 2005 ‘Goose tech. While I had the opportunity to see some initial drawings of its Freedrive system

It was hard to believe Fred Rodriguez even made it to the finish in Trenton, New Jersey, let alone grabbed the win. The American spent much of late Thursday afternoon tinkering with misadjusted seat height, even getting off his bike twice to try to get things sorted out. Finally Rodriguez simply gave up and dealt with the problem, before flying down the final straightaway on West State Street to take the bunch sprint in the second leg of the Wachovia Cycling Series. “I got on my bike this morning and it felt like the seat was a little low,” Rodriguez explained after taking his second win of

The opening stop of the Wachovia Cycling Series has always been known as a strongman’s race. With three punchy climbs on the seven-mile circuit that winds its way in and out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, it’s not a place for pure sprinters or waif climbers. You better have a little bit of both in you if you want to win this one. Certainly this year’s victor did nothing to dispel that notion. Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk is your classic tough guy, who now has eight wins in 2004 as proof of his diversity. This one, which went down on a mostly sunny Tuesday afternoon in southeast Pennsylvania, came

Roel Paulissen (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) took an extremely popular victory in front of a partisan Belgian crowd in Houffalize, with the bonus of taking the overall lead in the World Cup from fellow countryman Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized), who could only manage fourth on the day. In the women's race, it was all Gunn-Rita Dahle (Merida) once again, riding away from the field on the first lap. Alison Dunlap (Luna) took second, which gives a real boost to her Olympic hopes. The traditional Houffalize course was trimmed considerably, from 12km to 8km. Both the men and the women did a

Italy has its new star. Fresh-faced Damiano Cunego (Saeco) raced like a seasoned pro to dominate the 2004 Giro d’Italia. The blond-haired former junior world champion won four stages and conquered the 20-stage Giro in surprising fashion for a 22-year-old largely unknown beyond Italian cycling just over one month ago. “This has been a dream race for me,” Cunego said after beating Ukraine Serhiy Honchar (De Nardi) by 2:02. “I would have not believed before I started that I would win this Giro. It’s very satisfying.” With the 87th Giro d’Italia now part of history, Cunego becomes the youngest

Dutchman Theo Bos crashed twice en route to his quarter-finals sprint victory on Saturday, then arose on Sunday to dethrone French world champion Laurent Gane and win the sprint gold medal on the final day of the world track cycling championships Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. The former junior world kilometer champion refused to be daunted by either his injuries or his opponent and twice furiously powered to the line ahead of Gane, a seven–time world gold medalist who was a member of the gold-medal-winning French squad in the team sprint on Wednesday. "It's unbelievable... I can't believe

Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) salvaged a disappointing Giro d’Italia with an emotional stage victory Saturday in a grueling stage that paid homage to fallen hero Marco Pantani over the legendary Passo di Mortirolo. Once seen as a natural inheritor of Pantani’s crown after winning the 2000 Giro, Garzelli held off two-time Giro champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) to win the three-climb, 122km stage from Bormio to Presolana high in the Italian Alps. “I wanted to try to win today to save something of this Giro, which has been very disappointing for me,” said Garzelli, who zipped away from

Australia powered to its third consecutive team-pursuit crown at the world track cycling championships Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, beating back a spirited challenge from Great Britain. The Australian combination of Peter Dawson, Ashley Hutchinson, Luke Roberts and Stephen Wooldridge trailed in the mid-stages before pulling away to win the gold-medal final by 1.5 seconds in 4:00.322 seconds. Spain beat the Netherlands in the ride-off for bronze. The British quartet of Robert Hayles, Paul Manning, Christopher Newton and Bryan Steel laid down a stern challenge. They diced with the

The dream is over for Damiano Cunego. The Saeco revelation won his fourth stage of the 2004 Giro d’Italia on Friday and nudged two days closer to turning his phenomenal run very much into a reality. “It no longer feels like a dream,” Cunego admitted after winning the three-climb, 118km stage. “It’s a reality now that I can win this Giro. I can’t get nervous now. There are only two stages left, so we have to stay calm.” Cunego is now less than 48 hours away from becoming the youngest Giro winner since Giuseppe Saronni won at 21 in 1979. Mother Nature and the Giro’s peloton threw a lot at

Sarah Ulmer and Greg Henderson grabbed gold medals on Friday to hoist New Zealand to second on the medals table behind France on the third night of the world track cycling championships in Melbourne, Australia. Henderson surprised even himself with a helter-skelter victory in the men's 15km scratch race, surging to the finish line to snare a narrow victory after being part of an audacious three-man breakaway early in the 60-lap race. The Kiwi raised his arm in victory as he crossed the finish line just ahead of Dutchman Robert Slippens and Walter Perez of Argentina. His pulse-quickening win

Pavel Tonkov (Vini Caldirola) gave the 2004 Giro d’Italia a blast from the past as race leader Damiano Cunego (Saeco) safely fought through some bike problems in Thursday’s 153km 17th stage. A winner of the 1996 Giro, Tonkov attacked on the day’s major hurdle at the Category 2 Passo della Mendola at 99km and dropped fellow escapee Alessandro Bertolini (Alessio-Bianchi) with 16km to go to win his first Giro stage since 2002. Tonkov’s finish line gesture wasn’t your typical kisses-to-the-heavens thankfulness. After adjusting his helmet and pointing to himself as No. 1, the 35-year-old Russian

Britain's Chris Hoy claimed his second world kilometer title on Thursday, trumping French great Arnaud Tournant in the final at the world track cycling championships in Melbourne, Australia. The Flying Scotsman hurtled around the four laps of the Vodafone Arena, clocking 1:01.599, to once again get the better of four-time kilo world champion Tournant, who was timed at 1:01.957. Dutchman Theo Bos took the bronze medal ahead of defending world champion Stefan Nimke of Germany and Australians Ben Kersten and Shane Kelly. Hoy beat Tournant by one-thousandth of a second for his first world crown

France’s Franck Perque won the men's points race over 40 kilometers on the opening night of the world cycling track championships in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday. Perque raised his arms in triumph in claiming France's first-ever points race gold medal at the world championships with a tally of 35 points. Uruguay's Milton Wynants, who fell in a collision with Australian Mark Renshaw and rejoined the race 16 laps from home, took the silver medal with 31 points from Argentina's Juan Esteban Curuchet third with 28 points. "It's great to be able to carry the French emblem but I don't feel

I came down to Trieste the afternoon prior to the Giro d’Italia stage13 time trial in Trieste last Saturday to watch a skeleton crew of mechanicssetting up bikes and equipment while their teams and other support staffwere out on the road racing to Treviso toward Alessandro Petacchi's sixth sprint victory. For me, it was a good time to talk to mechanics, as they were workingalone or in pairs, and were free from fulfilling the panicked requests ofriders, coaches and other mechanics. One mechanic working alone on his team’s time trial bikes was SaunierDuval’s David Fernandes. The truck that

Sarah Ulmer of New Zealand set a world record for the women's 3000-meter individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships Thursday in Melbourne, Australia. The 28-year-old set a time of three minutes, 30.604 seconds, during the first round of qualifying in Melbourne, just days after she narrowly missed the mark at a World Cup meet in Sydney. Ulmer's time sliced more than two-tenths of a second off the previous world record of 3:30.816, which Leontien Ziljaard-Van Moorsel of the Netherlands set on her way to winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "I am just elated. My

Showing class beyond his years, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) vaulted back into the overall lead of the 87th Giro d’Italia after taking a dramatic solo victory in Tuesday’s four-climb 16th stage. After losing the jersey in Saturday’s time trial, the 22-year-old erased a 1 minute, 48-second deficit to recapture the maglia rosa, and this time he might keep it for good. Cunego holds a 1:14 lead over Serhiy Honchar (De Nardi) after an electrifying display of confidence and strength as the Giro pushed into the first of four decisive stages high in the Dolomites. “I’m very content with how things

Fassa Bortolo's Alessandro Petacchi has established a new post-war record winning for the eighth time in this year's edition of the Giro d'Italia, emerging at the front of a mad charge to the line at the end of stage 15, a 243km race from Porec, Croatia to San Vendemiano. Landbouwkrediet’s Yaroslav Popovych retained the overall leader's jersey. Petacchi, who bettered the record of seven stage wins set by Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck (1975) and Freddy Maertens (1977) and Italian Beppe Saronni (1980), easily beat Lotto’s Robbie McEwen and Gerolsteiner’s Olaf Pollack for the stage victory. The

Following Friday’s rain soaked criterium championship in downtown Madison, Wisconsin the 2004 collegiate national championship continued Saturday when students from around the country participated in a brutal road race through the blossoming countryside of Black Earth, WI. In the first event of the day, the Division 1 women’s road race, a daring breakaway went clear of the main field on the first lap of the 60 mile, four lap race. At its peak, the break would enjoy a lead of almost two minutes, but the early success would not come without a price, as the course’s two brutal climbs would

Cyclists from 43 nations have arrived in Melbourne, Australia, to contest this week’s 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships at the Vodafone velodrome. More than 200 cyclists will contest 15 Championship events, six individual disciplines for men and women and three men’s team events, over the five days of racing as they battle for the honor of a gold medal and the right to wear the coveted rainbow jersey of World Champion. The Championships is also the last chance for nations to qualify places for the Athens Olympic Games and for the cyclists their opportunity to earn a place on their

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi equaled the Giro d’Italia’s post-war record of seven stage wins in a single edition of the race by claiming the 14th stage in the ancient Croatian coastal city of Pula on Sunday.The 30-year-old sprint ace timed 4:08:58 to come in ahead of American Fred Rodriguez. Petacchi’s teammate and lead-out man, Marco Velo, rounded out the top three. Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych of Landbouwkrediet finished in the main field and continues to hold the overall leader's jersey, the maglia rosa, which he earned after a strong time trial performance on Saturday. It was the

Paul Rowney finally broke through, while Shonny Vanlandingham made it two wins in two days, as each grabbed short track wins on the final day of NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the opening race Vanlandingham (Luna) and teammate Katerina Hanusova broke away from a group of eight early in the 11-lap race, slowly expanding their advantage all the way to the finish. It wasn’t until the final lap that Vanlandingham attacked off the front, easily outpacing Hanusova for the victory. “There really wasn’t any plan as far as who we wanted to win or anything,” said Vanlandingham,

For the second time in two days, American Eric Carter and Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier were the top gravity racers at NORBA National No. 3, after each scored wins in Sunday’s downhill mania race at Snow Summit Resort. Racing a format that hadn’t been used with any regularity since the mid-1990s, Carter was the fastest man down the hill in the four-up event that was part downhill, part mountain cross. Riders started the day running a solo qualifying run for bracket seeding, then went four-up with the top two riders advancing into each successive round. “It was pretty much a hole-shot race,”

Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar (De-Nardi) powered along 52km of rain-slick roads to win the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, while the Giro’s 22-year-old revelation, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) surrendered the maglia rosa to Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago), who finished third on the day. The 52km Trieste-Altopiano Carsico individual time trial began with a flat 4km, then segued into a 12km climb followed by a 26km descent, concluding with a flat run to the finish. And once the rain began to fall, it proved a tough stage indeed. "The rain bothered me; I hadn't planned attacking

After 30 miles of going toe-to-toe on the steep hills of Waterbury, the protagonists in Saturday's Waterbury circuit race ended up deciding things in a cat-and-mouse sprint, with Jeff Louder (Navigators Insurance) scoring a big win for the New Jersey-based team, ahead of breakaway companions Chris Wherry (Health Net-Maxxis) and Will Frischkorn (Colavita Olive Oil) in the Tour of Connecticut. Stage 4 of the tour brought the race back to the Waterbury circuit introduced last year, featuring a brutal climb averaging around 9 percent and twisting its way through Waterbury neighborhoods before a

On a dry and dusty Saturday afternoon, Americans Shonny Vanlandingham and Travis Brown each grabbed cross-country wins at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the women’s race, Vanlandingham broke away from a group of four near the end of the first of two 11-mile laps up and down Snow Summit Resort, then held strong to the finish. Originally the Luna rider had planned to make the trip to Spain for the opening round of the World Cup, but on Monday during a flight from Denver to her home in Durango, Colorado, Vanlandingham got a big scare when the plane’s hydraulics failed and

Eric Carter and Sabrina Jonnier put on gated-racing clinics Saturday evening, grabbing convincing wins in the dual slalom at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the men’s bracket Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai) won every heat in the preliminary rounds, cruising into the finals, where he met up with Aussie Sam Hill. Hill had been the benefactor of some good fortune, getting past Steve Peat and Mick Hannah after both suffered mechanical issues. Peat had a problem with his front tire, while Hannah snapped his chain at the start of his first semifinal heat against Hill. That allowed

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) is a step closer to tying a Giro d’Italia stage-win record after claiming his sixth victory on Friday. The Italian speedster once again held off Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo), who finished second to the seemingly unstoppable Italian, with Alexandre Usov (Phonak) finishing third. "I'm really happy to have won for the sixth time here, which equals my record here last year," said Petacchi after coming a step closer to becoming the fourth rider of the modern era to claim seven stages in a single edition of the race. "I don't know what the

I’m honored. No, really, I am. I’ve finally made it to the big time. I’m talking about getting my name plastered all over the most prestigious cycling website there is (aside from velonews.com, of course): www.drunkcyclist.com. A warning before you go dashing gleefully over there: This site is definitely not for the eyes of minors or those ultra-conservative types who are not big fans of pornography. My column last week apparently struck an off-key chord with the single-speed audience. To boil down my side of the argument, I mentioned that I’m not a believer in racing classes specifically

It might have been wise for organizers to hand out name tags to go with the medals they passed around at Friday’s awards ceremony following the stage 1 time trial at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. With many of the top cross-country pros absent this weekend to compete in the opening round of the World Cup in Madrid, Spain, it was a pair of relatively unfamiliar names — Heather Irmiger and Jimi Mortenson — standing atop the podium when racing was done at Snow Summit Resort. Mortenson (Specialized), who lives in Eagle, Colorado, took advantage of opportunity, posting the

With the laps counting down on Friday night's New Haven criterium and the peloton breathing down the necks of a seven-man breakaway, overall race leader Mark McCormack took it upon himself to keep the lead group out front, and in the process delivered teammate Ivan Dominguez to Colavita Olive Oil's second win in three stages of the Tour of Connecticut. The Friday night festivities in Connecticut featured 60 laps of a pancake-flat, four-corner, half-mile circuit around the New Haven Green, starting and finishing at the steps of the state courthouse. From the gun, the pack set a blistering

With a coveted spot on the TIAA-CREF Cycling team on the line for the overall men’s and women’s individual champions, the 2004 collegiate national road cycling championships kicked off Friday afternoon with a round of criteriums on the streets of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Early morning thunderstorms threatened to stop the races before they started, but the weather was only the beginning in what would be one of the most dramatic days in all of collegiate racing. After a heart-breaking second-place finish at last year’s collegiate national championship road race, the University

Another rider from Generation Next made an exhibition in Thursday’s hilly 11th stage of the 87th Giro d’Italia, providing yet another glimpse at a possible future Italian star. First-year pro Emanuele Sella (Panaria) won an emotional stage in a poignant reminder of the fighting spirit of Marco Pantani as the 228km stage finished in the birth-place of the fallen star. The 23-year-old Sella roared away from the main bunch with 60km to go and blew past a faltering 20-man breakaway to earn his first win as a pro in a very Pantani-esque display of racing. “I can’t believe it. I am beyond

Alessandro Petacchi applauded as he crossed the line a victor for the fifth time of the 2004 Giro d’Italia. He wasn’t clapping for his fast legwork, but rather for his teammates in the trenches. The gentleman sprinter was full of praise of his Fassa Bortolo “Silver Train,” who pushed the Italian to a relatively easy sprint victory in the hilly 146km 10th stage from Porto Sant' Elpidio to Ascoli Piceno. “I clapped my hands in praise of my teammates. I really want to thank them for the work they did today,” said Petacchi, who finished ahead of compatriot Marco Zanotti (Vini Caldirola) and

“Fast” Freddy Rodriguez was fast enough Monday to score the biggest win of the 30-year-old Californian’s career after snatching victory in the ninth stage of the 87th Giro d’Italia. Rodriguez surprised sprint master Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) by jumping with 300 meters to go. The two-time U.S. champion buried his pedals to open up a two-bike gap and had enough in the tank to hold Petacchi by a wheel. “It’s the best day of my career,” Rodriguez beamed in Italian to TV interviewers. “I tried to take Petacchi by surprise, rushing from behind, and it paid off.” Petacchi, a winner of

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi once again dominated a sprint finish at the Giro d’Italia to win the eighth stage of Italy’s national tour, a 210km race from Giffoni Valle Piana to Policoro. It was Petacchi's fourth victory of this year's race, which was still being led by 22-year-old Saeco team rider Damiano Cunego. Petacchi, who last year became the first rider in history to win at least three stages in the three major Tours of Italy, France and Spain in same year, proved simply too fast for Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen as he surged towards his tenth-ever Giro stage victory.

Saturday was a day of out with the old, in with the new at the 87th Giro d’Italia. A banged-up Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) didn’t take the start, still smarting from his dramatic crash in stage 4, while young gun Damiano Cunego (Saeco) snatched his second stage victory in a week and slipped on the maglia rosa after winning atop the climbing finish to Montevergine di Mercogliano near Naples. The 37-year-old Cipollini’s early exit left the proud Lion King without a Giro stage win for the first time since 1989 and some were wondering if he’d be back next year for another shot at the

American Jennie Reed claimed the 200 World Cup keirin title on Saturday after finishing second to China's Shuang Guo during the fourth and final round of the series in Sydney, Australia. Germany’s Katrin Meinke was third. Meanwhile, another American, Colby Pearce, lapped the field not once, but twice to win the men's 30km points race in the Dunc Gray Velodrome. Pearce ended rwith 50 points, 14 ahead of 2002 world champion Chris Newton of Great Britain (36 points plus1 lap). Two-time world champ Juan Llaneras Rosello, last year’s silver medalist in Stuttgart, was third (35 points plus1 lap),

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) overcame rain-soaked roads and a fast downhill finish to win the 164km sixth stage of the Giro d'Italia from Spoleto to Valmontone on Friday. Petacchi beat Olaf Pollack (Gerolsteiner) and Alejandro Borrajo (Ceramiche Panaria) to the line in a bunch sprint for his third stage win of this year's race. Last year's winner, Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) retained the overall race lead after finishing in the same time as Petacchi. Teammate Damiano Cunego is second, 13 seconds behind, and Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) is third, a further eight seconds

Robbie McEwen couldn’t have asked for a better finish than the one that was handed to him at the end of stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday. For sure, the 177-kilometer ride from Civitella in Val di Chiana to Spoleto, featured one of the flattest courses of this year's Giro, but the peloton was treated to a challenging finishing circuit that seemed to suit the Lotto-Domo rider’s talents more than anyone else’s in the peloton. By the time riders had completed three trips around the 7.3km loop through Spoleto, the steep 1.4km hill had taken its toll on some of the field’s better

Replace those face-plate boltsDear Lennard,I have heard that 3TTT has recalled their Zepp stems. I have an XL version of this stem – how can I find out if it is on the recall list? Can you tell me more about the problems associated with the stems? Should I pull this puppy off the bike?William Dear William,Yes, there has been a recall of those stems. You do not necessarily need to remove it from the bike, but you must replace the face-plate bolts with longer ones.Lennard Wippermann chain with Dura-Ace?Dear Lennard,I’ve got a Shimano 7800 drivetrain on my Seven Elium. In your most recent

As luck would have it, a few members of the VeloNews staff and I were able to sneak away two weeks ago to Moab for a little product testing/vacation mountain bike riding. But before we hit hit the legendary slickrock, I wanted to make sure to bring along a fair share of mountain bike product to test in the harsh desert environment. Coincidentally, RockShox is nearing final production of its 2005 Pike and Reba suspension forks, which provided me the perfect opportunity to beg to borrow one for a bit of test riding. A quick call to one of the RockShox product managers resulted in a

A few members of the VeloNews staff and I were able to sneak away two weeks ago to Moab for a little mountain-bike product testing that was part work, part vacation. Coincidentally, RockShox is nearing final production of its 2005 Pike and Reba suspension forks. And as luck would have it, a quick call to a RockShox product manager resulted in a freshly-built, long-travel Pike being delivered just in time for our departure. I planned to install the Pike on my 2004 Specialized S-Works in the classy digs of Moab’s Apache Motel, then head for the trails. Silly me – I forgot that Pike is a

What’s the difference between a fall and a crash? Ask Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini. The former suffered a fall midway through the rainy 184km fourth stage of the 87th Giro d’Italia, but rebounded to win his second stage in four days. The latter crashed 200 meters from the line, landing hard on his left side before getting hit by another rider in the hard-charging bunch. Cipollini finished the stage – 150th at 1:35 back -- and didn’t suffer any broken bones, but the cycling world will have to wait until Thursday to see if Cipollini’s spirit was crushed in the horrific high-speed

Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) erased any doubts of his form with a dramatic victory in Tuesday’s summit finish at Corno Alle Scale and slipped on his favorite color in May. The two-time Giro d’Italia champion was uncharacteristically quiet in the spring, letting teammate Damiano Cunego take the spotlight while he calmly prepared with the idea of arriving to July’s Tour de France with fresher legs than last year’s disappointing meltdown. But first comes the Giro, and Simoni made a clear demonstration Tuesday that he’s the man to beat, gapping pre-race favorites Yaroslav Popovych

The Saeco team knew it had a real talent on its hands this spring when Damiano Cunego scored a string of wins - five over the course of just 10 days - leading up to the Giro d'Italia. Last Friday, just before the start of Italy's national tour, the team added another two years to the young rider's contract and just in time, too. The 22-year-old from Verona scored on Monday what will surely be the first of a string of grand tour stage wins in coming years, as he edged Brad McGee in a sprint into Pontremoli. The day's 184-kilometer stage began in Novi Liguri, not far from Castellania, the

Alessandro Petacchi picked up right where he left off last season, winning the first grand tour sprint finish of the year and setting himself up for a repeat of his spectacular record-setting 2003 season when he earned at least three stage victories in each of the three grand tours. The first road stage of the Giro d’Italia covered 143 stunningly beautiful kilometers between Genoa and the truffle capital of Alba. While the peloton took a moderate approach to the opening kilometers of the stage, a great deal of intensity was reserved for a hard-fought touch-and-go sprint battle between

The fast men had their day in the sun on Saturday during the prologue of the 87th Giro d’Italia as, one at a time, 169 riders from 19 teams fought for the right to wear the leader’s pink jersey going into Sunday’s first stage. Bradley McGee (FDJeux.com), who won the prologue in the 2003 Tour de France, had been widely favored in the short, technical 6.9km race. Other hopefuls included Tomas Vaitkus (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago), Magnus Backstedt (Alessio–Bianchi), Rubens Bertogliati (Lampre), Florent Brard (Chocolade Jacques), and the elder statesman of speed, Mario Cipollini (Domina

Brad McGee (FDJeux.com), winner of the prologue in last year’s Tour de France, added the Giro d’Italia prologue to his palmares in Genoa on Saturday. The 28-year-old Australian won the difficult 6.9km prologue through the streets of this city and donned the overall leader's maglia rosa, finishing10 seconds faster than Germany's Olaf Pollack (Gerolsteiner) and 20 seconds up on Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago). It wasn’t exactly a ride in the park for the young Aussie. McGee said he banged his left knee against the frame of his bike when he braked hard to avoid hitting spectators

This story appears in the current issue of VeloNewsAFTER A COUPLE of rough-and-tumble years that included doping scandals, challenges from the Vuelta a España and snubs from Tour de France stars, the Giro d’Italia seems poised toreclaim its rightful position as one of cycling’s legendary events.Following an exciting 2003 edition that saw Gilberto Simoni return todominance over a strong field, the 87th Giro will cover a balanced 20-stage,3435km route that has only three summit finishes during its May 8-30 run,yet contains more climbing than last year’s race (61,000 feet versus 57,000).And with

GILBERTO SIMONI (I)SAECO: WINNER 2001, 2003The two-time Giro champion took his time finding his racing legs goinginto May. Typically firing on all cylinders by early April at the Tourof the Basque Country, “Gibi” was still pack fodder at the Tour of Aragon, just three weeks before the Giro’s start. Simoni blamed rain andcold weather for his sluggish start, but that’s all part of his plan. Afterstorming to victory in the Giro last year, Simoni suffered an equally dramaticmeltdown in the Tour de France, despite his confident declarations thathe would derail Lance Armstrong. “This year we are

This story appears in the current issue of VeloNews MARIO CIPOLLINI AND ALESSANDRO PETACCHI are a study in contrasts. Cipollini is the flamboyant showman who brings kitschy glam to cycling,while Petacchi is the hardworking pupil, anxious to fulfill his potential.Super Mario is cycling’s extroverted showman, the man who showed up atthe start of a stage in the 1999 Tour de France dressed in a toga and waspulled around by his similarly clad teammates in a rigged-up chariot. “Veni,vidi, vici [I came, I saw, I conquered],” Cipollini boasted after scoringfour stage wins, then promptly abandoning

Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini aren’t the first to spar in the Giro d’Italia. The first great Giro rivalry was between Constante Giradengo, a Giro winner in 1919 and 1923, and Alfredo Binda, Italy’s first cycling superstar.

In Thursday night’s unseasonably chilly night air at Porto Antico, Genoa, 189 cyclists shivered through the official presentation of the 19-team lineup for the 87th Giro d’Italia. Waiting for their stage call, the Lampre team clipped in and out, bounced on their forks, and mused about this year’s Giro, observing that stages 3 and 7 would be key. Vladimir Miholievic (Alessio-Bianchi) agreed about stage 3, which finishes atop the Corno alle Scale in the Apennines. The final 3.2km of that 12km climb is on a 14-percent grade, and Miholievic noted, “It’s hard to have a big climb so early on,

Jimmy Casper gave his Cofidis team a welcomed boost in Steenvoorde, France, on Wednesday as he won the first stage of the Four Days to Dunkirk on the team’s very first day back to competition following a month's absence over a drugs scandal. Casper edged out Ag2r's Jean-Patrick Nazon in the 181km ride in northern Dunkirk which claimed a notable victim in the 2003 winner of the race as Christophe Moreau retired after being dropped by the peloton in wet and windy conditions. The dreadful weather also saw former Paris-Roubaix champion Servais Knaven and Jan Koerts of the Netherlands taken to

Dear Lennard,My right leg is half-an-inch shorter than my left. The difference appearsto come from a shorter right tibia. I get saddles sores on the right side.Should I shim or raise my right cleat? If so, how? I ride Look A-5 pedaland Sidi Titan blue cleats. Thanks for any input you might have.Rick Dear Rick,With a shorter tibia, a cleat shim of the same thickness as your leg-lengthdiscrepancy should work out pretty well. But it is not always so simpleas that. I get so many questions about leg-length discrepancies that inthe Bike Fit section in my new “Zinn’sCycling Primer,” I have devoted

Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) erased any doubt he was the strongest man at 58th Tour de Romandie after cruising to a dominant victory in Sunday’s 20.4km individual time trial to sew up the overall title. Hamilton widened his 19-second lead to a 1-minute, 43-second victory over second place Fabian Jeker (Saunier Duval) to successfully defend his title in the demanding Swiss race on a course much more difficult than last year’s. The dominant win further confirms Hamilton’s status as one of the top contenders for the 2004 Tour de France, which the 33-year-old said is already on his mind. “I came

Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) withstood a double-barreled attack in Saturday’s short but challenging three-climb 127km fourth stage to ease into the overall lead of the 58th Tour de Romandie with Sunday’s decisive time trial on tap. Saunier Duval sent Fabian Jeker and Leonardo Piepoli on the march on the day’s third Category 1 climb at Crans Montana high in the Swiss Alps. Hamilton found a new faithful ally in Slovenian national champion Tadej Valjavec, who helped his captain mark the pair’s every move. Former mountain biker Dario Cioni (Fassa Bortolo) bridged out from a chase group in the 27km

Tyler Hamilton’s Phonak team led the way in Friday’s “queen stage” of the 58th Tour de Romandie, delivering Alexandre Moos to the stage victory and the race leader’s jersey while positioning Hamilton perfectly for overall victory. It might have looked easy, but Team CSC and Saunier Duval made the home team sweat in the decisive two-climb 145km stage from Romont to Morgins high in the Swiss Alps along the Swiss-French border. Team CSC put four riders into the final group of about 20 riders hitting the final Category 1 summit finish to Morgins while Saunier Duval’s Leonardo Piepoli was doing

The knives were out in what was expected to be an innocuous second stage of the 58th Tour de Romandie in Switzerland on Thursday With some serious mountain stages on the menu Friday and Saturday, Thursday’s 156km circuit stage into Romont served up a nice appetizer for what awaits this weekend. Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) confirmed he’s on rising form just in time for the Giro d’Italia with an impressive stage-win on the rising finish near the historic chateau at Romont. A winner two weeks ago at the Tour of Aragon in Spain, Garzelli led home a group of 27 riders fractured by Phonak’s

We’re still settling down from the madness that was this year’s Sea Otter. While you can read the blow-by-blow race coverage in VeloNews No. 8, I thought I’d follow up on one of the more interesting tech stories fluttering about the Laguna Seca raceway: The return of Scott U.S.A to the United States market. You may or may not remember when Scott – which began life as a ski pole manufacturer – became involved in cycling. The company started producing aero' handlebars based on Boone Lennon's design way back in 1986. Of course, the brand really hit the big time when Greg LeMond used a Scott

Veteran sprinter Jan Svorada (Lampre) proved he still has it in the sprint, taking victory Wednesday in the opening road stage of the 58th Tour de Romandie against a field of young guns nipping at his heels. The 35-year-old Czech sprinter has racked up 70 wins since turning pro in 1991, including stage victories in all three grand tours. He won his second race as a pro at Romandie in 1992, but seemed happier in 2004. “I’ve arrived here in good condition and I really wanted to win a stage,” said Svorada, who barely held off a late-charge by Marco Zanotti (Vini Caldirola). “The team worked