Road Racing

Quick Step's Paolo Bettini tried for three weeks to win a stage at the 2003 Tour de France but fell short. Now, a week later at Sunday's HEW Cyclassics race in Germany, the Italian upstaged local favorite Jan Ullrich (Bianchi) to win his second World Cup victory of the season. "This is a great race, no matter what people say," said Bettini, who moved into second overall in the World Cup standings. "Some criticize it because the course is relatively undemanding, but look how exciting it was. I'm delighted with this victory, and I'm looking forward to winning this race again." Ullrich and

Just moments before a sudden rainstorm swept across Lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, former track-racing superstar Marty Nothstein delivered a lightning bolt of his own when he unleashed his world-class speed to win the second annual New York City Cycling Championship on the streets of New York. "I’ll tell you what," said Nothstein, whose rich track-racing resume includes the Olympic gold medal he won at the Sydney Games in 2000. "Since winning the Olympics, I’ve only been focusing on one thing, and that’s coming out to these criteriums to try and become one of the dominant

At the International-Tour de Toona, Saturn completed a sweep of the men’s and women’s races as Lyne Bessette wrapped up the women’s title on Sunday, while Tom Danielson overtook Navigators Chris Baldwin to win the men’s race, which concluded on Saturday. Danielson entered the final stage trailing Baldwin by 20 seconds, but the Saturn rider broke clear in the race, bridging to early breakaways Tim Johnson (Saturn), Brice Jones (7UP-Maxxis) and Baldwin's Navigators teammate Mark Walters. With Johnson and Danielson powering the breakaway, Danielson rode into the race lead. Walters sat on and

Stuttgart’s world track championships wrapped up on a high note for Germany as its sprinters showed the host country’s riders were still capable of a bit of teamwork. After the implosion of its team pursuit squad, Germany demonstrated the depth of its sprint program by fending off a strong challenge in the gold medal round from the French to secure the world team sprint competition on Sunday. The final in the three-lap event – formerly tagged with the somewhat confusing moniker of “Olympic Sprint” – pitted Germany’s Carsten Bergemann, Jens Fiedler and Rene Wolff against a strong French

They’ve said the track in Stuttgart, with its aged wooden surface is a fast one. It took the Australian pursuit team to prove just how fast as the four-man team of Graeme Brown, Peter Dawson, Luke Roberts and Brett Lancaster smashed the existing world mark – set by the Aussie squad a year ago – by more than two seconds Saturday. Facing a British team that included Robert Hayles, Paul Manning, Bryan Steel and individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, the Australians knew they had to ride a sub-four-minute pursuit just to remain competitive in the final. The two teams both appeared nervous

World champions Australia boosted its chances of defending its team-pursuit title after topping qualifying here Friday at the world track cycling championships. The foursome of Graeme Brown, Peter Dawson, Ashley Hutchinson and Stephen Wooldridge clocked an impressive 4:03.26 to launch their bid for Australia's first gold of the championships. Britain, who came third in the team event last year behind second-placed Germany, came a close second with France qualifying in third and New Zealand placing fourth. In the absence of a pursuit team from the hosts, who are the reigning Olympic

Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel wasn’t sure what to think when she lined up against Katie Mactier to successfully defend her title in the women’s individual pursuit final at the world track cycling championships on Friday. “Before the world championships, I really had no idea who she was,” remarked Van Moorsel just before her start, “but you have to admit she’s riding really well, no?” Van Moorsel was by no means alone in the Stuttgart velodrome this week. As far as the track world is concerned, Mactier is a complete neophyte, having taken up the discipline only after encountering visa

Broadmark Capital’s Cameron Evans and Saturn’s Laura Van Gilder took the stage wins on Friday at the International-Tour de ’Toona, while Chris Baldwin (Navigators) and Lyne Bessette (Saturn) lead the overall standings. Baldwin assumed the race leadership when Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill couldn’t start the day’s stage, as a result of injuries suffered at the end of Thursday’s stage. On Friday, the men’s race saw an eight-man breakaway group form at the end of the first of four 20-mile circuits. Included in the group were Evans, Kris Hedges and Ian Dille of Snow Valley, Oscar Piñeda (7UP-Maxxis)

Britain's Bradley Wiggins will meet Australian Luke Roberts in the final of the men's individual pursuit Thursday at the world track cycling championships. Wiggins, 23, who set a blistering time of 4:17.34 in qualifying on Wednesday, sailed through his 16-lap heat against Russian Alexey Markov in 4:20.243 on Thursday. Meanwhile, Roberts booked his second consecutive championship final. The 26-year-old won silver last year in Copenhagen behind compatriot Bradley McGee, who is not competing. The winner of the prologue in this year's Tour de France is undergoing tests to determine the cause of

Bradley Wiggins got a bit of scare Thursday night in Stuttgart, but he had a plan, a schedule and a touch of confidence and held on to win the world individual pursuit title in a tighter than expected gold-medal final against Australian Luke Roberts. Wiggins, who had set the high mark in qualifying rounds and turned in the best time in the semi-final, said he enjoyed the role of being the favorite going into the final. “At least the others knew what they had to aim for,” Wiggins said of his impressive 4:17 he set on Wednesday. And aim is precisely what Roberts did, leading the 4000-meter

On Tuesday, Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill and Lyne Bessette took the day’s stage wins and moved into the overall leads at the International stage race in Altoona, Pennsylvania, displacing previous race leaders Chris Baldwin (Navigators) and Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker). After a day of heavy attacking by Saturn and RONA, Bessette broke clear late in the race, soloing over the final climb and then powering her way to the race win, 34 seconds ahead of defending champion Heather Albert (Team Basis), with the main field of about 20 another nine seconds behind. After entering the day trailing Jeanson

Stefan Nimke spent a long and nerve-wracking spell in the “hot seat” Wednesday night as the 25-year-old German set an early standard in the men’s kilometer time trial at the 2003 world track championships in Stuttgart. Pounding out an impressive personal best of 1:01:225, Nimke thought that perhaps he stood a chance of making the podium “but not a gold medal with a field like this here, no.” But despite his early start and a field of serious contenders – including defending world champion Chris Hoy, three-time world champion Shane Kelly and the feared Frenchman Arnaud Tournant, the first

With a month's worth of Tour tech coverage tucked away, I feel obligated to adjust the spotlight back to the mountain bike. But before I get knee-deep in dirt donkey tech, I feel compelled to bring-up one remaining Tour question still rolling around in my head. If Chris King [headsets] is such a big supporter of U.S. Postal, why didn't Trek's TT bikes (there will be more photos run of Lance on his TT bike than on any other bike) have King headsets installed? Instead, the TT bikes sported the antiquated threaded 1-inch Shimano mountain-bike headsets. These headset have had their threads

Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg and Snow Valley’s Kris Hedges grabbed the stage wins at stage 2 of the International stage race in Pennsylvania, while RONA’s Geneviève Jeanson and Navigators Chris Baldwin retained the overall race leaders’ jerseys. With both RONA and Navigators riding to defend their race leaders, the men’s race saw several opportunists take advantage to break clear, while the women’s race came down to a field sprint at the end of the 74-mile day in Johnstown. The three-man breakaway in the men’s race contained Hedges, Webcor’s Marc Hagenlocher and 7UP-Maxxis’s Oscar Pineda. The

Italian Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) took the overall lead from France’s Stephane Berges (AG2R-Prevoyance) Wednesday by winning the third stage of Belgium’s Tour des Regions Wallonnes, a 200.3km run from Namur to Bouillon. Bartoli, 33, outkicked a group that had broken away on the last of eight climbs, including Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych, Luxembourger Kim Kirschen (Fassa Bortolo) and Belgians Peter Farazijn (Cofidis), Jurgen Van Goolen (Quick Step-Davitamon) and Dave Bruylandts (Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf). Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Davitamon) took the bunch sprint at eight seconds back.

Franco Marvulli of Switzerland defended his men's 15km scratch title at the opening day of the world track cycling championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The 24-year-old Swiss won the inaugural scratch world title last year in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, Olga Slusareva of Russia won the women's 24km points title. Edita Kubelskiene of Lithuania came second with Yoanka Gonzalez of Cuba taking the bronze in the 22-lap race.

On Sunday in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Belgian Danny In’t Ven (ICSA) took the final stage of the 17-day International Cycling Classic-Superweek, beating Saturn’s Ivan Dominguez in the Bodyworks by Concours Whitefish Bay Classic. Earlier in the weekend, Prime Alliance’s Jonas Carney took his second stage win of Superweek when he beat Ofoto-Lombardi’s Jackson Stewart in the Bank One Food Folks & Spokes on Friday. On Saturday, Stewart took a stage win of his own, winning the Great Downer Avenue Bike Race in Milwaukee ahead of Jacob Erker (Schroeder Iron). In the overall, Saturn’s Viktor

Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and world champion Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen) emerged as winners from a dry, dusty cross-country course on Northern Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain, round four of the five-round NORBA National Championship Series. For Redden, the win brought her within 68 points of series leader Jimena Florit (RLX Ralph Lauren), while Green moves up to 15th place in the series, with two wins out of the four events. Although the temperature was ideal on the 10.6-mile course, with its 950 feet of elevation per lap, a long dry spell in the region has left heavy dust

A pair of Intense-Fox riders — Chris Kovarik of Australia and Sabrina Jonnier of France — took top honors at the round four of the NORBA mountain-cross championship series at Schweitzer Mountain Saturday, albeit in a very different manner. Jonnier, the 22-year-old from Nice, won after cutting inside on Australian Katrina Miller (Jamis), who crashed out of the lead. Kovarik, the event’s fastest qualifier, held his first gate and simply jumped first and rode away from Eric Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai), and teammates Mike King and Greg Minnaar (Haro-Lee Dungarees). “I had my hardtail and flat

Losing a minute and a half to Jan Ullrich over the 47km between Gaillac and Cap’Decouverte in the Tour’s first long time trial was probably not what Lance Armstrong had in mind when he worked with Nike to develop the Swift Spin skinsuit that he, his teammates and the category leaders wear in the Tour time trials. The suit should "give about 30 seconds to a minute advantage in a 58km Tour de France individual time trial depending upon what version of the suit is worn," according to Dr. Chester Kyle, the cycling aerodynamicist heading up the Swift skinsuit project. Armstrong also did not

Over the past five years, we have gotten used to writing about American victories in the Tour de France on an American bicycle equipped withAmerican wheels. However, until today, we always meant Armstrong. But the same could now be said about stage 16’s stage winner, Tyler Hamilton, who displayed true American grit in toughing out an amazing solo ride to Bayonne after being dropped in the early going and then catching and dropping the breakaway. Tyler was riding on Zipp wheels and a Cervélo frame, both of which are as North American as pumpkin pie. FramesOver the years, we have heard a

Gilberto Simoni, whose nickname is Spider (or Spiderman), finally came away with some glory in the Tour today. The spider is known for its ability to climb vertical surfaces, and Simoni demonstrated that today. But his special autographed Cinelli Ram bar shows off the Spider even more! The paint job on his Ran is unique, but so is the tilt of the drops relative to the stem, which were custom-made by Cinelli for Simoni. In fact, a number of Rams were built custom to riders on Saeco and ONCE for the Tour, all whipped out within a month. To meet the requirements of each racer, Cinelli

The final day of the weeklong Whistler Gravity Festival came to close Sunday with the crowning of Canada’s last pair of 2003 national mountain bike champions. Roland Green and Marie-Helen Premont each took convincing cross-country wins on a tough, technical track that wound its way through Whistler, British Columbia. In the men’s race Green (Trek-Volkswagen), Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees) cracked open a small gap during the first of five laps around the 7.6km course, then steadily pulled away from a group of chasers that included Mathieu Toulouse

Pacific Northwest riders turned in solid performances Friday as the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge kicked off in Portland, Oregon. In its fifth year, the AVC – the sixth race in the American Velodrome Challenge Series – featured temperatures in the mid-90s baking the 268-meter concrete oval with its steep, 43-degree banks. And the racing was equally hot. Portland’s Larssyn Staley (Hot Tubes), just back from winning gold in the pursuit and points race at junior nationals, opened the morning session by taking a hard-fought victory in the women’s 3000-meter pursuit with a 4:05:47. Heather

You may have noticed Armstrong’s flat carbon handlebar in the team time trial on his new superlight Trek time-trial bike. According to Trek, one of Lance's goals going into this year's Tour was to lighten his entire time-trial setup. His frame has been stiffened and lightened with a composite honeycomb inside the carbon in the areas around the bottom bracket and head tube, technology that was premiered on the Trek OCLV mountain-bike frames a number of years ago. The aero’ bars Armstrong had previously used weighed anywhere from 800 to 1000 grams for the bar/stem combo, according to Trek.

Fair or unfair — a topic that’s been debated extensively — the 2003 women’s Canadian national downhill champion is Vancouver’s Michelle Dumaresq. The reason for the deliberation: Six years ago Dumaresq was a man. But after living “two many years in the wrong body” Dumaresq underwent sexual reassignment surgery, and with the blessing of the UCI, she’s been racing as a female pro downhiller for the last two years. Saturday she grabbed the biggest win of her career. “I’ve trained a long time for this and this is what I was always pointing to,” said Dumaresq, after besting Claire Buchar by 2.62

Day two of the Whistler Gravity Festival saw France’s Cédric Gracia grab his second victory in as many days, while Great Britain’s Tracy Moseley was the women’s downhill victor. The stage Tuesday was Whistler’s famed A-Line trail, where riders contested a jump littered 4-minute-plus run down from the midway point of the Whistler Village Gondola. After qualifying second behind Aussie Nathan Rennie (Iron Horse-MadCatz), Gracia (Siemens-Cannondale) blasted down the hill in the final to unseat Be One’s Bas De Bever. Gracia and De Bever were the only two riders to go below the 4:11 mark, with

It’s one of the most overused adjectives when it comes to mountain-bike racing, but in this case “epic” really did apply. With heavy rain moving in and out all day, and a legitimately tough course serving as the stage, the fourth stop of the UCI World Cup concluded with a pair of cross-country races that produced enough drama to fill a week of daytime television. When it was all done, the day’s heroes were Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle and Belgian Roel Paulissen, each taking World Cup victories after spending full days at the front. For Paulissen, the win was a long time coming, erasing his name

The final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 1km afternoon criterium, was held Sunday in Bend, Oregon, and as expected, Saturn’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette held onto their overall leads, with Bessette and Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) winning the stage. Held in the town’s Old Mill district, the flat five-corner criterium offered no real possibility for changes in the general classification: Bessette held a near five-minute lead on second-placed Heather Albert (Team Basis), while Danielson’s 49-seond lead over Jonathon Vaughters (Prime Alliance) was protected by the strongest

Swiss rider Nicole Brandli won the 2003 Giro d’Italia Femminile in dramatic fashion on Sunday, overtaking Edita Pucinskaite on the final day of the race to win by a scant 17 seconds. Trailing by five seconds heading into the 22.9km stage 9 time trial, Brandli put enough time on her Lithuanian rival to take the final pink jersey in Venice. The Giro had become a two-woman race after the mountainous stage 3, won by Brandli, when Pucinskaite assumed the race lead with the Swiss just five seconds behind. Following that came a sprinting display by German Regina Schleicher, who posted four

With the Tour raging on less than 100km away, it seems fitting that Shimano chose the sleepy salt-mining town of Bex, Switzerland, to hold its official Dura-Ace unveiling. As the Japanese group gets thoroughly put through its paces by the world's fastest racers just over the Swiss border in France, a few journalists are quietly getting the official lowdown on the high-end group. And while many of its technical details are already known, this is the first opportunity for us to ride the next-generation road group. The sleek new Dura-Ace boasts some pretty bold promises. Shimano claims its

On the morning of Saturday July 12, had you called up your bike-race bookie (if such a person existed) and told him you wanted some action on the five-rider World Cup podium parlay of downhillers Gary Houseman, Ivan Oulego, Kirt Voreis, Colin Bailey and Stu Thomson, Mr. Bookie would have laughed, then given you some astronomically high odds figuring he’d just made a quick buck. But when it comes to downhill racing, there’s one factor that even the world’s wisest odds makers (or best riders) cannot completely account for — rain. And that’s just what happened on the steep slopes of British

The yellow-and-red of the Saturn Cycling dynasty remains atop the general classification at the Cascade Cycling Classic, with Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette all but assured victories heading into Sunday’s final criterium stage after a Friday night criterium and Saturday’s hilly circuit race. The Twilight ZoneA volatile twilight criterium held Friday night in downtown Bend, Oregon, yielded no change in the overall, with Heather Albert (Team Basis) and Chris Horner (Saturn) taking the stage wins. Bessette powered off the front halfway through the women’s 45-minute race, followed by Albert

Mike King said that it only took a few practice runs to figure out his strategy for the World Cup four-cross at Grouse Mountain. With a short, fast course providing the stage for the event on British Columbia's famed North Shore, King knew qualifying would be key. “That was my focus the whole way,” said King of the Friday night event, “and that was the race.” Indeed, after posting the top preliminary time of 23.44, the Haro-Lee Dungarees rider/manager surged through the finals bracket, riding his No. 1 seed all the way to a World Cup win. It was the 34-year-old’s first Cup win of 2003, and

Chris Horner (Saturn) won stage four of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 60-minute-plus-five-laps criterium held Friday evening on a six-turn course in downtown Bend, Oregon. Horner outsped the bunch to finish in 1:05:31, dogged by Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) and Jackson Stewart (Ofoto.com-Lombardi), who were awarded the same time – as were the first 81 riders to cross the line. Horner’s teammate Tom Danielson retained the overall lead, 49 seconds up on Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance) and nearly a minute ahead of Chris Wherry (Navigators). In the women’s stage-three crit, Heather

Ya know, it’s important to be noticed. Sure, it’s great for everyone, fans included, for riders at the Tour de France to have good equipment. The riders go faster with a higher margin of safety with properly designed equipment. But it doesn’t do the equipment sponsor any good if no one knows whose equipment they are using. And sometimes, it takes someone unfamiliar with the intricacies of the sport to point out the very obvious. A case in point involves the winningest rider in both the Tour and the Giro this year, Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi. Everyone knows that Petacchi won six

Stage 3 of the Cascade Classic was held Friday morning in Tumalo, Oregon. Just outside of Bend, the 7-mile time trial loop began and ended with a gradual climb, forcing riders out of the saddle immediately. The masters Cat. 3 racers raced first, followed by the pro/1-2 women, who rolled out in 30-second increments. As expected, race leader Lyne Bessette (Saturn), the Canadian national time trial champion, posted the fastest time of the day — 15:31 — a time that would have beat all but three of the masters men. Teammate Jessica Phillips was second in 16:26, followed by Team Basis rider

Regina Scheleicher (Chirio Forno D’asolo) outkicked breakaway companions Tina Mayolo-Pic (Team Sats) and Andrea Bosman (Ondernemers Van Nature-Powerplate/Bik) in the fourth stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Tuesday. The three escaped in the final kilometers of the 141.1km stage on the climb from the Via Adriatica gate to the old town of San Vito Chietino. Schleicher launched her sprint in the last 200 meters, neatly passing her rivals. The 141.1km stage, from Frosolone to San Vito Chietino was animated from the start – indeed, the first hour was spent racing at over 40kph. Overall

Nicole Braendli (Prato Marathon Bike) and Edita Pucinskaite (Michele Fanini) broke away from the bunch and fought their way through terrible weather to finish one-two in the third stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Monday. Braendli took the stage win, while Pucinskaite took the pink jersey of overall leader away from Rasa Polikieviciute (Team 2002 Aurora Rsm). "It is a dream come true," said the new race leader. The 84.2km third stage from Monteroduni to Castelpizzuto had three mountain-points primes, but the race was characterized primarily by terrible weather. When the riders

Zinaida Stahurskaia (Chirio Forno D’asolo) outsprinted the major contenders on the final climb to San Marco dei Cavoti to win the second stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Sunday. Lithuanian Rasa Polikieviciute (Team 2002 Aurora Rsm) remains in the pink jersey despite having given up nine seconds to her closest rival, countrywoman Edita Pucinskaite (Michele Fanini). American Amber Neben (T-Mobile) holds 10th place overall. The attacks were continuous on the 85km stage. All were in vain, though, and the stage concluded with Stahurskaia just barely beating Pucinskaite to the line. "I am

Dear Lennard Zinn,I currently suffer from iliotibial band syndrome, which tends to affecthigher-mileage runners and cyclists. It causes a pain on the outside ofthe knee due to the repetitive motion of bending the knee. There is quitea bit of info on the problem with regard to runners but very little concerningcycling. I have gone to physical therapy and received a cortisone injectionfrom a knee specialist. Not much has helped. Have you heard of this affectingother riders? If so, do you know of any potential treatment options thatI have not tried? I can give up running but not cycling.

For a reasonably flat island, Great Britain produces some fast downhill racers. British riders Steve Peat (Orange) and Fionn Griffiths (Foes) swept to victory in their respective downhill events today at the Mont -Ste-Anne World Cup. The new 1.2km course made for brief races and left little margin for error. Peat, who missed most of the early season with a wrist injury, scored his first win of 2003 with a scintillating final run that evicted South Africa’s Greg Minaar (Haro-Lee Dungarees) from the leader’s hot seat by a scant .06 second. “I’ve won here twice before so I definitely like

Racing on a course that favored the riders who could combine cunning and strength, Eric Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai) and Katrina Miller (Jamis) took Saturday’s World Cup four-cross event in Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec. Despite racing with a broken hand, Carter continued his winning ways, adding to his mountain-cross win from last weekend’s NORBA event in Mount Snow, Vermont, and his win from the World Cup stop in France. “I was really struggling to figure out this course yesterday in practice, but I didn’t take any ibuprofen yesterday, and I did today,” said Carter, “That seemed to make a big

With three teams in the Tour de France, Fausto Pinarello is very busy in the months leading up to the race, especially this season. Pinarello's company builds the bicycles for the Telekom, iBanesto.com and Fassa Bortolo teams, and the preparation details are almost too numerous to comprehend. Every single bike requires custom dimensions, and specific needs have to be addressed with each rider, particularly high-profile stars like Erik Zabel, Ivan Basso and Unai Osa. This year, the task has been particularly challenging because Pinarello planned to deliver a fully custom version of his

Ever since Mario Cipollini, adorned in the yellow jersey of the Tour de France leader, leaned into a television camera during a 1997 stage and said, “Cannondale is best bike,” it was clear that the Bedford, Pennsylvania, company could make bikes capable of scoring victories in the Tour. Cannondale paved the way for other American bike makers such as Trek, Specialized, Klein, GT and Litespeed into the European peloton. But then came the bankruptcy. Following an ill-fated decision to enter the motorsports market, Cannondale found itself deeply in debt with an unsalable motorcycle, struggling

They rode 2922 miles, climbed more than 82,000 feet, and crossed 14 states to get from San Diego to Atlantic City. Some sped across, fighting to be first. Others crawled across, battling simply to finish. A few withdrew, their bodies failing their intentions. One lost his life on a desolate stretch of New Mexico highway. They were drenched by rain, slowed by wind, and torched by the desert sun. But everyone who crossed the finish line of the 2003 Insight Race Across America on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City shared a victory for even completing what Outside magazine once called the world’s

Saturn made it a double on the first day of the Canadian nationalchampionships, with Eric Wohlberg and Lyne Bessette taking the men's and women's national time-trial titles. The event is being held in Hamilton, Ontario, on the same course planned for the road world’s in October, so in addition to the numerous titles on the line, the organization was trying out its plan to close down the center of a city of more than 600,000 people for the first time. Overall, the indications are that the test was successful. The 21km course that the elite men and women raced (two laps and one lap,

It was hot, hot, hot at the second stage of the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic – so hot, in fact, that the officials clipped three laps from the women’s race and one from the men’s as temperatures boiled past the 100-degree mark. Despite the trimmings, the racing would get even hotter on the 3.1-mile course, with its sharp finishing climb. The 74-mile men’s race saw attacks from the gun, though nothing stuck until Mike Sayers (Health Net) and Chris Horner (Saturn) got away. The twosome opened a gap of about a minute on a chase group containing race leader Chris Baldwin (Navigators), until

Stage 1 of the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic, a seven-mile out-and-back time trial finishing with a 500 meter climb, was held Thursday in scorching New England heat and humidity, with Navigators Chris Baldwin and Kiwi Sarah Ulmer (TDS) taking their respective leaders jerseys. In the women's race, Saturn's Jessica Phillips was the first to set a time that looked to stick on the leader's board with an 18:26:29. Phillips remained the leader until Ulmer (TDS) flew across the line fourteen seconds faster. Ulmer’s time of 18:12:88 remained untouched as Phillips’ Saturn teammate Katie Mactier finished

Alexander Vinokourov just couldn't help himself. Leading the Tour of Switzerland since regaining the overall lead in Tuesday's time trial, the Kazakh jumped with less than a kilometer to go in Wednesday's 152km final stage into Aarau and was caught 300 meters from the line. It's not that he really needed the stage win. Second-place rider Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) didn't start the ninth and final stage due to high fever and a urinary infection and all Vinokourov had to do was finish safely in the main bunch to claim final victory. "I tried to win the stage but I'm not disappointed at

They say curiosity killed the cat but, as I write this, I still feel pretty good. It's one of those trivial little technical details that's been plaguing me this entire race season: why on earth is the men's world cross-country mountain bike champion wearing mid-level shoes both racing on the road and off? Earlier this year, we saw Roland Green compete in the Tour de Langkawi not sporting Shimano's top-of-the-line SH-R214 carbon road shoe, but instead, the Canadian was seen donning the single strap SH-TR01 triathlon shoe. Later in the year, we see Green roll up to both NORBA and world cup

Dear Lennard Zinn;Is it true that the Zipp clincher 404/303s will break up when tire pressure exceeds 140? --JV Dear JV;Below is a long answer to your question, but it is worth reading, as it addresses, in addition to the specific Zipp question, the general question many of us have about how much pressure a clincher rim can handle.--Lennard Answer from ZippDear Lennard and JV;In short, no, a ZIPP 303 or 404 clincher will not break up when tire pressure exceeds 140psi. The source of this concern may stem from one or both of two sources: either from the Maximum psi sticker ZIPP now applies to

Alexandre Vinokourov regained the overall lead of the 67th Tour of Switzerland on Tuesday after erasing a 37-second gap to Italian Francesco Casagrande in the 33km individual time trial. Australian Brad McGee (Fdjeux.com) surprised Germans Uwe Peschel and 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich to claim the stage victory. American Bobby Julich (Telekom) was seventh. Riding in 90-degree heat, McGee was timed in 42 minutes, 20.77 seconds, 23 seconds faster than Peschel (Gerolsteiner) and 50 seconds faster than Ullrich (Bianchi). Vinokourov was poised to recapture the lead from Casagrande

Telekom’s Sergei Yakovlev won the seventh and longest stage of the Tour du Suisse on Monday while Lampre’s Francesco Casagrande finished safely in the main bunch to retain the overall lead. The Kazakh rider was part of a six-man breakaway that led for 160 km of the 231-km stage which began in Switzerland and ended just over the German border. Yakovlev’s American teammate, Bobby Julich, was part of an eight-man chase group that was sent down the road in case the leaders wilted under the long distances. Yakovlev jumped out of the break with 15km to go and hung on to score the win while

Phonak’s Oscar Pereiro held off his pursuers to take a solo victory in the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland Sunday, a 135km ride around Silvaplana. Bianchi’s Jan Ullrich came in just over a minute later followed by the promising Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg. Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) retained the overall lead of the race ahead of Tuesday's 33km time trial where second-placed Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) is aiming to regain the lead. Kazakh rider Vinokourov may well keep his promise. His 37-second deficit will seem like almost nothing given his excellent season so far, having won

John Lieswyn and his 7UP-Maxxis squad successfully defended the yellow jersey in the final stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, Lubor Tesar (Ed's Systeme-ZVVZ) just holding off Charles Dionne (Canadian National) to take the final stage victory. Lieswyn had held the jersey from stage one, and started the final stage47 seconds in front of Chris Baldwin (Navigators). Tomas Konecny (Ed'sSystem-ZVVZ) and Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) were also less than a minute behind, so 7 Up could not afford to rest, despite having spent a week at the front of the peloton. The final stage of Beauce is no

Jose Antonio Pecharroman (Paternina) virtually secured victory in the Tourof Catalunya on Saturday after winning a time trial to take the overalllead from defending champion Roberto Heras.Pecharroman covered the 8.14-mile sixth leg in 21 minutes and 49 seconds.Heras, the defending champion riding for the U.S. Postal Service team,finished 52 seconds back. The time lag cost Heras the nine-second overalllead he held over Pecharroman for the last two days.With one stage remaining, Pecharroman now holds a comfortable 43-secondoverall lead over Heras in Spain's oldest bike race. Sunday's final

Lampre’s Francesco Casagrande won the 177m fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland Saturday, reaching the summit finish at La Punt with enough of a margin to take the overall lead in the Swiss national tour. Casagrande, who began the day six seconds behind overall leader, Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom), at the start of the stage, finished 39sec ahead of the Kazakh following the 20km ascent of the Col du Albula at 2315m altitude. When Casagrande attacked only Vinokourov could stay with him though he soon concluded the effort was taking a toll on him and eased off as the Italian continued

John Lieswyn continues to hold onto the lead at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce after two stages back-to-back on Saturday. In the morning's 15-kilometer time trial, the 7UP-Maxxis rider finished second to Navigator's Chris Baldwin, the U.S. national time trial champion. Baldwin, the reigning U.S. time trial champion, professes to be surprised at his performances in the race against the clock this year. "I don't know why, but this year I'm really hot,” Baldwin said. “I guess a good bike equals good results." Eric Wohlberg (Canadian National), the perennial Canadian national time trial

Up-and-coming Frenchman Sandy Casar held off a bunch of big-name sprinters to win the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland between Viege and Losone on Friday. Casar, the 24-year-old Fdjeux.com rider who made his name when finishing second in last year's Paris-Nice, held off Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen and Australian Stuart O'Grady after the 166.5km ride. Coming in just behind was Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen, the winner of last year's Tour de France green jersey, and CSC's talented Kiwi Julian Dean - both of whom had battled at the finish on Thursday. Alexander Vinokourov of

As Insight Race Across America leader Allen Larsen passed a time station Friday morning in Jefferson City, Missouri, he was nearly 200 miles ahead of second-place Rob Kish. And once again, thanks to back and neck pain from an old traffic accident, he was wearing a back and neck brace – but not the homemade wood-and-duct-tape kind that made his rookie-of-the-year finish last year so memorable. At his current pace, which has fallen a little from challenging Pete Penseyres's 1986 transcontinental record of 15.4 mph, Larsen should win RAAM by Monday. In the team competition, the four-man

John Lieswyn successfully defended his yellow jersey today at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce on the tough Mont Megantic stage, finishing second to former Beauce winner Tomas Konecny, who moved up to second in the general classification. Lieswyn credited his 7UP-Maxxis teammates with inspiring him to ride so well on the feared final climb, which reaches 18 percent in places. "I'm just happy that I didn't let the team down,” he said. “The closer I got to Megantic, the more pressure I felt, because the guys were killing themselves for me. They gave me the confidence and inspiration to do

Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) won the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday to move into second place overall. The Italian is now six seconds behind leader AlexanderVinokourov (Telekom) of Kazakhstan, after winning the 205km stage from Nyon to the Saas Fee ski resort in five hours, 10 minutes, 38 seconds. Mountain specialist Casagrande took the initiative on the final 20kmclimb in the Alps after the riders had traveled around Lake Geneva andthrough the valley of the River Rhone. He finished 13 seconds clear ofLuxembourg's Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo), with leader Vinokourov

Allen Larsen continued to build his lead over the 2003 Insight Race Across America solo field Thursday – he passed through Yates Center, Kansas, 180 miles ahead of second-place Rob Kish. Larsen, last year’s Rookie of the Year, has maintained an average speed of 15.33 mph, just seven-tenths of a second off the record set by Pete Penseyres in 1986 (15.4). Meanwhile, after the tragic loss of teammate Brett Malin in an Tuesday-night accident in rural New Mexico, Team Vail-Go Fast has withdrawn from the race, handing the lead over to Team Harreither-VAV Versich. The Austrian team is also in

Gord Fraser (Health Net) rebounded overnight from a disappointing finish in the second stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce to record his 13th career win at the race in stage 3. John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis) finished with the peloton and remains in the yellow jersey. The 151km Lac Etchemin stage is one of the hardest in the race, and has been instrumental in determining the final winner in past years. In 2001, Henk Vogels took the leader's jersey during this stage after a long breakaway, and last year a split in the field put all but 20 riders out of contention. The stage is "relentless,"

Wow! That's all I have to say when reflecting on the past seven days. My colleagues have had their hands full covering all the heated racing action going on around the world ... but I've had my plate loaded with late-breaking tech developments. Don't think tech can be as exciting as racing? You've got two choices here: Hit your browser's "Back" button to get your fill of blow-by-blow race coverage, or read on to find out why this has been one of the most exciting weeks of tech coverage since I began working with VeloNews. Dura-Ace again! First off, Dura-Ace is in the house. Well, it was

John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis) survived a scare in the final 1500 meters of stage 2 at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce to retain the overall leader's jersey, while Oleg Grishkine (Navigators) took the stage win ahead of local favorite Charles Dionne (Canadian National). The 169km stage through the rolling countryside south of Québec City unfolded as expected, with a break of five riders going clear 6km into the race. Jindrich Vana (Ed's System-ZVVZ) and Trent Wilson (Flanders-Iteamnova.com) started the break, and were quickly joined by Cam Evans (Canadian National), Jeff Hansen (Atlas Cold

Lotto-Domo's Robbie McEwen has claimed his first-ever stage win in the Tour de Suisse on Wednesday. The 31-year-old Aussie topped a Southern Hemispheric podium he beat CSC’s New Zealander Julian Dean and fellow Australian Stuart O'Grady (Crédit Agricole). Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokourov retained the overall lead. Another Australian Bradley McGee saw his hopes of playing a part in the finish ruined as he had his route blocked by a Lotto team-mate of McEwen's in the final 500 meters - it also prevented him from gaining enough bonus time to replace Vinokourov as overall leader. However McEwen

Dear Lennard;I'm building a front wheel for my new FSR, and I am concerned about the torsional rigidity of the front wheel. The spare parts I have can allow me to do radial lacing or standard three-cross. I'm running a Fox Float RL 80mm fork, a standard non-disc XT front hub, and a Bontrager Valiant 32-hole rim. I have run both wheels (three-cross and radial laced) on my old bike with a 75mm Marzocchi bomber Z3, and the three-cross wheel seemed to steer much better. I would prefer to do the radial because it looks cool and I have nice butted spokes for that wheel. By the way I weigh 180, am

After an aggressive ride, Telekom’s Alexander Vinokourov took a win in the opening stage of the Tour de Suisse. Vinokourov had been on the attack throughout the latter portion of the 163km stage from Egerkingen to Le Locle, but never managed to initiate a successful break until the closing meters as the peloton charged to the finish in Le Locle. Vinokourov managed to slip away with Fassa Bortolo’s Sergei Ivanov, before beating the Russian to the line, in a winning time of 4:13:43. Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Domina Vacanze) took third, two seconds back. The victory was particularly

The Grande Prix Cycliste de Beauce kicked off Tuesday with a hard 125-kilometer stage around the environs of Quebec City. John Lieswyn (7Up-Maxxis) took the stage and the first leader's jersey in a two-up finish with Chris Baldwin (Navigators). The opening stage was a wake up call to the riders: you will be climbing; A lot. After four circuits of an 8-kilometer loop with a significant climb on the south side of the St Lawrence River, in the town of Levis, the peloton headed north across the river to Quebec, where they did another eight circuits, with a tough 14-percent climb each lap. The

Lance Armstrong quieted the nay-sayers Sunday and won his second consecutive Dauphiné Libéré after holding off yet more attacks from the indefatigable Iban Mayo in the 174km finale from Briançon to Grenoble. Cofidis rider Cedric Vasseur attacked on the Category 1 Col du Coq with 40km to go to win his first race of the season. Mayo tried in vain to shake Armstrong one last time but the Texan matched his every move. Mayo, Armstrong, Credit Agricole’s Christophe Moreau and iBanesto.com’s Juan Miguel Mercado rolled in at 2:09 back of Vasseur. It was an exciting and intense week for Armstrong,

After riding Saturday’s cross-country in leftover mud from Friday’s drenching rain, riders were treated to a batch of fresh mud during the NORBA NCS #2 short track cross-country at Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia. The skies opened up at 10 a.m. Sunday, and a steady downpour created slick conditions on the short, fast track, but Subaru-Gary Fisher’ Chrissy Redden and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX-Ralph Lauren) stayed upright and at the front to take the STXC titles. For Redden, it was a sixth NORBA short track win, and perhaps her hardest fought. Midway through the race, a strong front group

Editor's note: Vincent Gee is mechanic for the U.S. Postal ServiceCycling Team, largely responsible for the domestic circuit. Gee will bereporting back to VeloNews.com throughout the season.June 5 - Tuesday’s race in Lancaster was raining all day long but today (Thursday), it was dry. Nonetheless, it was bike wash, followed by bike wash, followed by yet another bike wash yesterday and this morning. The Lancaster race ended really late Tuesday so we put the dirty bikes away for the night and set off to a late dinner. Wednesday morning Julien (head mechanic) Allen Buttler and I pulled them

If the Dauphiné Libéré race is Lance Armstrong's dress rehearsal for the upcoming Tour de France, don't expect any major changes in the plot line come July. The four-time Tour winner brushed off aches and pains from Friday's spill and withstood more aggressive attacks from Euskaltel's Iban Mayo on the classic climb up the Col du Galibier. "From the moment I cycled from the hotel to the start line, I knew it would be a difficult day because my body was aching all over," Armstrong said after finishing fourth behind winner Juan Miguel Mercado. "I suppose that's why I couldn't find my proper

On a muddy day in the West Virginia mountains that claimed a couple of prominent victims, Jimena Florit and Ryder Hesjedal slipped and slid to cross-country glory, and Jill Kintner and Mike King navigated the brackets to mountain-cross wins on day one of NORBA NCS 2 at Snowshoe Mountain. Alison Dunlap, Luna’s former world champion and World Cup winner, was transported to a nearby hospital with a possibly dislocated shoulder following a crash in the cross country. Meanwhile, Trek-Volkswagen’s Wade Bootes went down hard in the evening mountain-cross competition and required several minutes to

Lance Armstrong brushed off a rare crash early in Friday’s 192km fifth stage to retain the overall lead of the 55th Dauphiné Libéré race in another blistering hot day in France. Armstrong crashed alone while coming off a descent just 14km after the start in Morzine and cut his right elbow and buttocks. Team officials said they weren’t sure what caused the crash, but the four-time Tour champion went down going an estimated 70 kph. “He’s okay. You never know what can happen when you crash going that fast,” said team spokesman Jogi Mueller. Armstrong finished the stage with rips on his

Too bad Iban Mayo isn't talking up a big game for the upcoming Tour de France. The tenacious Euskaltel rider won his second stage of the 55th Dauphine Libere on Thursday, edging out Lance Armstrong and Francisco Mancebo after attacking hard in the Alps. "In a stage like that, held in such heat it's, not the quickest who comes out on top but the freshest," said Mayo, who also won the opening prologue. "It was a good win, but Armstrong is stronger. It's clear he's going very good now and will be even better at the Tour." Mayo, Armstrong and Mancebo chugged away from the fractured peloton on

As if there was ever any doubt. Of course, just in case there was any, Lance Armstrong made a point of reminding the cycling world that he's the alpha male of the pack with a blistering performance under Texas-like heat of central France. Armstrong blasted his way to his first victory of the 2003 season in Wednesday's 33.4km individual time trial and jumped into the overall lead of the Dauphine Libere race. The win comes just in time to remind everyone that Armstrong won't be arriving at the July 5 start of the Tour in anything but winning form. "I think it's more important to show myself