Road Racing

IBanesto.com’s Russian climber Denis Menchov made his mark on the 54th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré on Tuesday, winning the toughest stage of this traditional Tour de France warm up, a 174 km race from Tournon to the top of Mount Ventoux. On top of his stage win Menchov took the overall lead from La Francaise Des Jeux’s Jacky Durand. Menchov, the winner of the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001, took second place in the stage on Mont Ventoux in that race. On Tuesday, he and Spaniards Felix Garcia-Casas, Aitor Kintina Zarate and Una Osa were out in front of the race on the slopes of

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… or if you’re Jacky Durand try, try, try and try even more. Durand is easily the French peloton’s most renowned “head banger,” those brave souls who try a break early in a race and just pray it sticks. Today, the first stage of Dauphiné Libéré, turned into one of those rare occasions when the 35-year-old Frenchman hit pay dirt, beating Kelme’s Alexis Rodriguez in a two-man sprint at the end of a 151-kilometer escape. The Française des Jeux rider and Rodriguez slipped off the front of the 110-rider field at the 22km mark of Monday’s 173 km stage

After two years of seeing Fred Rodriguez walk away from Philadelphia with the USPRO champion’s jersey, the U.S. Postal Service reclaimed the stars-and-stripes. And after years and years of trying, the Navigators squad finally got everything right and won the big one. In the end, it wasn’t Rodriguez or George Hincapie, but rather Chann McRae and Mark Walters who stole the show at the First Union USPRO Championship in Philadelphia on Sunday. Hincapie and Rodriguez have been the big favorites at Philadelphia the last few years, but for two-time defending champion Rodriguez, the week hadn’t

Everyone knew who to watch at the First Union Liberty Classic, and they’ll have plenty of opportunities to watch her again in the highlight reels, as Petra Rossner (Saturn) rode to victory in the 57.6-mile women’s race. Run concurrently with the USPRO men’s road championship, the Liberty Classic has known only four winners in its nine-year history, and the Leipzig, Germany native has held a monopoly on the top step of the podium since 1998. Her first victory, came in 1996. Unlike Rossner’s 2001 victory, which came in a massive field sprint to the line, this year’s race came down to one key

The Tissot-UCI Mountain Bike World Cup wrapped up a four-week European spring tour Sunday, as Maribor, Slovenia hosted round two of the Downhill and 4X series. After the rain and mud of Scotland's downhill last week, riders were looking forward to the typically sunny weather of this scenic country north of Italy. But with sporadic rains keeping mechanics scrambling to choose correct tires and bolt-on fenders for the downhill finals, many got a bit more than they bargained for. Chris Kovarik (Intense) got the most, winning his second race in a row — right after Anne-Caroline Chausson

Under darkness of night and illuminated by the bright lights of this World Cup slope, American Mike King (Haro-Lee Dungarees) won round 2 of the new 4x World Cup series in Maribor, Slovenia. King’s win, his major victory since 1996, showed that he still has the goods when it comes to head-to-head racing. On the women’s side, Anne-Caroline Chausson (Volvo-Cannondale) captured her second win in as many weeks. Beating perennial favorite Brian Lopes (Fox-GT), King used his years of BMX, downhill and dual racing experience to take the lead away from the world champion in turn one, then hold it

Francaise Des Jeux's Bradley McGee fought off the close challenge of his fellow Aussie and teammate Baden Cooke to win the Dauphine Libere prologue in Lyon, France, on Sunday. McGee, who has had a troubled year since his debut Tour de France last year, completed the 3.6km course a second ahead of Cooke in 4min 14sec. "I'm astonished. After such a long time without winning, it has been hard to stay confident," said McGee. U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong, who is strongly favored to retain the Tour de France title he has won for the last three years, finished in fifth some four seconds off

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When a carbon fiber handlebar breaks, it makes a sound like a snapped twig.There’s a sharp “crack!” followed by a hollow splintering sound, just asif you’d broken a dry stick over your knee. Then, silence.The similarity in sound is due to the similarity in structure. Carbonfiber, like wood, is made of long strands of high-strength material surroundedby a resin matrix. Trees do it with cellulose and sap. Engineers do itwith synthetic polymers and glue.The difference, of course, is that carbon fiber is considerably strongerthan wood; in fact, carbon’s raw tensile strength figures typically

Gord Fraser has had bad luck at the First Union Classic in Trenton, New Jersey before, but on a day when it seemed that anything possible could go wrong, everything went right for the Canadian Mercury rider. Fraser held off a charging pack at the end of a wet, treacherous race on Thursday evening to give his Mercury team its first Trenton win. The race got off to a rocky start, when, just minutes after the 164 riders rolled off the line in front of the New Jersey State Art Museum, they were called back to the start. A fatal automobile-pedestrian accident had occurred on the downtown end of

The U.S. Postal Service squad drew first blood at the First Union Cycling week on Tuesday night, as David Clinger rode away from breakaway partner Chris Wherry (Mercury) on the final lap of the First Union Invitational in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Clinger and Wherry were the two survivors of a typical Lancaster race -– fast, difficult and hard-fought. Coming off his spring European campaign, including a strong support ride for Lance Armstrong at the Midi Libre, Clinger took his first win of the season in the streets of Lancaster. "Everybody wants to win, and everybody’s here to win," he

From the start, the Tour of Greater Montreal was a battle of seconds– or tenths of seconds -- decided by intermediate sprints, timebonuses and tie breakers. That’s why the overall standings of Canada’snewest stage race for women has the top three riders listed has havingthe same time. But having won two of the event’s three stages gave LauraVan Gilder (Trek Plus VW) the edge in the final break down.Van Gilder, U.S. criterium champion for 2000, won Tuesday’s closingstage, a relatively flat 113 km road race, edging out Clara Hughes (ÉquipeQuébec) and Anna Millward (Saturn) in a sprint.The stage

What a long, strange race it’s been.Starting in Holland on May 11 and ending 20 stages and 3363 km later,the 2002 Giro d’Italia ended pretty in pink Sunday in Milan. From doping scandals to inspirational racing, there was never a dullmoment in the 85th Giro. American Tyler Hamilton made history, scoring an historic podium finishand winning a Giro stage. Bolstered by the support of CSC-Tiscali teammanager Bjarne Riis, the 31-year-old Bostonian emerged from Lance Armstrong’sshadow. "Bjarne and I worked so hard to get here, so it was a special momentafter yesterday’s time trial. I had to

It’s been a long time since the French haven’t owned at least one of the World Cup downhill leader’s jerseys, but that’s just what happened in Scotland Sunday after a pair of Commonwealth riders stormed away with wins at round one in Fort William. Aussie Chris Kovarik and Great Britain’s Tracy Moseley are now on top of the series standings, after each took dramatic victories on the steep slopes of the Nevis Range Ski Resort. For Kovarik it was his second straight World Cup win. The Intense rider closed the 2001 season on top of the podium at the finals in Mont-Ste-Anne. "I’ve managed to

When temperatures in Arlington, Virginia had reached 80 degrees at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, the professional cyclists gathered for the fifth edition of the Clarendon Cup knew they were in for a tough day. Undaunted, racers made a hot, windy summer day even harder on themselves as strong fields in the men’s and women’s events came out punching. German Ina Teutenburg (Saturn) and Russian Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) emerged from the fray to take the top podium spots. Few of the locals had forgotten last year’s spectacle in the women's race, when Teutenberg went away early and lapped the

Tyler Hamilton needed a super time trial Saturday to win the 2002 Girod’Italia. Instead, the CSC-Tiscali captain was “OK” in the race againstthe clock – 4th place at 1:31 slower than stage-winner Aitor Gonzalez -- but he still bounced to second-place overall going into the Giro’s finaleSunday in Milan. That was more than OK for Hamilton, however, who endured three crashesto win a stage and will become only the third American to finish on thefinal podium when the 85th Giro concludes Sunday. “I knew ahead of time it was going to be difficult. I knew I would haveto have a super, super day,”

The names may have been the same and the riders still had their usual course complaints, but when Saturday’s racing at World Cup No. 1 in Fort William, Scotland was done, the debut of four-cross had to be considered a big success. The day’s biggest winner was Volvo-Cannondale, which swept the top of the podium after French riders Anne-Caroline Chausson and Cédric Gracia took wins on the short course near the base area of the Nevis Range Ski Resort. But the huge gathering of fans (3500 tickets were sold) also fared well, getting to watch an hour of exciting back-and-forth racing that included

Live Updates1:15 p.m. -- Good morning to our U.S. readers. Welcome to VeloNews.com's live coverage of Stage 18 of the 2002 Giro d'Italia. Start time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Rovereto. Today's 18th stage from Rovereto to Brescia offers something of a breather between yesterday's seven-and-a-half-hour stage in the mountains and tomorrow's time trial. Only 143 km, it features just one ranked climb, the Category II 638-meter Molina di Ledro at 32 km and finishes with three laps on a 6-km circuit in Brescia. 1:35 p.m. -- The peloton is leaving Rovereto. There are 141 riders remaining in

After 3178 kilometers, the 85th Giro d’Italia will really come downto 43.9 km of pavement. After 18 stages and at least 84 hours, 49 minutesand 55 seconds of racing, this Giro will likely be decided by just a handfulof seconds. It’s Tyler Hamilton vs. Paolo Savoldelli. The Bostonian vs. the Bergamasco. It’s sure to be an exciting finish to an already emotional and drama-filled Giro. Savoldelli has two advantages going into Saturday’s 43.9-km decisiveindividual time trial; one with the clock and another with emotion. Savoldelli has a 1 minute, 28 second lead on third-place Hamilton andwears

Everyone here keeps calling Tyler Hamilton a Xerox copy of Lance Armstrong, but more than anyone else, the CSC-Tiscali team captain seems to have borrowed from the Miguel Indurain school of tactics: stay close in the mountains and then kill ‘em in the time trial. Hamilton stayed close in Thursday’s final big day in the mountains,but maybe not close enough. If he wants to become only the secondAmerican to win the Giro d’Italia, he’s going to have put down a super time trial this coming Saturday. Dario Frigo (Tacconi Sport), the man who began the day in second placein the overall standings,

Italian police carried out hotel raids in the Dolomite town of Covara Wednesday evening, target four teams competing in the Giro d’Italia. The teams targeted after the finish to the 16th stage were all Italian Panaria, Mercatone Uno, Mapei and SAECO, a police source reported. Each of those teams has had at least one rider already excluded from the race for doping. At the Mapei team hotel police seized the medical files belonging to Stefano Garzelli, the 2000 winner who was thrown out of this year's race after testing positive for a masking agent after the Giro's second stage. SAECO's

Cadel Evans came to the Giro d’Italia to help Mapei teammate StefanoGarzelli, but the 2000 Giro champion got the boot for failing a dopingtest. Now Evans is the first Australian to wear the maglia rosa and isAmerican Tyler Hamilton’s most dangerous rival for overall victory. The former mountain biker jumped into the race lead in an exciting stagethrough the jagged, snow-covered Dolomites, finishing seventh, 58 secondsbehind stage-winner Julio Perez Cuapio. Hamilton hung with the Giro’s bestclimbers over four punishing climbs to remain in third-place overall, nowjust 18 seconds behind

Just when things seemed to be getting back to normal after the expulsionsof Stefano Garzelli and Gilberto Simoni, Francesco Casagrande pulls a Mike Tyson and gets kicked out of the race. No, he didn’t bite anybody’s ear off, but he’s out of the Giro afterallegedly running Colombian John Freddy Garcia (Colombia-Selle Italia)into the fences and sending him to the hospital with 20 stitches to thechin. Casagrande started the day wearing the green best-climber’s jersey infourth-place at 1:07 back. His “aggressive riding,” as the UCI called it, ended his Giro early. The incident happened early

Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) overtook a commanding Navigators leadout train to edge Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) and Graeme Miller (Mercury) and take a record fourth win in the Tour of Somerville in Somerville, New Jersey. Carney also won Somerville in 1992, 1998, and 2000. The women's Mildred Kugler Memorial Open also saw a repeat winner, as 1999 winner Laura Van Gilder (Trek Plus) nipped 2000 champion Tina Mayolo-Pic (Diet Rite) by a wheel's width at the line. Tania Duff-Miller (Freddie Fu) put in a personal best Somerville performance to finish a close third. Now in its 59th running,

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Saturn’s Judith Arndt completed Saturn’s dominant run at the Tour de L’Aude on Sunday, taking the overall title, while teammate Petra Rossner won the final stage in Limoux, France. Arndt finished the 10-day race 1:16 ahead of Russia’s Valentina Polkhanova (Itera) and 1:24 over Lithuania’s Edita Pucinskaite (Figurella). On Sunday, the five-woman Saturn team set things up perfectly for Rossner, chasing down late breakaway Pia Sunstedt (Figurella) and then leading out Rossner for the sprint win over Angela Brodtka (Redbull). The win was the sixth in 10 stages for Saturn. The Saturn run began

She may not be the world champion, but right now there’s little doubt who the best female cross country rider in the world is. For the fifth time in her last six tries, Spain’s Marga Fullana took victory in a World Cup, this time beating Great Britain’s Caroline Alexander by 40 seconds to take round two of the 2002 series in Houfallize, Belgium on Sunday. Fullana (Orbea) turned her four laps around the 7.7km course in 1:46:20. After Alexander (Great Britain National) came Annabella Stropparo (Be One) in third at :48, then Alison Dunlap (Luna) at 1:21 and Barbara Blatter (Specialized) at

Tyler Hamilton had the biggest day of his professional cycling careerSunday and catapulted into contention for overall victory in the 85th Girod’Italia. Hamilton won Sunday’s 14th stage, a beautiful, but difficult, 30-kmindividual time trial along Italy’s rugged Adriatic Coast, and bouncedfrom 11th to third place overall. On the same day Hamilton’s longtime mentor Lance Armstrong won the overalltitle in the Midi Libre in France, Hamilton burst out of the Texan’s shadowforever and won the first American stage victory at the Giro since 1988. “To win today was incredible. It was my biggest

It wasn’t the finish the cycling mad Belgian fans were hoping for, but with two riders in the top three it wasn’t a bad day either. The man spoiling the party at World Cup cross country No. 2 in Houffalize was Christoph Sauser, who bested home-country heroes Roel Paulissen and Filip Meirhaeghe in the 38.5km race on Sunday. After spending four laps dueling with a powerful lead group that also included the likes of Roland Green and Bart Brentjens, Sauser (Volvo-Cannondale) and Paulissen (Lanabau-Rainer-Wurz.com) broke away together, building a gap that hovered around 15 seconds. From there

The clouds parted over the Giro d’Italia in more ways than one Saturday. After two days of rain and cold, it was sunny and warm at the startwith rowdy crowds, just the way the Giro should be. And, more importantlyfor the worn-down Giro, there were no doping scandals. Life almost seemedto return to normal on the Giro. Saturday’s difficult 186-km climbing stage through Italy’s spectacularAppennini Mountains with views to the Adriatic Sea helped capture everyone’sattention. With the Giro’s decisive final week looming, none of the favorites could afford to be caught watching the scenery. With

Lance Armstrong (USPS) has moved into the overall lead at the Midi Libre after finishing third in Saturday’s fourth stage, five seconds behind the day’s winner Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour) and Andrei Kivilev (Cofidis).On the strength of today’s performance, coupled with a second-place finish in yesterday’s time trial. Armstrong took over the lead from ONCE’s Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano.Armstrong said he had been disappointed by his second place in Friday’s TT and was hoping to do well enough to take the overall lead on Saturday."I spent all last night thinking about why I failed in the time

How many punches can the Giro d’Italia take? The race lost its second superstar in four days, suffered through agrowing chorus of detractors who want the race canceled and faces the prospectof overall victory by Francesco Casagrande or Dario Frigo – both riderswho’ve served doping suspensions in the past. Gilberto Simoni was the latest victim of doping’s tightening noose. The defending Giro champion was kicked out of the race by his Saeco team Friday morning following pressure from Giro organizers and other teams. Mercatone Uno’s Roberto Sgambelluri, who failed a doping test for Nespon the

In his first serious test since finishing fourth at last month's Amstel Gold Race, the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team's Lance Armstrong finished second in today's third stage of the Grand Prix du Midi-Libre stage race - a 19 kilometer time trial - in Rodez, France. Armstrong's performance moved him from 31st to second place overall with two stages remaining. Armstrong turned in a time of 23 minutes and 59 seconds in the difficult course, six seconds back of stage winner and new race leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano of ONCE. Following Armstrong, Galdeano's ONCE teammates

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A smiling Gilberto Simoni denied Thursday’s stage-win at CampitelloMatese had anything to do with revenge. According to the defending Giro d’Italia champion, his accelerations weren't related to the scandal surrounding his now-costly dentist visit back in April. “No, today wasn’t revenge,” said Simoni, who dominated Thursday’s 140-km11th stage. “I felt bad yesterday because of stupid negligence. It shouldnot have happened. It was very difficult yesterday. I feel sorry for the team and for the sponsor. When I am on the bike, I am thinking only about pedaling. In the night, I am human and I

1:00 p.m. Good morning to the U.S. It is 1:00 in Italy and we are about 10 minutes from the start of today's stage. It's another short one -- just 140km -- but the finish is going to be tough. At 125km, the day's Intergiro will toy with the sprinters, but then the road almost immediately begins to rise. The steep 13.57-km, 885-meter (2920-foot) climb to Campitello Matese, a small ski resort at 1430 meters (4917 feet) deep in the mountains of south central Italy, will test the mettle of the better climbers in the group and may take a big bite out of Jens Heppner's hold on the leader's

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It was a day the Giro d’Italia race organizers were happy to get over with. Doping controversies threatened to overwhelm the race with the mostimportant racing still to go. Unfortunately for the already haggard race officials, there's likely more to come. The winner of the 2000 Giro d'Italia, Stefano Garzelli (Mapei), didn't start Wednesday's stage 10 after the test of a second urine sample, taken last week in Belgium, came back positive, while 2001 Giro winner Gilberto Simoni stayed in the race but had his own battlesto fight against a positive test for cocaine back in April. Cynical

Acqua e Sapone rider Mario Cipollini won a sprint finish to take the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia, chalking up his career 37th stage win at Italy’s national tour. Telekom’s Jens Heppner finished in the field and holds a 3:33 lead over Mapei’s Stefano Garzelli. Garzelli continues to be the focus of a great deal of attention after he tested positive for the diuretic Probenicid – an outdated masking agent – following his stage win last week at Liege, Belgium. Garzelli could be thrown out of the race if a test of his ‘B-Sample’confirms the positive result. His team is pointing to negatives

Giro d'Italia officials threw former winner Stefano Garzelli out of the race late Tuesday after an earlier positive dope test was confirmed by the analysis of a second sample. The action follows the release of results from a UCI-conducted re-test of urine samples submitted after Garzelli’s victory in stage 2 of the Giro last week. Preliminary tests showed slight traces of the diuretic Probenecid in a test of a sample submitted after the stage win. News of the first result was announced last week, but Garzelli requested that the ‘B-sample’ be tested for corroboration. Late Tuesday evening,

Kelme's Aitor Gonzalez, whose teammate was injured earlier in the day, won the eighth stage of the Giro d'Italia asit finished in Orvieto on Wednesday. Gonzalez, of the financially troubled Kelme team, attacked in the final kilometer and held of a charging peloton to take the longest stage of this year's Giro, a 237-kilometer race that started in Capannori. Fassa Bortolo's Francesco Casagrande took second, as the tightly bunchedpack cruised in four seconds behind the winner. Saeco's Gilberto Simoni,winner of last year's Giro, took third. The stage was highlighted by a nearly 170-kilometer

Mountain-bike hall of famer Tinker Juarez, twice an Olympian andthree-time NORBA National XC Champion, has yet another stars and stripesjersey to add to the collection.Between noon Saturday, May 18 and noon Sunday, May 19, the Cannondalerider successfully defended his 2001 title as the 24 Hours of AdrenalinNORBA National Champion at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California."It's nice to win these days," Juarez, the overwhelming crowd favorite,told VeloNews. "It means so much more to me to win, because thewins are so much harder to come by. Today was the first time I've beenable to race

Marga Fullana did it again, winning mountain biking’s 2002 World Cup openerin front of a raucous home crowd in Madrid´s Casa de Campo park onSunday.Some of Fullana´s biggest victories have come in her native Spain,including her World Cup win at El Escorial a few years ago and her secondworld title at Sierra Nevada in 2000."The Spanish fans really helped me today late in the race. They reallyencouraged me to keep pushing," Fullana said, winning in 2 hours, 31 seconds.Under bright sunny skies, Fullana attacked early, opened a 40-secondgap after the first of five laps and held the lead to the

Lotto’s Rik Verbrugghe won the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia, a 159kmrun round a circuit in Lido Di Camaiore on Sunday.The 27-year-old Belgian won the stage by 59 seconds, after escapingfrom a breakway group of 10 on the last of three ascents up the short and steep Colli di Pedona. After an 18km solo effort, Verbrugghe finished nearly a minute ahead of Gerolsteiner’s Raphael Schweda finished second and Alessio's Cristian Moreni.Britain's Maximilian Sciandri was fourth, a minute and two seconds behindbut the main peloton trailed Verbrugghe by a full minute and 46 seconds.American Tyler

Bart Brentjens tore a page out of the history books to win his firstWorld Cup race since his glory days in 1996. Mountain bike’s first Olympicgold medalist roared away from a lead group of nine riders in Sunday’sopening round of the 2002 World Cup to score an impressive victory.“It feels good,” said Brentjens, who attacked early in the second lapto open a gap that kept growing during each of the six laps on Madrid’srolling Casa de Campo course. “It’s unbelievable to win today.”It’s not as if Brentjens has been collecting dust on the shelf. Despitehis five-year World Cup drought that dates

For the second year in a row, the top U.S. road teams descended on the lush Housatonic Valley in southwest Connecticut for the Housatonic Valley Classic, which has quickly emerged as one of the top one-day road races in the U.S. On a cool but sunny afternoon, Navigators’ Vassili Davidenko won a field sprint among the tough men of the peloton, while Saturn’s Anna Millward won the inaugural Saturn-Timex Classic women’s race. When the 198-strong men’s field left the start in Danbury just after noon, many of the 34 teams were probably expecting the race to unfold like last year’s, a survival of

5:13 p.m. -- Paolo Savoldelli attacked with 5km to go and finished 45 seconds ahead of the peloton. The big news is that the main group -- including Garzelli -- finished 5:05 behind the lead group. So, Jens Heppner (Telekom) is the new overall leader of the Giro d'Italia, with a margin of more than three-and-a-half minutes.Provisional results from Stage 61. Giovanni Lombardi (I), Acqua e Sapone 4:56:452. Ruggero Marzoli (I), Formaggi Tret3. Bert Grabsch (Ger), Phonak4. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Tacconi Sport5. Angel Vicioso (Sp), Kelme6. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Landbouwkrediet-Colnago7. Jens

Stefano Garzelli lost the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia to Telekom’s Jens Heppner on Saturday after competing despite failing a doping test, while Giovanni Lombardi of the Acqua e Sapone team won the sixth stage. Word leaked out early Saturday that Garzelli tested positive for the diuretic Probenecid, which has drug-masking qualities, after winning Monday's second stage. Garzelli and his Mapei team were informed of the result Saturday. He was encouraged to continue in the race by his Mapei team until a 'B' test has been examined. (see "Garzellistarts stage 6 despite positive drug

Mapei’s rider Stefano Garzelli strengthened his grip on the overall lead of the Tour of Italy here on Friday when he won the fifth stage of the race as it reached Italy for the first time. Garzelli crossed the line after the ascent of the 14 km final climb, just ahead of Spain's Santiago Perez and now leads Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo) by 43 seconds in the overall standings. "Garzelli is setting a steady pace. I was going to attack him today but I decided to climb without taking any risks," said Casagrande. "This year I have trained more on my time trial performance and feel I'm

VeloNews technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder, a formerU.S. national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bikemantenance. This is the third of Zinn's weekly VeloNews.com column devotedto addressing readers' technical questions about bikes, their care andfeeding and how we as riders can use them as comfortably and efficientlyas possible. Readers can send brief technical questions directlyto Zinn. We'll try to print a representative sample of questions eachThursday.First, some follow-up from our last columnA few more reader comments on the creaking bottom bracket

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Lotto's Robbie McEwen, Australia's national road champion, pipped ace sprinter Mario Cipollini (Acqua e Sapone) to win the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia that finished in Stasbourg, France, on Wednesday. Stefano Garzelli of Mapei, held on to the maglia rosa, the overall leader's pink jersey. McEwan, 29, ranked twentieth in the world, powered past Cipollini in the last few metres after getting the better of the Italian's teammates in the jostling for position. "McEwen got in my slip stream and I carried him to the finish line," moaned Cipollini. The Australian took the stage in a

Acqua e Sapone's ace sprinter Mario Cipollini earned his 36th stagewin at the Giro d'Italia Wednesday when he took a field sprint at the endof a 206km cross-border run from Verviers in Belgium to Esch sur Alzette, Luxemburg. Mapei's Stefano Garzelli continues to hold the maglia rosa, the race leader's pink jersey. In the race to the line, Cipollini beat Massimo Strazzer (Phonak) and Danilo Hondo (Telekom) to add to a collection of Giro stage wins that began back in 1989. He is now just five victories shy of the all-time record of 41 Giro stage wins held by Alfredo Binda, the great

The final day of the 2002 National Collegiate Cycling Association Championships in Burlington, Vermont on Sunday concluded with the 19-mile team time trial event. In the Division I men’s race, the University of California at Berkeley took the national title with a time of 41:05.260, finishing just 5 seconds ahead the University of California at Davis. In Division I women’s action, the Midwestern State University team had a dominating ride. They came across the line in 47:11.490, more than half a minute ahead of Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo. The bronze went to the University of California at

Former Giro winner Stefano Garzelli (Mapei) won the second stage of this year’s Giro D'Italia, finishing in Liege on Monday. Garzelli's win in the 209km ride from Cologne, Germany to Ans, Belgium saw the Mapei rider take the leader's pink jersey. The Italian, winner of the 2000 Giro, won a group sprint to pip Fassa Bortolo’s Francesco Casagrande, who had launched the decisive attack on the final, six-kilometer climb, to the line. The leading group, who all timed 5:25:12 also included Jens Heppner (Telekom), who finished third, Italian Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner ), American Tyler

Anne-Caroline Chausson added yet another accomplishment to her amazing resume Sunday, becoming just the fifth woman to sweep the gravity events at a NORBA national. A day after the Frenchwoman won the dual slalom at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, Chausson captured the season opening downhill, besting second-place finisher Sabrina Jonnier by more than six seconds. In the men’s race it was Aussie Chris Kovarik taking the day. The Intense rider backed up his No. 1 qualifying run, outgunning Maxxis’ John Kirkcaldie by more than two seconds in the final. Chausson

Acqua & Sapone’s Mario Cipollini of won the 218km first stage of the Giro d’Italia between Groningen, the Netherlands, and Munster, Germany on Sunday, taking over the leader’s pink jersey in the process. Cipollini won the final dash for the line from a splinter group that broke away from the main bunch after a mass fall 3km from the finish. Fassa Bortolo's Michele Bartoli, a perennial challenger in the classics, was one of the accident's victims and abandoned the race. Cipollini beat out two Australian cyclists, Graeme Brown (Panaria) and Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco), on the line with

France’s Sylvain Chavanel (Bonjour) took the overall title at the Four Days of Dunkirk while Mapei’s Tom Steels won the sprint finish of the final stage in Dunkirk, France. After taking the overall lead on Saturday, Chavanel survived a day of frequent attacks on Sunday, but in the end the final stage came down to a field sprint, with the young Bonjour rider tucked away safely. In the finale, Steels beat out Domo’s Jans Koerts and Luciano Pagliarini for the stage win. Dunkirk was the first major victory for the 23-year-old Chavanel.

The U.S. team took three more medals at the second round of the World Track Cup in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday. Tammy Thomas took gold in the women’s sprint in an all-American final with Tanya Lindenmuth, while Sarah Hammer beat France’s Cathy Moncassin in the women’s points race. The big upset of the weekend came in the men’s sprint, where Australian Sean Eadie beat out France’s superstar, Arnaud Tournant. Home team Australia took the overall team classification, followed by New Zealand and the U.S.

Spain's Juan Carlos Dominguez of the upstart Phonak team won the prologue of the Giro d’Italia in Groningen, the Netherlands, over a 6.5km course in the northern Dutch town. Dominguez, one of the last starters, finished in 8:12, one second ahead of Lotto’s Rik Verbrugghe and four seconds in front of Paolo Savoldelli (Alexia) of Italy to take early control of the coveted pink jersey. It was the 31-year-old time-trial specialist's first stage win in a major race although he has earned stage victories in smaller Spanish events like the Tour of Aragon and Catalan Week. It was a banner day

The U.S. team took three medals on day 2 of the second round of the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney, Australia. The medal haul was led by Tanya Lindenmuth, who took gold in the women’s 500-meter time trial. Meanwhile, Jame Carney took silver behind Dutchman Robert slippens in the men’s scratch race, and Sarah Hammer was second behind New Zealand’s Sarah Ulmer in the women’s scratch race. On day 1, Southern Californian Josiah Ng took silver in the keirin, flying the colors of the Malaysian national team, and 7UP-Nutra Fig pro Greg Henderson of New Zealand took third in the points race behind

Cédric Vasseur (Cofidis) overcame a broken derailleur to win the fifth stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk, between Outreau and Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France. Vasseur chased back to the winning breakaway and then attacked on the final climb of the day to beat out fellow Frenchmen Jean-Cyril Robin (Bonjour) and Laurent Brochard (Jean Delatour) for the stage win. Bonjour’s Sylvain Chavanel finished sixth on the day, good enough to take the leader’s jersey from Ravais Belohvosciks (Lampre-Daikin), who missed out on the break. Canadian Michael Barry (U.S. Postal Service), finished ninth on

As if the 15 percent grade of Cliff Street wasn't enough for the collegiate competitors on day one of the 2002 National Collegiate Cycling Association Road Nationals in Burlington, Vermont on Friday, there was also the 40 mph wind gusts off Lake Champlain to worry about. Under these conditions, Jeff Angerman (University of California at Davis) and Kate Maher (University of California at Berkley) took home the Division I stars-and-stripes jerseys in the Summit Street Criterium, the first of three stages scheduled for the weekend. In the men’s race, Angerman had his hands full when he found

On a blustery spring morning in the Green Mountains near Burlington, Vermont, more than 500 racers representing 60 Division I and II colleges lined up for day two of the 2002 National Collegiate Cycling Association Road Race. Day one saw racers vying for the national criterium titles in the Summit Street Criterium in Burlington. The road race titles on Saturday would be contested nearby in the Mad River Road Race. At the end of a 65-mile day in the saddle most people would fear a 5-kilometer climb with a 20 percent grade stinger to the finish, but both Darby Thomas (University of Colorado)

The joke floating around Snow Summit Resort on Saturday was that the revamped short track course put the short in short track. Minus last year’s brief trip into woods, the 2002 circuit sent riders straight up a quick climb, into a brief chicane, then back into the village via the twisty sidewalk around the resort’s base area. The result was lap times that barely exceeded a minute for both the men and women, and a relentless pace that saw the majority of each field get pulled long before the race was over. Among those who did survive were Alison Dunlap and Ryder Hesjedal, who both took wins

After nine seasons plus one race, the run of the dual slalom came to an end on the sun-soaked slopes of Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. And unlike the early years when Americans dominated the side-by-side gated event, Saturday’s NORBA NCS No. 1 wins went to Aussie Wade Bootes and Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson. In the men’s bracket Bootes (Trek-Volkswagen) took down Mike King, Chris Kovarik (Intense), and Kirt Voreis (Haro-Lee Dungarees), earning the third dual slalom win of his career. In the final against Voreis, Bootes dropped the opening heat, but managed to make up

With a second-place finish on the stage 4 individual time trial, Lampre’s Ravais Belohvosciks moved into the overall lead at the Four Days of Dunkirk in France, taking the leader’s pink jersey from Janek Tombak (Cofidis). Friday was a split stage at Dunkirk, with Jean-Patrick Nazon (La Française des Jeux) winning in a sprint over Lampre’s Jan Svorada. Navigators’ Ciaran Power took fifth. The afternoon presented the riders with a flat 23.3km time-trial course, and it was Crédit Agricole’s Christophe Moreau who posted the fastest time of the day, covering the distance in 27:51.64.

For one it was a breakthrough performance. For the other it was just more of the same. But after a long day of racing at NORBA NCS No. 1 at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake California, Jimena Florit and Roland Green both had impressive cross-country wins to their credit. Friday’s racing opened with the women taking on three laps of the revamped 7.25-mile circuit, and right from the gun Florit (RLX-Polo Sport) looked to have the strongest legs. The Argentinean national who calls San Diego home pulled away from the pack on the first lap, growing her advantage to 58 seconds by the time she

Cofidis’s Janek Tombak pulled on the pink leader’s jersey at the Four Days of Dunkirk in France after winning Thursday’s second stage, 190km from Hellemmes to Steenvorde. Tombak beat Frenchman Didier Rous (Bonjour) for the stage win and took the leader’s jersey away from Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour). The start of the race saw the ever-present Jacky Durand (La Française des Jeux) initiate an eight-man breakaway that would stay out on the road for the first 50km. That group was absorbed, but countered by Roger Hammond (Palmans-Collstrop) and Roberto Lochowski (EDS-Fakta). That duo would

Jean Delaour’s Patrice Halgand won the opening stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk in northern France, taking the 181.6km stage over breakaway companions Janek Tombak (Cofidis) and Linas Balciunas (Ag2R). The trio were part of a lead group of about two dozen riders that formed 75km into the race and included some notable sprinters as well as last year’s Dunkirk winner Didier Rous (Bonjour). The group would finish three-and-a-half minutes over the field, with Mapei’s Andrea Tafi and CSC’s Laurent Jalabert among those missing out. As the race approached the finish in Wasquehal, the attacks

Italy's Dario Frigo successfully defended his Tour of Romandie title Sunday following an accident-packed 18.3km fifth and final stage time-trial. Swiss rider Alex Zulle won the stage, his second in a row. Zulle finished 24 seconds ahead of Tacconi-rider Frigo with Britain's David Miller third at 0:40 in a race which was marred by the death of a Swiss policeman. The 50-year-old policeman lost control of his motorbike as he cleared the road before the arrival of the peleton. He hit a lamppost and died an hour later. In a second incident, a pedestrian was in a serious condition after breaking

Mercury’s Chris Wherry and Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson each capped off their overall wins at the Tour of the Gila by taking their respective stage wins in the Gila Monster Road Race on Sunday. Wherry added the final stage to go along with his stage 1 time trial win, while Jeanson’s was her fourth stage win out of five. As she had done on both of the other road stages, Jeanson attacked early and opened up a big gap. The Canadian was left unchallenged, and would finish 5:47 ahead of Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner on the stage. On the long finishing climb through the Gila national forest, Bruckner and

While the stage 4 criterium at the Tour of the Gila had little effect on the general classification, it did a lot to reinforce who’s in charge at this year’s race in New Mexico: Mercury on the men’s side, Rona on the women’s. Not only did the teams keep their respective race leaders, Chris Wherry and Genevieve Jeanson, safe and out of trouble, they also delivered two of the supporting players, Gord Fraser and Karen Bockel, to stage wins. For Mercury, it was a return to the hey-days, as the lead-out train delivered its Canadian finisher Fraser to the line after a day of hard work. After