Road

German rider Carlo Westphal (Gerolsteiner) won the fifth stage of the Tour of Benelux on Monday. Compatriot Andre Greipel of the Columbia team holds the overall race lead.

During his three-week assignment to cover the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, VeloNews reporter Fred Dreier roamed China's capital city armed with his point-and-shoot digital camera. A professional photographer he is not, but Fred managed to snap a few photos of a side of the games not seen by all.

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Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United Pro) won Sunday’s Chris Thater Memorial Criterium in Binghamton, New York. The Aussie, who won here in 2006, edged out Alejandro Borrajo (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Eric Boiley (Volkswagen) to take the victory on the 25th anniversary of the NRC race, the ninth stop on this year's USA CRITS series. “My guys on my teams really put their trust in me today, and I was glad I was able to pull it off for them.” Clarke said after his win.

Belgian rider Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won a sprint finish for Sunday's fourth stage of the Tour of Benelux. Dutch rider Kenny van Hummel finished second and Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia) in third. Boasson Hagen 's teammate Andre Greipel took the leader's jersey going into Monday's fifth stage over 171.8km from Ardooie to Ostend.

Italy's Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) sprinted to victory in the third stage of the Tour of Benelux on Saturday, taking the leader's jersey from Spain's Jose Ivan Gutierrez. Bennati crossed the line ahead of Belgians Tom Boonen and Jurgen Roelandts.

Frenchman Julien Absalon took his mountain bike status to new heights on Saturday when he became the first rider to defend the men's Olympic cross country title. US and Canadian men had a dismal day, with Canadian Geoff Kabush the top North American finisher in 20th place. At only 28 years old, he said motivating himself for a third consecutive gold in London should be no problem. "The Olympic Games is a massive motivation for every athlete and four years passes quickly, as it has from Athens to Beijing," said Absalon.

Germany’s Sabine Spitz owns a closet full of silver and bronze medals from mountain bike racing’s biggest events — the Olympics, world championships and World Cup. The 36-year-old patiently rode in the shadows of ’04 Olympic champ Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå during the four years in which the Norwegian ruled over the sport.

Germany's Andre Greipel (Team Columbia) won the second stage of the Eneco Tour in The Netherlands on Friday. Greipel beat Argentina's Juan Jose Haedo (CSC-Saxo Bank) and compatriot Robert Forster(Gerolsteiner) in a rain-soaked sprint finish in Nieuwegein, in the north of The Netherlands. Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) was fourth and stage one winner Tom Boonen was fifth.

The Chris Thater Memorial will reach an historic milestone this weekend in Binghamton, New York. Not only will the event be commemorating its 25th anniversary, but many of the strongest pro cyclists and teams will be there to help support the Broome County STOP DWI program and to compete for a total purse of $70,000. The event is part of the National Racing Calendar and the USA CRITS series.

France’s Anne-Caroline Chausson out-pedaled, out-jumped and out-maneuvered the world’s best female BMX riders to win the inaugural Olympic BMX race at the Laoshan cycling venue. The Frenchwoman, who also owns 16 world titles in gravity mountain bike racing, grabbed the biggest single prize of her storied career ahead of compatriot Laetitia le Corguille. Amerian Jill Kintner crossed the finish line in third to bring the United States its first-ever medal in Olympic BMX.

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Maris Strombergs put Latvia on top of the BMX world by taking the inaugural Olympic gold medal in flying fashion. The 21-year-old Latvian, who won the BMX world title earlier this year, earned Latvia its first medal of the 2008 Olympics, crossing the line ahead of Americans Mike Day and Donny Robinson. “It didn’t matter if it was the Olympics, the world championships or the European championships, the feeling is the same,” Strombergs said. “I was very cool and concentrated.”

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Belgian rider Tom Boonen (Quick Step), won the first stage of the Tour du Benelux in The Netherlands on Thursday. Spain's Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne), retained the yellow jersey after winning Wednesday's prologue. Boonen, 27, is the 2005 world champion. In June he was barred from the Tour de France after testing positive for cocaine.

It was over in an instant, but the altercation between a Tour of Utah race staffer and Garmin-Chipotle team doctor Prentice Steffen was years in the making. During the stage 3 criterium in Salt Lake City last Friday, Tour of Utah team liaison Marty Jemison, a former U.S. Postal Service rider, punched Steffen after the team doctor made what Jemison considered to be an inflammatory remark about alleged doping dating back over a decade.

Price: $369 Web site: www.kurtkinetic.com A portion of the revenue from sales of the special pink Kurt Kinetic trainer go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a grassroots organization of breast cancer survivors, advocates and activists. The organization has pledged $2 billion in the next ten years to fight breast cancer.

Nicolas Roche — fresh off winning the opening stage of the Tour de Limousin this week — has penned a two-year deal with French outfit Ag2r-La Mondiale. The 24-year-old son of Irish great Stephen Roche, he leaves Credit Agricole to join the French team through the 2010 season. “Nicolas is a rider with a big future with important physical abilities,” said Ag2r manager Vincent Lavenu. “He already has some solid experience and is arriving at maturity as a rider. All of that should enable to realize his potential in the big races.”

Cadel Evans will not be in the Silence-Lotto team competing in the Tour of Spain, starting on August 30 at Granada, the team announced on its Web site. The Belgium-based outfit has left the Australian out of the Vuelta, which finishes on September 21 in Madrid. The 31-year-old, who injured his knee in the aftermath of finishing second overall in the Tour de France at the end of July, finished 15th in the road race and fifth in the individual time trial at the Beijing Olympics.

Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) won the prologue of the Eneco Tour of Benelux in Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands, on Wednesday. The Spanish cyclist, winner of the event last year, was judged to be leader after clocking 5:31.09 minutes over the 4.4 kilometer stage — fractions of a second in front of French rider Cyril Lemoine (Credit Agricole). Norway's Edvald Hagen (Team Columbia) was third.

A California Superior Court judge dismissed defamation suit against former Rock Racing soigneur Suzanne Sonye by Kayle Leogrande, a racer on the team. Leogrande filed suit after a recording of her telephone conversation with an anti-doping activist was posted on the Internet. In that conversation, Sonye repeated allegations outlined in an affidavit she provided to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that Leogrande had admitted using performance-enhancing substanstes.

Irish cyclist Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole) won the first stage of the Tour du Limousin on Tuesday. Roche, 24, powered along the country roads between Limoges and Guéret to win the 166km stage in four hours, four minutes, beating the field to the line by three seconds. France's Steve Chainel (Auber 93) and Roche’s teammate Sébastien Hinault came second and third.

Britain confirmed their status as rulers of the Olympic velodrome Tuesday, claiming two of the last three track cycling gold medals on offer to finish with seven out of 10. On a day that Australian blushes were saved in timely fashion by Anna Meares' sprint silver, giving the team that dominated in Athens just one medal, Britain were celebrating a total of 12 out of 30 medals awarded in Beijing. They medalled in eight of the 10 events, only failing to claim a medal in the women's points race and the men's Madison.

Victoria Pendleton of Great Britain grabbed her first Olympic gold after dominating Anna Meares of Australia over two legs of the women's sprint final in Beijing on Tuesday. Meares picked up the silver with China's Guo Shuang winning the bronze. Pendleton's maiden Olympic crown means she has taken Britain's track cycling gold tally to six. The 27-year-old Englishwoman is also the first British woman to win Olympic gold in track cycling's blue ribbon event. It is also Britain's first women's track medal since Yvonne McGregor won pursuit bronze in Sydney eight years ago.

Flying Scotsman Chris Hoy equaled a 100-year-old British Olympic record on his way to winning his third gold medal of the Beijing Games on Tuesday. Hoy, who had already won gold in the team sprint and keirin, claimed his first ever Olympic sprint crown after a dominant display over teammate Jason Kenny. Hoy claimed his third gold medal of the Games, and fourth of his career, after beating England's Kenny in two successive sprints.

Dear Lennard,
You mention you use the No Tubes set up with your Ksyriums and Hutchinson’s Road Tubeless tires. I would like to do the same, but am concerned about Hutchinson’s warning against doing so. Something about ammonia breaking down the inside body of the tire. Any thoughts here?
Matt

Argentina's Juan Curuchet and Walter Perez grabbed Olympic gold in the men's Madison in Beijing on Tuesday when all three medals were decided on the last lap's 10th and final sprint. Spain finished second to take the silver with Russia winning the bronze. Britain's pursuit and team pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, aiming for a record-breaking third gold medal of the Beijing Games, was never in contention with teammate Mark Cavendish. Argentina's pairing was a constant threat for their rivals in the 50km, 200-lap race where points can be won at intermediate sprints.

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It’s said that racing in the yellow jersey gives a rider wings. It’s also said that there’s no motivation like racing in front of friends and family. Both notions proved true Sunday during the final stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, in which Utah native Jeff Louder of BMC Racing overcame a seven-second deficit to Garmin-Chipotle’s Blake Caldwell to take the overall victory by eight seconds.

The four-man pursuit squad of Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins won Great Britain its fifth gold medal of the 2008 Olympics. Team Great Britain nearly lapped Denmark in the finals of the team pursuit, breaking their own world record from Sunday’s qualifying round with a 3:53.314 finishing time. The Brits led wire-to-wire against Denmark, which eased up on the throttle once the Brits came nipping at their heels on the final lap. The Danes finished with a time of 4:00.040. New Zealand took home the bronze with a 3:57.776.

Michael Blatchford might not own the bulky track sprinter’s physique, but the lean, mean American proved this season he can be competitive on the international circuit. Blatchford came up a hair short in Sunday night’s 1/16 round of the men’s match sprint. The 22-year-old saw his chances at qualifying for the finals dashed by France’s thick sprinter Kevin Sireau, one of the fastest men in the sport. Midway through the bell lap Sireau appeared to commit too early to his sprint, opening the door for Blatchford.

Dutchwoman Marianne Vos erased the demons from her sub-stellar finishes in last week’s road and time-trial events by dominating the Points Race. Vos, 21, earned 30 total points in the 100-lap race, 20 of which came from lapping the field. Yoanka Gonzalez of Cuba finished second with 18 points with Leire Olaberria of Spain grabbing the bronze. “I had a lot of confidence coming into [the points race] — during my training I felt very good,” Vos said. “It wasn’t like I felt bad in the road race or the time trial, of course I was trying to get a medal. I was very disappointed.”

Pat McQuaid, the head of cycling’s world governing body, said Monday a long-running feud that has "split the cycling family" is nearing its end, as he announced the creation of a new international calendar. UCI president McQuaid has been fighting resistance from major race organizers, including the Tour de France, in recent years following disagreements over the ProTour calendar of races.

Price: $269 Web site: www.dinottelighting.com DiNotte's 400L headlight is a new model introduced in time for fall training, trail riding and 24-hour racing. The standard double-LED light produces 400 Lumens and can be mounted on a variety of bar diameters with horizontal or vertical orientation. A helmet/head strap kit option is available this month. The user can experiment with different beam patterns with an optional lens kit, which the company recommends for helmet use and trail riding.

Michael Ball's fashion designers will be busy this week after Rock Racing's Rahsaan Bahati on Sunday earned his latest stars-and-stripes jersey, winning the Saab USA Cycling Pro Criterium Championship on the course in Downers Grove, Illinois, on which he last triumphed in 2000 as an amateur. It's the first time in three years that an American has earned the championship by winning the 100km race outright. And while Rock Racing betrayed a certain confidence by kitting up in red, white and blue, it also fulfilled a seasonlong goal for Bahati, who is still battling a bum leg.

Rebecca Romero pumped her fist and let out a shriek after crossing the finish line to win Olympic gold in the individual pursuit on Monday night. The finishing gesture mimicked that of her compatriot Nicole Cooke, who won last Sunday's women’s road race. “I’m trying to hold it together,” said Romero, who defeated compatriot Wendy Houvenaghel to take the win. “I’ve had to search deep inside and fight for it and do what I know I’m capable of. Olympic gold medals don’t come easy.”

Two-time Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins expects a tough battle on Monday when he leads Britain out in a bid to claim its first Olympic gold in the coveted team pursuit. Britain’s four underlined their credentials as heirs to defending champions Australia by beating their own world record in Beijing on Sunday in a time of 3:55.202 seconds. It allowed the Brits to finish fastest in the first round and book the gold medal match against Denmark. An impressive New Zealand quartet will face Australia in the fight for bronze.

Newly-crowned Olympic keirin champion Chris Hoy is primed for a semi-final clash with three-time world sprint champion Theo Bos as he looks for more gold in the men's sprint. Scottish sprint king Hoy continued his bid for his third Beijing gold medal after coasting into the quarter-finals of the men's sprint Sunday. Hoy, 32, beat a 12-year-old Olympic record for the 200 meters flying start in the qualifying round in a stunning time of 9.815 seconds.

Britain's Rebecca Romero made Olympic history in Beijing Sunday when she became just the second woman to claim medals in two different sports at the summer Games. England's Romero dominated the 3km individual-pursuit final to leave Wendy Houvenaghel of Northern Ireland with the silver medal after posting a winning time of three minutes, 28.32 seconds. Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine defeated New Zealand's Alison Shanks to win the bronze medal.

To the cheers of a partisan crowd, BMC’s Jeff Louder won the queen stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Saturday, a grueling slog from Park City to Snowbird Ski Resort that delivered 15,000 feet of climbing and three KOM points over 98.7 miles. At Snowbird Ski Resort at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon the Salt Lake City native finished seconds ahead of Garmin-Chipotle’s race leader Blake Caldwell, who finished second on the stage. Team Type 1’s Glen Chadwick, less than one week off a return flight from Beijing, finished third.

Greg LeMond has reached a $39.5 million settlement with the owners of an exclusive retreat for the super rich that has its own ski resort and uses ex-Secret Service agents for security. Last week's settlement resolves a two-year legal dispute in which LeMond, his in-laws and an associate accused businessman Tim Blixseth of trying to buy out their minority stake in the Yellowstone Club for less than its actual value. A related settlement between Blixseth and his estranged wife, Edra Blixseth, in their divorce case also resolves a bitter struggle over control of the enterprise.

With three golds, a silver and a two bronzes through four events on the Laoshan Velodrome, Great Britain is living up to its pre-Olympics hype as the track dominator. So far it hasn’t been a benevolent ruler. Day Two saw Chris Hoy take a crushing victory in the men’s keirin (with Ross Edgar in silver), just 24 hours after the Brits mowed their way to gold in the Team Sprint.

Spaniard Joan Llaneras produced a stunning display of endurance and sprint riding here at the Laoshan velodrome to reclaim his Olympic crown in the men's points race. Germany's Roger Kluge took the silver with Britain's Christopher Newton taking the bronze. Llaneras, 39, reclaimed the title he won at Sydney in 2000 after a stunning ride in the 160-lap race which he finished with 60 points. Kluge, the halfway leader, finished on 58 with Newton on 56.

Wiggins sets new standard in pursuit

Jennie Reed is heading into Sunday’s sprint qualifying rounds with the added air of confidence that comes with owning a world championship gold medal. True, Reed did not take her world title at this year’s worlds in Manchester in the sprint — she won it in the keirin, which is not an Olympic event. But the fast and furious keirin is often a litmus test for how strong a track sprinter’s legs are firing. And this year, Reed’s legs have been firing full blast.

The motorcade of team cars raced through downtown Beijing, the usually congested roads virtually emptied for the Olympics, to the start. In each unbranded white car, the riders were piled in the back, as the directors drove. A small flag on the side was the only thing differentiating each team. On the roof, the bikes were covered in tape and the carbon wheels logo-less to appease the Olympic rules that control which companies can be featured in their event.

While Mother Nature teased participants with tiny showers up to about an hour before the start, this year’s Mt. Washington Hillclimb went off without a hitch. At start time the temp at the base of the New Hampshire peak was a mild 61, while the summit was a sunny 46 with literally no wind. [nid:81910] The 600-rider field — containing none of the more well known riders of the past few years such as Tyler Hamilton, Tom Danielson or Ned Overend — left the field wide open for up-and-coming riders.

Before the Tour of Utah's stage 4 twilight criterium began Friday, the start line was buzzing with the news that Toyota-United would not be returning in 2009. “Maybe some guys are more surprised than others, but I’ve been in this game long enough to know that the sponsorship search is not an easy one,” Toyota-United team director Scott Moninger said, adding that he didn’t foresee other domestic teams being able to absorb Toyota’s roster into its own.

American Taylor Phinney held his head high as he rolled off the wooden track at Beijing’s Laoshan velodrome. The American’s quest for an Olympic medal had just fizzled in the semi finals of the men’s Individual Pursuit, as Phinney fell to New Zealander Hayden Roulston. Above the American, his parents — cycling greats Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney — chanted “We love you buddy!” as Phinney stepped off his bike to end his whirlwind 2007-08 season.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins of Britain successfully defended his Olympic crown when he won the individual pursuit track cycling gold in Beijing on Saturday. New Zealand's Hayden Roulston took silver with Britain's Steven Burke winning the bronze medal. American Taylor Phinney missed a spot in the medal rounds, riding 4:26.6 in Round 1. The 27-year-old Wiggins clocked a time of 4:16.5 in Round 1 to secure his place in the final against the New Zealander, who finished in 4:19.2.

Disproving critics that downplayed his Successful Living team’s chances of taking victory at the national level in 2008, Argentinean Ricardo Escuela won the stage 3 criterium of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Friday evening in downtown Salt Lake City. It was Successful Living’s third NRC win of the 2008 season.

Toyota-United team riders are free to seek new teams, and — though the team's owners continue to search for a new title sponsor for 2009 — the team is unlikely to continue next year with anything resembling its current lineup. And the team's owner says the UCI is partly to blame. Managers told team members in a conference call on Friday that they are released from their contracts because the team will be unable to sign up a new title sponsor in time to meet a UCI team license registration deadline.

Scotland's Chris Hoy anchored Britain to an historic victory in the coveted Olympic team sprint final in Beijing Friday to leave world champions France with the silver. Hoy, who is aiming for a further two gold medals in the five-day, ten final race anchored the team home after stunning rides from England's Jamie Staff and Jason Kenny in a time of 43.128. France took the silver in 43.551 with defending champions Germany beating Australia to the bronze medal.

In the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, American track pursuit cyclist Sarah Hammer graced the pages of both Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazines. As her sport’s world champion in both 2005 and 2006, Hammer was touted in print as America’s best shot at grabbing a medal in track racing.

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The top stage racers in the country wasted no time Thursday in tearing apart the general classification at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. A select group of 13 riders emerged during the day’s third and final mountain pass as the most likely contenders for overall victory, while Garmin-Chipotle’s 24-year-old Blake Caldwell took his second career Tour of Utah stage win. For the second consecutive day, the stage winner came out of a small breakaway, and for the second consecutive day the winner wore a Garmin-Chipotle jersey, which was then traded for yellow atop the podium.

Call it MaskGate.

Four world-class track cyclists land in one of the most polluted cities in the world and want nothing more than to protect the one organ – their lungs – that most determines whether or not they’ll win an Olympic medal.

They don masks, given to them by their Olympic governing body, and an international scandal erupts.

Sarah Hammer, Jennie Reed, Michael Friedman and Bobby Lea unintentionally created a furor on August 5 when they walked into Beijing’s international airport wearing USOC-issued masks to cover their nose and mouths.

What a way to

Here are some interesting factoids and other non-essential, but mildly entertaining, factlets from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games data base: DOUBLE TIME: Fabian Cancellara (Swi) did more than win gold in the time trial and bronze in the road race. “Spartacus” became only the fifth rider to win a medal in both road events in the same Olympic Games.

Dutch rider Thomas Dekker has confirmed that he is looking for a new contract after a fallout with his Rabobank team over alleged “abnormal blood values” in a UCI test earlier this year. Dekker’s agent, Jacques Hanegraaf, told the Dutch news service ANP that both sides decided it would be “mutually beneficial” for the rider to look for another team.

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Phinney and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) bridged to an early breakaway and then won the Tour of Utah's first stage after working a day-long break. Donald's win in the 101-mile flat-to-rolling stage gives him the early overall lead in the stage race. Second place went to Sheldon Denny of the Fan Sports Network team; third was Brad White of Successful Living. Thursday's second stage is hillier: the University Health Care Road Race, at 84.6 miles, has four climbs. It begins in downtown Ogden and ends in Salt Lake City.

World Anti Doping Agency president John Fahey said earlier this week that the Olympic movement should consider banishing cycling and weight lifting from the Games because they are sports that have doping problems. UCI president Pat McQuaid immediately shot back that no other sport is doing as much as cycling to fight the cheats, and that several major sports have been dragging their heels on anti-doping issues for years.

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German rider Linus Gerdemann (Team Columbia) won the Tour de l'Ain cycling race after the fourth and final stage on Wednesday. Gerdemann clocked 14:14:03 over the four stages to finish 12 seconds ahead of French rider David Moncoutie of Cofidis, with AG2R rider Stephane Goubert of France third at 36 seconds. The 25-year-old German, holder of the yellow jersey after his victory on Tuesday, and his Columbia teammates were dominant on the hilly Bugey stage.

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Suggested retail: $9.99 Capacity: 21 ounces Web site: www.rocketsciencesports.com The Rocket Bottle is an aerodynamic water bottle that fits standard bottle cages. Rocket Science claims that wind-tunnel testing shows the bottle has 16 percent less drag than a standard bottle, which the company says equates to saving 53 seconds in a 40km time trial.

A few days ago I was chatting with American Christine Thorburn about Wednesday’s individual time trial. The Californian went through a laundry list of meticulous technical and training specifications she had nailed down in preparation for the race against the clock — an event that historically rewards a rider’s attention to detail. I said something like, “wow, that sounds really Type-A.” Dr. Thorburn, the rheumatologist, cracked a smile.

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Cadel Evans said he is unlikely to compete at the world championships this year after revealing the extent of his knee injury following the Olympic cycling time trial on Wednesday. After finishing 15th in the road race last Saturday, the Australian battled through the pain to finish a commendable fifth in the 47.3km race at 1min 23sec behind unstoppable Swiss winner Fabian Cancellara. The 31-year-old Australian admitted he was happy with the result as he had spent the run-up to the Games trying to recover from a damaged anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.

Fabian Cancellara’s finish-line salute at the end of Wednesday’s Olympic time trial erased any concerns that the big Swiss rider has lost his edge in the race against the clock. He rolled into the finishing straight with 33 seconds in his pocket over Swede Gustav Larsson, stopped pedaling, lifted his arm in a very un-aero fist and punched the air.