Road

Friday morning's time trial along the Mighty Mississippi turned out to be decisive - at least for the next ten hours, while the caravan returns to Minneapolis for tonight's much-anticipated downtown criterium. More than 20,000 cycling fans are expected to show up for the event - a massive party for this bike-loving community. As expected, Kristin Armstrong shot out of the chute like a roman candle, delivering a world champion performance and possibly the coup de grace to leader Catherine Cheatley of Cheerwine, who until today has protected her hold on the yellow jersey of the

Discovery Channel sport director Johan Bruyneel expressed confidence that a new title sponsor will be secured for the 2008 season. Discovery Channel announced February it would end its three-year title sponsorship with the team at the end of the 2007 season. Bruyneel, who, along with Lance Armstrong and Bill Stapleton, owns a part of the team, said the title sponsor hunt continues. “I’m confident. I am optimistic about the future of the team,” Bruyneel told VeloNews. “There are still a lot of things going on as we speak. We’re pushing hard and it could happen at any moment.” Bruyneel also

JEFF OATLEY: TOP AMERICAN IN RAAM ‘07 Training for the Race Across America is a challenge for any rider. To have the stamina and conditioning to ride 20-hours a day for more than a week in June, a competitor must put in long rides in January, and beyond. How does a guy do that in Fairbanks, Alaska, where temperatures in January can drop lower than 30 degrees below zero? “You ride,” Alaskan Jeff Oatley said in a pre-race interview, explaining that he uses his “snow-bike” with double wide rims and tires. “We ride on sled-dog tracks, which when they’re packed down, is kind of like riding

Thursday's seventh stage of the Tour de Suisse that ended in Crans Montana saw the first sign that the fight for the overall classification is by no means decided. As overnight leader Frank Schleck faltered on what was on paper a relatively straightforward climb, Romandie champion Thomas Dekker of Rabobank showed when in Switzerland he's often at his best, victorious ahead of Volksbank's Gerrit Glomser and Saunier Duval's Gilberto Simoni. 22-year-old Dekker, who won the stage by attacking a select eight-man group towards the top of the final ascent, has no doubt cemented his

Building on Wednesday night's second place finish in the opening stage of Minnesota’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, Kirk O'Bee launched a perfectly timed attack on a long uphill finish in Thursday's Cannon Falls road race, putting his Health Net team back where its riders are most comfortable - on the top of the podium and in the yellow jersey. With a 15-second time bonus for first place, O’Bee managed to bump Toyota-United's Ivan Stevic out of the lead. Stage 2 Video Highlights There was no wind or weather to speak of on this normally tumultuous Cannon Falls road course

Cadel Evans was more than satisfied with his Dauphiné Libéré performance, but the fighter inside the Australian couldn’t be held back when he had a chance for victory. The Predictor-Lotto captain couldn’t shake Christophe Moreau up the Col du Télégraphe in Saturday’s critical climbing stage and settled for second overall in his first crack at the Dauphiné. “I still have room for improvement before the Tour. I changed my program this year. The past few years I raced the Tour de Suisse before the Tour, but this year we decided to come to the Dauphiné,” Evans said. “I’ll tell you in July which

Proper dietary preparation is essential to your best efforts.

Riders’ commitment to a new cyclingThe Puerto affair highlighted the serious problem of doping in cycling.This, like all other doping cases, greatly harms my sport and me personally.The uncertainty surrounding the identity of riders and other peoplewho could be involved in the Puerto affair is also very harmful and willcontinue to be until the case is closed.Currently, there is a climate of suspicion. It is undermining the credibilityof my sport and is eroding the trust of the public, authorities, organisersand my colleagues.For these reasons, I want to make a contribution to putting the

With just four victories so far, compared to many more in years before, Robbie McEwen's Tour de France form was a little suspect. On Wednesday in Giubiasco, the pocket-rocket from Predictor-Lotto took a vital step in his quest for a fourth maillot vert by triumphing on Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse. It wasn't easy, however, the 34-year-old veteran Aussie sprinter having to use each and every part of his compact, muscled frame as he fought with his bike more than anything else to eventually overcome Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati and Milram's Erik Zabel, stage winner last

The possibility of thunderstorms after a long hot summer day did nothing to deter 5000 cycling fans from showing up for an evening of criterium racing in downtown St. Paul for the opening stages of the 2007 Nature Valley Grand Prix, won by Cheerwine’s Catherine Cheatley and Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic. Minnesota's capitol city provided a tight one-kilometer crit’ course with six 90-degree turns punctuated by heavily painted crosswalks and lightning to the south. Under a sultry and threatening summer sky, the women's field was dominated by Stage 1 Video HighlightsKristen Armstrong,

After 3042 miles, Jure Robic of Slovenia has reached Atlantic City, New Jersey to win the 26th Annual Race Across America. In doing his 8 day, 19 hours and 33 minutes ride from Oceanside, California, Robic averaged 14.38 mph, crossing 12 states and cranking up more than 110,000 feet of climbing. So, how many miles did you ride this week? Robic, not known for being verbose, was extra quiet on the podium — understandable, spending something like 190 hours on a bike saddle, over the last nine days, can do that to people. “RAAM is not a bike race," Robic said in a fit of verbosity. "This is

Frank Pipp of the Health Net-Maxxis team was on his own at the Austin Criterium last Saturday. With no teammates helping him at the AT&T Criterium, he had to play the race smart and take advantage of opportunities when they opened up. His tactical prowess helped earn him a strong second place in the race behind Frank Trevieso (AEG-Toshiba), and ahead of Ivan Stevic and Henk Vogels (both Toyota-United). "It was a fast race, with a pretty good field," Pipp said. In addition to three riders from Toyota and AEG-Toshiba, he also had to contend with a three-man team from Abercrombie & Fitch,

Discovery Channel removed itself from the cycling’s top teams’ association Tuesday, citing dissatisfaction with the group’s lack of unity. The split comes as the Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP) has struggled to find unified positions on such divisive issues as doping scandals and the future of the ProTour calendar. “I no longer feel confident that this group can lead our sport and represent our team in a positive manner,” said sport director Johan Bruyneel in a team release. “It became clear at our most recent meeting that the goals and objectives among

Yes, Andy Schleck will one day be a great champion, but after Tuesday's fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse, one should remember that his older brother Frank is not one to be ignored, either. On the steep slopes of the finishing climb to Triesenberg-Malbun, its second category rating belying a vicious character, big brother Schleck asserted his authority with an impressive display of power climbing, and left all rivals in his wake to capture his fifth career victory and the race lead to boot. "Of course, the Tour de Suisse is a beautiful race and it's one of the biggest races of the

Maybe it’s a natural progression. Maybe it’s a response to competitive pressures from the newest player in the road market. Either way, consumers will likely be the ones to benefit as Shimano narrows the gap between its 10-speed Ultegra and Dura-Ace groups. The new Ultegra SL, sporting a new "Ice Grey" color scheme, drops close to a quarter of a pound from standard Ultegra. The new group likely comes in response to the increased competition within the mid-level road market, a direct effect of SRAM entering the fray with its economical Rival components. While the new color is striking,

Discovery Channel captain Levi Leipheimer is okay despite a fall in Sunday’s final stage of the Dauphiné Libéré. Sport director Johan Bruyneel said Leipheimer wasn’t seriously injured when he slipped on rain-soaked roads while attacking for victory with about 4km to go to Annecy. A frustrated Leipheimer could only watch Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) ride past him and secure the stage victory. “He’s fine. He hit the side of the round-about. There’s no problem,” Bruyneel told VeloNews. “It was very slippery and he was risking a little bit because he was by himself.” The defending Dauphiné

He was a last-minute substitution when Paolo Bettini decided not to race, and it's a big call to fill the shoes of a current world road champion. But on Monday in the tiny Austrian village of Nauders, after the longest leg of the race, Quick Step's Alessandro Proni repaid the trust to claim victory on the third stage of the Tour de Suisse. Though it was by the barest of margins, as the Italian only just finished ahead of Bouygues Telecom's Xavier Florencio and T-Mobile's Kim Kirchen, who were part of a 28-man group that surprisingly included race leader Fabian Cancellara. So

While Navigators Insurance rider Ben Day was securing his overall leadat the Tour de Beauce, his teammate Kyle Wamsley scored another team win when he took the sprint at the inaugural Crystal City Classic presented by the United States Air Force in Arlington, Virginia. Wamsley and Jon Hamblin (Manulife Financial-Kane Bikes) attacked a high-pacedmain field with 12km to go, and stayed away until the finish of the NRCevent. Local rider Peter Cannel (Artemis Elite-Immediate Mortgage) tookthe field sprint for third.“It is a technical course and hard to make a break so we had to be alittle

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road.Monday Evening - Barring some physical catastrophe or mishap, Jure Robic will win his third—and as he claims, final—Race Across America sometime around 6:00 on Tuesday morning. To say that the 41-year-old Slovenian Army major has dominated this year’s Race Across America would be something of an understatement. Aside from a short time back in Arizona where Wolfgang Fasching briefly held the front position, Robic has led the

At the start of Sunday’s seventh stage at the 59th Dauphiné Libéré, high up in Valloire in the shadow of the Galibier, it seemed like the worst was behind the peloton with just the final stage to Annecy on tap. French veteran Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) was nursing a 14-second lead to Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) and looked to have the overall in the bag if he could get through Sunday. Moreau, like everyone else, knows better than to count the cycling chickens before they’re hatched. “Sunday’s stage is difficult. Instead of just letting us ride round the lake in Annecy the organizers have

Confession appears to have its rewards. Milram's Erik Zabel, who three weeks earlier admitted to using EPO, says he's a man reborn, and on Sunday in Lucerne, the 36-year-old used his newfound spiritual freedom to win the opening road stage of the Tour de Suisse. It was a perfect throw of the bike by the veteran Zabel, who just pipped Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati at the line, surprisingly followed by race leader Fabian Cancellara (CSC). The maillot jaune and local hero was given a superb lead-out by his Australian teammate and friend Stuart O'Grady, who finished fourth,

The 22nd edition of the Tour de Beauce ended Sunday with the Navigators Insurance squad taking their its third consecutive victory, as Australian Ben Day easily held off last ditch attempts by second placed Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) and Danny Pate (Slipstream) to put him in difficulty. The stage was won by veteran Soren Petersen (Farso Denmark), who – perhaps unsportingly - outsprinted breakaway companion Christian Meier (Symmetrics), after letting Meier pull for the final 34 kilometers. The final stage of Beauce always takes place in the host town of St-Georges. It is by no means a parade

It is time. When the Tour de Suisse begins in Olten on Saturday, the occasion is not so significant for the opening time trial, as it is that the Tour de France is exactly three weeks away. For the time being at least, the Puerto headlines do not rule the sporting pages of magazines or newspapers. The confessions, that have so far numbered four, have stopped. But the cynicism is still there; the public wants - no, the public needs - to see some clean winners, and it must start now. One of two primary lead-up events to Tour itself, the Tour de Suisse runs concurrently with the Critirium du

Farrar wins in PortugalTyler Farrar scored his first win as a pro in Europe in Friday’s second stage at the GP Correios in Portugal. The 23-year-old Cofidis rider opened up an early sprint that not only earned him a breakthrough victory but also slotted him into the overall leader’s jersey. Farrar fractured his left kneecap in a fall on the infamous Kemmelberg cobblestone descent at Ghent-Wevelgem in April, but luckily, surgery wasn’t required. That allowed him to return to Europe to race at the Tour of Picardy and the Tour of Belgium last month. The Portuguese tour ends Sunday and Farrar is

Those who began to hail Bradley Wiggins as the likely winner of the Tour de France prologue spoke too soon. On Saturday in Olten, reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) smashed the prologue of the Tour de Suisse and his rivals, sending out a flashing red warning light to his adversaries all over Europe. "This victory is a confirmation that everything is working right, that I am back to winning form," announced Cancellara, who by default also took the first yellow jersey as race leader. "The Tour de France [prologue] will be completely different, because the roads

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road. Saturday — Fatigue has taken its toll in the 2007 Race Across America. Jure Robic is still in the lead, but his average speed has dropped to 15.21 mph, ending any hope he may have had of breaking Pete Penseyre’s 1986 record of 15.4 mph. And there’s a very real possibility of there being no women finishers in this year’s event. First, the men. The order at the front remains unchanged — Robic is out front, with Wolfgang Fasching

Mike Sayers (BMC) won Saturday’s Twilight Criterium in Reno, Nevada. The race concluded with a tactical sprint between Sayers and Jaior Perez of the Colombian National Team. Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) used his explosive sprinting ability to win the chase-group sprint, finishing third in the stage and first in the omnium. Saturday’s race was extremely fast from the moment it began. Once again, the Colombian team kept the pace painfully high on the 0.8-mile loop, turning the 90-minute criterium into a race of attrition. An early breakaway by Perez was followed by 10 of the field’s

With an 11th-hour burst of speed, Frank Travieso placed a commandingfootprint on the 2007 AT&T Downtown Austin Criterium which went downon Saturday, June 16th. Coming out of the final turn of the four corner,1KM circuit Travieso clearly demonstrated that he had gotten the betterof his competition.

People all week have been saying Christophe Moreau was the strongest rider at the Dauphiné Libéré. Despite two stage wins and superb form in the mountains, it was Astana playing hot potato with the leader’s jersey at the eight-day Tour de France tune-up. The Ag2r captain attacked with about 5km to go on the 12km Cat. 1 Col du Télégraphe at the end of Saturday’s seven-climb “queen stage” to erase any doubt. Maxim Iglinskiy gave Astana its third stage win of the week after holding out as part an 11-man, all-day breakaway, but Moreau came through eighth to turn a 14-second deficit to

VeloNews contributor Vic Armijo is following this year's Race Across America and - when he finds a WiFi signal - is sending in regular dispatches from the road.Friday - Jure Robic continues to dominate the solo men’s field. As of this afternoon (Friday) he’s already reached the Marthasville, Missouri, time station. His closest rival, Wolfgang Fashing is approximately five hours back, with third place Daniel Wyss riding another two and half hours back. Robic is currently averaging 15.56 miles and hour. While that’s still slightly better than Pete Penseyres’ 15.4 mile an hour record the

Alexandre Vinokourov is playing kingmaker at the Dauphiné Libéré. A day after stepping aside on Mont Ventoux to let Astana understudy Andrey Kashechkin move into the leader’s jersey, the 33-year-old gifted Friday’s 195km fifth stage to Astana teammate Toni Colom. The Astana captain powered away from Friday’s winning 22-rider breakaway on the day’s final hurdle on the Cat. 2 Col du Corobin with about 20km to go to latch on to the attacking Colom and the pair drove home the victory 3:27 ahead of the chasing favorites. Vinokourov then insisted the Spanish journeyman take the scalp because he

There won’t be a Tour de France debut for Tom Danielson this year. Recurring stomach ailments – which forced him to pull out of the first stage of the Dauphiné Libéré -- have scuttled Tour hopes for the 29-year-old Discovery Channel rider. “Tom is off the Tour team,” Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel told VeloNews. “He’s sick. We’re trying to find out exactly what the problem is. He’s had stomach problems throughout the year at several key moments. It’s definitely a disappointment.” Danielson was hoping to earn a spot on the nine-man Discovery Channel team in what would be his

Conflicts with the USA Cycling Elite National Championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, have forced organizers of the Cascade Cycling Classic to cancel this year’s women’s stage race. A decision was made this week to postpone the women’s Pro 1-2 race until 2008. Race organizer Chad Sperry called it “one of the toughest decisions in recent history.” “We are just heartbroken about this situation,” said Sperry, who also directs the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. “Last fall I sat down with the owners of the event, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF), and we had decided to take the

For the second consecutive day, the Tour de Beauce saw a change in the lead, with Australian Ben Day (Navigators) taking over the yellow jersey from Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) after scorching the competition in the individual time trial. Danny Pate (Slipstream-Chipotle), the defending time-trial champion at Beauce, finished second with Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) third. Tuft moves into second overall at 33 seconds behind Day, with Pate taking over third at 1:04. The 20km out-and-back time trial was held under near-perfect conditions, with temperatures in the mid-20's (Celsius) and almost

Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) won the first of two criteriums in thisyear’s Tour de Nez on a beautiful Friday evening in Truckee, California. The local favorite took advantage of a mid-race break and capped offhis effort with a ferocious sprint. Finishing just half of a wheel length behind Candelario was Juan PabloForero of the Colombian National Team, and just behind Forero was TonyCruz (Discovery), the overall winner of last year's Tour de Nez. During the first 30 minutes of the race, the field was at the mercyof the Colombian National Team, which maintained a blistering pace,

Traces of drugs were found in the urine samples taken from three stage winners at this year’s Giro d'Italia, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday. The paper said sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) tested positive for Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma, and Piepoli’s teammate Iban Mayo showed signs of an elevated testosterone level. Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate. Basque television channel EITB confirmed

Mont Ventoux served up a dandy in Thursday’s 197km fourth stage as the Dauphiné Libéré remains anything but decided with six riders within 53 seconds of each other in the overall standings. Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) attacked to his second win in three days as Andrey Kashechkin inherited the race leader’s jersey from Alexandre Vinokourov just as Astana promised, but it didn’t come without pain.

Traces of drugs were found in the urine samples taken from three stage winners at this year’s Giro d'Italia, the Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport reported on Thursday. The paper said sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) tested positive for Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma, and Piepoli’s teammate Iban Mayo showed signs of an elevated testosterone level. Salbutamol is a banned substance, but riders with asthma may use it to certain levels if they possess a medical certificate. Basque television channel EITB confirmed

There were two races going on today in stage three of the Tour de Beauce - the one to claim victory at the top of Mont Megantic, and one for the yellow jersey of overall race leader. Glen Chadwick (Navigators) took his second consecutive win for the former, and Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) won the fight for yellow, deposing Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). The Mont Megantic stage is the 'big one' at Beauce. It is not the longest, but it does have 4 KoM climbs, ending with a five kilometer ascent to over 1100 meters atop Mont Megantic. The average gradient for the final 3

In the time-trial stage at last year’s Dauphiné Libéré, Americans swept the top four en route to Levi Leipheimer’s overall victory in a stunning display of national prowess against the clock. In Wednesday’s 40.7km undulating course with two Cat. 4 climbs, it was the Kazakhs’ turn to show who’s boss. Alexandre Vinokourov won his first race since last year’s Vuelta a España, claiming the overall leader’s jersey, while faithful sidekick Andrey Kashechkin was second to stake his claim as the leading candidate for overall victory. Dave Zabriskie (CSC) was third at 38 seconds off the pace to

Christian Vande Velde rode through Wednesday’s time trial at the Dauphiné Libéré licking his wounds. Vande Velde crashed on a steep descent in Tuesday’s hilly stage when his drive train slipped and he lost all resistance in his pedals, sending him “high-siding” over the handlebars. “I just catapulted over the handlebars,” said Vande Velde, who added he couldn’t touch his chin to his chest because of stiffness in his neck. “Remember the crash Tyler (Hamilton) had at the Tour a few years ago? My back looks just like that.” Vande Velde rode Wednesday’s time trial as a high-speed recovery

Let's see. Over the past twenty weeks, my bike hasn't fit, my camera traveled underwater, and I finally kicked the demon's butt and conquered Squaw Pass on the third try. Come June 17th, playtime is over and I've got to Ride the Rockies for real. I can't believe that I've been playing with all this stuff since February, when Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine told me, in a way that only Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine can, that my bike -- my brand new, I saved a year for this darned thing, bike -- did not fit. That

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) successfully defended his race leader’s jersey in the second stage of Canada’s Tour de Beauce on Wednesday. A group of nine riders - nine minutes down on the leaders - was able to break away 40 kilometers into the race, with Glen Chadwick (Navigators) then soloing in the final 27 kilometers to win the stage. The 171 kilometer stage represented a new circuit for the Tour, north of the race hub town of St-Georges. The stage opened with a KoM climb, which was guaranteed to cause some action among riders hoping to make up for missing the split in the

Two years ago, Magura moved its suspension production out of Holland toBad Urach, Germany, where the company’s brake factory is based. This stepwas taken to ensure greater control over the new suspension fork’s production. The 2008 line will represent the second production model-year to comefrom the new German facility. Once again, it brings Magura a step closerto becoming a major player in the front suspension market. For 2008, Maguraputs its top-level cross-country fork on a radical diet, pairing closeto three quarters of a pound off of its 2007 equivalent. The Durin Race, a completely

Christophe Moreau started the Dauphiné Libéré hoping to test his form before next month’s Tour de France. If Tuesday’s bumpy ride into Saint-Etienne was any indication, he’s done that and more with a stage victory that also put him into the race leader’s yellow jersey. At 36, Moreau is no spring chicken, but he rode hard enough to bridge out with about 40km to go, joining a two-man breakaway that pulled away early in the 157km hilly route from Saint-Paul-en-Jarez to Saint-Etienne. Riding Moreau’s vapors were Juan Antonio Redondo (Astana) and Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step-Innergetic). The

An open dialogue about the problem of doping has been, up to this point, the third rail of cycling. Touch it and you die. The culture insists that anyone wishing to continue working in the sport remain silent on the issue, which perpetuates the problem. But the tide appears to be turning. Team managers and riders are not being immediately fired for admitting a prior history of doping in the era before EPO testing. Breaking the silence is a huge step towards solving the problem. As the biggest names in the sport are falling, the anti-doping movement seems to be throwing a haymaker at the

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) took his first victory in more than two seasons on the opening day of the Tour de Beauce with an extremely bold solo breakaway from the lead group after 158 kilometers of racing. Walters' team mate Dominique Rollin, the Canadian national champion, took the 10 rider sprint for second, while the original break initiator Jacob Erker (Symmetrics) took third, giving Canada a sweep of the podium. The 171-kilometer Lac Etchmin stage is a classic Beauce race: long, steady and constant climbs, rough roads and steady wind. Temperatures in the high 80s

If the Dauphiné Libéré is just as much about a preview of the upcoming Tour de France as it is about actually winning the race, then Monday’s 219km first stage changed the plotline just slightly. The 219km hilly trek from Grenoble to Roanne followed the script throughout most of the day. A two-man no-hope breakaway slipped away in the early going, built up a seemingly large lead of nearly 10 minutes, only to be reeled in by the collaborative efforts of Cofidis – looking to defend the leader’s jersey for Bradley Wiggins – and Quick Step-Innergetic – looking to slip Tom Boonen in for the

Discovery1. Levi Leipheimer (USA)2. Alberto Contador (Sp)3. Tom Danielson (USA)4. George Hincapie (USA)5. Egoi Martinez (Sp)6. Benjamin Noval (Sp)7. Sergio Paulinho (P)8. Tomas Vaitkus (Lit)AG2R11. Christophe Moreau (F)12. Arrieta José-Luis (Sp)13. Sylvain Calzati (F)14. Cyril Dessel (F)15. Goubert Stéphane (F)16. Julien Loubet (F)17. Blaise Sonnery (F)18. Ludovic Turpin (F)Gerolsteiner21. Bernhard Kohl (A)22. Markus Fothen (G)23. Heinrich Haussler (G)24. Torsten Hiekmann (G)25. Ronny Scholz (G)26. Tom Stamsnijder (Nl)27. Fabian Wegmann (G)28. Peter Wrolich (A)Rabobank31. Denis

French veteran Didier Rous already knew that the 2007 season would be his last, but a double herniated cervical disc pushed his retirement date up a few months earlier than he had hoped. Rous, 36, told French journalists he’s putting an end to his suffering and bringing an earlier than expected close to his 14-year career in the face of the debilitating injuries. “This was my last season, I knew that, but I would have liked to have had another ending,” Rous told L’Equipe. “All this is against my will. I have pain in the neck and shoulders. I cannot hold the handlebars correctly with my

American cross-country mountain-bike racer Adam Craig has his sights set on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That means for the next two seasons, he will be battling it out on the World Cup and National Mountain Bike Series with his fellow Americans for a slot on the U.S. team. And VeloNews.com is along for the ride.—Editor As globetrotting bike racers, we face various challenges — staying in shape, food, travel, sleep, navigation, luck, etc. Over the years you develop a respectable skill set to deal with these challenges. One skill set I’m still struggling with, however, is controlling

World pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) tore through the 4.2-kilometer prologue time trial of the 2007 Dauphiné Libéré, narrowly edging out defending Dauphiné champion Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) on Sunday. Wiggins covered the course in 4:50, one second better than Leipheimer and two seconds better than Andrey Kashechkin (Astana). Leipheimer's teammate George Hincapie rounded out the top four, three seconds off of Wiggins' time. The 27-year-old Wiggins is looking to prove his credientials ahead of the Tour de France, with a prologue time trial that begins in London, just a

When a 156-mile race ends in a massive field sprint it’s easy to think that nothing much happened. But that wasn’t the case in the 23rd edition of the Commerce Bank Philadelphia Championship on Sunday. Indeed, there were many subplots behind the final result: a clear victory for Team CSC’s rapid Argentinean J.J. Haedo from his rookie Australian teammate Matt Goss, with T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel placing third to easily clinch the Commerce Bank Triple Crown after winning the first two events of Philly Week. It seemed like a logical result, but several factors affected the outcome, including a

Hot racing, steep hills and water-squirting fans — must be the Philly International Championship, the only hors-catégorie pro men's one-day race on this side of the big ditch. Our man Casey Gibson was on hand for that spectacle and the women's Liberty Classic on Sunday, and sent a few snaps home. Here they are.

Levi Leipheimer lines up for Sunday’s start of the Dauphiné Libéré as the defending champion with an eye toward the Tour de France. Last year, he came to the important French race to settle the score. Second overall in 2005 when a long breakaway stole away with the leader’s jersey, Leipheimer was determined make the Dauphiné his own. He became the third American to win in seven years with a smashing performance. This year, the 33-year-old enters with Dauphiné with some important results already in the bag (two stages and overall at Tour of California and two stages at Tour de Georgia),

The 60th Dauphiné Libéré lives up to its tradition of serving up a mountainous challenge that continues to serve as the best barometer of fitness ahead of July’s Tour de France. With Mont Ventoux and a seven-climb “queen’s stage” over the Croix de la Fer and the Télégraphe, the eight-day Dauphiné will give a clear indication of where everyone stands less than a month before the Tour’s start. There’s no shortage of candidates, but like every June, it’s sometimes hard to read who’s firing at all cylinders and who’s simply looking to make some tests of fitness ahead of July’s big show. First

German telecommunications company T-Mobile announced on Saturday that it wants to withdraw its sponsorship of the Tour de France's television coverage in Germany in a damage-limitation exercise. Cyling's image in Germany has been rocked by several high-profile doping admissions from cyclists competing for the former Team Telekom, now known as Team T-Mobile, and the company is keen to prevent any further damage to its image. But German state broadcasters ARD/ZDF do not want to accept the withdrawal of the Bonn-based team, according to an article to appear in Monday's edition of

A booming thunderstorm cleared out the humid, 95-degree air above Philadelphia Friday night, making way for cooler, breezy weather at this weekend’s climax of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. Also Friday evening, Giant Bicycles hosted a dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant, where the mighty T-Mobile team’s general manager Bob Stapleton introduced the eight men and six women who are seeking to give their team a perfect record in this year’s Triple Crown. Already this past week, Austrian Bernhard Eisel and German Ina Teutenberg have notched up victories in Lancaster and

Michael Barry couldn’t figure out why he had trouble breathing nearly all spring. His doctors told him it was likely allergies or perhaps asthma. Like professionals often do in the face of pain or setback, he kept pushing on. His breathing problems became so bad, however, he was forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia after just one stage. He finally went to see a local doctor in his European home in Girona, Spain. The diagnosis: pneumonia. “I got really sick at Paris-Nice and I never really felt normal all spring. I had problems with my breathing,” Barry told VeloNews. “It was about 10 days

T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel and Ina Teutenberg are well on their way to clinching the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling after they both won Thursday afternoon’s Reading Classic in central Pennsylvania. They also won the first leg of the Triple Crown series last Sunday in Lancaster. One big difference between Sunday and Thursday was the weather. Following tropical rainfall that drenched the men in Lancaster, the 172 starters enjoyed sunshine, low humidity and 80-degree temperatures in Reading for the second edition of the Reading Classic. The change in the weather didn’t faze Eisel, the

Valverde simply works harderIt seems a day doesn’t go by without someone accusing beleaguered defending ProTour champion Alejandro Valverde of being linked to the Operación Puerto doping investigation. Spanish authorities have never publicly connected Valverde to the alleged blood doping ring orchestrated by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, but some are insisting that codenames and bags of blood rounded up in police raids last year correspond to the Spanish phenomenon. The latest was a full-page interview published this week in L’Equipe with Spanish cycling whistleblower Jésus Manzano

Jesús Manzano – the former Kelme rider and whistleblower about alleged doping infractions within Spanish cycling – has leveled new allegations against Alejandro Valverde with a month to go before the start of the 2007 Tour de France. Manzano, who blew the whistle in a series of paid interviews in 2004 about the practices of alleged Puerto ringleader Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, told the French sports daily L’Equipe that “nothing’s changed in Spanish cycling.” The ex-pro continues to push his story that “those incriminated (in doping) continue to do their work” and accused Valverde of being

Dear Monique,In your April 25th column (More prepping for long rides), you mentionweighing before and after a ride. Is the weight differential entirely fluidor food in the stomach? Can you say a bit more about this differential?Should riders shoot for some change, no change, under what circumstances?Thanks,JoelHi Joel,The difference between your weight before and after a training riderepresents the amount of sweat that you did not replace with fluid intakeduring the ride. Even losing 2-percent of your body weight, about 3.5 poundsfor a 165-lb. cyclist can decrease your endurance, particularly

I remember a line from the movie, "The Right Stuff." It went something like this: "There's a demon out there, he lives out there in the thin air, right around Mach One ..." I was thinking about that last Sunday on my second attempt on Squaw Pass Road near Bergen Park. It's not that the road is impossible, plenty of people were doing it, sailing past me like nobody's business, and it's not that it was impossible for me, because, despite grunting and groaning and being overly dramatic about it all, I was doing it as well. Slowly, perhaps, but doing it nonetheless. I had

The T-Mobile team has opted not to select Ukrainian time trial specialist Sergei Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Honchar, the winner of two time trial stages in last year's Tour, was sidelined from T-Mobile’s Giro d'Italia squad last month after a blood test showed “abnormalities,” suggesting that he had doped. T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton said the one-time Soviet rider, who will turn 37 four days before the July 7 start of the Tour, will not race for the team next season. "A blood health check showed abnormalities four

Following the string of revelations from former Telekom riders that they used banned performance-enhancing products during the team’s heyday in the mid-1990s, former team manager Walter Godefroot has denied having a role in the doping bonanza. Godefroot, who was the Telekom’s team manager from 1992 before retiring in 2005, held a press conference Tuesday in Ghent, Belgium, to refute speculations that the team had systematic doping. Seven former Telekom riders, including 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne Riis, have admitted to doping following the revelations of a former soigneur, Jeff

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”Henry FordIn a move surely destined to strike fear into the hearts of high-end seatpost manufacturers, Trek unveiled its new Madone road bike at a gathering of Trek dealers and cycling media on May 31. Under the soaring white trusses and glass of the stunningly beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum, Lance Armstrong joined Trek president John Burke in introducing a bike that is could alter the direction of bicycle design in a number of ways. To start, the new frame has no threads in a very unique 90mm bottom bracket

For those who didn’t know him before last year’s Tour de France, David de la Fuente was just another Spanish journeyman who happily did the unglamorous work of a domestique with the occasional breakaway thrown in for good measure. No one could have guessed that the son of a butcher would be one of the main protagonists, winning the most agressiver rider prize and giving climbing king Michael Rasmussen a run for his money in the hunt for the polka-dot best climber’s jersey. De la Fuente gained his 15 minutes of fame last year in the Tour’s second stage, when the Saunier Duval-Prodir rider

Organizers of the 2007 Teva Mountain Games were quick to credit the “Floyd Factor” for the record number of participants registered for the Trek Hill Climb, a 9.8-mile road time-trial up Colorado’s Vail Pass. More than 150 elite and amateur cyclists showed up for the event — 40 more than in 2006. For all riders, the race was a unique chance to test their legs against that of Floyd Landis, the embattled 2006 Tour de France Champ. For Landis, the ride marked his first road race since he learned that he had tested positive for exogenous testosterone after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour. The

1. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 92:59:39
2. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 1:55
3. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 2:25
4. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 3:15
5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 3:49
6. Riccardo Ricco' (I), Saunier Duval, 7:00
7. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), Tinkoff Credit Systems, 8:34
8. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 10:14
9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 10:44
10. David Arroyo Duran (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 11:58
11. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 13:08
12. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Astana, 13:30

After 3442 kilometers and 21 grueling stages, Danilo Di Luca stood above all others atop the Milan podium Sunday, as overall winner of 90th Giro d'Italia.

Discovery Channel rider Vladimir Gusev won the overall title in the Tour of Belgium on Sunday. The Russian classics specialist finished 39 seconds ahead of Maaten Tjallingii with Leif Hoste nabbing third at 40 seconds back. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) snagged his first win since returning to competition after a three-week break to recover from injury after sprinting to victory in the 148.8km final stage from Aywaille to Putte. Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) was second with Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) coming through third. Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) was 10th. “This morning I asked my teammates

Consolation was the theme for the winners of Sunday’s finale in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the stage-6 Downtown Hood River Criterium. For men’s winner Heath Blackgrove of Toyota-United, the win was a welcome return to racing after a spring season derailed by a nagging knee injury. The win was also a gift to his Toyota-United team, which had not yet won a stage and was not able to land a rider on the podium overall. For women’s criterium winner Katherine Carroll, who collected her second stage victory, it was the next best thing to her Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings team winning the

T-Mobile’s Austrian sprinter Bernhard Eisel, fresh off his flight from Europe, shook off his jet lag by winning the first race of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown series, the Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic in Pennsylvania. Riders were greeted by rain as the remains of a tropical storm passed through the area, leading to numerous flats and a few tumbles over the early stages of the 13-lap race. Eisel first emerged with 3 laps of the 6.5 mile circuit remaining, going clear of the field in a seven-rider move that rolled away following a series of brief attacks. With Sergey Lagutin (Navigators),

Rashaan Bahati delivered his first-year Rock Racing team its biggest win yet on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Virginia, blazing to the head of a field sprint to take home the 10th edition of the CSC Invitational. Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) won the women’s race, outsprinting race-long breakaway companion Rebecca Larson (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine) was third. Bahati in the heatWith temperatures hovering around the 90-degree mark, it was once again a race of attrition on the notoriously difficult 1km, five-turn course, which winds its way through Arlington’s

Italian Fabiana Luperini (Menikini-Selle Italia-Gysko) ignited the definitive break and outsprinted American Mara Abbott (Webcor) to win the sixth round of the Women's World Cup series in Montréal on Saturday. Luperini rode Abbott's wheel into the finishing straight and easily came around her in the final 100 meters for the win. Once again, the quality of the Montréal course came to the forefront. With 11 laps of an 11km circuit, including the famed climb up Mont Royal, attrition is always the name of the game here. Numerous attacks always take place, but it is a difficult course to

Maglia rosa Danilo Di Luca's victory in the 90th Giro is all but assured after his performance Saturday, which saw him finish eighth to Astana's Paolo Savoldelli in a 43km time trial to Verona. With an enviable two-and-a-half minute advantage to Team CSC's Andy Schleck at the start of the day, Di Luca was never really in danger of losing his overall lead. The Liquigas captain finished just 29 seconds slower than the young Luxembourger, with Schleck also doing more than enough to retain his second place overall.

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s Wy’East Road Race lived up to all expectations, delivering suffering, anguish and heartbreak for many of the day’s stage and overall contenders, and ultimately relief for the GC leaders of the pro men’s and women’s fields. Saturday’s epic 89.5-mile slog from Cooper Spur Mountain Resort to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort dished up 9200 feet of elevation gain and saw a pair of first-time Mt. Hood stage winners in Darren Lill (Navigators Insurance) and Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Neither rider was able to take over the general classification,

Friday's foul weather did nothing to curb the inner aggression of Basque Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), whose beautiful pedaling motion returned, to the bane of his breakaway companions, on the 19th stage of the Giro, triumphing with a solo victory in Comano Terme. Not content to sit in a seven-man lead group after the midway climb of the Pian delle Fugazze, especially with Acqua & Sapone's Stefano Garzelli by his side, Mayo chose fellow Spaniard Alberto Losada (Caisse d'Epargne) as his partner in crime.

Spanish star Alejandro Valverde finds himself treading increasingly dangerous water in the face of increasing speculation that he might be one of the unnamed riders among the Operación Puerto papers that continue to haunt cycling. Valverde admitted that he knows controversial doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the alleged ringleader at the center of the Puerto doping scandal, during his tenure at Kelme from 2002-04 when Fuentes worked as the team’s doctor. Valverde even said he has a dog named Piti, but denied it links him to the ongoing doping scandal. “I know Fuentes from my time at Kelme, but