Road

Controversial cyclist Erik Zabel looks set to take part in next month's World Road Championships after the German Cycling Federation (BDR) named him to its provisional squad on Wednesday. The 37-year-old, who won silver at last year's world championship road race in Salzburg, has been named in a preliminary 21-man squad which will be trimmed down before the championships which are in Stuttgart from September 26-30. Despite his close finish last year, Zabel's inclusion was opposed by many because of confession in May to using banned blood-booster EPO (erythropoietin) for a short

Spanish rider Jose Ivan Gutierrez beat Britain's David Millar to claim the Tour of Benelux title on Wednesday. The Caisse d'Epargne rider claimed victory after finishing seconds behind Belgian Sebastien Rosseler in the seventh and final stage, a 29.6km time-trial. It was the first professional success for 26-year-old Rosseler who timed 36:50 with Gutierrez two seconds behind. Millar crossed in fourth to finish 11 seconds behind the Spaniard with Sweden's Gustav-Erik Larsson completing the podium. Overnight leader Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) paid the price of his fall on Tuesday,

The UCI announced Wednesday that it has barred Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, the UCI ProTour champion in 2006, from riding in next month's world championships in Stuttgart, Germany. A UCI statement issued Wednesday noted that investigators suspect Valverde may be involved in the Spanish police's Operacion Puerto inquiry into Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor said to have designed doping programs for athletes in several sports. "During the meticulous studying of the 6000-page Puerto dossier, the UCI has concluded that several documents may show the involvement of Alejandro Valverde in

Cyclists rightfully focus their dietary attention on consuming the properfoods in adequate amounts so that they can sustain energy during long trainingrides, and replenish muscle fuel stores and recover nutritionally duringthe season.  But you should also consider how your daily food intakeand on-bike nutrition can affect and feed your brain. Just like your heart,your brain is an organ that benefits from optimal nutritional care. Nutritioncan affect brain chemicals, brain cell structure and function and theability of the brain to transmit electrical messages. Though nutritionalneuroscience is

Predictor-Lotto star Cadel Evans came within a scant 23 seconds of winning this year’s Tour de France and narrowly held on to second place, a mere eight seconds ahead of third-place Levi Leipheimer. It’s fair to say that Evans’ podium performance is thanks in part to his two breakthrough time trial rides. Evans placed second in both long time trials, behind Alexandre Vinokourov in stage 13 and behind Leipheimer in stage 19. With final time differences that slim, it is interesting to look at small time contributions among the top three riders overall, especially in long time trials, where

Former mountain-bike star Miguel Martinez – known as Little Mig for his small stature but big winning ways – looks to be coming out of retirement for another stab at the road scene. Martinez flirted with road racing in the 2002 and ‘03 seasons, as a member of Mapei, before returning to the mountain bike circuit disillusioned with his inability to secure results on skinny tires. Martinez, 31, retired from competitive cycling at the end of last season, but is poised to return to road racing for the 2008 season with Agritubel. “I was already pro’ on the road in 2002 and 2003, but all the

Dutch rider Thomas Dekker grabbed the overall lead in the Eneco Tour as Spaniard Pablo Lastras of the Caisse d’Epargne team won a crash-marred sixth stage from Beek to Landgraaf on Tuesday. Rabobank rider Dekker took the red leader’s jersey from Belgian Nick Nuyens (Cofidis), who was forced to abandon after a fall 40km into the penultimate stage of the race through the so-called Benelux countries. The Spaniard went it alone about 10km from the line after attacking an earlier breakaway and held off a push by Dutch rider Maarten Tjallingii to finish ahead of Belgian Steven Caethoven and

Aaron Olson always seems to save the best for last. Last year, some of his best results came late in the 2006 campaign, capped by second in a Tour of Poland stage. The T-Mobile rider scored his best-ever result in a European stage race with third overall at the inaugural Tour of Ireland. Olson snatched second place in the race-winning breakaway in stage one and hung on to the podium spot in the surprisingly tough five-day Irish tour. “It’s not bad considering I crashed 10 days ago,” said Olson, referring to a nasty training spill in Spain. “It’s a nice way to finish off the European

Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini (Saunier Duval-Prodir) won the fifth stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux over 180km from Terneuzen to Nieuwegein on Monday. Pagliarini edged out Britain's Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) and Australia's Graeme Brown (Rabobank) in a sprint finish. "This is the best win of my life. My first bunch of flowers in a ProTour race," said an elated Pagliarini, who dedicated the win to his newborn daughter. "This week has been fantastic for me. I've waited for such a long time for a win like this. These last months were really difficult." Belgium's Nick Nuyens

Proving that he is one of the stronger American crit racers, Kyle Wamsley won the 24th edition of the Chris Thater Memorial on Sunday in Binghamton, New York. "I'm ecstatic ... just ecstatic!" the Navigators Insurance rider said as he caught his breath. Wamsley figured into every part of the race, leading out the first lap, hanging in the day's major break, and pulling a "caution to the wind" move at the end of the race. "This season's winding down, so I thought I'd through everything into the race. If I didn't make it, so be it. But I really wanted to win today,” he

Belgian Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step-Innergetic) won the fourth stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Sunday. Weylandt crossed the line ahead of Norway's Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and Matthew Goss (CSC) after 182km of racing from Maldegem, Belgium, to Terneuzen, Netherlands. Belgian Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) kept the leader's red jersey. "It's revenge for the previous stages where I failed in the final meters," said Weylandt after his sixth success of the season. "I feared Thor Hushovd was coming back strong as we neared the line but I held on." A breakaway containing Italian

Stijn Vandenbergh (Unibet.com) won the Tour of Ireland on Sunday as Marco Marcato (Team LPR) won the final stage, outsprinting two breakaway companions on the finishing circuit in Dublin. Vandenbergh finished safely in ninth place to clinch the overall with Marcus Ljungqvist (Team CSC) second and Aaron Olsen (T-Mobile) third. David O’Loughlin (Navigators Insurance) put the hammer down just after the intermediate sprint in Kinnegad, some 60km into the 147km stage from Athlone to the Irish capital, where Matti Breschel (Team CSC) scored five points to take the lead in the points

Danny Pate rode all but four kilometers of Saturday’s epic 232.5km fourth stage over the foggy mountains of Galway on the attack, but it was Norwegian hope Edvald Boasson Hagen (Maxbo-Bianchi) who took the cake at the Tour of Ireland. The Slipstream captain attacked 2km into the spectacular route across Ireland’s rugged Connamara country and was reeled in with about 2km to go as the heralded Boasson Hagen surprised the veterans with an early sprint to snag the win. “It was a lot of work for not a lot of reward,” said Pate, who was part of a five-man breakaway that dominated the Irish tour’s

Australian Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) won Saturday's third stage of the Tour of Benelux in a sprint finish ahead of Italian Francesco Chicchi and Thor Hushovd of Norway. Britain's Mark Cavendish, winner of the second stage on Friday, took fourth with Belgian Nick Nuyens, of the Cofidis team, finishing in the main peloton to keep the leader's red jersey. Despite his stage victory, McEwen expressed anger at his team's decision not to enter him in the Vuelta a España. "I was not ready to race this Tour of Benelux," he protested. "I would have preferred to do the Vuelta

T-Mobile’s Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux, prevailing in a sprint here on Friday. The British rider beat American Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) and Belgian Wouter Weylandt after the 200-kilometer race from Antwerp. Cofidis’ Nick Nuyens retained the leader's red jersey. It is the second win in Belgium this year for the 22-year-old Cavendish after the Escaut Grand Prix, and his eighth success this season following wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk, Tour of Denmark and Ster Elektrotoer. "The team worked very well at the end. My teammates put me in an

The Tour of Ireland continued Friday with a 194-kilometer stage from Tralee to Ennis. Our man Andrew Hood is there covering what he has described as his "favorite race of the year... maybe my favorite since I began doing this." Given his annual work schedule - which includes all of the classics, the Tour, the Giro and the Vuelta - those are pretty high marks.

Sprints are always a question of timing. Go too soon, you might get caught. Wait too long, you’re sucking fumes. A day after going too soon at the Tour of Ireland, Slovenian speedster Borut Bozic (LPR) timed it just right to pip a pair of ProTour boys in Friday’s undulating and windy 194km third stage from Tralee to Ennis. The main pack roared in for a bunch sprint after a promising six-man break featuring Pat McCarty (Slipstream) and Ben Day (Navigators Insurance) was reeled in with less than 10km to go. Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) bolted away with 300 meters to go on a rising right-hander

It almost seemed unfair when the world No. 1 team ganged up on an untested youngster in Thursday’s hilly second stage at the Tour of Ireland. But Stijn Vandenbergh, Unibet.com’s unheralded neo-pro, proved he’s savvier than his 23 years when he fended off a collective effort by Team CSC to keep his yellow jersey dreams alive in the 166km run from Clonakilty to Killarney along Ireland’s stunning southwest coast. That’s not to say there weren’t some dicey moments for Vandenbergh, who surprised the favorites in Wednesday’s opener into Cork and take a huge 13-minute head start on all but nine

Belgium's Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) won the first stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux on Thursday after a tough day of racing over the climbs made famous by some of cycling's Belgian one-day classics. Nuyens dominated Dutch ace Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) and Spaniard Jose Luis Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne) on the uphill finish at the end of the 189.5km race from Waremme to Eupen, taking the overall lead from Dutch teammate Michiel Elijzen. Elijzen, who had won the prologue on Wednesday, finished several minutes in arrears as some of the climbs, which feature on the one-day classics

Andrew Hood has been enjoying his time in Ireland. We're glad he's camera, but a little disappointed that we didn't get the assignment, too.

In June I discussed my concern regarding psychological effects of use of performance enhancing drugs. I had also heard from some of the riders about medical injuries related to doping. On Monday August 13th, Joe Papp, addressing a South Florida high school coaches’ conference on behalf of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, discussed the doping-related medical complications he encountered in July of 2006. I asked Papp to tell me more about his injury to illustrate the medical dangers of doping. These are injuries the riders keep to themselves as part of the shame and secrecy of doping.

The UCI is ready to renegotiate the structure of the ProTour, Pat McQuaid said Wednesday, but the organization’s president said he is not prepared to compromise on the overall “governance of cycling.” McQuaid and the organizers of the sport’s three grand tours – the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España – have argued for more than a year over the structure the ProTour, the number of teams and economic issues, including television rights. Much of that dispute involves Tour de France organizer Amaury Sports Organization (ASO), which also promotes such major races as Paris-Nice,

We finally managed to wrest our boy Andrew Hood away from his frothy, dark liquid breakfast this morning and sent him off to cover the first stage of the Tour of Ireland on Wednesday. We remembered to grab his camera before sending him on his way.

Hardship is the middle name for any professional cyclist, but Aaron Olson and Craig Lewis both overcame more than their fair share of setbacks to make it to Wednesday’s start of the reborn Tour of Ireland. Olson (T-Mobile) was broadsided by a car just 10 days ago in Spain while Lewis (Slipstream) shook off jet lag after arriving in the start in Kilkenny barely 12 hours before starting the decisive 174km stage to Cork. Despite the stumbling blocks, both managed to sneak into the winning 10-rider move with Olson slotting into second at 14 seconds behind the late-attacking Stijn Vandenbergh,

Levi Leipheimer says he is “sad” that the Discovery Channel team won’t continue after this year and that he is having to look for a new team, especially as he is enjoying his “best season ever.” But after finishing on the podium at the Tour de France and winning the Tour of California and two stages of the Tour de Georgia this year, Leipheimer should have no trouble finding a new sponsor for 2008. But he would rather stay put at Discovery. Asked to comment about the team’s departure from the sport at the end of 2007, Leipheimer said in a telephone interview with VeloNews Tuesday night, “It’s

Vuelta a España organizer Unipublic released a preliminary start list for the three-week national tour, which begins on September 1 with a team time trial in Vigo, Spain. Americans Christian Vande Velde (CSC), Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) and Tom Danielson (Discovery) are scheduled to start the race. Horner and Vande Velde both completed the Tour de France last month. Americans Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) and Jason McCartney (Discovery) are listed as reserves for their respective teams. 2007 Vuelta a España - Preliminary Start ListAg2r Prevoyance1. Arrieta Lujambio José Luis, (Sp)2. Deignan

After a way-too-long 15-year hiatus, the Tour of Ireland is back on the international racing calendar with a race worthy of one of Europe’s most colorful and rich cycling traditions. Twenty years after Stephen Roche won cycling rare treble of the Giro, Tour and world title and more than a decade after Sean Kelly finally hung up his cleats, Irish cycling could see a big boost from the return of a popular national tour marking its return after the 1992 demise of the Nissan Classic. A new generation of racers will be writing a new page in Irish cycling history with Wednesday’s start in

Dear Lennard,Was there any official report as to why David Millar's rear wheel fellapart during the stage 19 time trial at the Tour de France. I have neverseen anything like that. He seemed to have multiple wheels with the sameproblem right up to his mechanic riding a new bike out to him. How weirdwas that?Christopher Dear Christopher,Yes, I saw that, too. We tried to find out that day what happened,but didn't get any official word as the team handed off the wheel to themanufacturer for analysis. Fortunately, we contacted Mavic to see whatthey had learned.LennardAnswer from Mavic:As

Canadian Martin Gilbert brought his Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast team its biggest win yet on Sunday by winning the USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois. Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) finished second to collect the national-championship jersey as first American across the line. Teammate Shawn Milne took third. As in the earlier races, rain was a factor — a light drizzle was the best the heavens had to offer during the 100km race, and crashes were commonplace. The Kelly Benefit squad had hoped to put Dave McCook into the jersey, but he was having

It was a wet weekend in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, as the country's zippiest assembled to name the champions of American criterium racing.Soaked to the bone, our man Casey Gibson was there for Sunday's big events.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans and three-time world time-trial champion Michael Rogers say next year's road race at the Beijing Olympics will be tougher than expected. The Australian pair made their assessments after racing on the circuit Saturday as part of at the Good Luck Beijing Road Cycling International Invitational, the official 2008 Olympic test event. Italian Gabriele Bosisio won the race, three seconds ahead of Kazakh Alexandr Dyachenko with Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali third at 0:47. Evans took fifth in the same time. Jon Garcia was the top finisher for the six-man U.S.

Rainy conditions soiled Saturday’s pro/am “test-run” criteriums in Downers Grove, Illinois, prompting many riders to either pull out early or opt out of racing altogether in order to save themselves for Sunday’s national-championship events. At the end of the day a pair of winners — Ken Hanson (BMC) and Brooke Miller (TIBCO) — each emerged from breakaways to take waterlogged wins. Rain was heaviest during the women’s 40-minute race, where Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home rider Alison Powers slipped off the front early. Miller was first to jump across, followed by Katharine Carroll (Aaron’s

Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) had to work hard to win the 12th Vatttenfall Cyclassics on Sunday in Hamburg. The 27-year-old Italian held off Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and German Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) to win a bunch sprint at the conclusion of the 229.1km race around Hamburg. Ciolek, 20, the world under-23 road champion, said he chose the wrong moment to make his move. "It is always tough to judge when to attack and I guess I didn't quite time my attack properly this time," said Ciolek. "But I am very pleased with third. Against such strong competition this is a giant

Tina Pic (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home) collected her fifth national title in six years while Daniel Holloway (VMG Racing) picked up his first on Sunday at the USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. As in Saturday’s Pro-Am Challenge, rain played a starring role — particularly in the 80km elite men’s race, which saw crashes in each of the last four corners and perhaps half the 163 starters finish. The field mostly stayed together during the 50km elite women’s race, until trackie Anna Lang (Karl Strauss-SDBC) took a dig with four laps

A clash of generations is theatening to usurp an anticipated Italian win at the Hamburg one-day cyclassics Pro Tour race this Sunday. But for reasons perhaps better explained by the Italians, the likelihood of up-and-coming German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) claiming victory ahead of aging compatriot Erik Zabel (Milram) appears an outside bet. In 11 previous editions Italian riders have won five times, and always made it on to the podium of a race which, thanks to its mainly flat profile, is favored by the sprinters and late breakaway specialists. If a bunch sprint is on the cards at

Defending champion Jens Voigt (CSC) sealed his second consecutive victory in the Tour of Germany and German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (T-Mobile) picked up his third stage win as the 2007 race concluded Saturday in Hanover. The 35-year-old Voigt had all but sealed victory after winning Friday's time trial in Fuerth. The German finished the 1292.5 km tour in 30 hours, 57 minutes and 21 seconds, 1:57 ahead of American Levi Leipheimer (Dscovery Channel). Third was Spaniard David Lopez Garcia (Caise d’Epargne) at 2:10 back. "I enjoyed a pretty quiet day today, I was able to appreciate the

Colombian Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) won the 29th edition of the Vuelta a Burgos on Saturday. Vasil Kiryenka (Tinkoff) won the fifth and final stage, a 158km leg between Ona and Burgos. Vuelta a BurgosStage 51. Vasil Kiryenka (Blr), Tinkoff, 158km in 3:39:422. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:093. Stefano Garzelli (I), Acqua & Sapone, at 0:114. Daniele Nardello (I), LPR, same time5. Antonio Olmo Menacho (Sp), Andalucia-Cayasur, s.t.Final overall1. Juan Mauricio Soler (Col), Barloworld, 14:31:372. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:023. Carlos

Horizontal sleet, rime ice, 87-mph gusts of wind and freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of this year’s Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb on Saturday. Six hundred cyclists had come from all over New England and from as far away as the West Coast for the chance to race the 7.6 miles to Mt. Washington’s summit in what is called, all too aptly, “the world’s toughest hillclimb.” Now they’ll wait another year to battle the Auto Road’s 12 percent average grade. “We have agonized over this decision,” said Howie Wemyss, the general manager of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, noting

If Jens Voigt hangs on after Friday’s decisive 33.1-kilometer time trial and wins the Deutschland Tour, he can be grateful to reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and the rest of his CSC teammates. It’s thanks to victory in the 42.2km team time trial in stage 2 that Voigt was able to defend the yellow jersey in Wednesday’s climbing blitz up high in the Austrian Alps. Powered by Cancellara, Team CSC took 25 seconds out of runner-up Discovery Channel and 57 seconds out of Caisse d’Epargne. Those seconds gave the renowned rouleur Voigt an invaluable head start as he faced off

Several elite ProTour riders, who have built solid reputations in the European peloton, are slated to compete Labor Day weekend in the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships. Medalist Sports confirmed that George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Bobby Julich (CSC), Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), and David Zabriskie (CSC) are among the athletes who will compete in one or more of the dual championship events September 1-2. "We are very pleased to see George, Dave and Levi return along with many of the top Pro Tour riders who don't often compete in the United

Brad Huff will be facing some serious competition if he intends to keep his stars-and-stripes jersey at Sunday’s USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois. National criterium titles will also be awarded in the elite men’s and women’s categories, while various amateur events will be held over the 1.2-mile course throughout the day on Saturday. Although it doesn’t offer prize money like this month’s earlier top-dollar races in Charlotte, North Carolina or neighboring Elk Grove, Illinois - overall prize money for all 13 races held over

Jens Voigt of CSC surprised several time trial specialists by winning the Tour of Germany's eighth stage Friday and all but ensuring a repeat of last year’s overall victory. Voigt, the defending champion, dominated the penultimate stage, a 33.1km time trial, in a time of 39:42 to hold off Laszlo Bodrogi of Hungary and American Levi Leipheimer. Bodrogi finished second at 14 seconds while Leipheimer, who finished third overall in the Tour de France thanks mainly to his efforts in the race's second time trial, was third at 25. Leipheimer, who is on the lookout for a new team following

Soler keeps lead at BurgosJuan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) finished safely in the pack at Thursday’s 158km third stage to maintain his slender grip on the overall lead at the Vuelta a Burgos in northern Spain. French rider Aurélien Passeron (Acqua e Sapone) nipped Aivaras Baranauskas (Agritubel) after a seven-man break held off the peloton in the rolling stage into Aranda de Duero along some of Spain’s best wine country. Soler finished 31st with the main pack that roared in 54 seconds off the winner’s pace to retain the leader’s jersey a day after winning the decisive climb up Laguna de

T-Mobile’s Gerald Ciolek won his second consecutive stage on the Tour of Germany on Thursday after holding off a determined challenge from sprint specialist Erik Zabel (Milram). The 20-year-old German was again the first home after covering the predominantly flat route from Kufstein, Austria, to Regensburg, Germany, in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds. In damp conditions with persistent drizzle, the under-23 road world champion had to hold his nerve and battle all the way to the line as Zabel, who had pushed Ciolek close on Wednesday, again threatened in the final meters. CSC's Jens

Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) still had enough gas in the tank after winning the polka-dot jersey at the Tour de France to claw his way to victory in the grueling stage at the Lagunas de Neila on Wednesday and slip into the overall leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a Burgos. The Colombian climber dropped the favorites on the final ramps of the always-decisive climbing stage in the five-day race in northern Spain. He soloed across the line 17 seconds ahead of Carlos Castaño (Karpin-Galicia) and José Ángel Gómez Marchante (Saunier Duval-Prodir), with pre-race favorite Alejandro Valverde

The Belgian-Swedish Unibet.com team will cease operations at the end of the season, Belgian TV network Sporza reported on Wednesday. “We knew it was coming,” general manager Koen Terryn told Sporza. “Unfortunately, we need to tell our riders that they have to look for new teams next year.” While it had successfully obtained a ProTour license at the onset of the 2007 season, Unibet.com soon became the focal point of an ongoing power struggle between the sport’s governing body and the organizers of the three grand tours, the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. In

T-Mobile speedster Gerald Ciolek won the sixth stage of the Tour of Germany after a sprint finish through the foothills of the Austrian Alps into Kufstein on Wednesday. The 20-year-old German was the first home after covering the largely flat route from 175km from Laegenfeld in three hours, 57mins and 40 seconds as CSC's Jens Voigt retained the yellow jersey. Ciolek had to work hard to hold off a challenge from the chasing pack including strong finishers such as Italians Danilo Napolitano, Paolo Bettini and German Erik Zabel which pushed him hard to the line. "I waited until the last

Alberto Contador is on vacation this week, but he’ll probably be spending more time than he would like working the phone after last week’s news that his Discovery Channel team is disbanding at the end of the season. The standing Tour de France champion is without a secure future – not to mention most of the other riders and staff on the Discovery Channel payroll. Where Contador could likely end up depends on what kind of reception his new manager, Tony Rominger, receives from prospective ProTour teams. Doubts over Contador’s alleged links to the Operación Puerto investigation could

What say we give tire rolling resistance a rest this week?First, I wanted to tell you a little about the party we threw on August5 for the 25th anniversary of Zinn Cycles. Such a milestone does not comealong too often, and it was very interesting putting together the memorabiliacollected over a quarter of a century for the party. While it became brutally clear that the people who tell me and my wifethat we look the same as we did in college are stretching the truth, afar more interesting thing was to see how bikes have changed since 1982.I hope this doesn’t bore you (if so, skip to the

Caisse d'Epargne’s David Lopez Garcia won the fifth stage of the Tour of Germany between Sonthofen and the 2671-meter hors categorie mountain-top finish on top of Austria’s Rettenbachferner climb. Lopez Garcia took the win, but CSC’s Jens Voigt rode impressively to retain his grip on the overall race lead. The Spaniard moved out of a strong lead group some three kilometers from the finish and resisted a strong effort by defending champion Voigt to cross the line at 2670 meters altitude alone after 157.6km of racing. Voigt, wearing the yellow jersey since Saturday, finished just 12

Alejandro Valverde headlines this week’s Vuelta a Burgos starting Tuesday in northern Spain in a race that’s replete with Vuelta a España favorites. The likes of Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and José Ángel Gómez Marchante (Saunier Duval-Prodir) are using the five-day stage race as a trampoline for the Vuelta podium, but Valverde is skipping the Spanish grand tour to prepare especially for the world championships. Valverde disappointed Vuelta organizers last week when he said he would be skipping the September 1 start in Vigo, leaving the Spanish tour bereft of its 2006 podium

Lampre’s Damiano Cunego enjoyed his first stage win at the Tour of Germany Monday, grabbing victory on the fourth stage as the tour entered the foothills of the Alps. The 25-year-old Cunego claimed victory on the 183.8km route between Singen and Sonthofen, which featured two rated climbs – the Category 3 Linden berg and the Cat. 2 climb up the 1420-meter-tall Riedbergpass. had two climbs, winning in a time of 4:28:06. Cunego, who moved ahead of the main field on the day’s final climb, stayed away with an elite group. The Lampre rider finished in a time of 4:28:06, narrowly edging out

World championship silver medalist Erik Zabel (Milram) won the third stage on the Tour of Germany Sunday in Offenburg while defending champion Jens Voigt (CSC) retained the yellow jersey. Zabel, 37, proved quickest over the 181.8km course between Pforzheim through the stunning Black Forest to Offenburg to claim the 13th tour win of his career. Zabel sealed the victory in a tight sprint, winning in a time of 4 hours, 49 minutes and 25 seconds to finish just ahead of Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Caisse d'Epargne) and Australian Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux). Defending champion

Zberg opens Tour de l’Ain with winSwiss national champion Beat Zberg (Gerolsteiner) soloed to victory on Sunday in the first stage of the Tour de l’Ain, a 154km run between Montluel and Hauteville. Zberg takes the yellow leader’s jersey going into Monday’s second stage, a 159.5km leg from Lagnieu to Bellignat. Tour de l’AinStage 11. Beat Zberg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, 154km in 3:24:502. Niels Brouzes (F), Auber 93, at 0:063. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, same time4. Joahnn Tschopp (Swi), Bouygues Telecom, s.t.5. Bauke Mollema (Nl), RB3, s.t.6. Stijn Devolder (B), Discovery

Health Net-Maxxis rider Nathan O’Neill kept up his winning ways over the weekend at the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove, held outside of Chicago. The Australian time-trial specialist took the overall at the two-day, three-stage event as he has done many times this season, by winning the race against the clock and defending his lead over the two remaining stages. The event, now in its second-year with a prize purse totaling $152,000, changed its format from a one-day criterium to include a 4.5-mile prologue and an 80km circuit race held on Saturday, August 11, and a 110km criterium over a

The appeals committee of the Italian Cycling Federation has asked that the case of cyclist Alessandro Petacchi, who tested positive for Salbutamol during the Giro d’Italia, should be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FCI cleared the 33-year-old sprint ace of doping last month claiming that human error was to blame for his positive test for Salbutamol, a medication primarily used to treat asthma, in May, which resulted in his Milram team barring him from the Tour de France. He has since returned to competition.Petacchi has a Therapeutic Use Exemption for the drug,

Defending champion Jens Voigt was pleased to be in the Tour of Germany's yellow jersey after his CSC team won Saturday's team time trial in Bretten. The Danish team was the fastest over the Tour's second-stage around the 42.2km course in the south-west German town of Bretten, winning in a time of 51mins 40.61 seconds. "The time trial went well for us," said Voigt, 35, who has now won four stages on the Tour in his career. "It shows how important every second is and we made a good start on Friday. "I am really pleased to get the yellow jersey, I will try and keep it for as long

With the September 1 start of the Vuelta a España just three weeks away, the Spanish race is spending 180,000 euros to try to make the 2007 edition the cleanest version ever. And following the devastating news of the blood doping positive of last year’s third-place podium man Andrey Kashechkin, race organizers are raising new questions on whether they want to see the team of defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov at the start in Vigo. “The facts will determine the participation of the team. We’ve spoken with the team directors and they’ve told us they will take measures,” Vuelta race

Despite one of the sport’s most impressive win records, the U.S.-based Discovery Channel team has failed in efforts to secure a new title sponsor and will cease operations at the end of the season. Tailwind Sports, the parent company of the team, announced Friday that the program will end with the 2007 cycling season. Tailwind officials were apparently unable to parlay a series of eight Tour de France victories over nine years into a satisfactory sponsorship arrangement. “Tailwind has had an amazing 10 years of success with U.S. Postal and more recently Discovery Channel as its title

German cyclist Robert Förster was delighted to give his Gerolsteiner team a winning start to the Tour of Germany when he won the opening stage in Saarbrücken Friday. The 29-year-old Förster won the 183.7km stage in a time of 4:24:16, finishing a field sprint ahead of Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) and Milram’s Erik Zabel. Förster will wear the yellow jersey for Saturday's 42.2kms team time trial in Bretten. "This is an important win for us as a team," said Foerster after picking up his first stage win of the German tour. "Everything ran smoothly, the team rode strongly to help me.

Even winning the Tour de France couldn’t help Discovery Channel in its search to find a replacement title sponsor for beyond the 2007 season. Less than two weeks after Alberto Contador won the team’s eighth Tour in nine years, officials from Tailwind Sports officially threw in the towel in their hunt to procure a new sponsor. They blamed a laundry list of cycling’s ills for their failure to convince a sponsor to pony up an estimated $15 million per year to underwrite the ProTour team’s annual budget. “We couldn’t in good conscience ask someone to spend the sort of money that it would

Geman telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom will remain as the title sponsor of the T-Mobile cycling team until 2010, spokesman Christian Frommert said Thursday. “We remain committed to cycling until 2010,” declared Frommert at a press conference in Saarbrücken ahead of Friday’s start of the Tour of Germany. “Since the end of the Tour de France, we had a series of in-house discussions and met with the team, the German cycling federation and television networks,” Frommert explained. “After a lot of consideration, we concluded that to leave cycling at a time this sport is in crisis would

Linus Gerdemann, who held the yellow jersey for a day on this year's Tour de France, is hoping to win this year's Tour of Germany and restore some pride to German cycling, battered by a succession of doping problems. Having won a stage in this year's Tour de France, the 24-year-old is full of confidence for his home country's event which starts in Saarbrücken on Friday and runs till the following Saturday. "I have felt good since the end of the Tour and I think I can do something special here," said the T-Mobile rider. The reputation of cycling in Germany has been badly

American Taylor Phinney (TIAA-CREF-5280) rode to a world time trial title on Thursday with a victory in the race against the clock at the 2007 UCI Junior Road and Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Phinney clocked a time of 37 minutes, 28.10 seconds over the 28-kilometer course to beat silver medalist John Degenkolb of Germany by 24 seconds. Nikita Novikov of Russia was third, 30 seconds off the pace of Phinney. Phinney’s world championship was the second medal for the U.S. National Team on Thursday after Californian Jerika Hutchinson won the bronze medal in the

Bobby Julich will take aim for the U.S. national championships next month to earn the Stars ‘n’ Stripes jersey for what will likely be his final year as a pro. The 35-year-old said he’s close to penning a one-year contract extension that will keep him in a Team CSC jersey through the 2008 season. And he’d love nothing better than to win the national title, which has eluded him in his otherwise successful 15-year pro career. “I’d like to try to win a national jersey finally. Either the time trial or the road race, I don’t care. I’d take anything,” Julich said. “It would be fun to have the

Barloworld’s Ryan Cox died on August 1st from complications related to his recent surgery to treat a condition known as iliac artery endofibrosis. Since the death of the 28-year-old cyclist, I’ve received several questions about the problem that led to his surgery and the complications that ultimately took his life. Iliac artery endofibrosis is surprisingly common among elite cyclists and speedskaters. Indeed, two of the men on the Colavita-Sutter Home squad have undergone this same procedure within the last year: Charles Dionne and Hayden Godfrey. Both, thankfully, have had successful

Christian Vande Velde (CSC) and Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) have both confirmed they will race next month’s Vuelta a España. Vande Velde, fresh off a rock solid 15th in the Clásica San Sebastián on Saturday, was the fourth-best American at the Tour de France, slotting in at 25th overall, finishing behind Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) in third, Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto), 15th, and George Hincapie (Discovery) in 24th. “I will take a little break and then I will get ready for the Vuelta,” said Vande Velde, who’s raced in the Vuelta three times, with a career-best 25th in 2002.

Dear readers,
Most of today's column is devoted to a selection of the many, many interesting letters I got in response to my June 26 column, addressing the many factors that add to - or reduce – rolling resistance.
Lennard

Roundness
Lennard,

“Wow! You’re a professional cyclist? How cool! You must see everything! How lucky is that! Like one huge paid vacation traveling around the world!” Response: “Yep, see it all. Pretty cool.” To answer honestly with “Well, we see the insides of lots of hotel rooms, airports and a few hundred kilometers of road a day, but it’s not like we actually see anything,” simply isn’t worth the complicated explanation required afterwards. Most people simply can’t believe and that we don’t spend our days cruising town, checking out the sights, doing a bit of shopping, hitting up swank restaurants and

You couldn’t tell that Danilo Di Luca has been the subject of a drugs inquiry since winning the Giro d’Italia in early June. Just as it looked like Di Luca was going to be cleared of links to the so-called “Oil for Drugs” doping investigation in Italy, Italy’s Olympic Committee (CONI) said late last week on its web page it will need more time to review evidence over links to alleged illicit practices. Di Luca, however, showed no signs of tension after racing at this weekend’s Clásica San Sebastián. “I am tranquilo,” Di Luca said after finishing 80th. “I have nothing to worry about. I

After losing valuable ground on the NRC front during Charlotte, North Carolina’s prize-rich Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez evened the score just up the road in Winston-Salem at the 2007 Hanes Park Classic. Dominguez sat comfortably in the field during most of Sunday’s 90-minute effort, content on waiting for the right moment to make up for a disappointing 15th place showing the day before. “Yesterday I was a little tired but from the second lap, I told my guys ‘Hey, keep the race together because I feel good.’ And I love this heat.” The extreme

Arvesen wins Danish tourNorwegian Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC) won the Tour of Denmark on Sunday. Britain’s Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) won the sixth and final stage, a 175.6km leg between Praestoe and Frederiksberg. Arvesen thus becomes the first two-time winner of the Danish tour, his first victory here having come in 2004. It is the fourth consecutive victory here for a CSC rider. "It's fantastic," Arvesen told The Associated Press. "I never thought I could do this." Tour of DenmarkStage 61. Mark Cavendish (GB), T-Mobile, 175.6km in 4:05:172. Juan José Haedo (Arg), CSC, same time3. Graeme

In Saturday’s battle of the NRC titans at the Presbyterian Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina, Health Net-Maxxis rider Frank Pipp followed a late move by Jesse Anthony (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) and grabbed the win four and a half laps later. It was an intense effort that unexpectedly delivered another key win over the team’s close competitors, Toyota-United.

With doping positives and the ejection of the yellow jersey, the news from this year’s Tour de France was predictably dour. Indeed, with reporters spending three weeks in the race’s scandal-plagued – and essentially closed – environment, many were prepared to write the obituary for France’s national tour. But sorting through the numbers and viewing the event from outside the “bubble” of the Tour caravan shows that the race deservedly remains one of the world’s most popular sporting events. Numbers on the roadThis year’s Tour began, with great hope and ambition, on the streets of London.

Belgian Greg van Avermaet (Predictor-Lotto) claimed victory in the German classic Rund um die Hainleite on Saturday. Van Avermaet outsprinted Germans Sven Krauss and Paul Martens to win the 201km race around Erfurt. Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), who has returned to racing following a positive test for salbutamol, finished with the bunch, well behind the 11-man break that contested the victory. The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) had recommended to the Italian cycling federation (FCI) that Petacchi be banned from cycling for 12 months after a urine sample he gave at Pinerolo on May

With plenty of heavy hitters coming out of the Tour de France looking to light up the 225km Clásica San Sebastián on a hot Saturday in northern Spain, it was Leonardo Bertagnolli – with only five days of racing in his legs all season – who stole the prize. Bertagnolli, who only returned to training in early May after being sidelined with a cardiac arrhythmia for five months, outgunned Spanish veteran Juan Manuel Garate (QuickStep-Innergetic) in a two-up sprint to claim his most important victory of his career. “I’ve only raced five days this year. Though I didn’t expect to win, I knew the

It’s time for cycling to forget the Tour de France and all of its scandals as the international racing calendar kicks back into gear Saturday with the 27th Clásica San Sebastián in the heart of Spain’s Basque Country… at least for one day. Perhaps there couldn’t be a better tonic for cycling’s woes than a good old-fashioned race and the always-exciting Clásica could just be the ticket. With its spectacular backdrop – San Sebastián is easily one of Europe’s most glamorous cities – coupled with the passion that comes from the fiery Basque fans, the Clásica could help cycling fans remember

Rabobank manager, Theo de Rooy has resigned, according to a team statement issued Friday. De Rooy became the center of some controversy on July 25th, when he dismissed Michael Rasmussen from the team, while the Danish rider was leading the Tour de France. The team said that de Rooy had "decided to step down, in consultation with the Rabobank." De Rooy fired Rasmussen for allegedly lying about his whereabouts in an attempt to avoid out-of-competition doping tests. Rasmussen, who has vehemently denied the accusations, missed tests in May and June. The two-time Tour de France climber's

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador said Thursday that the forced exit of Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen, which paved the way for his own victory, was fundamentally unfair and set a bad precedent for the sport. "I don't know what is really behind it, but I do know that what should not be possible is to be told in the middle of the race that you can't participate when there was no problem at the beginning," Contador said in an interview with radio Cadena Ser. "I would have liked to have won in another way," he added. Rasmussen was kicked off the Tour by his Rabobank team while

Levi Leipheimer rode the 2007 Tour de France just as he said he would, executing his plan of peaking in the final week of the race to perfection. With all the hardest stages packed into the Tour’s final nine days, Leipheimer passed on trying to defend his title during June’s Dauphiné Libéré for fear of peaking too soon. The veteran American hit his stride just in time and doubled in the Tour’s final time trial to secure a spot on the podium and win a stage. “I’m extremely happy to win a stage. It’s been a lifelong dream to win a stage at the Tour and to be on the podium is going to be