Road

Cycling politics and controversy aside, I’m stoked about the Tour deFrance. I sure hope OLN provides coverage to the American ForcesNetwork (AFN) so I can enjoy a few stages on television. We got everyvolley of the French Open and PLENTY of World Cup coverage; hopefully they’lldo the same for the TdF.The best part of all is the fact that the completion of “The Tour” willmark yet another milestone in the completion of “my tour.” When thepeloton crosses the finish line in Paris, I’ll be that much closer to achievingmy ultimate goal… going home.Our softball team is now gimp with pulled

I was struck when reading this question about what a strange world some of us cyclists live in, where bodily encounters with solid objects and even riding over fallen riders are commonplace. It got me thinking in the wee hours not only about bicycle geometry, which was the original gist of the question, but also about bruising, inflammation, Tyler Hamilton’s lower back and heart attacks! Now, either these are more closely connected than we may think, or maybe I should do more sleeping and less pondering in the wee hours, as connections between divergent thoughts that seem so profound long

Former cycling trainer Freddy Sergant was sentenced to four years in jail Monday in a trial centered on a doping ring that supplied a cocktail of amphetamines, cocaine and heroin to riders in France and Belgium. Sergant received the harshest of 23 sentences, with none of the defendants escaping punishment. The sentencing comes amid a scandal that threw the Tour de France into chaos on the eve of the race. Several top cyclists were withdrawn Friday because of a doping investigation in Spain. Sergant, a Belgian believed to be the key figure, also was fined more than $230,000. His wife,

The following riders were named in the ongoing Opera?ion Puerto doping case by Spanish investigators on Thursday:

Astaná-Würth
Michele Scarponi (I)
Marcos Antonio Serrano (Sp)
David Etxebarria (Sp)
Joseba Beloki (Sp)
Angel Vicioso (Sp)
Isidro Nozal (Sp)
Unai Osa (Sp)
Jörg Jaksche (G)
Giampaolo Caruso (I)

CSC
Ivan Basso (I)

Caisse D'Epargne-Iles Baleares
Constantino Zaballa (Sp)

Saunier Duval
Carlos Zarate (Sp)

Ag2r
Francisco Mancebo (Sp)

Pre-race favorite Jan Ullrich got the green light to start the Tour de France because accusations linking him to a growing Spanish doping inquiry were deemed too weak to keep the 1997 champ out of the race, officials said. “For the Tour de France, for now, there is no problem with Ullrich,” Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres told The Associated Press, who added the Tour would reconsider if more evidence becomes available. “He has not been formally identified.” Tour officials notified T-Mobile representatives that allegations made against Ullrich and teammate Oscar Sevilla in a series of damning

Tour de France officials and representatives from Astaná-Würth are both taking their cases to the Court of Arbitration in Sport following Monday’s request by Tour organizer ASO to kick the scandal-stained Astaná-Würth out of Saturday’s start of the 2006 Tour. Tour officials sent faxes to Astaná-Würth as well as to the UCI and representatives of the professional teams association Monday after indicating the the Spanish team – formerly Liberty Seguros-Würth – was no longer welcome for the 93rd Tour, set to start Saturday with a prologue in Strasbourg. The decision was precipitated by a string

Just days before the start of the Tour de France, former winner Jan Ullrich has been dragged into Spain's blood-doping scandal. Spanish newspaper El País claimed Monday that documents found in a raid ona laboratory run by tainted doctor Eufemiano Fuentes could relate to the 1997 champion. However Ullrich said in a team statement: "That has nothing to do with me," and his T-Mobile sporting director and mentor Rudy Pevenage added: "We have done nothing wrong." T-Mobile's director of communication Christian Frommert added: "These are serious accustions. We are in contact with all the

On the eve of his sixth Tour de France start, Fred Rodriguez wants to giveback what he’s been fortunate enough to experience at the highest levels.The 32-year-old Californian is doing more than just winning races in Europeand the United States. (see Part1 of Andrew Hood's interview with Rodriguez.) Working with his Fast Freddy Foundation, Rodriguez is hoping to help young American cyclists to be able to develop their racing skills and still stay in school. Rodriguez wants to boost collegiate racing and development programsso riders won’t have to make the choice that he and so many of

It was a busy weekend in Europe as most nations held their respective national road championships. The main exception was in Spain, where riders refused to race after leaks concerning the doping investigation "Operación Puerto" were published Sunday in a national newspaper (see below). In Italy, Paolo Bettini won his second national jersey since 2003 on a 231km course in Gorizia. The Quick Step rider beat Mirko Celestino (Milram) in a sprint of 10 riders after animating the race with an attack over the San Floriano climb. "This is one of the most beautiful victories of my career," Bettini

All 20 cyclists on a Spanish cycling team expelled from next month's Tour de France voluntarily gave blood tests Monday, looking to clear their names in a nationwide doping scandal. "The cyclists are fed up with being mistreated," Comunidad Valenciana team director Vicente Belda said. "They are innocent and there is no reason for all cyclists to be lumped together." Comunidad Valenciana was tossed from the Tour de France, which begins July 1, after deputy director Jose Ignacio Labarta was arrested as part of the investigation. The blood tests taken Monday will be compared with those

Race officials don’t want Astaná-Würth to take Saturday’s start of the 93rd Tour de France following damning reports this weekend in a Spanish newspaper that linked as many as 15 of the team’s riders to a Spanish doctor under investigation on doping charges. Astaná-Würth team manager Pablo Anton confirmed to Spanish sports daily AS late Monday evening that officials from Tour organizer ASO faxed the team a letter saying it is no longer welcome to participate in the race despite a guaranteed start position as part of the 20-team ProTour league. Anton is preparing to challenge the decision to

June total at week’s end: 1,250 km, leaving me with 350 km to achieve the 1,600 km (1,000 mile) goal. With five days remaining in June (roughly 19 circuits), this is going to be tight. I’ll provide the final report for June next week; unless I didn’t make it, then you’ll never hear from me again. The intramural softball league is killing my distance numbers, with three game nights a week, right in the middle of prime riding time (twilight). Oddly enough, work has no impact on my miles-- the daily 12 hour inferno aligns pleasantly with my air conditioned staff job. The primary reason I

Fred Rodriguez will be lining up Saturday in Strasbourg for what will be the sixth Tour de France start of his career. Since joining Mapei in 1999, the 32-year-old Californian has established himself as one of the top American pros in the European peloton. His Davitamon-Lotto team might be Belgian in its roots, but its two team leaders – Robbie McEwen and Cadel Evans – are Aussies while Rodriguez and top lieutenant Chris Horner are both Americans. Rodriguez returns to his role of helping position McEwen in the sprints, but doesn’t discount opportunities for himself. Last year, Rodriguez

Australia’s Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance) won a wild, 40-rider pack sprint on Saturday to take the Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium. In the women’s race, Sarah Uhl, the reigning collegiate national road champion, won a three-up dash to the line. Now in its third year, the New York crit is on USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar. With a crowd estimated at 40,000, and $20,000 on the line in the pro-am men’s race, it earned its spot in the limelight. In the fading evening sun, 102 riders started the two-hour pro-am men’s race. It was game on from lap one, with teams including Kodak

Saturday’s final stage of the Tour de Nez, the Reno Criterium, was filled with surprises and upsets. Successful Living’s Curtis Gunn outsprinted Christian Valenzuela (Monex) for the win, while Tony Cruz (Toyota-United) took the field sprint for third, earning the points needed to secure the omnium victory. Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis), who crashed in the field sprint, wound up second in the omnium. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) took third. The 90-minute finale featured a 0.8-mile course through downtown Reno. Each lap, riders negotiated 10 turns, including a downhill chicane that led

Former Tour de France champion Greg LeMond alleged Sunday that Lance Armstrong threatened him for having criticized the seven-time race winner's association with a doctor implicated in doping affairs. LeMond, the first American to win the Tour — he won in 1986, 1989 and 1990 — said that he had come under pressure from Armstrong and his circle of friends after saying in 2001 that he was disappointed at the cyclist's association with Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari. LeMond said that the threats continued after 2001. "Lance threatened me. He threatened my wife, my business, my

It was a busy weekend in Europe as most nations held their respective national title championships ahead. The main exception was in Spain, where riders held a strike and refused to race after leaks concerning the doping investigation “Operación Puerto” were published Sunday in a national newspaper (see below). In Italy, Paolo Bettini won his second national jersey since 2003 on a 231km course in Gorizia. The Quick Step rider beat Mirko Celestino (Milram) in a sprint of 10 riders after animating the race with an attack over the San Floriano climb. “This is one of the most beautiful victories

Any doubts about George Hincapie’s Tour de France form after an injury forced him to miss nearly two months of racing this spring were erased by a solid 10th-place finish at the Dauphiné Libéré stage race in early June. Hincapie, who suffered a separated shoulder and torn tendons in a crash at Paris-Roubaix in early April, followed his Dauphiné performance by helping his Discovery Channel team power to a second-place finish at last Sunday’s ProTour team time trial race in The Netherlands. And this week the American, who has been named by Discovery Channel director Johan Bruyneel as one of

Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) racked up an impressive win with his solo victory in Friday’s grueling 108-mile Tahoe Road Race, Stage 3 of the Tour de Nez. Wherry was followed by Aaron Olsen (Saunier Duval) and Michael Carter (Team Einstein’s Cycling), who came in together, roughly three and a half minutes off the pace. Finishing fourth a few minutes later was Jelly Belly’s Alex Candelario (a man more-often known for his sprinting talents than road-racing prowess). Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) rounded out the top five, winning the bunch sprint over what was left of the main field, about 20

Fred Rodriguez and Chris Horner are both heading back to the Tour de France as Davitamon-Lotto announced its nine-man Tour roster. Both Americans have known all season that the Tour was on the radar, with Rodriguez expected to lead out Robbie McEwen in the sprints and Horner to watch out for Cadel Evans in the mountains. “If I can get him in the right place, chances are we’ll win,” Rodriguez told VeloNews about McEwen. “Robbie has such a snap. I cannot think of any other sprinter in the peloton that has Robbie’s snap and the endurance to be there. … If you get him into the 200 meters fresh,

Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis) outkicked Tony Cruz (Toyota-United) and Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly) to win stage 2 of the Tour de Nez on Thursday. The fast, flat, six-corner 1km criterium in downtown Truckee was strung out from the start. And with the first 20 minutes of the hourlong race fraught with numerous crashes, the rear two-thirds of the field shattered in short order; officials eventually pulled 82 riders from the race. Up front, the lead group of 36 included most all the top competitors. Over the next 20 minutes, Toyota-United, Jelly Belly, and Health Net-Maxxis all tried to

While all 21 teams have yet to announce their official Tour de France rosters, it appears that eight Americans will be lining up July 1 in Strasbourg for the start of the 93rd Tour. Reflecting a growing depth and diversity among the American contingent in Europe, the eight riders are represented by five teams while three of them will be racing with legitimate chances for the final podium when the Tour ends July 23 in Paris. Ninth last year, Floyd Landis (Phonak) is getting the most hype among the European press as the American most likely to succeed Lance Armstrong in the Tour hierarchy.

The Astana Würth is free to ride in the Tour de France, starting on July 1, despite being linked to Spain's blood-doping investigation after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) decided Thursday not to revoke the team's ProTour license. The union's license commission said that without any concrete evidence from the ongoing Operation Puerto probe, it could not take a decision about the licenses of teams involved. The team formerly known as Liberty Seguros-Würth has been under a cloud since sporting director Manolo Saiz was arrested on May 23 after police raided a Madrid

Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) won the prologue time trial as the 14th annual Tour de Nez kicked off Thursday morning in Verdi, Nevada. Zirbel posted a time of 6:02 for the 5km prologue, run under warm conditions, a welcome change from last year’s weather, which ranged from cold and windy to pouring rain to snow. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) was second at two seconds back followed by teammate Tony Cruz, a further four seconds behind. In its fourth year on the NRC, the three-day, four-race Tour de Nez has drawn its most stellar field to date. Last year’s overall champion, Scott Moninger

Jan Ullrich will have the full support of his T-Mobile team as the 32-year-old German lines up July 1 in Strasbourg as the top favorite for victory in the 2006 Tour de France. A winner in 1997, Ullrich will be the only Tour winner in the peloton and enters the 93rd Tour fresh off winning the Tour de Suisse for the second time in three years. “With Jan Ullrich, we are bidding to win the overall,” said T-Mobile manager Olaf Ludwig on the team’s web page. The final four spots were decided over the weekend as Ludwig and sport director Rudy Pevenage reviewed a short list of 12 potential

Atlantic City, New Jersey - Not even looking particulary tired from his 9 day, 11 hour and 50 minute crossing of 3043 miles from Oceanside, California, to Atlantic City, New Jersey, Daniel Wyss of Brig, Switzerland rolled across the finish line at 11:57 p.m. on June 20 to become the first rookie winner in the Solo category of the Race Across America since Jonathan 'Jock' Boyer in 1985. Wyss won the Solo Traditional division, in which riders may stop as little - or as much - as they choose. Riders in the Solo Enduro division - currently led by Jonathan Boyer - are expected to finish

Christian Vande Velde earned his Tour de France ticket at the expense of Paris-Roubaix champion Fabian Cancellara when Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis made a last-minute decision to switch Cancellara for Vande Velde ahead of Monday’s announcement of the nine-man Tour squad. Vande Velde’s climbing prowess against Cancellara’s superior time trial abilities tipped the scale in the American’s favor. “Christian’s condition is getting there and I know he can climb. Until (Sunday) I was 99 percent sure that Fabian Cancellara would be on the Tour team because everyone knows him, his potential and he’s

The Traditional versus Enduro comparison continues to play out in this 25th Annual Race Across America. The overall leader, Daniel Wyss of Switzerland, continues to draw ahead at the front and is estimated to hit Atlantic City sometime late tomorrow (Wednesday). Meanwhile, some five hours back is Fabio Biasiolo, who seems destined to improve upon his sixth place finish of 2005. In third overall, just 85 minutes back is Dino Nico Valsesia. Valsesia slipped by Enduro leader Boyer in the mountains of West Virginia. Boyer who has been suffering from “Shermer’s neck” for several days now, motors

Bobby Julich, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde each earned a return ticket to the Tour de France after Team CSC boss Bjarne Riis named them Monday to the nine-man team that enters the July 1 start as one of the heavy favorites. With Team CSC captain Ivan Basso looking to follow up his Giro d’Italia victory, the three Americans will be part of a formidable team that will ride to support Basso’s ambitions of becoming the first racer since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro and Tour in the same year. “We go to France this year with one ambition: to win with Ivan Basso,” Riis said

Jan Ullrich said the best was yet to come ahead of next month's Tour de France after clinching overall victory in last week's Tour of Switzerland. When the German T-Mobile captain lines up in Strasbourg on July 1 for the start of the Tour, he will be the only past winner of the event among the 189 riders in the peloton. And the man who for years toiled in the shadow of seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong believes his narrow victory in Switzerland has set him up perfectly to add to his 1997 victory in the Grand Boucle. "I think I was 90 percent fit," said Ullrich after winning

The wind storms are over as all riders are across the Mississippi. RAAM multiple choice: Solos and teams decide between Attrition, Appalachians, or Finish Line. Solo Enduro rider ROB LUCAS called RAAM HQ earlier this evening to announce his withdrawal (DNF) from the 2006 race due to his inability to make the race-mandated cutoff times. Rob was somewhere in near the Mississippi River and had completed nearly 2000 of the 3,043 mile course. Solo Traditionl rider GUSS MOONEN had a wild ride near Time Station 42 in Troy, Ohio. The intrepid RAAM media staff reports that Moonen skirted past the

It doesn’t get any easier, you just get faster.Eddie Merckx I set a personal best this week. 36:04. I was sucking for air at the end, but I’m pleased with how quickly I recover after riding hard. I’d be willing to take on just about any climb right now, my legs feel good. Instead, I’ll deal with the headwind and heat. June’s tally at week’s end: 800km. Should I go for 1600km—1000 miles? Ridiculous. This segment has opened correspondence with a number of deployed cyclists and I must admit I am blessed with a tremendous opportunity to ride here. While there are many deployed with bikes,

Each and every rider with the gumption and training base to line up in Oceanside is hero. Whether a rider makes it to Atlantic City in first, or twenty-first, or succumbs to fatigue or injury in Arizona, or Kansas or Maryland, each of those riders, the winners and the also-rans owe a portion of whatever success they achieved to the minor heroes staffing the timing stations along the way. There are fifty-seven time stations in this twenty-fifth annual Race Across America. And while some are merely a point on the map at which a rider’s crew is to phone in an arrival time, many have become

Phonak is putting everything on Floyd Landis to win the Tour de France as the Swiss team announced its Tour lineup on Sunday. Landis will be the lone leader for Phonak in what will be the American’s second Tour start as an outright team leader. Last year, Landis finished ninth in the Tour and has roared through the early part of 2006, racking up wins at the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and Tour de Georgia. “The objective of the season doesn’t change – that’s to go to the Tour with Floyd to win,” said team manager John Lelangue. “It was important to find a good balance between good

While nearly 100 racers began the day’s race, a group of three riders – Armstrong, Ulmer, and Team Biovail’s Anne Samplonius – broke out in front after the second lap. They would remain out in front by as much as 20 seconds from the chase group, headed by Webcor-Platinum Builder’s Christine Thorburn, until the final lap. Chilkoot Hill proved to be challenge even for the most experienced of riders. “I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest,” Armstrong said of the push up the hill. With huge crowds on the hill yelling at the riders, Armstrong said she found assistance with her

Sometimes you have to let the race go to win. At least, that is what Health Net thought in the last stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. With three guys sitting one, two and three on the general classification – and another 26 seconds out in fifth place – the National Racing Calendar event was theirs to lose. And while Greg Henderson eventually lost the jersey finishing 12 seconds off the pace, the jersey stayed in the team and gave Karl Menzies the overall victory. And Health Net finished 1-2-3 at the end. “It’s not often you can sweep the podium at an NRC event,” said

Two weeks ahead of the Tour de France, Jan Ullrich of the T-Mobile team is the winner of the 2006 Tour of Switzerland. The German endured bad weather to conquer the final stage of the nine-day race, a 30.7-kilometer time trial into the Swiss capital of Bern. “It’s so close before the Tour de France, and it proves to me that I have the performance and I’m ready for the Tour,” he said. “It’s the last little bit. It’s really the last polishing…Now I already feel that I’m at 90 percent and I can work on the last 10 before the Tour de France.” Hearing the sound of the thunder, the German star

Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) scored what he terms "the biggest win of my career" in the final stage of the Tour de Beauce on Sunday when he outsprinted breakaway companion Will Frischkorn (TIAA-CREF) after 132 kilometers of racing. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators) easily hung onto the Yellow Jersey after finishing with the main peloton 58 seconds behind Pinfold. In the final stage riders faced 12 laps of an 11 kilometer circuit through the host town of St Georges. In addition to a steep 2.8 kilometer climb each lap, riders had to contend with 30 degree (Celsius) temperatures and humidity

On Thursday, KarlMenzies said Health Net’s win was a gift to the team’s director,who was celebrating his birthday. On Saturday, it was Menzies's birthday and apparently, too, it was histurn to receive. The birthday boy fought through four 1-kilometer climbs pitching at14 percent to roll through the finish of the fourth stage of Great RiverEnergy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Menzies gave all the credit to his teammateand new overall leader, GregHenderson. “I think Hendie wrapped [the victory] up, put a bow on it and deliveredit to me,” the Tasmanian said after the 86-mile road race in

Alberto Contador of the embattled Astana-Würth team won the mountainous penultimate stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Saturday, while the top three spots in the overall standings remained the same going into the final episode on Sunday. “I’m a professional cyclist, and my objective is to keep my cool and stay concentrated,” said Contador, asked how he can achieve good results while his team is embroiled in the sport’s biggest doping scandal. “Everything that happens on the television, or around me, all the hype and disappointment, all the good and bad things I’m hearing, you have to hear

After a day like Friday, when everything was almost perfect for Navigators at the Tour de Beauce, today's race saw two members of the team involved in a potentially serious accident with a car that wandered onto the course. Mark Walters and Glen Chadwick were at the front of the peloton setting tempo on the third lap to keep a six rider breakaway in check, when a car ignored traffic cones and swerved out beside them. Chadwick managed to avoid going down, but Walters was sandwiched between Chadwick and the car and had nowhere to go. The Blue Jersey holder (Top Canadian) went down,

Injury-plagued Brad McGee won’t start next month’s Tour de France because he’s suffering from a herniated disk that could require surgery. McGee – a winner of the 2003 Tour prologue and the 2004 Olympic pursuit gold medalist – has been questionable for the Tour since pulling out of last month’s Giro d’Italia. Efforts to alleviate the pain failed and he was also forced to abandon the Tour de Suisse on Tuesday. “Specialists in Paris confirmed Friday the cause of my sciatica is coming from a small hernia that, under the force of riding, is forcing itself onto the nerve and explaining the

For more than 80 miles, dozens of world-class women riders tested there resolve in the wind and heat surrounding Mankato, Minn., in the fourth stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix on Saturday. But the most exciting action of the day came with the final few laps in the city. With Olympic champion Sarah Ulmer of Jazz Apple opening a 20-second gap more than a lap into the finishing circuit, a win seemed assured. That was until the overall leader, TEAm Lipton’s Kristin Armstrong, decided to put her stamp of authority on a victory. Attacking on the third time up the Main Street

As expected, the Navigators Insurance squad recovered from the momentary lapse of attention which saw them lose the yellow jersey on Wednesday at the Tour de Beauce to regain the top position in the 15 kilometer time trial stage Friday morning. Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF) continues to impress with a strong win in the stage, but Valeriy Kobzarenko's second place, 16 seconds behind Pate, was enough to move him back into the lead, after Stefan Parinussa (Sparkasse), the former leader, could manage no better than 23rd. Pate's excellent ride moved him up to second overall, 16 seconds behind

The fifth stage at the Tour de Beauce – formally “Stage 4-b,” since it followed a morning TT - was pretty much a non-factor in terms of the overall standings, however, bragging rights and UCI points were still on the line, so serious racing did take place. The 60 kilometer criterium is a tradition in the host town of St Georges, and takes place on a four corner, 1.5 kilometer circuit, with a sharp climb at the end of the start straight and a steep descent with a 110 degree left hander at the base. Richard Faltus (Sparkasse) took a last lap gamble and attacked the small lead group he was

Fresh off his overall victory at the Dauphiné Libéré, it’s no surprise that Gerolsteiner will build its Tour de France team around Levi Leipheimer. Sixth overall last year with a victory at the 2005 Tour of Germany, Leipheimer will be the protected leader for the German team in what will be Leipheimer’s fifth Tour start. Georg Totschnig, seventh overall in 2004 and a winner of a stage last year at Aix-3-Domaines, will also have some freedom to ride for his own GC, but in tandem with Leipheimer in the hunt for the Tour podium. “We will bring a strong squad to help Levi in the Tour,”

The long rumored change in the Phonak team was confirmed Friday, when owners announced that its current “presenting sponsor,” iShares will move into the title sponsorship position in 2007. ARcycling AG, licensee and operator of the Swiss ProTour team, announced that it has signed a three-year contract (2007 – 2009) with Barclays Global Investors N.A., iShares' parent company headquartered in San Francisco. According to a release issued by the team on Friday, both parties have agreed not to name the amount of the new title sponsor's financial commitment. "With iShares we have a new

For many of us, Kansas conjures up images of Dorothy, Toto and howling, swirling winds. Which isn’t too far off the mark for conditions on Thursday and Friday during this 25th Annual Race Across America. As the front runners make their way across the state, they’ve been tormented by constant winds. Those gusts weren’t quite as bad on Friday as they were Thursday, which saw constant 35 mile per hour winds, with gusts much higher than that. Conditions weren’t far off of those that lead to the formation of tornadoes—one of the media crew vehicles encountered storm trackers who were out in the

Tilford tackles elements to take win in fourth stage of Nature Valley Grand PrixBy James Lockwood Officials, spectators and racers knew it was coming, but the question was when. And 17 minutes into the hour-long race for the men’s third stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, the race was called while sheets of rain drenched a happy Steve Tilford who laughed at the elements and won the Minneapolis Downtown Classic. “It’s like FatBoys at night,” he said, referencing the mountain bike races he also does. “You never know what’s going on. You have to watch the lap

Where does life’s long, windy single track take you? If you are 24-year old American mountain-biker Walker Ferguson, the trail zigzags between the high peaks of the Bolivian Andes and the Colorado Rockies, sandy Mexican beaches and, of course, starting lines at NORBA National Mountain Bike Series races.Ferguson has stood atop a world mountain bike championship podium, beaten some of the country’s best athletes on the road and been forced to work his way through a potentially career-ending burnout. And he’s done it all before the age of 25.But Ferguson’s ready for another season of challenging

For the third consecutive year, rain played a major factor in the Minneapolis Downtown Classic, the third stage of the Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Heavy rain and hail hit the course about an hour before the scheduled start, delaying the start of the race by 15 minutes and shortening it from 45 to 30 minutes. The shortened race, though, didn’t short-change the spectators or racers from the drama, as TEAm Lipton’s Laura Van Gilder took the hotly contested finish from Victory Brewing’s Katharine Carroll. Van Gilder’s victory continued TEAm Lipton’s dominance, with overall

Relying on stamina and a touch of trickery, three-time world road champion Oscar Freire of the Dutch team Rabobank won the seventh stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Friday. The 30-year-old Spaniard was the sole survivor of an eight-man breakaway after he jumped sideways over the corner of a traffic island in order to cut a corner 3.5 kilometers from the finish. Koldo Gil of Saunier-Duval retained the leader’s jersey, but T-Mobile’s star Jan Ullrich looks ready to pounce with just two days left in the nine-day stage race, considered the final tune-up for the Tour de France. Ullrich is

Phonak team manager John Lelangue said Floyd Landis will be ready for the Tour de France despite a lackluster Dauphiné Libéré that sent alarm bells ringing about the American’s form. After ripping through victories in Tour of California, Paris-Nice and Tour de Georgia, Landis finished 60th at nearly one hour behind winner Levi Leipheimer in the final tune-up race ahead of next month’s Tour. Team officials said Landis decided to use the Dauphiné as training once it became obvious he didn’t have the snap in his legs to follow the best on the decisive climbing stage at Mont Ventoux in stage

Race Across America 2004 & 2005 champion Jure Robic succumbed to the 2006 RAAM with a viral infection which could have been fatal had he kept racing. After signing up for the new Solo Enduro division, where racers must take at least 40 hours of off-the-bike time - a division meant to emphasize bike racing prowess over sheer endurance - Robic led for much of the race until he was forced to withdraw with a viral infection in the mountains of Colorado, 886 miles into the 3,043-mile race. Reports say that Robic was not 100 percent prior to the race and his Slovenian doctor believes that Robic

Health Net/Maxxis director Jeff Corbet was in good spirits Thursday evening. His rider, New Zealander GregHenderson had just won his fourth road race in as many tries, grabbed another podium spot with a strong third-place finish by KarlMenzies and the team’s talented time trialist Nathan O’Neill held onto the leader’s jersey after the second stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix. Oh, yeah, and it was Corbet’s birthday, as Menzies proudly announced afterdelivering Henderson to the line and holding for the podium spot in the 58.5-mile Cannon Falls Road Race. “That was gold,”

The second stage of Great River Energy’s Nature Valley Grand Prix ended as expected, with some of the most talented and most experienced female riders in the world in a mad sprint for the finish. In the end, though, it was a rookie and a local amateur who stood atop two of the three podium places. Palo Alto Bicycle Works/TIBCO’s Brooke Miller seized the moment to capture the 58.6-mile Cannon Falls Road Race, ahead of Jazz Apple Cycling’s Sarah Ulmer and local women’s legend and Flanders/MBRC racer Teresa Moriarty. An overjoyed Miller was at a loss after the race. She screamed after

Saunier Duval's Koldo Gil won the sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, riding solo into La Punt on Thursday. The Spaniard rider made the break on the Albula pass, the third and final climb of this mountainous stage, some 14km from the finish, to cross the line 40 seconds ahead of German duo Jorg Jaksche (Astana-Würth) and Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile). Gil now holds the overall lead in the race by 34 seconds over Jaksche and 54 seconds over Ullrich. Two years ago, Ullrich won this tour, and this week he has looked in control, perhaps fully recovered from an April injury that derailed his

Gord Fraser and Mike Sayers each got something special for this year’s Tour of Georgia (April 19-23), new bikes from their sponsor Cannondale. Now approaching mid-June, it’s hard to miss the growing number of big neon green sixes adorning the head tubes of many of Health Net-Maxxis riders’ bikes. In April, both racers were on pre-production prototypes, but now in less than a month, Cannondale is set to have the new rig ready for retail. The new bike, which mates aluminum and carbon utilizing the same process as Cannondale’s Six13, combines a complete carbon front end with a new CAAD 9

Stefan Parinussa (Team Sparkasse) managed to hold onto the yellow jersey after the crucial third stage of the Tour de Beauce, however, his lead over former leader Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators) was reduced by three-quarters, and Kobzarenko's team mate Sergey Lagutin won the stage and also moved into contention. Danny Pate (TIAA-CREF) continues to impress; finishing fourth on the stage, and moving up one place in GC to fourth. The third stage of Beauce is considered to be the Queen stage - finishing atop Mont Megantic after a five kilometer climb that averages close to 12%, with at least

Dear Monique, I am thinking of eliminating sugar from my diet, but can’t find anything to replace my energy drink or gel with, have you come across any products that fit the bill?Soured on Sweets Dear Soured,There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the best types of carbohydrates that should be consumed during exercise with some sports nutrition products promoted as containing “complex carbohydrates” versus the “simple carbohydrates,” often also referred to as sugars. But classifying a carbohydrate as simple or complex really doesn’t provide the complete picture regarding a

Chris Horner rode out of the Dauphiné Libéré ready for next month’s Tour de France. The Davitamon-Lotto didn’t score a stage victory, but he was active on the hardest climbs in the week-long race to show his form is on the rise ahead of July. Horner’s second Tour will be in marked contrast to his debut last year with Saunier Duval. He’s been assured of a Tour spot all season long, eliminating the stress and doubt of last year of not knowing whether he had spot until he won a stage in the Tour de Suisse to sew up his place. “It’s completely different for me compared to last year,” Horner

The Race Across America is all about numbers. The number 3048 for instance—the number of miles separating Oceanside from Atlantic City, a big number indeed. But there’s far more to winning this 25th edition of RAAM than mounting a bicycle in California and pointing it east with a hope of being the first to New Jersey. With this year’s addition of the “Enduro” category with a mandated 40 hours of off-the-bike time that must be logged during the course of the race, a new set of strategies and numbers have come into play as racers calculate speed averages and distances in their efforts to

Stage two at the Tour de Beauce saw a change in the lead, with Stefan Parinussa of the German Sparkasse team able to get into the break for a second straight day while yellow-jersey holder Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators) missed it and lost two minutes. The 180km circuit, which started and finished in the town of St. Joseph, is the longest stage of the race, with three categorized climbs and nowhere to rest. Navigators went into the stage expecting the race to break up, but planning to get Kobzarenko into any important moves. Unfortunately for them, miscommunication and slow race updates

As this is being written, late on Wednesday night, the standings in the 25th Annual Race Across America have been shuffled just slightly since our last report. While a wide margin had separated the Enduro and overall leader Markoh Baloh from the Traditional category leader, that gap has narrowed, with Baloh holding a mere thirty-seven minute advantage over Switzerland’s Daniel Wyss, a RAAM rookie. Meanwhile Jonathon Boyer, winner of the 1985 edition, is firmly in second in the Enduro category, with mountain bike endurance racer Tinker Juarez holding onto third. Kenny Souza, formerly in

Leukerbad, Switzerland, - Swiss rider Steve Morabito (Phonak) celebrated the first professional victory of his career, taking the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Wednesday. That win was that much sweeter for taking place in the mountains where he grew up. His hometown of Les Troistorrents is just 58 miles away from Leukerbad, which is famous for its skiing and natural baths at the end of a steep and winding 16-kilometer road. “It’s astonishing that I had never ridden this road up here even though I lived so close,” said Morabito after nipping Discovery Channel’s Jurgen Van Goolen

Tour de France officials revoked its wild-card bid to Spanish team Comunidad Valenciana on Tuesday, citing alleged links to the "Operación Puerto" doping scandal broiling in Spain. The announcement comes after two weeks of speculation that the continental Spanish team would lose its Tour invitation when the team’s assistant sport director, José Ignacio Labarta, was among five people arrested last month. Others detained were Manolo Saiz, doctors Eufemiano Fuentes and José Luis Merino Batres, and former mountain biker Alberto Leon. "The implication of Comunidad Valenciana's deputy

Fixing the unfixableDear Lennard,All Shimano chains now come with connection pin. Can a chain be safelyjoined with a regular pin? I have done that in the past by not pushingthe pin all the way through then pressing it back in when I had to replacea bent link or two. Is that safe with a 10-speed Shimano chain?Lloyd Dear Loyd,No, it is not safe with any 10-speed chain. The Shimano or Campagnoloconnector pin is double-length, with a front tip section designed to keepthe pin lined up straight while slowly opening up the two holes in anticipationof the part of the pin that will remain lodged in

The 21st edition of Canada's premier stage race, the Tour de Beauce, began on Tuesday with a 164 kilometer stage through the rolling hills south of Quebec City. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators Insurance) won the stage and yellow jersey of race leader after dropping three breakaway companions in the final five kilometers of the stage. Kobzarenko finished 21 seconds ahead of second place Fausto Esparza Munoz (Tecos Trek VH), who out sprinted Kobzarenko's teammate Sergey Lagutin and Stefan Parinussa of the German Team Sparkasse. The first of the small groups which made up the remnants

While Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie continues on his evolution from sprinter to spring classics strongman to Tour de France super-domestique to Tour contender, world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) says he has no intention of following in his footsteps. Responding to a question from VeloNews, Boonen said he won’t try to become a GC contender someday in cycling’s biggest race. The reigning world champion said he’s more than happy where he is right now. “I have no plans at all to become the next George Hincapie. Let me just do what I do best: riding the classics and

Spain's Angel Vicioso gave a welcome boost to the beleaguered Astana-Würth team Tuesday as he held off a furious late charge from the peloton to claim the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Belgium's Nick Nuyens, Monday's stage three winner, retained the overall leader's jersey after finishing in the pack, one second behind Vicioso. Vicioso and fellow escapee David Herrero (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took off from the peloton with just 6km left to ride in the 161.3km stage and held firm until the finish line, with Vicioso just edging out his

Sunday - There’s a new crater from an incoming rocket just off myroute on this morning’s ride.This afternoon, outside a company headquarters, there’s a makeshiftmemorial for a fallen Soldier, victim of a roadside bomb many miles away.The memorial - dog tags, rifle, boots, and helmet - were property of the Soldier only a day before. His teammates take turns standing guard, bravelymourning their loss.Sobering reminders of a reality we’d all rather forget.But life goes on. Cheers from a softball game echoed in front of the vigil at the company headquarters, the game a pleasant distraction from

Belgium's Nick Nuyens (Quick Step) won the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland at Arlesheim on Monday, also claiming the leader's jersey. Nuyens beat fellow escapees Koldo Gil (Saunier Duval) and Germans Linus (T-Mobile)Gerdemann and Jörg Jaksche (Würth) in a sprint finish. The peloton, led home by Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank), crossed the line 11 seconds behind the lead breakaway. Thanks to bonus seconds for winning the stage, Nuyens did just enough to overhaul Italy's Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital)to claim the leader's jersey. The breakaway group made their move

You couldn’t blame fans lining the route in Saturday’s sixth stage at the Dauphiné Libéré if they did a double-take when a slender Italian rider in a CSC jersey slipped by on the Col du Galibier. Was that Ivan Basso? The reigning Giro d’Italia champion and key Team CSC teammates rode the entire 169-kilometer route of Saturday’s stage – the same route they will face in next month’s Tour de France – as part of a three-day training camp high in the French Alps. “It’s nothing special, just some small interval work, nothing particular hard,” Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis told VeloNews. “We have

On the second day of racing, the competition at the front of the pack showsno sign of slowing down. Jure Robic regained his #1 spot and had6 minutes on Marko Baloh at Time Station,#11 in Kayenta, Arizona, . A littleover two hours behind them, but riding within minutes of each other areJonathan Boyer, Tinker Juarez and Kenny Souza. (Souza fell back aspot when he missed a turn and lost approximately 40 minutes.)Valentin Zeller, of Austria, dropped out in Flagstaff, Arizona, after a valianteffort to overcome the serious dehydration he suffered on Sunday. In the women’s race, Shanna “Banana”

Levi Leipheimer realized a childhood dream Sunday, winning the Dauphiné Libéré after finishing safely in the lead bunch of 55 riders in the wild and woolly 131km finale over four short but steep climbs into Grenoble. The Gerolsteiner rider received a congratulatory handshake from Russian nemesis Denis Menchov (Rabobank) after the pair rolled across the line behind stage winner Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole). Leipheimer becomes the fourth American to win the Dauphiné Libéré, joining Greg LeMond, Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong in the winner’s circle. "I am very proud to win this race,"

Italian Daniele Contrini (LPR) won the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday in Einsiedeln. Contrini, 31, made a stunning lone breakaway to finish more than five minutes ahead of the peloton led home by Lampre's Daniele Bennati, who thus claimed the leader's yellow jersey. Contrini went ahead after 40km of the 165km stage and finished five minutes three seconds in front of Bennati to secure the best win of his career and a notable success for LPR - the only team in the race not part of the ProTour circuit. "I suffered. I had cramps everywhere for several kilometres,"

Racers at Philadelphia’s Liberty Classic would be wise to beware of the Germans. Following the retirement of Petra Rossner, who won seven editions of this race, Ina Teutenberg (T-Mobile) stepped in to defend her country’s honor, winning out of a break in the 2005 edition. This year, it was reigning world champion Regina Schleicher (Nürnberger) who would deliver the win for Germany in the 57.6 mile contest. Teutenberg looked primed for the win until the closing 50 meters, having received a picture-perfect lead-out from three of her T-Mobile teammates. But the world champion was lined up on

A month ago, New Zealander GregHenderson didn’t know whether or not he would race at the CommerceBank Triple Crown series, which culminated in Sunday’s 156-mile PhiladelphiaInternational Championship. A broken hip, suffered in a crash in March,had sidelined the Health Net-Maxxis rider for most of April and May, missingout on important races like the Ford Tour de Georgia, where he won thepoints jersey last year. On Sunday, Henderson won one of the biggest races of his career in aphoto-finish field sprint, just beating out former teammate IvanDominguez of Toyota-United. Navigators Insurance

This is a report filed by Paul Skilbeck, Danny Chew and Allen Larsen from the front of the Race Across America at approximately 7:30 p.m. PST/10:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 11: There have been a wide range of tactics employed by the Solo Enduro riders as they try to figure out the optimal way to conquer the newest division in the Race Across America. A group of four riders -- Jure Robic, Marko Baloh, Jonathan Boyer, and Valentin Zeller -- got away on the first good climb of the race, though from here these solo riders took different tacks. Two-time defending champ Jure Robic threw down the

When Christian Vande Velde lines up for the opening stage of the Tour of Switzerland this weekend, the 30-year-old American will be thinking beyond the nine-day ProTour race. He wants to show his CSC team boss Bjarne Riis that he has the fitness, climbing form and all-around strength that will make him a valued support rider for Ivan Basso at next month’s Tour de France. He certainly has the form, having won the Tour of Luxembourg last Sunday. Not only was that victory Vande Velde’s first win since he took California’s Redlands Classic in 1999 but it was also the first time he has won a pro