Road

It’s good to be back in Europe. This past weekend I was back racing with my team here in Switzerland. We raced the GP Oberbaselbiet. It’s the first year for this race to take place. Going over the race info, our director told us that though the course profile looked hilly the race was actually pretty flat. He also informed us that there would be no caravan, but he wasn’t exactly sure why not. Once we arrived and warmed-up, we understood the promoter’s reasoning completely. We also realized that the hills on the profile were real. The course was actually very technical, up, down and on

Lampre’s Daniele Bennati won the 227.3-kilometer third stage of the Tour of Germany from Bodenmais to the Austrian city of Kufstein on Wednesday. A frantic sprint at the end of the Tour’s longest stage saw the 24-year-old Bennati triumph ahead of compatriot and QuickStep rider Filippo Pozatto who had won Tuesday's second stage. Pozatto’s QuickStep teammate Bram Tankink of the Netherlands retains the yellow jersey he has held since winning the opening stage. T-Mobile captain Jan Ullrich lies 23 seconds behind Tankink after finishing amongst the main group of riders. American Bobby

Leipheimer realistic about German tourGoing into Thursday’s grueling climbing stage at the Tour of Germany, Levi Leipheimer continues to have realistic expectations in what’s his final major stage race of the 2005 season. The 31-year-old Gerolsteiner captain went into Wednesday's action poised with the main leaders at just 23 seconds behind race leader Bram Tankink (Quick Step). Danielle Bennati (Lampre) won the bunch sprint while Tankink stayed in the leader’s jersey. “The Tour of Germany is hard. I didn’t even look at the profiles until last week. It surprised me – it’s like a

QuickStep’s Filippo Pozatto won the 199.3km second stage of the Tour of Germany from Pegnitz to Bodenmais, in Bavaria, on Tuesday. Pozatto, winner of the Hamburg Hew Cyclassics, frustrated the local crowd pipping German rider Jörg Jaksche of the Liberty Seguros team by millimeters on the finishing line, with both riders recording a time of 4 hours and 29 minutes. Pozatto’s teammate Bram Tankink of the Netherlands retains the yellow jersey after winning Monday's opening stage. German favorite Jan Ullrich, third in the 2005 Tour de France, was one of a 20-strong group to cross the line

CSC extends Voigt contractOn the heels of re-signing American Bobby Julich, the CSC team has announced that Germany's Jens Voigt has also extended his contract until the end of 2007. Julich signed a two-year deal earlier in the week, following a remarkably successful season that included overall victories at Paris-Nice, the Criterium International and inaugural Tour of Benelux. Voigt, too, has had a good year, racking up eight wins this season. CSC has already extended the contract team leader, Ivan Basso, who finished second in this year’s Tour de France. Botcharov extends with

QuickStep’s Bram Tankink won the 164.2km first stage of the Tour of Germany from Altenburg to Plauen here on Monday. The 26-year-old Tankink crossed the finishing line in just over four hours to claim his first major victory since turning professional five years ago. With 15 kilometres to go the Dutchman accelerated away from Spaniard Jose Cobo Acebo and Austria's Bernhard Eisel finishing around a minute ahead of the duo. Germany's Jan Ullrich, the favorite for the overall Tour victory here, finished in the main field, three minutes behind the stage winner. T-Mobile captain

Dear Velo,I can't believe I read at the beginning of the Tour that Tom Boonen was given an antibiotic for the "minor infection" that had caused a major toothache. In the dawn of time, when I was racing, an antibiotic would wipe me out for about two weeks, simply due to the fact that, as a broad-spectrum bug killer, it will kill intestinal flora, too. This means that I would get diarrhea and have poorer nutritional uptake from food. The same will be true for Tom. The other point to wonder about here (and I realize the difficulty of diagnosing from an article) is what caused the toothache?

Bobby Julich, fresh off his dramatic victory in the Tour of Benelux, will ride for two more seasons with Team CSC. Julich, 33, will ride through the 2006-07 seasons under the watchful eye of 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, the team announced Monday. “Bobby has turned out to be a real catch for us. Since he joined us his career has blossomed like I've never seen it before,” Riis said on the team’s web page. “He’s an all-round rider, who can achieve results throughout the entire season, and at the same time has the ability to inspire and help develop the other riders.” Julich’s

Carson, Calif. (August 13, 2005)-Jennie Reed rode to her third individual national championship of the week with a victory in the women's keirin, adding another stars and stripes jersey to her earlier wins in the 500 meter time trial and the sprint as the 2005 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships concluded in Los Angeles on Saturday. Reed's sweep of the three sprint-oriented events clearly distinguished her as the strongest sprinter in the field and earned her the title of most decorated rider of the week - man or woman - in terms in individual elite performances. In

American rider Chris Horner, who lit up the 2005 Tour de France with an impressive string of attacks, will leave Saunier Duval at the end of this season, VeloNews has learned. Sources told VeloNews that Horner, 33, is expected to ride with Davitamon-Lotto next season, but officials from the Belgian team could not be reached before the start of Saturday´s Clásica San Sebastian. "I have a contract and it might be announced even today," Horner said as he signed in for the 227km one-day classic in northern Spain. Saunier Duval officials confirmed Horner won´t be riding with the Spanish team next

Belgian Nico Sijmens (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) on Saturday consolidated his lead in the Regio-Tour by finishing fourth in the penultimate stage, a 12.3km individual time trial won by German Tony Martin (Gerolsteiner). Sijmens, 27, winner of the second stage between Wehr and Müllheim, has an overall lead of 1:45 over German Torsten Hiekmann (T-Mobile) and a further seven seconds over Belgian Maxime Monfort (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) Monfort finished second in the hilly time trial in Waldkirch, Germany, which began at 250 meters and climbed through the Black Forest to nearly 1200

All three individual event winners on Friday captured their second elite national championships of the week as Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Washington) took a win in the women’s 500 meter time trial to go with her sprint title; Sarah Hammer (Temecula, California) won the women’s 20km points race to match her individual-pursuit victory; and Stephen Alfred (Capitola, California) took the men’s sprint crown in an encore performance to his keirin win as the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships continued in Carson, California. After riding to the national title in the sprint on Thursday, Reed

The only question coming into the final 20km of the 25th Clásica San Sebastián on Saturday wasn’t whether a Saunier Duval rider was going to win, but rather which one. At least that’s how Chris Horner read the finale of the hilly 227km race in Spain’s Basque Country on a beautiful summer afternoon. “We just triple-teamed everyone,” Horner said after celebratory hugs at the finish line along San Sebastián’s posh Boulevard. “I hit first, then they hit after that, we started hitting and we got two in the group. I sat on everything in the back and just shut it down. It was

A star-studded line-up is expected for Saturday's Clásica San Sebastián, where the likes of Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) and Ivan Basso (Team CSC) will saddle up for the one-day classic, once part of the 10-race World Cup. Now part of the UCI ProTour series, the Clásica has lost none of its allure for the big names of the sport - and with good reason. Some of cycling's biggest champions, from Laurent Jalabert to Lance Armstrong, have won the hilly race and then donned the Basque beret traditionally given to the winner. Italy’s Basso won the Tour of Denmark barely two weeks ago,

An all-star cast will line up Saturday for the Clásica San Sebastian, the 227km ProTour race in the heart of Spain’s cycling hotbed of Basque Country. Olympic gold medalist Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Iban Mayo (Euskaltel), Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears), Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros), Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo, Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), defending champion Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Phonak), Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) are among the top names starting Saturday. The 227km race starts and

With virtually no event-specific training over the course of the last year, Christian Stahl (Bethany, Connecticut) clocked a personal best time of 1 minute, 4.242 seconds in the men’s kilometer time trial on Thursday to take both the elite and U23 national titles at day two of the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships at Carson, California. The 22-year-old Athens Olympic Team member beat second-place finisher Aaron Kacala (Racine, Wisconsin) in the day’s penultimate heat by nearly two seconds as Kacala posted a 1:06.180. “I haven’t trained specifically for the kilo since before

Former world number one Damiano Cunego will take part in Saturday's Clasica San Sebastian, this season's 20th ProTour race, his Lampre team confirmed Thursday. The 23-year-old Italian was forced to miss several weeks of the season after being diagnosed with the debilitating Epstein-Barr (EBV) virus. But he returned to action in July and performed well in this week's Fred Mengoni trophy and the Castelfidardo Grand Prix. Lampre coach Giuseppe Martinelli predicted Cunego would perform well in Spain. "Damiano has moved very well in the last two races where he was always near the

After taking a year off from competitive cycling, Sarah Hammer made a triumphant return to the sport with an impressive victory in the women's 3km individual pursuit as the USA Cycling Elite National Track Championships got underway in suburban Los Angeles. Hammer clocked the second-fastest time ever recorded at the ADT Event Center velodrome, a remarkable feat considering the venue was the site of both the elite world championships and a world cup event since opening its doors a year ago. The 21-year-old Hammer clocked a time of 3 minutes, 41.177 seconds to sweep both the elite and U23

With cyclists well into their race season, you likely have your favorite pre-race foods and fluids menu planned out, and are refining your on-bike drinking skills to maximize your race performance. But have you thought about your race recovery nutrition? At this time in the season your nutritional focus should be on nutritional strategies to improve race performance, and proper recovery so that you are prepared for your next race. Your training is likely focused on intensity, with a reduced training volume as you prepare for an upcoming race. Proper recovery is especially important if you

With cyclists well into their race season, you likely have your favorite pre-race foods and fluids menu planned out, and are refining your on-bike drinking skills to maximize your race performance. But have you thought about your race recovery nutrition? At this time in the season your nutritional focus should be on nutritional strategies to improve race performance, and proper recovery so that you are prepared for your next race. Your training is likely focused on intensity, with a reduced training volume as you prepare for an upcoming race. Proper recovery is especially important if you

American Bobby Julich grabbed his CSC team's second stage race victory inside a week after winning the inaugural Tour of Benelux asit finished in Holland on Wednesday. Julich stormed to victory in the final stage time trial, held over 26.2km, to leave Dutch favorite Erik Dekker, down in second place in the general classification. The 33-year-old Julich started the time trial with a 37-second deficit on overnight leader Rik Verbrugghe of QuickStep. However Julich has become something of a specialist in the race against the clock over the past two years - and by the halfway mark he had

Dutchman Stefan Van Dijk (Mr. Bookmaker) dominated the sprint finish of a 196-kilometer race from St. Truiden to win the sixth and penultimate stage of the Tour of Benelux in Hoogstraten near Brussels on Tuesday. Belgian Rik Verbrugghe, (QuickStep), retained the race lead going into Wednesday's final stage - a 26.3km individual time trial in Etten-Leur in the Netherlands. Van Dijk sprinted to victory ahead of Discovery Channel's Max Van Heeswijk - who has already won two stages in the event.-Agence France Presse Results in the 195.9km sixth stage of the Tour of Benelux between

Alejandro Valverde is still recovering from knee problems that knocked him out of the Tour de France last month and the Spanish sensation might not be able to start the Vuelta a España (Aug. 27-Sept. 18). Valverde was forced to pull out of the Tour just days after his dramatic stage victory atop Courchevel. He smacked his left knee on his handlebars in the team time trial in stage four that exacerbated an existing knee injury, causing intense swelling and pain. Team doctors were hopeful a two-week rest period would allow Valverde to recover in time for the Vuelta, but now team officials are

Dear Doctor Richardson,I am a 50-year-old former racer who has been riding for more than 20 years. I still ride between 8 and 10 hours a week. I had even planned to race this year but due to work conflicts I didn’t manage to pull it off. Nonetheless, I had been training and in hopes of competing later this year… that is until last week. My wife and I were on vacation and on the last day of our trip, I went for a 2.5-hour ride. I went early in the morning to beat the heat of the day. It was extremely humid, but the temperature was in the upper 60's when I left and may have been in the

Merlin Metalworks has announced an entirely new line of titanium and carbon bikes, dubbed “Works,” for 2006. The Merlin TiWorks series will join the existing Merlin models, which continue as Merlin Classics. Merlin also has a new CarbonWorks bike, the C110, which is essentially a Merlin Proteus carbon frame stripped of its titanium embellishments. The TiWorks bikes are divided into three categories:Compact Racing - CRTraditional Racing - TRMountain Racing- MR. Many of Merlin’s traditional touches are present in the TiWorks line, including 6Al/4V titanium alloy dropouts, size-specific tubing

Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel) dominated a bunch sprint to win the fifth stage of the Benelux Tour held over 194km between Verviers and Hasselt in Belgium on Monday. Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) retained the lead in the general classification ahead of Tuesday's penultimate stage held over 196km from St Truiden to Hoogstraten. Van Heeswijk thus claims his second stage of the race following his victory in the first stage last Thursday. The Dutch rider finished ahead of Italian Alberto Ongarato (Fassa Bortolo), fellow Dutchman Stefan Van Dijck (MrBookmaker) and

With one lap to go in the $125,000 Bank of America Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, Health Net-Maxxis looked well in control of the race. The crowd, packed six deep along the course, roared with enthusiasm as the green train barreled down the back straight. But lurking behind them, the Colavita-Sutter Home sprinters waited to pounce.

Confusion in Sunday’s fourth stage of the Tour of Benelux cost Christian Vande Velde (CSC) and Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) a possible shot at victory. The two Americans, along with Belgian Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto), were on the attack in Sunday’s hilly, seven-climb 232km march across Belgium’s Ardennes, nursing a comfortable six-minute lead, when the main bunch accidentally went the wrong way. Vande Velde and Co. were already over the day’s fourth climb at the Côte de la Haute Levée with about 60km to go when the peloton accidentally went off course coming down the descent on

It's August and already the end of the season is in sight. We just finished our training camp in Austria followed by the Sacshen Tour. The training camp was a necessity for some, myself included, and helped us regain our focus for the second part of the season. We rode all day and returned home to watch the drama unfold in the Tour. But not too much drama ever really occurred. From the training camp in Austria we limped into the Saschen Tour in rainy East Germany. The team started off pretty slowly but caught up toward the end of the five days of racing, winning the last two stages.

Australian Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) won the 206km third stage of the Tour of Benelux between Beek and Landgraaf in the Netherlands on Saturday. Davis finished ahead of Dutchman Erik Dekker (Rabobank) and Italy's Daniele Benati (Lampre-Caffita). Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) reclaimed the leader's red jersey from Max van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), while Davis slipped into second overall. Stage 3 results1. Allan Davis (Aus), Liberty Seguros, 4:54:302. Erik Dekker (Ned), Rabobank, at 0:053. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Caffita, same time4. Sergei Ivanov (Rus),

Italy's Simone Cadamuro won the 178.5km second stage of the Tour of Benelux between Geldrop and Sittard on Friday. The Domina Vacanze rider prevailed in a sprint with Liquigas-Bianchi teammates Marco Zanetti and Enrico Gasparotto. Max van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), winner of Thursday's first stage, held on to the leader's red jersey, extending his lead over Belgian Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) to three seconds. In rainy conditions French duo Rony Martias (Bouygues Telecom) and Fabien Sanchez (Française des Jeux) tried to slip the main pack, at one point building up a

Ivan Basso is on a tear in the Tour of Denmark, winning the opening three stages and controlling the race leader’s yellow jersey. The Tour de France runner-up told VeloNews he’s likely to race the San Francisco Grand Prix on September 4 as part of his late-season racing schedule. “It’s not sure, but it’s 90 percent sure I will race in San Francisco,” Basso said. “I will take a short break after the Tour of Denmark to finalize the schedule for the remainder of the season.” Basso said he was “satisfied” with his recent Tour de France performance, adding that Lance Armstrong was “too strong

Late afternoon rain showers doused Bobby Julich’s chances in Wednesday’s 5.7km prologue at the Tour of Benelux. Julich was one of the late starters facing the daunting task of racing over the rain-slick cobblestone roads that marked much of the narrow, technical course in Mechelen, Belgium. “It was impossible to get around in the corners for both Julich and (Vladimir) Gusev, who were our two last riders,” said Team CSC sport director Scott Sunderland. “Already after 100 meters they'd lost about five seconds and then there was no chance of catching up at such a short distance.” Julich

Discovery Channel’s Max van Heeswijk won Thursday’s first stage of the Tour of Benelux, a 189.4km leg between Geel and Mierlo. Van Heeswijk outsprinted Marco Zanotti (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Steven de Jongh (Rabobank) to win the stage and take the overall lead from prologue winner Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step), who slipped to second overall. "At last," Van Heeswijk said with a smile after his first stage win in a season blighted by family problems. Discovery Channel's assistant sports manager, Dirk Demol, also was pleased. "Max has struggled a bit to find his form this season but it's

Ivan Basso (CSC) is the top name starting the six-day Tour of Denmark (August 3-7) set to kick off in Skive with 15 teams and 148 riders. Team CSC, Rabobank and T-Mobile are the only ProTour teams participating in the 839km race, which concludes Sunday with the final road stage. “It’s been truly difficult this year to put together a strong peloton,” said race director Jesper Worre. “It’s no secret we would have liked to have more stars from the Tour de France, but with the ProTour everything has changed.” Basso, Jens Voigt and defending champion Kurt-Asle Arvesen headline the race for Team

Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) won the prologue of the Tour of Benelux on Wednesday. Spain's Carlos Barredo (Liberty Seguros) was second with Dutch rider Servais Knaven (Quick Step) in third. Verbrugghe covered the 5.7km course around Malines, Belgium, in 6 minutes and 45.11 seconds with Barredo a second further back and Knaven two off the pace. "It was a good prologue for me," Verbrugghe told Agence France Presse. Thursday’s first stage of the eight-day ProTour race through Belgium and Holland will cover 189km from Geel to Mierlo in the Netherlands. The opening three

The Navigators are confirmed among 16 teams that will line up for the Tour of Britain, which runs August. 30-September 4. Other top teams confirmed to start include T-Mobile, Mr. Bookmaker, Comunidad Valenciana, Barloworld, Chocolade Jacques and Landbouwkrediet-Colnago. According to race officials, Navigators team manager Ed Beamon was impressed by the status of last year’s event and signed up for this year’s tour with the intention of stamping their authority on the six-stage race. One rider who will be hoping for success is Irish-born Ciaran Power. The leading Irish rider has won two

With the September trade-show season just around the corner, the word about 2006 product has begun pouring into the office. And the latest comes from Italy, where Campagnolo is dropping some hints about wheels, compact cranks and a chain. Eurus: a complete redesignTaking heavy cues from Campagnolo’s sister company Fulcrum, the Eurus has been blessed with some major improvements, including a healthy weight-loss program. For 2006, the Eurus wheelset weighs in at a manufacturer-published 1510 grams. The new version also introduces radical improvements to rim, spokes and hubs. The wheelset uses

Discovery Channel veteran Manuel Beltrán could miss the upcoming Vuelta a España after he was injured when he was hit by a motorcycle in a training accident in southern Spain on Sunday. According to reports on the Spanish wires, Beltrán and three other riders were injured when a motorcycle ran into a group of cyclists training on a national highway early Sunday morning near Beltrán’s hometown of Jaén. Beltrán, 34, wasn’t seriously injured but suffered cuts and scrapes to his elbow, lower leg and thigh. He was transferred to a local hospital, but was later released without suffering any

Veteran German sprinter Erik Zabel announced Sunday that he will be leaving the T-Mobile team after 13 years. The 35-year-old Zabel refused to reveal the identity of his new team but reports in the Italian media suggested the rider would compete for the Italianteam Domina Vacanze on a three-year deal. Zabel said his decision to leave T-Mobile was due to his unhappiness with the German team's latest contract offer, coupled with his frustration at being left out of the Tour de France. "I think I deserved better," he said.

With a handful of time bonuses and some tight GC races to be settled at the International Tour de Toona, Sunday's final criterium stage proved exciting for both the men and women, and resulted in changes to the overall classification. Greg Henderson (Health Net-Maxxis) took the final stage criterium. As expected, teammate Scott Moninger maintained his yellow jersey - his second overall win at the Tour de 'Toona - having won it back in 1994. In the women’s race, the bonuses had a far more significant impact as Geneviève Jeanson (The Bicycle Store/RONA) moved into the overall lead as

Quick Step won Sunday’s HEW Cyclassics race in rainy Germany, but it wasn’t sprinter ace Tom Boonen taking the honors. Instead, it was Italian superstar-in-waiting Filippo Pozzato winning the rainy, hard-fought 250.5km race in and around Hamburg. Luca Paolini grabbed second to give Quick Step the double while Aussie Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) rounded out the podium. “I’ve done a lot of work over the past few weeks to get myself in top condition, even doing some intense altitude training in the mountains surrounding Livigno,” said Pozzato, who took his first win of the season. “At last it

Dave Zabriskie underwent surgery Saturday morning in Denmark after cutting his wrist in what team officials described as a “fluke accident” after racing in a night-time criterium Friday evening in Denmark. Team CSC officials said Zabriskie suffered deep cuts to his right wrist after he put his hand through a glass door as he was simply attempting to stop the door from closing too quickly. He was later taken to a local hospital, where doctor’s exams revealed nerve damage. According to the Team CSC web page, he underwent surgery Saturday morning in the Holstebro Hospital and will have his

Saturday's 93 mile road race featured two dirt road climbs in the Pennsylvanian hilltops and proved decisive in shaking up the men's general classification at the International Tour de Toona, as Health Net’s Scott Moninger soloed the final 20 miles to take the stage win and yellow jersey from teammate Chris Wherry. The women also saw a surprise winner in France’s Marina Jauantre (MS2R-Honey Stinger), who crossed the line 2:47 ahead of the chase group containing all the GC favorites, a gap small enough to leave Webcor’s Christine Thorburn in the overall lead. It wasn’t until peloton

Big guns lining up for HEWCycling’s top sprinters top the list of favorites Sunday for the 10th HEW Cyclassics in Hamburg, Germany. Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), Tom Boonen (QuickStep), Tour de France green jersey winner Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and defending champion Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) are some of the big guns lining up for the 250.5km race to kick-start the final third of the 2005 season. Also back in action this weekend after skipping the Tour will be ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi), Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), Paolo Bettini (QuickStep) and Peter

The Martinsburg circuit race has traditionally been the day for sprinters to steal the spotlight at the International Tour de Toona, giving GC riders to rest up for Saturday's mammoth road stage. Friday's 76-mile race featured four 19-mile circuits of ice-smooth roads through bucolic Mennonite farms and dairy pastures. In the men's race Colavita-Sutter Homes played their hand right and swept the entire podium. Mark McCormack took the win, and more importantly, gained a 15-second time bonus. The effort paid off as McCormack moved from eighth to sixth on general classification,

French decry malaiseRecriminations are flying as French cycling officials grapple for a reason to explain France’s less-than-stellar presentation in the 92nd Tour de France. David Moncoutie was the only French rider to win a stage and Christophe Moreau, 11th at 16:26 back, was the only French rider in the top 20, enough to make any Frenchman cry in his pastis. In an interview published in L’Equipe, French cycling federation officials are decrying a variety of reasons for France’s dismal showing. Excuses range from too many foreign riders, a different attitude about training and winning,

Tom Danielson reports he’s fully recovered from knee problems that derailed his Giro d’Italia hopes and now the Discovery Channel rider is anticipating a strong ride at the Vuelta a España. Danielson returned to competition in July, finishing a strong fifth at the Tour of Austria (July 4-10) and 16th at the Sachsen Tour in Germany (July 20-24). Both results are encouraging for Danielson after coming off the painful knee injury this spring. “I just finished 12 days of racing for this last month. I did the Tour of Austria and the Sachsen Tour. Both races came directly after my month’s rest to

Thursday's fourth stage of the International Tour de Toona, a circuit race in Hollidaysburg - the only city in America where the Slinky is manufactured - was held on the same course that an up-and-coming Chann McRae beat a young Lance Armstrong for the national amateur championship title back in 1992. Both men and women's fields seemed content to keep Thursday's fourth stage a status quo affair for the GC contenders and let the rest take their best shot. As a result, Webcor’s Christine Thorburn and Health Net’s Chris Wherry held on to their overall leads as Kori Seehafer

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A Colombian reporter was killed when his car crashed on a sharp mountain bend while he was doing a live broadcast Wednesday of a cycling race. RCN radio said Alberto Martinez, 52, was riding in an SUV, watching riders compete in the Tour de Colombia when the brakes apparently failed and the vehicle hit a side barrier before flipping over. Another two reporters, a radio technician and the driver were injured and rushed to hospital, RCN said. "The pair riding out front are heading for the final stage ... it's (cyclist Mauricio) Soler, Soler!" were