Road

Britain’s Nicole Cooke (Safi-Pasta Zara) once again stamped her formidable authority on the longest kilometer in cycling — the infamous Mur de Huy — taking her second win in the women’s Fleche Wallonne in Huy, Belgium on Wednesday. Cooke won her first Fleche Wallonne title in 2003. Round 5 of 11 in this year’s women’s World Cup series, the 8th edition of the Flèche Wallonne Femmes followed the final 105km and six climbs of the 201.5km men’s race. The women’s course eliminates the men’s run from Charleroi to Huy, picking up the course as it loops through the Ardennes south of Huy. On the

After he won the Amstel Gold Race last Sunday, a rejuvenated and revitalized Danilo Di Luca said that his next goal was this coming weekend’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “That’s a race I’ve always dreamed about winning,” he said. So how come he won the Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday? “Good question,” Di Luca replied. “This morning, we decided that we would see what happens in the race. Well, [Jens] Voigt was riding very, very strong in the break. It was the decision of my director [Roberto] Amadio, and me too, to make my teammates ride.”

Maps, Profiles and info Tour de Georgia

Racing legend Eddy Merckx said he perfectly understands Lance Armstrong’s decision to retire at the end of this summer’s Tour de France. It’s an inevitability that every professional racer faces. “To stop or continue racing, it’s always a personal decision,” Merckx told Het Nieuwsblad. “I’m not going to judge him. It’s easy to understand that things are harder for him, with everything that he’s suffered to get to this level.” Like many, Merckx agreed that Armstrong had the physical attributes to continue if he wanted to. Merckx said Armstrong could have easily transformed himself into a

The Dodge Tour de Georgia, the biggest stage race of the 2005 domestic road-racing season — with what is arguably the most competitive field in North American history — is set to begin Tuesday morning in Augusta, Georgia. Marked by appearances from American ProTour team leaders Bobby Julich (CSC), Floyd Landis (Phonak), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and defending champion Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel), the race will again serve as an early season stage racing test, with the state of Georgia as the backdrop. It’s no overstatement to describe Lance Armstrong’s decision to return to

After what was more leisurely stroll than bike race, it was Phonak's Robbie Hunter taking the first stage of the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia on Tuesday. Hunter charged to the front at the end of the 128.9-mile stage that started in Augusta, taking the win in downtown Macon. Jelly Belly's Ben Brooks took second, with Italian Michele Maccanti (LPR) in third.

Tyler Hamilton expressed dismay Monday after USADA handed down a two-year racing ban for illegal blood transfusions. It’s a charge Hamilton continues to vigorously deny. “It caught me completely by surprise,” Hamilton told Rick Sadowski of the Rocky Mountain News. “Not for a second did I think it was going to turn out this way. The bottom line is an innocent athlete was suspended from competition. You could say it’s a victory for USADA, but I think it's better to say it's a tragedy for all athletes. I'm innocent.” He can return to competition April 17, 2007, but he forfeits all

The UCI ProTour has reached a turning point in its opening season. Behind us are the early (cold) stage races and the flat-landers’ spring classics. Now come the two hilly Ardennes classics (with a different set of characters, even from last Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race), followed by the summertime stage races: Switzerland’s Tour de Romandie next week; Italy’s Giro and Spain’s Tour of Catalonia in May; followed by the French Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour of Switzerland in June; and all culminating with the Tour de France in July. Like the races, the winners have also come in waves. First there

Cold-setting (that means bending to you and me)Dear Lennard,I ride a 1980's vintage Klein Quantum with an 8-speed rear. ShouldI be able to get the frame adjusted to fit a wider 9- or 10-speed wheel?BrianDear Brian,Were this question about a steel frame, it would be not be a problem,but no, you cannot adjust an aluminum frame permanently without damagingthe frame. But you can flex the stays to put in the wheel each time youdo it without hurting the frame. You just can't make fast wheel changes.However, cold-setting an aluminum rear end so that it holds 130mm rearspacing rather than the

Start List - 2005 Tour de Georgia* Under-23Discovery Channel1. Lance Armstrong USA2. José Azevedo POR3. Michael Barry CAN4. Antonio Cruz USA5. Tom Danielson USA6. Viatcheslav Ekimov RUS7. Jason McCartney USA8. José Luis Rubiera ESPDS Johan BruyneelPhonak11. Niki Aebersold SUI12. Aurélien Clerc SUI13. José Enrique Guitierrez ESP14. Robert Hunter RSA15. Floyd Landis USA16. Tomasz Nose* SLO17. Sascha Urweider SUIDS René SavaryCSC21. Bobby Julich USA22. Christian Vande Velde USA23. David Zabriskie USA24. Andy Schleck* LUX25. Brian Vandborg DEN26. Lars Bak DEN27.

Rudy Pevenage, the Belgian sport director and trainer who’s worked with Jan Ullrich since his amateur days, says his German pupil is in his best form since he won the Tour de France eight years ago. “He’s made great progress since January. He’s had his best preparation for the Tour de France since 1997,” Pevenage told the German wires. “We did a lot of quality work in Tuscany in February and March. Jan has got good base miles in his legs.” Just a year ago, Ullrich was forced to not start Flèche Wallone after being behind in his training due to illness and being overweight. This season has

American racer Chris Horner (Saunier Duval-Prodir) will be forced to sit out the upcoming Dodge Tour de Georgia, as well as next month’s Giro d’Italia, due to a broken hip. The hairline fracture on Horner’s left hipbone occurred at stage 2 of Tirreno Adriatico on March 10th. After returning to the U.S. following Setmana Catalana, where Horner finished 16th overall, an initial MRI revealed the fracture. At that time, he was told he could continue training on the painful injury, and that it should be healed in time for next week’s Tour de Georgia. But soon after, a panel of experts reviewed

After sucking on the fumes of Alessandro Petacchi all week, Aussie sprinter Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) finally got a stage victory in a hard-fought battle in the final day of the 42nd Vuelta a Aragon in Spain. Petacchi, a winner of two stages in the five-day Aragon race in his return to racing since Milan-San Remo, faded out of contention in the heated final sprint more than a minute back on a gradually climbing finish to Illueca at the end of the 139km stage. Davis, who finished second twice to Petacchi earlier this week, showed off some strong finishing skills on the deceptively steep

Start List for the 40th edition of the Amstel Gold Race(as of Saturday April 16, 2005) * = ReserveProTour TeamsGerolsteiner1. Davide Rebellin (I)2. Andrea Moletta (I)3. Ronny Scholz (G)4. Fabian Wegmann (G)5. Peter Wrolich (A)6. Markus Zberg (Swi)7. Heinrich Haussler (G)8. Thomas Ziegler (G) * Marcel Strauss (Swi) * Beat Zberg (Swi)Davitamon-Lotto11. Serge Baguet (B)12. Leon Van Bon (Nl)13. Johan Vansummeren (B)14. Aart Vierhouten (Nl)15. Christophe Brandt (B)16. Bjorn Leukemans (B)17. Axel Merckx (B)18. Preben Vanhecke (B) * Mario Aerts (B) * Koos Moerenhout (Nl)Quickstep21. Kevin De Weert

To celebrate the 40th edition of the Amstel Gold Race, the Dutch organizers are hosting this weekend as many of the past winners as could come. Among those who could accept the invitation are the inaugural 1966 winner Frenchman Jean Stablinski, now a septuagenarian, and the event’s most prolific winner, Dutchman Jan Raas, who won the race five times between 1977 and 1982. The Amstel champion who has traveled the farthest, literally from halfway around the world, is 1983 winner Phil Anderson. “This is the first time I’ve been back since I retired,” said the bronzed Aussie, who’s growing his

A few weeks ago, organizers of the Sea Otter Classic road stage race decided to change the course on the final road stage in hopes of sparking more action for a climactic finale. That objective was achieved, and if the final stage was much more difficult than in years past, that’s just fine with overall winners Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) and Kristin Armstrong (T-Mobile). For each, Saturday’s arduous final stage, which took riders from the start at the Laguna Seca Raceway into the surrounding hills of Fort Ord, overlooking California’s Monterey Bay, proved decisive. For the

You can’t help but feel the anguish of Michael Boogerd. Although he did win the Amstel Gold Race in 1999, by narrowly outsprinting Lance Armstrong, Rabobank’s lanky Dutchman has since been the runner-up no less than four times. The cruelest of those second places came on Sunday, when the latest man to beat him to the line was Danilo Di Luca, the revitalized Liquigas-Bianchi team leader who last week won the Tour of the Basque Country.

Rebellin: Don't expect a repeat of '04Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) lines up Sunday at Amstel Gold Race as defending champion, something he’ll do all week during the Ardennes run, which also includes Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Last year, Rebellin became the first racer to sweep the Ardennes treble, but he says repeating the feat is unlikely. “To have the same success I had last year I believe is almost impossible. These are races I like very much, but what happened is once in a lifetime,” Rebellin said earlier this year. Rebellin has had some close calls this year,

Today was the first day of the Sea Otter Bicycle Classic in Monterey, California. This has always been one of my favorite races. I love the atmosphere. It is the only race on the calendar where we have both mountain biking and road racing. It creates a carnival-type scene, complete with a great expo, where sponsors and exhibitors have tents set up so spectators can browse and buy. Okay, so you get the picture – lots of bikes, tents and people. But what really sets the Sea Otter apart from other races is its location. The race is held on the Laguna Seca Speedway, which for most of the year is

Lance Armstrong will look to hone his form for the 2005 Tour de France in the 57th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, a demanding, weeklong race in June that the American has won twice before going on to claim victory in the Tour. Organizers on Friday announced the route for the June 5-12 race, which should have the 33-year-old American salivating with anticipation – in addition to a climb up the legendary Ventoux, it has a time trial that is slightly shorter than the Tour’s 55km time trial around Saint Etienne, to be held on the penultimate day. It’s the Tour’s only true time trial, barring the

Michael Boogerd and Erik Dekker have a job on their hands if they are to win the only Dutch one-day classic in the 27-leg Pro Tour series, the Amstel Gold Race, which takes place Sunday in Maastricht. Boogerd, the winner in 1999, and reigning Paris-Tours champion Dekker, the winner here in 2001, are among the favorites for the 250.7km race, especially as a host of other contenders have opted out of the ProTour's eighth race. ProTour series leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step) - the recent winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix last week - is among those giving Amstel Gold a miss.

When it comes to pro road racing at the Sea Otter Classic, you can always expect the unexpected. Things are just different at the Otter. On Thursday the pro stage race kicked off in Monterey, California, with a rollicking downhill time trial that sent riders spiraling through the famous “corkscrew,” a twisting section of banked turns at the Laguna Seca Raceway. On Friday, more than 100 riders in the pro men’s field were pulled after a Health Net-Maxxis-fueled break lapped the majority of riders in the 96.5km, 27-lap race. Scroll down for a photo gallery from Casey Gibson As expected, Health

The war of words between the UCI and the three major grand tours is heating up again, threatening to derail the ProTour just as the new series is gaining traction. The organizers of the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia issued a strongly-wordedcommuniqué Wednesday that resists what they call “the UCI’s maneuvers designed to divide them.” It’s a real alphabet soup as the three businesses behind the grand tours – ASO for the Tour, RCS for the Giro and Unipublic for the Vuelta – have once again closed ranks to resist changes that they insist are imposed in an top-down

The 2005 Sea Otter road stage race got off to a 60 kph start on Thursday afternoon when the pro men and women tackled the unique 3km stage 1 time trial, covering a stretch of the Laguna Seca race track in Monterey, California. In a race that took less than three minutes for the fastest riders to complete, Health Net’s Gord Fraser improved on his 2004 showing of second place, clocking a time of 2:47 on the wind-blasted, mostly downhill time trial. Known more for his finishing kick than his ability to race against the clock, Fraser said the shorter time trial format favors him. “There’s a lot

Editor's Note: Ordinarily a regular feature in VeloNews magazine, we figured that Chris Horner’s most recent “Talking the talk” column is timely enough to warrant a bit of attention on VeloNews.com and would go a long way toward answering the spate of "Where's Horner?" letters filling up our mailbox. We'll post this one on-line, but for die-hard Horner fans, you'll usually have to check the magazine, where his column will appear throughout the 2005 season.Now we’re into the season and we’re starting to see which teams have started the year with good form and which teams are

A week after abandoning the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, last year’s Tour de France runner up Andreas Klöden will make changes to his training program ahead of July’s Grande Boucle. His racing program, however, won’t change and he’s expected to race next week at Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The 29-year-old underwent extensive testing at a clinic in Freiburg on Monday which showed the German all-rounder is behind in his preparation for the Tour. “Andreas’s test results are not bad at all,” reported team doctor Andreas Schmid on T-Mobile’s web page. “Based on these insights, we will now

PRESS RELEASEThe organisers of the three major Tours (Giro d´Italia, Tour deFrance, Vuelta a España) wish to make the following observationsin response to the UCI's pressrelease dated 12 April 2005:1. The organisers of the three major Tours remain completelyunited in responding to the manoeuvers of the UCI designed to divide them.2. The organisers of the three major Tours can not and do notintend to accept the authority of a new organisation named the CUPT, designedto replace the current CCP and supposed, according to the UCI, to "representall players in professional cycling", and which

As your training program progresses to a build phase and your trainingrides increase in time and especially intensity for development of speedand strength, your nutritional requirements also move up a notch. Hardertraining burns more fuel, and the amount of carbohydrate you consume hasa direct impact on your muscle glycogen levels and recovery. Hard trainingdays and heavy training weeks, also require a step-up in your protein intaketo build and repair muscle tissue. Putting it all together nutritionallyduring a build week in your training cycle, means not only consuming adequatecalories,

Crank optionsDear Lennard,I am going to Corsica in September. My bike has a standard Dura-Ace10-speed drivetrain with a double chainring. I would like to put on a compactcrankset for the trip, then reinstall the original after I return. My preferencewould be to not install a new bottom bracket. I could go to a triple. Doesany compact crank fit the Dura-Ace outside bearing bottom bracket? CanI run a triple Dura-Ace or Ultegra as a double without changing out theread end? I would rather not have to get a new crank and bottom bracket(like an FSA) just for one trip.Many thanks.BobDear Bob,The

American Tyler Hamilton has returned to Europe, still awaiting a decision in the case concerning his disciplinary hearing before the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It’s been more than a month since Hamilton presented his case before a three-person panel in Denver. Hamilton is facing up to a two-year ban, charged with homologous blood doping – the injection of red blood cells from another person - after failing a doping test at last year’s Vuelta a España. In a diary entry posted April 6 on his personal web page, Hamilton said he’s patiently waiting for an announcement, just like everyone

The second annual Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix in Ojai, California, got a little extra star power on Sunday courtesy of a visit by six-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong and his companion Sheryl Crow. According to the Ventura County Star, (requires registration) Armstrong glided up to the line shortly before the start of the 90-minute pro men’s criterium. He apparently heard about the race from an old buddy, Dave Lettieri, the former manager of the Chevrolet-L.A. Sheriff’s team, now owner of FasTrack Bicycles in nearby Santa Barbara. And while, like his Roubaix-bound teammate

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) shot to the top of the ProTour standings following his dramatic victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. The 24-year-old Belgian slipped ahead of Milan-San Remo winner Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) with wins at Flanders and Roubaix. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) moved into fourth with 75 points while Bobby Julich (CSC) sits in eighth with 50 points. Boonen was crowned king of the cobbles on Sunday and the feat made the covers of all the major Belgian dailies. Wednesday’s GP Scheldeprijs will be Boonen’s last race before he takes a “mini-vacation” before

Hundreds of collegiate cyclists from the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) convened on the Boston area for the 6th annual Boston Beanpot Classic. The three race event once again set a new record with over 470 collegiate racers from 60 colleges and universities across 11 states and two countries. The large turnout makes the 2006 Boston Beanpot Classic the largest collegiate race in U.S. history for the third straight year.

With baby daughter Julia Paris cradled in his arms, a physically and emotionally drained George Hincapie finally stood on the Paris-Roubaix podium he’s doggedly pursued for so many years. Standing one step higher was Tom Boonen, the Belgian bomber who swept to an emotional victory in a three-up sprint that also included Spanish charger Juan Antonio Flecha.

Cycling-mad Belgians appear more than ready to embrace yet another hero as 24-year-old Tom Boonen claimed victory in the grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic on Sunday, his second major win in a week. It was a race for which Boonen became the favorite after his stunning victory in the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, where he decided not to rely on his formidable sprint powers to put his rivals to the sword. And after claiming victory in the 259km seventh race of the ProTour series on Sunday, in which his illustrious predecessors Roger De Vlaeminck, Eddy Merckx and Johan Museeuw have shone

American George Hincapie took a couple of steps closer to realizing a career-long dream on Sunday but the Discovery Channel rider was pipped at the finish line of the grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic. Hincapie, who has been a teammate of Lance Armstrong's since the early days of U.S. Postal, has twice come close to winning the race known as the Hell of the North - and twice, in 1999 and 2000, he finished in fourth place. This year the 31-year-old New Yorker grabbed his chance at victory with both hands, getting into the decisive breakaway with all the top contenders with 80km of

The Cobbles of Paris-RoubaixSectionDifficulty (on a scale of 1-5)26. Troisvilles (km 97.5 - 2200 meters)***25. Viesly (km 103.8 - 1800 meters)***24. Quievy (km 106.4 - 3700 meters)****23. Quievy – Saint-Python (km 111.1 - 1500 meters)**22. Escarmain (km 122.7 - 1500 meters)*21. Vertain (km 126.9 - 1900 meters)***20. Du Buat (km 133.6 - 1700 meters)***20. Preseau (143.8 - 2000 meters)*19. Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes (km 149.7 - 2600 meters)*****18. Famars (km 153 - 1200 meters)***17. Artres - Querenaing (km 155.8 - 1400 meters)***17. Querenaing - Maing (km 157 - 2500 meters)***16.

Dominican national road champion Wendy Cruz captured the inaugural edition of the Tour of Puerto Rico Sunday, finishing third in an 84km criterium through the streets of Hato Rey. Cruz took the race lead on Friday by finishing second in the 152km race from San Juan to Mayaguez. The following morning, he won a difficult 68km mountain stage by outsprinting American Jonathan Baker, who jumped from eighth to second overall. Cruz’s margin of victory was 1:29 over Baker and 1:46 over third-placed Dominican August Sanchez of the Dominican national team. Cruz, 28, also won the race’s points and

Belgian star Tom Boonen will saddle up as a major favorite for Sunday’s 103rd edition of Paris-Roubaix, the rugged one-day classic that could put the charismatic Quick Step rider on the road to emulating former three-time winner Johan Museeuw. Despite his youthful features, Boonen proved in last week's daring win in the Tour of Flanders that he has no qualms about putting some of the world's toughest and more experienced one-day riders to the sword. And a victory in the Roubaix velodrome would send his growing army of fans into an even bigger frenzy. "We saw it last week - age is

The second annual Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix is scheduled Sunday in Ojai, California. This race, which honors the late Ojai resident and racer, who died in a collision with a car while participating in the 2003 Tucson Bicycle Classic, is part of USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar. Pro women race at 11:30 a.m. followed by the pro men’s at 12:35 p.m. After Lemire’s death, his friends and family created the Garrett Lemire Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization working in the local school system to educate students about cycling safety, fitness, bicycle maintenance and the

LIQUIGAS - BIANCHI1 - BACKSTEDT Magnus SWE2 - ALBASINI Michael SUI3 - GEROSA Mauro ITA4 - LJUNGQVIST Marcus SWE5 - LODA Nicola ITA6 - RIGHETTO Marco ITA7 - SIRONI Gianluca ITA8 - ZANOTTI Marco ITAFASSA BORTOLO11 - CANCELLARA Fabian SUI12 - AUG Andrus EST13 - BALDATO Fabio ITA14 - CHICCHI Francesco ITA15 - CORIONI Claudio ITA16 - FLECHA Juan Antonio ESP17 - ONGARATO Alberto ITA18 - PETITO Roberto ITADAVITAMON - LOTTO21 - VAN PETEGEM Peter BEL22 - DE VOCHT Wim BEL23 - MATTAN Nico BEL24 - ROESEMS Bert BEL25 - STEELS Tom BEL26 - VAN BON Leon NED27 - VIERHOUTEN Aart NED28 - VOGELS Henk AUST-MOBILE

Paris-Roubaix race organizers, forced by a sinkhole to abandon the infamous cobbles of the Arenberg forest, have unearthed a series of tracks that they say will be just as intimidating in Sunday's Hell of the North. Roger de Vlaeminck who outrode Eddy Merckx in a series of mighty battles to chalk up record four wins in the 1970s has warned riders to be ready for a day of pain. “You need to be fairly agile to avoid the bumps and pitfalls but at the end of the day you've just got to accept you're going to take a fall, dust yourself down and get on with it," said the Belgian who

Di Luca seals VPV dealDanilo Di Luca started Friday’s 9.3km final time trial of the Vuelta a Pais Vasco with a 23-second head start on Bobby Julich. Making up that much time seemed unlikely on such a short course that favored the climbing legs of Di Luca, but with the way Julich’s been riding these days, you just never know. The Liquigas-Bianchi star only needed a quarter of that cushion to score the overall title in the hilly ProTour race in Spain’s Basque Country region. Di Luca finished a strong fourth at just four seconds slower than CSC’s Julich in a rainy, challenging time trial to

Looking at the list of casualties from Ghent-Wevelgem, I couldn't help but shudder. Broken bones; people hitting poles, cars and other riders - I know the feeling. Even the slightest injury or smallest crash has consequences. And the older you get, the more the little things mean. The back gets tight, you pull a hamstring, and bang: You’ve triggered an old injury. Then you can't train properly, or race the next race that will help you achieve your top form when you need it, and you start to worry that you’ll never get back on track. When you’re young, climbing back on the bike is

The most demanding, exhausting one-day race of the professional road-racing calendar starts at 11 a.m. Sunday in Compiegne, France, just north of Paris. Indeed, more than 20 percent of the course used for the 103rd Paris-Roubaix hardly qualifies as a “road” at all, in modern terms. Nearly 55km of the 259km route consists of 26 sections of bone-rattling, sometimes dangerously slick cobblestones. Known variously as the “Hell of the North” and the “Queen of the Classics,” Paris-Roubaix is one of the most dramatic events in professional cycling. Partly cloudy skies are forecast for race day,

Augusto Sanchez outsprinted fellow Dominican Wendy Cruz to win the second stage of the inaugural Tour of Puerto Rico Friday in Mayaquez. The two were part of a breakaway of seven riders who escaped the field 60km into the 152km race, which traversed the northern coast of the island. The break had a gap of nearly two minutes before the challenging terrain and 90-degree heat clipped it down to 50 seconds and a long climb in the final 15km shattered it altogether. Then, when police could not clear traffic clogging the finish area, commissaire Pablo Antonio Fana Joaquin ordered that the race be

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lance Armstrong is considering retiring after he tries for a record seventh straight Tour de France victory this July. “It's a possibility,” Armstrong said Thursday at a Central Park appearance to support New York's 2012 Olympic bid. “I am still thinking about that.” Comments Armstrong, 33, made to Italian media last week that he missed his kids and the pressure was taking a toll on him fueled speculation that this year's Tour de France would be his last. “Four more months and it's over...,” he was quoted as saying in Gazzetta dello Sport. His new two-year

San Juan, Puerto Rico – TIAA-CREF’s Tim Duggan put the chaos of a hectic morning behind him to win Thursday’s opening time trial stage of the inaugural Tour of Puerto Rico. Duggan awoke to the sounds of a howling wind and a torrential downpour, then coped with a series of logistical and mechanical problems before firing down the start ramp in front of the Olympic House in San Juan. The stage started nearly 20 minutes late and some team personnel found themselves stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic miles from the start/finish line. Duggan said TIAA-CREF was not without its problems, too. “We

Depending on your perspective, Nico Mattan’s win at the 67th edition Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday was either one of the most heroic come-from-behind efforts of the season, or it was something that bordered on cheating.

Road size versus 'cross sizeDear Lennard,I'm in the process of purchasing a new cyclo-cross bike and a little confused about the sizing. I currently ride a Trek Madone (M) 56 with a top tube length of 56.2 and this fits me fine. I originally thought I would get a 56 XO1, but according to Trek's website, this is an XL but the top tube length is 55.5, a little less than my road bike, and the stand over height is 1.6 larger than the road bike. Should I be on a 54 (L) with a 54.0 top tube length?Any advice would be greatly appreciated.InsungDear Insung,There is no reason to go shorter

Last time I checked in I had just crossed back over the border from my Mexican adventure. The sunshine and warmth down south seem like a nostalgic memory. After coming home just long enough to catch a cold, I was off again, this time for the first NORBA National in Tapatio Springs, Texas. The NORBA National Mountain-Bike Series had never been to Tapatio Springs before this year and it was at a golf resort so how bad could it be? The weekend started off pretty well with some threatening sky’s but not much more. The TT and Short Track went off with out a hitch but then the rains came. It was

Sandwiched in between last Sunday’s Tour of Flanders and this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix is Wednesday’s Ghent-Wevelgem, a slightly shorter “semi-classic” which rejoins the sport’s highest classification on the UCI’s new ProTour. When the World Cup was created in 1989, Ghent-Wevelgem had to make due with hors categorie status, as only two events were allowed per country, and Belgium’s Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège occupied those precious spots. Unlike the hilly Flanders course and the heavily cobbled Roubaix, crosswinds often play a major factor at Ghent-Wevelgem, a 208km

Cofidis’s David Moncoutie won Tuesday's 166km second stage of the Tour of the Basque country between Zarauz and La Lejana on Tuesday. Aitor Osa (Illes Balears)took over the leader’s jersey, after finishing in second position, one second behind Moncoutie who timed 3:52:56. The stage was marked by an early break by Spanish rider Jon Bru who led from the front for 100km before the French rider made a late surge to achieve his first victory in the race through northern Spain. "I studied the route this morning and I realized that I had a good chance," said Moncoutie, who is in overall 23rd

It was 1997; Andreas Klier was 21 years old and had just signed his first contract as a pro. One of his first races was Het Volk, the Belgian season opener, and the blond Bavarian from Munich was excited as all hell. This is what he had been dreaming of, ever since he had started racing bikes as a kid in his club in the Bavarian capital. He had never admired the Tour de France riders much – panting up the Alps in the July sun did not seem all that appealing. Spring classics, on the other hand, sparked his imagination: the tough conditions, the cobblestones, the fanatical Flemish supporters.

Liquigas’s Danilo Di Luca won the first stage of the Tour of the Basque Country (la Vuelta ciclista al País Vasco) on Monday, a 133km route that started and finished in Zarautz in northern Spain. Di Luca, who also earned the leader's jersey with the win, finished ahead of Spaniards Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Illes Balears) and Alejandro Valverde (Phonak) in a mass sprint finish. Americans Bobby Julich (CSC) and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) finished in the main field, while the Discovery Channel's Tom Danielson and Jason McCartney finished at 1:32 and 2:50 respectively. T-Mobile’s

Belgian Tom Boonen has worn many race numbers over his young career, but he may just pin the number 172 he wore at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders on his wall. Boonen, along with the overwhelming majority of the region of Flanders, got what both had collectively wished for when the QuickStep sprinter rode himself into the history books with the biggest win of his young career with a win at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, or Tour of Flanders.

Petacchi retains ProTour leadDespite Tom Boonen’s stylish victory in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, Italian sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi retains the overall lead in the ProTour series. Boonen moved into fourth on the point’s scale with 62 points, but Petacchi remains comfortably in the lead with 93 points thanks to his Milan-San Remo victory and success at Tirreno-Adriatico. T-A winner Oscar Freire, who did not start Flanders, remains in second in 78 points. Bobby Julich, winner of the first ProTour event at Paris-Nice, sits fifth at 50 points. UCI ProTour Standings, after four events1.

It wasn’t easy, but after fending off serious challenges in Sunday’s Sunset road race, both Webcor’s Christine Thorburn and Health Net’s Chris Wherry held on to the leaders’ jerseys they’d won in the opening prologue to take the overall titles at California’s Redlands Bicycle Classic. Despite heading a team weakened by illness, injury or plain old attrition, Wherry managed to protect a slim seven second advantage over Australian Trent Lowe of Jittery Joes/Kalahari to earn his first overall title in two years. After marking a late move by Lowe, Wherry threw his arm up in victory as he

Coming into Saturday’s Beaver Medical Group downtown criterium, the day’s objective for both the men’s Health Net squad and the Webcor Builder’s women’s team was not to gun it out for glory points, but to protect the yellow jersey at all costs. With that in mind, the tactic opened the door up for more opportunistic teams to light up the 1.6-km course that winds its way through downtown Redlands. The day did not disappoint. Early in the women’s race it appeared the duel would be between the sprint-heavy Quark and T-Mobile teams. On the second lap T-Mobile’s Laura Kroepsch attacked down the

Northwestern Belgium, also known as the region of Flanders, was brimming with excitement Saturday as the biggest race of the Flemish racing calendar was set to kick off at 9:40 a.m. Sunday morning in the historic city of Brugge. After 256km of racing, 17 hills and 21km of cobblestone sections, the race will end in the city of Ninove, with a new king of Flanders crowned at its 89th running since 1913. An estimated 15-20,000 enthusiastic cyclists participated in an amateur ride over the undulating course of the Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) Saturday, with a majority consisting of

T-Mobile TeamDirector: Mario Kummer1. Steffen Wesemann2. Rolf Aldag3. Andreas Klier4. Daniele Nardello5. Jan Schaffrath6. Stephan Schreck7. Serguei Ivanov8. Erik ZabelBouygues TelecomDirector: Christian Guiberteau11. Laurent Brochard12. Chavanel Sébastien13. Mathieu Claude14. Anthony Geslin15. Christophe Kern16. Franck Renier17. Thomas Voeckler18. Unai Yus KerejetaCofidisDirector: Alain Deloeuil21. Jimmy Casper22. Jimmy Engoulvent23. Peter Farazijn24. Jans Koerts25. Thierry Marichal26. Stuart O'Grady27. Staf Scheirlinckx28. Matthew WhiteCredit AgricoleDirector: Serge

German sprinter Danilo Hondo has been suspended by his Gerolsteiner team in the wake of a failed anti-doping control taken March 1, team manager Hans-Michael Holczer confirmed Friday. Team officials said Hondo will remain on suspension until results from a B-test are received. Hondo, 31, faces a two-year racing ban if found positive. Officials have refused to reveal the name of the substance. Hondo, second at Milan-San Remo last month, failed a test during the Vuelta a Murcia in early March where he won two stages. “Danilo swears he cannot explain the positive sample,” Holczer told the

Health Net-Maxxis rolled into stage 2 of the Redlands Bicycle Classic as the clear favorites for a stage win. After putting four riders into the top 10 at Thursday’s time trial up Mt. Rubidoux, Health Net seemed a sure bet to defend Chris Wherry’s 12-second overall lead, and even extend its dominance over the Redlands field, in Friday’s 107-mile Oak Glen road race. That is, until luck and Trent Lowe (Jittery Joe’s-Kalahari) took a hand. The former left Health Net bruised, battered and ill, and the latter took the stage win. Scroll down for a photo gallery from Casey Gibson Luck launched

Lance Armstrong voluntarily appeared before an Italian magistrate in Tuscanyon Wednesday in an effort to “clear up questions” regarding an unusualexchange between the American and Filippo Simeoni at last year’s Tour deFrance. The Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Thursdaythat Armstrong requested a meeting with magistrate Giuseppe Quattrocchiin order to clear up threatened charges of “witness intimidation” afterArmstrong chased down a break that included Simeoni for the express purposeof bringing the Domina Vacanze rider back into the peloton. (see "Mercadowins, but

Green will likely be the dominant color at the 21st edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, as it kicks off Thursday and runs though Sunday in and around Southern California’s “Inland Empire,” the San Bernadino Valley. The usually brown valley – normally dried out by dry Santa Ana winds and the burning SoCal sun – shows something of an emerald tint this year, largely a result of the wettest California spring in recent memory, with more than double the region’s usual annual precipitation in just three months. But green hills aside, the moisture has brought unwelcome hardships to the race

Discovery Channel successfully defended its title at the Three Days of De Panne and barnstormed through the final stage to score important victories ahead of this weekend’s Tour of Flanders. Rising Belgian rider Stijn Devolder scored a major win with the overall title while veteran workhorse Viatcheslav Ekimov proved yet again he’s still one of the best after taking the win in the afternoon time trial. Devolder went into the time trial finale trailing Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) by four seconds following the morning road stage won by Belgian national champ Tom Steels

Rising like a rocky turret from the flat floor of Riverside Valley, Mt. Rubidoux – site of Thursday’s Redlands prologue – was battered by constant westerly winds that gusted up to 50 mph. It took a combination of strength, perseverance and the right equipment to give Health Net’s Chris Wherry and Webcor’s Christine Thorburn the honors on a more-than-blustery day in Southern California. For the nearly 200 riders who worked their way up the 5km asphalt corkscrew to Rubidoux’s summit, the trip up the mountain was like rolling into a sandy tornado. Riders were initially greeted by a strong

Media speculation about Lance Armstrong’s cycling future hit a fever pitch Wednesday following an interview with the French daily Le Figaro when the six-time Tour de France champion advised journalists to turn up at a press conference April 18 ahead of the Tour de Georgia. “If I were you, I’d go there. I have something important to say,” Armstrong said. “I won’t be doing the Tour forever. But it’s still too early to talk about it. I will announce it to you, to the world, only later.” Armstrong, who turns 34 in September, only reluctantly announced he’d be returning to the Tour this year for a

Depending on your current training cycle, resistance training or weighttraining is often part of the program, while the goals and emphasis ofthe resistance session may progress from an endurance to a power emphasisduring your season. Following specific nutrition guidelines for weighttraining can make the most of these muscle and power building sessions.Hormones in your body, specifically growth hormone, testosterone, insulin,and insulin like growth factor, largely control muscle growth. Nutritioncan very effectively support your efforts to increase lean body mass byaffecting these hormone

Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom), won the Paris-Camembert semi-classicrace in Vimoutiers, France, for a third time Tuesday.Former world champion Brochard crossed the line after 200km of ridingwith a lead of a few seconds over the first group of pursuers, includingsix-time Tour de France winner American Lance Armstrong.Brochard, 37, also won the French Cup event - a one-day race from Magnanville,west of Paris, to Vimoutiers in Normandy - in 2001 in 2003."I have really found my form," Brochard said afterwards. "PhysicallyI feel just as good as a few years ago and mentally I'm

Editor's Note: Nineteen-year-old Larssyn Staley - the 2003 world champion in the junior women's points race - is the only American riding for the Swiss-based Andeer team. Throughout her first season on the continent,the Beaverton, Oregon, native will be sending us updates about life inthe women's peloton and providing a newcomer's perspective on racing in Europe.Two weeks ago I had my first race in Italy. After that race, I couldn’t get over the chaotic mess of the field. However, having that race under my belt, I rode in the field with ease this weekend at The Trofeo Alfredo

Clamping powerDear Lennard,I am hearing that disc brakes can cause the axel to shift within thedropouts when paired with standard quick release skewers causing alignmentproblems in the rotor/caliper interface. Is this true? If so, is movingto a beefier mechanism (such as a new Marzocchi QR20 fork) the only fix?Is there a difference between steel and titanium skewers in this respect?I am thinking of making the change to discs and need to know how much hiddencost there is, new fork, hub, etc.BlairDear Blair,Yes, that’s true. Indeed, the clamping force is definitely less withsome skewer designs

Things are looking up for Christian Vande Velde and his chances to race in the Giro d’Italia next month. The 28-year-old American re-injured his back early in the season, but returned to racing over the weekend with eyes toward helping Team CSC captain Ivan Basso in the season’s first grand tour. “My main goal is still the Giro, even though Bjarne (Riis) is trying to keep the pressure off me, which I totally appreciate,” Vande Velde said. “I know that as long as I’m healthy, I’ll be a great asset to the team, but I don’t want to go there if I'm not a 100 percent for Ivan, because I know

CSC's Bobby Julich continued his great early season form by winning the Criterium International three-stage race as it wrapped up in Charleville-Mezieres, France, Sunday, after dominating the concluding time trial. Julich, the winner of Paris-Nice less than a month ago - the first leg of the 27-race Pro Tour series - won the 8.3km time trial to overhaul Dutchman Thomas Dekker, the winner of the 98.5km second stage which was held in the morning. Julich had come third in Sunday's second stage behind Liberty rider Jörg Jaksche and Dekker. It left the American with a three-second

The final day of racing at the world track championships in Carson, California, featured two themes which had been gaining momentum throughout this four-day event. One was good for Great Britain, the other not-so-hot for the host country. On the upside was the continued rise of the British squad. After placing a solid second behind the Australians on the track at last summer’s Olympic in Athens, the Brits climbed the final hurdle in Southern California, snagging four gold — double that of any other nation racing at the ADT Event Center velodrome. The final win came courtesy of Rob Hayles

Reigning world road race champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) warmed up for next week's Tour of Flanders by winning the Fleche Brabanconne one-day classic held over 198km between Zaventem and Beersel, Belgium, on Sunday. The 29-year-old Freire, who a few weeks ago won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, held off Dutchman Marc Lotz of QuickStep and Davitamon’s Belgian Axel Merckx, who took third place after 3:38:56 of racing. Freire was one of the day's main animators, the Spaniard forming part of a 15-strong group that charged out of the main field in the latter stages of the race. The

Bobby Julich is enjoying the finest form of his career, scoring his most important victories in the past month after picking up where he left off last summer with the bronze medal in the Olympic time trial. Over the winter, Julich fully recovered from a broken wrist he suffered during a fall in the stage to Plateau de Beille in the Tour de France. He snatched victory in Paris-Nice earlier this month and confirmed he’s in top form with an equally impressive win in the “mini-Tour de France” in this weekend’s Critérium International. “It’s as if I’m riding a wave after Paris-Nice and I really

Emotions ran high at the ADT Center velodrome Saturday night in Carson, California, when all four finals produced first-time world champions: Great Britain scored gold in the team pursuit and women’s sprint, Australia won the women’s pursuit, and Denmark took the men’s scratch race. The British pursuiters won in grand style, crushing a young Dutch squad in the final by a four-second margin, Defending champion Australia took bronze ahead of New Zealand. “We’ve been getting silver medals year in, year out,” said British veteran Chris Newton. “We were nearly there last year, so this makes up

Dutchman Thomas Dekker, of the Rabobank team, stunned a host of established professionals by winning the 98.5km second stage of the Criterium international race between Vieilles Forges to here on Sunday. The 20-year-old Dutchman's victory gave him the race lead and he is now well primed to take the overall honours after the third and concluding stage, an 8.3km time trial held on Sunday afternoon. (Results are now posted.) Dekker, the winner of last year’s Tour of Normandy and the prestigious GP Eddy Merckx two-man time trial (with Koen de Kort), beat out Liberty's Jörg Jaksche and

Normally if a group of event organizers announced a multi-day bike race that was slated to commence in less than year, but had no title sponsor, a route or even exact dates, you’d chalk it up as the standard baseless hyperbole that has so often characterized proposed cycling events in the U.S. But when AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke backed up the announcement of what will be the inaugural Tour of California with the boldest of statements, you have to believe this event is actually going to get off the ground as planned come February 2006. “The decision we had to make at AEG, and with