Road

In the end, the 56th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré came down to a 21km time trial. Not just any time trial, but last Thursday’s uphill test from the Vaucluse vineyards to the mile-high tip of Mont Ventoux, the “windy mountain.” Spanish Tour de France hope Iban Mayo of Euskaltel-Euskadi won the time trial, and so won the race: the most important victory so far of his young career. The three stages before the Ventoux were neutralized by the top three teams — Euskaltel, Phonak and U.S. Postal — wanting to keep their respective leaders in good shape for the time trial. And once Mayo broke the

Photographer Graham Watson had another busy day at the Dauphiné Libéré on Sunday. With Stuart O'Grady off the front and the big stars keeping tabs on the gap, our man Graham had a full day charging around on the back of his driver's motorcycle. Now that things have settled down, here's a small sample of what came off of the digital chip in one of his many Nikons.

Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) outsprinted a large group of finishers to win the second stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday. Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) retained the overall lead after finishing in the main pack in the flat, 170 kilometer ride from Dürrenroth to Rheinfelden. Featuring flat, mainly wide roads the stage two of the Tour of Switzerland was destined to finish in a field sprint. Still, a seven-man group, including former Giro d'Italia champion Stefano Garzelli, managed to breakaway, but the group was eventually reeled in as McEwen’s Lotto team joined up with Olaf Pollack’s

Given that McGuire Pro Cycling’s Dave McCook had won three sprint finishes in three days at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, it would have been a safe bet he’d be a favorite for a race titled the “Stillwater Criterium.” But the notorious 1.3-mile Stillwater Criterium is not your ordinary criterium; with its steep and narrow Chilkoot Hill climb through Stillwater’s upscale neighborhoods, dishing up an average grade of 18 percent and over 3000 feet of total climbing, Stillwater is one of the most feared crits on the North American circuit. Like the Fillmore Street climb in San Francisco, 39x25

Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) won the first stage of the Tour of Switzerland in Beromuenster Saturday, outsprinting Swiss duo Oskar Camenzind (Phonak) and Fabian Jeker (Saunier Duval) after a relatively flat 176km ride between Sursee and here. American Bobby Julich (CSC) finished 13th in the same time. The Tour of Switzerland has begun with a time-trial prologue since 1993, but this year the organizers decided against including it. The race, which runs till June 20 and is one of the big pre-Tour de France preparation races, has also be reduced in stages from 10 to nine. Results1. Jan Ullrich (G)

Michael Rasmussen, the willowy Dane who came late to road racing after winning the 1999 world mountain-bike championship, was all smiles Saturday evening after taking a brilliant solo stage win at the Dauphiné Libéré. Tyler Hamilton, despite maintaining his second place on GC, 36 seconds down on Ivan Mayo, was just relieved to have finished the four-hour mountain stage in one piece. Phonak team leader Hamilton crashed halfway down the long, dangerous descent of the Col de la Morte (“Pass of the Dead”) along with two others, his Spanish teammate Santos Gonzales and Frenchman Walter Beneteau.

The image of McGuire Pro Cycling’s Dave McCook surging across the finish line, arms raised triumphantly in the air, was repeated — again — at the Nature Valley Grand Prix as the 34-year-old sprint veteran made it three-for-three Saturday, piloting his red Jamis Comet across the finish line in Red Wing, Minnesota, ahead of Emile Abraham (Monex) and Erik Saunders (Ofoto-Lombardi Sports.) From a spectator’s standpoint, Saturday’s sprint finish was as exciting a finish as one could ask for, as the field closed in on a three-man breakaway of Eric Wohlberg (Sierra Nevada), Erik Saunders

Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) will use the nine-day Tour of Switzerland starting on Saturday as the main stepping stone to peaking for cycling's premier contest, the Tour de France next month. The 1997 Tour de France winner has long been seen as the most realistic challenger to American Lance Armstrong's grip on cycling's top prize. Seventh in last week's Tour of Germany, Ullrich does not expect to beat teammate Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, the defending champion, who is favored to retain his title, but the mountainous stages will provide ideal training for France. "This is my last big

Photographer Graham Watson was a busy man at the Dauphiné Libéré on Friday, what with breaks, chases, weigh-ins and podium ceremonies. Here's a small sample of what he saw.

A cyclist was killed Friday when he crashed during the fifth stage of the Tour of Colombia. Juan Barrero, a 31-year-old Colombian, suffered serious head injuries after he got tangled up with other cyclists and fell while negotiating a fast downhill curve. He had a cardiac arrest and died while being transported from a small hospital to a larger one, said Orlando Cardona, director of the San Vicente de Paul Hospital, located about 100 miles west of Bogota. Two other cyclists were also injured in the crash, Cardona said. "The fall was massive and Juan took the brunt of it," said his

When they came into pro cycling a decade ago, American George Hincapie and Aussie Stuart O’Grady were hot-shot sprinters. They loved mixing it up with the true field sprinters. Over the years, as Hincapie transformed himself into a one-day classics rider and a devoted Tour de France lieutenant for Lance Armstrong, Hincapie sacrificed his finishing speed. As for O’Grady, he still goes for the bunch finishes, but rarely wins one. On Friday, though, there were no other racers around when O’Grady of Cofidis and Hincapie of U.S. Postal sprinted out the stage 5 finish of the Dauphiné in Sisteron.

One year after a dramatic crash nearly ended his cycling career, Aussie hardman Henk Vogels (Navigators Insurance) returned to the top step of a race podium, assuming the overall race lead at the Nature Valley Grand Prix following Friday's wet downtown criterium . Vogels didn’t take the criterium win — that honor went to McGuire Pro Cycling’s Dave McCook, who went two-for-two in sprint finishes following Thursday’s stage win in Virginia, Minnesota. Still, returning to the spotlight was a poignant moment for the man from Perth, given an ankle-shattering crash at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic

Back in 1999 at the Dauphiné Libéré, on a sun-filled June afternoon of 80-degree weather, Jonathan Vaughters raced up the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux, faster than anyone in history. His record time for the 21.6km between the tree-shaded village of Bedoin and the bare, exposed 6263-foot summit was 56:50, an average speed of 22.8 kph. It was a record that the now-retired Colorado climber expected to be beaten on Thursday, when the weather was almost identical to that of five years ago. There were several factors that backed up Vaughters’s prediction. First, bicycle technology and training

On a day that began in disarray for the pro men’s field and ended in disasterfor a handful of pro women, Gina Grain (Victory Brewing) and Dave McCook(McGuire Pro Cycling) took chaotic field sprints to win the second stageof the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Virginia, Minnesota. With high winds blowing across Northern Minnesota for the Iron Rangeroad race, both the women’s and men’s fields found it difficult to escapethe safety of the peloton, culminating in the pair of field sprints after80-plus miles of racing. (The women raced 84.79 miles, while the men raced83.) Both finishes could be

Watching the Giro or catching some of the action from Wachovia week, did you happen to notice “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez’s choice of pedals? While his team is officially sponsored by Look pedals, keen eyes may have spotted the fact that the newly recrowned USPRO National Champion was riding a pair of Crank Brothers Triple Ti Egg Beaters. We asked the folks at Crank Brothers about that one and marketing director Christina Orlandella said Rodriguez has been using the pedal for most of the year. “He’s been riding the Egg Beaters for the last four months and in that time he's won three big

In early 2004 the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Food and Nutrition Boardreleased Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for water and sodium (potassium,chloride, and sulfate recommendations were also included in this report).You may have heard about these dietary guidelines for Americans and Canadians,which are designed for the average adult who may be sedentary or mildlyactive, not for triathletes and cyclist who training regularly, often formore than two hours per session. In establishing the guidelines, the expertpanel reviewed the scientific literature for quality of the research andthe

AG2R Prevoyance’s Nicolas Portal won the third stage of the Dauphiné Libéré on Wednesday, a 180-kilometer race from 180 km from St Etienne to Aubenas. Portal jumped out early with a small pack of rivals on the hilly route, crossing the finish line in 4:41:42. Estonia's Janek Tombak of Cofidis was second, and Euskaltel rider Iker Flores of Spain finished third. Both finished 51 seconds after Portal. Five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, teammate Floyd Landis and fellow Americans Levi Leipheimer and Tyler Hamilton finished in a group of 18, which finished 1:49 after the leader.

Each season I look forward to going back to Philadelphia for the Wachovia races. I like the city, the races are the best in North America, and the crowds are incredible. This year the trip to Philly was my first to America since the start of the year. I have been watching the results in America from overseas but have yet to race against all the new stars of the U.S. peloton. Lining up for the start in Lancaster was a bit strange as there were all sorts of new jerseys and new faces on the line. The race in Philly almost always unfolds in the same manner. A breakaway, sometimes quite a large

Davis Phinney may well qualify as a cycling legend. These days, though, the man who has won more bike races than any other American is facing the toughest challenge of his life: Living with early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Each May, during the final week of the Giro d’Italia, I have the pleasure of working to put on a bike camp in northern Italy with Phinney and his wife, 1984 Olympic Gold medalist Connie Carpenter. The two have been hosting bike camps in the U.S. and in Europe for many years, but now the physical difficulty ramps up steeply each year as his disease progresses. Phinney,

Under sunny skies on an afternoon that had seen rain in Minneapolis earlierin the day, Canadian Lyne Bessette took the opening time trial of the NatureValley Grand Prix, held along the Mesabi Trail in Virginia, Minnesota. The Quark rider posted a time of 11:23.90 (28.5 mph) over the narrow,rolling and often falsely-flat 5.4-mile pedestrian/bike path, 2.16 secondsfaster than RONA’s Katrina Grove, whose early time of 11:26.06 had heldup for most of the afternoon. After a hard-luck performance at the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia,where Bessette had multiple mechanicals followed by a crash

Racing begins Wednesday, June 9, at Minnesota’s Nature Valley GrandPrix, a five-day stage race that serves as the primary component of theGreat River Energy Bicycle Festival, a weeklong celebration of cyclingcomplete with live music shows, stunt riders and a traveling tech expo.Coming off the Wachovia Cycling Week, riders from many top domesticmen’s teams are expected, including Chris Horner of Webcor Builders, 2002NVGP winner John Lieswyn of Health Net-Maxxis, Eric Wohlberg of SierraNevada, Tim Larkin of Ofoto-Lombardi Sports, Robbie Ventura of U.S. Postal-BerryFloor, Marty Nothstein and

Joseba Beloki has admitted he is facing an uphill battle to be 100-percent ready for this year's Tour de France, where American Lance Armstrong will saddle up for an attempt at a record sixth yellow jersey. The 30-year-old Spaniard has had a nightmare season so far after missing the remainder of 2003 because of the crash during last year's Tour when he was being chased by Armstrong on the 16th stage to Gap. The Spaniard, who has finished three times on the Tour podium and would normally be a challenger to the U.S. Postal team's seemingly unstoppable leader, has since switched teams although

The Wachovia Classic in Philadelphia, now in its 20th year, has become a regular summertime event. Like the T-Mobile Grand Prix in San Francisco, it is one of the most prestigious one-day races in America and hosts some of the best racers in the world. What makes it most special for the racers is the fans. Hundreds of thousands of fans line the course, cheering and partying. There are a couple of grandiose block parties on the Manayunk Wall and at the start/finish line. The energy is incredible – it pushes us up the hill. The women’s race had its biggest field ever, with 190 starters,

Not wanting to disappoint his sponsor, Spanish rider José Enrique Gutierrez Cataluña took the overall lead in the Dauphiné Libéré on Tuesday after winning the second stage, a 181km ride from Bron to St. Etiene. Gutierrez delivered the for the Chief Executive Officer of Phonak Hearing Systems, his team's sponsor, who had warned he would be at the finish and “did not want to be disappointed.” Gutierrez, who will be 30 on June 18, came home seven seconds to the good of the peloton with his teammate Cyril Gussel of France in second and Australian Stuart O'Grady in third, while overnight leader

Dear Joe and Dirk,I am fairly new to the cycling world and compete in duathlons. I have an entry level Trek bike and would like to know what basic equipmentI should add to improve my time without spending a fortune. I was thinkingabout getting aero’ bars and clipless pedals. Is there anything else thatyou can recommend? I am still learning basic technique and ride two days per week, whilerunning the other days. My aerobic capacity is good, I just need to developmy skills and learn how to climb.Lisa Leggett Dear Lisa,Good question. I see you'd like to invest some money into new equipmentin

Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) won the trench war in Monday’s 231km first stage of the 56th Dauphiné Libéré, taking a bunch sprint ahead of former teammate Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) and Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com). Prologue winner Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) retained the overall lead on a sunny day dominated by a long solo break by Jimmy Casper (Cofidis). Casper took a page out of the Jacky Durand racing manual, attacking in the first four kilometers of the Dauphiné’s longest stage. The peloton was happy to let him ride away and at one point opened up an 18-minute gap. Once the bunch got a

The earliest predictor came courtesy of the local weathermen. While it rained all day Saturday, the forecast for Sunday’s USPRO Championship in Philadelphia was for a cool but dry day. Just the kind of conditions that would make for a relatively easy trip during the 156-mile race held on a primarily flat circuit in the City of Brotherly Love. And while no one could have been feeling particularly fresh after this near-six-hour effort, 44 riders were still in play on the race’s long finishing stretch down Benjamin Franklin Parkway. That left both the race outcome and the U.S. national title in

After surrendering the title for a year to Canadian Lyne Bessette (Quark), Petra Rossner (Nurnberger) reasserted her dominance in the Wachovia Liberty Classic, rocketing to a seventh win in a bunch gallop

World champions became World Cup leaders in the first round of the Downhill World Cup Sunday in Fort William, Scotland. Anne-Caroline Chausson (Commencal-Oxbow) and Greg Minnaar (Team G-Cross Honda) both rode totally new bikes to their victories as well. The 2.66km course required a complete range of skills, with fast, rocky, technical sections at the top, a high-speed section in the middle and a series of jumps spread throughout. Add the constant showers that swept through the region to make slick surfaces, and you had a true World Cup course. Despite not liking the course, Chausson was

Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the first round of the battle of theTour de France stars in Sunday’s prologue at the Dauphiné Libéré– but just barely. Mayo made up for being second in Saturday’s Classique des Alpes andupstaged Americans Tyler Hamilton (Phonak) and Lance Armstrong (U.S. PostalService) in the 5.4km prologue to open the eight-day race high in the FrenchAlps in what’s the final exam for many favorites heading into next month’sTour. Phonak’s Oscar Pereiro, fresh off his victory in Saturday’s Alps Classic,set a fast early time but Mayo came through less than a second faster

For the third consecutive week Gunn-Rita Dahle (Merida) won the women's World Cup cross-country race, and for the third consecutive week there was a new winner in the men's race, with Christoph Sauser (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) soloing in ahead of teammate and World Cup leader Roel Paulissen. It was no surprise to see Dahle off the front by the end of the first of four laps, but the woman chasing her was new: Marie-Helene Premont (Oryx). Premont rode an impressive race - only her third of the season - and only conceded 1:46 to Dahle by the end, the closest result of this season. "I was

Spain's Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears) won the 186km sixth stage of the Tour of Germany on Saturday while Germany's Patrik Sinkewitz (Quick Step-Davitamon) courageously defended his overall lead in this difficult stage from Kulmbach to Oberwiesenthal. Mancebo was the strongest on the final 6km climb toward the Fichtelberg summit at 1214 meters, crossing in 4:54:49, beating German Jens Voigt (CSC), second overall, and race leader Sinkewitz. The 1997 Tour de France winner, Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile), finished 37 seconds back in 12th spot and dropped from third to seventh overall. The

The final — and most important — day of the three-race Wachovia Cycling Series is set to go, and the man to beat is American Fred Rodriguez. At least that’s the hot tip based on betting odds posted by Sportsbook.com. The online casino has made the winner of Thursday’s race in Trenton, New Jersey, a 5-to-2 favorite in the field of 178 riders that will contest the 156-mile USPRO Championship in Philadelphia starting at 9 EST Sunday morning. But Rodriguez, who is coming off three hard weeks at the Giro d’Italia, isn’t so sure the smart money will be on him. The Acqua & Sapone rider knows he

Look introduced a line of high-tech, French-made carbon goodies during the company’s 2005 product unveiling Thursday in San Jose, California. Most impressive is the latest incarnation of the HSC fork line, the HSC 5 SL. Retailing for $500, this all-carbon fork is truly “all-carbon.” Using a new proprietary process working with super-high-modulus carbon fiber, Look has been able to produce the first road fork with a carbon steerer, legs and even drop-outs. No bonding is used in the production of this breakthrough fork; instead, the unit is molded as one continuous element. “This is designed

Joseba Beloki has slammed Tour de France organizers and his own French team, La Boulangere, for not allowing him to take prescribed asthma medication while racing. The Spaniard, who has finished on the Tour de France podium three times from 2000 to 2002, was back on the road this week after breaking a leg in a dramatic crash during last year's Tour, when he was being pursued by five-time race winner Lance Armstrong. Beloki blamed his struggle in the first two stages of this week's Bicicleta Vasca on not being able to treat his asthma attacks because the medicine he has used since childhood

The Tour of Montréal is a three-day, four-stage race. It starts out with a 3km prologue in Lachine, the hometown of Geneviève Jeanson, the Machine from Lachine. We jet out and around a tiny peninsula on bike paths, making a few sharp turns along the wa, and winner and losers are separated by fractions of a second. This course is quick and suits a rider who corners well. Tina Mayolo-Pic, one of the best criterium sprinters in America, took top honors. She blazed the course and finished a half second ahead of me. A few hours later, we headed to Little Italy, where we had an evening criterium.

Times are tough for Spanish rider Joseba Beloki. The three-time Tour de France podium finisher is struggling in the hilly Bicicleta Vasca in northern Spain this week with allergies and then heard from journalists the news that his French team Brioches La Boulangere is pulling the plug on the team at the end of this season. The team’s title sponsor announced Thursday it would not continue underwriting the team past the 2004 season due to mounting costs of joining the planned UCI Pro Tour for the 2005 season. “I just heard the news from a journalist, but the team can continue if we can find a

The highlight of the American racing calendar is the Wachovia week in Philadelphia. It is a week of racing that draws the most interest from spectators and media and is also the week of racing that hosts the strongest pelotons to race on North American soil. Of the three races Lancaster is perhaps the hardest course with its undulating and sinuous course. The peloton is full of motivated racers and the attacks are usually incessant for the entire 145 km event. Often times rain storms or thundershowers grease up the streets and add extra difficulty to the already technical course. This

Looking over my notes from the Big Bear national mountain bike race, I realize there were quite a few interesting bits of info that I wasn’t able to include in the print article I wrote for VeloNews issue No. 10. First off, this third round of the 2004 off-road race season had more roll-outs than an oriental rug factory, so here are my brief notes on the following subjects: Mongoose FreedriveMongoose’s Chris Holmes grabbed my arm and hustled me into the Mongoose pits to take a peek at a bit of 2005 ‘Goose tech. While I had the opportunity to see some initial drawings of its Freedrive system

It was hard to believe Fred Rodriguez even made it to the finish in Trenton, New Jersey, let alone grabbed the win. The American spent much of late Thursday afternoon tinkering with misadjusted seat height, even getting off his bike twice to try to get things sorted out. Finally Rodriguez simply gave up and dealt with the problem, before flying down the final straightaway on West State Street to take the bunch sprint in the second leg of the Wachovia Cycling Series. “I got on my bike this morning and it felt like the seat was a little low,” Rodriguez explained after taking his second win of

Young German rider Patrick Sinkewitz’s edged Spanish mountain goat Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears) to win Wednesday’s tough climbing stage and move into the overall lead at the Tour of Germany. The 170km stage Wangen to St. Anton hit the 1793-meter Arlberg pass, which shattered the lead group and spelled the end of Michael Rich’s hold on the leader’s jersey. Sinkewitz broke with about 50km to go and counted on support from Paolo Bettini who was also part of the breakaway. “The team was fantastic and Bettini was along side me in the more difficult moments,” said Sinkewitz after taking his

The biggest week of road racing on the U.S. calendar gets rolling late Tuesday afternoon in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with the first leg of the 2004 Wachovia Cycling Series. An expected field of 196 riders will take on 91 miles over 13 laps through Lancaster’s streets and Central Park, vying for a piece of the $20,000 purse. Several short hills and some tricky turns will make this a race for only the strong men. A year ago toughest of the group was CSC’s Jakob Piil, who soloed away from what was left of a shattered field late in the race to take a rain soaked 1:18 victory over Saturn’s Mark

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) continued on his winning ways Tuesday after taking a sprint in the second stage of the Tour of Germany. Set-up by Stefano Zanini and Paolo Bettini, Boonen edged Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) and Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) to take his 10th win of the 2004 season. “I was able to count on a super team who works very hard in the final 30 kilometers,” Boonen said after winning. “The whole team worked to put me in the ideal conditions to make the sprint. In the last kilometers, Bettini and then Zanini completed a masterpiece. I’m not at 100 percent of my condition, but I

The opening stop of the Wachovia Cycling Series has always been known as a strongman’s race. With three punchy climbs on the seven-mile circuit that winds its way in and out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, it’s not a place for pure sprinters or waif climbers. You better have a little bit of both in you if you want to win this one. Certainly this year’s victor did nothing to dispel that notion. Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk is your classic tough guy, who now has eight wins in 2004 as proof of his diversity. This one, which went down on a mostly sunny Tuesday afternoon in southeast Pennsylvania, came

The tifosi hardly had time to mourn the death of former champion Marco Pantani when a new star emerged to take over Il Pirata's mantle during the three-week Giro d’Italia. On Sunday, Italy’s most rabid cycling fans fully embraced their newest hero, the young Giro winner Damiano Cunego. The celebrations in the center of Milan underscored the Italian public’s adoration of the 22-year-old from Verona. Cunego was clearly living the dream Sunday, but he nonetheless maintained a keen awareness of his public image as he carefully answered a reporter’s question asking him to pick three words to

Time specialist Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner) won Monday’s 23.7-kilometer race against the clock in Karlsruhe to open the week-long Tour of Germany. Coming through second was 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) at 24 seconds with Uwe Peschel (Gerolsteiner) taking third at 29 seconds slower. “I wanted to find out where I stood and it looks pretty good,” said Ullrich, who returned to competition after a five-week break. “I want to use one or two stages to find out how strong I am but I should not be expected to win. The only thing for sure is that I won't finish last.” Ullrich

Italian cycling fans hardly had time to mourn the death of former champion Marco Pantani when a new star emerged to assume Il Pirata's mantle during the three-week Giro d’Italia: 2004 champion Damiano Cunego (Saeco). Cunego, a fresh-faced rider from Verona who until this year was hardly known to the wider cycling public, scored a major upset when he held on to the pink jersey that he audaciously claimed at the start of this year's race. The fact that the 22-year-old Saeco rider defied his team captain, two-time winner and defending champion Gilberto Simoni throughout, has merely reinforced

When CSC took over the title sponsorship of the seven-year-old Clarendon Cup NRC race – now the CSC Invitational – the company was obviously hoping to gain a little extra exposure for the brand. That sponsorship paid off in spades on Sunday, when CSC’s Dane Lars Michaelsen, fresh from Europe, gave the company double exposure by just nipping Gord Fraser (HealthNet-Maxxis) in a photo-finish field sprint. It was not a day for breakaways, with no move lasting longer than several laps around the flat, six-turn, 1 kilometer circuit in Arlington, Virginia. With 20 laps remaining, the Navigators

Roel Paulissen (Siemens Mobile Cannondale) took an extremely popular victory in front of a partisan Belgian crowd in Houffalize, with the bonus of taking the overall lead in the World Cup from fellow countryman Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized), who could only manage fourth on the day. In the women's race, it was all Gunn-Rita Dahle (Merida) once again, riding away from the field on the first lap. Alison Dunlap (Luna) took second, which gives a real boost to her Olympic hopes. The traditional Houffalize course was trimmed considerably, from 12km to 8km. Both the men and the women did a

Italy has its new star. Fresh-faced Damiano Cunego (Saeco) raced like a seasoned pro to dominate the 2004 Giro d’Italia. The blond-haired former junior world champion won four stages and conquered the 20-stage Giro in surprising fashion for a 22-year-old largely unknown beyond Italian cycling just over one month ago. “This has been a dream race for me,” Cunego said after beating Ukraine Serhiy Honchar (De Nardi) by 2:02. “I would have not believed before I started that I would win this Giro. It’s very satisfying.” With the 87th Giro d’Italia now part of history, Cunego becomes the youngest

Dutchman Theo Bos crashed twice en route to his quarter-finals sprint victory on Saturday, then arose on Sunday to dethrone French world champion Laurent Gane and win the sprint gold medal on the final day of the world track cycling championships Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. The former junior world kilometer champion refused to be daunted by either his injuries or his opponent and twice furiously powered to the line ahead of Gane, a seven–time world gold medalist who was a member of the gold-medal-winning French squad in the team sprint on Wednesday. "It's unbelievable... I can't believe

Last night, I returned to North America for the first time since mid-February. Today the Montréal World Cup was my first race on the continent this season. This race is the premier women’s race in North America, and it is perhaps the only race that fields a quality international women’s peloton. A cool Canadian breeze greeted us at the start, but the fans kept us warm. Geneviéve Jeanson and Lyne Bessette are household names in Canada now, and they bring many admirers to this race each year, as Mont Royale is always lined with people. Geneviéve’s name has been in the headlines of the

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Jan Ullrich will test his Tour de France credentials in the Tour of Germany beginning Monday. The German, regarded by many as the rider most capable of denying U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong a record sixth Tour de France win in July, has struggled with his form early in the season. Still, the 30-year-old suggested he was improving with a strong performance in Saturday's Rund um die Hainleite race in Erfurt, Germany. The 1997 Tour de France winner, entering his first event in five weeks after concentrating on training, said he was satisfied with fifth place in a race won by Austrian Peter

Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) won the 33rd Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race from Durango to Silverton on Saturday, outkicking Drew Miller (Landis-Trek-VW) at the line after more than two hours of racing through Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. Moninger finished in 2:17:23, just a single second ahead of Miller, in the finale of the 47-mile road race, with 5500 feet of climbing across two 11,000-foot passes. The legendary Ned Overend (Specialized) crossed third, less than a minute behind. In the women’s Category I-III race, Sarah Tescher (3D Racing) took the win in 2:45:44 over Teri

Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) salvaged a disappointing Giro d’Italia with an emotional stage victory Saturday in a grueling stage that paid homage to fallen hero Marco Pantani over the legendary Passo di Mortirolo. Once seen as a natural inheritor of Pantani’s crown after winning the 2000 Giro, Garzelli held off two-time Giro champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) to win the three-climb, 122km stage from Bormio to Presolana high in the Italian Alps. “I wanted to try to win today to save something of this Giro, which has been very disappointing for me,” said Garzelli, who zipped away from

Australia powered to its third consecutive team-pursuit crown at the world track cycling championships Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, beating back a spirited challenge from Great Britain. The Australian combination of Peter Dawson, Ashley Hutchinson, Luke Roberts and Stephen Wooldridge trailed in the mid-stages before pulling away to win the gold-medal final by 1.5 seconds in 4:00.322 seconds. Spain beat the Netherlands in the ride-off for bronze. The British quartet of Robert Hayles, Paul Manning, Christopher Newton and Bryan Steel laid down a stern challenge. They diced with the

With the rest of her summer hanging in the balance due to a missed post-race dope test in April, Canada’s Geneviéve Jeanson (RONA) set out to make the most of Saturday’s Montréal Women’s World Cup. While she may yet be suspended for six months after the UCI doles out punishment for the missed test after the Flèche-Wallone World Cup, Jeanson won her third Montréal title in front of an overwhelmingly partisan home crowd that either didn’t know or didn’t care about their hero’s off-the-bike troubles. “I don’t want to be suspended, but right now, winning this race, I’m so happy,” said a candid

Geneviéve Jeanson (RONA) scored her third victory at the Women's World Cup race in Montréal on Saturday, and photographer Casey Gibson was on hand to record the action. For the story, read Chris Milliman's report for the pictures, you need only scroll down.

The dream is over for Damiano Cunego. The Saeco revelation won his fourth stage of the 2004 Giro d’Italia on Friday and nudged two days closer to turning his phenomenal run very much into a reality. “It no longer feels like a dream,” Cunego admitted after winning the three-climb, 118km stage. “It’s a reality now that I can win this Giro. I can’t get nervous now. There are only two stages left, so we have to stay calm.” Cunego is now less than 48 hours away from becoming the youngest Giro winner since Giuseppe Saronni won at 21 in 1979. Mother Nature and the Giro’s peloton threw a lot at

Sarah Ulmer and Greg Henderson grabbed gold medals on Friday to hoist New Zealand to second on the medals table behind France on the third night of the world track cycling championships in Melbourne, Australia. Henderson surprised even himself with a helter-skelter victory in the men's 15km scratch race, surging to the finish line to snare a narrow victory after being part of an audacious three-man breakaway early in the 60-lap race. The Kiwi raised his arm in victory as he crossed the finish line just ahead of Dutchman Robert Slippens and Walter Perez of Argentina. His pulse-quickening win

Fred Rodriguez (Acqua & Sapone) etched his name in the history books in stage 9 when he became the fifth American to win a stage at the Giro d’Italia. Rodriguez also did what few have been able to do in the past two seasons – get around Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) in full flight. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with “Fast Freddy” before the start of the Thursday’s stage. Following are excerpts from the interview – Editor VeloNews: Congratulations on the big victory, tell us how it happened? Fred Rodriguez: Petacchi’s team is so strong it’s so hard to get there

A time trial is often called the “race of truth” because each rider is racing against the clock, giving his or her best. There is no teamwork. There is no drafting. The winner is the cyclist who can ride the fastest. In today’s stage of the Giro, we can clearly say that it, too, was a “race of truth.” There was no denying the young Italian rider, Damiano Cunego. He deserves to be wearing the pink race leader’s jersey. There has been a lot of speculation about the dynamics in the Saeco camp. Was there tension between the young rising star, Cunego, and the team leader, Simoni? Cunego has

The French cycling team Cofidis has given Cedric Vasseur the green light to return to competition following his temporary suspension amid allegations of drug-taking. Vasseur, a former wearer of the Tour de France yellow jersey, will saddle up for the Bicicleta Basque stage race on June 2 after a two-month exile from the peloton. The 33-year-old Frenchman was suspended on April 8 when it was disclosed that traces of cocaine had been found in a hair sample. A counter-analysis later proved negative. Vasseur, a former member of Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal team, was one of the last of eight

Pavel Tonkov (Vini Caldirola) gave the 2004 Giro d’Italia a blast from the past as race leader Damiano Cunego (Saeco) safely fought through some bike problems in Thursday’s 153km 17th stage. A winner of the 1996 Giro, Tonkov attacked on the day’s major hurdle at the Category 2 Passo della Mendola at 99km and dropped fellow escapee Alessandro Bertolini (Alessio-Bianchi) with 16km to go to win his first Giro stage since 2002. Tonkov’s finish line gesture wasn’t your typical kisses-to-the-heavens thankfulness. After adjusting his helmet and pointing to himself as No. 1, the 35-year-old Russian

Britain's Chris Hoy claimed his second world kilometer title on Thursday, trumping French great Arnaud Tournant in the final at the world track cycling championships in Melbourne, Australia. The Flying Scotsman hurtled around the four laps of the Vodafone Arena, clocking 1:01.599, to once again get the better of four-time kilo world champion Tournant, who was timed at 1:01.957. Dutchman Theo Bos took the bronze medal ahead of defending world champion Stefan Nimke of Germany and Australians Ben Kersten and Shane Kelly. Hoy beat Tournant by one-thousandth of a second for his first world crown

Pavel Tonkov put a lot of thought into his solo win today – then perfectly executed several very calculated tactical moves. First, we have to understand the Vini Caldirola rider's motivation. He starts the day in 19th place, almost 10 minutes down on race leader Damiano Cunego (Saeco). He is probably a bit upset about not being higher on general classification after some bad luck and a day with bad legs. He would like to gain back some time and maybe take a stage win. Clearly, he needs to get away. As the Passa della Mendola approaches, there is an attack, and Alessandro Bertolini

A ghostly antiquity shatters the air between houses, hotels and dim, squatting light poles. The vintage town of Torrington swallows another day and crests into the shady mass of energy that is the night. Short dark streets end abruptly at churches and arcades. The school of Saint Francis is holding an amateur boxing match tonight. As on most first nights of a stage race, I need a period of adjustment. Our room is three floors up from Main Street in the Village Peddler, a rickety old hotel rasping through its wind swept windows: old cloth, old mattresses, basements filled with empty

I was pleasantly surprised today. For a day in the mountains, it was actually a pretty mellow day. The first 70, 80 kilometers of the stage today were almost downhill – a fast false flat, really – and the speed was very high. There were a number of attacks, but no one really got anything going. At one point today, there was a pretty bad crash. We didn’t really see who went down, but it slowed things down for a bit as teams were trying to make an assessment of who went down and what was going on. By the time we reached the one big climb, though, the speed had picked up and then the climbers

France’s Franck Perque won the men's points race over 40 kilometers on the opening night of the world cycling track championships in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday. Perque raised his arms in triumph in claiming France's first-ever points race gold medal at the world championships with a tally of 35 points. Uruguay's Milton Wynants, who fell in a collision with Australian Mark Renshaw and rejoined the race 16 laps from home, took the silver medal with 31 points from Argentina's Juan Esteban Curuchet third with 28 points. "It's great to be able to carry the French emblem but I don't feel

I came down to Trieste the afternoon prior to the Giro d’Italia stage13 time trial in Trieste last Saturday to watch a skeleton crew of mechanicssetting up bikes and equipment while their teams and other support staffwere out on the road racing to Treviso toward Alessandro Petacchi's sixth sprint victory. For me, it was a good time to talk to mechanics, as they were workingalone or in pairs, and were free from fulfilling the panicked requests ofriders, coaches and other mechanics. One mechanic working alone on his team’s time trial bikes was SaunierDuval’s David Fernandes. The truck that

Sarah Ulmer of New Zealand set a world record for the women's 3000-meter individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships Thursday in Melbourne, Australia. The 28-year-old set a time of three minutes, 30.604 seconds, during the first round of qualifying in Melbourne, just days after she narrowly missed the mark at a World Cup meet in Sydney. Ulmer's time sliced more than two-tenths of a second off the previous world record of 3:30.816, which Leontien Ziljaard-Van Moorsel of the Netherlands set on her way to winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "I am just elated. My

Italian police swooped down in the Giro d’Italia in an early morning raid Wednesday to search the rooms of seven racers as part of a nationwide investigation into sports fraud. Race leader Damiano Cunego’s Saeco teammates Eddy Mazzoleni and Alessandro Spezialetti were among seven riders questioned by police in the 4 a.m. raid. Other riders searched included Fabio Sacchi (Fassa Bortolo); Mario Scirea and Alessio Galletti (both Domina Vacanze); Giuseppe Muraglia (Pinzolo Fiave); and Ruggero Marzoli (Acqua & Sapone). Simultaneous searches were also conducted on the riders' homes. No charges

Brad McGee (FDJeux.com) vowed to quit the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday if the race jury didn’t overturn a 20-second race penalty imposed on the Australian in Tuesday’s 16th stage. The race jury ruled the prologue winner took two illegal tows from the FDJeux.com team car at 152km and 154km while climbing up the Category 1 Passo Furcia. Each infraction included a 10-second penalty, a loss of 5 points in the points classification and a fine of 50 Swiss francs. Sport director Martial Gayant vehemently denied the penalty. “I absolutely did not tow Brad. Why would we do something so foolish? He

Dear Monique,I am aware that I need to consume a sports drink during training forboth fluid and fuel replacement. How do I know that I am meeting my fluidneeds? I have heard that significant weight loss after training means thatI am not keeping up with my sweat rate.Thanks,CBDear CB,Other than lab testing there is no exact way in which you can measuresweat losses, but you can make an educated estimation. In hot weather thesimplest calculation that you can make involves checking body weight changesbefore and after training, and correcting for fluid intake during training.Fluid loss from urine

Lotto’s sprint ace, Robbie McEwen, pulled out of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday to safeguard his chances of reclaiming the sprinter's green jersey in the Tour de France. "I've already had a lot of racing this season and I've got to think of the Tour de France," said McEwen, second in Monday's 15th stage behind Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi, before he flew home to Belgium. It was the third year running he had pulled out of the Tour of Italy before the mountain stages. "There's no point in jeopardizing our chances in the Tour de France in the mountain stages here," said his Lotto team

I am going to try to make it to Milan. After talking with the team and knowing the importance of this race to us and to our sponsors, I am going to do my best to make it through the mountains these next few days and ride to Milan. Pulling out would not be too good for the team, so I need to do my best… I just need to save my legs as much as possible. That last stage into Milan is very important to the team and, at the same time, making it to Philadelphia for the USPRO is very important to me, so I need to balance that. As part of the discussion that we had on the subject this morning, I did

Showing class beyond his years, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) vaulted back into the overall lead of the 87th Giro d’Italia after taking a dramatic solo victory in Tuesday’s four-climb 16th stage. After losing the jersey in Saturday’s time trial, the 22-year-old erased a 1 minute, 48-second deficit to recapture the maglia rosa, and this time he might keep it for good. Cunego holds a 1:14 lead over Serhiy Honchar (De Nardi) after an electrifying display of confidence and strength as the Giro pushed into the first of four decisive stages high in the Dolomites. “I’m very content with how things

Well, enough is enough. I finally decided to call it a day and I’m going back home tomorrow. I started this morning, even though I was feeling worse than I was yesterday. After about 50 kilometers, I realized that there was no getting past this chest cold and I decided to ride to the feedzone and pull out then. It’s been more difficult mentally than physically in some ways. I really don’t like racing when I can’t put 100 percent into it. It’s just not my style. I sure didn’t like just trying to hang on and barely making it to the finish line. The last couple of days, I’ve come to the

I have always liked Tour de L’Aude as it takes place in some beautiful countryside in the south of France. The race takes place mostly in the foothills of the Pyrenees. There are many small roads that run through the centers of ancient quaint towns or through vineyards or farmland. It is one of my favorite spots to ride a bike. The traffic is minimal, the people friendly, and the climate agreeable. I left Girona for the Tour without much idea of how my fitness would be. I had trained with Michael and his teammates and was feeling healthy, but I hadn’t raced since the classics in Belgium.