Road

The Vuelta, unlike any other three-week race, started with a tough day in the mountains. Climbing the second day of the race is dangerous for the GC riders, especially after a tough TTT the night before. In our team meeting before the race we talked about the climbs and how the Vuelta could be lost on stage 2, but not won. At the end of the day, this was the case with several team leaders minutes off of the overall lead. The last few days we have woken up to gray skies and threatening rain. On Sunday, rain began to fall down half way through the stage, just prior to the second climb. ONCE

Well, that was fast. World champion Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) has pulled out of the Vuelta a España, missing the start of the race’s second stage Sunday and catching an early flight back to Italy. Cipollini abandoned the race after having completed only one stage, Saturday’s opening 28-kilometer team time trial. Cipollini rode poorly during the stage, having to be pushed by teammates on several occasions, leading to Domina Vacanze receiving a fine from race officials. In a statement given to Spanish radio station Onda Cero, the Vuelta’s race director, Victor Cordero characterized

Cofidis's Luis Perez scored his maiden win in the second stage of the Vuelta a España Sunday, a 148km ride between Gijon and Cangas de Onis. ONCE's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano was overtaken as the overall race leader by teammate Joaquin Rodriguez. The 29-year-old Spaniard broke away with compatriot Carlos Sastre on the final climb of the day, the first category Fito, and then outsprinted Sastre in the streets of Cangas de Onis. His time at the end of the 148-km stage was three hours 27 minutes 32 seconds -14 seconds ahead of the peloton. The Cofidis rider said: "Last year a fall prevented

Filip Meirhaeghe had been close before. Three times in his long mountain biking career he’d walked onto the podium at the world mountain bike championships, but all three times he’d not been the winner, twice settling for bronze in the late 1990s, before grabbing silver a year ago after finishing an agonizing 19 seconds behind Canadian Roland Green. But this time, with Green not a factor and Meirhaeghe on fire again, the Belgian used a stunning charge from outside the top 10 to finally capture that elusive world title. “I’d had thoughts that I was not meant to win this,” admitted

Vasseur takes the Tour of HesseCedric Vasseur (Cofidis) took the final overall victory at Germany’s Tour of Hesse, as Telekom’s Daniele Nardello took the fifth and final stage of the race, a 170.2km run between Wetzlar and Wiesbaden.Results–Stage 51. Daniele Nardello (I), Telekom, at 170.2 km in 4:23:06 2. Franck Renier (F) 3. Serge Baguet (B), both s.t. 4. Sven Teutenberg (G), at 0:3:01 5. Rene Haselbacher (A), at 0:5:16 6. Danilo Hondo (G)Final Standings 1. Cedric Vasseur (F), Cofidis, 22:35:16. 2. Maryan Hary (F), at 0:03 3. Axel Merckx (B), at 0:07 4. Sylvain Chavanel (F), at 0:37 5.

Image files for Vuelta

Johan Museeuw may miss the road cycling world championships in Canada next month after his house was raided in a police drugs investigation, his manager said in an interview published on Saturday. "I still have full confidence in Johan Museeuw," Patrick Lefevere, manager of the Quick-Step team told La Derniere Heure - Les Sports. "The inquiry will prove Johan made no errors. But, on the other hand, I fear his image is damaged." Museeuw will continue with his race program over the next few days starting with the Dutch Delta Ronde this weekend, but Lefevere said his preparation for the

Go ahead, call him the heir apparent. Greg Minnaar is more than worthy. First he shocked the downhill-racing world in 2001, snatching the overall World Cup title from Nicolas Vouilloz. Now, after hiring Vouilloz’s former coach to be his personal trainer, the South African has taken over the spot the retired Frenchman owned for so many years, winning the downhill title at the world mountain biking championships in Lugano, Switzerland, on Saturday. Taking off from the No. 3 qualifier’s spot, Minnaar blasted his way down the steep, 1.45-mile track on Monte Tamaro, posting a 4:37.78. That was

Despite losing two riders early on, ONCE-Eroski lived up to its role of overwhelming favorite in the opening team time trial event in the Vuelta a España on Saturday. It was a repeat of the Spanish squad's 2002 victory in the same stage over American squad U.S. Postal-Berry Floor. ONCE-Eroski clocked 32 minutes, 1 second for the 28km course starting and finishing in Gijon, 10 seconds faster than Postal and 24 seconds ahead of third-placed Ibanesto.com. Spaniard Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, 29, crossed the line at the head of the ONCE-Eroski team to take the first gold leader's jersey of

This year's Vuelta a España will kick off Saturday against a harsh economic backdrop with the sport in crisis in the host nation following the recent news that Banesto and ONCE will both end their long sponsorship of cycling at the end of the season. The Kelme team is also having its problems and minor races are falling by the wayside in a poor climate for cycling. "It's the worst news I've had since my fall in the Tour de France," said ONCE’s Joseba Beloki, several times a podium finisher in the world's toughest race, on learning last month that his sponsor had elected to pull out the

Veterinarian Jos Landuyt has admitted selling hormones to professional cyclists, the public prosecutor's office in Kortrijk in western Belgium has said. Landuyt, who comes from Oostrozebeke, which is about 15km from Kortrijk, was interviewed late on Thursday after police raided 20 houses, including that of the country's leading cyclist, Johan Museeuw. The prosecutors' office mentioned no cyclists by name, and Musseuw has yet to make any comment to the media on the matter. Kintana withdraws from Vuelta after B test positiveSpanish rider Aitor Kintana has withdrawn from the Tour of Spain

It’s probably to early to call it a full-fledged changing of the guard, but after years of gated-racing domination by the likes of Eric Carter and Brian Lopes, there was a new face atop the four-cross podium at the world mountain bike championships in Lugano, Switzerland, on Friday night. Bolstered by blazing fast starts throughout the night, Czech rider Michal Prokop earned the first major win of his career in front of an estimated crowd of 5000. In the women’s race, there was no big surprise – just the continued domination of Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson, who earned the fourth (every

Fassa Bortolo1 Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez (Sp)2 Juan José De Los Angeles Segui (Sp)3 Dario Frigo (I)4 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr)5 Serguei Ivanov (Rus)6 Alessandro Petacchi (I)7 Matteo Tosatto (I)8 Guido Trenti (USA)9 Tadej Valjavec (Slo)U.S.Postal Service11 Roberto Heras Hernandez (Sp)12 Michael Barry (Can)13 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Sp)14 George Hincapie (USA)15 Benoît Joachim (Lux)16 Floyd Landis (USA)17 Matt White(Aus)18 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Sp)19 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned)ONCE - Eroski21 Igor Gonzalez De Galdeano (Sp)22 José Azevedo (Por)23 Marcos Antonio Serrano Rodriguez (Sp)24 Jan Hruska

Dear readers;Just as I was about to send this column in today, I received a pressrelease that might interest a few of you, particularly if you are in needof a good carbon fix. Campagnolo announced on Thursday that its carbon Hyperon wheels are nowalso available as clinchers. "The carbon rims for clincher tires turned out to be much more complicatedthan expected," the release noted. "It was not a matter of adapting therim for tubular tires but of designed a completely new rim. The requirementsof a rim for clincher tires are completely different from those of a rimfor tubular tires. Issues of

Dear Monique:Iam confused as to which hydration drink to use while riding. I havetried Extran (fructose), Accelerade (sucrose, maltodextrin, and protein),and countless others. All claim their products speed hydration. Since notall products are available in all areas, I am not sure which product toselect. Is it better to consume drinks that contain glucose?ThanksKRDear Monique:Would it be more beneficial to consume sports gels/mixtures that mostlycontain glucose, rather than sucrose and maltose? It would seem that nothaving to convert from the others to glucose would decrease the delivery.If

Tour revelation Iban Mayo looks to be staying with Euskaltel-Euskadi after all despite a flurry of reports that he was prepared to join a foreign team after last-minute haggling over his contract became too much. Mayo won the stage to Alpe d’Huez to become one of the hottest tickets in Spanish cycling. Last week, he was poised to sign a three-year contract extension to stay with the boys in orange from Spain’s Basque Country. But late bickering over the final amount almost torpedoed the deal and Mayo was prepared to join a foreign team, with such squads at Rabobank, Saeco and Quick Step

After a two-day hiatus, racing at the 2003 world mountain bike championships in Lugano, Switzerland, got rolling again Wednesday with Australia’s Lisa Mathison running away with victory in the junior women’s cross-country in the morning, and Poland taking the team relay in the afternoon. It was Mathison’s second straight junior crown, as she also won in Kaprun, Austria last year. “I thought it would be way tougher this year because there were more second-year juniors in this race,” said Mathison about her chunky 3:54 margin over second-place finisher Eva Lechner of Italy. Almut Grieb of

A crop of top quality, home-grown riders will be vying for top honors when the 58th edition of the Vuelta a España gets underway in the northern coastal city of Gijon on Saturday. Spanish riders have dominated the race for the past three years and with big guns Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich preferring to stay away and focus their preparations on next year's Tour de France they should have a chance to maintain their supremacy. But even without the presence of the top two from this year's French race, the Vuelta promises to be an exciting affair after the organizers again opted for a

Organizers of the Vuelta a España announced late Wednesday that the Italian Domina Vacanze team – with Mario Cipollini in tow - will be at the start line of Spain’s national tour on Saturday in Gijon. "Mario Cipollini and his team are currently on the road to Gijon,” a spokesman for Vuelta organizer Unipublic told the French wire service AFP on Wednesday. The spokesman noted that despite an earlier announcement, Unipublic had not yet "officially excluded Domina Vacanze from the Vuelta.” The team has since guaranteed that Cipollini, the reigning world road champion, will be in Gijon for

The big news of Tyler Hamilton's transfer to the Swiss Phonak team has made headlines throughout Europe. Hamilton enjoyed a banner year, winning Liége-Bastogne-Liége, the Tour of Romandie and a stage in the Tour de France while riding with a fractured collar bone. The New Englander officially announced Monday a two-year deal to join the Phonak team, which has yet to race in the Tour. Team officials were upbeat about their chances to earn a place in the 2004 Tour. "Over the past two years our strategy has been in keeping with the marketing strategy of the sponsor: young, international, but

Saying Spain’s national tour deserves more respect than has been shown by Mario Cipollini, organizers of the Vuelta a España have ejected the Domina Vacanze team from the race after the world champion made it clear he would not attend. Race director Victor Cordero told the French wire service AFP on Tuesday that he disapproved of the attitude of Italian team, after it had initially promised to field Cipollini. "The Vuelta and cycling deserve more respect,” Cordero said. “There will only be 21 instead of 22 teams at the start line. To tell us Sunday that Cipollini is not coming is to show a

After a week of training with Michael and a couple of his teammates in the Pyrénées, I was feeling super motivated to race. The boys whipped me into flying form, as I followed them up col after col, panting away. They were doing long, steady rides in the mountains in preparation for the upcoming Vuelta a España, but for me, it was like two to five hours of motor pacing each day. I boarded a plane Saturday night for Nuremberg, after a slight glitch in my travel arrangements. I was happy to arrive at the hotel at a reasonable enough hour to have a good dinner and sleep. None of my T-Mobile

American riders dominated the downhill competition at the Masters Mountain Bike World Championships, taking six of eight titles awarded. Four other categories did not have titles awarded because each had only one rider. The UCI announced shortly before the world’s that a minimum of three riders were required for a title to be awarded (originally, the organization had said six, but reduced it to three after protests). All four were upper age groups, three of them women's categories, and U.S. riders won these events also. Lars Tribus (Chumba Racing), won the hotly contested men's 30-34 group

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona/Esker) left little doubt Monday as each won their fourth consecutive stage of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont. The Voler Burlington Criterium offered little if any rest to the riders, as the unique general classification points format required racers to stay aggressive throughout this final stage. Certainly that was true in McCormack’s case as he countered a brief early attack with Mark Walters (Navigators) and went clear to stay. McCormack and Walters rode a very smart race, working well together and maintaining

Injured Tour de France contender Joseba Beloki said he'll wait one more week for ONCE sport director Manolo Saiz to find a new sponsor before signing with a foreign team. Beloki, 30, told the Spanish daily AS that he wants to stay with Saiz if he can find a new sponsor to take over for the Spanish lottery ONCE, which is ending its long-running sponsorship at the end of this season. "I'll wait one more week for Saiz. If nothing happens, I'll sign with a foreign team," Beloki said. The three-time Tour podium finisher has been linked to such teams as Rabobank, CSC, Gerolsteiner and Phonak,

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) followed their victories in Friday’s prologue by winning stage 1 of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race, the Moretown Circuit Race. McCormack, who has won this race in each of the previous two years, got into a break with Mark Walters (Navigators), Cameron Hughes (LeMond Fitness-Cra-Z Soap), Tim Johnson (Saturn), and Alex Lavallee (Trek-Volkswagen) at the top of the second KOM sprint. With the top-three overall riders on board, the group maintained its lead, despite several attempts from riders in the field to bridge.

After 78km of racing through the foothills of the Swiss Alps in harsh, windy conditions, the battle for the World Mountain Bike Marathon Championship in Lugano came down to the final 100 meters on Sunday as hometown hero Thomas Frischknecht outsprinted Bart Brentjens of the Netherlands to claim the first-ever world marathon title. Carsten Bresser of Germany rounded out the podium in third, four minutes behind the leaders. With more than 9300 feet of climbing and strong alpine winds, the elements and topography alone provided enough opportunity for the favorites to sort themselves out at

Jan Ullrich won't be racing in October's world championships, his manager Wolfgang Strohband told the German news agency SID on Sunday. Strohband said the 29-year-old would end his season in next week's Hessen Rundfahrt in Germany to close up his 2003 season. Officials from the T-Mobile race are trying to persuade the Bianchi rider to start the Sept. 14 race in San Francisco, but SID reported Ullrich will attend the Formula 1 race in Italy the same day to kick off his vacation. "I didn't race that much this year and I don't want to overdo it," Ullrich told SID. "To prepare for the world's

Erin Mirabella (Frisco Cycling Club) lapped the field and held off a late charge by Ashley Kimmet (Colavita-Bolla) to win the women’s points race Saturday during the final night of the USCF National Track Cycling Championships in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. The race started off slowly, but soon began to break apart. An attack by Lauren Shirock (Coyote Cycling) got the action rolling. Then Mari Holden (Team T-Mobile) and Kimmet, the 2001 junior world silver medalist in the points race, got away to take the lead with 35 laps remaining. Mirabella and Sarah Hammer (Team T-Mobile) charged to

Steve Tilford (Shimano-Moots) was among four Americans to claim world titles on Saturday during the first day of the Masters Mountain Bike World Championships in Bromont, Québec. Tilford took his fifth masters world’s title in the men's 40-44 age group, finishing nearly four minutes ahead of Thierry Salomon of Switzerland, with Patrick Meersschaert (Belgium) third. Other U.S. titlists were 70-year-old Frederic Schmidt (Waco Bicycle Club) in the 65-plus category, Seattle's James Wagner (Ti Cycles) in the 60-64 category and Lydia Barter (Team Bicycle Alley) in the women's 50+ age

Although Mark McCormack (Saturn) really had to really work for it, he and Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) made it three wins in three days during stage 2 of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race, the Sugarbush Chamber Mad River Road Race. The men saw lots of breakaway attempts, but none succeeded as the GC leaders kept everything tight in the pack. As the riders approached the first of the two final climbs up to Appalachian Gap, Tim Johnson (Saturn) started to drive the field and formed two break groups in hopes of stretching out the field for McCormack. But when the field caught

It’s the second night of the 2003 Eurobike trade and the VeloNews crewand I just had dinner with Jan Ullrich –well, kind of…To be honest, we were seated next to him as he went about his businessentertaining a table full of Bianchi corporate brass. In Friedrichshafenfor an autograph signing session at the Bianchi booth on Saturday, it wasrefreshing to see Ullrich slurping down his pasta only a few feet awayfrom our table. Refreshing not because he ordered the same dish as I did,but because he so very nonchalantly signed autographs from the occasionalpasserby who recognized him.The highlight of

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona-Esker) were victorious in the pouring rain in the hill climb prologue of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race. Jeanson led a barrage of Rona riders up the final climb in the 13km hill climb stage. Sporting her brand new Canadian national championship jersey, she escaped from the field just after the beginning neutral zone and won the stage easily over teammates Johanna Buick and Shani Block. The Rona squad not only swept the podium, but placed riders in the top four places, and five out of the top 10. The American contingent was

Photo Gallery: U.S. National Track Championships -Day 3

Domina Vacanze officials want Mario Cipollini to be at the start line in Gijón next weekend for the kick-off of the Vuelta a España whether the petulant star wants to race or not. Team manager Vicenzo Santoni said the world champion has been "officially called" to start the race, according to reports in the Spanish press. Cipollini hasn't raced since crashing out of the Giro d'Italia back in May and has said he might not start the season's final grand tour, a move that angered Vuelta organizers who said earlier this week if "Cipollini doesn't come, Domina Vacanze shouldn't bother to show up

I tore the LAX airport tags off of my duffel early Tuesday morning and once again subjected myself to that little-too-close-for-comfort, very hands-on “magic wand” security screening at Denver International Airport. With the memories of my recent visit to Southern California for Giant’s2004 product introduction still fresh in my mind, I adjusted my seatbelt physically preparing myself for a bumpy ride, while psychologically amping myself for the cultural about-face that’s makes Europe so very Europe.You know, breakfast lunch and dinner featuring every meat product under the sun, showers

Tyler Hamilton’s rough and tumble season is now officially over. Pain in his right leg caused by a bloody fall in the second stage of the Tour of Holland on August 20 has turned out to be more than a deep bruise. An MRI taken Friday morning in Spain revealed a hairline fracture at the top of his right femur. “I’ve been suffering since the Tour of Holland. I hit my hip really hard. I started training as soon as I could, but I haven’t been able to push the pedals. When I put pressure on my leg, it’s been painful,” Hamilton told VeloNews on Friday afternoon from his home in Girona. Hamilton

It was a rough-and-tumble evening of racing at the 2003 USCF National Track Cycling Championships at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, as T-Mobile’s Chris Witty took the win in the women’s 500 and Jonas Carney took the win in what at times was a heated points race. That points race proved to be dramatic… almost as dramatic as the fight it triggered afterward. Early on, Prime Alliance, Ofoto-Lombardi, T.E.A.M. Fuji, and Navigators spread the points across the board with each trying to make a move that would stick – none of which was successful. Prime Alliance’s

Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r) won the 178km third stage of the 17th Tour de Poitou-Charentes in a sprint finish Thursday. Ukraine Yuri Mitlushenko (Landbouwkrediet) remains the overall leader. Cipo' still undecided on VueltaWorld champion Mario Cipollini’s disappearing act will be decided by this weekend when he’s expected to meet with Domina Vacanze patron Ernesto Preatoni, according to reports in the Italian press. Cipollini – who hasn’t raced since crashing out of the Giro d’Italia after setting a new stage-win record -- said he will decide whether he’ll start September’s Vuelta a

The second night of the 2003 USCF National Track Cycling Championships at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania played out under beautiful skies with low humidity and moderate temperatures. The fair weather proved to be a big help as times in both the men’s kilometer and team pursuit were quicker than in 2002. Team pursuit qualifiersIn the team pursuit final, the Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing team featuring Tyler Farrar, Mariano Friedick, Curtis Gunn, and individual pursuit champion Adham Sbeih proved to be unbeatable after qualifying first this morning. The squad

Levi Leipheimer will return to the Vuelta a España next month for the first time since his breakthrough performance in 2001, when he came out of nowhere to finish third overall. Going into the Vuelta that year, Leipheimer had never ridden a three-week grand tour, but became the first American to finish on the Vuelta podium with consistent strength in the mountains and the time trials. Now he returns to Spain’s grand tour, but in very different circumstances. Following his unfortunate crash in the first stage of the 2003 Tour deFrance (see "Interview: Leipheimer talks about his oh-so-short

World pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins has announced plans to move from fdjeux.com to Crédit Agricole for 2004. Wiggins, who recently won the world pursuit title in Stuttgart, is following in the tracks of another great British pursuiter in signing up with a team managed by Roger Legeay. Legeay, who was manager of British cycling star and 1992 Olympic Gold medalist Chris Boardman’s team throughout his professional career, said Wiggins showed great potential in his win at world’s as well as his performance on the road this season. The fact that Boardman had been advising Bradley over the

French rider Robert Sassone won Wednesday's 179km second stage of theTour du Poitou-Charentes (UCI 2.3) in France, finishing ahead of Ukrainerider Bogdan Bondariev (CCC-Polsat). Sassone and Bondariev were part of a group of 11 attacking riders inthe stage. Sebastian Chavanel (Boulangere) started the attack, but theleft attacked the group with about 15km to go. They came in just over 1minute ahead of the remainders of the break. Fellow Ukraine Yuri Mitlushenko (Landbouwkrediet), winner of Tuesday'sopening stage, retained the overall lead after finishing safely in themain bunch.The race

Dear Monique:Are cyclists at risk for excess insulin production and developmentof diabetes due to ingestion of large amounts of sugar? We are using sportsdrinks, gels, and energy bars during training, and I know that I couldn’ttrain without them.ThanksRC To address the concern described above, I asked Bob Murray, PhD, anddirector of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute to answer a few questionsregarding sports drinks.Q - Many endurance athletes consume products containing sucrose,and other related sugars during exercise. How are these sugars utilizedduring exercise and why are they so

Keirin and pursuit highlighted the action on the opening day of the 2003 USCF National Track Cycling Championships in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. Marty Nothstein showed that he hadn’t lost too much of his track fitness when he rode away with the U.S. keirin title, one of two events the Navigators man hopes to take on in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Tuesday’s opening events began with a strong pursuit ride by Saturn’s Sarah Uhl. Uhl, in her first individual pursuit competition, took on former national pursuit champion Erin Mirabella (Frisco Cycling Club) in the final for first

I strongly believe in the use of torque wrenches for properly and safelyassembling bicycles. However, I have become somewhat gun-shy about it dueto unexpected negative consequences of using them that have been relayedto me.Two of these unexpected consequences came from misinterpretation andmisprinting of torque information I wrote in my maintenance books. Onecase, which we went over here on this site, concerned a reader who misunderstooda torque number from the torque table in the first edition of my mountainbike maintenance book. He interpreted the torque setting for a single

American climbing phenom Tom Danielson has signed a two-year contract with the Italian Fassa Bortolo squad, the 24-year-old announced Tuesday. “I just signed officially and I am over here with the team right now,” Danielson wrote in a brief email to VeloNews. Danielson made the trip to Italy last week alongside his coach Rick Crawford and legal advisor (and VeloNews columnist) Bob Mionske to undergo discussions with Fassa’s boss Giancarlo Ferretti. Danielson’s remarkable rise — from struggling mountain bike pro at the beginning of 2002 to Mount Washington record holder later that year to

Rabobank's Levi Leipheimer is racing in this week's Tour du Poitou Charentes(UCI 2.3), a five-day stage-race that starts Tuesday in France inwhat will be his final dress rehearsal for the 2003 Vuelta a España.The 29-year-old from Santa Rosa, Calif. crashed out of the first stageof the Tour de France after fracturing a bone in his hip and damaged musclesin his abductors and was forced off the bicycle for two weeks to recover."I had to do 12 days of doing nothing on the couch so the bone couldheal," Leipheimer told VeloNews. "I was starting from zero at theend of July. When you sit around that

1996 USPRO road champion Eddy Gragus (Trek-VW All Stars) won the general classification at the Estes Cycling Challenge, held August21-24 in and around Estes Park, Colorado. In the 3-mile prologue time trial, Gragus beat Ofoto’s Andy Bajadali by a scant eight-tenths of a second, setting up a two-man contest that would carry into the race’s final stage. Gragus took sixth the following day in the hot 84-mile Masonville road race, but was penalized 30-seconds for a centerline violation, putting Bajadali — second at Estes last year to Mercury’s Tom Danielson — in the lead by 19 seconds after

Andy Flickinger (AG2R) celebrated "the most beautiful day" of his cycling career, after sprinting to victory at the Grand Prix Plouay on Sunday. The 24-year-old Grenoble resident took a hard-fought win against Anthony Geslin (Brioches) and Nicolas Jalabert (CSC) at the end of the 198-kilometer race around Plouay. The day started out fast, with the field covering the first lap on a difficult14.4km circuit at nearly 45kph. Early on, a group of 40 riders managed to build a nearly two-minute lead on the field before being reeled in. Flickinger, however, timed his move correctly when he

Britain’s Nicole Cooke sprinted to victory Saturday in the Grand Prix de Plouay, the seventh round of the women’s World Cup. The high pace, nearly 40 km/h, saw to it that there were few attacks until just before midrace, when Jeannie Longo attacked and exploded the group. She was retrieved, however, and 2002 French champion Magali Floc’h took a shot, building a gap of four minutes with four laps to go. She, too, was eventually brought back, and Longo attacked once more, again without success. Then Juliette Vandekerckhove jumped away, and with two laps remaining she held a lead of 20 seconds

Brad McGee (Fdjeux.com) edged two-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) to claim the sixth and final stage of the 43rd Tour of Holland while U.S. Postal's Viatcheslav Ekimov secured overall victory. McGee, who won the prologue in the 2003 Tour de France and held the yellow jersey for three days, was part of a six-man break that peeled away late in the hilly, difficult conclusion to the five-day, six-stage Dutch tour. Ekimov didn't miss the move in the Limburg region of southern Holland and finished sixth in the sprint to secure the overall title, his first stage-race victory since

Despite crashing in the final corner of the final lap, Team USA's Larssyn Staley captured the gold medal in the women’s 20km points race Wednesday at the 2003 UCI Junior World Track Championships in Moscow. The Beaverton, Oregon, resident, who races for Hot Tubes back home, had lapped the field and accumulated 35 points before the crash – enough to win the rainbow jersey over Lithuanian Agne Bagdonaviciute, who finished with 33 points to claim the silver medal. Laura Telle of Latvia was third with 27 points. Staley was transported to the hospital for X-rays of her back, but was expected to

Dutch rider Rik Reinerink (BankGiroLoterij) disrupted the sprinters’ party in the 191km fifth stage of the Tour of Holland while wily Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov (USPS) retained the overall lead Friday. Reinerink held out in a long solo breakaway and came through to claim the stage victory some 11 seconds ahead of the main bunch led by sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), a winner of the Dutch tour’s opening two stages. American Fred Rodriguez (Caldirola) came through 10th. Saturday’s final stage is 213.9km from Sittard-Geleen to Landgraaf in Holland’s hilly Limburg region. U.S.

Tis’ the season for 2004 product intro's. Our own Lennard Zinn just got back from Specialized’s introduction in Morgan Hill, California, while I caught an early flight Wednesday morning to sunny So. Cal. Wednesday to catch a glimpse of Giant’s 2004 offerings. Located one hour north of Los Angeles, the Newbury Park based Giant USA headquarters is the main base of operations for the second most popular brand sold in the United States (behind Trek). Interesting to note is that Giant not only produces its own bikes and components, but also produces many of its direct competitor’s frames. Only

Russian warrior Viatcheslav Ekimov (U.S. Postal Service) surged to victory and into the overall lead after winning Thursday's 23km time trial in the fourth stage of the 43rd Tour of Holland. Ekimov, the reigning Olympic time trial champion, nipped Postal Service teammate Victor Hugo Peña by eight seconds in the race against the clock. Peña and Ekimov were both part of Postal's victorious team time trial victory in last month's Tour de France. The stage victory is Ekimov's first win since the 2001 season. The 37-year-old Russian walked away from cycling at the end of that season, but quickly

Dear MoniqueI have several triathlons still ahead of me this season and was wonderinghow I should eat for my taper. My upcoming races include one Olympic distanceand half-Ironman distance. How do my energy needs change during a taper?I believe they must be lower. I still need to consume plenty of carbs toglycogen load, don’t I?Thanks,CGWisconsinDear CG;When preparing for any type of race- whether a triathlon, mountainbike race, road race, or adventure race, a taper or 24 hours of rest givesyour muscles a break, keeps you from burning more fuel stores, and allowsyou to replenish your muscle

Team CSC’s Tyler Hamilton received 15 stitches in his left hand after crashing hard in Wednesday’s second stage of the Tour of Holland, but didn’t seriously injure his hip as initially feared. “No broken bones but the cut was bad enough to receive 15 stitches, so it was pretty bad,” said Team CSC’s sport director Sean Yates. “He didn’t break his hip, but it’s very sore and he can hardly walk.” Hamilton went down less than 10km to go and crossed the finish line in a gruesome image with blood splattered on his bicycle and team jersey. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment and

Alessandro Petacchi picked up where he left off in the Tour de France, sprinting to victory in the opening stage of the 43rd Tour of Holland. Petacchi won four stages before packing it in at the Tour and returned to racing Tuesday against an elite group of sprinters with the same result. A breakaway was reeled in just 15km from the finish to set up the mass gallop and Petacchi showed he's a man for all seasons. Petacchi edged Erik Zabel (Telekom) and Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) to score his 18th win of the season and grab the race leader's jersey as well. In addition to his four wins at the

Dear Lennard,Do I have to buy Campy's new tool to properly install the new PermaLinkin a Campy 10-speed chain? I do have a Shimano 9-speed and Park 9-speedchain tools on hand.MortDear Mort,You can do it with a standard chain tool, but you have to be extremelycareful with alignment of the two chain ends with each other, somethingwhich Campy’s new tool ensures. I have done it many times with a Shimanochain tool without problems. By the way, it is just a pin, albeit it avery precisely shaped one, not a PermaLink anymore.LennardThere's gotta be an easier way to do thisDear Lennard,After a bad

Just moments after finishing second in Sunday’s Championship of Zürich, Bianchi’s Jan Ullrich said he won’t be starting next month’s Vuelta a España. The 29-year-old German was expected to start the Vuelta, but will instead prepare for the world championships. Vuelta officials announced earlier that Ullrich was likely to start the season’s last grand tour (Sept. 6-28), but Ullrich said Sunday he will train at home as well as race the Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt (Sept. 17-21) in Germany to prepare for the worlds in Hamilton, Canada. “The Spanish tour would make excessive demands of me after

Athens Olympic organizers have started to fight their way back to the good graces of the international sporting community after a long weekend of successful test events that has partly made up for the earlier disastrous start to the Games trials. While criticism and post-mortems on setbacks earlier this month in the test program still went on, hard-pressed organizers of next year's Games won a little bit of breathing room on Sunday. "We know we made mistakes at the start but we think we have started to come back," an Athens Games official said. In the first week of the test events,

Daniele Nardello (Telekom) held off a late charge by Jan Ullrich (Bianchi) with just 2km to go in Sunday's eighth round of the World Cup series to win the 236.6km Championship of Zurich. Nardello jumped away from a lead group of 18 riders with 9km to go in the closing flat along Lake Zurich while the lead group sent off dozens of unsuccessful counterattacks in a cat-and-mouse game that favored the Italian. Ullrich punched the accelerator with just under 2km to go, but it was too late. Nardello won in five hours, 55 minutes and 30 seconds with an average speed of 39.932 kph to deliver his

A dramatic day of short track racing at the NORBA series finals in Durango, Colorado, saw two Americans enter the day leading the overall series, with one just managing to keep the title and the other watching it slip away in the final seconds. Canadian Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees) took a runaway victory in the men’s NORBA short track final Sunday, and with American series leader Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX Ralph Lauren) unable to stay in the top-three after a gripping finish line crash, McGrath climbed high enough to take the series title as well. Coming into the final lap of a

You’ve got to feel for Chris Kovarik. Three times now the Australian has entered the final day of the NORBA NCS series with the overall lead and three times he has finished the day without the overall crown. Instead it was South African Greg Minnaar grabbing the series prize, after the Haro-Lee Dungarees rider finished second to Kovarik’s third at Durango Mountain Resort in southwest Colorado. That meant the pair finished deadlocked atop the final overall standings, but with Minnaar owning the advantage Sunday, the tiebreaker fell his way. “I had a mistake free run, but it was on a wet

A year ago, when Kevin Monahan crossed the line at the USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, everything was up in the air. After a late-race crash took out half the field, Henk Vogels took the race win, with Monahan and Robbie Ventura (U.S. Postal Service) in a photo finish for second place. What a difference a year makes. After winning the race outright, Monahan began the celebration almost immediately, riding up and down Main St. Downers Grove and high fiving the crowd. It capped a day that saw another repeat victory – Tina Mayolo Pic (Diet Rite) taking the women’s crown – and

Looks can be deceiving, especially when it comes to one of the most volatile weather locations in the U.S. With 70-degree temperatures and light winds at the bottom of the Mount Washington Auto Road, it looked like the 600-plus racers would have a relatively pleasant trip up the 7.6-mile ascent. But the final 2.5 miles found riders battered by 50-mph winds and blinded by near-whiteout fog. The weather took the steam out of Tom Danielson’s assault on his year-old course record, though the Saturn rider did win the race for the second year in a row. Danielson dropped the field in the first 500

Two dominating rides — one by Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and the other by Luna rider Shonny Vanlandingham — capped off the NORBA cross-country series final in Durango, Colorado on Saturday. Hesjedal’s win, by a 1:07 margin, secured the overall NORBA series title, while RLX-Ralph Lauren rider Jimena Florit, eighth on the day, took the women’s overall honors for the second consecutive year. In the national title chase, Florit’s teammate Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski clinched a second consecutive title of his own, finishing third on the day, while Seven Cycles’ Mary McConneloug was

Angel Edo of Spain won the penultimate stage of the Tour of Portugal on Saturday. He covered the 130km ride from Mondim de Basto to Favaios in a provisional time of 3:19:13. Danail Petrov of Bulgaria was second. Portuguese Nuno Ribeiro, who finished third in the stage, retained the yellow jersey as overall leader. Sunday’s final stage will be a 36.7km time trial in Viseu. Results1. Angel Edo (Sp), Milaneza-MSS, 130km in 3:19:13. (average speed: 39.153 km/h)2. Daniel Petrov (Bul), at 0:013. Nuno Ribeiro (Por) s.t.4. Claus Moller (Den), at 0:045. Pedro Arreitunandia (Sp), at

Judith Arndt (Nürnberger) easily won Saturday’s penultimate stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 36.2km individual time trial in Flers. The German finished nearly a minute faster than Russian Olga Zabelinskaïa and 1:43 ahead of Swiss Susanne Ljungskog. Overall leader Joane Somarriba of Spain, who finished fourth on the day, consolidated her position on GC; she seems unlikely to lose her lead in Sunday’s final stage, which concludes in Paris. Meanwhile, Arndt’s stage-winning performance on Saturday elevated her to third overall. Results>1. Judith Arndt (G), 36.2km in 51:30 (average speed:

Whether you believe the pro-am event on the eve of the USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois, is a preview to the main event or simply just a tune-up, the Navigators put on a show, delivering Vassili Davidenko and Marty Nothstein to the line one-two in the men’s race, while in the women’s event, former national champion Nicole Freedman (Team Basis) showed she’s ready to take on the big teams in Sunday’s national title race. Freedman struggled with the hot, humid conditions in the suburbs of Chicago, but when the race boiled down to a field sprint after 45 minutes, the

Day one of the NORBA National Championship Series finals closed with an action-packed mountain cross that saw Eric Carter and Sabrina Jonnier walk away with the overall series titles. Carter and fellow American Jill Kintner took the U.S. national titles, with Jonnier and Frenchman Cédric Gracia earning the race wins at Durango Mountain Resort in Colorado on Sunday. Carter’s titles sweep came after he faced off with fellow American Mike King in the men’s final. The pair came into the day first and second in the overall standings, and if King had won the final, Carter needed to finish no worse

Quick Step’s Paolo Bettini saddles up for a crucial eighth leg of the World Cup in Zürich, Switzerland, on Sunday knowing that Jan Ullrich could throw a major wrench into the works and end his impressive run of victories. The 29-year-old Italian champion took the World Cup lead last week after his stunning victory in the San Sebastian Classic. That win, which Bettini timed to perfection with a winning sprint ahead of compatriot Ivan Basso - Italy's best placed rider in the recent Tour de France - gave Bettini a 97-point lead over Lotto-Domo’s Peter Van Petegem. However on Sunday Bettini's

American Giddeon Massie has advanced to the semifinal of the men’s sprint with a successful ride against Venezuela’s Johnny Hernandez Thursday. Teammate Stephen Alfred was narrowly defeated by Colombian sprinter Jonathan Marin in the third heat of the morning session. Massie will ride in the sprint semifinal set to start at 9:00 a.m. Friday morning. Later Thursday morning Massie led the team sprint with one of his fastest laps this season, posting a 23.669 to start the U.S. team off. Stephen Alfred rode the second leg with Christian Stahl anchoring the three-man team. The team advanced to

A capacity field of 600 is expected for Saturday’s Mt. Washington Auto Road Hill Climb near North Conway, New Hampshire. Despite the full field, most of the attention will be paid to the favorites as Tom Danielson (Saturn) and Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker),work to to defend their titles and evensurpass their own record-breaking performances of twelve months ago. It was then that, under near-perfect conditions- a rarity for the mountain infamous for having some of the worst weather on the planet- that Danielson and Jeanson shattered the course records held by Tour de France hero Tyler

Russian Zoulfia Zabirova (RRG Lobili) won Friday’s 12th stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 128.5km run from Trélazé to Gorron. Spaniard Joane Somarrib (Bizkaia) held onto the overall lead with two days remaining in the race. Zabirova, racing in her fifth Tour Féminin, attacked the group 3km from the finish to win the stage. Somarriba took a three-second bonus sprint to remain the favorite for the overall going into Saturday’s 37km time trial in Flers. –Copyright 2003/AFP Results:1. Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus), RRG Lobili, 128.5 km in 3:10:42. (average speed: 40,430 km/h)2. Petra Rossner (G)

Cofidis’ David Millar roared to his third time trial victory of the season in Thursday’s 14.4km fourth stage of the Vuelta a Burgos while iBanesto.com’s Pablo Lastras all but sewed up overall victory with just one stage to go. Millar held off a list of favorites for the upcoming Vuelta a España, easily beating defending Vuelta champion Aitor Gonzalez (Fassa Bortolo) by 12 seconds, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) by 21 seconds and Angel Casero (Bianchi) by 23 seconds. Millar, who won a time trial at the Tour of West Flanders and the final time trial of the 2003 Tour de France earlier this

The U.S. Pan American Cycling Team added three more medals to the medal count Wednesday starting off with a silver medal ride in the women’s 500m time trial by Chris. The winning momentum continued later in the afternoon when sprinters Tanya Lindenmuth and Giddeon Massie each won medals in the keirin. The Olympic medallist in speed skating found her form on the track and stayed steady throughout the 500m test to clinch the silver medal in 36.304. Nancy Contreras (Mex) won the event in 35.463. Yumari Gonzalez (Cub was third clocking a 36.559. Witty’s silver medal at the Pan Am Games is the

Marlux rider Dave Bruylandts got a well-deserved victory in Wednesday'sgrueling climbing stage from Huerta del Ray to Lagunas de Neila high abovethe Spanish meseta in the third stage of the Tour of Burgos.Bruylandts, 27, has been close since finishing second in Sunday's Subidaa Urkiola behind iBanesto.com's Leonardo Piepoli. In Tuesday's climbingstage, he was second behind yet another Banesto, Chente Garcia Acosta.There was no stopping the determined Belgian, who worked himself intoa six-man break that hit the bottom of the 20km climb with an 8 minutegap on the main bunch. Bruylandts finally

Dear Monique;My questions is about Thermotabs or salt replacement pills. Duringmy last 1/2 IM race I took 2 tabs at the two-hour mark and then 2 at the4 hour mark of a 6 hour race. I noticed a big difference in my performancefrom my prior races and had no cramping or fatigue like I did before.I have heard varying recommendations about how much salt/tablets thebody can take in during a race like that and I would like to know if thereis a limit - or if it just condition specific. I've heard professionalssay that you can take a lot of them as long as you are drinking water....but,I've also heard