Road

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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

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

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

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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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fassa Bortolo's Alessandro Petacchi has established a new post-war record winning for the eighth time in this year's edition of the Giro d'Italia, emerging at the front of a mad charge to the line at the end of stage 15, a 243km race from Porec, Croatia to San Vendemiano. Landbouwkrediet’s Yaroslav Popovych retained the overall leader's jersey. Petacchi, who bettered the record of seven stage wins set by Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck (1975) and Freddy Maertens (1977) and Italian Beppe Saronni (1980), easily beat Lotto’s Robbie McEwen and Gerolsteiner’s Olaf Pollack for the stage victory. The

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

Following Friday’s rain soaked criterium championship in downtown Madison, Wisconsin the 2004 collegiate national championship continued Saturday when students from around the country participated in a brutal road race through the blossoming countryside of Black Earth, WI. In the first event of the day, the Division 1 women’s road race, a daring breakaway went clear of the main field on the first lap of the 60 mile, four lap race. At its peak, the break would enjoy a lead of almost two minutes, but the early success would not come without a price, as the course’s two brutal climbs would

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.

Cyclists from 43 nations have arrived in Melbourne, Australia, to contest this week’s 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships at the Vodafone velodrome. More than 200 cyclists will contest 15 Championship events, six individual disciplines for men and women and three men’s team events, over the five days of racing as they battle for the honor of a gold medal and the right to wear the coveted rainbow jersey of World Champion. The Championships is also the last chance for nations to qualify places for the Athens Olympic Games and for the cyclists their opportunity to earn a place on their

One of those days. It seems like every time there is a straightaway like today, it doesn’t seem to work out. It was long stage today, but maybe a touch too easy for my liking. Being totally flat, we were pretty much guaranteed that Fassa Bortolo was going to be in control at the front. I would sometimes prefer it if there were a few hills to break things up. But we started the day well. Everyone on the team was motivated and I felt good. I have good legs right now and the team has confidence in my ability as a sprinter. We took something of an all-or-nothing gamble today when the whole

Lance Armstrong won the final stage of Languedoc-Roussillon Sunday, picking up the pace in preparation for a July attempt at a sixth-straight Tour de France title. The Postal team leader finished in sixth place in the five-day event, finishing 1 minute, 44 seconds behind winner Christophe Moreau of France. "I've had some ups and downs this week," Armstrong said. "I felt good the first two days, the next two ... not so good. Even at the start of today, I didn't feel very well." Viatcheslav Ekimov, Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service teammate, was second overall, with Spain's Iker Flores

In a brilliant effort in tandem with Ofoto’s Dominique Perras, Chris Horner (Webcor Builders) won the Housatonic Valley Classic, the final stage of the Tour of Connecticut, on Sunday, while Mark McCormack (Colavita Olive Oil) held on to the overall leader’s yellow jersey. On the demanding, up-and-down course through the narrow, twisting, tree-lined roads of southwest Connecticut, Horner and Perras stayed away for close to the final 70 miles of the 100-mile road race, benefiting from Colavita’s tactics aimed largely at keeping McCormack in yellow. Perras and Horner escaped around the

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi equaled the Giro d’Italia’s post-war record of seven stage wins in a single edition of the race by claiming the 14th stage in the ancient Croatian coastal city of Pula on Sunday.The 30-year-old sprint ace timed 4:08:58 to come in ahead of American Fred Rodriguez. Petacchi’s teammate and lead-out man, Marco Velo, rounded out the top three. Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych of Landbouwkrediet finished in the main field and continues to hold the overall leader's jersey, the maglia rosa, which he earned after a strong time trial performance on Saturday. It was the

Paul Rowney finally broke through, while Shonny Vanlandingham made it two wins in two days, as each grabbed short track wins on the final day of NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the opening race Vanlandingham (Luna) and teammate Katerina Hanusova broke away from a group of eight early in the 11-lap race, slowly expanding their advantage all the way to the finish. It wasn’t until the final lap that Vanlandingham attacked off the front, easily outpacing Hanusova for the victory. “There really wasn’t any plan as far as who we wanted to win or anything,” said Vanlandingham,

It was a good sprint. For the last few days I’ve been really frustrated by not being able to get into position to do my own sprint. Today, it was different. The team really rallied out there to get me up to the right spot going into the last few hundred meters and they did a great job. Our main focus was to stay together today, so that we could set up for the sprint as a team and we did it. And for a while there, we had good little train going toward the finish. We were lacking a little power toward the end, maybe, and we allowed Fassa Bortolo to take over the front of the peloton again,

For the second time in two days, American Eric Carter and Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier were the top gravity racers at NORBA National No. 3, after each scored wins in Sunday’s downhill mania race at Snow Summit Resort. Racing a format that hadn’t been used with any regularity since the mid-1990s, Carter was the fastest man down the hill in the four-up event that was part downhill, part mountain cross. Riders started the day running a solo qualifying run for bracket seeding, then went four-up with the top two riders advancing into each successive round. “It was pretty much a hole-shot race,”

Well, I made it another day. I’m still not feeling so great when it comes to my respiratory system. My legs feel fine, but sometimes, it’s like a car when it red-lines. I’m afraid the engine just cuts out at a certain point. I have good legs, but once I start pushing it hard, the lungs just can’t support the leg work that I am doing and I feel like I am going to blow. I did what I could for Angelo today. I sat back behind him a couple of spots and then as we were coming in toward the finish, I waited to see what I could do to move him up, maybe take him on my wheel and launch an attack. I

Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar (De-Nardi) powered along 52km of rain-slick roads to win the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, while the Giro’s 22-year-old revelation, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) surrendered the maglia rosa to Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago), who finished third on the day. The 52km Trieste-Altopiano Carsico individual time trial began with a flat 4km, then segued into a 12km climb followed by a 26km descent, concluding with a flat run to the finish. And once the rain began to fall, it proved a tough stage indeed. "The rain bothered me; I hadn't planned attacking

After 30 miles of going toe-to-toe on the steep hills of Waterbury, the protagonists in Saturday's Waterbury circuit race ended up deciding things in a cat-and-mouse sprint, with Jeff Louder (Navigators Insurance) scoring a big win for the New Jersey-based team, ahead of breakaway companions Chris Wherry (Health Net-Maxxis) and Will Frischkorn (Colavita Olive Oil) in the Tour of Connecticut. Stage 4 of the tour brought the race back to the Waterbury circuit introduced last year, featuring a brutal climb averaging around 9 percent and twisting its way through Waterbury neighborhoods before a

Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) won the fourth stage of the Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon on Saturday and took the overall lead for good measure. Moreau, who outkicked U.S. Postal’s Viatcheslav Ekimov at the end of the 161km stage from Le Pont du Gard to Mende, said: “I used my mental strength, my experience and my energy to win. This is like a rebirth for me.” The Frenchman now has an overall lead of 12 seconds on Ekimov and 27 seconds on Iker Flores (Euskaltel-Euskadi) with just one stage remaining. Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong finished 15th on the day, 2:08 behind Moreau, advancing

On a dry and dusty Saturday afternoon, Americans Shonny Vanlandingham and Travis Brown each grabbed cross-country wins at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the women’s race, Vanlandingham broke away from a group of four near the end of the first of two 11-mile laps up and down Snow Summit Resort, then held strong to the finish. Originally the Luna rider had planned to make the trip to Spain for the opening round of the World Cup, but on Monday during a flight from Denver to her home in Durango, Colorado, Vanlandingham got a big scare when the plane’s hydraulics failed and

Eric Carter and Sabrina Jonnier put on gated-racing clinics Saturday evening, grabbing convincing wins in the dual slalom at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. In the men’s bracket Carter (Mongoose-Hyundai) won every heat in the preliminary rounds, cruising into the finals, where he met up with Aussie Sam Hill. Hill had been the benefactor of some good fortune, getting past Steve Peat and Mick Hannah after both suffered mechanical issues. Peat had a problem with his front tire, while Hannah snapped his chain at the start of his first semifinal heat against Hill. That allowed

After Wednesday’s time trial, I found itself in the leader’s jersey in the Tour de L’Aude, with my teammates Kimberly Bruckner and Kristin Armstrong in second and fourth overall, just a few seconds behind. For T-Mobile it was a great place to be, as it gave us many options tactically. Defending the jersey is a challenge that requires a lot of work, and for us, it has been a bigger challenge than normal because we are down to five riders here. Fortunately, our team has been extremely motivated and is getting stronger each day. On Thursday, we did a circuit race. We let a breakaway full of

Seventh. Not too bad, not too bad at all. Even so, I may be close to the point of heading home. I’m still feeling pretty rough today. I had a pretty good ride, but I sure didn’t feel good. I had an early start, so I was pretty lucky with the weather this time out. It started raining towards the end, so some of the big GC boys had to do the whole thing in the rain and I had relatively dry roads the whole time. Then again, I had more wind than they did, so maybe it all comes out even. The course itself was bloody hard. The first 18 or 19 kilometers were all uphill, and a pretty hard uphill

I’m honored. No, really, I am. I’ve finally made it to the big time. I’m talking about getting my name plastered all over the most prestigious cycling website there is (aside from velonews.com, of course): www.drunkcyclist.com. A warning before you go dashing gleefully over there: This site is definitely not for the eyes of minors or those ultra-conservative types who are not big fans of pornography. My column last week apparently struck an off-key chord with the single-speed audience. To boil down my side of the argument, I mentioned that I’m not a believer in racing classes specifically

It might have been wise for organizers to hand out name tags to go with the medals they passed around at Friday’s awards ceremony following the stage 1 time trial at NORBA National No. 3 in Big Bear Lake, California. With many of the top cross-country pros absent this weekend to compete in the opening round of the World Cup in Madrid, Spain, it was a pair of relatively unfamiliar names — Heather Irmiger and Jimi Mortenson — standing atop the podium when racing was done at Snow Summit Resort. Mortenson (Specialized), who lives in Eagle, Colorado, took advantage of opportunity, posting the

With the laps counting down on Friday night's New Haven criterium and the peloton breathing down the necks of a seven-man breakaway, overall race leader Mark McCormack took it upon himself to keep the lead group out front, and in the process delivered teammate Ivan Dominguez to Colavita Olive Oil's second win in three stages of the Tour of Connecticut. The Friday night festivities in Connecticut featured 60 laps of a pancake-flat, four-corner, half-mile circuit around the New Haven Green, starting and finishing at the steps of the state courthouse. From the gun, the pack set a blistering

Swiss rider Martin Elmiger handed his Phonak team a welcome victory in the 162km third stage of the Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon in Aigues-Mortes on Friday. Elmiger, a 25-year-old mountain-bike specialist who also plays golf and skis cross country, welcomed the win with open arms after believing he had been pipped at the line. Ukrainian Yuryi Krivtsov (AG2r Prevoyance) threw everyone, including the race announcer, into disarray when he raised his arms in victory after crossing the finish line. But Elmiger was given the decision after a photo finish indicated he had won by three

Stage races are like a crash course in tactics and Racing 101. If you really want to learn fast, sign up for some stage races. Depending on the length of the race, you can learn three or four months’ worth of lessons in just one event. Today’s Giro d'Italia stage finished in another beautiful lead-out by Fassa Bortolo, sending Alessandro Pettachi off to his sixth stage win this year. But there are other lessons to be learned, aside from the picture-perfect lead-out. What do you do if you are on a team that does not have a powerful sprinter or isn’t strong enough to provide the 10km

With a coveted spot on the TIAA-CREF Cycling team on the line for the overall men’s and women’s individual champions, the 2004 collegiate national road cycling championships kicked off Friday afternoon with a round of criteriums on the streets of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Early morning thunderstorms threatened to stop the races before they started, but the weather was only the beginning in what would be one of the most dramatic days in all of collegiate racing. After a heart-breaking second-place finish at last year’s collegiate national championship road race, the University

Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) powered to the win in the third stage of the Tour of Connecticut in Friday in New Haven, Connecticut, beating Charles Dionne (Webcor) by less than a wheel in a spectacular hour of racing. Mike Sayers (Health Net) crossed third. The victory, Colavita's second, kept team leader Mark McCormack in the leader's yellow jersey going into stage four Saturday in Waterbury. The race was fast and furious from the first lap as the 87 cyclists fought for position on the technical circuit. On the final laps a break of eight finally stuck, and race leader McCormack saw

Man, do I feel like crap today. I started the day out feeling like I was coming down with something. I've had a sore throat for a few days and now it's beginning to take a toll. Despite the easy terrain, I made it through the stage just sitting there in the field, feeling really, really average on the bike the whole day. The only thing I managed to do was to bring my teammate, Angelo Furlan, up to the front with about 3km to go. I wanted to do as much as I possibly could, so I just went up and took a big turn with the hope that Angelo was on a good wheel. I figured since I was losing steam