Road

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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:

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

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

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)

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

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

So just putting the finishing touches on our power measurement system test and gotta admit that, for the last few days on a bike, I feel like a true dork (yes, even more than usual). This embarrassing fact struck me this past Sunday while huffing up one Boulder’s beautiful local canyons. The eight-mile grind from my house up to the small town of Ward offered plenty of time to contemplate the assortment of flashing signals, heart rate limit alarms and 60-times-per-second-acquired wattage data from the three (yes, three!) power systems strapped to my bike. With more wiring than the

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

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

Local cyclist Vitor Gamito has won the sixth stage of the Tour of Portugal race. His compatriot Rui Lavarinhas finished second in the stage to take over the race leader's yellow jersey. Gamito covered the 136.5 kilometre ride from Fundao to Gouveia in a provisional time of three hours 33 minutes 30 seconds, also taking a 10 second bonus. (c) 2003 Australian Broadcasting Corporation >> Pan American Games Results - Cycling Men's 50Km Time Trial 1. Jose Serpa, Colombia, 1:04:452. Chris Baldwin, United States, 1:05:243. Raul Chacon, Venzuela, 1:05:404. Jose Medina, Chile, 1:06:105.

Eleven riders got a 24-minute head start in the five-day Tour of Burgos in Monday's hot and sticky 177km first stage – so much so that the entire peloton was almost eliminated. The 11-rider break pulled early, and with temperatures soaring into the high 90s, a sluggish peloton wasn't interested in bringing them back. The main bunch finished so far back - 24 minutes, 51 seconds slower - the race jury had to overrule time limits that would have eliminated the entire peloton. Carlos García Quesada gave beleaguered Kelme a victory when he attacked the lead group with 2km to go to claim the

Saturn's Tim Johnson won the 250km race from Montreal to Quebec City Sunday after attacking out of a break of three riders in the final kilometers to finish alone. The day began with a headwind driven rain facing the peloton and an estimated time of 7 hours for the 250 kilometer race. Typically, the race — which is flat except for a climb at the finish — is completed in roughly five hours. An initial break of 18 riders eventually thinned down to a group of ten, including Johnson and his Saturn teammate Phil Zajicek. Eventually the break became three with Ciaran Power (Navigators) and

Russian Olga Zabelinskaia (Vélodames-Colnago) won Monday’s ninth stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin. Zabelinskaia took the 82km run between Châteauneuf-sur-Charente and Saint-Georges-de-Didonne in 2:04:28, just three seconds ahead of Mette Fischer (Team SATS) and Norwegian Anita Valen (Bik-Powerplate). Spaniard Joane Somarriba continues to hold the overall lead. – Copyright 2003/AFP Results1. Olga Zabelinskaia (Rus) Vélodames-Colnago, 86km in 2:04:28 (average speed 39.528 km/h)2. Mette Fischer (Den), Team SATS, at 0:033. Anita Valen (Nor), Bik-Powerplate, s.t..4. Eneritz Iturriaga (Sp),

After the most grueling contest in his five conquests of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong is resting on his laurels in Spain. But Tyler Hamilton and other top cyclists already are back on their bikes. Armstrong is spending the rest of August with his family in the Mediterranean cycling enclave of Girona, Spain. To please his European sponsors and pick up a couple hundred thousand Euros (about $200,000) in appearance fees, he raced in a few cool-down criteriums after the Tour. But the yellow jersey is in the closet, and the Trek is in the garage. After some long siestas and romps with

Spaniards Francisco Mancebo (iBanesto.com), Aitor Gonzalez (ONCE), Oscar Sevilla (Kelme), Angel Casero (Bianchi), Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal) and Swiss Alex Zulle (Phonak) are among the racers using the 25th annual Tour of Burgos as a tune-up for the Vuelta a España, September 6-28. Eighteen teams will take the start on Monday for 670km of racing over five stages. Like much of the rest of Europe, Castille is suffering through a heat wave, with temperatures topping 100 degrees – which will not make the climbing on Tuesday and Wednesday any more pleasant. Tuesday’s 169km run from Briviesca to

Rolf Aldag (Telekom) won the Tour of Bochum on Sunday, a 175.2km race through the streets of this Rhine industrial city. In front of more than 300,000 spectators, come especially to acclaim Bianchi’s Jan Ullrich, runner-up in this year’s Tour de France, Aldag crossed more than 50 meters ahead of Dane Rene Jorgensen. Ullrich, who earlier had been given a "fair-play" award by the German Olympic Committee (DOG) for his sportsmanlike behavior in this year’s Tour, finished fifth. Results1. Rolf Aldag (G), Telekom), 175.2 km in 4:08:072. Rene Jorgensen (Dk), Team fakta, at 0:093. Lubor Tesa

Russian Zoufia Zabirova (Road Runner-Guerciotti) won Sunday’s eighth stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 92km run from Aubusson to Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (Haute-Vienne). Zabirova crossed in 2:25:18 , just seven seconds ahead of Lithuanian Rasa Polikeviciute and a further half-minute up on Australian Margaret Hemsley. Spain’s Joane Somarriba retains the overall lead.–Copyright 2003/AFP Results1. Zoufia Zabirova (Rus), Road Runner-Guerciotti, 92 km in 2 :25:18 (average speed 37,990 km/h)2. Rasa Polikeviciute (Lit), Team 2002 Aurora, at 0:073. Margaret Hemsley (Aus), Nürnberger, at 0:394.

Ukrainian Vladimir Duma (Landbouwkrediet) won the fourth stage of the 19th Regio-Tour Saturday. Duma finished more than a minute ahead of Germany’s Jens Voight (Crédit Agricole) in the179km stage from Wehr to Neuenbourg. Christian Werner (Telekom) crossed third. Ukrainian Volodymir Gustov (Fassa Bortolo) retained the overall lead. Barbosa takes fourth stage in PortugalCandido Barbosa (LA Pecol) of Portugal won the fourth stage of the Tour of Portugal on Saturday. He covered the 154.6km ride from Castelo Branco to Coimbra in 3:49:19, followed by Spain's Angel Edo (Milaneza-MSS) in second

Judith Arndt (Nürnberger Versichering) outsprinted Susanne Ljungskog (Bik-Powerplate) and Edita Pucinskaite (Michele Fanini) on Saturday to win the seventh stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 107km run between Royat (Puy-de-Dome) and Commentry. Joane Somarriba, sixth on the day, retains the overall lead going into Sunday’s 84km stage from Aubusson (Creuse) to Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (Haute-Vienne). Among those abandoning before today’s stage were Sonia Huguet (French National Team) and Australian Sara Carrigan (Bik-Powerplate). Results:1. Judith Arndt (G), Nürnberger Versichering), 107km

Coming off the biggest win of his young road career, hometown favorite Marty Nothstein returns to the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown tonight to defend his title in Nestor's Keirin Cup. Nothstein has dominated the racing in Nestor's Keirin Cup like no other rider in history. He has won the event seven times, including three in a row for the second time. Nothstein, who is seeking to win the event a fourth straight year, is fresh off a win at the second annual New York City Championships, a 100-kilometer criterium race through lower Manhattan. The Olympic gold medalist and

There's no stopping Paolo Bettini, even when he's marked as the man to beat. Bettini attacked up two decisive climbs late in Saturday's 227km Clasica San Sebastian to win his third World Cup victory of the season and his second in a week after holding off compatriot Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo) in a two-up sprint. "Everyone said that I was the favorite, but it's true I have great form and I wanted to attack and take advantage of the situation," said Bettini, who won in 5 hours, 44 minutes, 42 seconds. "We started the race thinking about taking the World Cup lead, but at the base of the

Team CSC's Tyler Hamilton won't be racing in September's Vuelta a España, according to sport director Johnny Weltz. Hamilton is set to return to Europe next week after a trip back to the United States, where he was honored with a parade in his hometown, an appearance on the “Today” show and served as the starter for the New York City race last weekend. Hamilton will likely race some events in August and September, but the Vuelta is not in the plans, Weltz said. "It's too hard to focus all the way through the season. He's had a long season and he's still recovering from his injuries at the

Lithuanian Rasa Polikeviciute (Team 2002 Aurora) won Friday’s sixth stage of the Grand Boucle Féminin, a 129km run from Vif (Isère) to Davezieux (Ardèche). Polikeviciute crossed more than two minutes ahead of Australians Emma James and Margaret Hemsley. Spain’s Joane Somarriba, 17th on the stage, remains in the overall lead. –Copyright 2003/AFP Stage results1. Rasa Polikeviciute (Lit), Team 2002 Aurora, 129km in 3:42:54. (average speed: 34,724 km/h)2. Emma James (Aus), Les Pruneuax d’Agen, at 2:043. Margaret Hemsley (Aus), Nürnberger, at 2:044. Anita Valen (Nor), Bik-Powerplate, at 2:115.

Spanish rider Alberto Benito won Thursday's second stage of the Volta a Portugal and jumped into the overall lead. Benito relegated Spanish sprinter Angelo Edo (Milaneza-MSS) into second place in the 148.5km stage from Loule to Beja in the scorching south of Portugal. Benito finished second in Wednesday's opening stages and used time bonuses to jump into the overall lead. Another Kelme rider abandoned, Jesus Manzano, leaving the team with just two from its original eight members. Five Kelme riders quit Wednesday with stomach problems. The 65th Volta continues Friday with the 150.9km third

Italy’s Fabiana Luperini (Team 2002 Aurora) on Thursday won the fifth stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 101.5-mile run between Argentière-la-Bessée (Hautes-Alpes) and Vaujany (Isère). Spaniard Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Panda Spiuk), second on the stage, retains the overall lead. –Copyright 2003/AFP Stage results:1. Fabiana Luperini (I), Team 2002 Aurora, 101.5km in 3:00:09 (average speed: 33,805 km/h)2. Joane Somarriba (Sp), Bizkaia Panda Spiuk, at 0:033. Nicole Brändli (SUI), Prato Marathon Bike, at 0:154. Suzanne Ljungskog (Swi), Bik-Powerplate, at 1:305. Edita Pucinskaite (LIT),

Italian Cristian Moreni (Alessio) won Wednesday’s first stage of the 19th Regio-Tour, a 189.4km run between the German city of Heitersheim and Guebwiller in France. Moreni was the man of the moment in this first of five stages, which cover 814km in the area of the Upper Rhine, claiming not only the yellow leader’s jersey but also those of best climber and best sprinter. The 116 racers from15 teams began the stage slowly amid hot conditions. But with the approach of the Vosges, the race became animated and breakaway attempts multiplied until a group of about 30 went clear. About 3km from

A quick recap for those just joining the program: in my column last week I made mention that the Trek TT bikes used in the Tour de France were showing up in the worldwide media sporting modified Shimano headsets. I went on to discuss how I felt this odd, considering Chris King was the official headset sponsor for the team. Most interesting was the response I received from Chris King representative Jacki Sterner, indicating that the Postal mechanics didn’t “have time” to install headsets on the Tour bikes. A simple technical reason (stack height, cup fit) would have quelled my curiosity, but

Pascual Llorente (Kelme-Costa Blanca) was reported to be the rider who tested positive for the performance boosting drug EPO (erythropoietin) during this year's Tour de France, the sports daily Marca claimed Wednesday. Kelme director Juan Mas told AFP that one of his riders had indeed tested positive, with confirmation coming after the rider´s B-sample had been tested. But Mas said he was reluctant to specify which of the nine members of the Tour squad tested positive. "I can't reveal the name of the rider until he has received official notification," said Mas. The Spanish rider was the

The 2003 season is over for reigning world time trial champion Santiago Botero, his Telekom team announced Wednesday. Nagging stomach problems that forced the Colombian to pull out of the 2003 Tour are still bothering him, and his team said Botero will neither race the Vuelta a España in September nor defend his world title in October. "Santiago must first fully recover," said team doctor Lothar Heinrich. Medical tests revealed a stomach bacterial infection and lingering virus. Botero finished fourth overall in the 2002 Tour, but pulled out of this year's race after stage 17 after

Italy’s Fabiana Luperini (Team 2000 Aurora) won Wednesday's abbreviated fourth stage of Le Grande Boucle Féminin, which was trimmed to 31.2km between Guillestre and Puy-Saint-Vincent because of a mudslide. By finishing third on the day, Spain’s Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Panda Spiuk ) seized the leader’s jersey that the Russian Olga Zabelinskaia (Vélodames-Colnago) had worn since the beginning of the race. Initially envisaged between Val d'Allos (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) and Puy-Saint-Vincent (Hautes-Alpes), the stage was disturbed by a mud flow the previous day between Barcelonnette and

Bianchi's Jan Ullrich confirmed he will race in October's world championships but remained doubtful on whether he'll use the Vuelta a España as his warm-up. "The focus of the remaining season is the world championships," Ullrich told German television after the HEW Cyclassics race Sunday. "There's a question mark whether I'm going to do the Vuelta, but I will see in two weeks’ time." Ullrich confirmed he'll race in the next two rounds of the World Cup - Saturday's Clasica San Sebastian and GP Zurich on Aug. 17 - but left his participation in the Vuelta up in the air. "I would love to do

Spaniard Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Spiuk Panda) won the third stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin on Tuesday, an 88km run from Fayence to Valberg. Swiss Nicole Braendli (Prato Marathon Bike) crossed second at 0:50 with Fabiana Luperini (Team 2002 Aurora) third at 1:49. Olga Zabelinskaïa (Vélodames-Colnago) finished in a bunch that finished more than four minutes behind the leader. She retained her yellow jersey, but just barely, as Somarriba moved to within 30 seconds of the Russian. Wednesday’s fourth stage is a 116km run from Val d’Allos to Puy-Saint-Vincent. –Copyright 2003/AFP

The wave of fires that has swept Portugal for a week could disturb the Tour of Portugal, which starts Wednesday in Albufeira, according to his organizers. On Friday and Saturday, the race will traverse the areas most seriously touched by fire, during the third stage (Campo Maior-Castelo Branco) and the fourth (Castelo Branco-Coimbra). For the moment, nothing indicates that it is necessary to modify the routes of the stages, according to Lusa Fernando Petronilho, press spokesman for the race organizers. "We are in daily contact with the mayor of Castelo Branco and with civil protection, and

Dear Monique:Working at a bike shop, I see customers every day spending hundreds of dollars on high-tech hydration and recovery mixes. I however, do not use them, and I’ve never felt like my performance is sub-par compared to my buddies and teammates. I hydrate only with water and Gatorade, and I recover with chocolate milk and a PB & J sandwich. I’m curious as to whether there has ever been any independent testing of these products, and whether they actually do provide an edge over my “over-the-counter,” homemade diet - either in terms of a week of racing or training, or during a weeklong

Spanish cycling took a blow Monday when perennial team sponsor ONCE announced it will end its 15-year support of cycling at the end of the 2003 season. Rumors began circulating last week that ONCE (a Spanish agency that serves blind people and runs a national lottery) would pull the plug at the end of the year instead of continuing through the 2004 season as planned. The team will compete in the 2003 Vuelta and the remainder of the racing calendar, but an internal decision taken Monday leaves Spain's premier team without a title sponsor come November, reported the Spanish daily

Spaniard Joane Somarriba (Bizkaia Spiuk Panda) soloed to victory Monday in the second stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin, a 106km run from Corte to Saint-Florent. Just past Oletta, 84.5km into the race, six riders escaped the bunch – Fabiana Luperini and Jolanta Polikeviciute (Team 2002 Aurora), Judith Arndt (Nürnberger), Nicole Braendli (Prato Marathon Bike), Somarriba and Edita Pucinskaite (Michela Fanini). A few kilometers from the Col de Teghime, Somarriba attacked and took the lead by a handful of seconds over her breakaway companions. On the descent, covered at more than 80 km/h,

Stuttgart’s world track championships wrapped up on a high note for Germany as its sprinters showed the host country’s riders were still capable of a bit of teamwork. After the implosion of its team pursuit squad, Germany demonstrated the depth of its sprint program by fending off a strong challenge in the gold medal round from the French to secure the world team sprint competition on Sunday. The final in the three-lap event – formerly tagged with the somewhat confusing moniker of “Olympic Sprint” – pitted Germany’s Carsten Bergemann, Jens Fiedler and Rene Wolff against a strong French

Quick Step's Paolo Bettini tried for three weeks to win a stage at the 2003 Tour de France but fell short. Now, a week later at Sunday's HEW Cyclassics race in Germany, the Italian upstaged local favorite Jan Ullrich (Bianchi) to win his second World Cup victory of the season. "This is a great race, no matter what people say," said Bettini, who moved into second overall in the World Cup standings. "Some criticize it because the course is relatively undemanding, but look how exciting it was. I'm delighted with this victory, and I'm looking forward to winning this race again." Ullrich and

Just moments before a sudden rainstorm swept across Lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, former track-racing superstar Marty Nothstein delivered a lightning bolt of his own when he unleashed his world-class speed to win the second annual New York City Cycling Championship on the streets of New York. "I’ll tell you what," said Nothstein, whose rich track-racing resume includes the Olympic gold medal he won at the Sydney Games in 2000. "Since winning the Olympics, I’ve only been focusing on one thing, and that’s coming out to these criteriums to try and become one of the dominant

At the International-Tour de Toona, Saturn completed a sweep of the men’s and women’s races as Lyne Bessette wrapped up the women’s title on Sunday, while Tom Danielson overtook Navigators Chris Baldwin to win the men’s race, which concluded on Saturday. Danielson entered the final stage trailing Baldwin by 20 seconds, but the Saturn rider broke clear in the race, bridging to early breakaways Tim Johnson (Saturn), Brice Jones (7UP-Maxxis) and Baldwin's Navigators teammate Mark Walters. With Johnson and Danielson powering the breakaway, Danielson rode into the race lead. Walters sat on and

Russian Olga Zabelinskaia (Vélodames Colnago) won the opening stage of the Grande Boucle Féminin Sunday, a 105km run under blazing sun from Sarténe to Ajaccio. Zabelinskaia crossed the line alone in 3:03:03, trailed nearly four and a half minutes later by Austrian Sara Carrigan. Lisbeth Simer was third at 5:28. American Katrina Grove was fifth at 5:54. The Russian collected both the leader’s jersey and the jersey for best climber. Prerace favorite Susanne Ljungskog is sitting 18th on GC at 6:27. –Copyright 2003/AFP Stage results1. Olga Zabelinskaia (Rus), Vélodames Colnago, 105km in 3:03:03

Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein (Navigators) outsprinted the rain and Saturn's Victor Rapinski to win the New York City cycling championship on Sunday. Winner of the match sprint on the track at the Sydney Olympics, Nothstein has been making an impressive transition to road racing and blasted past Rapinski in the final 100 meters of the 62-mile event through the streets of New York. American David Clinger (Prime Alliance-TIAA-Cref) was third. "Since winning the gold medal in 2000, this has been a big transition from the track to the road," said Nothstein. "With proper training

They’ve said the track in Stuttgart, with its aged wooden surface is a fast one. It took the Australian pursuit team to prove just how fast as the four-man team of Graeme Brown, Peter Dawson, Luke Roberts and Brett Lancaster smashed the existing world mark – set by the Aussie squad a year ago – by more than two seconds Saturday. Facing a British team that included Robert Hayles, Paul Manning, Bryan Steel and individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, the Australians knew they had to ride a sub-four-minute pursuit just to remain competitive in the final. The two teams both appeared nervous