Road

The first rider start rider leaves the starting ramp of the prologue at 4 p.m. on Saturday July 6, 2002.

Annabella Stropparo has won the third round of the cross-country WorldCup at Mont Ste Anne ahead of Barbara Blatter and Alison Dunlap. Dunlap's third is enough to propel her into the overall leader's jersey. Stropparo was overcome with emotion as she granted interviews. She wascrying and laughing and just plain full of joy. "I've waited such a longtime for this. I kept worrying that something would go wrong in the lastlap. That made it very hard. When I got through the last major climb itwas very enjoyable. I was so happy on the last half of the final lap. Itried to be very smooth and not

The black, red and gold striped German National Champion’s jersey was exchanged between two Saturn riders June 30th, as Judith Arndt won while defending champion Petra Rossner finished second. Arndt, who rode for the German National team last year before signing with Saturn, has had an impressive season, already taking overall wins at Redlands, Solano, Tour de L’Aude, Tour de Snowy, and most recently, the HP Women’s Challenge. Sunday’s 60-mile race was determined in the final 10 kilometers, when Arndt attacked 200 meters from the top, on the steepest pitch at the mountain sprint. Trixi

The sun came out and the war of attrition started. Racers dropped indroves as the heat and dust claimed many. It even became a strategy forsome racers to simply outlast the others. The racers only gained some reliefin the finish area where the wind could cool them a bit. Only the toughmade it through.The toughest today was Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized). He rode a magnificentrace finishing with a 2 minute and 13 second gap over Christophe Dupouey(Giant Global) in second. Merihaeghe was jubilant. "Already in the firstlap I felt that I was strong, but so were Dupouey and Sauser. Sauser

The 43rd Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic came to an end on Sunday with Chris Horner (Prime Alliance) and Lyne Bessette (Quebec Selection Team) wrapping up the overall race titles while team Saturn swept the final day with Kim Davidge winning the women's race and Ivan Dominguez taking the men's. Bessette headed into the criterium with an overall lead of 5:21, having already taken care of her weekend's work with wins in the time trial, circuit race and criterium. That left it for teammate Clara Hughes to make the decisive move of the day on Sunday afternoon, with temperatures in Fitchburg topping 90

Flying Start: 10:25 a.m. on D.938 (Gabriellini)

Flying Start: 11:45 a.m. on N.91

Ceremonial Start: 12:20 p.m. Boulevard de la Foire.Flying Start: 12:45 p.m. N. 12 Luxembourg Exit

Flying Start: 1:02 p.m. on N.90

Flying Start: 12:42 p.m. on No. 4

Flying Start 12:27 p.m. on D.19 exit to Cluses

Flying Start: 1:00 p.m. on N.3 Rozérieulles exit.

First rider: 10:45 a.m., then 2-minute intervals for the first until the final 20 riders, who start at 3-minute intervals.

Start: First team starts at 2:15 p.m., then the remaining 20 teams start at 5-minute intervals.

Flying Start: 1:30 p.m. on D.35

Flying Start: 12:38 p.m., N.31, Soissons exit.

Steve Peat (Troy Lee-Orange) and Anne Caroline Chausson (Volvo-Cannondale) won the third round of the downhill World Cup at Mont Ste Anne, Quebec in decisive fashion on Saturday. In the overall standings, Chausson has taken the leader’s jersey from Sabrina Jonnier, while Chris Kovarik’s lead over Peat has shrunk to 23 points. After some truly exciting racing, third seeded Steve Peat was the victor in the men’s race with an outstanding time of 5:09.67, almost 4 seconds faster than Cedric Gracia (Volvo-Cannondale). He was extremely happy with his win. As Gracia approached the finish and it

Flying Start: 12:29 p.m., D.921, intersection D.921 and La Ruche.

On Saturday, Chris Horner and his Prime Alliance team took the race over at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic, while in the women’s race, Lyne Bessette (Quebec Selection Team) put in a dominant solo performance to all but lock up her fourth straight Fitchburg title. Bessette entered the 69-mile road race with a 12-second lead over Saturn’s Kim Bruckner. By the end, her advantage would be counted in minutes, not seconds. Bessette got to work on the second of six laps on the 11-mile main circuit, on wooded, up-and-down roads around Princeton, Massachusetts and the Wachusett Mountain ski area. On

Flying Start 1:02 p.m. on D335, Bagnoles-de-l'Orne exit

Flying Start: 12:20 p.m. on D.30, intersection of D.30 - La Motte

Anne-Caroline Chausson took her second World Cup victory of the day,and Eric Carter was the surprise men's winner at the Mont Sainte-Anne WorldCup four-Cross, held Saturday evening.  Chausson and Brian Lopes bothextended their leads in the overall standings.From the start, the course drops from the ramp into a large left handberm. The strategy for the majority of the winners was to be the firstinto this turn. It also meant several crashes as riders jockeyed to bethat first person. From here there was the first of several double jumps,more berms and then a huge double jump where the better

First Starter at: 10:30 a.m. then 2-minute intervals.

Flying Start: 2:05 p.m. on D.932

Flying Start: 12:18 p.m. - Mazerès-Lezons, D. 37, av. du Général-de-Gaulle

Flying Start: 10:56 a.m. on D.939, Lannemezan exit

Flying Start: 11:21 a.m. on N.9, entry to Soumont.

Flying Start: 1:15 p.m., Les Chaubets exit.

On day two of the Fitchburg-Longsjo classic, three-time defending champion Lyne Bessette (Quebec Selection Team) moved a little closer to her fourth consecutive win, beating out Kimberly Bruckner (Saturn) in a head-to-head battle in the 40-mile women’s circuit race. In the men’s race, Prime Alliance’s Chris Horner edged out former teammate Mike Sayers (Mercury) for the stage win while Navigators Chris Baldwin grabbed the orange race leader’s jersey. After Thursday’s time trial, Bessette led Bruckner by one second in the general classification, so she was content to keep an eye on Bruckner

Swiss veteran Alex Zülle (Coast), won the Tour of Switzerland which ended with a time trial in Bienne on Thursday. Zülle finished third in the stage – behind Tobias Steinhauser (Gerolsteiner) and American Bobby Julich (Telekom) – which was good enough to give him a lock on the overall title. The 1995 Tour of Switzerland runner-up had shrugged off a six month ban imposed in 1998 as a result of the Festina doping scandal when taking second to Lance Armstrong in the 1999 Tour de France. But Zülle had a less than satisfactory season last, with just one win all season, a stage in Paris-Nice.

Mercury’s Phil Zajicek and Quebec’s Lyne Bessette took the wins in the opening time trial on Thursday night at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, to take the leaders’ jerseys heading into Friday’s Aubuchon-Glidden Circuit Race. Defending champion Bessette (Quebec Selection Team) narrowly edged out her former Saturn teammate Kimberly Bruckner, covering the 7-mile time trial in 17:49.53, just over a second faster than Bruckner. Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson was third, 44 seconds behind Bessette. In the men’s race, Zajicek beat out defending champion Eric Wohlberg (Saturn)

Telkom’s Erik Zabel won the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a 235km stretch from Vevey to Lyss on Wednesday, continuing a pattern of wins that the German sprinter vowed to carry into next week’s Tour de France. Alex Zülle (Coast) retained the leader's yellow jersey, holding only a three-second advantage over Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) and 19 over Domo's Piotr Wadecki. Considered a strong strong time trialist, Zülle holds the advantage going into Thursday’s final stage a 34.5 km between Lyss and Bienne. Zabel said win on Wednesday gives him confidence going into the Tour de France,

A day after dominating the mountain time trial and taking the overall race lead, American Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) sealed the overall victory at the Route du Sud with another strong climbing performance on Tuesday as he readied for the upcoming Tour de France. Leipheimer finished ninth on the final stage, but more importantly conceded just six seconds to his closest rivals in the general classification, Andrei Kivilev (Cofidis) and Aitor Kintana Zarate (BigMat-Auber 93). Tuesday's 189.5km stage 4 began in Luzenac and finished with the Cat. 1 climb of the Plateau de Bonascre, above the town

Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate (Lampre) took the seventh stage of the Tour of Switzerland Tafter Italian Gianluca Bortolami (Tacconi) was stripped of victory. Bortolami was ruled to have swayed from his line as he sprinted towards the finish and pushed back to 18th spot, handing victory to Garate, of team Lampre. Swiss star Alex Zülle of Coast maintains his lead at the top of the standings but the real talking point on Tuesday was Bortolami's demotion to back of the finishing group. The panel, chaired by Belgian Marc Vandevyvere, decided to punish Bortolami for coming out of the final bend

More solutions to mystery noises.

The U.S. track team continued to add to its string of strong performances this year, taking the team title at the latest round of the World Cup in Cali, Colombia, June 21-23. It’s been a remarkable season for the Americans, starting with a team title at the opening World Cup in Monterrey, Mexico in April. The success continued in Sydney and Moscow, and, most recently, Cali, where the U.S. squad claimed their second World Cup title at the series’ fourth stop. With one World Cup competition remaining in Kunming, China (August 9-11)—the United States squad sits unofficially atop the World Cup

Phonak’s Alexandre Moos beat turned the tables on Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo), reversing the results from the day before to take the 176.9km sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland as it finished in Verbier on Monday. Casagrande had beat Moos to the line at the end of Sunday’s stage and looked set to the same as he and Tacconi Sport’s Peter Luttenberger reeled Moos in as he neared the finish. Mooos had been active in the closing kilometers of the race, attacking with Telekom’s Giuseppe Guerini and Gerolsteiner’s Davide Rebellin on the day’s final climb, just 9 km from the finish. But

Rabobank's American co-captain for the TOur de France, Levi Leipheimer, appears to be coming into form at just the right time as he took over control of the 2002 Route du Sud on Monday. With one stage remaining, Leipheimer assumed the overall lead by 50 seconds after winning a short but tough mountainous time trial from Aston to the Plateau de Beille. Leipheimer beat second-placed Aitor Kintana (BigMat) by 48 seconds as he averaged 23 kph over the 18 km course that ended with the 1200 meter climb to the top of the Plateau. Cofidis’s David Millar finished the day in third place at 55 seconds

Gord Fraser and his Mercury team finally got the win at the Grand PrixCycliste de Beauce that they have been searching for all week, however, to do it he had to hold off Charles Dionne (7Up-Nutra Fig). Michael Rogers (Mapei-Quick Step) finished safely in the pack, and the stage produced no significant changes to the general classification. After being robbed of the chance for victory in the morning stage, when a mix up sent the enter peloton off course in the final 300 meters, the sprinters were anxious for a last chance to claim a stage before tomorrow's concluding road race. Therefore,

Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo), snatched victory in the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland from the hands Phonak’s Alex Moos just 150 meters from the finish in Meiringen on Sunday. The two had broken away from the rest of the field on the descent of the day’s toughest climbm the Susten, just 10km from the finish. Casagrande outsprinted the Phonak rider at the end of the 147.7km race to beat Moos by a matter of inches, for a winning time of 4:37:35. Domo’s Piotr Wadecki took the field sprint 15 seconds later to finish third. Coast’s Alex Zülle maintains his grip on the

Under a hot midday sun, the nine-stage 2002 H.P. Women’s Challenge wrapped up Sunday, with Saturn’s Judith Arndt maintaining her 1:20 overall lead over Rona’s 20-year-old Genevieve Jeanson. Both teams raced the final stage conservatively, with Rona intent on preserving Jeanson’s three leader’s jerseys – overall points, mountain points, and best young rider – while Saturn looked after Arndt. During Sunday’s road race - a 56.5-mile sojourn from Emmett to Boise’s historic Hyde Park district – several attempts were made early on, but Rona swiftly shut them down. The real racing began after the

John Kirkcaldie (Maxxis) finally broke through "a lot of second places" to snag his first career NORBA downhill win on a rocky, rooted, but dry Snowshoe Mountain course. Meanwhile, French dominance continued on the women’s circuit, as Sabrina Jonnier (Intense) won her second consecutive NORBA race in the wake of Anne-Caroline Chausson’s first round win. After qualifying fourth, New Zealander Kircaldie finally broke Chris Kovarik’s (Intense) stranglehold on the downhill series posting a time of 4:02:39 over the 2.25-mile, 1400-vertical foot course. Kovarik suffered a flat tire in the bottom

As expected, Michael Rogers (Mapei-Quick Step) successfully hung onto the yellow jersey through the final stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce. Lubor Tesar (Nurnberger) racked up his third stage win, ahead of Phil Zajicek (Navigators) and Matt Decanio (Prime Alliance). The final 144 kilometer stage was a tough course, offering other teams the opportunity to attack Mapei and try and crack the yellow jersey - which has happened before in this race. The riders did two laps of a 60 kilometer circuit, with three climbs per lap, and two finishing circuits in St-Georges, also with a steep

Domo’s Leon Van Bon won the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a mountainous 160-kilometer run between Coire and Ambri on Saturday. Italy's Daniele Nardello came in second ahead of Briton Charles Wegelius. Coast’s Alex Zülle retained the overall leader's yellow jersey. Van Bon and Nardello slipped the peloton, with 80km of the stage remaining, but this pair were caught by a select group including Wegelius, who led the sprint for the line, only to be retaken by a tireless Van Bon.

Under the figure of Boise’s Idaho State Capital building, Saturn’s Anna Millward took stage eight of the H.P. Women’s Challenge Saturday in a two-up sprint against T Mobile’s Katrina Berger. It was Millward’s second win - and Saturn’s seventh - of the nine-stage tour. The annual Saturday event, which circumnavigates downtown government buildings, drew out the local Boise cycling community to cheer on the riders and seek out autographs from the world-class field. With the overall GC more or less decided – Saturn’s Judith Arndt in first, 1:20 ahead of Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson, and Saturn’s

First rider start: 4 p.m., then at one-minute intervals for 189 riders.

Alison Dunlap (Luna Chix) and Jimena Florit (RLX-Polo Sport), the two dominant women on the NORBA circuit this year, spiced things up by flip flopping Friday’s long course cross country result, with Dunlap taking a commanding victory in the short track cross country. In the men’s race, Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) sprang back from the cramps that plagued him on the long course to reclaim his top spot in the intense short track competition. Dunlap enjoyed an uncluttered view for the majority of the 20-minute-plus 3-lap women’s event, going away on the third lap and riding

The Snowshoe Mountain Mountain cross course did not leave a great deal of room for error. With nothing close to flat and only slightly doglegged corners, it was a matter of getting the holeshot, take the win, plain and simple. That tactic paid off for Brian Lopes (GT) and Katrina Miller (Jamis) both of whom qualified first, won each of their heats, and enjoyed their choice of lane position throughout the competition on the way to the top of the final brackets. In the women’s race, racers were offered an alternate line in order to avoid, if desired, the enormous double jump a scant 70 feet

Up until the final 300 meters, stage 6a of the Grand Prix Cycliste deBeauce was shaping up to be an excellent display of racing, with a long breakaway that was only shut down in the final 4 kilometers. However, a series of events at the end of the stage led to no winner being declared and all riders being given the same finishing time. The 111 kilometer stage was expected to be aggressive, as other teams took the measure of Mapei's determination to protect Michael Roger's lead. Saturn was particularly aggressive in the opening kilometers, but it wasn't until nearly the halfway point that

Roland Green (Trek-VW) continued his dominance of the NORBA circuit on Friday, taking his second consecutive victory at Snowshoe, West Virginia, and netting his sixth straight NORBA cross-country title. In the women’s race, Jimena Florit (RLX-Polo Sport) built on a commanding early lead to score her second cross-country race of the series. The men’s race began with a familiar look, as Green streaked out to a holeshot trailed by countryman and training partner Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and a third dangerous Canadian, Geoff Kabush (Kona). Hesjedal briefly took a solo lead towards

Telekom's Alexander Vinokourov, won the third stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Friday, the first of four days in the mountains that usually define the Swiss race. Vinokourov finished ahead of Swiss riders Alex Zülle and Laurent Dufaux at the end of the mountainous 157.6km stage from Domat-Ems to Sammaun. Zülle, winner of the opening prologue, took over the leaders’ jersey with a six-second lead over Vinokourov and nine seconds over Dufaux in the overall classification. The stage proved to be difficult for several Italian cyclists, among whom were some of the favorites for the

The Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce selected its fourth leader in five days on today, as Michael Rogers (Mapei-Quick Step) slipped in front of yesterday's leader Matt Decanio (Prime Alliance). Rogers finished third on the individual time trial stage to German national champion Thomas Liese (Nürnberger), but gained enough time on eighth place finisher Decanio to take the yellow jersey. Phil Zajicek pulled Mercury back into contention with a fourth place result and moved into 7th overall. Canadian national time trial champion Eric Wohlberg (Saturn) was fifth in the stage and moved into tenth

After two consecutive mountaintop finishes, the 83 riders remaining in the H.P. Women’s Challenge were given a slight respite Friday, as an early thirteen-rider break without GC contenders was allowed to slip away and contest for the stage win. At the line, it was Anita Valen, a 33-year-old fitness instructor from Norway, who took the 88-mile stage in a field sprint. Early on, the Norwegian team Sponsor Services came out swinging. First the team’s Finnish rider Pia Sundstedt took a solo flyer at mile 18, opening a gap of 25 seconds before being caught three miles down the road. However, the

Thursday's 197.3km fourth stage of the Tour of Catalunya cycling race between Barruera and Andorra in the Pyrenees has been shortened to 52km because of a 24-hour general strike in Spain, race organizers said. Race director general Oscar Pitarch and riders' representative Jose Rodriguez reached agreement after a three-hour meeting during which the Spanish riders indicated they wanted to support the strike. The protest is over controversial government plans to reform the unemployment benefit system. The stage will be reduced to two top category climbs culminating in the arrival at the

Lubor Tesar (Nürnberger) chalked up his second win in as many days atthe third stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, winning a field sprint over Tuesday's second place finisher - David McKenzie (iTeamNova.com). The pace was fast from the start and, coupled with the seemingly endless rolling two-kilometer climbs of 6%-8%, saw the field split. In the end, only 40 riders made the cut for the front group, with the remainder of the field finishing over 21 minutes back, and putting themselves out of contention. After some early solo and duo break attempts, the serious work beganDuring the

The U.S. Postal team continued its run at the Tour of Catalunya as Roberto Heras took over the lead at the Spanish stage race, the third Postie to do so in as many days. Heras took over the race lead from teammate George Hincapie after finishing second in Wednesday's 10.8 kilometer mountain time trial that finished in Boi Taull, six seconds back of winner Aitor Garmendia of Coast. In the overall classification, Heras leads Garmendia by 15 seconds. "At this point of the race, the right rider is in the jersey for our team," said Dirk Demol, the USPS team's assistant director sportif. "Going

Erik Zabel won a hotly-contested sprint at the end the191km second stage of the Tour de Switzerland, beating Phonak's Sven Teutenberg by a tire-width on Thursday. Zabel outsprinted the field after 4:15:30 in the saddle, leaving Teutenberg to accept the runners-up place for the second day running. But the win still wasn't enough to take the yellow jersey away from the gutsy young French rider Eddy Lembo (Oktos) who holds on to a 49-second lead over prologue-winner Alex Zülle (Coast), after winning Wednesday's stage by slightly more than one minute. Lembo finished in the field Thursday as

Saturn’s Judith Arndt won a second stage at the H.P. Women’s Challenge Thursday, breaking the course record by more than twenty-one minutes, and more importantly, reclaiming the overall lead for her powerful team. If there was one defining image from Thursday’s 60-mile road race – or the entire H.P. Women’s Challenge, to this point – it was that of the Saturn women united, driving an unreachable team time trial through strong crosswinds, while former teammate Lyne Bessette (Canadian National) and Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson struggled in vain to hang on. Opening with 40 miles of windy flats

Stage four of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce saw a complete revision in the overall standings, with unheralded American rider Matt Decanio (Prime Alliance) taking the lead away from Lubor Tesar (Nürnberger). Former U.S. Postal rider Stephane Barthe (Saint-Quentin-Oktos) took the stage after a 130 kilometer two man breakaway effort. The 171.7 kilometer stage is the "Queen" stage of the race, the one that reduces the number of contenders to a handful. The long rolling climbs from the first few stages wearing down the riders, and the final 5 kilometers to the top of Mont Megantic is rated

Eddy Lembo, of the Division II Oktos squad, survived a long breakaway at the Tour of Switzerland Wednesday to steal a win in a stage that was expected to be a natural for sprinters. The 21-year-old Lembo finished more than a minute ahead of the field at the end of the day’s 172 kilometer stage from Lucerne to Schaffhausen. The win gave the young French rider the overall lead, bumping Coast’s Alex Zülle, winner of Tuesday's prologue, out of the top spot. Lembo covered the course in 4:18:36, finishing 1:08 ahead of the field. Phonak’s Sven Teutenberg, won the field sprint, while many of the

Genevieve Jeanson, the powerful 20-year-old from Quebec, finally had the day she’s been looking for at her first H.P. Women’s Challenge, winning a tough mountain stage and putting nearly one-minute between her and the overall leaders. Rising from the flatland town of Shoshone, Idaho, to the base of the Pomerelle ski resort, the 86-mile stage five – the longest of the nine-stage event – delivered the most action yet, resulting in a shakeup in the general classification and yielding the first non- Saturn stage winner. As the peloton rolled out of Shoshone under sunny blue skies and perfect

If Alex Zülle intends to use the Tour of Switzerland as evidence that he and his Coast team should have been invited to the Tour de France, he got off to a good start as he blazed through the opening prologue through the streets of Lucerne Tuesday. Zülle held off Alexia’s Giuseppe Di Grande and Allesio’s Laurent Dufaux to win the 5.7km prologue in 7:37. Zülle, who finished second in the 1999 Tour de France, upped his tempo over the last three kilometers following a challenging 800 meter climb to beat Di Grande and Dufaux by six and seven seconds respectively. Despite its 10th place in UCI

Adding a fourth consecutive stage win at this year’s HP Women’s Challenge, the talent-rich Saturn squad continues to redefine the meaning of dominance in the peloton, seemingly taking control of any stage at will. Long before Petra Rossner sprinted to the line to take stage four’s Stanley to Ketchum road race, it was all too clear that the Saturn women’s cycling team is, in effect, unstoppable. And while Rossner flew across the line to take her second field sprint victory in four days, setting a new course record by over two minutes, it was teammate Kimberly Bruckner that animated the

Gord Fraser (Mercury), has qualified for his fourth Commonwealth Gamesby finishing third in the second stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauceon Tuesday. The 162 kilometer stage began in the town of Levis, south ofQuebec, and finished in the village of Ste-Marie after nearly four hoursof racing. Czech rider Lubor Tesar (Nürnberger), won the stage, anddonned the yellow leader's jersey, approximately 15 seconds in front ofFraser.An early breakaway of two - Johan Coenen (Marlux - Ville de Charleroi),and Doug Ziewacz (7Up-Nutra Fig), were allowed to go away at the 37 kilometermark and build up

When Lance asks, you have to be ready to deliver. Take, for example thisstory of Armstrong’s new time trial handlebar. The day after the finish of the Midi Libre, U.S. Postal team managerJohan Bruyneel calls Deda Elementi, the team’s handlebar sponsor, to reportthat Lance is unhappy with his current equipment and wants something lighterfor the upcoming Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour. The next day, May 28, representatives from Deda drive from their factoryin Campagnola Cremasca, Italy, to Les Deux Alpes to meet with Armstrong,Bruyneel and Lance’s mechanic, Jean-Marc Vandenberge. At the

The powerhouse that is the Saturn’s Women Cycling Team swept the Stanley Time Trial at the H.P. Women’s Challenge Monday, with Judith Arndt taking the third stage and teammate Anna Millward three seconds back, remaining in the overall lead. It is the third consecutive Saturn victory at this year’s Women’s Challenge. National TT champion Kimberly Bruckner finished in second, just one tick of the clock off Arndt’s pace. Conditions on the false flat 40 km out-and-back course were cool and windy, embarking into a strong headwind and returning with a crossed up tailwind. In customary time trial

Three-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong warmed up for next month's Tour by finally conquering the Dauphiné Libéré stage race, which ended Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland. Armstrong led a 1-2 for both the United States and the U.S. Postal team as Floyd Landis came second overall, 2:03 behind the team leader, following the 150km seventh and final stage between Morzine and Geneva. Armstrong crossed the line in 37th position behind Spanish winner Jose Enrique Gutierrez of Kelme, but it was enough to finally secure a race that has escaped him during his career. Armstrong once again

It was probably the shortest course you’ll ever see on the professional downhill circuit, but that didn’t stop the world’s hottest rider from adding another win to his resume. For the fourth time in four tries Australian Chris Kovarik was the fastest man down the hill, taking round No. 2 of the NORBA National Championship Series. Kovarik has now won both stops of the 2002 NCS and the opening two rounds of the World Cup series. In the women’s race Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier posted the quickest time, giving the Intense team a pair of wins at Alpine Valley Resort in southern Wisconsin on

Saturn’s Anna Millward, two-time overall winner of the HP Women’sChallenge (1996 & 2000), won the Lowman to Stanley road race Sunday, out sprinting a select group of general classification contenders for her first sprint victory of the 2002 season. In nearly perfect weather conditions and mild wind, the 56.6-mile stage with a lone saw tooth-shaped profile guaranteed action, delivering over 3000 feet of climbing in the opening 33 miles. Once over the 7000-foot elevation Banner Pass, the course flattened out, with a long, gentle straightaway descent into the small alpine valley town of

North America's largest stage race, the Hewlett-Packard Women’s Challenge, begins Saturday in Boise, Idaho. Formerly sponsored by Ore-Ida, the Women’s Challenge was introduced in 1984 by Army veteran Jim Rabdou, and is infamous for its flaunting the arbitrary limits of the UCI, which ruled the distances too difficult for a women’s stage race and would not sanction the event until 1995. The 543-mile course weaves through Idaho’s southern mountains and high deserts, with a total of 11,000 feet of climbing. Of particular interest this year is 2001’s overall winner Lyne Bessette, who will be

Lance Armstrong romped to victory in the sixth and penultimate stage of the Dauphine Libere, from Albertville to Morzine on Saturday to tighten his grip on the overall lead. The American held off a late challenge from Frenchman Christophe Moreau and Andrei Kivilev of Kazakhstan to claim his first stage victory on a day that included the Cols de Saisies, des Aravis, de la Colobière and Joux-Plane, the famous climb where Armstrong suffered his worst day of the 2000 Tour de France. "I was thinking about the climb of Joux-Plane all week," he said. "I told my teammates, don’t do anything stupid.

Over the years the NORBA National Championship series has become a very international affair, but on the second day of racing at Alpine Valley Resort in Wisconsin it was all North Americans on top of the podium. Racing on a mostly sunny Saturday started with the short track, and like they did the day before in the cross country, reigning world champions Alison Dunlap and Roland Green came out on top. In the evening the other rainbow-striped rider in attendance — American Brian Lopes — took the debut NORBA mountain cross race, with Tara Llanes winning the women’s event. Short TrackDunlap

Saturn's Petra Rossner is on a streak. Fresh off of her sixth win at Philadelphia's Liberty Classic, the German national champion took the opening took the opening stage of the H.P. Women's Challenge Saturday, winning the field sprint into Idaho City by more than five bike-lengths. The 69.5-mile first stage, which last year shattered the field with strong winds, offered very little in action today. With temperatures soaring into the mid-90s, and very little wind to influence the deep field of talented riders, today's peloton was content to ride together. The only true climb of the day, a

La Française des Jeux’s Frederic Guesdon scooted ahead of his jostling breakaway to take the fifth stage of the Dauphine Libere in Grenoble on Friday. Guesdon was lying fifth as the line loomed when an incredible jostle for position by his fellow riders 300 meters out cleared the way for him to win in a time of 5hr 7min and 59sec. Colombian Santiago Botero had been trailing Laurent Jalabert for most of the 206km when he decided to make a move to grab second spot on the final climb. He used his wheel to knock Jalabert out of the way, forcing the Frenchman to take his feet out of his pedals

There were times when it looked more like cyclo-cross than mountain biking. But when the day was done there was no mistaking the names at the top of the podium, as reigning world mountain-bike champions Roland Green and Alison Dunlap took cross-country wins at NORBA NCS No. 2 at the Alpine Valley Resort in southern Wisconsin. Friday’s racing began with the women taking on 3.5 laps of the slick, muddy 6-mile course, and right from the outset it was Dunlap (Luna) charging off the front. The Colorado Springs resident led the 60-rider field up the first climb, and a third of the way through the

Jean Delatour's Patrice Halgand scored an impressive stage victory Thursday at the Dauphiné Libéré, while Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis vaulted nine places in the overall standings to move into second place, just behind Armstrong. Landis and Halgand were part of an 18-rider group that was away for almost the entire day, 196km of the 206km stage from l'Isle-sur-la Sorgues to Digne in the southeast of France. Halgand escaped on the Category 2 Col de Corobin, just 15km from the finish, while Landis chased with Frenchmen Stéphane Heulot and Frédéric Bessy. After

Team Mercury’s Tom Danielson continued to manhandle the competition Thursday at the Colorado Cyclist Estes Cycling Challenge, in stage two of the five-day race that borders Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. Danielson--the former SoBe-Cannondale mountain-bike racer picked up by Mercury last month after a strong performance at the Tour of the Gila--won Wednesday’s opening prologue, a 2.7-mile uphill time trial, besting the times of teammates Chris Wherry and Scott Moninger and completing a podium sweep. In the absence of other top domestic teams such as Navigators and Prime Alliance,

With a long time trial awaiting him, Denis Menchov knew his time in the yellow jersey at the 54th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré would be finite after his win on Mount Ventoux yesterday. And the young Russian was right as he lost more than two minutes to U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong, the new overall leader of the eight-day Tour de France warm up. Perhaps a bigger surprise, however, was that Armstrong finished only second in Wednesday’s 41-kilometer time trial losing by 42 seconds to Kelme’s Santiago Botero, winner of last weekend’s Classique des Alpes. Haimar Zubeldia

IBanesto.com’s Russian climber Denis Menchov made his mark on the 54th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré on Tuesday, winning the toughest stage of this traditional Tour de France warm up, a 174 km race from Tournon to the top of Mount Ventoux. On top of his stage win Menchov took the overall lead from La Francaise Des Jeux’s Jacky Durand. Menchov, the winner of the Tour de l'Avenir in 2001, took second place in the stage on Mont Ventoux in that race. On Tuesday, he and Spaniards Felix Garcia-Casas, Aitor Kintina Zarate and Una Osa were out in front of the race on the slopes of

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… or if you’re Jacky Durand try, try, try and try even more. Durand is easily the French peloton’s most renowned “head banger,” those brave souls who try a break early in a race and just pray it sticks. Today, the first stage of Dauphiné Libéré, turned into one of those rare occasions when the 35-year-old Frenchman hit pay dirt, beating Kelme’s Alexis Rodriguez in a two-man sprint at the end of a 151-kilometer escape. The Française des Jeux rider and Rodriguez slipped off the front of the 110-rider field at the 22km mark of Monday’s 173 km stage