Road

This early in the season, it can be considered either a major upset or a sign of things to come. Either way, Charles Dionne and his 7UP team will take it. The Canadian scored his first professional win Saturday, one day after his 22nd birthday, at stage 4 of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, the Redlands Downtown Criterium. With the help of his teammates, Dionne derailed the Mercury train on a blustery day in Southern California, giving 7UP a huge win to set the tone for its 2002 campaign. The women’s race also saw a surprise victor, though not of the same shocker magnitude, when U.S. criterium

Defending Paris-Nice champion Dario Frigo (Tacconi) marked his return from a six-month drug ban by winning the sixth stage of the race on the climb to the summit of Eze on Saturday. Frigo, who now rides for the Tacconi team, was sacked by his Fassa Bortolo team after doping products were found in his hotel room during the drug-tainted 2001 Giro d'Italia. However, the most significant event of the day was former three-time winner Laurent Jalabert losing almost a minute to race leader Alexandre Vinokurov. Vinokurov, who rides for the German Telekom team of Jan Ullrich, came in safely behind

Power. Think about it. It's what separates casual riders from the elite. You can be a precision bike handler, a wheelsucker extraordinaire, an elegant pedaler - but if you can't crank when the crunch comes, you'll be left behind. But how can we improve our power rating? And how do we measure it? And isn't power directly rated to out heart rate? Well, no, not exactly. By focusing on "scientific" training, we've become too wrapped up in our heart rates. Many of us have even come to believe that high heart rates are the reason for training. But when it comes to racing, it doesn't really

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi continued his winning ways when he won the hilly fifth stage of Paris-Nice after holding on to his lead amid a bunch sprint into Cannes on Friday. Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov of the Telekom team finished just behind but off the podium to keep hold of the leader's yellow and white jersey two days before Sunday's final stage. Vinokurov, a silver medallist at the Sydney Olympic Games, however lost a second to the man who's chasing him down - French veteran Laurent Jalabert (CSC), a two-time winner of the race now five seconds behind the Kazakh.

Italian Paolo Bettini, who rides for the Mapei team, won the 213km second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico Friday. Deutsche Telekom’s Erik Zabel, who won Thursday's opening stage, retains the lead of the overall standings after he finished second. On a largely calm day of racing - due mainly to the flat outline of the stage - the peloton did not split until the latter stages when Bettini and teammate Oscar Freire, the world road race champion, launched an attack. The two riders were soon reeled in but Bettini anticipated the timing of the peloton's return perfectly to hold on to his slender lead

Chris Horner, the man with the yellow jersey at the Redlands Classic road race in Southern California, has said it several times during the five-day stage race this week: "It’s bike racing, anything can happen." Horner was referring in large part to Friday’s stage, the gnarly race to the top of Oak Glen. It’s been proven here before that he’s right, anything really can happen. Who knew, though, that Horner’s point would apply not to his own fate — the Prime Alliance leader defended the jersey just fine by finishing right behind the amazing Roland Green at Oak Glen Friday — but to that of

Deutsche Telekom's Erik Zabel won the first stage of Italy’s Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race over 124km between Massa Lubrense and Sorrento on Thursday. The German won a sprint finish which was littered with falls to come in ahead of Italy's Giovanni Lombardi and Jan Svorada of the Czech Republic. Polish rider Piotr Wadeckj suffered potentially serious head injuries after a heavy fall in the sprint and was transferred by helicopter to hospital where tests revealed early signs of hemorrhaging.

Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov took the leader's jersey after sticking with an ambitious bunch that left the peloton almost 90km from the finish of the fourth stage of Paris-Nice in Toulon, France, on Thursday. The Kazakh rider came home alone following a steep climb to the summit of Mont Faron despite a late surge by wily French veteran Laurent Jalabert (CSC). Vinokurov, who takes the race lead from French champion Didier Rous, who trailed in at 1:07, had to work to make sure he did not get left behind on the 175km stage. "My legs felt good and I was able to hang in there when it

Chris Horner and Genevieve Jeanson both tightened their grips on the yellow leaders’ jerseys of the Redlands Bicycle Classic with impressive rides during a wind-blasted circuit race in the neighborhood of Highlands, California, Thursday. Both race leaders had to chase down dangerous breaks to secure their leads before Friday’s key stage, the mountainous race to Oak Glen. With the help of his Prime Alliance teammates, Horner won his second consecutive stage, while Jeanson (Rona) finished second to Saturn’s Lyne Bessette, protecting the lead she built Wednesday when she stunned the women’s

France’s national champion Didier Rous took the leader's jersey at Paris-Nice after CSC’s Laurent Jalabert won the third stage, a 147.5km race around Saint Etienne. Rous, standing fourth at the start, came in second on the day to claim the leader's yellow and white jersey after a 4hr battle. Jalabert hit the front coming off a climb down into Croix-de-Chabouret, some 12 km out from the line. On the line the former world number one just edged out fellow escapees Rous and Aitor Osa of Spain. The chasing group fronted by Belgian Peter Van Petegem came in some ten seconds off the

The American race calendar is littered with events including the word "classic" in their titles. In some cases, it’s a stretch, but not so with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, a five-day event held in and around the hills of this Southern Californian community each spring. The list of winners in the event’s 18-year existence includes Davis Phinney, Alexi Grewal, Scott Moninger and Jonathan Vaughters. In the last two years, however, the title of Redlands men’s champion has remained in the hands of two California natives: Chris Horner and Trent Klasna. And with day one of the 2002 edition in

Lotto’s Aussie sprint ace Robbie McEwen won the second stage of Paris-Nice, edging out overall race leader Alessandro Petacchi in a charge to the line in Belleville, France, Tuesday. McEwen finished ahead of Petacchi, who retained the leader's overall jersey, and Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu following a hilly 170km stage from Moulins to Belleville. Andrea Tafi of Italy and Germany's Danilo Hondo finished fourth and fifth. "I'm doing a lot better this year than last when I fell three times and had a really disrupted season,” McEwen said after the finish. “It's my eighth victory of the season but

Fresh off of his three-stage win streak at the Tour of Murcia, Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi grabbed the overall lead at Paris-Nice after winning a field sprint at the end of stage one, a 176km ride from Blois to Saint-Amand-Montrond on Monday. Petacchi took the leader’s jersey from Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi, who won Sunday's prologue. The 28-year-old took the honors in the 176km stage, a slight climb, after holding off the challenge of Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu and Australian Robbie McEwen. The stage win was Petacchi's fifth of the season following previous successes in the Tour of the

Mapei's Laszlo Bodrogi won the prologue of Paris-Nice in Issy-Les-Moulineaux day, edging out Frenchman Didier Rous by 0.28sec after the 5.32km run. Spaniard Javier Pascual placed third, 4sec adrift with Belgian Nico Mattan, who won the prologue last year, fifth. Last year's winner, Dario Frigo, coming off a six-month doping suspension just in time to compete, kept well in touch and came in only five seconds off the pace. Bodrogi, 25, who has spent several years in France honing his skills, is the first Hungarian to turn professional in the cycling world. He has come to the fore over the

Saturn’s Petra Rossner won the women's World Cup race in Hamilton, New Zealand, Sunday, making it two from two for the German sprinter in this year’s series. As was the case at the World Cup even last week in Canberra, Austrai, the race came down to a field sprint and Rossner, edged out the same rider, Australian Rochelle Gilmore second. Hanka Kupfernagel, riding in an international composite team, was third. The first New Zealander was Rosalind Reekie-May, who finished 11th. The Saturn team worked hard throughout the 107 km race to protect Rossner and to have her in the right position

Talk about winding up the 2002 Allen Group Sequoia Classic with a bang … and a clang, and a clatter. Mercury came up bruised and battered in the 49-mile Visalia Criterium March 10 after a pair of crashes in the final laps derailed its famous train, and 31-year-old Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) snatched a victory in a race that he hadn’t won since he was 19. Action on the six-corner, L-shaped 0.7-mile course is always fast and furious, and this year was no exception, with the field in single file, attacks on nearly every lap and nothing staying clear for long. With a field sprint in the

Angel Edo won the fourth stage of the Tour of Murcia here on Saturday, extending his overall lead after an easy winning a sprint finish following a grade one hill climb 20km from home. Edo, not renowned for his climbing, registered a time of 4hr 16min 32sec over the 173.6km course, his compatriot David Etxebarria came second and Swiss rider and former world champion Oscar Camenzind came third. Beaten on the line twice in earlier sprints Edo, who leads the overall standings by 23 seconds ahead of Sunday's time trial final stage, was delighted. "They must have heard my victory cry way up in

The race is on to find the winner of the cycling seasons first major stage race when the Paris-Nice (March 10-17) kicks off Sunday. Italian Dario Frigo, who would later go on to become embroiled in the nastier aspects of last year’s drug-tainted Giro d’Italia, won Paris-Nice last year coming in ahead of Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania and Belgian Peter Van Petegem. Frigo was sacked by his Fassa Bartolo team when he was leading the Giro last June while he was discovered to be in possession of a host of banned substances. Like Frigo, the Paris-Nice was almost doomed this year when race

After winning the second stage of the Tour de Murcia, Saeco’s Fabio Sacchi the 178.5km stage from Molina to Alguazas on Friday. As was the case yesterday, Sacchi benefited greatly from the help of his teammates, who controlled the early part of the stage and then sent Salvatore Commesso away in a three-rider break, Lampre and Phonak to chase. The three were caught with just three kilometers to go as Lampre tried to set up its ace sprinter, the Czech Jan Svorada for the finish. Sacchi spotted the lead-out, moved in on the Lampre man’s wheel and sprinted with 150m to go. "I was well

Fabio Sacchi of Italy, riding for Saeco, took the second stage of the Tour of Murcia after a 160km trek from Beniel to San Javier on Thursday, clocking 3hr 43min 04sec to hold off Spaniard Angel Edo in a sprint for the line. But Maia racer Edo was still smiling afterwards as he leads the field by five seconds from the Italian with Sacchi's compatriot Danilo Di Luca 5sec further back. Edo thought he had won the stage but lost out by a wheel rim in a photo finish after they just squeezed ahead of Dutchman Marc Lotz. Belgian Rik Verbrugghe had made a dash for the line 2km from the finish but

Saturn’s Judith Arndt overcame a 54-second deficit on the final day to take the overall win in Australia’s Tour de Snowy. Early race leader Mirjam Melchers had to settle for second, at 0:14, while Sweden’s Susanne Ljungskog (Vlaanderen) was third, at 0:29. Racing started Wednesday morning with an 87.2km run from Adaminaby to Cooma, and Arndt’s Saturn team came out swinging from the very beginning. After a series of attacks, Arndt shot off the front and quickly gained 30 seconds on the peloton. Behind her a group containing Melchers, Mari Holden (Cannondale-USA) and Ljungskog chased hard. But

An Italian judicial probe into doping during the 2001 Giro d'Italia has used hidden TV cameras to catch cyclists obtaining banned substances for their use during the race, La Republica newspaper reported Wednesday. The recordings tape cyclists openly asking a doctor for substances before their evening meal after the conclusion of one stage and ahead of another one the day after. The paper reports one conversation between two unnamed cyclists. "Tomorrow we're in the mountains so I need some Kena (Kenakort, a banned corticosteroid) to pick me up," says one cyclist. A second rider

Australians Alison Wright (AIS) claimed stage 2 honors and Emma James (NSWIS-Trek) won stage 3 on Tuesday at Australia’s Tour de Snowy. But there was no change in the overall standings, with Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers holding onto the lead she first took with her stage 1 win. Stage 2 began in the town of Tumbarumba with the locals out in force to support the field of 67 riders, but as the field rolled out of town a pile up in the middle of the bunch brought down more than a dozen riders including race leader Melchers. All but one rider got back in the race, and the riders waited until

Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers took the early overall lead in the fifth running of the Tour de Snowy after winning stage 1’s 77km ride from Khancoban to Tumbarumba in Australia on Monday. The 26-year-old crossed the line in 2:22:27, proving too strong in the sprint for Switzerland's Priska Doppmann, with reigning Australian national champion Margaret Hemsley in third. All told, 69 riders lined up for the first of five stages. After some early but unsuccessful attacks, a group of seven riders broke away at the 43km mark, just as the peloton approached the first of the day's two climbs. It was

AG2R’s Estonian sprinter Jan Kirsipuu came home alone to win the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 190km classic on Sunday. Second place went to Belgian Serge Baguet, with Italy's Enrico Cassani third. Kirsipuu took the risk of a solo break with 10 kilometers to go, a move that surprised his rivals Paolo Bettini of Mapei-Quick Step and Serge Baguet of Lotto, and paid dividends with Kirsipuu’s fourth victory of the season. "I was the fastest in the leading pack and everyone was keeping a close eye on me," he said. "So I made my break early, it's perhaps the best one day victory of my

Mercury’s Gord Fraser and Diet Rites’s Tina Mayolo-Pic each took the top spot in the Downtown Grand Prix Criterium in Merced, California on Saturday. The men's race was the typical early season barn burner with every team trying its hand at escaping the main group. But with the racing so aggressive, the peloton was strung out from the gun and no breakaways were allowed to escape. Saturn, Mercury, Prime Alliance, Navigators and 7-Up-Nutra Fig all contributed to the last 15 laps of furious tempo riding to keep their lead-out trains near the front. With two laps to go Prime Alliance was in

Germany's Petra Rossner (Saturn) won a bunch sprint in the 103.1km women's road cycling World Cup race from Cooma to Thredbo, Australia on Sunday. Australia's Rochelle Gilmore and world No. 3 Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands were second and third after a punishing race culminated in an exhausting 35km climb to this ski resort in the Snowy Mountains. The 35-year-old, who took gold on the track at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and is the reigning German national road champion, won in 3:14:25. "The race was fantastic in that I had the strongest team," said Rossner. "I might not have been

Team Coast’s Alex Zülle won the final stage and the overall title at the 60th edition of Spain’s Tour of Valencia, winning a 23.5km time trial through the streets of Valencia with a time of 28:34. Zülle beat second-placed Jörg Jakshe (ONCE) by 20 seconds and bested Antonio Colum, the man who began the day in the race leader’s jersey, by well over a minute. This edition of the Tour of Valencia was marked by a three-stage winning streak in the opeining stages by Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi. Petacchi was finally bumped out of the lead Friday when Saeco’s Danilo Di Luca scored a win in

Lotto’s Peter Van Petegem won Circuit Het Volk, the traditional opener of the Belgian road season in Belgium. The Belgian, who was one of the so-called ‘killer V’s” of last year’s Mercury squad, won a 10-rider sprint for the finish into Lokeren, the northern Belgian community at the end of the 202km race. Copyright AFP2002

Saeco’s Danilo Di Luca finally broke the three-stage winning streak of Alessandro Petacchi at Spain’s Tour of Valencia, Friday, winning the fourth stage, a tough 148km ride from Tavernes to the mountain-top finish at Sommet De Campello. Spain’s Antonio Colom (Colchon-Relax) moved into the overall lead. Di Luca again showed the good form that recently gave him a victory at the Trofeo Laigueglia, winning what is surely the toughest stage at this year’s Tour of Valencia. the hardest stage of the Vuelta Valenciana from Tavernes to Alto del Campello on Friday. The Saeco attacked with 40km to go

Fassa Bortolo's red-hot sprinter Alessandro Petacchi won his third straight stage of the Tour of Valencia, a 157.9 kilometer run from Castellon to Segorbe, on Thursday. Like his earlier two victories of the week, Petacchi charged to the line, winning a tough sprint, this time at the head of a group of 38 riders as the charged to the finish at the end of , a 157.5km stage from Castellon to Segorbe. The stage was marked by a series of unsuccessful escape attempts, particularly on the day’s climbs: the Category 1 Eslida; Montana Toras (Cat. 3), Sacanet (Cat. 2) and Montemayor (Cat. 3). The

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi clinched the second stage of Spain’s Tour of Valencia on Wednesday; a 216km run from Calpe to Castellon. The Italian rider had also claimed the opening stage on Tuesday. The Italian rider also claimed the opening stage on Tuesday and both wins came after a sprint finish although Wednesday's lacked the first day's drama when world road race champion Oscar Freire and Mario Cipollini fell. Italian sprint king Cipollini grabbed second with German Erik Zabel in third. "I wasn't expecting a second win but I felt good at the end and I was able to exploit the

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi won the opening stage of the Tour of Valencia in Spain on Tuesday. The Italian won a sprint at the end of a 126km stage that finished in Calpe. Petacchi came out on top in a sprint ahead of Russian Dimitri Konychev in second and Angel Vicioso of Spain in third. Spaniard Luis Perez tried to slip the peloton during the final fourth category climb 24km from the finish, but he was caught at the foot of the hill. Petacchi's Fasso Bortolo teammates, aided by riders from Acqua Sapone, Mapei and Telekom cranked up the pace to carry the specialist sprinters to

U.S. Postal Service’s George Hincapie had another near miss on Sunday, finishing second to Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) at the one-day Classic Haribo, the second race of the French Cup series, 203km between Uzes and Marseille. At the 127km mark of the 203km race, Kirsipuu, Hincapie, Johan Museeuw (Domo-Farm Frites), Ludo Dierckxsens (Lampre-Daikin) and Enrico Cassani (Domo-Farm Frites) escaped from the lead group. The quintet of riders would eventually build up a lead of over five minutes. With no attacks gaining any ground at the front of the race, the day was decided in a five-man finish, with

Danilo Di Luca(Saeco-Longoni Sport)won Tuesday's Trofeo Laigueglia in a sprint finish over 172km, in what is considered the opening round of the Italian cycling season. Di Luca outsprinted compatriot Eddy Mazzoleni (Sacconi-Caldirola)and Lotto’s Serge Baguet to win the 39th running of the race in his first season with the Saeco team. The race, characterized by a duel between Di Luca and Mediterranean Tour winner Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo), blew apart on the slopes of the Paravenna -the last climb of the race. Di Luca powered clear and went over the top with a ten-second advantage over

Valley of the Sun has grown into the American racing season’s “opening day.” The warm Arizona weather, relatively flat terrain and consistently enjoyable racing has made it a natural for early season race miles in preparation for the California races in March. This year’s edition, however, won’t be remembered for Chris Wherry’s (Mercury) overall victory, or another dominating ride by Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson. Instead, controversy plagued the event from the start of the professional men’s road race, Saturday afternoon in Casa Grande, south of Phoenix. Two words: Mercury, Jeanson The

Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) won the 29th edition of the Tour of the Mediterranean, after finishing in the field in the fifth and final stage, won by his teammate Alessandro Petacchi. The Italian team had dominated the Med Tour from start, winning the opening team time trial and maintaining procession of the yellow leader’s jersey throughout. Petacchi won a field sprint into the French city of Marseilles at the end of a 120km stage that began in Rousset. Bartoli locked up the win on Saturday as won the race’s toughest stage, a 167km race that ended atop the steep slopes of Mount

Fassa Bortolo and Michele Bartoli scored a double win Saturday as the Italian won the fourth stage of the Mediterranean Tour, 1:07 ahead of his own teammate and regained the yellow leader’s jersey he earned on the opening day of the five-day French stage race. Under cold, wet and windy conditions Bartoli soloed in for the win at the end of the 147km stage between Londe and Toulon, finishing well ahead of teammate Paolo Tiralongo. With his win, Bartoli moves solidly into the lead, 1:11 ahead of Tiralongo and 2:05 up on Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd. A field of 166 riders contested the difficult

Acqua e Sapone’s Giovanni Lombardi won the third stage of the MediterraneanTour, Friday, sprinting in ahead of a group led by Australian Robbie McEwen(Lotto) and La Française Des Jeux’s Baden Cooke. Alessandro Petacchi(Fassa Bortolo) maintains his hold on the overall lead.Starting in Villeneuve-Loubet, 170 took on the 142km stage to Hyeresriding toward the day’s first climb, the col de l'Esterel at 38km. On thedescent, none other than cycling’s most regular early escapee, Jacky Durand(La Française Des Jeux), joined forces with Philippe Gaumont, buildinga lead of 1:45, by the 65km mark. The

Mario Cipollini added another check in his win column Thursday as the Acqua e Sapone sprint star edged-out Crédit Agricole’s Thor Hushovdat the end of the 176km second stage of the Mediterranean Tour.The rain-soaked stage from Bouc-Bel-Air to Cannet got off to a quickstart when Thierry Loder (AG2R) launched an early attack just 9km fromthe start. The French rider built his advantage to more than three-and-a-halfminutes by the 80km mark. But racing alone in the rain against a pelotondriven by the Fassa Bortolo squad of race leader Michele Bartoli took itstoll and Loder was reeled back in by

American George Hincapie got his season off to a strong start this weekas the U.S. Postal Service rider took third overall in Portugal’s Tourof Algarve, which ended Wednesday in Loule.Hincapie finished fourth in the 166.8km fifth and final stage of theearly season race. The American nearly pulled off the overall win, whenhe escaped from a lead group that had included the race’s overall leader,L.A. Pecol's Candido Barbosa. Hincapie started the day nearly seven minutesbehind the overall leader.At one point in the final stage Hincapie's escape group of four enjoyedenough of an advantage to make

The Italian Fassa Bortolo team won the opening stage of the 29th Mediterranean Tour, besting Creddit Agricole by seven seconds in a 36km team time trial from Salon-de-Provence to Berre-l'Etang. The team’s Michele Bartoli assumed the race leader’s jersey on the strength of the team’s performance as they covered the stage in 38:10. Italy’s Mapei-Quick Step squad rounded out the top three, finishing 10 seconds behind the winning team. The 176 riders, representing 22 teams left the start in Salon-de-Provence at three-minute intervals. A small Category III climb two kilometers after the start

With the 2002 Tour de Langkawi now in the books, it was time to empty the contents of the digital camera. Here’s a sampling of the sights and scenes from the final six days of racing at this 10-day race in Malaysia.

Surely Robbie Hunter would have preferred the overall title, but a look at the prize payout list for the 2002 Tour de Langkawi shows that second place isn’t so bad. Even though Hunter finished behind overall winner Hernan Dario Munoz in the standing, he made out far better in the bank account. After winning three stages and the green point’s jersey, the 24-year-old South African pocketed 119,750 ringgit ($31,513 based on exchange rate of RM3.8 to $1). Munoz was a distant second on the list, earning RM78,925 ($20,769). Third was South African national team member David George, who banked

With Kuala Lumpur’s mighty Petronas Towers shadowing the course, the 2002 Tour de Langkawi concluded with Sunday’s 75.6-kilometer criterium. When racing was done Australian Graeme Brown had his second stage win, while Colombian Hernan Dario Munoz made it home safely in the bunch, winning the overall title of this 10-day, 1310-kilometer race in Malaysia.

Lotto’s Robbie McEwen (Lotto) locked up the overall title at the Etoile de Besseges on Sunday, after finishing second in the fifth and final stage. The Australian finished behind AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu, the Estonian’s second win in two days. copyright AFP2002

You won’t find a more bizarre place for a finish-line, and if you happened to be in the outdoor lobby of the First World Hotel in Malaysia’s Genting Highlands, you won’t soon see a better finish. Following the brutal hors categorie climb up to the Las Vegas-style resort, Colombia’s Hernan Dario Munoz slipped away from South Africa’s David George in the last 100 meters of the 133.3-kilomoter trip from Kuala Lumpur to Genting, taking a 4-second win in Stage 9 of the 2002 Tour de Langkawi on Saturday.

Australian Robbie McEwen took control of the Etoile de Besseges stage race in France Saturday with his second consecutive second-place finish in the five-day race. The Lotto-Adecco rider finished second to stage winner Jaan Kirsipuu. The AG2R sprinter took the 146.5km stage with a finishing time of 3:20:19. With the second-place finish, McEwen earned a time bonus that put him two seconds ahead of Italian Andrea Ferrigato, who led at the start of the day. For McEwen, who is in his first year with Lotto, it’s been a stellar start to the season. He had four stage wins at the Tour Down Under

It was just a coincidence that the torrential rains came precisely at the moment Andrea Tafi stepped onto the award’s podium. But when word came down an hour later that the Mapei-Quick Step rider had been relegated to the back of the bunch for an irregular sprint, it seemed awfully appropriate. The penalty — handed down for throwing an elbow on the final straightaway — cost the 35-year-old Italian the green jersey, and continued what has been a frustrating trip to Malaysia for the aging star.

Belgian Glenn D’Hollander of Lotto-Adecco held off a charging pack to win the third stage of the Etoile de Besseges stage race in France Friday. Italian Andrea Ferrigato, winner of the second stage on Thursday, maintained the overall lead with two days left in the five-day race. D’Hollander attacked from a lead group of nine with 20km to go in the 148km race between Nimes and Fumades. The Belgian was nearly caught, but held on for the win. The on-form Australian, Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco) finished second.

The lesson for the day was this: spend too much time hanging around the back of the peloton and you’re bound to end up in trouble. Among those in attendance were three former occupants of the top-10 overall here at the 2002 Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia.

Italian Andrea Ferrigato took over the lead of the Etoile de Besseges stage race in France Thursday with a win in the 143km second stage. Riding for Alessio, Ferrigato outsprinted fellow Italian Lorenzo Bernucci (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) to the finish. The two finished 15 seconds ahead of the field, which was led by stage 1 winner Robbie McEwen of Australia. Aided by a tailwind for most of the day, riders averaged close to 45 kph during Thursday’s stage between Marseille and Sainte-Tulle. Belgian Jurgen Vermeersch (Landbouwkrediet) tried an escape with 25km to go but never gained more

The warning came courtesy of Andrea Tafi at the team dinner Tuesday night. "Don’t eat too much for breakfast tomorrow," he announced. "Wednesday will be a hard day."

The list of contenders for the 2002 Tour de Langkawi overall title was drastically diminished Tuesday, following a major shake-up on the race’s fifth day, a 129.7-kilometer trip south from Bangi to Melaka. Those still alive include Mapei-Quick Step’s Robbie Hunter, who retained the yellow jersey he’s owned since the first day of this race, last year’s TDL overall winner Paolo Lanfranchi (Alexia Alluminio), and even young Canadian mountain biker Ryder Hesjedal.

With two more stages in the books at the Tour de Langkawi, here's another sampling of sights unique to this 10-day race in Southeast Asia.

While sports fans across America were taking in the final moments of one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, racing was just getting underway on Monday here in Malaysia. And while Stage 4 wasn’t as dramatic as the New England Patriots stunning win over the St. Louis Rams, it was by far the most exciting day of racing yet in the 2002 Tour de Langkawi.

Another day, another sprint at the Tour de Langkawi. But for the first time this year someone other than Robbie Hunter crossed the line first. Led by a strong chase, then lead-out from his Panaria team, Italian Enrico Degano emerged from the peloton on the final straightway to take the win on Sunday in Malaysia. Degano and 131 others were all credited with the finishing time of 2:38:44 in the 129.6-kilometer stage.

It was supposed to be a battle of the world champions – the defending world cyclo-cross champion Hanka Kupfernagel from Germany and the reigning world mountain-bike champion from the U.S., Alison Dunlap. Instead, it was a former rainbow jersey winner from France who bided her time, made her move at the right moment and scored the win in the world women’s cyclo-cross championship in Zolder, Belgium on Sunday morning. In the end, Kupfernagel and Dunlap had to settle for second and fourth as 1998 world women’s mountain-bike champion Laurence Leboucher soloed in for the win, nearly a minute

To call it a sweep is something of an understatement. The Belgians were much more dominant than that. Mario De Clercq led an all-Belgian field sprint to the finish line Sunday, scoring his third rainbow jersey in five years in front of wild and very partisan crowd in Zolder Belgium. The 35-year-old De Clercq cruised across the line ahead of fellow Belgians Tom Vannoppen and World Cup winner Sven Nijs. The trio managed to put aside the usual Belgian infighting to cooperate nearly all the way to the finish, crossing just ahead of a hard-charging Richard Groenendaal of the Netherlands.

Davy Commeyne thought he had it in the bag. After dangling at the frontsmall group of leaders over the final two laps of the Under-23 men's worldcyclo-cross championship race in Zolder, Belgium, on Saturday, the youngBelgian had succeeded in fighting off a last-minute charge by Czech riderTomas Trunschka and closing sprint by Italian Franzoi Enrico."I looked to my left," Commeyne said. "There was no one coming."The problem was, he hadn't looked to his right. Had he glanced in thedirection of the wall lining the finishing straight at Zolder's motor speedway,he might have noticed the blaze

You could see this one coming a mile away — or 183.5 kilometers for that matter. That was the distance of the Tour de Langkawi’s Stage 2 run north along the western cost of Malaysia from Klang to Sitiawan. But one look at the dead flat course profile, and you knew the final kilometer would be the only one that mattered. And with a sprint in the cards, no one holds a stronger hand here in Southeast Asia than Mapei-Quick Step and its South African speedster, Robbie Hunter.

Far from the traditional cycling battlegrounds of Europe and North America, Malaysia provides a steady stream of unfamiliar sites and scenes. Here’s a sampling from the first two days of racing at the 10-day Tour de Langkawi.

Score one for the home team. The Belgian cyclo-cross squad began what fans hope will become a pattern for the weekend when 17-year-old Kevin Pauwels soloed in to take the junior men’s race at the cyclo-cross world championships in Zolder, Belgium, on Saturday. Pauwels had spent the bulk of his 45-minute race cutting away at a sizeable lead group that was eventually pared down to just two. After a furiously fast start on the paved start/finish straight of Zolder’s local auto track, Pauwels emerged at the head of a lead group that hit the steep, sandy opening climb that quickly broke apart

Robbie Hunter is best known for his sprinting, but on Friday the blond South African showed he has other talents, taking the 20.3km Stage 1 time trial at the Tour de Langkawi. Hunter’s win meant that once again the Mapei-Quick Step crew would be defending the race’s yellow jersey. A year ago the Italian-based team won just about everything meaningful in Malaysia, led by Paolo Lanfranchi’s overall crown.

Ryder Hesjedal’s journey to the other side of the world started with a snowstorm in British Columbia. The 21-year-old was supposed to fly from his hometown, Victoria, to Los Angeles, where he would connect with a Malaysian Airlines flight headed to Kuala Lumpur, and the Tour de Langkawi. But the bad weather forced a detour via Las Vegas, and by the time it was all done, Hesjedal figured that even without taking into account all the hours lost to crossing multiple time zones, he’d been traveling for 45 hours without a minute of decent sleep. Add in the fact that none of his bags — including

With the enchanting sounds of the "Call for Prayer" rising from the ornate Blue Mosque, festivities surrounding the 10-day Tour de Langkawi got underway in Shah Alam, Malaysia on Wednesday. By now all of the 22 teams competing in the UCI 2.3 race have arrived in this mostly-Muslim nation of 21.4 million in Southeast Asia. Adapting to the climate will be the riders' primary focus leading up to the start of the race on February 1. Malaysia lies just north of the equator, meaning riders can expect daytime temperatures in the mid-80s with 90 percent humidity. Beating the heat will be well worth

They were the kind of cyclo-cross conditions the UCI once said it washoping to get away from: pure, unadulterated slop; mud that sprayed a mist of brown muck over everyone and everything from the moment the gun wentoff; gunk that clogged up derailleurs; the kind that forced a bike changenearly every time the course wound past the pits. In other words, Sunday'sGrand Prix Holland, the final round of the UCI's World Cup, was tailor-madefor Richard Groenendaal.And while the seasoned cyclo-cross veteran thrived in the muddy conditionsin front of an enthusiastic home field crowd, American Alison

German Thorsten Wilhelms erased a 1-second deficit during the final stage of the Tour of Qatar to take the overall win on Friday. Wilhelms was first across the line in the 123.5km run from Sealine Beach to Doha, posting a winning time of 3:18:22. That was good enough to give the Team Coast rider a 5-second bulge over second-place finisher Damien Nazon in the final standings. Rudi Kemna of the Netherlands was third. Nazon had entered the day in the lead, but finished ninth in the final stage. Other notables included Laurent Jalabert, who was 15th on Friday and finished fifth overall, and Jan

Behind a strong second-place effort in the fourth stage, Frenchman Damien Nazon moved into first place overall at the five-day Tour of Qatar. Lampre rider Alberto Loddo took the stage win, a 125.5km run from Ras Laffan to Doha. Nazon’s lead is a scant one second over German Thorsten Wilhelms. Sweden’s Magnus Backstedt is six seconds back. Previous day’s overall leader, Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini, had a rough day during the fourth stage, falling out of the top 10 all together. Other notables include Telekom’s Jan Ullrich who finished 12th on Thursday and is 13th overall, and Laurent

Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini now shares the overall lead with Sweden's Magnus Backstedt in the Tour of Qatar after the third stage on Wednesday. Lampre team rider Pagliarini put in a surge midway through the 179km stage to end the day tied with Backstedt of the Fakta team, who finished fourth behind winner Thorsten Wilhelms of Germany. In the stage from the dromedary racetrack in Camelodrome to Doha, Laurent Jalabert finished 31st to leave the Frenchman seventh overall, seven seconds behind the leaders in a tightly packed first 10 who are separated by just eight seconds. Jan Ullrich of

Swedish Fakta rider Maagnus Backstedt took over the lead in the five-day Tour of Qatar on Tuesday, while Frenchman Damien Nazon got the win in the second stage. Nazon completed the 131km run from Al Zubarah to Doha in 3:04:16, outgunning Brit Jeremy Hunt at the finish. Backstedt’s lead is two seconds over Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini, while Nazon is four seconds back. Day one leader Ivan Quaranta was ninth on Tuesday and fell to fourth in the overall.

Ivan Quaranta of Italy picked off the 117km opening stage of the five-day Tour of Qatar in Doha on Monday, winning a sprint finish at the expense of Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini and Jean-Patrick Nazon of France. Quaranta crossed the line in 2:43:44. Sweden's Magnus Backstedt led a nine-man escape after 26km and Frenchman Laurent Jalabert also joined the hunt as the leading pack held out until some 8km from the finish. Quaranta, a junior world track champion a decade ago, then chose his moment to snatch the victory. The Index-Alesia rider has been in good form over the past two seasons with

Belgian Sven Nijs put everything together on Sunday to win the fifth round of the cyclo-cross World Cup series, the Grand Prix of Switzerland, in Wetzikon. Nijs beat countrymen Mario De Clercq and defending champion Erwin Vervecken to solidify his position at the top of the World Cup standings. Nijs, who hadn’t had a top finish in the past few weeks, took matters into his own hands from the start at Wetzikon. His early aggression left behind everyone but Rabobank teammate Richard Groenendaal. Groenendaal, however, fell victim to a crash, allowing Nijs to solo home for the victory, while De

You couldn't blame Michael Rogers for demanding a spare bike be ready for immediate use as he rode the final kilometers to victory in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia on Sunday. After all, he learned 24 hours before winning the 733km race how "Lady Luck" can abruptly barge her way in unannounced and throw every winning hope into disarray. That a quick-minded spectator was there to lend Rogers his own bike on the previous stage was the most poignant moment behind his overall victory - by 21 seconds over Russian Alexandre Botcharov (AG2R) and 30 seconds on South Australian

Australian Michael Rogers overcame scorching heat, a near disasterous crash with a race marshal’s motorbike and his rivals to take overall leadership of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia on Saturday. In the toughest stage of the race, 156km from Gawler to Tanunda, Rogers (AIS) finished second, 10 seconds behind Australian and former mountain-biker Cadel Evans (Mapei). Then 11 seconds behind him in third-place came Italian Daniele Nardello (Mapei). Going into the sixth and final stage, Rogers will now lead the race by 21 seconds from Russian Alexandre Botcharov (AG2R) and 30

Australia’s new generation of road racing stars came under fire from veteran Scott Sunderland on Friday for allegedly causing a bone-chilling crash that could endanger his 2002 season. For Robbie McEwen (Lotto) Friday’s 141km fourth stage in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under brought his third victory in the race and sixth in 15 days, but it was a different story for Sunderland (Lotto), Australia’s second-highest ranked rider on the world standings who has also been leading the climbers’ category here. McEwen won the stage from the Adelaide suburb of Unley to the former whaling station of

THE only thing that can seemingly stop Australia's Robbie McEwen from racing in full flight at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under is the finish line. By winning Thursday's 149km third stage on the Willunga circuit south of Adelaide, McEwen (Lotto) took his tally of wins in 14 days to five. McEwen won so comfortably, he could have been sitting in an armchair sipping fine wine in one of the many bed-and-breakfasts in the region. It was also the Queenslander's second stage win for the tour. And it saw the recently crowned Australian road champion take leadership in the sprinters' points

Belgian champion Ludovic Capelle has been sent home in disgrace from the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under for being overweight and in "embarrassing" form. All anyone saw of the 26-year-old during his brief appearance in the 733km race was his red face of exhaustion - or his backside as he spent most time off the back of the pack. But after he abandoned 40km into Wednesday's 150km second stage - on the approach of the steep ascent of Checker's Hill - the red on his face was one of humiliation. And by Thursday, the 85kg rider's backside was seen heading across the tarmac of Adelaide airport,

Stuart O’Grady’s (Crédit Agricole) bid to win the Jacbob's Creek Tour Down Under a third time hangs in the balance after he lost nearly a minute in Wednesday’s blistering-fast second stage of the South Australian event. Canberra's Michael Rogers (AIS) won the 150km stage from Italian Fabio Sacchi (Seaco), who deposed Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco) as overall race leader. Third at the same time was Italy's Andrea Tafi (Mapei). McEwen, the winner of stage one on Tuesday night, rode aggressively all day and was instrumental in the first major attack of the day. The overnight race leader and

Australian champion Robbie McEwen was the first to raise his hands in triumph at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under with an emphatic win in Tuesday night's first stage. McEwen (Lotto) won the 47km criterium at the Adelaide, Australia, beachside suburb of Glenelg from Corey Sweet (Uni of South Australia) and Dutch champion Jans Koerts (Domo). The trio formed the winning breakaway after only nine of 25 laps on the 1.88km circuit and held off a chase group of 10 riders after lapping the main bunch with four laps to go.