Road

Team Mercury-Viatel’s Jans Koerts battled swirling winds and a blistering pace to win the mass field sprint at Sunday’s Clarendon Cup criterium in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Koerts’s teammate Gord Fraser finished second, nudging out Vassiliy Davidenko of the well-organized Navigators team. A group of five broke off the front 12km into the race, but that group was caught almost immediately. Next to try an escape was local D.C. rider Russ Langley (National Capital Velo Club), who fired up the crowd with a solo break. For nearly nine laps around

Ivan Quaranta joined Danilo Hondo and Mario Cipollini with two Giro stage victories by winning the field sprint at the end of this 142km stage finishing in Parma, the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi, to whom this Giro is dedicated in the 100th anniversary of his death. Endrio Leoni (Alessio), Cipollini, and Hondo followed Quaranta in at the finish. This 16th stage from Erbusco had one small climb with a KOM at km 4.7, won again by green jersey Fredy Gonzalez (Selle Italia), and it was flat the rest of the way. The first hour was traversed at a crawl — 30 kph — and it did not pick up a lot after

Riva del Garda, a small town at the northern tip of Lake Garda, has become one of Europe’s major mountain-bike Meccas over the past decade, largely due to the spectacular trails coming down the mountains overlooking the dark waters of the deep, narrow Alpine lake nestled in Italy’s northern border. For the last eight years, Riva has hosted a springtime mountain-bike festival and manufacturer show that this year attracted around 10,000 visitors, mostly from Germany. Mountain bikers filled the town for five days and tried their legs en masse on the second day of the festival in an off-road

Salient features: The Deda Magic bar has a 31.8mm clamping area (rather than the standard 26.0mm) and comes in a medium-depth ergo bend or a deep-drop round bend. The bar has a "K.E.T." (Kinetic Energy Treatment) that hardens the metal by "bomb-peening" it with heavy shot. The Magic stem is cold-forged in three dimensions, a process that allows Deda to create unique shapes without compromising the strength-to-weight ratio. Likes: The stiffness of this stem and bar combination is immediately noticeable, especially in long sizes. When sprinting or climbing out the saddle there is no noticeable

Gilberto Simoni has been saying for two days, ever since he took over the pink jersey, that he would not lose much time in the time trial. He was good on his word, crushing former world time trial champions Abraham Olano and Sergei Gontchar and losing only 29 seconds to specialist and second-placed Dario Frigo in a 55.5km time trial on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. If it was not already apparent, especially after the disqualification of third-placed Wladimir Belli yesterday, this has become a two-man race. Frigo’s best hand to play was the time trial, so Simoni might very well have

Quebec's bicycle racing phenomenon Geneviève Jeanson has answered all naysayers to her abilities with a race-dominating performance at the Montreal Women's World Cup on June 2, which saw her finish over seven minutes ahead of her closest rival. Quebec's other cycling star, Lyne Bessette, finished third, losing a sprint to Sweden's Susanne Ljungskog. Jeanson came into the race, the fifth in the season long series, with fans anxious to see how the young Lachine rider would do against a full field of the top pros in the world. Among the 80 assembled riders was Bessette's Saturn racing team,

The day after climbing four first-category passes, the riders hit two more, and the results were once again devastating for some top riders. The top two on GC, however, showed that they can recover overnight from a brutal stage, and once again, Simoni was the strongest climber and Frigo was almost as good. Carlos Contreras (Selle Italia-Pacific) won the 166km stage in a sprint from five others, just barely beating Wladimir Belli. Unai Osa (iBanesto.com) followed in third ahead of Simoni, Frigo and Contreras’s teammate Hernan Buenahora. But Fassa Bortolo’s co-captain Belli was thrown out of

After coming as close yesterday as one could without actually getting the maglia rosa, Gilberto Simoni took it from Dario Frigo by 48 seconds on a tough day in the Dolomites under sunny skies. And Mexican Julio Perez, already the sentimental hero of this Giro, finally broke through with the stage win he has shown himself so deserving of. Simoni finished with him, while Frigo placed third, 45 seconds back. The 225km stage climbed four first-category passes and totally shook up the overall standings. While at the start in Montebelluna there were a couple dozen names clustered within two

Disgraced Italian rider Sergio Barbero was unceremoniously ejected from the Giro d'Italia by his Lampre team prior to the start of the 12th stage in Gradisca d'Isonzo on May 31; the move followed the announcement that he was one of the two riders who tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin) during the Tour of Romandy at the start of May. Lampre general manager Giuseppe Saronni said he told Barbero not to turn up at the start line, although he could still have officially taken part in the race. "We asked him not to turn up for the day's stage," Saronni said. "He asked for a second

Gilberto Simoni once again showed attentiveness, sharp wits, courage and great descending skills to turn a sudden rainstorm to his advantage on final descent of the May 31 stage. The Lampre-Daikin team captain came up one second short of taking Frigo’s shirt from him, but he is poised ideally to take it tomorrow on the tough, long stage tomorrow in the high Dolomites. The 139km 12th stage was won by Frigo’s teammate Matteo Tosatto in a three-up sprint from Slovenian Zoran Klemencic and Simoni. The stage was animated by the other Verbrugghe, Ief, who made two long solo breakaways today, the

You may have thought that Il Diablo, a.k.a. Didi Senft, is the craziest guy that follows the major European bike races. But that’s only because you see him waving his pitchfork on TV and you haven’t seen some of the unique race groupies who don’t get on TV. My current choice for most way-out is Skippy, an Australian who rides every single stage on his bike ahead of the peloton. He starts on the course a couple of hours before the race starts and finishes each stage just before the peloton. The publicity caravan that precedes the racers has around a hundred cars in it, each with a giant

Belgium's Tom Steels (Mapei) narrowly beat World Cup holder Erik Zabel in yesterday's first stage of the Tour of Germany, a 210.4km stretch from Hamburg to Hanover on May 29. Steels, who has won nine stages of the Tour de France, said his win over the leader of the powerful Telekom team gave him a boost ahead of this year's Tour de France. "It was a great battle between me and Erik and I'm still breathing hard," said the 29-year-old. "It's good to have beaten him again and that encourages me for the Tour de France." The second stage is a 173km run from Goslar to Erfurt on

Telekom's sprint ace Erik Zabel won a field sprint to take the second stage of the Tour of Germany, on May 30. Today's 173km stage ran between Goslar and Erfurt. The German gained revenge on Belgian rider Tom Steels -- who beat him to the line on Tuesday -- to record his 12th win of the season and take the overall race lead. Zabel, the current World Cup leader, stopped the clock after 4:21:06 of racing, to come in ahead of Moldova's Igor Pugaci (Saeco) with Russian Guennadi Michailov (Lotto) in third position. The race centered around the early solo break of Swiss rider Roger Beuchat

Pablo Lastras escaped a 10-man breakaway group with four kilometers to go and held a solo advantage of a handful of seconds to win this 187km stage that crossed the Slovenian-Italian border seven times. Giovanni Lombardi won the sprint from Uros Murn and the rest of the nine pursuers. The stage rolled east through hilly and beautiful forested country along the Austrian border north of Slovenia’s Triglavski national park and crossed into Italy before heading south up a large first-category climb of the Passo del Predil at 63km. At the top of the pass, it crossed back into Slovenia and

After 10 stages, Fassa Bortolo’s Dario Frigo continues to hold on to a slim lead in the Giro d’Italia as the race left Italy for a two-day detour into neighboring Slovenia. Liquigas’s Denis Zanette won the stage that finished in this former Yugoslav republic’s capital city of Ljubljana. Zanette broke away from a nine-man lead group about six kilometers from the finish of this 212km stage. Zanette finished three seconds ahead of another Italian, Marion Manzoni, with Spain's Isidro Nozal in third. Frigo came home more than 10min off the pace but since none of the lead group posed much of an

With 7km left in the 212km stage, Denis Zanette of Liquigas-PATA attacked eight breakaway companions he had been with for 123km and rolled in alone through the streets of the Lubljana, the capitol of Slovenia. He crossed the line, arms upraised, throwing kisses to the huge crowd that was happily welcoming the Giro on this warm, sunny day. Mario Manzoni (Alexia) outsprinted Isidro Nozal (ONCE-Eroski) three seconds later, and the rest of the breakaways finished at 15 seconds – 10 minutes up on the main pack. The top rankings didn't change, with a dozen riders wedged within a minute of overall

In the five-day Ronde de I'Isard d'Ariege, U.S. National teammates Michael Creed and Danny Pate racked up strong results. Though Pate eventually abandoned the French event due to sickness (but not before placing sixth in the opening stage), it was Creed who earned a second-place finish in stage two, a stage win in the race finale, and a podium spot for snagging third overall on the final standings. In that final stage, Creed was part of a four-rider break, and finished in a dead heat with Belgian Johan Van Summeren. The officials couldn't pick a winner from the finish photo, and awarded the

It couldn’t have been easier for Mario Cipollini. Instead of having to duke it out in another physical sprint like other flat stages have ended in, the Lion King was able to roll to an easy sprint win because of a crash behind him in the last corner. While most of Italy is as up and down as a crumpled rug, over the millennia the mighty Po River has ground down every bit of topography in a crosswise swath where the country widens at the top of the boot. Consequently, stage nine, which ran northeast for 142km in the Po valley and crossed the river once, was flat as a pancake and certain to

The Tour of Somerville is famous for the names that dot its deep winners list. Olympians, national champions, and trendsetters have all won this race that has taken place on Memorial Day for nearly 60 years. But the 2001 edition of the race paid tribute to a rider who will never have the chance to put her name in the event's record books: Nicole Reinhart. Reinhart, a star sprinter for the Saturn women’s team, died from injuries sustained in a crash in a race last fall. But now, thanks to the committee that organizes this quintessential American race, the spirit of Reinhart - a rider who

On a day when a tireless 40-year-old animated the action all day long, it was an up-and-coming 26-year-old on a first-year team who stole the show at the elite men’s national road race championship in Redding, California, on Saturday. A teary-eyed Remi McManus of the Boise Stars team accepted the national championship jersey after outsprinting four breakaway companions at the end of the 111-mile race. The finish came down to McManus and four others: Brice Jones (Mercy Fitness), Patrick Heaney (Lombardi Sports), Tim Unkert (Capital Velo Club) and Chris Walker (Triathlete Zombies). Of those,

Once again, Julio Perez was the animator of a pivotal stage and came agonizingly close to winning it. The pack had not even left the vacation spa town of Montecatini Terme when the Mexican Panaria rider attacked with five others just two kilometers into this difficult 185km stage. Among those with him was Pietro Chaucchioli, who rolled into Reggio Emilia alone 183km later. Behind, in a small chase group finishing a minute behind the 26-year-old Alessio winner was ONCE’s José Azevedo, who came within a whisker of taking over the maglia rosa. After 9km, a group of 11 took off after Perez’s

Iban Mayo ( Euskaltel Euskadi) achieved his first career win by taking the final overall victory of the Grand Prix Midi Libre, following the end of the sixth and final stage as the race concluded in Sete Sunday. The 23-year-old, who only turned professional last year, had an overall 35 second advantage on stage winner and former champion here Benoit Salmon of France following the final run between Florac and Sete. Mayo, a virtual unknown, set a cracking pace under the blazing sun and was in second position following the double climb of 12 percent incline of Mont Saint-Clair. But French

Canada’s Lyne Bessette overcame a final stage challenge to lock up her second overall win at France’s Tour de l'Aude on Sunday. Germany’s Judith Arndt and Bessette successfully chased down breakaway attempt by Susanne Ljungskog (Vlaanderen) the winner of the women’s edition of the Milan-San Remo World Cup, La Primavera Rosa. With 40 kilometers remaining in the final stage, Lungskog – who started the day in fifth place overall at 7:50 -- moved off the front of the field in an attempt to lock in a solo win, and a possible upset in the overall standings. But the two race leaders – Bessette in

At Saturday’s national road race championships, Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner demonstrated again that she was the strongest woman on the roads of Redding. Two days after winning the national time trial championship, Bruckner broke away with Harbour Lights’ Amber Neben 27 miles into the 69-mile championship road race and eventually soloed in for her second national title in three days. Saturday’s women’s race consisted of four laps of a hilly, 14-mile circuit west of Redding, with a six-mile starting and finishing tail from town to the circuit. The 64-woman field was content to stay together at

Canadian Lyne Bessette held on to her overall lead in the Tour de L’Aude as AutoTrader.com's Sarah Ulmer won eighth stage of the French stage race. A break of 10 riders escaped the field at the halfway point of the 122km stage between Limoux and Espéraza. None of the escapees posed a threat to Bessette’s grip on the overall lead. The American Autotrader team had two of its riders in the break – Ulmer and the team’s new recruit Katrina Berger. Berger attacked as the lead group -- now down to eight riders -- reached the final finishing circuit. With her teammate ahead, Ulmer sat on as the

Stefano Zanini outsprinted a group of 49 riders to win the longest stage of the Giro, beating Gabriele Missaglia and Jan Ullrich after a great leadout from Stefano Garzelli. For the first time in the race, the Olympic road champion was feeling well enough again to come over the top of a big climb with the front group and even to mix it up in the sprint. The 239km stage started in Rieti in the province of Lazio, headed north through the entire length of Umbria and finished in Montevarchi in Tuscany. It started slowly, winding along picturesque roads in hilly country along lakes and past

Swiss rider Sven Montgomery (La Française des Jeux) assumed the overall lead of the GP Midi-Libre after winning the fifth stage of the race as it moved to the city of Mende on Saturday. Montgomery broke away in the final kilometer on the Col de la Croix-Neuve to pull away from Mercury’s Andrei Kivilev of Kazakhstan. It was the second straight win for Montgomery's team after Bradley McGee triumphed in the fourth stage on Friday. Copyright AFP2001

Scott Price seemed to be smiling all the way from Durango to Silverton on Saturday. The Team Landis rider's grin was even wider after he won a three-man sprint in the 30th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race. Price, 31, nipped Federico Ramirez (Cafe de Costa Rica/Pizza Hut), part of a four-person Costa Rican contingent, and Durango favorite Ned Overend (Specialized), who at 45 was looking to add to his four Iron Horse road race titles that he began accumulating in 1983. The three riders, along with Price's teammate, Drew Miller, crested Molas Pass, the course's last long climb,

Australian Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) raced to a sprint finish to win the 209km fourth stage of the Midi Libre in Laissac, France, on Friday. Overall leader Kazakh Andrei Teteriouk of the Mercury team retained his leader's jersey after the stage, which included two first category climbs, between Pont-du-Gard and here. Former track rider McGee sprinted ahead of a packed peloton to relegate Italian Nicola Loda into his second second-place finish of the week after he came second in Pezenas on day two. Copyright AFP2001

With another tremendous burst of power, Mario Cipollini has become the second-winningest rider in Giro history. With extremely aggressive riding once again, the big Saeco rider turned a seemingly hopeless position with 500 meters to go into a perfect one with 200 meters to go. And when he stood up to finish it, he blew the doors off Danilo Hondo and Massimo Strazzer, grinning the entire way to the line. The going in the sprint was a bit easier by virtue of a long climb with 27km to go that caused Ivan Quaranta to lose contact. Yesterday’s sprint winner showed once again that he is the

Lyne Bessette, riding as a member of the Canadian national team, took over the lead of the Tour de L’Aude Friday, after escaping in a crucial break in the second of the day’s two stages. The first of Friday’s two stages saw two riders escape early in a short 45km race between Castelnaudary and Bram. France’s Magali Le Floc’h (C.A Mantes La Ville) and Australia’s Sara Carrigan (Australian National) crossed the line 56 seconds ahead of Anna Millward, who won a field sprint for third. After a brief break, the race resumed with another short 63km stage between Bram and Limoux. Despite the

Stomping each of his unique snakeskin carbon-soled Gaerne shoes down with enormous power, Ivan Quaranta held off Mario Cipollini to take the first purely flat sprint of this Giro on May 24. Today's 229km stage, starting just east of Naples and ending just south of Rome, did not affect the overall standings. This was the Alexia sprinter’s fifth Giro stage win in three years, and he still acknowledges that, "Cipollini (who has 30 Giro wins) is still the king of us sprinters." Boxed in at the final corner 500 meters from the line, Quaranta -- nicknamed Cheetah -- managed to pop out in time to

Mercury Viatel’s Andrei Teteriouk won the individual time trial on the third day of the Midi Libre Grand Prix in Montpellier, France, on Thursday. Teteriouk averaged 57.791 kph over the 19km course and finished 17 seconds ahead of Australian Bradley McGee (La Française des Jeux), and 22 seconds faster than France's Gilles Maignan (Ag2r). The 33-year-old from Kazakhstan also takes over the overall lead of the 33rd Midi Libre from Czech Jan Svorada with a 22-second advantage over Maignan, and a 30-second lead over Frenchman Christophe Moreau. Teteriouk’s stage win marks the 37th for the

Team Saturn continued its mastery of the 2001 U.S. road season on Thursday, sweeping to dual national titles at the national time trial championships in Redding, California. Trent Klasna, on the biggest roll of his career, won the men’s title over defending champion Adham Sbeih (Navigators), while Kimberly Bruckner scored a mild surprise win, beating world time trial champion and four-time national time trial champion Mari Holden (Alfa Lum). The women took to the road first on a day when high temperatures were to rise into the mid- to upper-90s. The rolling, 34km out-and-back course would

A tough day with five rated climbs at the Tour de l’Aude ended Thursday with another win for the UCI’s current number 1 rider and World Cup leader, Anna Millward. Millward riding for the Australian National team sprinted past Canada’s Lynne Bessette to earn her third stage win at this year’s Tour de l’Aude, France’s major stage race for women. Bessette and Millward usually ride on the same Saturn cycling team, but are representing their respective national squads at the French race. The began with a break by Autotrader.com’s Sarah Ulmer who took off from the main field some 90km from the

Jan Svorada of the Czech Republic on Wednesday won the second stage of France’s Grand Prix Midi-Libre, moving into the overall lead of this traditional Tour de France preparatory race. The 32-year-old Lampre rider, who last won the overall event in 1994, sprinted ahead of a 30-strong bunch of riders in 4:43:43 to grab the red and yellow leader's jersey after a 197km stage between Saint Cyprien and Pezenas. "I love this race, the weather is always great," said Svorada, originally from Slovakia. Italian Nicola Loda (Fassa Bortolo) came in second, with Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokourov arriving

Anna Millward, riding France’s Tour de l'Aude as a member of the Australian National Team earned a win as she cruised to a 30-second win in the stage five time trial around Castelnaudary on Wednesday. Millward, the world’s number 1 who usually rides for the U.S. Saturn team, beat overall race leader Edita Pucinskaite (Alfa Lum) , covering the 26.5 km course in 38:48. Millward's Saturn teammate Lyne Bessette, riding the Tour as a member of Canada's national team, continues to hold on to second place in the overall standings, 57 seconds behind Pucinskaite. Copyright AFP2001

In the first mountaintop finish of the Giro, Rik Verbrugghe lost almost five minutes and Dario Frigo overcame a crash just before the base of the 17km climb to the Santuario di Montevergine to take the pink jersey. Danilo DiLuca won the sprint finish to the stage after Mexican Julio Perez (Panaria), who had broken away at the beginning of the climb, broke his chain with only four kilometers to go while holding an 18-second lead. Coming through Avellino with 20km to go, riders encountered a long stretch of rough and wet cobblestones. The pavé was rough and uneven to just drive over, and,

Jerome Bernard (Jean Delatour) earned his first win as a professional Tuesday on the opening stage of the 53rd edition of the GP Midi Libre. The 30-year-old domestique shadowed a breakaway attempt by Rabobank’s Matthe Pronk, halfway into the 183km stage from Gruissan to Saint-Cyprien. The two stayed together for most of the 90-kilometer effort, but the Rabobank rider began to suffer leg cramps only a few kilometers from the finish in Saint-Cyprien and was soon caught by the field. But Bernard continued on ahead and staved off a hard charging peloton, beating the field by only four seconds.

After winning stage two, Danilo Hondo said he hoped to soon repay Giovanni Lombardi for putting him in perfect position for the sprint. Well, after the leadout Lombardi gave him again today, Hondo is going to have to come up with a really nice gift for his Deutsche Telekom teammate. With 500 meters to go, it appeared that Hondo was leading Lombardi out and evening the score. The two were in third and fourth positions when the Italian suddenly came around to give the German his wheel. Hondo didn’t realize it was Lombardi and bumped him, thinking it was somebody else trying to take his

Steady performances by Lyne Bessette over the weekend, and a finish within the main group on May 21 have paid off for the Canadian with a second day in the No. 2 spot on the GC standings. Saturday's stage winner was sprinter Petra Rossner (Germany), while Sunday's 126km route was suited more to climbers where Edita Pucinskaite (Lithuania) won the stage and the leader's jersey. Monday's winner was Olga Slioussareva (Russia), who rode clear with her teammate to take the Stage 3 victory on May 21. The top six GC spots after Monday's stage were identical to Sunday's list. Saturday's finish came

Hey, it’s a bike Mecca and the teams from the University of California at Davis proved it when both the school’s men’s and women’s teams wrapped up wins in Monday’s National Collegiate team time trial championship. Meanwhile the host team – the U.S. Air Force Academy – scored a win in the men's Division II event, while Yale captured the Division II women’s title. The three-day national championship finished up with a 10.5-mile out-and-back team time trial, pitting riders against the clock and the windy remnants of a fast-moving Canadian cold front that tore through the Colorado Springs area

Jan Ullrich may not be looking so good, but Deutsche Telekom still has plenty of firepower to call upon. In the uphill switchback sprint at the end of this 167km flat stage, Danilo Hondo, a German with an Italian name, got past Rafael Mateos in time to raise his forefinger in triumph. Mateos looked to be pulling off a surprise win for his small team sponsored by a company that makes plastic bags for collection and recycling of various materials. The Spanish Colpack-Astro rider had a gap of several bike lengths with 200 meters to go, but Hondo shot out of the group and passed him.

Saturn continued their dominance and kept their lead riders high in the NRC points, as Trent Klasna and Kimberly Bruckner won their respective races at the Housatonic Valley Classic in Danbury, Connecticut, on Sunday. This new race on the calendar offered the men a fantastic but gut-wrenching 140-mile undulating course. The climbs were a challenge and the winding descents on Connecticut's narrow backroads sent a few unsuspecting riders into the hedgerow. With little time for rest and recuperation the 220-man field knew that it would be a race of attrition.After a few initial breakaways from

American Danny Pate won the overall title at the four-day Triptyque Arennais stage race, which finished in Belgium on Sunday. Pate, riding for the U.S. under-23 national team, placed in the top five on three of the four stages, including a second place finish on stage three which moved him into the overall lead. Pate finished fifth on the final stage Sunday to clinch the overall victory. Earlier this month, Pate took two stage wins at the Thuringen Rundfahrt stage race in Germany.

Colorado’s unpredictable weather lived up to the old “if you don’t like it, wait five minutes” rule and opened a small window of opportunity for riders to take on the National Collegiate road racing championship on Sunday. After Saturday’s rain-plagued criteriums, Sunday started dawned warm and sunny as Carolyn Donnelly (University of New Mexico) and Sarah Konrad (University of Wyoming) finished together winning the women’s Division I and II events. The weather cooperated all the way until moments after UCLAs’ Alex Smith and Tyler Wren of Princeton rode to their respective wins in the

On a stage that was expected to produce a sprint finish and no change in the overall standings, a sudden rain in the last hour wreaked havoc on the peloton and on the overall standings. Rik Verbrugghe, yesterday’s time trial winner, worked hard to hold on to leader’s jersey, but that was only a small part of the day’s action – and crashes involving some of the race’s top riders, including Francesco Casagrande who abandoned the race after the stage finish due to his injuries. Shortly after the rain started with around 40km to go, a crash in the middle of the field took down Jan Ullrich

The weather has been perfect for cycling the last few days in the Adriatic coast town of Pescara and should hold for Saturday’s start of the 84th Giro d’Italia. This race promises to be highly competitive, with no clear favorite and a course that does not favor any particular type of rider. Fassa Bortolo’s world no. 1, Francesco Casagrande, really wants to win the Giro to erase the memory of last year’s bitter loss on the second-to-last stage, as well as to place himself among the grand champions. The climber from Tuscany has an incredible team backing him, including Paris-Nice and Tour de

Hernan Buonahora (Col), Selle Italia-Pacific, 34This Colombian veteran likes long, hard, hilly races. He hasn't won many races in Europe, but his sixth place overall at the 2000 Giro is testimony to his endurance. Giuseppe Di Grande (I), Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola, 27When Di Grande had four victories in 1997, including a stage win at the Giro, his Mapei team expected much more. But it didn't happen, and in 2000 he had another mediocre season with Festina. It's time for things to pick up again. Danilo Di Luca (I), Cantina Tollo-Acqua & Sapone, 25Di Luca showed promise in his Giro debut as a

Besides overall contenders Casagrande, Garzelli. Gotti, Pantani and Simoni, these are the climbers who could win a stage or shoot for the best climber's jersey. Wladimir Belli (I), Fassa Bortolo, 30After a year with Festina, Belli returned to an Italian squad last year, and posted his best Giro finish, seventh overall. His main task will be to keep team leader Casagrande at the front in the high mountains, and to mark other race contenders -- work that could also enable Belli to win a stage. "Chepe" Gonzalez (Col), Mobilvetta-Trentini, 32Two King of the Mountain titles and two mountain

Jeroen Blijlevens (Nl), Lotto-Adecco, 29On his day, Blijlevens is one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton -- and also one of the most unpredictable. With Lotto having no true G.C. candidates, the Dutchman could get the support he needs for a stage win. Mario Cipollini (I), Saeco, 34The flamboyant Cipollini has been around the pro ranks since 1989, but he really caught fire in the late 1990s. In1999, he captured a staggering five Giro and four Tour de France stage wins. A drop-off in production last year

Francesco Casagrande (I), Fassa Bortolo, 30 By most standards, Francesco Casagrande's 2000 season was a hit. He won the prestigious Flèche Wallonne classic, finished the season ranked No. 1 in the world, and took second in the Giro But when your main objective of the season is to win the Giro and that goal slips through your figers on the second-to-last day, it can only be called a disappointment. Pain from a sciatic nerve in the stage-20 time trial cost Casagrande the race in 2000; but with climbers like Belli and Frigo to back him up this year, he'll be out for redemption. Stefano Garzelli

To say that Rik Verbrugghe’s prologue speed of almost 59 kph makes him the fastest time trialist of all time is both accurate and misleading. Never before in the history of major prologue time trials (introduced to the Tour de France in 1967, the Giro in 1977) has there been one that wasn’t on a circuit or out-and-back course. The previous prologue record of 55.152 kph set by world hour record holder Chris Boardman at the 1994 Tour was on a 7.2km course that had five 90-degree turns, a complete traffic circle turnaround and even some cobblestones to negotiate! The course at Pescara on

The 20 teams and riders at the 2001 Giro d’Italia, and the route they’ll face in the next 23 days. ALESSIO Italy Top GC rider: Gotti Top sprinter: Leoni Best stage-win hopes: Leoni, Zanetti Giro will be a success if: Gotti finishes top 5. Equipment: DeRosa bikes Sponsor: Alloy automobile wheels Director: Bruno Cenghialta Giro team: Stefano Casagrande (I); Davide Casarotto (I); Pietro Caucchiolo (I); Ivan Gotti (I); Martin Hvastija (Slo); Ruslan Ivanov (Mol); Endrio Leoni (I); Alexandr Shefer (Kaz); Mauro Zanetti (I). ALEXIA Italy Top GC rider: Hervé Top sprinter:

Belgian Rik Verbrugghe of the Lotto-Adecco team continued his spring tear Saturday, winning the 7.6km prologue on the opening day of the Giro d’Italia. Verbrugghe, who also won the Flèche Wallone classic on April 18, beat out Italian Dario Frigo by nine seconds. The 26-year-old averaged more than 58 kph on the flat course. Tune in shortly for a full race story and results.

If there ever was a day to break some records for time trialing, this was it. The course for the prologue of the 84th Giro d’Italia was short, completely flat and straight as an arrow. The weather was overcast and cool, with a tailwind. Always an opportunist, Rik Verbrugghe took advantage of the conditions to set a record that will probably stand for a very long time. The Lotto-Adecco rider covered the 7.6km along the Abruzzi coast at a blazing pace of 58.874kph, the fastest average time trial speed in professional cycling history, eclipsing the storied record Tour time trial speeds of

The Giro is a race in touch with history, and its organizers love to use it as a vehicle to mark important dates. Five years ago, for example, they decided to commemorate the centennial of the modern Olympiad by starting the Giro in Athens, Greece, and having the race visit Lausanne, Switzerland, home of today’s Olympic movement. Last year’s event opened at the Vatican, to mark Jubilee Year, the 2000-year celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And this year, the Giro remembers Italy’s most-loved composer, Giuseppe Verdi, who died 100 years ago. That’s why the course for the 2001 Giro was

Italy's Marco Pantani and Germany's Jan Ullrich are the two stars in the field as the 84th running of the Giro d'Italia gets underway in Pescara on Saturday. But while Pantani and Ullrich's pedigree is beyond reproach it would be a surprise if either was to cross the line wearing the leader's pink jersey on June 10. Pantani, assailed by legal and health problems, has had a miserable campaign so far while Ullrich insists he is only using the Giro as a stepping stone for the one race that is more important in the cycling calendar, the Tour de France. Pantani has not been invited to the

Saturn's Anna Millward pulled on the leader's jersey of the 10-day Tour de l'Aude after putting in the fastest time on the 3km prologue course in Gruissan, France, on May 18. The Australian's time was 4:23, with New Zealand's Sarah Ulmer the surprise of the day, coming in for second place, three seconds back. Germany's Judith Arndt and Petra Rossners -- two know as TT specialists, finished third and fourth, 4 and 8 seconds slower. Canadian Lyne Bessette (Saturn) was the day's top North American, finishing sixth, 9 seconds slower than Millward. Tomorrow's first stage is a 106km loop at

With one day to go, Dane Jakob Piil (CSC) retains his overall lead at the Peace Race, heading in to Saturday's 166km stage with an 18-second margin. Saturn's Michael Barry dropped two spots on the GC standings, and now is fourth overall, down 45 seconds. The peloton faced a 25.8km morning TT and a 97km afternoon stage on May 18. Germany's Thomas Liese (Nuremberg) won the morning's event, clocking in at 34:27, while Spain's Aito Arbillo Garmendia was second, four seconds slower. Piil rode in at 34:57 to protect his lead and finish fifth for the stage. Later in the day, Ukrainian Bogdan

Francesco Casagrande is an old-fashioned racer. He comes from a different school than pro cycling's other stars, despite his No. 1 UCI ranking. His passion for the profession is rooted in an appreciation of the great riders of the past (remember last year's Giro when he dedicated his victory on the Abetone to Gino Bartali?), and his understanding of the sport's traditions. That said, one of the most important developments in Casagrande's career is his new partnership at Fassa Bortolo with Giancarlo Ferretti, one of Europe's most celebrated and esteemed directeurs sportifs. Casagrande is one

Denmark's Jakob Piil (CSC- World Online) won the 209.2km seventh stage of the Peace Race, which ran from Pilsen, Czech Republic, to Zwickau, Germany. Piil took the sprint ahead of Poland's Zbigniew Piatek and Australian Scott Sunderland. This was Piil's second stage win of the race, and the day's effort moved him into third-place overall. Germany's Enrico Poitschke (Wiesenhof) finished 4:10 down for the day but retains the overall lead going in to Friday's 25.8km time trial. Saturn's Michael Barry remains in second place on the overall standings. Copyright AFP 2001

Disgraced Colombian climber Jose Jaime Gonzalez Pico has been recruited by Italian team Mobilvetta only days prior to the start of the Giro d'Italia. The 32-year-old, known as Chepe Gonzalez, who won the Giro's mountains plaudits in 1997 and 1999, was sacked by team Selle Italia last month after he was charged with possession of doping products. Gonzalez was charged by Modena (Italy) magistrates after the discovery of a range of doping products in his hotel room at the end of March during the Coppi-Bartali International Cycling Week. He was sacked days later by Selle Italia, who

German rider Enrico Poitschke (Wiesenhof) moved into the overall lead of the Peace Race after stage 6 in Pilsen, Czech Republic, on Wednesday, while Canadian Michael Barry of Saturn moved into second-place overall, just 10 seconds behind. Poitschke began the day fifth on general classification, but finished fourth on the 234.5km stage, the longest of the race, to take the overall lead. Poitschke's countryman Christian Lademann won the stage, outsprinting his four breakaway companions, while Barry took third on the stage. The main peloton finished 4:47 behind the breakaway. The race saw one

Italy's Dario Frigo, riding for the Fassa Bortolo team, had little trouble holding onto his overall lead during the final stage of the Tour of Romandie Sunday in Switzerland. Paris-Nice champion Frigo, 27, first took the overall lead during the race’s thrid stage, when he put 21 seconds on compatriot Paolo Savoldelli. Meanwhile, Saeco’s Mario Cippolini won a sprint finish to take the fifth stage, a 178km run between Saxon and Geneva. Copyright AFP 2001

Didier Rous (Bonjour) easily held on to win the 47th running of the Four Days of Dunkirk in France on Sunday. Rous assured himself victory by winning back-to-back stages Saturday (stage 5) and Sunday morning (stage 6). Former world No. 1 Laurent Jalabert (CSC-World Online) ended up second overall, 40 seconds behind Rous. Stephane Heulot (BigMat) was third. The win in the final stage, a 103.4km ride from Saint-Pol-sur-Mer to Dunkirk, went to Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r). Kirsipuu, who won four stages and finished sixth overall, outgunned Damien Nazon (Bonjour) and Zoran Klemencic

French rider Didier Rous grabbed the overall lead in the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling race after Saturday's fifth stage, a 170.5km run from Outreau to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Rous, one of the Festina riders expelled from the 1998 Tour de France, now riding for Bonjour, finished in 4:10:35, narrowly beating out Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens and Frenchman Stephane Heulot, while French veteran Laurent Jalabert finished fourth. Former world No. 1 Jalabert, still recovering form after an injury earlier this year, took on the race with 45km remaining after young Frenchman and Rous's teammate Sylvain

At an awards ceremony in Madrid on Saturday, five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain criticized race organizers for not keeping Italian climber Marco Pantani in the 2001 race. Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc a week ago named five wild-card teams, but did not include Pantani's Italian outfit, Mercatone Uno. "As a supporter, it upsets me that such great riders as Pantani are not going to the Tour de France," Indurain said. "The organizers have followed the rules, taking the top 15 teams and invitations are their affair. It all depends on their sponsors. (The organizers)

Italy's Gilberto Simoni riding for Lampre won a sprint finish in the fourth stage of the Tour of Romandie, a 171.5km run between Saint-Aubin and Nendaz, Switzerland on Saturday. The 29-year-old produced a blistering sprint to beat Spain's Manuel Beltran into second and Switzerland's Sven Montgomery into third while Italy's Dario Frigo of Fassa Bortolo held onto the overall lead. Simoni's finishing flourish was testament to his fitness as he builds up to his main objective the Giro d'Italia in which he has finished third the past two years. But Frigo, who finished sixth 14 seconds adrift, on

Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu of the AG2R team won a sprint finish that saw 12 riders fall to take the fourth of seven stages of the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling race in Saint-Vanant, France on Friday. Sprint specialists Jo Planckaert and Jeroen Blijlevens fell in the mass tumble in which US Postal's Stephen Barthe broke his wrist and Irishman Ciaran Power suffered a concussion. In the first stage of the race, fellow Postal rider Dylan Casey crashed into a TV soundman, and broke his pelvis and collarbone. Casey's agent has said the rider may file suit against the TV station the soundman works

Festina's Spanish rider David Plaza won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Tour of Romandie in Payerne, Switzerland on Friday. The 30-year-old Plaza completed the 25.5km time-trial course in 31:20, outsprinting Italy's Dario Frigo of the Fassa Bortolo team by 0.72. Third place finisher Andrei Teteriouk of Kazakhstan was 16 seconds back. Paris-Nice champion Frigo, 27, took the overall lead with a 21 second advantage on compatriot Paolo Savoldelli. Plaza is in third position, at :26. Copyright AFP 2001

Italian cyclist Michele Bartoli confirmed on Thursday that he would be taking part in July's Tour de France despite pulling out of the Giro d’Italia, which gets underway May 19. The 30-year-old leader of the Mapei team, who won the Het Volk Classic in March, pulled out of the Giro complaining that he was exhausted and did not want to run the risk of competing before the Tour de France. He also announced that he would be racing in the Tour of Germany from May 29 to June 4, the Tour of Switzerland from June 19-28 and the Italian road race championship on July 1. Copyright AFP 2001

Czech rider Jan Svorada of the Lampre team won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling race in Landrecies, France. Svorada clocked a time of 4:35:10 to pip Italian Endrio Leoni of Alessio, and Slovenian Zoran Klemencic of Tacconi, to the post after the 189km run. Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu of AG2R, winner of the first two stages, had difficulty throughout the stage and was overwhelmed some 100 meters from the line. He holds the overall leader's pink jersey ahead of Australians Baden Cooke (Mercury-Viatel) and Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) at 13 and 14

Italy's Paolo Savoldelli won a sprint for the second stage of the Tour of Romandie in Vevey, Switzerland on Thursday. The Saeco rider, winner of the opening prologue, covered the 171.7km run between Tramelan and Vevey in 4:04:48 to come in ahead of Spaniard Manuel Beltran and Italian Dario Frigo, plus a pursuing peleton of eight riders. The Italian recaptured the overall leader's green jersey from Australian Bradley McGee, but has just a seven-second lead on second-placed compatriot Dario Frigo. "Everything is to play for in Friday's time-trail at Payerne. If the rider who has the green

Italy's Fabrizio Guidi, of the Mercury-Viatel team, won the 165km first stage of Switzerland’s Tour of Romandie between Pfaffnau and Tramelan. The 29-year-old Guidi won in a sprint finish, just nipping Swiss riders Oscar Camenzind (Lampre-Daikin) and Niki Aebersold (Team Coast), then used the opportunity to take a swipe at Tour de France organizers who did not select his American team as a wild card entrant last week. "It was a political and not a sports decision," said Guidi. The Italian added that he hadn't thought Camenzind would be the main danger but quickly readjusted his target. "My

Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won his second successive stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling event Wednesday to hold on to the leader's pink jersey. The 31-year-old, who held the Tour de France yellow jersey for several days in 1999, won in a sprint finish against Australia's Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) and Mercury-Viatel's Dutch rider Jans Koerts. The day’s stage was a 192.2km run between Roost Warendin and Haines-Les-La-Bassee in France. Copyright AFP 2001

AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu captured the leader’s pink jersey after winning a sprint for the first stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk on Tuesday. The Estonian rider covered the 164.8km between the northern French towns of Dunkirk and Steenvoorde in 3 hours, 46 minutes, pipping Australia's Baden Cooke (Mercury-Viatel) and French champion Christophe Capelle of BigMat-Auber. Meanwhile, American Dylan Casey (US Postal) crashed just after crossing the line when he collided with a sound engineer from a French television station. According to early medical reports Casey suffered a fractured pelvis and

Defending champion Paolo Savoldelli of Italy won the opening 6.9km prologue of the six-day Tour of Romandie in Pfaffnau, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Saeco rider was clocked in 9:00.63 between the towns of St. Urban and Pfaffnau to lead compatriot Dario Frigo by 0.83 and Australia's Bradley McGee by 1.15. "I didn't think I had the right rhythm. The first 4km uphill really broke my legs," said Savoldelli, who won last year's prologue here, but does not feel in top form this time around. "I didn't take part this year in the Tour of the Basque Country, which is a really hard race

The 2001 Tim Schoeny's Tour of the Gila ended on Sunday with the Gila Monster road races, an epic 100-mile test for the men and 66 miles for the women. The final stage gave the overall race winners one last chance to show who was strongest, as Scott Moninger (Mercury-Viatel) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) each added to their win totals en route to the overall, with Moninger taking his third and Jeanson her fourth stage win. Jeanson dominated the final day in the same way that she did every other road race stage, ending the day with a 5:56 advantage over Saturn's Kimberly Bruckner and 17

Jelly Belly’s Mariano Friedick earned a long-sought-after win on the fourth day of the Tour of the Gila after outsprinting three breakaway companions at the end of a 43-mile criterium Gila in Silver City, New Mexico on Saturday. In the women’s race, Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg crossed the line ahead of teammate Anna Millward as this season’s top women’s team enjoyed a win in a stage race dominated by the young Canadian phenom’ Genevieve Jeanson. Jeanson maintains a seven-minute lead in the overall standings, while Mercury’s Scott Moninger maintains a grip on the overall lead in the men’s