Road Racing

Questions on mix-and-match components, fraying cables, carbon comfort, compact cranks and more.

South Korea showed why they were the 4km team-pursuit favorites at the Asian Games by smashing the Asian record en route to gold on Tuesday in Qatar. The Korean quartet swapped the lead with Iran until the sixth lap before making the final their own, finishing in 4:12.746, slicing 0.016 second off the previous record, which they set in Sydney in November. Iran had to settle for silver in 4:14.226. "We weren't expecting to beat the record. We knew it was good. This was all about winning the gold medal,” Park told Reuters. Defending champions China took bronze, beating Japan in the

South Korea's Lee Min Hye won the women's 3km individual pursuit at the 15th Asian Games on Monday, breaking her own record in the process and snapping China’s perfect winning streak over the past four games. Lee won in three minutes, 44.146 seconds, beating the record by 0.073 second. She had set the previous best on Sunday. "I feel like I'm flying in the sky. I want to continue beating the Asian record and join the world stage after this," Lee told the Xinhua news agency. "In the qualifying round, I beat the Chinese riders, so I have expected today's performance.” Li

Guo Shuang won the women's 500-meter time trial in record time and teammate Feng Yong took the men's 1-kilometer time trial with another Asian Games' record as China claimed both titles contested Saturday in track cycling. Guo, who trains at the UCI's world cycling center in Switzerland, won her event in 35.175 seconds, an Asian Games record, well ahead of silver medalist Hsiao Mei Yu of Taiwan, who was clocked at 36.190. You Jin-a of South Korea, racing with a knee injury, was third with a time of 36.961. "I feel good and proud," she said. "I tried my best to win the

Bart Wellens (Fidea) showed his heels to Sven Nys (Rabobank) in round eight of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup on Friday in Milan. Wellens finished more than a minute ahead of the World Cup leader, who in turn was trailed five seconds later by teammate Sven Vanthourenhout, making for yet another all-Belgian podium. American Ryan Trebon (Kona) finished 22nd at 5:34. UCI Cyclo-cross World CupRound 8 — Milan, ItalyTop 101. Bart Wellens (B), Fidea, 1:06:202. Sven Nijs (B), Rabobank, at 1:023. Sven Vanthourenhout (B), Rabobank, at 1:074. Francis Mourey (F), Française des Jeux, at 1:145. Klaas

Sure, they're all like that, sirDear Lennard,I go through at least two chains (Shimano 7701) every year and replacethem myself. They have always come sealed in a plastic package withtwo connecting pins. I recently ordered a couple of Shimano 9-speedchains (7701) from an Internet retailer. When they arrived they werein boxes for a 10-speed chain (CN 7800) and were not sealed in the usualplastic wrapper. The connecting pin was also already partially insertedinto the outer link with the guide snapped off. All 116 links werestill there. The customer service rep’ told me this is the way

The indomitable Sven Nys (Rabobank) added another win to his collection on Sunday, claiming round seven of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Igorre, Spain. It was the fifth World Cup victory for the Belgian national champion, and a Belgian sweep of the podium, with Fidea teammates Bart Wellens and Klaas Vantornout finishing second and third, respectively. Nys attacked on the second lap and rode faultlessly to solo across the line with nearly a minute’s gap over Wellens. "The choice of tires was decisive," Nys said, explaining that on the second lap he switched to narrower tires while his

The 2007 Giro d’Italia will kick off May 12 with a team time trial on the island of Caprera, ascend the feared Monte Zoncolan — a 10.1km ascent with an average gradient of 17 percent — and finish in Milan on June 3, organizers announced Saturday in Milan. "It will be a beautiful tour," said 2006 winner Ivan Basso, who will be racing in Discovery Channel colors next year. "It's more varied than last year and should be more open. I think it will be a spectacular race." The 90th running of the Italian national tour includes eight stages for the sprinters, five mountain stages, another five

Things to consider on a descentDear Lennard,What speed can a standard road bike achieve? I know there are a lotof factors. I am a 125 lb. rider and my max is 56.8 mph on a long downhill.I am talking standard road-race bike and attire. At what speed will a standard bike and rider's drag keep him from going any faster?It's hard to word this but I think you know what I mean.Chris Dear Chris,Yes, I can figure out what you are asking.When cycling, you must consider the forces of rolling resistance, airresistance and gravity, which when added together, give the power the riderputs out to

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Australia finished the top nation in this weekend's opening round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Sydney, propelled by its women riders. Australia's women won four gold medals and their consistent performances across the board lifted the team to 103 points to finish four points clear of defending series champion the Netherlands after 16 events over three days. Russia finished third with 90 points ahead of Germany (75), France (54) and Great Britain (50). The highlight of the round was the world record ride by Australian Anna Meares, whose time of 33.944 seconds for

Anna Meares, Australia's Olympic and Commonwealth Games track cycling champion, set a world record for the women's 500-meter time trial on Saturday. Meares clocked a time of 33.944 seconds to break her own world record by eight one-thousandths of a second in the final of the event at the UCI World Cup track meet in Sydney. The 23-year-old Queenslander set her last world record when she won gold at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Meares beat reigning world champion Natalia Tsylinskaya of Belarus in the final, and her achievement was all the more welcome after a back injury last

World champion Theo Bos of the Netherlands won the keirin, beating close rival and Olympic champion Ryan Bayley on the opening night of the UCI World Cup track cycling leg in Sydney on Friday. Bayley was awarded the silver medal despite fellow Australian rider Mark French crossing the line in second place behind Bos. French was relegated from second to sixth place after he was ruled to have caused interference two laps from the finish of the final, with former world champion Rene Wolff taking the bronze medal. Bos made his move two laps from home and proved to strong, holding off strong

Australia's Olympic champion Ryan Bayley and Dutch world champion Theo Bos will highlight the opening round of the four-leg UCI World Cup track cycling in the keirin and team sprint events in Sydney on Friday. The pair's sprint match-ups have been some of the closest fought in the track cycling with Bayley upstaging the then reigning world champion Bos at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Bos is the current world champion for the sprint and the keirin but missed a medal in the teams sprint at this year's world championships in Bordeaux when the Australians defeated the Netherlands in

Belgian Sven Nys (Rabobank) won Sunday’s UCI World Cup cyclo-cross in Pijnacker, the Netherlands. The Belgian national champion finished 30 seconds ahead of France’s Francis Mourey (Française des Jeux) to take the fifth round of the World Cup, with Netherlander Gerben de Knegt (Rabobank) crossing third a further 10 seconds in arrears. In the women’s race, Germany’s Hanka Kupfernagel rode to a decisive solo win some 41 seconds ahead of runner-up Daphny Van Den Brand of the Netherlands with Germany’s Birgit Hollmann third at 1:11 UCI Cyclo-cross World CupRound 5 — Pijnacker, the

Well, I know it's from Europe...Dear Lennard,Last year, my coach gave me an old track frame he's had sitting inhis garage for umpteen years (I believe it's a 1976 Gitane Super Pista)on the condition I'd restore it and treat it well. I've had it powdercoated and completely rebuilt it, with the exception of the bottom bracket.Thankfully, the Campy bottom bracket was still in the frame. Ithink it's a weird thread pattern...perhaps French, but for some reasonI thought it was Swiss after doing some research.The bottom bracket has a 35x1 imprinted on it. I don't know

This past weekend, Colorado's Front Range hosted rounds three and four of the 2006 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, the first time national-caliber ’cross had visited the state since the 2000 SuperCup kicked off in Boulder. More than 100 men and 50 women contested the elite races, including virtually all of the top U.S. ’crossers. And with all this talent descending into VeloNews territory, most of the staff had a chance to report on some aspect of the events. Today, we'll highlight some of the top riders' equipment. While elite racers showed up with two or even

Is Stan the solution?Dear Lennard,I read the article in the latest issue of VeloNews about Hutchinson's tubeless road tires and up and coming new tubeless road rims.What prevents me from using a Stan's No-Tube kit along with Mavic Ksyriums and a pair of new Michelin Pro Race tires or even a new pair of cross tires. Is it a safety issue?By the way, I have used Mavic Crossmax SL, a Stan's No-Tube kit with my tire of choice with great success off road.JoeDear Joe,Yes, it most certainly is a safety issue! I had the same idea whenI got my first bottle of Stan’s NoTubes. I slapped a

Twenty-three-year-old Radomir Simunek Jr. (Palmans-Collstrop) won the third round of the UCI World Cup cyclo-cross series held Saturday in the Czech Republic. Simunek celebrated his first World Cup win in front of a Czech crowd at the site of the 2001 World Championships in Tabor. Simunek joined an early attack by Bart Wellens (Fidea)and rode with the former world champion for the bulk of the hour-long event. Simunek, however, proved to be the stronger of the two on Saturday and he powered away from the Belgian on the final lap. "I tried a little acceleration," Simunek said, "and I found I

A bright, vibrant light has gone out in the cycling community as well asin the community of cancer survivors.Karen Hornbostel, a four-time master’s national road champion and recipientof the 2003 Lance Armstrong Spirit of Survivorship award passed away peacefullyat home in Littleton, Colorado, surrounded by family and friends on Tuesday,October 24, eight days past her 54th birthday. She had battled metastaticbreast cancer for over 13 years. Hornbostel made a difference in the cyclingcommunity with her devotion to improving opportunities for women in cyclingas well as with her infectious wit

Belgian national champion Sven Nys won round two of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Sunday in Kalmthout, Belgium, riding away from breakaway partner Francis Mourey of France on the final lap of the hour-long event. Nys (Rabobank) thus solidified his hold on the overall World Cup lead, having also won the opening round October 1 in Aigle, Switzerland. On Sunday, Nys and Mourey (Française des Jeux) joined Czech rider Zdenek Mlynar in setting an early lead in the 10-lap race. With four laps remaining, however, Mlynar faded back and then rolled a tire, completely falling out of contention. Up

Why does my Mavic freehub squeal?

Crunch timeDear Lennard,I have Campagnolo record 10-speed shifters. In fact the componentsare all campy record, except the wheels. I have been having a terribletime with the front shifter. It gets hung up and won't shift or is veryhard to shift and then it makes a terrible crunching noise. I have theCampagnolo triple front derailleur. Two different mechanics have lookedat it, without taking the levers apart, and nether has been able to diagnoseit or fix it. Any suggestions?DebbieDear Debbie,That’s the beauty of Campagnolo Ergo Power; you can fix it if somethinggets jammed inside.

In Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia, Paolo Bettini discovered the best way to ease the pain of the recent death of his older brother was to win in his name. The recently crowned world champion nearly retired after his brother, Sauro, died in a car crash just days after Bettini won the rainbow jersey Sept. 24 in Salzburg, Austria. Only insistence by Bettini’s father convinced the Quick Step-Innergetic captain to carry on. On Saturday under cool fall skies, an emotional Bettini poured all his anguish into his pedals to win the season final in the 245km Lombardia. “Today I was not pedaling alone,”

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The long French victory drought at Paris-Tours was just a hazy memory on Sunday as Frederic Guesdon won the 100th edition of the classic race. The veteran rider from Brittany beat Norway's Kurt-Asle Arvesen at the line, the two of them representing the final, desperate remnant of a 28-man pack that broke away more than four hours earlier. Crossing the finish on the famous Avenue du Grammont in Tours, just eight seconds behind the first two riders, were 35 pursuers led by Stuart O'Grady. They had come some 254km, under sunny skies, from the outskirts of Paris. Guesdon, who turns 35

Day two of the Crank Brothers Grand Prix of Cyclocross once again saw sunny skies and a wide-open speedway of a course in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the women’s race, Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) charged to the front just as she had the day before — only this time, both Wendy Simms (Kona) and Georgia Gould (Luna) managed to find her wheel. While the rest of the field shattered, Gould and Simms surprised spectators as they shadowed the hard-charging Bessette despite multiple attacks and accelerations throughout the course.

On what could only be described as an ideal fall day, the Crank Brother’s Grand Prix of Cyclocross kicked off in Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, Massachusetts on Saturday. With racers coming off long road and mountain seasons, as well as the Interbike week, no one was too sure of who or what to expect, except that it was going to be fast.

The 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships concluded Saturdayafter Jennie Reed (Spike) and Sarah Hammer (Ouch) added more stars-and-stripesjerseys to their closets.  Reed claimed two more national titles tosweep the women's sprint events with four victories and Hammer won thewomen's 15-kilometer scratch race to score a hat trick in the enduranceevents.After successfully defending her sprint and 500-meter time trial victoriesearlier in the week, Reed won the keirin and teamed up with Liz Carlson(East Coast Velo) to win the women's team sprint Saturday.Hammer, already

The 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships continued Fridaynight as both Sarah Hammer (Ouch) and Jennie Reed (Spike) each rode totheir second national title of the week. After setting a new nationalrecord in the women's three-kilometer individual pursuit Wednesday, Hammertook a convincing win in the 25-kilometer points race while Reed addeda women's 500-meter time trial title to her sprint jersey. Giddeon Massie (Spike) also captured his first-career men's sprint titleand the TIAA-CREF foursome of Mike Creed , Mike Friedman, Will Frischkornand Brad Huff bested a

Carson, California - Three more national champions were crowned in Southern California Thursday night as the 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships closed the books on day two of the four-day event. In the men's kilometer time trial, Stephen Hill (East Point Track Club) clocked a winning time of 1 minute, 6.239 seconds to claim the national title ahead of silver medalist Steve Beardsley (Rubicon-Chinook Cycling) and third-place finisher David Espinoza (JC Investors). With none of the top-three finishers from 2005 returning, there was no clear-cut favorite in the 26-rider

Not all the news coming out of Las Vegas at last week’s Interbike trade show was product related. Some North American teams and riders used the occasion to announce their plans for the 2007 season — a season that looks to see some big changes. Some had more immediate objectives, such as Fred Rodriguez’s announcement that he plans to race the final four events of the upcoming Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross. And even when news wasn’t officially released, trying to quell a rumor on the Sands Convention Center showroom is about as likely as trying to find a ray of sunlight in a

After breaking an 11-year drought with a world title in the women's three-kilometer individual pursuit in April, Sara Hammer (Ouch Pro Cycling) eclipsed another 11-year-old mark Wednesday, setting a new national record inthe same event during the opening session of the USA Cycling EliteTrack National Championships at the ADT Event Center. In the ensuingfinals Wednesday evening, Hammer added another national title to herrésumé, catching silver medalist Katie Compton (Spike) six laps into the 12 lap race. Hammer clocked a time of 3:32.865 seconds to smash the previous national record of

“I’m 49 and realized I’m halfway done,” my former boss Tom Ritchey told me wistfully at Interbike. “What am I going to do with the second half of my life?” His answer is Project Rwanda (www.projectrwanda.org), a development project designed to assist in lifting Rwandans out of the devastating financial conditions they find themselves in after their devastating 1994 civil war marked by tribal genocide and the deaths of nearly a million Rwandans in 100 days. At the heart of Ritchey’s involvement is a new bicycle he is designing from the ground up to make transportation in general and

A week after busting open the world road championships to spring compatriot Alejandro Valverde onto the final podium, Spanish rider Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) punched his way to victory in Sunday’s rainy Züri Metzgete classic. Sanchez took the initiative again, jumping away from the lead breakaway with about 12km to go in the 241km hilly course and held off a fast chase featuring Stuart O’Grady and world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (both CSC), Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) to snatch his first classics victory. “The weather didn’t bother me

Geoff Brown has seen some of the biggest stars come and go during his 14-year stint as one of Europe’s top professional mechanics, but he still loves the thrill of a bike race. For the first time since 1993 when he heads back to North America at the end of the season, he’ll stay there. Brown has decided it’s time to change gears. He’ll leave Discovery Channel to join the Canadian Symetrics team on the North American circuit. VeloNews.com: How did you get started as a mechanic? Geoff Brown: I started working in a department store putting bikes together. I come from a cycling family. My dad

Success in Las Vegas is all about playing the odds. Of the hundreds of thousands of people who gamble in the Nevada desert city each year, only a handful will hit it big. Similarly, of the thousands of new bikes and related products that crop up at Interbike each year, only a few will become huge hits. Only time will tell which will fly and which will eventually flop. As this year’s Interbike bicycle industry trade show wrapped up in Las Vegas on Friday evening, the display booths came down, bikes, products and clothing got packed into boxes and our crew headed back to the Rockies. Here’s

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon didI've got what I paid for now. . . ."Tom Traubert's Blues" by Tom Waits LAS VEGAS, Nev. — It’s easy to go cyborg at Interbike. After a long day of stalking the show floor, translating MarketSpeak® into English, and even longer nights spent consuming volatile liquids and denouncing various Enemies of the People, you don’t sleep so much as crash. Come morning, you reboot, hoping that your RAM reorganizes itself along tidy, functional little lines. This almost never happens. Thus, breakfast is a must, preferably within walking distance,

After two days of railing the trails in Bootleg Canyon, most Interbike attendees are ready to get out of the sun. Some are battered and some are bruised, but most are just looking forward to a day without dust and sweat. The inside show also ushers in a different feel, where the Outdoor Demo is about the ride, inside Interbike is much more about the business. Exhibitors and attendee’s break out their branded button down shirts and they caffeinate early. For a day on the Interbike show floor is somewhat akin to a hard stage of a week-long race. During our first day, we covered quite a bit of

The second and final day of Interbike’s Outdoor Demo began has it has for the past few years, the annual 8 a.m. “Hangover Road Ride” sponsored by the trade show and by Scott USA. A hearty group of 100 riders showed up, heading immediately downhill for a good quarter of the 24-mile out-and-back loop, with the remaining half of the out leg being rolling, yet continuing to lose altitude. We rode into the park at Lake Mead and turned around at the point where the Colorado River first flows into the huge reservoir. Nice and cool relative to the heat of the day, once that truly settled in, and

Twenty-five years ago, the first Interbike trade show opened its doors with 135 exhibitors under the roof of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Steve Ready and Herb Wetenkamp took it upon themselves to position and plan Interbike for the early fall of 1982; their hope was that dealers would have more of an influence on manufacturers. At the time, there were four other domestic industry shows, all of which took place between January and March. On Monday Interbike kicked off its 25th anniversary with its Outdoor Demo exhibition. This outdoor segment of Interbike has steadily gained steam since

Editor at large Patrick O'Grady is roaming the halls of Interbike again this year and threatens to send occasional updates whenever he finds a tavern with wireless Internet access. Here's the first installment. — Editor LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It beats me how they always manage to assemble this monstrous trade show in time for opening day, especially considering that some outfits (not VeloNews.com) can't even arrange a hotel room for barnstorming libel artisans who turn up at dark-thirty with a Subaru full of electronica, drawing tools and attitude. After sorting out my living

On the eve of the 25th annual Interbike trade show, set to kickoff in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week, Cannondale got a bit of a jump on the competition and formally released its new Rush Carbon bicycle at a company event held over the weekend at Brian Head, Utah. The new bike is the evolution of the aluminum Rush introduced last year in Park City. The Rush platform, with 110 millimeters of travel front and rear, is specifically built for the needs of the long haul racer. All aspects of the bike are designed for ultra-endurance racing, though Christoph Sauser demonstrated the aluminum bike’s

Cycling’s history is full of racers who wilted under the curse of the rainbow jersey after winning the world championships. Perennial pre-race favorite Paolo Bettini seemed fated to never win cycling’s most prized tunic, but after several close calls – including second in 2001 at Lisbon – the Italian pocket rocket bolted past Erik Zabel and Alejandro Valverde on Sunday in Salzburg, Austria, to erase any hint of a jinx. “It’s so satisfying to win after coming close so many times. It was almost an obsession for me,” Bettini gushed. “I’ve won the world’s and the Olympics, the classics and some

Dutch teen sensation Marianne Vos surprised her elder rivals to kick to an impressive sprint victory of an elite group of 15 to become the youngest elite women’s world champion. Vos, just 19, relegated German sprinter Trixi Worrack into second with world No. 1 Nicole Cooke settling for bronze in the hard-fought, 132.9km race. “With 150 meters to go, I saw Oenone (Wood) taking the sprint and I just went as hard as I could,” said Vos, winning in 3 hours, 20 minutes, 26 seconds (39.783kph). “I didn’t see anyone around me, so I knew I had won.” Amber Neben led the way for the Americans,

The 61st Vuelta a España ended with a fiesta in Madrid as huge numbers of fans turned out Sunday to watch the season’s final grand tour come down to an exciting finale. Erik Zabel (Milram) proved that some things get better with age to win for the second time this Vuelta while Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) enjoyed an easy day on the bike to win his first major grand tour. “This Vuelta has been very hard and complicated and I am very happy with the victory,” Vinokourov said after sealing the success over Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with Astana teammate and compatriot Andrey

Starting with the deluge after a night of hard rain combined with a strike by train and subway workers, getting to the 64th Milan Bicycle Show was by no means an easy task. Even more cars than on a normal day packed flooded roads, and the occasional vehicle stalled in water above its wheels brought urban traffic to a complete standstill in places. It is a good bet that many people who had planned to attend to the first day of Italy’s premier icycle industry trade show ultimately gave up in frustration. The sun came out in the afternoon, but the rain returned later to wash out the

Alexandre Vinokourov gave himself the best possible birthday present: a victory in Saturday’s time trial to all but seal overall title in the 61st Vuelta a España. The Kazakh celebrated his 33rd birthday scoring his third stage win of this Vuelta and beat Spanish rider Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) by six seconds to put an exclamation point on what will likely give him the first grand tour win of his career. “I am very happy today. I wanted to try to win today because it’s my 33rd birthday,” Vinokourov said. “I did the first 10km pretty quiet and then I knew that I could faster in the

Friday’s long and slow 19th stage across the flats Castilla y La Mancha seemed tedious after three gripping days in the mountains of southern Spain. The 205.3km trudge from Jaén to Ciudad Real – the third longest of this year’s Vuelta a España – produced a seven-man breakaway and a winner in José Luis Arrieta (Ag2r) to give the Spanish journalists something to write about. Otherwise, the Vuelta was on a holding pattern. "I have been waiting for this moment for 14 years," said the 35-year-old after scoring just his second professional victory. "I knew there was a headwind at the finish, I

The Kazakh one-two punch took the fight out of the Spanish mountain goats in Thursday’s grueling summit finish at La Pandera during the Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov delivered the knockout blow in the 18th stage to take firm control of the leader’s jersey with only three days left as Astana teammate Andrey Kashechkin won the stage and slipped into third overall. Vino’ did what he does best, attacking archrival Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with about 6.5km to go in the brutally steep La Pandera climb to widen his lead to 53 seconds. "I would have preferred to win the Tour

Tuesday’s thrilling 17th stage of the Vuelta a España was a lesson in conviction. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) stormed into the race leader’s gold jersey on the strong belief that he could simply will his way to overall victory while stage winner Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) buried two weeks of frustration with the joy of his biggest pro win. "I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was perhaps even more special because the beginning of the race was such a disaster," said Danielson, who’s jumped from 12th to sixth overall in two days. "So many people lost faith in me and

With the futures of Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia uncertain for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Tuesday’s victory by youngster Igor Anton in the wet and mountainous stage 16 couldn’t have come at a better time. The 23-year-old counter-attacked an elite group of six leading riders through pounding rain with 4km to go in the 145km stage to win his first professional race. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) sprinted to second place, picking up a valuable time bonus to further tighten his grip on the overall lead with just five days left of the 2006 Vuelta. "Today was a lot more than we could

Sunday’s mostly downhill 182km run from Spain’s central plateau to the sunny Mediterranean coast went according to script, with a brave breakaway falling short and German ace Robert Forster winning a frenetic mass sprint. The Gerolsteiner rider outkicked Stuart O’Grady (CSC) to take the first mass gallop in a week while Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) retained his 48-second grip on the overall leader’s jersey. “It was very dangerous,” said Forster, who won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia this year. “I thought that Petacchi would make the sprint and that is why we tried to get

There was plenty of celebrating going in Cuenca, with Saunier Duval-Prodir toasting David Millar’s remarkable comeback victory in Saturday’s time trial and Caisse d’Epargne quietly putting the champagne on ice after Alejandro Valverde widened his overall lead with just a week to go in the Vuelta a España. Millar exorcized two years worth of doping demons with each pedal stroke Saturday to win for the first time since his the end of racing ban while Valverde tightened his grip on the gold jersey on a day when many expected the Spaniard to cede terrain. Millar beat CSC’s Fabian Cancellara by

Move over, Paolo Savoldelli. Euskaltel’s Samuel Sánchez is ready to give the Italian – nicknamed “the Falcon” for his fearless runs down Europe’s steepest mountain roads - a run for his money as road racing’s king of the downhill. Sánchez put down a kamikaze attack with 5km to go on a harrowing descent off the Cat. 3 Alto de Castillo to claim victory in Friday’s hilly 180km 13th stage thanks to fearless descending skills. “If you don’t take risks, you won’t win,” Sánchez said after just holding off a lead group of 30 riders from the busted up peloton. “I’ve always been good in the

Luca Paolini left his role as Paolo Bettini’s sidekick at Quick Step-Innergetic last season to sign a big-money contract with Liquigas to become a team leader. Save for a win at the GP Citta di Camaiori, the glory has been sparse. But on Thursday the 29-year-old Italian attacked early out of a 11-man breakaway featuring none other than Bettini to claim a victory in a major stage race for the first time in his career. "It’s great to finally win in a big tour," Paolini said after holding off an attack with 4km to go in Thursday’s hilly 12th stage. "I’ve been trying to win with many attacks in

Discovery Channel doesn’t have the Lance Armstrong guarantee anymore, so the squad has to find satisfaction in more modest goals. The team no longer rules the Tour de France like it did seven Julys in a row, but a gutsy solo victory by Egoi Martinez in Wednesday’s 11th stage of the Vuelta a España delivered the team a unique accomplishment in the first year of the post-Armstrong era - stage victories and stints in leader’s jerseys in all three grand tours. “This victory was important for the team,” said Martinez, who shot away from a pair of riders with 12km to go. “Even without Armstrong,

Astana – kept out of the 2006 Tour de France for alleged links to Operación Puerto - is making up for lost time with a vengeance in the 2006 Vuelta a España. Sergio Paulinho, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, attacked a 15-man group with just under 1km to go in Tuesday’s 199.3km 10th stage, leaping away over a small finishing climb to give the troubled Astana team its third consecutive stage victory of this year's Vuelta. "Things are going well for the team," said Paulinho, hailed as Portugal’s best prospect since José Azevedo. "We’ve won two stages with Alexandre (Vinokourov) and now

Day three of the Eurobike Exhibition in Friedrichschafen, Germany, marks final day that the show is closed to the public, it also marks our final day of web coverage for the 2006 edition. When the doors open on Sunday morning and the hordes pay their 19 euros each to bump elbows among the exhibitors things get crazy. Most product managers duck out to avoid the chaos, something that can be described as a shark-like feeding frenzy. At least here, the chum is merely comprised of stickers and catalogs. The Eurobike Exhibition had over 820 registered exhibitors from 69 countries, spread out over

A pair of Alexanders conquered Sunday’s epic, six-climb “queen stage” across the abrupt mountains of northern Spain to seize control of the 61st Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov – the attacking Kazakh from Astana – jumped with teammate Andrey Kashechkin with 7km to go on the final 8km La Cobertoria climb to win for the second day in a row and confirm his candidacy for overall victory despite a slow start. Alejandro Valverde – the dashing Spanish star hunting the first grand-tour victory of his career – counter-attacked with 2km to go to drop archrivals Carlos Sastre (CSC), Danilo Di

To the delight of a partisan hometown crowd, Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie won the first-ever all-American national road championship in Greenville, South Carolina, Sunday, crossing the finish line alone in front of a decimated field that produced only 31 finishers. Fellow ProTour rider Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner finished second, 16 seconds behind Hincapie, with TIAA-CREF’s Danny Pate rounding out the podium, 1:20 off the winning pace. It was Hincapie’s second national road championship, following a win in Philadelphia in 1998.

Alexandre Vinokourov has been waiting a long time for a win like this one. It almost came Friday on the barren slopes of El Morredero, but the attacking Kazakh was reeled in with just 200 meters from the line by a surging Alejandro Valverde. Vinorokourov returned the favor in Saturday’s hilly 181.6km eighth stage across Spain’s Galicia region, shooting past a hapless Luca Paolini (Liquigas) late on a rising finish straight into Lugo to win for the first time in an Astana jersey. "After the disappointment of yesterday, I really wanted to win today," Vinokourov said after holding off the

Discovery Channel put a rider atop the overall Vuelta a España standings in Friday’s 154.2km seventh stage up the grinding Alto de el Morredero climb, but it wasn’t the rider they expected to see in the gold jersey. Tom Danielson’s bid to become the first American to win the Vuelta took a serious blow after struggling halfway up the 18km climb to lose more than three minutes while teammate Janez Brajkovic continued to show savvy beyond his 22 years and calmly rode his way into the overall lead. “This is my first grand tour and I came here to help Tom and to gain experience,” said Brajkovic,

When 2005 national time-trial champion Chris Baldwin thinks back on his attempt to defend his title Friday in Greenville, South Carolina, he’s going to have to either laugh or cry.

The droning thud of an incessant techno beat, bounced throughout the halls of the Eurobike exhibition in Friedrichschafen, Germany, on Friday, the second full day of the show. The electronic sounds so loved by many Germans, added a challenge to the task of gathering manufacturer information. It would be the anthem of the day, one that turned out to be filled with German engineering. German culture is known for its advanced design and precise production. German bicycle manufacturers are no exception, many of them compete directly with manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW for national

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) pipped two Germans in a tight sprint to end an otherwise long trudge across the sun-baked plains of northern Spain in Thursday’s 177km sixth stage from Zamora to León. The Norwegian came around big German André Greipel (T-Mobile) in the final 75 meters and held off another German, Erik Zabel (Milram), to sneak to his first victory in the 2006 Vuelta a España after three second places earlier this week. "It’s true I’ve had a problem to win a stage here, but I think it cost me a little when I got the leader’s jersey. You always think about trying to defend a

Thursday marked the opening of the Eurobike trade show for the 15th consecutive year The show takes place in Friedrichshafen a small village on the banks of Lake Constance in southern Germany, the home of the once-great Zeppelin airships. There has been a quiet grumble over the past few years about the state of the cycling industry in Europe and the rest of the world; that it has been stale or even in some cases faltering. One couldn’t know it by the volume of exhibitors at Eurobike. Even more assuring was the amount of time and capital exhibitors were putting into their displays. The

Danilo Di Luca poured a season of bitterness into his pedals to score a sweet victory atop a big pile of granite in western Spain to take the overall lead in the Vuelta a España Wednesday. The defending ProTour champion attacked with just under 3km to go in the 177km four-climb fifth stage from Plasencia to the Vuelta’s first summit finish at La Covatilla to win for the first time this season and surge into the overall lead. “I came to this Vuelta to win a stage and that came sooner than expected. I will not fight for the overall victory in this race. I am at this Vuelta to get into top

On the eve of the 15th edition of Germany’s Eurobike trade show, Scott USA took over the famed Graf Zeppelin Haus in downtown Friedrichshafen to unveil two new models for the upcoming 2007 season, both focused on setting new lightweight and engineering standards in a very competitive marketplace. The Addict road frame, soon to be Saunier Duval’s new ProTour race machine, tips the scale at just 790 grams (56cm), while the original prototype Spark full-suspension mountain frame, now used by Thomas Frischknecht on the World Cup circuit, weighs in at 1700 grams (with rear shock). Scott claims

With the heart of a warrior and the squeaky voice of a teen-ager, Erik Zabel proved he still has a few victories left in his 36-year-old legs. The German veteran profited from a strong setup from the Milram train to score his first grand-tour victory since the 2003 Vuelta, relegating the younger generation to the runner-up status to which he has lately become so accustomed. FullResults "Today I am very happy because the whole team worked for me and it’s good to see the train is working better and better," said Zabel after notching just his second win of the season. "I am very happy with

In the grooveDear Lennard,I use the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels with a Shimano drive train, thoughI have a titanium (11-25) cassette made by Cycle Dynamics. The freehubbody is grooved by each of the cogs (see attached photo). My bikeshop says this is a normal consequence of using a cassette with individualcogs. I don't buy it. I think it is the result of the softer material (aluminum)used in this free hub body. My other wheels, with steel free hub bodies,are not grooved. My drive train makes a periodic, soft noise that I havenot been able to eliminate, and I fear it may be related to the

For VeloNews staffers who cover the racing scene, the Tour, the Giro and the Vuelta are usually the busiest times of the year. But we on the tech side have our own “grand tour” – it's called "show season," and it's about to kick off with the Eurobike trade show, opening Wednesday in Friedrichshafen, Germany. A week and a half after that show closes, we have the EICMA show in Milan. And a week after that, manufacturers descend upon Las Vegas for Interbike (September 25-29). Most have already begun to peddle their wares.

Monday’s long stinker of a stage ended fast and hot as Saunier Duval put down the double hammer, sending David Millar on the attack in the final kilometer and then unleashing Spanish prospect Francisco Ventoso against the veterans to earn a surprise victory. Temperatures surged into the 100s for the Vuelta’s longest stage, 219km from Córdoba to Almendralejo, and the peloton replied in kind, finishing nearly 20 minutes slower than the slowest projected time. A three-man escape featuring another Saunier Duval rider – the most aggressive rider from the Tour de France David de al Fuente – was

This year’s Vuelta a España has attracted a world-class lineup of sprinters, but one rider looking ahead to next month’s world championships surprised the favorites in Sunday’s heated charge into Córdoba. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) sprang past front-runners Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) to win the 176km second stage, marked by an early unsuccessful breakaway and glaring heat. FULLRESULTS "I am not a pure sprinter and I don’t plan to make a sprint until I know the legs feel good," said Bettini, who grabbed his second career Vuelta stage. "I am

Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre pulled within 12 seconds of the yellow jersey in last month’s Tour de France but later faded to a no-glory fourth place, so perhaps it was only fitting that the mild-mannered Spaniard took the gold jersey Saturday in an thrilling team time trial to kick-start the 2006 Vuelta a España. Sastre made a late decision to start the Vuelta – his third grand tour of this season and his fifth in a row dating back to the 2005 Tour de France – and he’s glad he did. "I am not thinking about the Tour anymore," Sastre said. "This is a childhood dream to take the Vuelta jersey,

Floyd Landis might be able to keep his Tour de France crown if he wins his doping case in arbitration, but his Phonak team won’t be around next season even if he does. Team owner Andy Rihs announced Tuesday that Phonak will fold at the end of the 2006 season after its new title sponsor pulled out of the deal in the wake of Landis doping scandal.

There were a lot of smashing fists on handlebars Saturday as the relatively unheralded Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) surprised a host of favorites with an early sprint to win the Clásica San Sebastián. The 26-year-old held off Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas) and Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) to score just his second victory of his professional career, leaving the frustrated runner’s up to bash their handlebars in an opportunity missed. “I wouldn’t have bet on it,” Florencio said with a smile when asked if he thought he was going to win the 225km, five-climb classic around the hills of