Road Racing

After a frustrating finish to Monday’s opener, Toyota-United was rejoicing on Tuesday as Ivan Stevic sprinted to victory in stage 2 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. J.J. Haedo (Team CSC) and Freddie Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) crossed second and third, while Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems) retained the leader’s jersey after a 135-mile day filled with crosswinds, crashes and a long, three-man break that wasn’t mopped until the peloton began marching on Rome. Complete results

Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems) won stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia on Monday, leaping away from a breakaway to cross the line alone in downtown Macon. The 33-year-old Italian made his move during a series of finishing circuits, using a brick climb to spring away from Ben Day (Navigators Insurance), Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mike Sayers (BMC) to win the 98.5-mile stage from Peachtree City to Macon. Full results

Sunday’s Sea Otter downhill race served as the gravity season’s opener. While the cross-country competitors had a chance to dust of the cobwebs at the NOVA National in Fountain Hills, Arizona, a couple of weeks ago, the gravity crew had yet to meet up. The short two-and-a-half minute course produced a surprise win for Brit Rachel Atherton (Animal-Commençal), while Nathan Rennie (Santa Cruz Syndicate) took his third Sea Otter downhill win. Saturday’s rain exacted chaos over the road, short-track and dual slalom races. The latter was postponed four hours — gravity riders finally took to the

It’s not often a rider enters the Roubaix velodrome alone, and an Australian has never done it in the 105-year history of cycling’s hardest one-day race. Stuart O’Grady did both Sunday in an emotional and powerful victory to become the first Aussie to win Paris-Roubaix in the hottest “Hell of the North” as far as anyone can remember.

It could be an option if California officials ever have to find a solution to a drought. Hold an edition of the Sea Otter Classic and then just wait for rain. This year the rains came on Saturday, just in time for a weekend of serious racing. The rain came quickly and biblically, temporarily shutting down the dual slalom and ending the women’s road circuit race prematurely. The heavy rain also sent the cross-country racers scrambling for the right tire for the short-track event. Thomas Frischknecht (Swisspower) pulled out a special weapon for the race; a pair of 26-inch Dugast Rhino tubular

Bumping elbows with the pros — that’s what Sea Otter is about. Subaru-Gary Fisher professional racer Sam Schultz knows the feeling. The young racer was at Laguna Seca raceway on Friday for SRAM’s launch of its new Monarch air shock platform. He recounted a time not so long ago when he would come to the big events looking around to see what the fast guys were riding. Now we’re checking out what he’s riding, whether he knows it or not. But Sea Otter is about more than just who's using the stuff. The cycling festival gives tech geeks a chance to check in with a host of industry engineers,

The 17th edition of the Sea Otter Classic opened Thursday under sunny skies and blustery winds. The wind brought cooler temperatures, but no one was complaining too much after a soggy setup on Wednesday. For the VeloNews tech crew, our day opened offsite at the re-launch of Tomac Bicycles, during an event hosted by Joel Smith, a former employee of Answer Products, and brand namesake John Tomac. The company is taking it small this time, testing the waters with only eight employees and a product line built around three core frames. Tomac’s name first graced the down tube of a bicycle in 1999

Here we are, just getting ready to head full steam into the 2007 racing season, and the 2008 product is already starting to ship. When did we have a chance to enjoy our '07 bikes? Trek just started shipping copies of Travis Brown’s 69er single-speed to its dealers last week. And here in Santa Cruz, California, just north of Monterey and the Sea Otter Classic, we’re seeing 69ers with gears and even suspension. It’s the same on the Gary Fisher side. There was hardly even time to get excited about its new economical aluminum trail bike, the HiFi, a bike with great value and even greater

German rider Marcus Burghardt outfoxed one of the savviest riders in the peloton to win a crash-marred Ghent-Wevelgem ahead of three-time world champion Oscar Freire. The T-Mobile prospect scored the first win of his career in impressive manner after powering away from Freire and three other escapees with 1.3km to go in the 220km march across western Flanders.

PressureDear Lennard,Regarding your March 27 column, I work for Boeing and have traveled a lot with my altimeter. At cruising altitude (41,000 feet) the internal fuselage altitude is effectively 6600ft, and will be even lower with the new 787. We all climb passes that high.I also wanted to point out that the entire fuselage is the same pressure, that includes the lower cargo section and passenger space. Think of it as one big balloon. So, I travel with inflated tires, primarily to provide that extra measure of rim protection.JohnDear John,Thanks; you've answered the one question I had

Don’t tell Alessandro Ballan he’s heir to Italian classics heroes such as Andrea Tafi and Franco Ballerini after his dramatic sprint victory ahead of Leif Hoste in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. The panache shown by the 27-year-old in winning the crash-laden 91st edition is just the stuff Italian journalists love to turn into legend, but Ballan sees himself as more than a one-trick pony after the biggest victory of his career.

Heading into the inaugural U.S. Open Cycling Championships in Richmond, Virginia, a few names of race favorites were on everyone’s lips: Toyota-United strongmen Henk Vogels and Ivan Dominguez topped the list. Other riders, such as Health Net-Maxxis riders Karl Menzies and Kirk O’Bee and current NRC leader Ben Jacques-Maynes of Priority Health-Bissell were also tossed around. But in the end, two riders not considered favorites — Svein Tuft of Symmetrics and Patrick McCarty of Slipstream-Chipotle — turned the race upside down after forming a winning two-man breakaway more than 15 miles from

In what is being billed as the “true North American Championship,” the inauguralU.S. Open CyclingChampionships are set for Saturday, April 7, in Richmond, Virginia.The 112-mile men’s race, a stop on the international UCI Americas Tourand the national USA Cycling Pro Tour, will begin in colonial Williamsburg,Virginia and follow the route along the historic Jamestown Plantationsand Civil War battlefields, ending with eight 5.5-mile circuits in downtownRichmond including a brutal cobblestone climb up Libby Hill. The men’s race begins at 8:10 a.m., and the men are expected to enterthe Richmond

After a seven-year partnership, Nike and Trek will part ways at the end of 2007. The decision, a result of the $15 billion sports giant’s new exclusive focus on high-end cycling shoes and apparel, sparked rumors that Nike is abandoning the sport altogether. Since 1999, Trek has been a Nike licensee and the primary distributor for Nike Cycling, the marketing of which had centered on seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. Nike recently downsized its in-house cycling division. However, the Nike-Trek split doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the Nike’s cycling division, said Maggie

The first big mountain-bike race of the season isn't just a chance to see which racers have been following their off-season training programs — it's an opportunity for gearheads to gauge which manufacturers have been doing their homework. For most companies, design, prototyping and testing generally take place one, two, even three years ahead of production. So the racecourse is one of the best places to get a look at what may be coming down the production pike. At this week’s NOVA National at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Fountain Hills, Arizona, there were plenty of

The sourceDear readers,I received a boatload of great responses on creaking noises from the March7 column, and it is something so commonly plaguing all of us as cyclists that I’m running a whole list of the fixes for them that I did not mention.LennardIt's the headsetI also have a Basso Diamante that I occasionally have creaking issueswith. Like many creaking issues, it's hard to track down where the noiseis coming from. I suggest it isn't coming from the seat area with the riderwho sent you the question. I would check the front of the bike. First,make sure the quick release

Jens Voigt (CSC) won the Critérium International on Sunday after soloing to victory in stage 2 and taking seventh in the final time trial. With his victory, the German became the first man to win the race three times since Sean Kelly in 1987. "Ever since I was a little kid Sean Kelly was my hero," Voigt said afterward. "Because he was a rider who was successful from the start to the end of the year, ready to compete for the win at each race, like Jaja [Laurent Jalabert] later on, or Erik Zabel.

Chris Hoy continued Great Britain’s gold medal rush at the Palma de Mallorca world track cycling championships after laying claim to his fourth career world title in the men’s kilo. Already a surprise winner this week in the men’s keirin, Hoy dominated his favorite event with the winning time of 1:00.999 in what was his final competitive kilo. “This is the last time I will race kilo, so it was really important that I won,” Hoy said. “I felt really good all day and I just tried to relax before the race. I felt strong right to the end and I’m relieved and happy to win.” Jamie Staff (Great

Defending Olympic champion Anna Meares beat her own world record with a new time of 33.588 to win Australia’s first gold medal at the Palma de Mallorca world championship. Meares set the previous record in November with 33.944, but shaved nearly a half-second off on the new boards at the Palma velodrome. “I felt really good right from the gun,” said the tearful Meares. “Just as this season has progressed, I’ve gotten better and better. "I wasn’t sure if a world record would be possible because I didn’t know the condition of this track. I didn’t think about it. I just went through the

German Olaf Pollack (Wiesenhof) won the first stage of the Critérium International on Saturday. Pollack took the 179km leg from Asfeld to Charleville after a violent storm pounded the racers in the final 15km, disrupting what proved to be a bunch sprint. The German easily outpaced Italian Angelo Furlan (Crédit Agricole) and Spaniard Mikel Gaztanaga (Agritubel), all of whom were given the same time as the winner.

What should have been the third consecutive day of medal celebration for the resurgent U.S. track team turned into bitter disappointment Saturday when Rebecca Quinn was relegated in the women’s 10km scratch race after sprinting to third. Quinn made a spectacular finishing surge to squeeze between two riders coming out of turn four to earn what most observers thought was a well-deserved bronze medal. Moments after celebrating with her coaches, however, a UCI official whispered to USA Cycling’s athletic director Pat McDonough the bad news. By the time McDonough had a chance to review the

It was another full day at track world's in Spain — the Aussies finally got themselves a medal, as did the host nation, and the Brits continued their winning ways. Casey Gibson was on the job once again and sent us the following photos.

Sarah Hammer put down a dominating performance Friday in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, defending her world title in the women’s individual pursuit Friday and putting the world on notice that she’s the rider to beat going into next year’s Olympic Summer Games. Hammer becomes the first American to defend a world track title since Rebecca Twigg in 1984-85. She also set a new U.S record and personal best with 3:30.213. “I wanted that so bad. To do it twice is amazing,” Hammer told VeloNews at the finish. “I thought going in I was going to win. I was confident in myself.” Hammer was fastest in

As it stands, China's hopes of an unprecedented Olympic gold medal in track cycling currently lie with women's sprint star Shuang Guo, women who turned in the fastest time in Friday’s sprint qualifying round. But in 17 months time, the medal odds could look decidedly better for the hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and it could be thanks to one of the sport's biggest legends. China's first Olympic track medal came through Yong Hua who won silver in the women's 500 meter time trial at Athens in 2004. But former four-time Olympic champion Daniel Morelon, who also amassed

It was raining gold in Spain, and the U.S. and Britain had their buckets out. Casey Gibson was on hand with his array of cameras and lenses; here's what he sent home.

Charles Bradley Huff couldn’t quite believe it when he ended up with a bronze medal in the inaugural world track championship omnium. The Slipstream-Chipotle rider has been suffering through a chest cold, a two-day bout of diarrhea and self-described “bad legs,” but consistency and a third-place in the day’s fifth and final event in the kilometer time trial pushed him onto the medal’s podium. “To have such bad legs today yet it’s exciting that I was able to get third somehow,” said Huff. “It just shows in cycling as much as you suffer, you have good days and bad days, you gotta get on your

At least when it comes to business, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James is something of a multi-sport athlete. The 22-year-old NBA star has purchased an undisclosed ownership stake in the bicycle manufacturer Cannondale, the company announced this week. The 6 foot 8 inch James is no stranger to the bike, according to a Cannondale spokesman. James, a number-one draft pick by the Cavaliers in 2003, spends a lot of time riding in the off-season and organizes the annual “King for Kids Bike-a-thon” in Akron, Ohio, a fundraiser designed to generate funds for local single mothers and their

A golden homecoming for Bradley Wiggins; a podium appearance by an ailing Brad Huff; and a French team-sprint defense that barely registered on a chronometer. It was a busy day at the track world championships in Spain, and our man Casey Gibson was all over it like a sweaty skinsuit. Here's what he sent home.

Flying Dutchman Theo Bos will be among the riders hoping to blaze a gold-medal trail on the freshly laid Siberian pine boards that will host the world track cycling championships this week in Palma de Majorca, Spain. The four-day competition begins on a note of novelty on Thursday when the inaugural, five-race omnium event, the team pursuit and men's individual pursuit are raced in a brand-new velodrome on which the paint is still drying. Bos, who will shoulder the Netherlands’ gold-medal hopes on his lithe frame at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will be hoping to leave a big

Help packingDear Lennard,I am preparing to take a trip to Puerto Rico with my family and, for the first time, my bike (a LeMond Zurich). I bought a Pro Bike Case to pack the bike in. I was wondering about my tires – do I have to deflate them in order to prevent blowouts in the plane? Also, are there any subtleties regarding things to bring (or not) that I haven’t thought of (eg. CO2 cartridges, pumps, etc)?Thanks,Tom Dear Tom,Even if you live at sea level, your atmospheric pressure is at most one bar, or about 14psi. That means, if you were to go all of the way out of the atmosphere to

This time there won’t be an asterisk next to his victory. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) unleashed a masterful sprint to win Saturday’s centenary celebration of Milan-San Remo ahead of Allan Davis to claim victory in emphatic style to erase the memories of 2004 when he won by a whisker ahead of the celebrating Erik Zabel.

Oakley has produced its incredibly popular M-Frame sunglasses for 17 years, and while the design has been tweaked over its long lifetime, the M-Frame has always held onto its distinct shape and reputation as one of the best functioning sport shields on the market. Now, the M-Frame has a little brother — Radar, which even in its infancy seems to be reaching for grandeur. Look for Oakley’s newest sports shield on riders from Team CSC, T-Mobile and Slipstream-Chipotle during 2007. “In the beginning we sponsored 7-Eleven, then Motorola, Saturn, Rabobank, ONCE and Phonak,” said Steve Blick,

Component manufacturer Full Speed Ahead has confirmed plans to join the drivetrain market with full road and mountain-bike groups. There were plenty of rumors as far back as last year’s Taipei Cycle Show. We even reported a few, but as the industry entered last year’s fall trade show season the buzz had quieted. “We just don’t want too much attention because the worst mistake we could make would be to come out too early,” said Ric Hjertberg, FSA’s new technology manager. Although the tricky parts of the drivetrain — the shifters and the derailleurs — have not surfaced, FSA will introduce

[nid:37799]The future is now for Alberto Contador after the Spanish climber pulled the double at Paris-Nice on Sunday to win the final stage and claim the overall prize that positions him as Spain’s next great hope. The 24-year-old Discovery Channel rider uncorked a searing attack on the Cat. 1 Col d’Eze to gap overnight leader Davide Rebellin and drove home a stirring victory on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais to turn a six-second deficit into a 26-second winning margin.

[nid:37790]The Spanish armada threw down an attack in Saturday’s brutal 200km sixth stage at Paris-Nice, but Davide Rebellin stood firm to retain the overall lead with one stage to go. Climbing sensation Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) unleashed a brutal acceleration on the last of nine rated climbs, the Col du Tanneron with 20km to go, to gap the Gerolsteiner leader by 25 seconds. Rebellin never panicked and found some friends in the lead pack to check the aggression with less than 2km to go to retain his six-second grip on the maillot jaune.

It’s obvious Yaroslav Popovych enjoys life. The Ukraine attacker usually has a smile on his face and is quick with a joke, except when he’s on his bike. Then he’s everyone else’s worst nightmare. Popovych dropped the ax with 30km to go on the last of four rated climbs in Friday’s intense 178km fifth stage from Sorgues to Manosque to motor away from a breakaway that included Dave Zabriskie (CSC) and sent a panic jolt through the peloton.

For the second time in two weeks, Alberto Contador delivered a big win in the 2007 season ahead of some pretty heady company. Last month at the Tour of Valencia, he beat Spanish sensation Alejandro Valverde at the key climbing stage up Alto de Campello. Contador hit the repeat button Thursday in the explosive 169.5km fourth stage at Paris-Nice. The new Discovery Channel recruit dropped the likes of L’Alpe d’Huez winner Frank Schleck and Tour de France candidate Cadel Evans on the short but steep summit finish to La Croix-Neuve to take an impressive win.

You can’t blame Tom Boonen if he shot his arms up in triumph thinking that he had won a hard-fought, rising sprint into Maurs at the end of the lumpy 215.5km third stage at Paris-Nice. When he heard over his course radio that Russian rouleur Alexandr Kolobnev -- the lone holdout from the day’s four-man breakaway -- was dangling 20 seconds off the front with 7km to go, he assumed like everyone else his Quick Step henchmen would finish off the job to set up the mass gallop.

I spent a couple of days last week in Las Vegas, with Paul Lew, ridingand inspecting his new superlight Pro VT-1 wheels. The pair I rode weighedless than – get this - 850 grams for the set. That’s not a claimed weight, either. I pulled the tires off after theride, checked the scale by using my standard calibration unit (otherwiseknown as a good old American quarter) and then measured the front at 350.5grams and the rear at 501.1. Keep in mind that includes what I’d guessto be about 10-15 grams of rim cement on the wheels. Now here comes the hard part. The wheels cost $5000 a pair with

[nid:37751]The 177km second stage of the eight-day Paris-Nice started with a lot of high hopes. David Millar was talking a wire-to-wire yellow jersey run. Thomas Voekler almost held off the peloton to steal a dramatic breakaway win. Everyone else was looking at Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen. No one was looking at Franco Pellizotti.

[nid:37738]It was expected to be a showdown between Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen in the first stage of Paris-Nice, but it was French sprinter Jean-Patrick Nazon who surprised everyone with a long charge to the line in Buzançais on Monday. Nazon, who’s been all but invisible since winning a pair of Tour de France stages in 2003-04, burst down the left side of the peloton after sniffing out a hole with 200 meters to go.

[nid:37731]Last year, David Millar underwent wind-tunnel testing for the first time and settled into a new, sleeker aerodynamic position that on paper should have made him faster. Instead, the Scot found he actually lost power — so this season he chucked the scientific posture and replaced it with his tried-and-true position, honed over years of trial and error.

TorqueDear Lennard,I recently purchased my first full carbon bike, absolutely love it. Yet, I'm scared of over-torquing the seatpost clamp. Is there a torque wrench you could recommend that works on Allen wrenches? What's the worst that happens, the seatpost clamp needs replacing or I have this fear of the actual seat tube deforming, I'm not doing the Samsonite luggage monkey torque on it, but "hand tighten" is just too open to quantify.ThomasDear Thomas,First of all, carbon frames generally have a separate band clamp to tighten the seatpost, and, yes, the worst that can happen,

There were plenty of power meters being used at this year’s Tour of California, largely because it offered a unique early season opportunity for riders to test themselves against some of the world’s best. Indeed, four teams made racing with a power meter a very high priority at the eight-day California race, because this would be the best field the world would see prior to Paris-Nice. What better opportunity to start collecting crucial numbers? The professional teams Predictor-Lotto (Belgium), T-Mobile (Germany) and Slipstream (USA) as well as the U.S. National Team each stressed the

Questions, and suggestions, about stuck seatposts, especially carbon posts

Overall 1. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, 24:57:24 2. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 0:21 3. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:54 4. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 1:06 5. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), CSC, at 1:16 6. Christian Vandevelde (USA), CSC, at 1:24 7. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, at 1:32 8. Ben Day (Aus), Navigators Insurance, at 1:38 9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 1:41 10. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net Maxxis, at 1:57

Shoreline Drive in Long Beach may not be the Champs-Élysées, but just as the Tour de France traditionally ends with a sprinters’ showdown, so the 2007 Amgen Tour of California climaxed Sunday afternoon with a spectacular mass charge to the line. And just as a surprising winner often takes the Tour’s final stage, so Cuban Ivan Dominguez shocked the heavy hitters of the UCI ProTour and give the stage 7 victory to his domestic American team, Toyota-United.

[nid:37650]When people look back at the developing history of the Amgen Tour of California they will say that the race came of age on stage 6 of the 2007 edition. Even though Saturday’s 105.4-mile stage from Santa Barbara ended in a mass sprint in sunny Santa Clarita, won by Team CSC’s J.J. Haedo from T-Mobile’s Greg Henderson and Quick Step’s world champion Paolo Bettini, this was no parade.

Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins returned to the track with a winning individual-pursuit ride on Friday during the final round of the 2006-07 UCI Track World Cup series in Manchester, Great Britain. In his first individual pursuit since winning gold in Athens in 2004, the 26-year-old beat Russia's Alexander Serov in a time of 4 minutes, 17.864 seconds while Australia's Brad McGee was almost five seconds slower. "To do that in a first competitive race - I'm really pleased," said Wiggins. "Because you can go as hard as you like in training but you never know until you get on the

[nid:37630]Seconds after Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer hurtled across the finish line in Solvang to win Friday’s time-trial stage of the Amgen Tour of California, he repeatedly punched the air and let out a guttural scream of excitement. The thousands of fans lining the finishing straight roared their approval for his stunning performance, realizing that it virtually wraps up his overall victory in the eight-day race.

[nid:37614]Just as sunshine followed rain on Thursday’s beautiful ride along the Big Sur coast at the Amgen Tour of California, so the stage 4 victory in San Luis Obispo by world champ Paolo Bettini of Italy was just a trailer for Friday’s time-trial showdown. Going into the rolling 14.5-mile TT in Solvang, Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer still has a three-second margin over his main challenger, Jens Voigt of CSC, but a half-dozen others remain in contention, including three-time world TT champion Michael Rogers of T-Mobile, who’s 19 seconds back.

[nid:37587]Things didn’t start well for Team CSC at this year’s Amgen Tour of California. Largely due to shifting wind conditions, the squad’s time-trial specialists, including Dave Zabriskie and Fabian Cancellara, who went one-two at the 2006 world time trial championships, were shut out of the top three spots in the opening prologue in San Francisco.

Argentinean ace J.J. Haedo blasted to the front of another all-ProTour sprint finish Tuesday to win the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California. After yesterday’s chaotic finish, Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) was happy to have remained intact and safely inside an upright peloton after three circuits of downtown Sacramento concluded the 116-mile stage from his hometown of Santa Rosa.

For the second year in a row, American Levi Leipheimer took the podium of the Amgen Tour of California as the race leader in his hometown of Santa Rosa. This year, however, it wasn’t under circumstances the Discovery Channel rider would have chosen. Australian sprinter Graeme Brown (Rabobank) won Monday's Stage 1 after Leipheimer went down in a 50-rider pile-up with two 3-mile laps of a downtown finishing circuit remaining in the 156.4km stage.

Defying an increasing wind that saw the likes of world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC) fall out of contention, Levi Leipheimer stormed to the Amgen Tour of California prologue win on Sunday atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. The last rider to leave the starting house, Leipheimer flew down the flat one-mile stretch of The Embarcadero along the water before turning onto the steep Telegraph Hill climb towards Coit Tower with pitches as steep as 22 percent.

Buyer’s Guide CorrectionBrain fade set in on the finishing sprint for the VeloNews Buyer’sGuide. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show, March 2 – 4, takes placein San Jose, California, not San Diego as the Buyer’s Guide states. Forcomplete information, visit the Show’s site: www.handmadebicycleshow.com 

You can’t rest on your laurels in the world of cycling. The old adage that you’re only as good as your last race appears to apply doubly in the product world these days. Barely have consumers had time to get their hands on the stuff introduced at Interbike, when new, lighter, faster (and probably pricier) product is making early appearances in the peloton. This year’s Mallorca Challenge turned into a prime opportunity for manufacturers to try out new gear on teams and to offer reasonably orchestrated “sneak peeks” at the some beautiful product that will likely appear in shops by year’s

Less than a week after SRAM announced a voluntary recall of a limited numberof Force frontbrake calipers, the company has expanded the recall to include rearcalipers. The expansion is due to incorrect grain structure in the titaniumused to manufacturer the caliper mounting bolts of both front and rearbrakes.SRAM urges consumers not to ride a bicycle equipped with the affectedbrakes. The mounting bolt can fail causing the brake caliper to detachfrom the frame of fork.SRAM assures its partners that the issue has been corrected and thatit has ended its relationship with the suspect supplier. The

Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau wrapped up the overall victory at the Tour de Langkawi on Sunday as Alberto Loddo added yet another win to his tally, equaling the record of five stage wins in a single year.

Anthony Charteau is well on his way to winning the Le Tour de Langkawi overall title, following a largely tactical ride from Putrajaya to Seremban on Saturday. Although the ninth – and penultimate – stage of the Tour put the Crédit Agricole rider up against the winding roads of Kuala Klawang, he kept up with the leaders over the course of day’s many climbs to maintain his 1:02 over Jose Serpa (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovannio), who won Thursday’s decisive stage to the Genting Higlands.

For the second time in as many years Jose Serpa was first man across the line at the top of the hors categorie Genting Highlands stage, but the Colombian Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni rider couldn’t make up enough time to unseat the overall race leader Anthony Charteau.

Due to a quality issue with the titanium alloy used in the mountingbolt of a limited number of the new Force road group’s front brakes, SRAMhas issued a voluntary recall to consumers in possession of the brakes.Roughly 10 have failed. SRAM asks consumers discontinue riding until the front Force brake caliperhas been replaced.According to SRAM' media manager, Michael Zellmann, the problem was identifiedthrough SRAM’s internal quality process. A small number of the titaniummounting bolts failed during the installation process. There have beenno injuries associated with the defect. Affected

Japan’s Shinichi Fukusima proved that persistence and hard work are the key to success as he became the first Asian to win a stage in this year’s Tour de Langkawi following a strong 174km ride from Kuantan to Karak. The stage win for the rider from the Nippo-Meitan Hompo team was only the third stage victory for an Asian rider in the 12-year history of the tour, following wins by Wong Kam Po in 2000 and Koji – the younger brother of Shinichi – Fukushima in 2005.

The man is on a streak. Alberto Loddo scored his fourth win at the Tour de Langkawi Wednesday, again frustrating Ceramiche Panaria’s Maximiliano Richeze in a charge to the line at the end of a 137-kilometer ride from Kuala Terengganu to Cukai. Loddo (Selle Italia-Serramenti) charged across the line ahead of the main field, which included Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau, the overall race leader who was more than content to finish in 59th place, secure in the knowledge that he holds a four-minute buffer with Friday’s short, but decisive, ride to the Genting Highlands ahead.

Italian Alberto Loddo pulled off a hattrick of stage victories at the Tour de Langkawi Tuesday, winning the Tour’s fifth stage in a field sprint at the end of a 167-kilometer race from Kota Bharu to Kuala Terengganu. With the most of the field finishing together, Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau easily held on to the comfortable four-minute lead in the overall standings, a buffer he earned on Sunday in the stage to Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands.

The Cable GuyDear Lennard,To my untrained eye, Vision Tech brake cables look strikingly similarto Shimano STI derailleur cables. I notice that Team CSC uses Nokoncables with the Vision Aero Brake Levers. What are my options fordifferent brands of cables (and housings) to use with the Vision levers,other than the Vision cables. (I already have extra STI cables, soinstead of buying new Vision cables, if it is safe and compatible, I wouldthink I could use these.)ChrisDear Chris,The Vision DragOn Brake Cable is just a brake cable with a shift cableend to fit into one of those little tiny Vision

Italian Alberto Loddo claimed his second stage victory at the Tour de Langkawi Monday in an intense bunch sprint that resulted in at least 10 riders crashing just 50-meters from the finish line.

Anthony Charteau Sunday became the first Frenchman to claim the yellow jersey after conquering stage three of the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, which saw racers ride up the popular Cameron Highlands. It was an unexpected finish for Charteau, who is not considered to be among the more renowned climbers in the race and was to have set the pace for teammate and main rider, Francesco Bellotti.

Argentine Maximiliano Richeze earned an impressive win at the end of the second stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday, edging out a hard-charging field at the end of a 166-kilometer stage between the Malaysian cities of Kangar and Kulim. Richeze, who along with his Ceramiche Panaria teammate, Ruben Bongiorno, were pipped at the end of Friday’s opening stage by Italian Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia), fought hard in the final 250 meters to fend off a big group of strong sprinters, earning both the checkered flag and the overall leader’s jersey.

Lastweek I reported on the first day of the CyclingScience Symposium and Expo at the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado. The conference featured a second day of lectures, followed by a third expo day at which purveyors of equipment and services for improving cycling performance offered their products for public view. Tied up by other commitments, I was unable to attend the expo, but I did find the second lecture day to be fascinating. Computer-modeling your musclesDan Heil, Ph.D., FACSM, an associate professor of exercise physiology at Montana State University in Bozeman gave a very

Katie Compton gave the United States its second silver medal in two days at the World Cyclo-cross Championships today in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, as France’s Maryline Salvetat overcame a rough start to battle her way to victory in the women’s race on Sunday. Salvetat’s teammate Laurence Laboucher hung on for third, while pre-race favorite Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) faded to fifth after crashing at the halfway point while in the lead.

Belgians narrowly averted what could have been viewed as a national tragedy at this year’s Cyclo-cross World Championships as defending champion Erwin Vervecken came from behind to win the elite men’s race on Sunday. In an event often swept by the Belgian squad, Vervecken was the only one of his countrymen who managed to step onto the podium in front of a huge home crowd in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, as the efforts of pre-race favorites Sven Nys and Bart Wellens were hampered by crashes and a series of difficulties throughout.

Belgians and Americans got off to a great start at the world cyclo-cross championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, Saturday, as host-country prospect Joeri Adams and U.S. rider Danny Summerhill sprinted to a tight finish in the junior men’s event. Summerhill battled back from a crash with two laps to go to earn second, as pre-race favorite Jiri Polnicky (Czech Republic) crossed the line one second later in third.

"Last year," said Lars Boom, "I was not happy with second." On Saturday, the young Dutchman made up for that disappointment by finally winning the under-23 title at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, in his final year as an espoir. Belgium's Niels Albert took the silver and Roman Villa of France the bronze, while defending champion Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) could manage no better than fourth.

Tuesdays at VeloNews.com usually feature Lennard Zinn's "Technical Q&A"column, in which VeloNews' senior technical writer fields questionsfrom you, our readers. But this week, Boulder, Colorado, is playing hostto the first (and hopefully annual) CyclingScience Symposium and Expo, organized by the Serotta InternationalCycling Institute. Yup, it's a sort of bike geek Woodstock (albeit on a much smaller scale) and we knewexactly where we'd find our friend Lennard. For the next few daysZinn will be attending the seminar and, when he gets some time, even sendingus a few reports

American Sarah Hammer’s trophy case could soon need structural reinforcing. The world individual pursuit champion added another gold medal to her stack with a win in her signature event during day two of the track World Cup in Los Angeles. Earlier in the day, Hammer set a new U.S. record of 3:32.058. After the effort Hammer said she would just "put it on cruise" in the evening’s gold-medal match against Germany’s Verena Joos. Sure enough, Hammer quickly made up time against her rival, gaining time with every lap to build such a comfortable lead she sat up well before the line and waved to

Another day, another gold for Sarah Hammer — our man Casey Gibson was on hand and snapping away. Here's what he saw.

Sarah Hammer put to rest any ideas that she’s not a top mass-start racer with a gold medal in the Los Angeles World Cup scratch race, her third win of the three-day event. Hammer won the opening-night points race and followed it up with gold in the individual pursuit. Hammer and American Becky Quinn repeated the tactic that put them one-two at last year’s World Cup scratch race in Los Angeles. Hammer hit the front with a few to go, Quinn battled to get on her wheel, then Hammer dialed up the pace so high no one could come around her. There was no need for the UCI officials to check the photo

That's a wrap — three days of racing, three golds for Sarah Hammer and three cheers for our man Casey Gibson, whose shutter kept clicking from lights on to lights out.

It may be the off-season to you, but not to the intrepid Casey Gibson, who has lugged his bag of camera bodies, lenses and computer gear from snowy Colorado to the ADT Event Center in Carson, California, for the UCI track World Cup. Here's a peek at what he sent home.