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Levi Leipheimer (Astana) ripped to a dramatic victory in Sunday’s opening prologue at the 60th Dauphiné Libéré in a showdown between the Tour de France favorites. Leipheimer -- who won the 2006 Dauphiné – flew over the 5.6km course into Avignon to stop the clock at 6:10 to take a one-second victory to prologue specialist Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole), with Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) stopping the clock third at six seconds off the pace.

High Road’s Chantal Beltman won the Commerce Bank Liberty Classic in a late-race solo move. After Beltman and her High Road teammates Mara Abbott and Kim Anderson went clear with Tibco’s Joanne Kiesanowski on the last of four trips up Manayunk Wall, America’s strongest women’s team played its numbers. With less than three miles to go, Abbott attacked, drawing out Kiesanowski. Beltman then countered and it was game over.

The sun continued to smile on Fort William on Sunday for the final day of World Cup competition —the crowd favorite, downhill. A pair of riders long absent from the winner’s circle responded to the roars, whistles and horns of the fans lining the course from top to bottom. Tracy Moseley (Kona) took her first win since 2006, while Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) his first since 2005. The day started misty and damp for qualifying, but strong winds blew the mist and clouds away, and as the day progressed the conditions just got better and better.

Proving his form on the mountain bike is nearing its peak, Ryan Trebon (Kona) obliterated a field of the Rocky Mountain region’s best talent to win the Teva Mountain Games cross-country race, on Sunday in Vail, Colorado. Trebon, the 2006 U.S. cyclocross national champ, attacked on the opening climb of the 26.4-mile race, and held his solo advantage to the end. His seven-minute victory over defending champion “Jungle” Jay Henry (Tokyo Joe’s) earned the lanky Kona rider a fat $3000 paycheck.

On the road again. Seems to be a reoccurring theme here in the land of the coached. This week – a day late I must admit – I’m coming to you from the great American city of Philadelphia. And of course I am here to cover the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling – and get in a few maintenance rides time permitting.

It may have been the Scottish Highlands rather than the Alps, but the Swiss men were right at home in Fort William for the fifth round of the mountain bike cross-country World Cup. Swiss riders swept the top three spots of the podium, led by Florian Vogel (Swisspower). Vogel's teammate, U23 series leader Nino Schurter, came in right behind, with Christoph Sauser (Specialized) nine seconds back.

Astana has watered down pre-race predictions that its team leader for the Dauphiné Liberé, Levi Leipheimer, will emerge triumphant after a week of tough racing in the Alps. Traditionally a warm-up for July's Tour de France, the hilly week-long race kicks off Sunday with a short time trial and by next Sunday should give some hint as to who's hot and who's not for the upcoming battle for the yellow jersey. With Astana not invited to this year's Tour, the team will be keen to stay on a victory high following Alberto Contador's recent Giro d'Italia triumph.

Linus Gerdemann will be sidelined for at least another month after breaking his left leg during the time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico, his High Road team reports. The crash left the 2007 Tour de France stage winner and yellow jersey holder with fractures on his left upper and lower leg and damage to the cruciate ligaments of his left knee. The extended recovery time means Gerdemann will miss both the Tour and the Olympics.

A challenging and explosive course for the 60th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré should produce plenty of fireworks in what will be the final dress rehearsal for many Tour de France-bound favorites. Last year’s Tour runner-up, Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), leads an all-star cast for the Sunday start of the eight-day Dauphiné, which will throw plenty at the peloton to assure a wild and unpredictable race.

Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain), has accomplished the first major goal of her season by winning the fifth round of the mountain bike World Cup in Fort William, Scotland. Premont beat the previous week's winner, Marga Fullana (Massi), by 13 seconds on Saturday, and extended her lead in the overall standings to 60 points. Sabine Spitz (Ghost) finished third, with Lene Byberg (Specialized) and Laurence Leboucher (France) rounding out the podium. Georgia Gould and Catharine Pendrel (both Luna) finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

Sunday marks the 24th edition of the Philadelphia International Championship. Although no longer used to crown the national champion, this grand event of domestic racing boasts the greatest distance and some of the deepest fields in North American cycling. Riders surviving the past week’s racing in Reading and Lehigh will face 156 miles in 10 laps through Philadelphia, including 10 climbs up the famed 17 percent Manayunk Wall. Along with The Wall, the weather will also mount a challenge: forecasters called for a record-breaking high of 96 degrees on Sunday.

The third round of the 4-cross mountain bike World Cup got under way Friday under a most un-Scottish sunny sky. Fort William has a seven-year tradition of top-notch racing — however, great weather is not one of the attributes that springs to mind when regulars think of Fort Bill. A steady breeze even kept the biting midge flies away during the race.

USA Cycling on Friday announced the 37 remaining athletes nominated to represent the United States at the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships July 15-22 in Val di Sole, Italy. With only a little more than two months remaining until the Olympic Games in Beijing, American cross country athletes will square off against fellow hopefuls from across the globe in the only Olympic discipline of off-road cycling. Six men and seven women have been nominated to the elite cross country squad.

The mountain bike World Cup has moved to Fort William, Scotland, for round five of the cross-country and round three of the gravity events this weekend. The actions gets under way Friday evening with the 4-cross, followed by the cross-country on Saturday and concluding with the downhill on Sunday. Probably the most talked about aspect of this year's Fort Bill event in its seventh consecutive year is the weather, which is dry and sunny. It is so dry, in fact, that the riders are raising dust on the downhill, something that has never happened before.

Big Shark Racing of St. Louis, MO, is pleased to announce a 2-year co-title sponsorship with Michelob Ultra, an Anheuser-Busch brand. This sponsorship deal runs through the end of the 2009 season, during which the team will be called "Michelob Ultra - Big Shark Racing". The increased budget will allow the team to better support their Elite Development team in larger national-caliber events, as well as the National Championships. Mike Weiss, owner of Big Shark Bicycles, and Cat1 racer, explains that "running the bike shop causes me to focus daily on the

New York, NY — Harlem Rocks with messenger racing as part of the 35th Annual Skyscraper Cycling Classic on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15th, at Marcus Garvey Park in New York City. Four-rider teams will compete in a “package pass” relay race on a specially modified racecourse. The race kicks off at 3:30 pm, just before the professional men’s start at 4:10.

The Reading Classic 2008: A Kurt Jambretz Gallery