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Christian Vande Velde powered to victory in Wednesday’s time trial stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe to deliver Slipstream-Chipolte its first European victory of its breakout 2008 season. Vande Velde’s consistent performances all spring finally paid off with an impressive victory on the 8.3km course in Angers. He covered the course in 10 minutes, 10.58 seconds (53.948kph) and stopped the clock 10 seconds faster than his closest rival, Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJeux).

Making their mark both stateside and in South America last weekend, Kona Factory Team riders proudly stood atop the podium in Fountain Hills, Arizona and the Pan-Am Mountain Bike Championships in Venezuela. Competing in three races last weekend at the McDowell Mountain Park in the second NMBS event, team riders Barry Wicks, Ryan Trebon and Wendy Simms all secured top-three finishes in at least one race. Kris Sneddon also competed and finished in the top-15 in all of his races.

Press Release: NEW CULT: FOR THE CHOSEN CYCLISTS If you're one of the chosen cyclists, you should check out the Web site, oyvelo.com. Even if you're not Jewish, you still might like the site enough to send the link to your token Jewish friend. It's a great place to discover Israeli Cycling gear and read about superhuman Jewish cyclists. Oy, Velo!

With their morale on a high after Judith Arndt’s victory in the Tour of Flanders, High Road’s women’s team now tackle the fourth round of the World Cup this Saturday, the Ronde Van Drenthe. The high point of a three-race series in and around Drenthe, the 136.6km event features a triple ascent of the notorious Vamberg climb. 750 metres long and with sections at a 20 percent gradient, the race features a number of cobbled sections. Narrow, twisting and frequently exposed roads, not to mention potentially bad weather, make the race a tough event, normally fraught with tension.

Who is the Quikest Stik in the land? That is the question that California Bike Gear intends to answer through a Nationwide Stikdown. To make the competition as intense as possible, every entry must be caught on video and uplinked to YouTube. The result is that everyone will have real time information about the time to beat.

Our annual Buyer's Guide features several tours of bicycle and bicycle accessory factories and labs. Here are some outtake photos from VeloNews' photo editor Brad Kaminski's visit to the Bell Sports headquarters in Santa Cruz, California. To read Fred Dreier's complete article on Bell Sports, along with other factory tours and in-depth product reviews, you'll have to grab a copy of our Buyer's Guide.

Spain's David Herrero of the Karpin team won the 195km third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on Wednesday between Erandio and Viana while Astana's Alberto Contador retained the overall lead. Herrero had finished third in the first two stages of the race, and now lies third overall, eight seconds behind Contador. The 28-year-old Herrero beat out compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez and Italy's Olympic champion Paolo Bettini in a sprint finish for a time of 4:54:24.

The 2008 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah presented by Zions Bank; a NRC, Pro 1 Men invitation only, five-day stage race featuring a $75,000 purse, will be closing for team applications April 15th so that they can finalize the field for the August 13-17 event. Any interested team that has not yet applied for consideration can do so by going to www.tourofutah.com and clicking on the Teams page. Team selection will be announced the following week. Contact Terry McGinnis at terrymac@xmission.com for more information.

Warriors Cycling is excited to announce the return of the Rocky Mountain Ultra Regional Endurance Series. The Series has an amazing line-up of races for the 2008 Season. From Wyoming to New Mexico, the series covers all kinds of terrain and endurance racing. From 12-hour races to distance races, endurance mountain bike racers are sure to be pleased with the courses!

A heightened threat of rock fall on one mountain pass has forced Tour de France organizers to alter the route of a stage in this year’s edition. The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced Wednesday that the 15th stage of the 2008 Tour would now start from Embrun, rather than Digne-les-Bains, and feature the 2744m Agnel climb before arriving in Prato Nevoso in Italy. The stage was originally to have included the ascent at Larche but that is now being avoided due to the "very high" risk of rock fall, ASO noted in a press release.

Oscar Freire’s knack for winning chaotic sprints made him a favorite to win the 70th edition of Ghent-Wevelgem as a huge 77-rider pack thundered toward the finish line in this small Belgian town. And while the cagey 32-year-old did emerge victorious to become the event’s first Spanish champion, Freire and his Rabobank teammates earned the win the old-fashioned way.

Quick Step rider Carlos Barredo might have been a little bit groggy before Monday’s start of the Tour of the Basque Country; he certainly had reason to be. Barredo raced Sunday’s Tour of Flanders and barely had time to wipe down before he was being hustled away to the airport in Brussels for a flight to Spain, where a team car was waiting for him to shuttle him to the team hotel above San Sebástian. The Spanish rider didn’t get to bed until 1:30 a.m. after what was a very long day.

Trails Now Open! Central Coast XC Series.

John Hatlelid attacks during the UT & St. Edwards Race Weekend men's A crit

Over the years, dozens of top sprinters, from Freddy Maertens to Sean Kelly to Mario Cipollini, have won Ghent-Wevelgem, which celebrates its 70th edition on Wednesday. But the UCI ProTour classic rarely ends in a field sprint. When Cipollini earned his third Wevelgem scalp in 2002, he was in a small breakaway group with Americans Fred Rodriguez and George Hincapie. Hincapie won the race the year before in a photo-finish over Dutchman Leo Van Bon, also in a small-group sprint.

The whistling of wind; the hiss of spray kicked up from mud-covered roads onto hollow down tubes; the light crackling sound of hail smashing into helmets; the honking of blown noses, clearing both spring sickness and mud; a hacking cough piercing the air every few minutes; and the worst sound of all: blood-curdling yells, followed by the inevitable sound of metal on pavement and snapping carbon, and more yells, and then probably some unsavories not fit for print. Yep, those are the sounds of “spring” in northern Europe. Repeat that sequence for six hours and you’ve got a bike race.

The current dispute between Trek and LeMond has its roots in an uncomfortable relationship between America's two Tour champions. The two were photographed at the presentation for the 2003 Tour de France.

Waterloo, WI -- At an employee meeting held today, John Burke, President of Trek Bicycle Corporation, announced that Trek has filed suit in Federal Court in Madison, WI, to sever the company's ongoing relationship with three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond.

Kim Kirchen (High Road) drove a fierce sprint up a rising finish to upset two-time world champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) in Tuesday’s attack-riddled second stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco. Riders went down in the middle of the pack in the final surge to the line as teammate Michael Barry gave Kirchen a perfect lead-out to spring the Luxembourg all-rounder to a morale-boosting victory ahead of the Ardennes classics later this month.

Eddy Mazzoleni, third in last year's Giro d’Italia, has been handed a two-year ban by the Italian cycling federation (FCI) for his involvement in the so-called "Oil for Drugs" affair, the FCI said on Tuesday. The FCI also banned 28-year-old Domenico Quagliariello, formerly with Ceramica Flaminia, for life for his involvement in the same affair. The 34-year-old Mazzoleni was temporarily suspended by his Astana team in June 2007, then sacked a few days later. Both men have 10 days to lodge an appeal with the Italian National Olympic Committee (Coni).

Trek Bicycle Corp. is dropping LeMond Bicycles from its line and going to court to sever a 13-year licensing agreement with three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, Trek president John Burke told employees Tuesday morning. Burke cited LeMond's public comments regarding doping allegations against Lance Armstrong and others, LeMond's decision to offer a mass merchant accessory product line in 2000, and his "inconsistent" commitment to the brand.

It took Stijn Devolder six hours, 24 minutes and two seconds to ride all 264 kilometers of this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen, Belgium’s Tour of Flanders. It took me a bit longer. Scratch that. It took a lot longer; another four-and-a-half hours, to be exact.

Are longer cranks 'harder to push'?

The bridge at Bear Paw Preserve

The United States Cycling Team captured two Pan American Mountain Bike titles at the annual Continental Championships in Venezuela. Mary McConneloug won the elite women’s race, while Sam Jurekovic claimed the win in the men’s U23 contest. In the elite men’s division, Todd Wells was the top American rider with a fifth-place finish, while compatriot Michael Broderick finished sixth. Jurekovic recorded a 1:49:37 to beat runner-up Dario Gasco of Argentina by 54 seconds, while third-place finisher Kindree Neal of Canada was 4:57 back.

Riders will pedal through the streets of Banff on June 21 & 22, 2008 as two additional races are confirmed for the Banff National Park Bike Fest. The festival’s premiere edition will now include a time trial and road race testing participants against themselves, the clock and other teams.

THE 2008 TOUR OF ARKANSAS - PRESS RELEASE This year will see the launch of the Inaugural Tour of Arkansas. Two other great Arkansas events – The Tri-Peaks Challenge Stage Race (NRC) and the Celebrity Classic have now joined forces and become the Tour of Arkansas. The events slogan for this year - “23,000 Feet Of Climbing; 4 Days Of Racing; 2 Mountain Top Finishes; 1 Great Race ”