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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 ”

Shawn Milne became the third rider from Team Type 1 to break a bone in his hand in the past 17 days when he crashed Saturday on the final lap of the 1st Centennial Bank/KWB Wealth Managers Criterium at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Riding in a four-man breakaway that was destined to stay away to the finish line, Milne clipped his pedal coming out of the second-to-last turn and went headfirst over the handlebars. X-Rays revealed Milne broke his right thumb at the metacarpal (knuckle) joint.

Erik Zabel leads Team MILRAM in Gent-Wevelgem Last-minute line-up change after poor showing in Hel van Het Mergelland

Pick your professional cyclists in this FREE fantasy cycling game and win over $1000 in endurance products. DBM Nutrition has opened registration for the April 13, 2008 Paris-Roubaix Fantasy Cycling Game. It's free to enter and prizes total over $1000 in Kona Endurance products. The object is to pick 10 cyclists from selected groups and the better they do, the better you do. It's fun and easy to play.

The last time Stuart O'Grady experienced such atrocious weather on a bike, he had to dive under a tractor to hide from hailstones the size of golf balls. That wasn't the case at the snow-hit Tour of Flanders on Sunday, but still the reigning Paris-Roubaix champion and his CSC team suffered arguably their worst ever day of racing. CSC harbored realistic hopes of seeing Milan-SanRemo champion Fabian Cancellara grab his second classics scalp of the season.

Fabian Cancellara was among the big name favorites for the Tour of Flanders crown left regretting the harsh conditions and race tactics which produced a surprise winner here on Sunday. The Swiss ace came into the race as a big favorite after a commanding performance in the Italian one-day classic Milan-San Remo a fortnight ago, won shortly after he had triumphed at the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.

Alberto Contador’s “Revenge Tour 2008” continued Monday as the Astana rider uncorked a blistering acceleration on the last of seven climbs to bolt away from a soggy and cold peloton in the 137km opener at the Vuelta al País Vasco. Contador won the stage three seconds ahead of Ezequiel Mosquera (Karpin-Galicia) and takes an unexpected eight-second lead on his main adversaries in an exciting opening day of the six-day Basque Country tour.

A decision on the fraud case against disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is expected in the next week, it was revealed on Monday. Prosecutors in Bonn have been investigating the 1997 Tour de France winner since July 2006 after it was alleged that he was involved in taking performance-enhancing drugs. The 34-year-old faces fraud charges, alleging that by using banned substances, he deceived the public, sponsors and his team.

When it’s a hard day in the Tour of Flanders, the home riders nearly always come out on top. And Sunday’s 92nd edition of the gnarly Belgian classic was one of the hardest, with hail showers, even some snow, and long bouts of heavy rain blasting the riders through the middle part of the 264km race, which started and ended in spring sunshine. So it was fitting that the reigning champion of Belgium, Stijn Devolder of Quick Step-Innergetic, emerged with a gutsy solo triumph.

They won’t be facing off against each other in the Tour de France this summer, so this week’s Tour of the Basque Country in Spain will provide a glimpse of what should have been the season’s biggest showdown.

Connie Carpenter is reporting that her husband, Davis Phinney, had successful surgery Friday to install a device to reduce the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease. In a letter to friends, Carpenter said the deep brain surgery "went very well." She said after the surgery Phinney, a Tour de France stage winner and Olympian, said he was hungry. "He's tired (the surgery was well over four hours and he was awake for much of it), but hunger is a good sign!" she said.