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Bright-eyed, 21-year-old Robert Gesink might have time on his side, but Davide Rebellin used all of the savvy of his 15-year career to snatch away the Paris-Nice yellow jersey Saturday in nail-biting sixth stage won by Sylvain Chavanel.

After a solid debut to the 2008 season, Slipstream-Chipotle can’t catch a break in Paris-Nice. Bad news keeps piling up just as the team was looking to impress ASO bosses this week and earn a ticket to the Tour de France. While optimistic it will earn an invite to July’s big dance, team insiders are hoping that Tour brass will consider the team’s strong anti-doping message and consistent early season results rather than how it’s stumbling through the season’s first major stage race.

True Love

Into the Snow

Health Net-Maxxis rider Kyle Gritters followed course directions in Friday's Tour de Taiwan stage — even when the race officials didn’t — to win the stage. Gritters' teammate John Murphy retains the overall lead and the leads the points competition in the race, which concludes Sunday. The rolling, 127km stage was chaotic, according to team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo, due to the rainy, windy conditions. But he said things got really interesting in the latter part of the stage.

A bicycle race in the tradition of a classic European road race comes to Northern Michigan on Sunday, May 25. The UCI 1.2 ranked, 4th Annual Priority Health Tour de Leelanau, presented by Leelanau Sands Casino, will take international and professional male and female bicycle racers through some of the most scenic spots in the State of Michigan the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend.

Graham Watson captured the action, including Barredo's narrow victory during stage 5 of the 2008 Paris-Nice.

It’s amazing how quickly a Pavlovian response can develop. Just 30 minutes ago, the end of an interval effort would have elicited great relief, a time to rest and regroup. But now as the clock on the computer screen in front of me ticks toward the end of another four-minute burst, relief has been replaced by the nervous tension that precedes inevitable pain.

Dear Readers,
Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, VeloNews.com's regular summary of the news from the world of competitive cycling. This week I am filling in for your usual host, VeloNews.com Senior Editor Charles Pelkey. Charles is enjoying a well-earned vacation in Namibia.

Niklas Axelsson (PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni) slipped into the leader's jersey at Tirreno-Adriatico on Friday after finishing third in stage 3. Spaniard Joachim Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne) won the 195km leg from Gubbio to Montelupone with Italian Danilo Di Luca (Team LPR) second. An early escape by Jose Garcia Acosta (Caisse d'Epargne) and Lloyd Mondori (Ag2r) took a lead of more than eight minutes before being swept up in the final 20km.

Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) is one of those riders who can do just about anything. He chases down breakaways for the GC captains, goes on the attack to take off the pressure in the spring classics and even managed to finish 10th in last year’s Vuelta a España. Friday was payback time for the 26-year-old Barredo, who attacked late in the 172.5km fifth stage across Provence to drop the remnants of a 17-man breakaway and claim Quick Step’s third win in six days of racing at the 66th Paris-Nice.

UCI chief pat McQuaid on Friday promised to back reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador should he decide to take legal action over his exclusion from this year's race. The tour's organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), ruled on February 13 that Contador's Astana team would be barred from competing in this year's race as a result of doping scandals over the past two years. But International Cycling Union (UCI) president McQuaid said the decision is unfair.

Ian Downing - bike mechanic extraordinaire - ponders a new challenge

Unibet.com, the ProTour team that disintegrated last year after being barred from most events, is back, with a new name and new sponsor. The UCI has granted a one-year "wild card" license to the Swedish UCI professional continental team Cycle Collstrop, sponsored by a timber company. Last year the team was granted a ProTour license while sponsored by Unibet.com, a Swedish gambling Web site.

American Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) won Thursday's fifth stage of the Tour de Taiwan, moving into second place behind Health Net's John Murphy. It was the first professional race victory for the team. Milne won the Tour de Taiwan last year while on the Health Net team. His victory on Thursday came in a field sprint at the end of the 92-mile Hsinchu City circuit race, the event's longest stage. Murphy was sixth, while also picking up three points and a two-second time bonus for his second place in an intermediate sprint. Murphy is leading the GC and the points competition.

Graham Watson was following the tough stage 4, finishing up the infamous Mt. Ventoux.

It’s Taipei CYCLE 2008 (The 21st Annual Taipei Intl Cycle Show), one of the three most important cycle shows in the world and Asia’s largest, and it’s rapidly gearing up to show its stuff at the brand new NANGANG Exhibition Hall from March 13 to 16. According to the organizer, TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council), a record 762 exhibitors are coming to the show to use 2,842 — a 24% increase over last year’s count and the highest number ever!

Schwinn Bicycles, America's most recognized bicycle brand, today announced the signing of a partnership with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT), the world's largest endurance sports training and fundraising program, to become its first-ever national bicycle sponsor. Schwinn is owned by Dorel Industries (TSX: DII.B, DII.A).

Italian Raffaele Illiano (Diquigiovanni-Androni) won the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Thursday, edging out countryman Enrico Gasparotto (Barloworld) in a sprint finish. Niklas Axelsson (Diquigiovanni-Androni) was third. The trio, with German Linus Gerdemann (Team High Road) and Saunier Duval teammates Riccardo Ricco and Eros Capecchi, went clear of the peloton on the last climb of the day, about 25km from the finale of the 203km leg from Civitavecchia to Gubbio.

Robert Gesink (Rabobank) couldn’t have picked a bigger stage to announce himself to the world. Holland’s first pure climber in a generation surged into the yellow jersey after Thursday’s summit finish on Mont Ventoux in a searing attack with 5km to go that left everyone choking on his fumes — except 2007 Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto). While Evans slipped past to win the stage, Gesink proved he’ll be a man to reckon with as he took control of Paris-Nice with three tough stages to go.

The information-technology company CSC is leaving professional cycling when its contract with Riis Cycling expires at the end of this year. A company spokesman said the decision reflects a shift in priorities as CSC makes new investments to implement a long-term growth plan. "Our involvement in the sport of cycling has been a positive and productive experience," said Henrik Bo Pedersen, the CSC executive responsible for overseeing the sponsorship.

Chavanel with Cunego - can he withstand the attacks on his jersey on Ventoux today?

Sven Beer (Branson High) cuts through the cake batter

Carolina Gomez Villafane (Los Gatos) on her way to winning in JV.

Tyler Giger (Salinas High) makes an early departure from the beach party

Nate Byrom (Nevada-Union) keeps the weight back and low

Lake Folsom set the backdrop of the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League’s second race of the series on March 9th. Although the water level was low this year, making the space for the crisp blue lake almost half empty, the day brought with it a half-full kind of spirit as racers proved once again that they are full of determination, character, and sportsmanship.

Portland International Raceway (PIR) is usually filled with racecars roaring around the track. On Monday nights in the summer, hundreds of cyclists will take over PIR as Lakeside Bicycles Monday Night Races kicks off its 12th season. “Bicycle racing continues to grow at PIR, and we see new racers each year trying it out,” said series organizers Jim Anderson, “We are adding clinics for novice women who want to see what the sport is all about, in hopes of seeing a growth in the women's fields. Also, with the addition of the track

Rams Cycling continues to climb to the top of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference with outstanding results at the University of New Mexico Lobo Classic and Metro State/Denver University Time Trial and Criterium.

Gate bashers looking to earn the stars and stripes in four-cross racing, listen up: USA Cycling will hold the 2008 national championships in the discipline at New Mexico’s Chile Challenge, held May 26 at Angel Fire resort.

The National Race Calendar resumes this weekend with the Sequoia Cycling Classic in Central California. The town of Exeter will be the start of Saturday’s Yokohl Ranch Exeter Time Trial, a 40-kilometer out-and-back course with two significant climbs, and neighboring Visalia will host Sunday’s Visalia Criterium.

Team ODI/Southridge/Turner has signed both David 'K' and Brad Oein to race this season. Brad Oein had a great '07 season, winning the Golden State Championships in Jr.x and Qualifying to race at the World Championship in Scotland ... Now training in Austalia for the winter, you can expect to see plenty of top place finishes from this proven DH racer upon his Turner DHR race bike. His racing schedule has him back in the states just in time to race the first National race in Fontana CA.

Health Net's John Murphy at the Tour of Taiwan.