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Italy’s Liquigas is turning its back on defending Giro d’Italia champ Danilo Di Luca and will rebuild the team for 2008 with a youth movement that includes seven new riders. With Di Luca’s contract not extended following a tumultuous season (see below), the Italian ProTour team will refocus its efforts with the arrival of classics/sprinter Daniele Bennati, Enrico Franzoi and five other younger riders. Di Luca won the Giro and Lìege-Bastogne-Liège, but saw what looked like a lock on his second ProTour title in three years when he was banned for three months by Italian officials for links to

Katie Compton is on a crusade in the motherland of ’cross. She won round three of the Cyclocross World Cup in Pijnacker, The Netherlands on November 3. Daphny Van Den Brand, winner of the previous round in Kalmthout, Belgium, was second by almost a minute. This past weekend, Compton again put her stamp on an international field at the third round of the Superprestige Series in Gavere, Belgium. At the world cup, Compton won, but in Gavere, she dominated, taking first by a hefty 2 minutes and 46 seconds.

Jared Bunde, a 31-year-old member of the GS Mengoni Cycling team, accepteda two-year doping ban by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Tuesday after testing positive for the banned substance clomiphene. Bunde, a member of the GS Mengoni Cycling team, tested positive July 28 at the International Cycling Classic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His two-year ban began October 15, the day he accepted a provisional suspension. As a result of testing positive for the anti-estrogenic drug, Bunde forfeits all results since July 28, including his win in the Masters National Track Championship, Points

Bennati has had a string of impressive wins in grand tours this year.

Compton’s winning ride

Rabobank’s Sven Nys sets the bar on the cyclocross course; therefore many look to his equipment choices. He rides Colnago C50s with Shimano Dura-Ace groups and WH-7801-C50 wheels with Dugast Typhoons 34c tires. with his name on them. Brakes by Spooky

Shimano makes a special 46-tooth outer ring for its sponsored ’crossers. Nys’ inner ring is a standard 39-tooth ring.

Nys’ bikes use a sealed cable system from BBB. A sealed system is of the utmost importance for ’cross in Northern Europe. Mud coupled with ultra frequent power washing can destroy a standard set of cables in the matter of a race.

Dugast puts the world championship stripes and the owner’s name on these 34c Typhoons.

Lars Boom’s second bike sits along with a gaggle of Rabobank’s spare wheels.

At the world cup in The Netherlands, Legg snapped a shot of the Italian national team mechanics making coffee. This is the electric Moka model from Bialetta and can be bought at Williams Sonoma for around $100.

Enrico Franzoi (Lampre-Fondital) rode Fulcrum’s Racing Light carbon wheels with 32c Dugast Rhinos at the muddy world cup in The Netherlands.

A Fidea mechanic works on a team bike, a Ridley prototype with an integrated seat mast. Also notice the green tinted sidewalls on the Challenge Grifo tires. The tint is special for the team, but the tires’ treads are also on production models.

rides Ridley’s house-brand 4ZA brakes, however, the mechanics do add a custom barrel adjuster to the right cable stop.

More Fidea Ridleys with integrated masts. These are Petr Dlask’s bikes.

A tighter shot of the new seat masts. The feature is rumored to be standard equipment for 2009 consumer models.

Bart Wellens (Fidea) has his own rack; two of the bikes have integrated masts, the closest doesn’t. They also sport the team issue tires; the closest has Challenge’s Grifo XS and the others sport standard Grifos.

Another shot of the Belgian champion’s Ridleys.

Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl), winner of World Cup #2, rides a titanium Merida equipped with SRAM Force components.

Katie Compton (SpikeShooter) warming up for the third round of the 2007 World Cup...

... and winning Gavere.

Compton uses Enduro’s ceramic pulleys in her Campagnolo Record rear derailleur.

Ending months of speculation, Kazakh ProTour team Astana announced Fridaythat it had signed American Chris Horner for 2008. The move, which putto rest rumors that Horner was on the verge of signing with U.S. continentalsquad Rock Racing, will see Horner ride alongside Tour de France winnerAlberto Contador as well as compatriot and U.S. national champion LeviLeipheimer. The signing also raised more than a few eyebrows, given Astana’sscandal-plagued 2007 season. After two seasons with Predictor-Lotto that saw Horner take stage winsat the Tour of Switzerland and Tour of Romandie — as well as

If Alejandro Valverde was hoping for a quiet off-season, he was wrong. Representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency were expected to meet Monday with Court of Arbitration for Sport officials in connection with an effort to try yet again to secure a racing ban for the beleaguered Spanish rider for alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal. Officials from both the UCI and WADA said last week during the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid they were “considering their options” about what to do with Valverde, who they insist is linked to the alleged blood doping

Horner says the Astana offer came as a surprise.

Horner will bring his unique style to Astana.

Costa Rica’s Federico “Lico” Ramirez (BCR-Pizza Hut) and American Susan Haywood (Trek-Volkswagen) took overall wins at the 15th annual La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain-bike stage race in Costa Rica. It was Haywood’s first visit to La Ruta, while Ramirez, also an accomplished road racer, became the only person to claim four La Ruta titles. Both riders took three stage wins en route to overall victory. After the race Ramirez said he would be back to try for number five. Central America’s largest bike race concluded on Saturday with the 125km fourth stage from the mountain hamlet of

Rain, 30-degree temperatures, and a course greased so slick with mud that racing turned cartoonish at times caused words like "real" and "'cross race" to commingle during Sunday’s fourth round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross near Trenton, New Jersey. Sloping hairpin turns that posed little threat during Saturday's dry conditions turned treacherous, and running them became faster than risking wipeouts. Defying the weather and the gossip that he can't race in mud, Ryan Trebon (Kona–YourKey.com) took his second victory in as many days.

Ramirez rollin' it

The final sprint

Crossing the Rio Pacuare

Dietsch takes a dip

Trebon, not a mudder? Guess again

Gould wins, but not without suffering

Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how . . .

After a month of political maneuvering, speculation and more than a healthy dose of good old-fashioned rumor mongering, the World Anti-Doping Association did as expected on Saturday and elected former Australian Finance Minister John Fahey as the organization’s president for the next three years. Predicted opposition to Fahey’s candidacy by European members of the WADA Foundation board of directors resulted only in formal abstentions by four members and no vote by Russia’s representative on the panel. The board also elected International Olympic Committee medical commission head Arne

Georgia Gould (Luna) and Ryan Trebon (Kona – Yourkey.com) claimed their first U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross victories of the season Saturday at Mercer County Park. Fit and fast, both Gould and Trebon rode races marked by power, technique and perhaps a little luck on a course that required rhythm, balance and acceleration. An interesting mix of twists and turns forced racers to stitch together angles and "highways" for an interesting race; a gigantic sandpit the size of three volleyball courts and eight 12-inch vertical steps made sure to drain them of any reserved energy.

Fahey meets with reports after his election on Saturday.

Gould nails it

Plenty of challenges on an interesting course.

Trebon and Wicks built an early advantage

Johnson in pursuit

Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of competitive cycling from your friends at VeloNews.com.

VeloNews Podcast 34 - Charles Pelkey at the 2007 WADA Conference, cyclocross interview with Tim Johnson plus the latest on the women's Team Advil squad for 2008.

Fat-tire racers in Southern California probably recognize the name Manuel “Manny” Prado — the 26-year-old wrenches at the Rock N’ Road Cyclery in Mission Viejo and is a staple on the California state mountain-bike series. Each year when the California series and the National Mountain-Bike Series draw to a close, Prado — a native of Costa Rica — finishes each season out by racing his homeland’s largest cycling event, the La Ruta de los Conquistadores. Prado immigrated to the United States in 2001 to pursue his passion for freestyle BMX competition. He earned an appearance on ESPN’s X-Games

German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz was given a one-year suspension by the disciplinary committee of the German Cycling Federation on Friday. The 27-year-old was fired by his T-Mobile team during this month's Tour de France in July after he was found to have had an abnormally high level of testosterone in his blood during a pre-race test on June 8. Sinkewitz then confessed earlier this month in German magazine Der Spiegel to having used EPO since 2003. Sinkewitz he also gave five hours of evidence to the BDR's disciplinary committee in a bid to get his expected two-year ban reduced.

Dick Pound says only one thing is certain about the presidency of the World Anti-Doping Agency. “My term ends at midnight on December 31, 2007,” the current WADA president said during the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid this week. “Beyond that, I’m not sure what is happening. “ European governments on Friday nominated former French Sports Minister Guy Drut as a candidate to stand in opposition to Australian finance minister John Fahey to fill the post. Until two months ago, neither man was being considered for the position, which most observers said would go to

Chris Horner will stay in Europe, José Luís “Chechu” Rubiera won’t retire and Vladimir Gusev remains “at home” as all three are poised to join the new-look Astana team for the 2008 season. The Astana team announced the new arrivals Friday as well as revealed it will cover salaries it says were left unpaid to several riders from the 2007 season in a move that cuts all ties with former team manager Marc Biver. “It’s worked out really well,” Horner said. “It’s fantastic. It’s going to be a great squad. We’ve got great sponsorships. It’s exactly what I wanted to stay in Europe.” Horner’s

With the news of Chris Horner joining fellow American Levi Leipheimer at Astana just hours old, another staple of American cycling also has also been linked to Kazakh team — Trek Bicycles. “We’ve definitely looked at it,” said Scott Daubert, Trek’s former Discovery Team Liaison and current road bike brand manager. “Johan Bruyneel was here right after the Tour of Missouri two months ago.” With the Discovery Channel sponsorship concluding in 2007, Trek officials knew they needed something else for next season. Daubert said Trek had three options: quickly find a ProTour team; take a year off;

The USGP of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers will set a stage this weekend for the nation's elite racers to try their luck in the Northeast's hotbed of cyclocross. The pivotal location just outside Trenton, New Jersey, has already lured local 'cross stars from up and down the Eastern seaboard and the ones arriving from far-flung points across the country will only add to the tense, hyper competitive atmosphere. Following respective wins on home turf and overseas, series leaders Tim Johnson (Cannondale–Leer–Cyclocrossworld.com) and Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) seem poised

With three stages of the 2007 La Ruta de los Conquistadores in the books, Federico “Lico” Ramirez has proven beyond a doubt he owns the strongest legs of anyone in the race. So far the Costa Rican is three-for-three in stage wins, having handily dropped his countrymen and foreigners alike on the course’s steepest climbs. While Ramirez speaks no English, the Tico strongman is a spokesperson for La Ruta to North America and Europe. In 2005, Ramirez rode to a third-place finish at Germany’s eight-day Trans Alp race. Just three months ago, Ramirez and his BCR-Pizza Hut teammate Ivan Amador

La Ruta de los Conquistadores

Federico Ramirez

Juan Solis

Sinkewitz got of lighter than expected, largely because of his cooperation with authorities.

The man who might be king. European sports ministers nominated Guy Drut to replace Dick Pound.

Horner says he has a reason to smile.

The Third World Conference on Doping in Sport kicked off in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday, beginning a three-day international meeting that will focus on revisions in the World Anti-Doping Code and signal the end of Dick Pound’s tenure as the sporting world’s top doping cop. Nearly nine years after the first World Conference on Doping in Sports, in February of 1999, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has grown from a one-page document, issued largely as a panicked response to cycling’s Festina scandal, to a $25 million-a-year organization with authority over all Olympic sport and the legal

Pound addresses a conference charged, in part, with picking his replacement.

Rogge says doping remains a serious threat to Olympic ideals.

Dear Readers;When I wrote Bicycling& the Law, one of my main goals was to tackle the problem of anti-cyclistbias. As I discussed in "Bicycling & the Law," there is an institutionalizedsocial bias against cyclists, which is manifested in a road infrastructurethat discriminates against cyclists, law enforcement bias against cyclists,and even a media bias against cyclists. In my previous Legally Speakingcolumn (see A Fatal Bias?), I discussed some recent car-on-bike crashes,and the textbook examples of police and media bias in response to thosecrashes.In Portland, the cycling community,

Alejandro Valverde’s successful challenge to ride in this year’s world championship road race should not be seen as an end to the doping investigation surrounding the Spanish cyclist, World Anti-Doping Agency president Dick Pound said Thursday. Valverde successfully fought an effort by the UCI to keep him from riding the world’s road race in Stuttgart in September after cycling’s international governing body said he was a suspect in the 18-month-old Operación Puerto case. Valverde took his case to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, and overturned the

Troubles for Michael Rasmussen aren’t over yet. The Danish climbing specialist could face a two-year ban after lying about his whereabouts ahead of this year’s Tour de France. Rabobank fired Rasmussen while leading the 2007 Tour with just days to go following inconsistencies about where he was in the weeks ahead of the race. On Thursday, UCI president Pat McQuaid told VeloNews that Rasmussen’s lies could come back to haunt him and insisted that latest admissions fall short. “We are considering sanctions. If he lied, to me that’s the same as a positive in a doping offense,” McQuaid said

Rasmussen might be suspended, says McQuaid.

Team CSC has won the ProTour team title three years running, but team boss Bjarne Riis is wondering if it’s worth taking aim for a fourth title in the wake of major changes in store for the season-long series for 2008. With all the major grand tours and several important one-day classics removed from the ProTour as part of a major restructuring of the European racing calendar, Riis is skeptical about how much the series title would mean. “Without the grand tours and the other important races, you don’t have to be very clever to see that the ProTour isn’t the same,” Riis told VeloNews. “We

Libby Sheldon (Tokyo Joe’s) and Kyle Hammaker (Cadence) won their respective events on Sunday at the Race Pace Cross in Sykesville, Maryland, round six of the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series. In the elite women’s contest Sheldon went away from the gun and was never challenged. Jessica Hill (Trail’s End) was clearly on her way to second place before falling victim to a mechanical, leaving Cathy Large (Yellow Breeches) free to time-trial in for the runner-up spot. The elitemen’s race was entertaining from start to finish. Hammaker, Todd Hesel (HVB), Dave Weaver (unattached) and Jeff Buckle

What happens when you combine a world-championship event, six kegs of PBR, a limitless supply of Oregon microbrews, 110 men and 30 women, a heckling contest, a tequila shortcut and a golden Speedo? You get the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) November 11-12 near Portland, Oregon. What else? This year, Adam Craig (Giant) let the powerful spirit of Portland cyclocross overwhelm him in the finishing straight of the SSCXWC, held at Estacada Timber Park. In possession of an apparently race-winning lead, Craig stopped to take a beer hand-up a couple hundred meters before the

Andy Rollin says he still has nightmares about his muddy introduction to Costa Rica’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores. In 2005, the 45-year-old from Golden, Colorado, found himself bogged down on the opening stage from Jaco to El Rodeo. Thick mud clung to his rig. He snapped his chain four times and suffered a flat tire. The disasters set the tone for the remainder of the race, and while he finished, the mid-pack result was below his standards. “It was a flat nine miles of muddy jungle that just ruined the bike,” said Rollin. “Nothing worked right for the rest of [the race].”

Riis says it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that without the biggies, the ProTour doesn't mean much.

How come we never see podium ceremonies like this in the Tour?

Never uncork the champagne . . .

. . . until you've crossed the line

Stephen Taft, 63, of Toronto, is racing his first La Ruta. I like to set an objective each year. Last year it was an 800-mile ride. This year it's La Ruta.

John Wong, 42, of Vancouver, is tackling his first La Ruta as part of a three-week vacation cycling Costa Rica's western coast. This is more of a vacation where I get to do a bike race, not just a bike race on my vacation.

Each of this year's 520 participants will receive the famous yellow gear bag

Williams models her rainbow, uh, bikini

To get to Tabor, in the Czech Republic, from Belgium you can either fly (a two-hour flight) or drive. My father, my mechanic for the World Cup, and I decided to fly. This was a big mistake. The reason I shied away from driving was due to my limited web research that noted “difficulties” driving in Czech. But after the stress of our car, plane, bus, metro, train and walking journey, any difficulties driving would be welcomed. As my father said, about halfway into our trip, when we had to purchase an additional bus ticket, since the first one was not for the ‘Airport Express,’ “You pay to

Organizers of the Amgen Tour of California released details of the 2008 edition Tuesday, highlighting an eight-day, 650-mile race slated to start with a prologue at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, on February 17 and end a week later in Pasadena. The 2008 edition of the Tour of California will visit 12 host cities for official stage starts and finishes, including Palo Alto-Stanford University (new in 2008), Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Modesto (new in 2008), San Jose, Seaside, San Luis Obispo, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita and Pasadena (new in 2008). "The challenging

Patrik Sinkewitz will not face criminal charges following this month's doping confession, said a spokesman for the Bonn public prosecutor's office on Tuesday. The 27-year-old German was found to have an abnormally high level of testosterone in his blood during a routine doping control before this year's Tour de France, and T-Mobile subsequently sacked him during the Tour. Earlier this month, he confessed in the German magazine Der Spiegel to having used the banned blood booster EPO since 2003. The Bonn resident has agreed to pay an undisclosed five-figure sum to charity, but

David Zabriskie is the only guy in the world who has earned a very special yellow sticker shaped like the map of France for his top tube. The sticker proclaims “Fastest Time Trial Ever: 54.676kph, David Zabriskie.” Ever since he won the 19km prologue at Noirmoutier in 2005 at that record speed, beating a stellar Lance Armstrong and donning the yellow jersey, cycling fans have marveled at his great bike position. But despite having a very low, narrow, incredibly aerodynamic position, his first time ever in a wind tunnel was Monday, November 12. That will probably come as a surprise to many,