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Wiggins is quite comfortable on the podium. He's done this before.

Press awaits the British Women's sprint team.

Riding the omnium, Huff takes on the points race...

... and the pursuit.

The media room is there to keep track of all of it.

The 2007 Tour of Germany will include new highs in its nine-day, 1315km route revealed Tuesday by race organizers. The race starts Aug. 10 in Saarbrücken and ends Aug. 18 in Hannover in a challenging, varied route sure to give the German tour even more prestige as the event continues to gain momentum among fans and racers. “The race will be extremely difficult,” said 2006 winner Jens Voigt (CSC). “To defend my title won’t be easy.” The route will feature a team time trial for the time (42.2km in the second stage) as well tackle the 15km, 2600m climb at Rettenbachferner in the fifth stage

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

With the arrival of spring and warmer weather for many North American cyclists, longer weekend rides are an enhanced and improved part of the training plan. While you may be wisely planning on carrying plenty of sports drinks and gels for the ride itself, what you eat in the hours before and the day before the ride can also provide an important nutritional boost. Ideally, any long ride begins with adequate fuel stores, namely muscle glycogen, liver glycogen, and even adequate muscle fat or triglyceride levels. Chances are most all of us are beginning this phase of training with more than

Australian hopes of striking a pre-Olympic psychological blow could be kept in check by an on-form British men's pursuit team at the world track championships on Friday in Palma de Majorca, Spain. The second day of the competition features four gold-medal finals in the women's individual pursuit, the men's team pursuit, the keirin and the men's 15km scratch. But it is the team pursuit, an event in which defending champions Australia also hold the Olympic title and world records (3 minutes, 56.610 seconds), that is most likely to thrill the spectators here at the brand-new

The tour of Germany will go to Austria to tackle the Rettenbachferner, which Levi Leipheimer won in 2005 when he rode for Gerolsteiner.

Russian motor Vladimir Karpets was more than pleased with his first win since 2004 in Monday’s rainy 10km time trial opener at the Vuelta a Castilla y León in northern Spain. The Caisse d’Epargne rider faced slick roads as rain fell on the late starters in the five-day stage race that saw solid performances by Discovery Channel captains Ivan Basso (7th at 9sec) and Levi Leipheimer (8th at 10sec). “I’m very happy because last year I finished second and third a lot in time trials, but I could never win any of them,” Karpets said. “Despite the change in the weather, I was able to pull it off.

Flying Dutchman Theo Bos will be among the riders hoping to blaze a gold-medal trail on the freshly laid Siberian pine boards that will host the world track cycling championships this week in Palma de Majorca, Spain. The four-day competition begins on a note of novelty on Thursday when the inaugural, five-race omnium event, the team pursuit and men's individual pursuit are raced in a brand-new velodrome on which the paint is still drying. Bos, who will shoulder the Netherlands’ gold-medal hopes on his lithe frame at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will be hoping to leave a big

Sports publisher seeks managing editor for VeloNews, the Journal of Competitive Cycling. Responsibilities include working with editors, designers and freelancers to coordinate assignments, copy and art under tight deadlines. Must have strong editing, writing and proofing skills and experience in scheduling and staff management. Knowledge of competitive cycling a plus. Minimum of at least four years editorial experience. Travel to cycling events required. Résumé and cover letter: Attn: Human Resources, Inside Communications, Inc., 1830 N. 55th St., Boulder, CO 80301-2700, or

Help packingDear Lennard,I am preparing to take a trip to Puerto Rico with my family and, for the first time, my bike (a LeMond Zurich). I bought a Pro Bike Case to pack the bike in. I was wondering about my tires – do I have to deflate them in order to prevent blowouts in the plane? Also, are there any subtleties regarding things to bring (or not) that I haven’t thought of (eg. CO2 cartridges, pumps, etc)?Thanks,Tom Dear Tom,Even if you live at sea level, your atmospheric pressure is at most one bar, or about 14psi. That means, if you were to go all of the way out of the atmosphere to

Karpets took his first win since 2004

The small town of Zamora in northwest Spain will play host to some of the biggest names in the peloton for Monday’s time trial start of the Vuelta a Castilla y León. Ivan Basso and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), Carlos Sastre (CSC), Denis Menchov and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) are some of the bigger names taking part in the five-day race across Spain’s northern meseta and rugged mountains. Christian Vande Velde (CSC), Tom Danielson and Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) are also penciled in for the start. Alberto Contador – fresh off winning

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. This year’s Tour of California has provided us with a remarkable collection of images. One very popular subject of those photos this year has to be world and Olympic champion Paolo Bettini. Darrell Parks’ shot “It’s Good to be King” was among the best. Californians clearly enjoyed his presence at the race and Bettini certainly enjoyed his first trip to the U.S. Congratulations, Darrell. Please drop us a note at

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

The rider list for the 2007 Absa Cape Epic speaks volumes of South Africa’s appreciation for off-road racing. Fully three-quarters of the 1200 competitors hail from the host country. Fewer than 50 cyclists from the United States and Canada made the journey to Africa’s southernmost nation for the Cape Epic, yet the event boasted its highest ever population of North Americans. From 'cross racing in Carolina to...Jason Morgan and Tim Hopkin are two Americans currently tackling the 900km race. The two are riding partners, and race cyclo-cross in North Carolina. Hopkin and Morgan are not

Paris-Nice winner Alberto Contador is among those lining up for the Vuelta a Castilla y León.

It's Good to be King

McDowell-Larsen

Thundering herd: Stage 3 kicked off promptly at 7 a.m. from Oudtshoorn

Cannondale-Vredestein pushed the pace early

Race director Kevin Vermaak (right) talks with Christoph Sauser about his penalty

Vermaak then turned to David George

Stefan Schumacher is one of Germany’s brightest hopes for the future. The burly Gerolsteiner is an all-rounder who can sprint as well as climb, as he revealed in his grand tour debut in last year’s Giro d’Italia with two stage wins. “Schumi” returned to the elite ranks last year after racing in smaller German continental teams when his two-year run at Telekom (now T-Mobile) didn’t pan out as well as hoped in 2002-03. He made the most of his chance, taking the overall at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Tour of Poland and his controversial victory at the Benelux Tour when he swiped out George

VeloNews associate editor Fred Dreier is spending the week in South Africa, attending the Absa Cape Epic mountain-bike race. In addition to regular coverage of this growing event, Dreier has been sending a selection of images from his first trip to Africa.

The first stage of the 2007 Absa Cape Epic produced an unpredicted twist when defending champion, Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser, fell out of contention for the overall on the 101km journey from Knysna to Uniondale. The two-time World Cup champ and his partner, Italian Johan Palhuber, crossed the line nearly 10 minutes down on the Bulls team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm, and the Cannondale-Vredestein squad of Roel Paulissen and Jakob Fugelsang. Sauser’s legs weren’t to blame for the time gap. While trying to hold pace, Palhuber, a last-minute replacement for the ailing Liam Killeen,

At 40 years of age and in his 19th season as a professional, Scott Moninger thought he had seen it all. He began his pro career at Team Crest with an overall victory at the Redlands Classic in 1989, and he has since done the rounds with American pro teams: four years with Coors Light, two with Chevrolet-L.A. Sheriff, four years with Mercury, three with HealthNet, and now his first season at Team BMC. Moninger has taken some 250 victories in his incomparable career, and it looked like he had his hands on one more trophy — it would have been his third overall win at Redlands — going into

Amber Neben was simply too strong for the opposition at the Redlands Classic. Wearing the yellow jersey since the prologue on Thursday, she crowned her second overall win in two years by answering every attack from the powerful Webcor Builders team on Sunday’s final stage around nine laps of the grueling Sunset Loop. Runner-up Mara Abbott of Webcor eventually broke away with Neben, and after a long chase they were joined by T-Mobile’s Kim Anderson and Team Lipton’s Kori Seehafer. These four fought out the stage win in downtown Redlands, with Seehafer looking the likely winner until she

Schumacher has big goals for 2007

Schumacher started his season in Mallorca

Schumacher wins ugly at the Eneco Tour

The situation was bad for both, said Schumacher.

It required more than four minutes for the 1086 mountain bikers to pass under the starting line in Knysna.

A modern sporting event gets a traditional send-off.

Along with the usual scrum of reporters, local Knysna school children attended the pre-race press conference

South Africa's downhill great Greg Minnaar hangs out in the tent village in Uniondale prior to the start of stage 2.

Team Rwanda: American Jonathan Boyer and his Rwandan teammate prepare for the first stage in Knysna.

Absa Cape Epic race director Kevin Vermaak talks about the guiding philosophy of the annual event.

Stage 1 winners Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm of Germany

One team mechanic conducts a maintenance workshop for local children in Oudshoorn.

Stage 1 winner Karl Platt high fives the crowd in Uniondale

Riders ready for Stage 2 in Uniondale

Closely matched, Paulissen and Fugelsang cross the line in first place

Masters leaders Andrew McLean (left) and Damian Booth know what good teamwork is

Early on the race often resembles a road event

Bajadali gambled... and won.

Zajicek puts it all on the line

BMC monitored the break, expecting to keep the gap at around a minute. Then everything went wrong.

Moninger slipped from 1st to 9th on GC

Sutherland wins for the second time this week

Anderson wins and Neben celebrates.

Neben led from day one.

Neben knew what she had to do to win the overall.

Anderson avoided a final-corner crash and earned her first win at Redlands.

This time there won’t be an asterisk next to his victory. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) unleashed a masterful sprint to win Saturday’s centenary celebration of Milan-San Remo ahead of Allan Davis to claim victory in emphatic style to erase the memories of 2004 when he won by a whisker ahead of the celebrating Erik Zabel.

The Australian cycling community was in shock Saturday upon hearing that Damian McDonald, a 34-year-old retired cyclist who took a gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, had been killed in a massive collision in Melbourne’s Burnley Tunnel. In a scene Australian newspapers have described as horrific, an eight-vehicle pileup sparked a series of explosions and a subsequent blaze believed to have topped 1000 degrees. Motorists reported a “huge” fireball erupting from the crash scene, causing more than 400 people to leave their vehicles and flee the tunnel. Sprinklers and

A volley of shouts greeted the lead group of 20 riders as they sped toward the wooded summit of the Buffelsnek climb, the first serious incline of the 2007 Absa Cape Epic. The upcoming feed zone would be the only chance for a water fill for the next 45km, they said, and anyone who had doubts about running on empty under the African sun should stop for a bottle. A collective moan came from the pack as the athletes hit their brakes. Everyone in the group stopped. The problem was caused by a broken-down truck on Prince Alfred Pass, the day’s highest and final climb. The obstacle prevented the

The men’s and women’s criterium stages of the Redlands Classic on Saturday had almost identical results, with each dominated by a small breakaway group (five for the men, four for the women) that finished half-a-minute ahead of the pack.

Freire nails it.

The day's escape was expected...

A good part of the day involves a pleasant ride along the coast

Kopp suffered a broken nose and a concussion.

The traditional start in Milan...

... the usual celebration in San Remo...

... with a long and beautiful ride in between.

Voeckler on the attack.

Popovych quickly countered that move, leaving Voeckler behind, but Pellizotti stayed with him for a while.

Popovych was caught at the base of the Poggio.

Ricco and Gilbert were caught with 2km to go

.. chased when things got worrisome...

... and eventually reeled in.

Gilbert leads on the Poggio

Freire wins Milan-San Remo

Ready to race

Sutherland on the attack...