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. . . and onto those of Pellizotti, who took the podium alongside Raymond Poulidor

[nid:37738]It was expected to be a showdown between Daniele Bennati and Tom Boonen in the first stage of Paris-Nice, but it was French sprinter Jean-Patrick Nazon who surprised everyone with a long charge to the line in Buzançais on Monday. Nazon, who’s been all but invisible since winning a pair of Tour de France stages in 2003-04, burst down the left side of the peloton after sniffing out a hole with 200 meters to go.

So here I am in Dalton, Georgia, the town where I was born and raised. Asyou probably know by now, my life was thrown into turmoil last April whenIcrashed in the opening stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe. It’s been a tough, tough year, but I count my blessings every singleday. After I began to emerge from the coma, I eventually learned that Ihad been within minutes of dying last year. I was lucky to be in one ofthe world’s greatest hospitals, with one of the world’s best neurosurgeons,who was not only on staff, but in the building when it counted. You can’tget much luckier than that.As I

Puerto inquiry tossed outA Spanish doping investigation that implicated 58 top cyclists two days prior to the Tour de France last year has been dismissed from court, Spanish judicial sources said Monday. The case, which came to light in May 2006 when police raids discovered an alleged blood-doping network run by a Madrid-based doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes, was thrown out due to a lack of evidence and the fact that there was no Spanish anti-doping law when the inquiry came to light. Residing magistrate Antonio Serrano ruled that five people at the center of the affair, including Fuentes, were

At a very unexpected moment at mid-stage today in West Flanders I realized that bicycle racers can occasionally resemble ancient gladiators. When and why did this pop into my head? When: 130km into a windy, crazy-dangerous race at 500 watts bouncing over Belgian pavé. Why: I looked down at an unidentifiable rider, unconscious, his face awash in a mix of mud and blood, yet all I cared about was shoving people out of my way and getting back on my chariot and around this “obstacle.” A minute later I was at absolute maximum sustained effort and would stay that way for a few more moments,

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,

Nazon wins at Paris-Nice, Millar stays in yellow

Raisin at the Tour of California

Nazon celebrates

As does Millar

A lovely day for a ride

The break

Saunier Duval on patrol

Lampre lends a hand

Tilting at windmills

Danielson and Leipheimer motoring along

Tom Boonen starts Sunday’s Paris-Nice as a man on a mission. The Belgian sprinter is building his form for his annual assault on the spring classics, where he has ruled with an iron fist the past two seasons. A back-to-back winner of the Tour of Flanders and the rare Flanders-Roubaix double in 2005, Boonen entered the 2007 season with new motivation and maturity. After an emotional and demanding 2006 season that saw him shine as the world champion, Boonen said he’s more than happy not to have to carry the burden of the rainbow jersey. That’s not to say Boonen is any less ambitious this

[nid:37731]Last year, David Millar underwent wind-tunnel testing for the first time and settled into a new, sleeker aerodynamic position that on paper should have made him faster. Instead, the Scot found he actually lost power — so this season he chucked the scientific posture and replaced it with his tried-and-true position, honed over years of trial and error.

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) won the Tour of Murcia on Sunday after finishing safely in the bunch during the final stage, a 151km leg from Ceuti to Murcia. Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) won the finale, outsprinting Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and José Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d’Epargne). Valverde crossed 52nd to take the overall, 35 seconds ahead of runner-up Angel Vicioso (Relax-Gam). Manuel Lloret (Fuerteventura-Canari) was third at 52 seconds. Valverde, who also won Murcia in 2004, had practically secured overall victory with a triumphant show of force in Saturday's

The United States Mountain Bike Team swept the elite women's podium and collected a total of eight medals - two of them gold - at the Continental Mountain Bike Championships in Nequen, Argentina, on Sunday. In a major step towards securing the maximum number of start positions at the 2008 Olympic Games for the U.S., Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho/Luna) led the elite women's contingent with a win in the 24-kilometer race ahead of silver medalist Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass./Kenda-Seven) and bronze medalist Willow Koerber (Horseshoe, N.C./Subaru-Gary Fisher). Heather Irmiger

Henk Vogels (Toyota-United) took his first win in three years on Sunday at the Tower District Criterium, the final stage of Bentley's Central Valley Classic. Multi-time national criterium champion Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) celebrated her second win in three days when she flew across the line to take the women's crit. Alejandro Acton (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com) powered to the second and third spots behind an ebullient Vogels, while Suzanne de Goede (T-Mobile) and Kori Seehafer (Team Lipton) secured the second and third spots behind Pic. Ben

Boonen had a hectic but successful year as world champ

Millar hopes to take the jersey all the way to Nice

Millar's old time-trial position was good enough for victory

Young Kreuzinger nearly stole the victory

Joly slotted into third

Leipheimer was the top American in sixth

Paris-Nice, the first major stage race of the season, gets under way on Sunday without 2006 champion Floyd Landis and the Unibet.com team. The seven-stage, 1260km Race to the Sun will start with a 4.7km prologue around the Parisian suburb of Issy-Les-Moulineaux . Belgium's Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic)) and Italian rival Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) are expected to compete for the sprint finishes in the early stages. The riders will then make their way towards the south coast, with the seventh and final 129km stage being held in and around Nice on March 18. Being a short but

The Operación Puerto blood-doping inquiry has been dropped due to a lack of evidence that a crime was committed under Spanish law, the Spanish press reported Saturday. Spanish daily El Mundo said Judge Antonio Serrano had dismissed the case, ruling that “there was no law that penalized doping practices under Spanish legislation at the time this case was begun.” The reports said that while Serrano had determined that blood doping occured, there was no evidence of the practice harming riders' health. That was the requirement under previous Spanish law for charges to be filed against

Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) won the fourth stage of Spain’s Tour of Murcia and seized the overall lead on Saturday. Valverde covered the 23.3km individual time trial between Alhama de Murcie and Aledo in 32 minutes, 57 seconds, beating José Angel Gomez (Saunier Duval-Prodir) by 31 seconds and Angel Vicioso (Relax-Gam) by a further four seconds. He now has 35 seconds on Vicioso and 52 on Manuel Lloret (Fuerteventura-Canari) going into Sunday’s final stage, a comparatively flat 151km leg from Ceuti to Murcie. Di Luca wins Milan-TurinDanilo Di Luca (Liquigas) outsprinted

Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health) is two for two in Bentley’s Central Valley Classic, adding a win in Saturday’s individual time trial to his victory in Friday’s stage-1 road race and solidifying his grip on the overall lead. Meanwhile, 1994 national time-trial champion Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders) rode to victory in the women’s race, vaulting from 16th place to take the white-and-black leader’s jersey from Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home). Australian Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) was just four seconds slower than Jacques-Maynes, moving into second overall at 18 seconds

LAMPRE-FONDITAL1. Vila Errandonea Patxi (Sp)2. Fabio Baldato (I)3. Daniele Bennati (I)4. Claudio Corioni (I)5. David Loosli (Swi)6. Massimiliano Mori (I)7. Daniele Righi (I)8. Tadej Valjavec (SLO)CAISSE D’EPARGNE11. Joaquim Rodriguez (Sp)12. Vicente Garcia Acosta (Sp)13. David Lopez Garcia (Sp)14. Aitor Perez Arrieta (Sp)15. Francisco Perez Sanchez (Sp)16. Nicolas Portal (F)17. Vicente Reynes (Sp)18. Luis Sanchez (Sp)EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI21. Samuel Sanchez (Sp)22. Andoni Aranaga (Sp)23. Mikel Astarloza (Sp)24. Markel Irizar (Sp)25. Alan Perez (Sp)26. Ruben Perez (Sp)27. Ivan Velasco (Sp)28.

Last year's rivals for the overall: Landis, Sanchez and Vila

Valverde looks good for the win with only one stage remaining

Australian Graeme Brown (Rabobank) won Friday’s third stage of the Tour of Murcia in Spain. Brown crossed ahead of compatriot Baden Cooke (Unibet.com) and Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) to win the 146km stage between Puerto Lumbreras and San Pedro del Pinatar. Cooke, meanwhile, took the overall lead from José Joaquin Rojas, winner of Wednesday’s first stage. Brown and Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) sit second and third overall, respectively. High winds forced the cancellation of Thursday’s second stage. Riders, commissaires and race organizers agreed that winds as strong as

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,

Unibet.com has failed in an appeal to have Paris-Nice race organizers include them in the field for this year's race, a source told AFP on Friday. The Belgian-Swedish cycling team is one of 20 ProTour teams that are supposed to have guaranteed admittance to all ProTour races. However, ASO, the company that runs Paris-Nice and the Tour de France among other events, refused to comply with UCI rules and opted not to invite Unibet.com to the Race to the Sun, which begins with a prologue on Sunday. "We began a procedure at the Nanterre (Paris region) court to try to be included in the

The Union Cycliste Internationale launched its latest initiative in its battle to eradicate doping from the sport. Labeled “100% Against Doping,” UCI president Pat McQuaid said the aim of the new program is to “chase all drug-using cheats from cycling,” a which has suffered from nearly a decade of uninterrupted doping scandals. "Our objective is clear - to give cycling the best anti-doping program in the world," said McQuaid. "Only clean riders should win; those who cheat should be caught; those considering trying to cheat should be discouraged. Together we can eliminate doping from our

Boulder, Colorado – Inside Communications announced today the appointmentsof a new Publisher, Editor and Advertising Sales Director for its flagshippublication, VeloNews. Andy Pemberton has been promoted from InteractiveBrand Director to Publisher. Ben Delaney has been promoted from ManagingEditor to Editor. And Kevin Burnette has been promoted from Senior AccountExecutive to Advertising Director.As Publisher of VeloNews, Pemberton is leading the largest and mostsuccessful competitive cycling magazine. He will be responsible for businessdevelopment, sales and marketing for the entire VeloNews

Under sunny California skies in the small Sierra foothills town of Raymond, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health) and Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) donned the leaders' jerseys after winning the first stage of Bentley's Central Valley Classic, the second race on this year's NRC calendar. Jacques-Maynes crossed solo in the men's 102.5-mile race, though Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics) was bearing down on him in the final kilometer. "Wohlberg was closing fast,” Jacques-Maynes said. “This last 1K was the slowest 1K I've ever done. I was definitely hurting by that point. At the

Hincapie, after riding 100 miles with a broken arm.

UCI officials and riders discuss the wind in Murcia

Brown wins

Race leader Cooke

A healthy North American presence will highlight next week’s Paris-Nice with no less than eight riders from five teams represented. The robust contingent reflects the continued strong position of U.S. and Canadian riders in the European peloton. Paris-Nice will mark the continental arrival of most of the Americans. Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) has been racing in Europe for nearly a month while Michael Barry (T-Mobile) was in Mallorca for his team presentation and training camp last month. Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer, joined by Discovery Channel teammate Tom Danielson, will be

French cycling federation president Jean Pitallier is calling for former UCI president Hein Verbruggen to completely remove himself from the leadership of cycling’s international governing body. Pitallier told the French sports daily L’Equipe that Verbruggen, who still holds influential positions on the ProTour council and as a UCI vice president, is largely responsible for the current crisis in professional cycling. Verbruggen, noted Pitallier, was the driving force behind the creation of the ProTour, the top-tier race schedule that is now at the center of a major dispute between the UCI

Trips for Kids National Signs its 50th Local ChapterAnother community gears up to take inner-city kids mountain bikingSAN RAFAEL, Calif.  – March, 2007 – Trips for Kids Nationaltoday announced a significant milestone with the formation of its 50thchapter - Trips for Kids Rochester, New York.Rochester, New York-based Friends Helping Friends is now the newestTrips for Kids chapter in North America. Like all Trips for Kids chapters,Friends Helping Friends will provide underserved youth a chance to experiencethe joy and challenge of mountain biking in the woods, something inner-citykids

USA Cycling announced on Thursday its selection of riders who will representthe United States at the 2007 UCI Track World Championships in Palma deMallorca March 29-April 1.Headlining the roster for the women’s squad is defending world championin the three-kilometer individual pursuit, Sarah Hammer (Ouch Pro Cycling). Hammer captured the world title last year in Bordeaux, France – the firstfor an elite American track rider since 1996 – where her mark of 3:37.227in the gold-medal final was just fast enough to edge Olga Slyusareva (RUS)for the rainbow jersey.This year, Hammer will have her

Leipheimer comes to Paris-Nice with momentum from California.

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,

Floyd Landis Is Coming To Bicycle Village Westminster!Bicycle Village in Westminster, Colorado, will host a special appearanceby 2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis and the Floyd Fairness Fund(FFF) will be in Denver for a FFF Town Hall as part of a national tourto discuss Landis’ efforts to attain a fair hearing in his fight against doping allegations.• Town Hall Q&A with Floyd and the Floyd Fairness Fund (FFF)• Exclusive Free Autograph Session Sponsored by Bicycle Village andGiro• Silent Auction• Admission $35 at the door benefits the FFFFloyd Landis Town Hall Fairness Fundraiser

It’s Alejandro Valverde against a galaxy of stars at the five-day Vuelta a Murcia starting in Spain on Wednesday. The Spanish sensation won his “hometown” race in 2004 and is fresh off overall victory at last week’s Tour of Valencia, but the lack of a summit finish and the inclusion of a tough individual time trial could spoil the chances for Balaverde. “I am not in optimum conditions to win,” Valverde told the Spanish daily AS. “After looking at the route, everything points that the climbing time trial between Alhama and Aledo will be decisive and there will be other favorites. This will

Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 6, 2007)—USA Cycling has paid out more than $260,000 to Local Associations based on 2006 license sales with another $59,000 expected to be distributed. USA Cycling has agreements with 33 Local Associations that represent 85% of its road, track and cyclo-cross racing members. "The Local Associations do a terrific job managing the racing and recruiting new members in communities across the U.S.," said USA Cycling chief executive officer, Steve Johnson. "It's only natural that we invest a significant portion of our members' license fees back into the

Red Five Sports Group, the organizer of the U.S. Open Cycling Championships, has announced the appointment of John Eustice as Executive Director for the U.S. Open Cycling Championships to be held in Williamsburg and Richmond, Virginia, and broadcast nationally via the NBC network on April 7, 2007. Mr. Eustice is a cycling expert whose company, Sparta Cycling, has produced over thirty professional races in addition to providing technical consulting to many others. His Univest Grand Prix is a live television production and is listed on the USA Cycling Pro Tour calendar. The race is celebrating

2004 Murcia winner Alejandro Valverde says this year's edition may not suit his talents

The Unibet.com team has slammed the agreement reached between the UnionCycliste Internationale and cycling's three grand tour organizers.Called to an emergency meeting organized by ProTour teams in Belgiumon Monday, the UCI and ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France, reachedan agreement to end a dispute that threatened the entire 2007 season. The agreement allowed for 18 of the 20 ProTour teams - all those exceptthe two most recent, Astana and Unibet.com - to be selected for eventsrun by ASO, RCS (Giro d’Italia) and Unipublic (Vuelta a España).In return, all three agreed to consider

Samuel Sánchez believes someday he might be able to challenge for the Tour de France, but first he wants to prove himself in the Vuelta a España. After years nipping at the edges of major success, the Euskaltel-Euskadi attacker broke through last year to finish third overall in the 2006 individual ProTour standings after an season that included victory at the GP Zürich, second at Flèche Wallone, two stages at the Vuelta al País Vasco, a stage at the Vuelta and seventh overall. He also played a key role in last year’s world championships, springing teammate Alejandro Valverde toward the

March, 2007  - You are invited to view an NBC documentary ofthe 2004 Race Across America (RAAM) to celebrate VMG Cycling, a Boulder–based team that will be racing in this year’s RAAM. The screening will also serve as a fund-raiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation. Date:  March 15, 7:00PMLocation:  First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, CO, 182015th St., Oerter Hall - entrance located at the west end of the buildingAdmission:  Free, but a donation to the Davis Phinney Foundationis requested

TorqueDear Lennard,I recently purchased my first full carbon bike, absolutely love it. Yet, I'm scared of over-torquing the seatpost clamp. Is there a torque wrench you could recommend that works on Allen wrenches? What's the worst that happens, the seatpost clamp needs replacing or I have this fear of the actual seat tube deforming, I'm not doing the Samsonite luggage monkey torque on it, but "hand tighten" is just too open to quantify.ThomasDear Thomas,First of all, carbon frames generally have a separate band clamp to tighten the seatpost, and, yes, the worst that can happen,

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 7, 2007) - Terry Madden, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) since its creation in April2000, submitted his resignation to the USADA Board of Directors duringits March 1-2, 2007 meeting in Colorado Springs. Madden will continueto lead the anti-doping agency through September 2007.“Terry has been instrumental in the creation and successful developmentof USADA,” said Board Chair Dr. Ralph W. Hale. “Under his leadershipUSADA has become the recognized standard for national anti-doping agencies.While we understand his decision to leave this

Hannegraaf was left frustrated and angry by the solution offered on Monday.

Sánchez

Our latest reader-submitted PhotoGallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. Like this week, we received a wealth of images from the Tour of California, among them Melanie Chang’s beautifully composed black-and-white image of Priority Health’s Scott Zwizanski taking on the San Francisco prologue. We would, however, be remiss if we failed to credit the humor of Karen Bauer’s “Road Hazards.” Nice timing, Karen. Congratulations to both of you. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work

Alexandre Vinokourov just wants to win the Tour de France, but it seems all these other annoyances keep getting in the way. The reigning Vuelta a España champion expressed frustration over the escalating battle between the UCI and Tour de France organizers ASO and said he dreads the thought of a scenario that it might boil over to keep him out of the Tour yet again. He’s had enough of that already. “I can understand both sides of the conflict,” Vinokourov told VeloNews in an interview during last week’s Tour of Valencia. “It’s a difficult time for cycling. All the time the news is filled

This is the first of what we hope will become a regular feature on VeloNews.com. There are cyclo-cross races for cross-dressers in California, stage races named after dearly departed canines in Wyoming and a host of other events across America that offer a look into what it's like to race bikes at all levels. You don't necessarily need top pros to make it interesting. In order for the "Local Scene" to succeed, we need your help. If a race in your area deserves notice, drop us a short story, highlighting not only the racing, but some of the local character that makes it unique. Mail

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,

This being my first VeloNews.com journal, let me start by introducing myself. I’m 25; hail from Boulder, Colorado, where I live with my wife, Cheynna; and ride for Team Slipstream Sports-Chipotle. The past two years, under the banner of TIAA-CREF, our program has made a slow and steady progression towards a full bi-continental program, and this year we have full schedules in both the States and Europe. As a Professional Continental team we’ll be doing some of the biggest non-ProTour races in the world and hoping for the occasional ProTour wildcard invite. In this journal I aim to provide a

German cyclist Jorg Jaksche said Monday he is ready to follow compatriot Jan Ullrich into retirement. The 2004 Paris-Nice winner has been struggling to find a team since being caught up in the Spanish Operación Puerto blood-doping scandal that broke before last year's Tour de France. "I can't really see what options I have other than stopping. My career is in ruins. I know when I'll officially announce my decision but I'll keep it to myself," he said. Jaksche is in negotiations to join second-tier Austrian team Volksbank, which has employed Ullrich as a

It took nine hours of intense haggling, but the UCI and cycling’s biggest race organizers signed a truce Monday that will save the 2007 racing season and avert a major crisis that threatened to split the sport. Next week’s Paris-Nice will start as planned without the possibility of sanctions against participating teams after cycling’s governing body and Tour de France organizer ASO hammered out a temporary agreement to keep cycling’s racing calendar intact through the 2007 season. “I am happy that the sport has got out of this crisis and look forward to a season where cycling can be the

Scott Zwizanski ToC2007 Prologue

Road Hazards

Klöden and Vinokourov at this year's team camp in Mallorca

McQuaid and Clerc

If Alejandro Valverde is the here-and-now in Spanish cycling, Alberto Contador is the big hope for the future. The 24-year-old has been nipping at the edge of major success the past few seasons and since signing a two-year deal with Discovery Channel, the Madrileño seems poised for a breakthrough season. Contador revealed he’ll be a factor this season, winning Friday’s “queen stage” in the Volta a la Comunidad Valenciana ahead of Valverde. Only a crash earlier in the week kept him from taking the overall. A pro since 2003, Contador nearly died in the Vuelta a Asturias in 2004 when he

A day after losing Het Volk, Tom Boonen took revenge in Sunday’s Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. The Quick Step-Innergetic captain took an emotional sprint victory to earn a valuable confidence-booster in the opening weekend of Belgian racing. Gert Steegmans gave him a perfect leadout and Boonen dramatically finished off the job to finish ahead of Marcel Sieberg (Milram). “Winning in Belgium always gives me a special buzz,” Boonen said. “I wasn’t sure how things would go today after yesterday’s falls as I was still suffering with a bit of a backache at the beginning of the race. My teammates were

Is the Madrileño poised for a breakthrough season?

Boonen takes the win

Past Winners – Het Volk2006 - Philippe Gilbert (B) 2005 - Nick Nuyens (B) 2004 - cancelled (snow) 2003 - Johan Museeuw (B) 2002 - Peter Van Petegem (B) 2001 - Michele Bartoli (I) 2000 - Johan Museeuw (B) 1999 - Frank Vandenbroucke (B) 1998 - Peter Van Petegem (B) 1997 - Peter Van Petegem (B) 1996 - Tom Steels (B) 1995 - Franco Ballerini (I) 1994 - Wilfried Nelissen (B) 1993 - Wilfried Nelissen (B) 1992 - Johan Capiot (B) 1991 - Andreas Kappes (G) 1990 - Johan Capiot (B) 1989 - Etienne De Wilde (B) 1988 - Ronny Van Holen (B) 1987 - Teun van Vliet (Nl) 1986 - cancelled

World number one and defending World Cup champion Nicole Cooke from Wales won the opening round of the 2007 World Cup road series in Geelong, Australia, Saturday. Her performance comes two days after becoming the first non-Australian to win the lead-up three-day Geelong Tour, outsprinting Oenone Wood and fellow Australian Nikki Egyed to win Saturday's 120-kilometer race. Cooke and her Raleigh team have been training here for a month, giving her plenty of time to prepare for the first round race. "The way it all panned out, holding off the bunch, beating such a fantastic sprinter like

Italian Filippo Pozzato proved he’s the strongman of the early season after taking an impressive victory Saturday in the Belgian season opener at Het Volk ahead of Spanish headbanger Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) and pre-race favorite Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic). A winner last week at the Tour du Haut-Var, the Liquigas captain delivered on his promise to be a protagonist in the 62nd Het Volk thanks to a brilliant finale that combined strength with savvy. “This victory was sensational because it came in front of some big names – Flecha, Boonen, Nuyens, O’Grady – who will be favorites