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Hitting the F1 circuit at Spa

Davitamon chases

McEwen wins, Vogels celebrates

Van de Walle leads the break

Armstrong visits with the Discovery squad Tuesday morning.

Metaphorically, the 2km, 400-foot cobblestone ascent up Namur’s Citadelle hill represented the end of a very long climb for Stefan Schumacher. In a literal sense, it marked the passage from up-and-coming rider to the new holder of the 2006 Giro d’Italia’s maglia rosa. Indeed, the 24-year-old Gerolsteiner’s win of the rain soaked, stage 3 slog from Perwez to Namur was as big and bold as they come. Following a day marred by crashes — including one that left Italian sprint star Alessandro Petacchi nearly 15 minutes off the back and eventually out of the race — Schumacher jumped away from

Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) knew what he had to do and did it — he stayed glued to the wheel of Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) during the final stage of the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila — the fabled Gila Monster Road Race — and came away with the overall victory. Meanwhile, overall leader Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) extended her margin during the women’s finale, winning the stage and securing her title. The Gila Monster sent pro men off on a 100-mile loop from Silver City to Pinos Altos with 9360 feet of climbing. Women raced an abbreviated loop, covering 66 miles with 5420

Sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi is out of the Giro d’Italia after fracturing his left kneecap during a fall in Monday’s stage to Namur in Belgium. The Milram speedsters, who has 19 career stage wins in the Giro, may be out of the Tour de France as well, a team spokesman said. "The doctors did not say how long he would be out for," said the spokesperson. "We will have to wait for the next examination in Italy. However, it looks almost certain he will not be fit for the Tour de France." Earlier, the 32-year-old sprinter had tried to sound optimistic about his chances of making it through

Our friends over at the Urban Dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com) have come up with a few definitions for two-time NORBA champion Geoff Kabush’s last name: 1. Kabush(1) The sound of an explosion(2) What you say when something explodes(3) When you are about to f.s.o. up. You show him the fingerA: Kabush!B: You are about to get kabushedC: This building exploded and I was like 'Kabuuuuush' After watching Kabush’s performance at Sunday’s short-track cross-country during the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series opener in Fontana, California, I think they hit the nail on the head. While

Schumacher takes the stage and the overall lead

Petacchi finshed nearly 15 minutes down

Chechu gives it a go.

Schumacher readies his attack and Bettini misses the bus

Spring and a young man's thoughts turn to .... raingear

Quick Step gives chase

Remember this guy? He's here training for the Tour.

The men hit it

And Kabush wins it

The women dig into the dust

Warren in the hot seat

Count Robbie McEwen among a very select group. He is one of the few people with the power to make Alessandro Petacchi nervous. That ability paid big dividends on Sunday, as the Aussie sprint star easily beat Petacchi to the line during the bunch sprint that concluded stage 2 of the 2006 Giro d’Italia. “I think I may be the only rider that can force Alessandro to make small mistakes or try to change his tactic,” said McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) after taking victory in the 197km run from Mons to Charleroi-Marcinelle. “When [Petacchi] looked around and saw me on his wheel, I think it made him a

Rahsaan Bahati (TIAA-CREF) and Alison Powers (Rio Grande-Sports Garage) won Saturday’s Downtown Silver City Criterium, stage 4 of the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila. The race was run on a 1.08-mile closed course with four 90-degree corners and 60 feet of climbing per lap. Men covered 40 laps, women 25. Bahati outkicked a tough bunch, crossing ahead of Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) and Ken Hanson (BMC Racing Team). Poweres, meanwhile, stole a march on the women, finishing 16 seconds up on Team Lipton’s Laura Van Gilder and Kristin Armstrong, the race leader. GC remained unaffected, with

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Credit Fontana with a first in the history of the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series: Defending cross-country champions Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) and Shonny Vanlandingham (Luna) coasted across the finish line side by side to win the first round of the 2006 series. Kabush, who was leading the four-lap men’s race, caught Vanlandingham just as she was wrapping up the victory in the three-lap women’s event. “I saw her coming through the last couple of whoops and heard people cheering for her,” Kabush said. “It’s pretty rare that two winners get to roll across together so I gave it some gas.”

Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke captured her second win out of three World Cups in GP Castilla y León in northern Spain on Sunday. Cooke out-kicked Judith Arndt of Germany to grab the victory and widen her overall World Cup series lead in the sixth leg of the 12-round series. Six riders splintered away from the peloton under pressure from the rising finish into Valladolid. Kimberly Anderson (T-Mobile) was the top American in 23rd at 36 seconds back. With the win, Cooke widened her overall series lead, with Arndt jumping up from fifth to second with her second-place finish. After stepping

McEwen outfoxed Petacchi and Pollack

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Kabush and Vanlandingham hit the line side by side

Wells nurses a bum wing post-race

Savoldelli had an easy day

With the sprinters eager for a shot, this one stood little chance of lasting.

The Giro is a big draw in Belgium.

Danielson and McGee

Matt White gives chase

Birthday Boy

Viva Italia!

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pix - Giro

If defending champion Paolo Savoldelli is feeling the pressure, you sure couldn’t tell on the opening day of the 2006 Giro d’Italia Saturday. First Il Falco sailed to a commanding 11-second win in the 6.2-kilometer stage 1 prologue in Seraing, Belgium. Then, with an encouraging crowd cheering him on, the Discovery Channel captain doused two helpless podium girls with champagne before taking a big pull from the oversized bottle of bubbly. Who was this guy heretofore better known for stoicism than stage antics? Well, it’s far too early to call him the ‘new’ man to beat here at the Italian

Health Net-Maxxis teammates Gord Fraser and Scott Moninger went one-two on Friday during the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila’s Inner Loop Road Race. Michael Dietrich (KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada) took third with race leader Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) fourth. The top four were all given the same time, and Baldwin retained his grip on the overall. Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Cooking Light) outsprinted Rachel Heal (Victory Brewing) and Laura Van Gilder (Team Lipton) to win the women’s race. GC remained unchanged, with Team Lipton’s Kristin Armstrong leading Anne Samplonius (Team Biovail) by

Giro d’Italia race director Angelo Zomegnan would love to see a repeat of last year’s race — his first at the helm of the world’s No. 2 grand tour — when Paolo Savoldelli, Gilberto Simoni, José Rujano and Danilo Di Luca were all battling for the pink jersey only 24 hours before the finish in Milan. This year, Zomegnan has again placed one of the toughest mountain stages on the final weekend (as well as packing the final week with similarly challenging stages) in the hopes that the above four riders, along with Ivan Basso and Damiano Cunego, will again leave the outcome in doubt until the

McGee was second, but by a big margin

José Ivan Gutierrez comes in at 8:03...

Danielson finishes 12th on the day

... as did Gerolsteiner's Schumacher.

Oddsmakers give Bobby J a 33-1 chance of winning the Giro.

Di Luca takes 10th, at 8:09.

Davitamon-Lotto grabbed another win after big Belgian Gert Steegmans outkicked recently crowned Madison world champion Isaac Galvez (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears) to win the third stage at the Four Days of Dunkirk. Four riders – Geoffroy Lequattre, Jimmy Engoulvent, Frédéric Finot and Mathieu Drujon – tried their luck at 59km into the 181km march from Fontaine-au-Pire to Hénin-Beaumont. The French quartet built up a two-minute lead, but they needed a bigger head start than that to hold off the sprinters. Race leader Roberto Petito’s teammates on Tenax led the charge and then stepped

With the 2006 Giro d’Italia kicking off with a 6.2-kilometer individual time trial in Seraing, Belgium, on Saturday, teams are at their hotels and now all that’s left is the waiting… and a bit of prognosticating. Our editors take a detailed look at this year’s Giro in the current issue of VeloNews. Here’s an updated look at the teams and their chances for success in the first of this year’s grand tours. DISCOVERY CHANNEL (USA)Race numbers: 1-9GC contender: Paolo Savoldelli (I): Il Falco is looking for his third Giro win. Last year he showed his ability to come into form as the race went

The 2006 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series kicks off today at Southridge Park in Fontana, a small city just west of San Bernadino in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Unlike the previous two NMBS openers, which featured solely cross-country racing, the Fontana NMBS hosts the full spectrum of endurance and gravity events: marathon cross-country, cross-country, short-track cross-country, downhill, mountain-cross and super D. This is the first time the NMBS series will grace the dry, dusty California town, which is also home to the California motor speedway. Fontana has hosted its own

Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) and Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) won the mountainous Stage 2 of the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila on Thursday, with Armstrong moving into the overall lead. Moninger, a two-time Gila champion, finished three seconds ahead of Stage 1 winner Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) and third-placed Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) on the final 5.5-mile climb to the finish of the 92-mile run from Silver City to Mogollon, which featured more than 5600 feet of climbing. “We’re doing what we can with only three guys here,” Moninger said. “We have to pick and choose

Savoldelli aims for his third Giro trophy.

A little too long to be called a prologue, Stage 1 may start sorting things out early on in this Giro.

'There’s a pretty good amount of climbing each lap,' says Tom Spiegel of Team Big Bear.

Itaian Roberto Petito (Tenax) grabbed the lead at the Four Days of Dunkirkafter winning Thursday’s second stage between Arques and Le-Cateau-Cambresis.Petito was part of a breakaway that pulled clear in the 204km stagethat also hit some cobblestoned road across northern France. Petito heldoff Stephane Petilleau (Bretagne-Jean Floch) to claim the stage as thebreakaway faded under pressure from the chasing peloton. Simone Cadamuro(Milram) led the main bunch across the line for third at 37 seconds back.Petito now leads Petilleau by four seconds while overnight leader FrancescoChicchi (Quick

Saul Raisin’s gradual recovery from a life-threatening head injury continues as he returned to the United States this week and began posting messages on his web page. Raisin, 23, flew home Monday after fighting for his life in a French hospital and even dictated a message to fans under the heading, “Believe it or not, it is me Saul.” “Well, here I am no racing for me. Only racing to get well,” he said a message dictated to his mother. “Too bad I am not doing the Giro. I want to thank everyone for their support and get-well thoughts. I hope to be leaving the hospital in a couple of weeks. I

Dear Bob,I live in Minnesota and am kind of new to cycling, so I read with great interest your article on impeding traffic. In your article, you mentioned a “minimum speed limit.” Are there roads in Minnesota where a minimum speed limit means “no bicycles allowed?” Can you point out some resources for me to learn about my rights and responsibilities?Thanks,D.Q.,Minnesota Dear D.Q.,That’s a great first question from a kind of new cyclist. As you recall, in Trotwood v. Selz (see "To impede or not to impede, that is the question"),an Ohio cyclist received a citation for impeding traffic while

After the race, I transferred all my stuff from my team car to the USA Cycling team car and began my journey with them. Shannon Koch and I decided to head to our hotel by bike. Jim, the national team coach, told me it was a short ride. He was right. It was just 12km, but it was over a climb and after just finishing my first World Cup, it felt more like 50. The general morale with the team was good, though, and I was happy to be racing with them in the coming week. The next day we headed to Salzburg, Austria. The stage race in the Czech Republic did not start until Thursday and Jim didn?t

Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) and Anne Samplonius (Team Biovail) won the first stage of the Teleperformance Tour of the Gila on Wednesday. Baldwin, the reigning U.S. national time-trial champion, covered the Tyrone Time Trial – a 15.7-mile out-and-back course with 1070 feet of climbing – in 34:51, 40 seconds up on Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis) and 1:21 on Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators). Samplonius won in 40:33, with Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) second at 0:20 and Erinne Willock (Webcor) third at 0:53. Thursday's Stage 2, the Silver City-Mogollon Road Race, sends men off for 92

Liberty Seguros for the Giro: (left to right) Dariusz Baranowski, Koen De Kort, Javier R. Abeja, Dani Navarro, Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, Gianpaolo Caruso, Sergey Yakovlev and Unai Osa

Word is that stage 17 is actually worse than it looks on paper.

Next year the roads may be perfect.

Petito wins big

Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) just missed a victory in Wednesday’s 161km opener of the Four Days of Dunkirk after Italian Francesco Chicchi (Quick Step-Davitamon) out-kicked him in a bunch sprint.The rival Belgian teams went head-to-head not for the first time this season and once again it was Quick Step getting the better end of the bargain. It was Chicchi’s second win of the season to go along with a stage he won in the Drie Daagse Van West Vlaanderen in March.“Today I had the ‘pilot’ of Wouter Weylandt. I lost the wheel and then followed the wheel of teammate Steven de Jongh, only

When Danilo Di Luca and the other 197 starters in the 89th Giro d’Italialine up for the first road stage in Belgium on Sunday, they will standfor a moment of silence. Their thoughts will reach out to 262 coalminers,more than half of them Italian, who died 50 years ago in the Bois de Caziermining disaster at Charleroi-Marcinelle, where Sunday’s stage finishes.Di Luca will be particularly affected because more than one third of theItalians who lost their lives in that 1956 tragedy were from the Italianracer’s home province of Pescara. Choosing to start the 2006 Giro in the heart of Belgian’s

What a week for Davitamon-Lotto. Or, as team rider Chris Horner mightsay, what a week for Davitamon-Lotto, huh? First, Fast Freddie Rodriguez summons all of the gremlin power availablein the universe to take a stagewin at the Tour de Georgia on April 21. Unfortunately, Casey Gibson’sshutter speed was faster than Freddie’s supernatural changeling powers,and his ability to transform into a gremlin was revealed to the cyclingworld. Still, it’s a small price to pay to snap his streak of bad luckand second- and third-place sprint finishes that dated back to the 2005season. Next up was

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Promoters, please put us in our placeAn open letter to race promoters:I’m writing on behalf of the middle-of-the-pack (and back-of-the-pack) riders in your local races. You may or may not remember them. They are the guys who pay an entry fee of $15 to $30 and receive a number and four or

McCarty

Wednesday's EuroFile: Fast Freddy 2nd as Chicchi wins Dunkirk opener; McCarty heads to Giro; Hondo Hopeful

Di Luca with Savoldelli in the 2005 Giro

Can Savoldelli repeat?

Many of the victims of the 1956 disaster were from Di Luca's home region

Freddy reaching deep.

Horner relishes the moment

Henk and friends in Boulder