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Tour de France hopeful Jan Ullrich hopes to begin his season next month after deciding to take a pass on the upcoming one-day spring classics. The T-Mobile team leader's first competitive race will be the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe, which starts on April 4. "It is a good Tour to start with as it is not too demanding," said Ullrich. Winning this year's Tour de France, running from July 1-23, is the main target for Ullrich who has finished second on six occasions. Ullrich finished third last year but with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong not taking part this time around the

Italian Leonardo Bertagnolli (Cofidis) on Monday won Stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico. The Cofidis rider attacked 800 meters from the line to win the 179km run between San Benedetto del Tronto and Torricella. Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) took second with Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval) third. Dutch rider Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) retained the overall lead as Rabobank controlled the peloton during a day marked by a succession of attacks, crashes and abandonments. Tirreno-Adriatico concludes Tuesday with a 166km stage from Campli to San Benedetto del Tronto.

Pure Austin Road Race - Out of Gas

Bertagnolli celebrates

Floyd Landis won more than Paris-Nice on Sunday. He secured the trust and confidence of his Phonak teammates as they look confidently toward this summer’s Tour de France. His teammates rallied around Landis to preserve his slender nine-second margin in Sunday’s nervous, four-climb finale to win his second major stage race inside a month. And in the process, the team and Landis promoted themselves as one of the favorites for July. "The most important thing was the confidence of the team and their ability to stay focused on the race," Landis said. "As far as confidence for the Tour, this is

Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Sunday. Cancellara turned a time of 27 minutes and 37 seconds to win the 20km individual time trial at Servigliano ahead of Belgian Leif Hoste (Discovery Channel) and Dutch rider Thomas Dekker (Rabobank), whose third-place finish was good enough to displace Spain’s Oscar Freire (Rabobank) as overall leader. Meanwhile, the weather has forced organizers to modify Monday's sixth stage, which will now end in Torricella Sicura instead of the hilltop village of San Giacomo. The race concludes Tuesday. Top

Landis takes Paris-Nice and the ProTour lead

Zberg wins the final stage

Overall rivals Vila, Sanchez and Landis

Arrieta and Ventoso have a dig

Contador and Rodriguez

The Col de Porte

Landis took extra care not to fall after slipping at one point

Moncoutie solo

Petrov solo

Moncoutie and Osa chase

The final podium

Cancellara takes the ITT

Christine Thorburn (Webcor) and Heath Blackgrove (Toyota-United) won the weather-altered opener to the Central Valley Classic on Friday. The omnium, the third event on the U.S. Cycling Federation’s National Racing Calendar, runs through Sunday in and around Fresno, California. The CVC was intended to open with the Tollhouse Time Trial, a 6.5-mile (10.46km) hill-climb time trial starting in the small foothill town of Tollhouse and gaining more than 2600 feet of elevation before the finish line south of Pineridge. But severe weather, including ice and snow that rendered the upper portion of

Paris-Nice leader Floyd Landis was quick to tip his hat to his Phonak teammates after keeping the lid on a dangerous 19-man breakaway in Saturday’s potentially explosive eight-climb stage across sunny Provence. Critics had begun to grumble that Phonak – down to just five riders – wouldn’t be strong enough to control the final bumpy weekend. Landis was left isolated without teammates in Friday’s final Cat. 1 climb, providing more fuel for the doubters. But on a spectacular spring day, Landis and his boys in lime green were pinned at the front of the main bunch all day. They limited winner

Reality sucks at times. Things come crashing down (figuratively and literally) to earth and it’s in times like this that a guy can really look around and see things quite clearly. The little things you take for granted, like opening a door, being able to take a back pack off, washing your hair, eating food that was cooked the same day, seeing the sun, suddenly disappear when you have a broken collarbone and happen to be racing in Paris-Nice. When you crash you’re thankful for many things, mainly your health, and the fact that it wasn't worse, because it could've been worse, it

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) sprinted to victory in stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico on Saturday. The Norwegian beat Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and Spain’s Oscar Freire (Rabobank) in the finale to the 219km stage from Paglieta to Civitanova Marche. Freire retained the overall race lead. Sunday's fifth stage is a 20km individual time trial around Servigliano.

Former world champion Zinaida Stahurskaya of Belarus has been banned for two years by the national cycling federation, it was revealed on Saturday. The 34-year-old tested positive for anabolic steroid stanozolol after the GP European Carnival race in Italy on July 16 last year before testing positive for testosterone on July 31 at the Tour of San Marino and at the August 7 Tour of Bochum in Germany. Stahurskaya won the world road race title in 2000 and also claimed the women's Tour de France in 2002.

Kashechkin makes a solo break stick

Landis holds the lead with one stage remaining

A mountainous day

Climb after climb

Voigt and Mourey in the break

Petrov solo

Kashechkin in the break

Kashechkin and Chavanal chase

Moncouti, Chavanal and Kashechkin

Phonak and Jalabert

Landis and the gang

Landis and Vila

Boonen descends

And Landis ascends once more onto the podium for another yellow jersey

Hushovd proves fastest in the mass dash for the line

Chris Horner was a little hectic Friday morning in a desperate search for his cycling cleats before the start of the 201.5km fifth stage at Paris-Nice. The Davitamon-Lotto rider eventually found them tucked inside the team bus and he had the chance to reflect on the final three stages of Paris-Nice before heading for the start. “I’m going to sit back and relax wait for the final climb. Hopefully the legs I had the other day will be appear again,” Horner told VeloNews. “I’m kind of surprised how good I’m going this early in the season.” Going into Friday’s stage, Horner was poised quietly

They came at him just as they promised in Friday’s 201.5km fifth stage, but Floyd Landis (Phonak) withstood a barrage of attacks to retain the race leader’s jersey with just two days left in the 64th Paris-Nice. Team CSC’s Frank Schleck was the day’s main aggressor, attacking three times on the 8km Cat. 1 Col du Corobin, which came 16.5km from the finish in Digne-les-Bains, but strong headwinds and Landis’s steady legs carried the day. Scroll down for photos and complete results "I went hard three times, but Floyd is too strong," shrugged Schleck, who remained tied for fourth at 1:23 back.

Three-time world champion Oscar Freire Gomez (Rabobank) sprinted to victory and claimed the overall lead during the third stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Friday. The Spaniard donned the leader’s jersey thanks to a 10-second time bonus and the abandonment of race leader Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), who was taken to hospital following a crash and may miss the start of the classics season. The day began in controversial circumstances as organizers refused to shorten the undulating, 183km course as requested by team managers and riders, who were concerned about the cold, wet and windy

Landis had an anxious day in the saddle today

Rodriguez wins the stage

Schleck attacked three times during the stage

But Phonak guarded Landis until the final climb

And Landis was just too strong, said Schleck

Moncouti has a go

Moncouti, Morey and Contador

Moos and Landis in the bunch

Portal and Pineau

Rodriguez has a dig

Ventoux

Bettini won two stages before crashing and abandoning

Freire takes the stage and the lead in one stroke

Day two at the Taipei Cycle show and visitors continue to get intriguingpeeks at upcoming product that will likely appear in bike shops in nearfuture. Highlighting my trip through the hall today were a host of new tire options, some very economical pedals from CrankBrothers, FSA’scontinued progress toward creating a complete group and Aero guru, JohnCobb’s company, Blackwell Research, and its embrace of Taiwanese production. HutchinsonFrench tire manufacturer Hutchinson offered a little more insight toits tubeless road program, which should start making tires available thisfall. The line

Italy's Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) made it two in a row on Thursday, winning the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. The Olympic champion, who also won Wednesday's first stage, took Thursday's 171km race between Tivoli and Frascati ahead of Germany's Erik Zabel (Milram) and Ukraine's Mikhaylo Khalilov to consolidate his overall race lead. Top 101. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 4:03:192. Erik Zabel (G), Team Milram, same time3. Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr), Team LPR, s.t.4. Alessandro Ballan (I) Lampre-Fondital, s.t.5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, s.t.6.

There were plenty of reasons for Floyd Landis to smile Thursday after enjoying his first full day in the yellow jersey in the 193km fourth stage at Paris-Nice. The weather had improved nicely, Tom Boonen sprinted to his third win in four days and Landis’s Phonak team didn’t have to work too hard when Quick Step-Innergetic took control late to reel in a breakaway to set up the mass gallop. "Today was no problem at all," Landis said as he strode onto the podium to don the race leader’s yellow jersey. "It’s treating me good." There were no major shake-ups in the overall standings, with Landis

As VeloNews first reported in its current print issue (see issue 4, March 13, "Shimano Tests Electric Dura-Ace in ProTour"), Shimano recently put battery-powered Dura-Ace drivetrains underneath nine ProTour riders. The wired systems feature LCD screens on the top of each STI hood, which otherwise look similar to 2006 cable-actuated Dura-Ace shifters. A battery pack is mounted on the downtube by the electric front derailleur. The system is still in early testing, and would not be available for sale until at least 2008, if at all. But Shimano, no stranger to electric shifting with its commuter

Chattanooga, TN - The Lynskey family, founders of Litespeed Titanium Components, will be returning to the bicycle frame-building business. They will be designing and building high-end custom titanium bicycle frames under the new company name of Lynskey Performance Products. The Lynskeys created Litespeed in 1986 and later sold the business in 1999. The family has pursued individual interests outside of cycling during the past several years, but the desire and passion to build bikes has driven brothers David and Tim Lynskey, along with other family, back to bicycles."We always enjoyed the

Monterey, CA – Each year the Sea Otter Classic garners worldwide media attention and draws the top Olympic, pro, and amateur athletes from over 30 countries for intense competition in front of audiences of 50,000+. "Despite being one of the first events of the year, Sea Otter is the climax of the season in its size and complexity,” said Sea Otter spokesperson, Marla Streb (Luna Women’s Mt. Bike Team/Red Bull). This year the multi-sport, four-day ‘Celebration of Cycling’ begins on April 6 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area in Monterey, CA. “From beginners to pro athletes we’ve always done our

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Taipei Day Two: Tires, pedals and that critical blood flow

Bettini does the double

Boonen gets his triple

Landis holds to his nine-second lead

Better weather greeted the peloton today

Southward, under the trees

Leblacher and Giling launched the break of the day

Marichal had a dig, too

But Landis - while not claiming victory yet - was on cruise control