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A new kit for Charles

Michael Barry's Diary: The incredible shrinking peloton

Stage 14 = That last climb is a mother...

Disaster can strike at any time in a bicycle race, just ask Roberto Heras. The three-time Vuelta a España champion was rolling along safely tucked in the main bunch when suddenly someone clipped tires with less than 40km to go in Friday’s 12th stage, causing riders to drop like dominos all around. Jakob Piil (CSC) dropped out with a concussion and Niels Scheuneman (Rabobank) broke his hand, but all eyes were on the frail Heras. The Liberty Seguros rider fell hard on his left knee, leaving him with blood streaming down his leg as he gingerly remounted the bike. Nothing was broken, but Heras

VdV down again; Danielson okayChristian Vande Velde (CSC) was caught up in Thursday’s big crash that took out CSC teammate Jakob Piil. The Dane was knocked unconscious and taken to a local hospital for overnight observations, but early indications are that he wasn’t otherwise seriously injured. Vande Velde, however, was banged up when riders fell in front of him like bowling pins. “Everyone went down in front of me and I went down on top of them,” Vande Velde said. “I fell on the same place I did the other day. I have a big hematoma there and I kind of aggravated it. I crashed Monday and

Dear Bob;I read that a bicyclist in California was arrested for failure to produce identification. Are cyclists required to wear ID while riding? Can you explain what legal issues are involved?RJSouth Carolina Dear RJ,So, you read about the case where, as the dissenting judge observed, a bicyclist “was sentenced to a prison term for the trivial public offense of riding the wrong way on a residential street.” Should you be worried? The dissenting judge is. Was a bicyclist actually sentenced to prison for riding against traffic? “Well,” Justice Brown wrote in her dissent, “not exactly.” The

After close to two weeks of racing and thousands of kilometers coveredthe race for several riders ended today with a nasty crash thirty kilometersfrom the finish. In cycling all of the hard work, suffering, teamwork,training, dieting can be nullified in a second when a crash occurs. This morning we woke up expecting a straightforward day witha little crosswind and a quick run into the finish. The race actually startedoff a little easier than expected with Fassa Bortolo putting their teamon the front from the first kilometers to keep things under control inhopes of another victory for

Once again, Petacchi

Heras gets medical attention after the fall

Stage 13: One bump at the end could shake things up a bit

Meandering through the vinyards of Rioja, the stage should have been an easy one for all concerned

Painful... but how serious is it?

Who else?

Pasamontes spent a lot of time on his own.

Hoping to help Zabel, Aldag takes a pull

The peloton starts to pick up the pace...

Denis Menchov survived the battle of the Pyrénées and now he’s gaining confidence he can win the war of the Vuelta. The dogged Russian stayed glued to the wheel of Roberto Heras through two summit finishes on terrain that the Spanish rider clearly had the upper hand. “I am starting to believe I can win this Vuelta,” Menchov said as he crossed the line at Cerler with the same time as Heras. Menchov maintained his 47sec lead to Heras and entered Wednesday’s rest day optimistic for what remains of this Vuelta. Difficult climbing stages Saturday and Sunday could be Heras’s last chance to

The Eurobike trade show in Friedrichshafen first opened its doors in 1991. Back then it was a funky little thing that felt more like a gathering of the tribe than the prestigious international event it has become today. Friedrichshafen city’s old trade fair arrangement contributed to that feeling, consisting as it did of a mismatched hodgepodge of creaky buildings connected by a confusing warren of halls and passageways. The buildings were clumped around an irregular courtyard that the Eurobike show filled with test tracks, jumps, a BMX freestyle arena and the inevitable overflow of

PARIS (AP) - Lance Armstrong plans to train with his team this winter, increasing speculation he will end his retirement and attempt an eighth straight Tour de France win. “It's definitely an open possibility, I know he is on the bike," Discovery Channel team director Johan Bruyneel told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. “He absolutely wants to be part of the training camp in December and wants to get fit to compete with the guys there," Bruyneel said, adding that Armstrong can decide to return as late as February. When Armstrong retired in July after his

The rest day is a couple of hours from ending and tomorrow’s daily schedule has already been placed under our hotel room door. The day flew by, as they all seem to do these days, and I feel a little more rested and the pain in my legs has released slightly as well. We woke up early this morning, early enough that we needed an alarm to get up, to travel to our next hotel that was a road trip away. At just before nine in the morning a motorcade of Discovery team cars rolled out and by noon we were at our hotel and then on our bikes for a small training session before lunch. The ride was low

Is the glass half empty or half full? For opportunists like Jakob Piil, every day that passes is another day that he didn't get to win, so his glass is half full. But for the people just trying to finish and go home, the glass is half empty, with every mountain stage another day in hell. Well, we are really more than halfway there, to be honest. But sometimes those last weeks can feel like much more. With one more rest day, a time trial and a finale in Madrid, things look more or less downhill from here. But since we aren't on the podium yet, we either have to wait for others to

Menchov believes he can keep that jersey all the way to Madrid

Saturday's Stage 14 is gonna be a tough one.

Impromptu set-ups pop up all over the Eurobike courtyard.

Felt fenced off a small BMX arena.

The Felt Girls attracted an audience, too, with a long line of guys jostling to pose with them.

Inside the hall, Felt put this concept on display, inspired by the Bonneville streamliners of the fifties.

This cross-country Onion rig has some nice details.

For the Meccano set, there’s this girder structure from Onion.

Or you can have it all with the Onion Berg.

A clean freerider from Banshee.

Orange has been pursuing a folded sheetmetal theme. Orange’s Michael Bonney reports that the bikes may be available in the U.S. next year, pending negotiations at Interbike.

Not the bike to take home to Mom.

Richi’s production machines are just as exotic-looking as this downhill prototype…

…including this one…

…and this one.

A two-wheel drive exercise bike, we’re told. Well... sure, why not?

Nox always builds clean rigs.

Rotwild’s bikes have become more conservative over the years, but the company is still delivering great value.

Hot Chili is offering more cross-country designs these days.

The suspension adjustability on this Nicolai is almost endless.

Nicolai’s suspension designs are fascinating…

…as is the machine work.

Stage 12

Roberto Laiseka doesn’t win often, but when he does, it’s usually pretty good. Take Tuesday’s climbing stage to Cerler, as an example. The Euskaltel-Euskadi veteran attacked a group of five cautious favorites with 3km to go in the grueling 12km finishing climb high in the rainy Pyrénées to sneak away with another impressive mountain top victory. “I attacked because I knew the others would be worried about each other. It was an opportunistic win,” said Laiseka, after finishing 15 seconds ahead of Carlos Sastre (CSC). “I had some luck because I knew the last kilometer was kind of downhill, so

Could Lance Armstrong return to racing next year to clear his name of doping allegations leveled by the French newspaper L’Equipe two weeks ago? Discovery Channel sport director Johan Bruyneel didn’t shoot down that possibility after reports that Armstrong is mulling a comeback surfaced Tuesday. “I’m not counting out anything,” Bruyneel told Spanish television at the conclusion of Tuesday’s 11th stage at the Vuelta a España. “With what’s happened in France, he would have a little extra motivation.” In a story in Tuesday’s Austin American-Statesman, the Texas newspaper reported that

Sorry about the last two days. It’s been hectic and I haven’t had a chance to write much. The first was the TT and that went pretty well for me and the team. My wife Leah and my dad were there, so I spent some time with them. Dad spent the day hanging out window yelling, as usual, behind me. By the end of the day, the team had three people in the top-15 overall including me! I had dinner with my wife and life was good. So the next day, yesterday, we were ready to do what was necessary to help Carlos in the mountains. I still don't know what happened at the bottom of the first climb,

Sweet win for veteranRoberto Laiseka is elusive figure in Basque cycling. Skinny and emaciated to the point of looking undernourished, the 36-year-old simply shows up when he wants to. No one on the Euskaltel-Euskadi can tell him where and when he must race. The veteran races when he feels good. Laiseka felt good enough Tuesday to deliver a much-needed victory for his troubled team, which suffered through the Tour de France and this Vuelta with little to cheer about. So far in this Vuelta, Iban Mayo has abandoned and team leader Aitor González has faded out of contention. “We needed this

While most eyes have been turned to the Vuelta a España thismonth, the smaller six-stage Tour of Britain (August 30–September 4) featuredsome of the most competitive racing the European continent has witnessedin 2005. When all was said and done, only 40 seconds separated the race’stop six finishers. Although the Tour of Britain does not carry ProTour status, a handfulof peloton's top squads, including T-Mobile, CSC, Quick-Step and MrBookmaker,did send riders. Present were some heavy hitters, including reigningworld time trial champ Michael Rogers and Belgian strongman Nick Nuyensof

We are over halfway through the Vuelta and have reached the first rest day. The last two days were tough, with lots of climbs, and a relentless pace in the peloton. Tonight we are staying at the ski station of Benasque, a small little village that attracts Spanish royalty during the ski season and bike racers during the summer. The last two days Liberty Seguros has controlled the race from start to finish despite the fact that they don’t have the race lead. Rabobank, the race leader Menchov’s team, has helped them a little but essentially it is Liberty that has chased everything down. I am

Seat tubes and lube?Dear Lennard,I have been in the bicycle industry for many years and have consistently had conflicting advice about using grease in a frame's seat tube when using a carbon seatpost. With the many materials that frames are using now, are there some frames that should have grease in the seat tube when using a carbon seatpost, or is using grease in a seat tube with a carbon seatpost a big no-no? What do the majority of frame and carbon seatpost manufacturers have to say about this and why isn't it more clear? Also, if grease is a good idea, is there any particular

Heras, Sastre and Menchov were almost inseparable on Tuesday

Pena and Pereiro joined the day's long break

Menchov did exactly what he had to.

The chase didn't begin in earnest until the penultimate climb

Hushovd has enough

Tuesday's stage offered a heavy dose of climbing

After Beloki blew, Scarponi picked up the job at the front

Laiseka goes on the attack.

Sastre gets company when he tries

Danielson and Beltran eventually lost contact with the lead group

Mancebo and Garcia Quesada fought to regain position

Hail Britannia: Zajicek enjoyed his time at the Tour of Britain

Francisco Mancebo was dropped at least twice on the grinding climb to the Arcalís ski station high in the Andorran mountains, but each time he fought his way back to rejoin a lead group composed of all of the Vuelta a España’s top players. The Illes Balears captain put everything into a last-gasp dig to bridge back to three-time Vuelta champion Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) and race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) with 3.5km to go, then found the legs to sprint to victory in Monday’s four-climb, 206.3km 10th stage. “I won more today with the heart than the legs,” said Mancebo, who nudged

Mancebo gets his winIt’s been a long time coming, but Francisco “Paco” Mancebo finally got his first big-time, grand tour stage victory in Monday’s hump to Arcalis. They eight-year pro has been close before, including second in last year’s final time trial and third in the seventh stage of the 2004 Tour de France, but the 29-year-old Spanish rider had never won a stage in a grand tour. “I’ve been close over the years so it feels good to finally win one,” said Mancebo, who out-sprinted Roberto Heras and Denis Menchov to win. “I’m not one of those explosive riders who can blow up the race. I

The riders are now in the midst of the toughest mountain stages of the Vuelta and the race organization and drug testers are not making it any easier on them, as they put the riders in lousy hotels over the weekend, with loud music playing all night long, making for a lousy night sleep and then woke them up at the crack of dawn for blood testing. While visiting Michael this weekend in Lloret de Mar, I felt like I was having a bad nightmare, in which I was brought back to the ‘70s and stuck in a cheesy all-inclusive family resort. Normally, the guys stay in nice hotels, so this was totally

Menchov continues to lead

Danielson at today's finish

Osa's crash took him out of the break and out of the Vuelta

Danielson fought hard to stay in the front group

It's still a tight race between Heras and Menchov

Liberty drives the chase

Quesada, Mercado and Sevilla fighting to stay in contact

Verbrugghe's had a great Vuelta