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Two Australian cyclists who have been in a German hospital for more than a month after a car accident that killed a teammate are well enough to return home this week, cycling officials in Sydney said Thursday. Doctors treating Alexis Rhodes, 20, and Louise Yaxley, 23, in the University Clinic in the German city of Jena had deemed it safe for them to come home, Cycling Australia said. They were badly hurt in July when a teenaged driver ploughed into them and four other women training for the Tour of Thüringen. Amy Gillett, 29, was killed instantly. The other injured women, Kate Nichols, 20,

Vande Velde ready for VueltaChristian Vande Velde (CSC) is pumped for the Vuelta a España, which kicks off later this month in Granada, Spain. “I’m psyched to have a good Vuelta,” Vande Velde said. “We’re going to be helping Carlos. He’s looking strong for the race.” Vande Velde will be part of a motivated Team CSC for the Vuelta, the season’s final grand tour. Spanish rider Sastre will be looking to post a strong result in the GC while the always-ambitious CSC will be on the hunt for stages. Joining Sastre and Vande Velde will be former Tour de France stage-winner Jakob Piil, Nicki

American Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) won the most difficult stage of the Tour of Germany on Thursday, a tough 171.6 kilometer Alpine race from Kufstein and Sölden in Austria. Leipheimer, sixth at this year’s Tour de France, also grabbed the overall leader’s jersey as he rode away from race favorite Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) on the brutally difficult 15-kilometer final climb to the finish. Ullrich, who had made the German Tour his main post-TdF objective, conceded 50 seconds to the American on the final climb, which rises 2670 meters with an average grade of 12 percent. Only Leipheimer’s

Hi Bob,I rent a loft in the Bay area and I often ride my rollers or turbo at night after work. One of the other tenants stopped me in the hallway and asked what I was “doing up there." What is the law about noise in a private building?Rob,California Dear Rob,Ah, the joys of riding a bike that goes nowhere, but still manages to make you numb and anger your roommates and neighbors. Now that should be against the law! Still, I was so enthusiastic when I began racing that I used to spend more than four hours a stint on rollers on dark December days back in Madison. I can’t say I miss it. If

GREENVILLE TO CELEBRATE GEORGE HINCAPIE DAY! The City of Greenville cordially invites you to participate ina special celebration September 9, 2005, at 6:00 p.m.  Downtown GreenvilleGreenville’s own George Hincapie, Tour de France Stage Winner and theonly teammate to faithfully accompany Lance Armstrong during a record sevenTour de France victories, will be honored on September 9 in recognitionof his extraordinary victory on Stage 15 of the 2005 Tour de France.You are welcome to take part in a unique evening of fun and entertainmentfor the entire family.  George Hincapie Day

Totschnig (l) and Leipheimer soon after ridding themselves of Ullrich's company

Ullrich fought to stay with the two Gerolsteiners, but faded near the top.

"Cycling in the News" is a regular service of VeloNews.com. Readers,reporters and friends are encouraged to send links to current stories aboutcompetitive cyclists and cycling that appear in the mainstream media. Ifyou come across a news item that you believe may be of interest to otherVeloNews readers, we would be grateful if you choose to send it to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Cycling: Robinson at heart of big night of nostalgia - August 17,2005The Huddersfield Daily Examiner -Great BritainEIGHTEEN former Tour de France riders were among a 90-plus gatheringpaying homage to the pioneering British

I will be the first to admit that I have long suffered from a cycling affliction — make that addiction — brought on by fast, furious local group rides. I just can’t get enough of them. Occasionally I will sit at my desk daydreaming about the week’s ride. Will I make the front group? Will I flat? Will my legs fall off? Will my lungs exit my body by way of my mouth? I, my friends, am a group-ride junkie. Now, the group-rides that have always whetted my appetite aren’t just the ol’ cruiser-bike stroll in the park with mom ‘n pop. Nope, I love the speedy ones with plenty of muscle flexing and

It’s good to be back in Europe. This past weekend I was back racing with my team here in Switzerland. We raced the GP Oberbaselbiet. It’s the first year for this race to take place. Going over the race info, our director told us that though the course profile looked hilly the race was actually pretty flat. He also informed us that there would be no caravan, but he wasn’t exactly sure why not. Once we arrived and warmed-up, we understood the promoter’s reasoning completely. We also realized that the hills on the profile were real. The course was actually very technical, up, down and on

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.Giving backDear VeloNews,For the first time in several years, HealthNet's John Lieswyn did nottoe the start line at the Tour of Kansas City this past weekend. But hisabsence, due to a broken pelvis, did not slow his efforts to nurture participationby the sport's youngest

Lampre’s Daniele Bennati won the 227.3-kilometer third stage of the Tour of Germany from Bodenmais to the Austrian city of Kufstein on Wednesday. A frantic sprint at the end of the Tour’s longest stage saw the 24-year-old Bennati triumph ahead of compatriot and QuickStep rider Filippo Pozatto who had won Tuesday's second stage. Pozatto’s QuickStep teammate Bram Tankink of the Netherlands retains the yellow jersey he has held since winning the opening stage. T-Mobile captain Jan Ullrich lies 23 seconds behind Tankink after finishing amongst the main group of riders. American Bobby

The Phonak team announced Wednesday that Fabrizio Guidi has tested positivefor an as-of-yet-undisclosed substance. Phonak general manager John Lelangue said Guidi's A-sample has comeback positive and the 33-year-old rider has been immediately suspendedpending the outcome of follow-up tests of a B-sample. The suspension isin keeping with current UCI policy. Guidi was competing in the Tour of Germany, although the team has not disclosed when and at which event the original sample was taken from the Italian rider. Phonak has undergone major management changes since last season's

Leipheimer realistic about German tourGoing into Thursday’s grueling climbing stage at the Tour of Germany, Levi Leipheimer continues to have realistic expectations in what’s his final major stage race of the 2005 season. The 31-year-old Gerolsteiner captain went into Wednesday's action poised with the main leaders at just 23 seconds behind race leader Bram Tankink (Quick Step). Danielle Bennati (Lampre) won the bunch sprint while Tankink stayed in the leader’s jersey. “The Tour of Germany is hard. I didn’t even look at the profiles until last week. It surprised me – it’s like a

The place to be on Saturday

JHK and Heather Irmiger

Travis Brown makin' faces again

Cathy Wherry (now Pacocha) dancing with some young stud

Brother Chris approves

The happy couple

Fabrizio Guidi

Leipheimer at this year's Tour.

Bennati takes it.

Tankink remains in yellow for another day, but what's that looming over his shoulder?

CSC extends Voigt contractOn the heels of re-signing American Bobby Julich, the CSC team has announced that Germany's Jens Voigt has also extended his contract until the end of 2007. Julich signed a two-year deal earlier in the week, following a remarkably successful season that included overall victories at Paris-Nice, the Criterium International and inaugural Tour of Benelux. Voigt, too, has had a good year, racking up eight wins this season. CSC has already extended the contract team leader, Ivan Basso, who finished second in this year’s Tour de France. Botcharov extends with

QuickStep’s Filippo Pozatto won the 199.3km second stage of the Tour of Germany from Pegnitz to Bodenmais, in Bavaria, on Tuesday. Pozatto, winner of the Hamburg Hew Cyclassics, frustrated the local crowd pipping German rider Jörg Jaksche of the Liberty Seguros team by millimeters on the finishing line, with both riders recording a time of 4 hours and 29 minutes. Pozatto’s teammate Bram Tankink of the Netherlands retains the yellow jersey after winning Monday's opening stage. German favorite Jan Ullrich, third in the 2005 Tour de France, was one of a 20-strong group to cross the line

PLANO, Texas (AP) -- A 52-year-old bicyclist was killed and another seriously injured when they collided head-on on a street frequently used for training and races. Local cycling enthusiasts were puzzled by the rare head-on accident, which occurred Sunday on a lightly traveled public road. Both men were wearing helmets, but it wasn't clear how fast they were going, Plano police said. Michael Mahoney, 52, of Allen, died Sunday at Medical Center of Plano. Jordan Muller, 37, of Richardson, remained in the intensive care unit at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas on Tuesday. Police spokesman

Pozatto wins a close one

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.No political news, pleaseEditor:Regarding your story, "Armstrong rules out political career... for now”: I first heard this topic discussed during the Tour coverage on OLN. Then I heard it come up during the Charlie Rose interview. Now VeloNews.com has decided to pick up the story. There

QuickStep’s Bram Tankink won the 164.2km first stage of the Tour of Germany from Altenburg to Plauen here on Monday. The 26-year-old Tankink crossed the finishing line in just over four hours to claim his first major victory since turning professional five years ago. With 15 kilometres to go the Dutchman accelerated away from Spaniard Jose Cobo Acebo and Austria's Bernhard Eisel finishing around a minute ahead of the duo. Germany's Jan Ullrich, the favorite for the overall Tour victory here, finished in the main field, three minutes behind the stage winner. T-Mobile captain

The latest Photo Gallery in our continuing photo contest has now been posted for your viewing pleasure. After reviewing a host of very notable submissions, we had to surrender to our funny bones and admit that we most enjoyed Joe David’s “Speed up or pitchfork” and declared Mr. David’s submission to be the winner of our most recent contest. Congratulations, Joe! You win a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes of Cycling." We’re not sure if we picked that photo because of the humor or the soft spot we have in our hearts (heads?) for that whacky ol’ German, Didi Senft – a.k.a. “The Devil.”

Dear Velo,I can't believe I read at the beginning of the Tour that Tom Boonen was given an antibiotic for the "minor infection" that had caused a major toothache. In the dawn of time, when I was racing, an antibiotic would wipe me out for about two weeks, simply due to the fact that, as a broad-spectrum bug killer, it will kill intestinal flora, too. This means that I would get diarrhea and have poorer nutritional uptake from food. The same will be true for Tom. The other point to wonder about here (and I realize the difficulty of diagnosing from an article) is what caused the toothache?

Bobby Julich, fresh off his dramatic victory in the Tour of Benelux, will ride for two more seasons with Team CSC. Julich, 33, will ride through the 2006-07 seasons under the watchful eye of 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, the team announced Monday. “Bobby has turned out to be a real catch for us. Since he joined us his career has blossomed like I've never seen it before,” Riis said on the team’s web page. “He’s an all-round rider, who can achieve results throughout the entire season, and at the same time has the ability to inspire and help develop the other riders.” Julich’s

Carson, Calif. (August 13, 2005)-Jennie Reed rode to her third individual national championship of the week with a victory in the women's keirin, adding another stars and stripes jersey to her earlier wins in the 500 meter time trial and the sprint as the 2005 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships concluded in Los Angeles on Saturday. Reed's sweep of the three sprint-oriented events clearly distinguished her as the strongest sprinter in the field and earned her the title of most decorated rider of the week - man or woman - in terms in individual elite performances. In

Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on Sunday dismissed reports that might enter politics by running for governor of Texas. Shortly after winning his record seventh Tour last month, the cyclist told Outside magazine that he might consider a run for governor of his home state after 2006. But he downplayed the statement as "more or less a joke" in an interview with ABC television. "The biggest problem with politics or running for the governor ... here in Austin or in Texas is that it would mimic exactly what I've done: a ton of stress and a ton of time away from my kids. "Why would I

Blakeslee, Pennsylvania – August 14, 2005 – Mountain bike racing’snew guard, Michael Prokop of the Czech Republic and Jill Kintner of Seattle,Wash., placed an exclamation point on their amazing racing seasons by earningthe title of World Professional Champion at today’s grand finale of theJeep King of the Mountain 2005 Professional Mountain Biking World Championshipsin the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. The pair, who have sat at or near the top of the world rankings allyear, maintained top form throughout the entire series, each winning twoof the three competitions and never finishing

Now that his cycling career is over, Armstrong just wants to relax

Prokop leads Bootes on his way to victory

Kintner and Katrina Miller in an early round

The drivable trophy

American rider Chris Horner, who lit up the 2005 Tour de France with an impressive string of attacks, will leave Saunier Duval at the end of this season, VeloNews has learned. Sources told VeloNews that Horner, 33, is expected to ride with Davitamon-Lotto next season, but officials from the Belgian team could not be reached before the start of Saturday´s Clásica San Sebastian. "I have a contract and it might be announced even today," Horner said as he signed in for the 227km one-day classic in northern Spain. Saunier Duval officials confirmed Horner won´t be riding with the Spanish team next

All three individual event winners on Friday captured their second elite national championships of the week as Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Washington) took a win in the women’s 500 meter time trial to go with her sprint title; Sarah Hammer (Temecula, California) won the women’s 20km points race to match her individual-pursuit victory; and Stephen Alfred (Capitola, California) took the men’s sprint crown in an encore performance to his keirin win as the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships continued in Carson, California. After riding to the national title in the sprint on Thursday, Reed

The only question coming into the final 20km of the 25th Clásica San Sebastián on Saturday wasn’t whether a Saunier Duval rider was going to win, but rather which one. At least that’s how Chris Horner read the finale of the hilly 227km race in Spain’s Basque Country on a beautiful summer afternoon. “We just triple-teamed everyone,” Horner said after celebratory hugs at the finish line along San Sebastián’s posh Boulevard. “I hit first, then they hit after that, we started hitting and we got two in the group. I sat on everything in the back and just shut it down. It was

Belgian Nico Sijmens (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) on Saturday consolidated his lead in the Regio-Tour by finishing fourth in the penultimate stage, a 12.3km individual time trial won by German Tony Martin (Gerolsteiner). Sijmens, 27, winner of the second stage between Wehr and Müllheim, has an overall lead of 1:45 over German Torsten Hiekmann (T-Mobile) and a further seven seconds over Belgian Maxime Monfort (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) Monfort finished second in the hilly time trial in Waldkirch, Germany, which began at 250 meters and climbed through the Black Forest to nearly 1200

Horner, who spent much of his debut Tour on the attack, may shift to Davitamon

Zaballa takes the Clásica

Alfred goes for the gold

The winning team

DiLuca had a crook stomach and scored no ProTour points

The Barry break

Moreau on the front

Menchov on the march

Leipheimer and Horner at work

Rodriguez made it 1-2 for Saunier Duval

Zaballa gets the big bottle - and the even bigger Basque beret

Another ghastly locale for a bike race - yeah, right

Moncouti in the escape

For the second year running, former junior downhill world champ Kathy Pruitt (Luna) is on a tear through the NORBA downhill circuit. During NORBA No. 6 at Brian Head Resort in Utah, Pruitt destroyed the competition, finishing more than six seconds ahead of the next rider, Chilean Bernadita Pizarro (Cannondale). At the Snowmass, Colorado, NORBA, Pruitt handily gapped the rest of the women’s field by more than 11 seconds. The two wins vaulted Pruitt atop the NORBA series standings, which she leads by 14 points. Credit an injury-plagued June for Pruitt’s slimmer-than-usual margin in the

A star-studded line-up is expected for Saturday's Clásica San Sebastián, where the likes of Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) and Ivan Basso (Team CSC) will saddle up for the one-day classic, once part of the 10-race World Cup. Now part of the UCI ProTour series, the Clásica has lost none of its allure for the big names of the sport - and with good reason. Some of cycling's biggest champions, from Laurent Jalabert to Lance Armstrong, have won the hilly race and then donned the Basque beret traditionally given to the winner. Italy’s Basso won the Tour of Denmark barely two weeks ago,

An all-star cast will line up Saturday for the Clásica San Sebastian, the 227km ProTour race in the heart of Spain’s cycling hotbed of Basque Country. Olympic gold medalist Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Iban Mayo (Euskaltel), Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears), Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros), Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo, Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), defending champion Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Phonak), Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) are among the top names starting Saturday. The 227km race starts and

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.There are good reasons for field limitsEditor:I read Krystian Pac’s letter on field limits with interest (see Wednesday’s Mailbag: Inappropriate field limits?) and thought it might be worthwhile to help clarify and explain some of the points he took issue with on inappropriate field

Well, I just finished sending out an email to my crew of friends from college, to let them know I won’t be joining them at the Burning Man Festival, August 29 through September 6. It was a tough email to write, as I've had some of the best nights of my life out in Black Rock City in the Nevada desert and that I was heavily rallying the rest of the gang to go this year. If you don’t know anything about Burning Man, you can learn a bit about it here. If you think you know something about Burning Man but have never been, take my word for it: You don’t know as much as you think you do. It’s

With virtually no event-specific training over the course of the last year, Christian Stahl (Bethany, Connecticut) clocked a personal best time of 1 minute, 4.242 seconds in the men’s kilometer time trial on Thursday to take both the elite and U23 national titles at day two of the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships at Carson, California. The 22-year-old Athens Olympic Team member beat second-place finisher Aaron Kacala (Racine, Wisconsin) in the day’s penultimate heat by nearly two seconds as Kacala posted a 1:06.180. “I haven’t trained specifically for the kilo since before

In the hot seat

Perdiguero, riding for Saunier Duval, won last year's Clásica

Perdiguero, riding for Saunier Duval, won last year's Clásica

Burn, baby, burn

The sorriest fight ever?

The smiling couple

Stahl clocks a personal best to win the kilo'

Lea doubles up in the points race

Quinn claims the women's scratch race in the final sprint

After taking a year off from competitive cycling, Sarah Hammer made a triumphant return to the sport with an impressive victory in the women's 3km individual pursuit as the USA Cycling Elite National Track Championships got underway in suburban Los Angeles. Hammer clocked the second-fastest time ever recorded at the ADT Event Center velodrome, a remarkable feat considering the venue was the site of both the elite world championships and a world cup event since opening its doors a year ago. The 21-year-old Hammer clocked a time of 3 minutes, 41.177 seconds to sweep both the elite and U23

Former world number one Damiano Cunego will take part in Saturday's Clasica San Sebastian, this season's 20th ProTour race, his Lampre team confirmed Thursday. The 23-year-old Italian was forced to miss several weeks of the season after being diagnosed with the debilitating Epstein-Barr (EBV) virus. But he returned to action in July and performed well in this week's Fred Mengoni trophy and the Castelfidardo Grand Prix. Lampre coach Giuseppe Martinelli predicted Cunego would perform well in Spain. "Damiano has moved very well in the last two races where he was always near the

Hammer's year off did her good

Armsstrong's focus is still on the road

Alfred shows the youngsters how it's done