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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

Thorburn, Mirabella, Hammer and Armstrong

Before his diagnosis, Cunego struggled through the Giro.

American Bobby Julich grabbed his CSC team's second stage race victory inside a week after winning the inaugural Tour of Benelux asit finished in Holland on Wednesday. Julich stormed to victory in the final stage time trial, held over 26.2km, to leave Dutch favorite Erik Dekker, down in second place in the general classification. The 33-year-old Julich started the time trial with a 37-second deficit on overnight leader Rik Verbrugghe of QuickStep. However Julich has become something of a specialist in the race against the clock over the past two years - and by the halfway mark he had

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.Put your money where your hearts areEditor,Well there it is, the VeloNews poll asking readers how much they'dbe willing to pay for Vuelta coverage.As of Tuesday at 5 p.m. there are only 31 percent willing to pay $25for three weeks of Vuelta coverage. Another 30 percent state

With cyclists well into their race season, you likely have your favorite pre-race foods and fluids menu planned out, and are refining your on-bike drinking skills to maximize your race performance. But have you thought about your race recovery nutrition? At this time in the season your nutritional focus should be on nutritional strategies to improve race performance, and proper recovery so that you are prepared for your next race. Your training is likely focused on intensity, with a reduced training volume as you prepare for an upcoming race. Proper recovery is especially important if you

With cyclists well into their race season, you likely have your favorite pre-race foods and fluids menu planned out, and are refining your on-bike drinking skills to maximize your race performance. But have you thought about your race recovery nutrition? At this time in the season your nutritional focus should be on nutritional strategies to improve race performance, and proper recovery so that you are prepared for your next race. Your training is likely focused on intensity, with a reduced training volume as you prepare for an upcoming race. Proper recovery is especially important if you

Julich powers into the overall title.

The latest Photo Gallery in our continuing photo contest has now been posted for your viewing pleasure. After a long struggle, we declared John Groton’s Misty Morning as the winner of our most recent contest. Congratulations, John! You win a copy of Graham Watson's "Landscapes of Cycling." We already have a pile of photos in our latest round and will be posting at least one more gallery this week. So take a quick look at our latest gallery, decide what you like and let us know what you think by dropping a note to Rosters@InsideInc.com. Just remember we’ll be posting more later on in

Dutchman Stefan Van Dijk (Mr. Bookmaker) dominated the sprint finish of a 196-kilometer race from St. Truiden to win the sixth and penultimate stage of the Tour of Benelux in Hoogstraten near Brussels on Tuesday. Belgian Rik Verbrugghe, (QuickStep), retained the race lead going into Wednesday's final stage - a 26.3km individual time trial in Etten-Leur in the Netherlands. Van Dijk sprinted to victory ahead of Discovery Channel's Max Van Heeswijk - who has already won two stages in the event.-Agence France Presse Results in the 195.9km sixth stage of the Tour of Benelux between

Not this time: Freire probably won't be defending his world title on home turf

Van Dijk takes the sprint

Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel) dominated a bunch sprint to win the fifth stage of the Benelux Tour held over 194km between Verviers and Hasselt in Belgium on Monday. Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) retained the lead in the general classification ahead of Tuesday's penultimate stage held over 196km from St Truiden to Hoogstraten. Van Heeswijk thus claims his second stage of the race following his victory in the first stage last Thursday. The Dutch rider finished ahead of Italian Alberto Ongarato (Fassa Bortolo), fellow Dutchman Stefan Van Dijck (MrBookmaker) and

Alejandro Valverde is still recovering from knee problems that knocked him out of the Tour de France last month and the Spanish sensation might not be able to start the Vuelta a España (Aug. 27-Sept. 18). Valverde was forced to pull out of the Tour just days after his dramatic stage victory atop Courchevel. He smacked his left knee on his handlebars in the team time trial in stage four that exacerbated an existing knee injury, causing intense swelling and pain. Team doctors were hopeful a two-week rest period would allow Valverde to recover in time for the Vuelta, but now team officials are

Dear Doctor Richardson,I am a 50-year-old former racer who has been riding for more than 20 years. I still ride between 8 and 10 hours a week. I had even planned to race this year but due to work conflicts I didn’t manage to pull it off. Nonetheless, I had been training and in hopes of competing later this year… that is until last week. My wife and I were on vacation and on the last day of our trip, I went for a 2.5-hour ride. I went early in the morning to beat the heat of the day. It was extremely humid, but the temperature was in the upper 60's when I left and may have been in the

ROLF PRIMA ROLLS OUT ITS FIRST CARBON WHEEL SYSTEM Eugene, OR – After a rigorous cycle of design, development and testing, Rolf Prima enters the carbon realm with a new carbon tubular wheel system that’s light, fast and offers unparalleled ride performance. The Carbon TdF38 wheel system uses an exclusive, custom rim design with a Nodal Reinforcement ™ process that allows the use of higher spoke tensions to maintain wheel stiffness. A 38mm deep-section carbon rim and 14 front / 16 rear bladed stainless steel spokes combine to make these feathery light wheels the ultimate choice in

Merlin Metalworks has announced an entirely new line of titanium and carbon bikes, dubbed “Works,” for 2006. The Merlin TiWorks series will join the existing Merlin models, which continue as Merlin Classics. Merlin also has a new CarbonWorks bike, the C110, which is essentially a Merlin Proteus carbon frame stripped of its titanium embellishments. The TiWorks bikes are divided into three categories:Compact Racing - CRTraditional Racing - TRMountain Racing- MR. Many of Merlin’s traditional touches are present in the TiWorks line, including 6Al/4V titanium alloy dropouts, size-specific tubing

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.Gentleman GeorgeEditor:This weekend I had the privilege of riding in the Oregon MS150. This year’s honorary chairman was George Hincapie, who took the time out of his busy schedule to fly Friday night from Europe, across the pond and the U.S. to Oregon, ride the two-day tour, then hop

Valverde won the 10th stage at the Tour before his knee troubles flared up.

PRESS RELEASE - Rolf Prima introduces carbon wheel system

The MerlinTiWorks CR 3/2.5 adds a whole new light to the term entry-level

The TiWorks CR 6/4 represents Merlin's first foray into 6/4 ti.

No ti here: TheC110 carbon road features the geometry of the Proteus, but made entirely of carbon

With one lap to go in the $125,000 Bank of America Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, Health Net-Maxxis looked well in control of the race. The crowd, packed six deep along the course, roared with enthusiasm as the green train barreled down the back straight. But lurking behind them, the Colavita-Sutter Home sprinters waited to pounce.

At the fourth NORBA National Mountain Bike Series stop in Sandpoint, Idaho, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski predicted that he and fiancée Heather Irmiger would eventually stand atop a NORBA podium together. Both had scored podium finishes this season, and simultaneous wins didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. But The Subaru-Gary Fisher rider didn’t know that he’d only have to wait three weeks for his forecast to become reality. Horgan-Kobelski and Irmiger both held onto early leads over the 26-mile cross-country course to win their respective cross-country races on Saturday as the NORBA

Confusion in Sunday’s fourth stage of the Tour of Benelux cost Christian Vande Velde (CSC) and Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) a possible shot at victory. The two Americans, along with Belgian Bart Dockx (Davitamon-Lotto), were on the attack in Sunday’s hilly, seven-climb 232km march across Belgium’s Ardennes, nursing a comfortable six-minute lead, when the main bunch accidentally went the wrong way. Vande Velde and Co. were already over the day’s fourth climb at the Côte de la Haute Levée with about 60km to go when the peloton accidentally went off course coming down the descent on

Baggy shorts, mountain-cross helmets and downhill goggles were the garb of choice for some at the pro men’s short track on Sunday at the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series. Following the lead of downhill winner Jared Graves (Yeti), a score of the NORBA circuit’s most talented gravity racers entered the pro men’s short track at Brian Head Resort, Utah, racing for little more than first-lap bragging rights. And the fastest man – for one lap, anyway - was South African downhiller Andrew Neethling (Honda-Turner), who blew by everyone to “win” the first lap with flat pedals and sneakers. “I

Tearin' it up at twilight

McCormack led it out . . .

. . . and Haedo finished it off

A crash neutralized the women's crit early on

Chalk another one up for Teutenberg

Graves led the way . . .

Kirkaldie lasted the longest

Teammates Hanusova and Vanlandingham fought to the line

. . . but Neethling was the fastest man (for one lap, anyway)

Sitting a stone’s throw away from the beautiful Cedar Breaks National Monument in the heart of Utah’s canyon country, Brian Head Resort plays host to the sixth NORBA national mountain-bike race of the season this weekend. The racing will once again include the full spectrum of events, with athletes competing in cross-country, short-track, marathon, downhill, Super-D and - for only the second time this season - dual slalom. Although Brian Head has hosted a handful of smaller mountain-bike races, this is the resort’s first NORBA national. To showcase the area’s stunning terrain and beautiful

Australian Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) won the 206km third stage of the Tour of Benelux between Beek and Landgraaf in the Netherlands on Saturday. Davis finished ahead of Dutchman Erik Dekker (Rabobank) and Italy's Daniele Benati (Lampre-Caffita). Belgium's Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) reclaimed the leader's red jersey from Max van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), while Davis slipped into second overall. Stage 3 results1. Allan Davis (Aus), Liberty Seguros, 4:54:302. Erik Dekker (Ned), Rabobank, at 0:053. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Caffita, same time4. Sergei Ivanov (Rus),

It may have already lost two bids to host the Winter Olympics, but the tiny Swedish town of Falun remains doggedly determined to become a leading center for European sporting events, and perhaps one day get the Olympics after all. Later this month, Falun, nestled deep in the forest 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Stockholm, will host Sweden's first World Cup cycling event, a UCI mountain-bike marathon, which is expected to draw 1000 cyclists from around the world. The town of 50,000 is best known for being home to Europe's oldest copper mine, one of Sweden's economic

It's August and already the end of the season is in sight. We just finished our training camp in Austria followed by the Sacshen Tour. The training camp was a necessity for some, myself included, and helped us regain our focus for the second part of the season. We rode all day and returned home to watch the drama unfold in the Tour. But not too much drama ever really occurred. From the training camp in Austria we limped into the Saschen Tour in rainy East Germany. The team started off pretty slowly but caught up toward the end of the five days of racing, winning the last two stages.

The town of Falun has lost two Winter Olympics bids, but hasn't given up hope of becoming a sports capital

It'll be tough to concentrate on racing when the scenery looks like this

Davis takes the stage and sits second overall

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.What about an all-cycling network?Editor:Every time I turn on my TV the number of cable channels grows and grows. What would it take to bring all cycling factions together on one cable-television network? Outstanding European road cycling coverage is available. Are the rights fees too

Crashes and confrontations at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome on June 10 have resulted in suspensions for Andy Lakatosh, Marty Nothstein and Leigh Barczewski, according to USA Cycling. The suspensions stem from the keirin final at the Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, track, which saw Ben Barczewski and another rider crash after Barczewski and Jame Carney tangled wheels. As Carney crossed the line first, Lakatosh caught up to him and grabbed Carney’s bars, causing him to crash. Carney then chased Lakatosh up the track, and both riders were disqualified for unsportsmanlike behavior. The subsequent

Century Road Club Association has revived the Bear Mountain Fall Classic. This event, which was last won in the fall by John Lieswyn and Tina Pic in 2000, will cover the hilly terrain of Harriman State Park in New York on Sunday, September 11. This is the same course as the spring Harriman race, which has been the site of national championships and Olympic trials. This year the event is named the Nancy Morgenstern Memorial in honor of a local rider who was killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City. The winner of the elite women's race will receive the Nancy

Italy's Simone Cadamuro won the 178.5km second stage of the Tour of Benelux between Geldrop and Sittard on Friday. The Domina Vacanze rider prevailed in a sprint with Liquigas-Bianchi teammates Marco Zanetti and Enrico Gasparotto. Max van Heeswijk (Discovery Channel), winner of Thursday's first stage, held on to the leader's red jersey, extending his lead over Belgian Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step) to three seconds. In rainy conditions French duo Rony Martias (Bouygues Telecom) and Fabien Sanchez (Française des Jeux) tried to slip the main pack, at one point building up a

Ivan Basso is on a tear in the Tour of Denmark, winning the opening three stages and controlling the race leader’s yellow jersey. The Tour de France runner-up told VeloNews he’s likely to race the San Francisco Grand Prix on September 4 as part of his late-season racing schedule. “It’s not sure, but it’s 90 percent sure I will race in San Francisco,” Basso said. “I will take a short break after the Tour of Denmark to finalize the schedule for the remainder of the season.” Basso said he was “satisfied” with his recent Tour de France performance, adding that Lance Armstrong was “too strong

Basso may be racing in San Francisco

Late afternoon rain showers doused Bobby Julich’s chances in Wednesday’s 5.7km prologue at the Tour of Benelux. Julich was one of the late starters facing the daunting task of racing over the rain-slick cobblestone roads that marked much of the narrow, technical course in Mechelen, Belgium. “It was impossible to get around in the corners for both Julich and (Vladimir) Gusev, who were our two last riders,” said Team CSC sport director Scott Sunderland. “Already after 100 meters they'd lost about five seconds and then there was no chance of catching up at such a short distance.” Julich

LANESBOROUGH - Bruce Fina, co-founder of the Pedro's Mountain Bike Festival, stared at the computer screen and insisted something had to be wrong. The weather forecast for his annual off-road rendezvous could not be that good. "I hope this doesn't drive customers away!" he joked. "We've become so used to rain, heat, lightning, and even frost for this event. I don't know what to wear!" While Boston and New York will swelter, the National Weather Service has called for good weather this weekend in the cooler elevations of the Berkshires, site of Pedrosfest. Initially

Break out the wetsuit, the aero’ bars and the running shoes — it’s triathlon season. Okay, I don’t know exactly what that means, but I do know that Sunday morning I’ll be knee-deep in a swamp of suffering. Kyle Du Ford, the editor over at Inside Triathlon, has called my bluff, passing on his spot at this weekend’s 5430 Long Course Triathlon so that I can take it. Lucky me, eh? The distances: a 1.1-mile swim, a 56-mile bike and a 13-mile run. Yeah, it’s that last part that worries me, too. Although I came to cycling from a running background, that was 15 years ago. Running has basically

Discovery Channel’s Max van Heeswijk won Thursday’s first stage of the Tour of Benelux, a 189.4km leg between Geel and Mierlo. Van Heeswijk outsprinted Marco Zanotti (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Steven de Jongh (Rabobank) to win the stage and take the overall lead from prologue winner Rik Verbrugghe (Quick Step), who slipped to second overall. "At last," Van Heeswijk said with a smile after his first stage win in a season blighted by family problems. Discovery Channel's assistant sports manager, Dirk Demol, also was pleased. "Max has struggled a bit to find his form this season but it's

After two years in Portland, Oregon, the U.S. Cyclo-cross National Championships are moving clear across the country for 2005 – all the way to the 430-acre Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island. The race is scheduled for December 9-11. “As America’s most up-and-coming city, Providence is a natural to host the national championships of one of America’s most up-and-coming sports,” said Mayor David N. Cicilline. “I wholeheartedly welcome the hundreds of cyclists and fans who will converge on Roger Williams Park, and I look forward to spectacular competition against a beautiful New

Hi, Bob,As a lawyer (corporate securities) and a wanna-be road racer, I always enjoy reading your column. Have you ever covered the legalities of using an iPod or other player, with headphones, on the road? Guys I know get tickets for this in California; I live in Texas. I think somewhere I read it might make a difference if you use one earpiece instead of both. I see more and more guys with 'em in and thought it might make an interesting column.P.H.Austin, Texas Dear Paul,When I was pursuing my racing career I passed the many, many hours of lonely riding listening to music and talk

After breaking his right wrist in a pileup during stage 4 of the International Tour de ‘Toona on July 28, NORBA star Ryan Trebon (Kona-Les Gets) has spent the past week scouring tiny Corvallis, Oregon – his current residence – for something to do. And for a guy who’s used to training four hours a day and town-hopping from race to race, that’s not any fun at all. “It’s weird going from riding my bike every day and being super active to just having to sit around the house. Jesus, it is so boring,” said Trebon. “I can’t stand it. "The other day, just to get out of the house, I walked across

For the second year in a row, the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s "National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day" initiative has gained support from the U.S. Congress. A joint resolution (H. Con. Res. 205/S. Res. 195) sponsored by Senator Richard Burr (NC) and Congresswoman Virginia Fox (NC) has been earmarked for swift passage this fall. Additional co-sponsors are Senator Ken Salazar (CO) and Representative Mark Udall (CO). In 2004, thousands of kids participated in more than 100 events nationwide and in several other countries. IMBA expects even greater numbers of participants in

A different sort of neighborhood altogether

With parents like this, expect to see Liam Barry in the 2024 Olympics

Landis on his ex-boss: 'Friendship can’t exist when you give orders and direct others.'

Trebon is itchin' to get back on the bike