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An anonymous e-mail sent Tuesday afternoon quietly marked the end of an era in modern cycling. At 38, and definitely a pedal stroke or two past his prime, Mario Cipollini – the Lion King, Ruler of the Sprints and the Master of Kitsch – said it was time to hang up the cleats. “Announcing my withdrawal less than two weeks before the Giro d'Italia is a painful but honest decision. The public will understand," said Cipollini in a statement released by his team, Liquigas. "Maybe, an ‘old man’ like me, who has given a lot to cycling and has also received a lot, has to recognize when is the

Alessandro Petacchi continued on his winning ways, charging to his 15th win of the 2005 season in Wednesday’s first stage of the Tour de Romandie. And it’s not even May yet. The Milan-San Remo champion out-kicked Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto) on the 167km circuit course to snag a soggy victory in central Switzerland. "Winning is never easy when you're the favorite, but my team did a great job yet again," Petacchi said. “It was a tough stage because we raced hard and the weather was pretty bad all day. Fortunately we went through the finish area three times during the stage and so I knew

Casey Gibson hits the finish line

Cipo' makes a splash at the '99 Tour

At the 1993 Tour de France

Cipollini cultivates his fan base at the Giro

Winning in Qatar

Who else?

Pereiro

Ravaioli and Rosseler

Michele Scarponi won’t be among the starters for Tuesday’s prologue at the Tour de Romandie, the Italian rider who will lead Liberty Seguros in the upcoming Giro d’Italia. For many riders, the Romandie tour is the ideal warm-up before the season’s first grand tour, but that’s not the thinking of Liberty Seguros boss Manolo Saiz. Only Joseba Beloki will be racing this week in Switzerland among the Liberty riders heading to the Giro start May 7. “I believe the Giro will be decided between the second and third weeks, so I preferred (the Giro leaders) to come slightly short of form and they

It’s Sunday, a dreary and rainy afternoon. It’s far too wet for an enjoyable ride and a modest crowd of local cyclists has turned out to watch a delayed broadcast of Liège–Bastogne–Liège at north Boulder’s Amante coffee shop. Although the television is blaring Alexander Vinokourov’s exciting win, a quick eavesdrop into surrounding conversations reveals a more interesting buzz. The drama of the race is not exactly the subject for today’s talk, and familiar reoccurring questions bounce between conversations.Do you think he really did it?He couldn’t possibly have…but could he have?Do you

Just a year ago, Phonak rider Tyler Hamilton roared through the final time trial at the six-day Tour de Romandie to defend his title. The emotional victory gave the Swiss team a huge boost in the run up to what would be its first Tour de France. A year later, Hamilton wasn’t in Geneva for Tuesday’s short opening prologue for the 2005 edition. Instead, he’s fighting to save his cycling career after receiving a two-year racing ban for homologous blood doping. That left it up to unsung and under-rated Oscar Pereiro to save the day for the Phonak team in the second most-important stage race in

This time he means it. One-time super sprinter Mario Cipollini announced plans to retire from cycling on Tuesday, exiting the peloton before this year’s edition of the Giro d'Italia. The 38-year old, whose 42 stage wins in the Giro is a record, retired two years ago before coming back and breaking the Giro stage-win mark established by Alfredo Binda. However, this time, the flamboyant Italian, known as the “Lion King,” to many of his fans, appears to be serious about his decision. "Announcing my withdrawal less than two weeks before the Giro d'Italia is a painful but honest

Savoldelli: A difference of 0.23 seconds

Cipollini wins at this year's Tour of Qatar

Celebrating the new record at the Giro.

Many of the top contenders for next month’s Giro d’Italia will be looking to hone their form in the mountainous Tour de Romandie, the next stop on the ProTour series. With five stages and a prologue, the 656-kilometer Romandie race zips around Switzerland on a challenging course that provides a perfect setting for Giro-bound riders to test their legs. The race opens Tuesday with a short prologue in the narrow streets of Geneva before rolling over scenic farm roads on circuit courses in west-central Switzerland in stages one and two. Stage three is the most difficult day, with three Cat. 1s,

After leading La Vuelta de Bisbee through the first three stages, Ivan Stevic (Aerospace Engineering-VMG) and Maatje Benassi (Excel Sports) found their dreams of overall victory buried in the closing Tombstone Road Race. Stevic, who held a 30-second overall lead after sweeping all three stages going into Sunday’s 87.2-mile showdown, could manage only third in the finale, conceding more than two minutes and the overall win to teammate Clemente Cavaliere, who simply rode away from the field and leapt from 16th to first overall. Benassi, winner of the prologue Mule Pass time trial, took a lead

LVDB winner Cavaliere with Bisbee Mayor Ron Oertle

Final overall standings
1. Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 26:53:44
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner at 4sec
3. Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 9sec
4. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1min 10sec
5. Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 1min 41sec
6. David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 3min 4sec
7. Marco Pinotti (ITA) Prodir-Saunier Duval 3min 11sec
8. Nathan O'Neill (AUS) Navigators Insurance 3min 14sec
9. Michael Blaudzun (DEN) Team CSC 3min 51sec
10. Jose Azevedo (POR) Discovery Channel 3min 58sec

Jan Ullrich will be back to defend his title at the Tour de Suisse (June 11-19), meaning his first chance in a showdown with Lance Armstrong won’t come until the Tour de France. The 1997 Tour winner was debating between racing the Swiss tour or the Dauphiné Libéré (June 5-12), but finally opted to return to the friendly mountains of Switzerland, which he now calls home. Ullrich recently raced in the Vuelta a Aragon, where team officials said he looks buff, motivated and confident, the best since 1997. Up next he’ll return to Spain to race in the Volta a Cataluyna (May 16-22). Alexandre

Tom Danielson isn't all that interested in hearing the talk, but it is the inevitability that every great up and coming athlete must face. Following his overall victory at the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia, the young American cyclist who can climb and time trial with the best of them, must endure the reality that will come with riding for a Discovery Channel team that is about to lose its No. 1 rider. Whether Danielson likes it or not, the comparisons to Lance Armstrong begin now.

Alex Vinokourov’s exciting victory over Jens Voigt in Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège not only ended the T-Mobile’s season-long losing streak, but also laid to rest the assumption that a long-range breakaway couldn’t succeed in this super-hilly classic. Vinokourov was not among the top favorites to win this 10th race of the UCI ProTour, but his rising form and savvy racing brain allowed him to take advantage of a race that was in flux after the trilogy of climbs that were restored to the 260km course.

As top road racers were taking on the ProTour’s edition of Liege-Bastogne-Liege, just down the road, the mountain bike World Cup season opened at the Formula One circuit in Spa Francochamps, Belgium. The rain that had been threatening all Saturday night was replaced by bright sunshine, and under that blue sky, Canada’s Marie-Hélène Prémont (Rocky Mountain-Business Objects) and Frenchman Julien Absalon (Bianchi-Agos) became the first in the 2005 season to don the blue leader's jerseys for the World Cup. The organizers made some modifications overnight to the 6.1-kilometer course,

Vino' had lots of time to celebrate.

Vino' beats Voigt to the line with a nicely timed charge through the final turn.

... and Vinokourov decides that this one needs to be followed

On the Côte de St. Roch (1km at 11.2 percent)

T-Mobile wisely sends Wesseman (r) into the day's first break

Di Luca didn't make the cut on Sunday, but holds the ProTour lead

The dynamic duo on the way up La Redoute

Rebellin didn't get to repeat any of his three wins from last year

Voigt makes his jump...

Absalon is back on track for another good year

One-Two punch: Fraser and Henderson take the sprint for Health Net

Tafi's racing career is coming to a close

Armstrong and another soon-to-be-retiree at the start

Pate and Tafi tried to animate the day

Discovery locked it down

Image Files Fleche Wallone

[nid:30845]On a day of high drama, riveting plot twists and an outcome that was literally undecided until the last second, the most telling moment may well have come during the ascent of the category 1 Hogpen Gap climb, 96 miles into stage 5 of the Dodge Tour de Georgia. It was there that the world’s most famous bike racer went to the front of a four-rider break and started hammering away for one of his teammates, American Tom Danielson.

It’s always nice going to Paris. Even in January, when the trees are bare, the tables and chairs of sidewalk cafés are chained up, and cold breezes make you turn your collar up as you walk along the Champs-Élysées. It was on that famous avenue, at a lunchtime reception in a swank hotel, that the 1981 Renault-Gitane professional cycling team was presented to the media. The star attraction, of course, was Bernard Hinault. The Frenchman was at the height of his fame, the newly crowned world champion, and eager to win a third Tour de France after knee tendinitis forced him to quit the race in

A steady rain that started in Liège Saturday afternoon is forecast to return Sunday, which - combined with a 20-kph wind from the south - should make the Belgian super-classic even tougher than it already promises to be. The new 260km course has 10 major hills compared with eight last year, and the restoration of the Wanne-Stockeu-Haute-Levée trilogy of climbs has added meat to what was becoming a less demanding race. Even the hot race favorite, Italy’s Danilo Di Luca, seems to agree. The Italian, who is hoping to increase his UCI ProTour lead in this 10th race of the series, said Saturday:

Foggy final 250 meters Road sign for Lance Light reading at the top of the climb clearing up

DENVER (AP) -- A top lawyer for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday that the organization stood behind the test that led to Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton's two-year suspension for a blood-doping violation, the first case based on the test designed to detect blood transfusions. An independent panel of arbitrators voted 2-1 to suspend Hamilton for receiving another person's blood, the Colorado Springs-based agency announced earlier this week. Hamilton tested positive for doping on Sept. 11 during the Spanish Vuelta. Hamilton has consistently denied any doping violation and

The cross-country mountain bike World Cup season begins Sunday at the Spa Francochamps Formula One circuit. Spa, 30 minutes south of Liège , is a new stop for the World Cup, and the event is scheduled head to head against the road classic Liège -Bastogne-Liège. The 6.1km circuit is still muddy after a week of near-perfect conditions, so tomorrow's predicted rain is likely to turn it into a treacherous mess. The race begins on the paved race circuit, with the riders immediately heading up a steep climb. At the top they head off-road, into a steep, rooty drop-off, and then begin a

Astarloa patched up, but not packing it itIgor Astarloa is all screwed up – literally. The 2003 world champion is trying to kick-start his season after crashing hard at the Haribo Classic in February, leaving him with a fractured arm. To keep things all in one piece, he’s racing with five screws and a metal plate in his left arm. “Things are going better, but it still hurts,” Astarloa told the Spanish daily MARCA. “I was with the lead group going up the Cauberg (at Amstel Gold), but I wasn’t in good enough shape to challenge for the win. I was upset, because there are going to be few

It was a long day in the saddle at Brasstown Bald, and not just for the riders. We asked ace shooter Casey Gibson if he'd stick around a little longer than usual to provide us with a photo gallery, and he indulged us. Here's what he sent .

Ivan Stevic must like La Vuelta de Bisbee. The 24-year-old Aerospace Engineering-VMG racer has won all three stages so far in this year’s race, held in and around Bisbee, Arizona. Stevic started his weekend with a win in the Mule Pass Individual Time Trial on Friday, then added insult to injury by winning both stages on Saturday – the morning’s 79.3-mile Sulphur Springs Road Race, outsprinting Scott Blanchard (Eclipse Racing) and David Clinger (Webcor), and the afternoon’s 8.3-mile Warren Time Trial, ahead of Ryan Blickem (Landis-Trek-VW) and Mike Dietrich (Fiordifrutta). The women spread

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MAP

Image Files Fleche Wallone/Liege-B-L

Fog

Go Lance

VeloNews

Clearing up

The venue at the Spa Francochamps Formula One circuit outside Liège

As you can see, some parts look better than others ...

... while other parts look even worse than others

Tom Danielson, Lance Armstrong, and Christian Vande Velde: Is Tom ready to Tour?

Danielson rode off the front and stayed there, seizing the stage and the overall lead

Leipheimer tagged along with Danielson, but couldn't hold the pace in the finale

Landis fought valiantly, but was outmanned and outgunned on Brasstown Bald

Health Net worked early for sprinter Henderson

McCartney on the attack

Vande Velde launches, hoping to set up either Julich or Zabriskie

Something you don't see every day: a six-time Tour champ working for a young up-and-comer

Landis and Armstrong were all smiles at the start

But once the gun fired, Discovery went after Landis's jersey with a vengeance ... here, Cruz and Danielson are shown working together

Zabriskie was in the thick of things until the final kilometers