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German sprint ace Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) drew first blood at theVuelta a Murcia in Spain on Wednesday, scoring his first win of the 2005season.Cloudy skies gave way to afternoon sun, but cool temperatures and strongwinds reminded everyone of the cold front that swept through Spain overthe weekend leaving high mountain roads clogged with snow.Several riders tried in vain to slip away from the peloton, includingaging classics warrior Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) and Peter Wuyts (Mr.Bookmaker), who were away in a breakaway but reeled in with 15km to go.The pace was torrid for so early in the

Leipheimer's season is just starting

Green at Calgary

...more time on the trainer?!?!?!

De Clerq leads a Belgian sweep at world's in Zolder in 2002

Sayers on the march

Sayers: Leading by example

Hondo - and Gerolsteiner - get their first big win of the season

Murcia in springtime

Gerolsteiner was active all day.

Leipheimer starts his season with Gerolsteiner

Cunego and Tafi on the attack

Tafi tries his luck with Wuyts

Cunego has big goals this season

Beloki is still on the road to recovery

Hondo gets the jersey today and may pass to teammates tomorrow

Map2

Sayers photo

map

Sayers photo

In the firstpart of our conversation with Bobby Julich, the American looked backat what has turned out to be a wise decision to sign with Bjarne Riis's CSC team in Denmark at the end of 2003. For Julich, 2004 can only be seen as remarkable, a comeback season in which he won a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country, finished third overall at Paris-Nice and took home the bronze medal at the Olympic time trial.“The confidence is back, not the cockiness that maybe I had after 1998, but now I am confident that I am back to the highest level,” Julich noted.In today’s installment, Julich talks

Tyler Hamilton could know his cycling future as soon as the end of next week after a three-day hearing before the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency began Monday in Denver. Hamilton is facing a possible two-year racing ban, but has vowed to clear his name with a vigorous defense. A team of lawyers has been working to prepare material to present to the three-person USADA panel to demonstrate inconsistencies in the blood doping test. Hamilton’s lawyer, Howard Jacobs, told The Denver Post’s John Henderson the defense is “fairly optimistic” it can disprove the validity of the test. “It helps that if you

As I mentioned last week, it wouldn’t be until today – March 1 – that I could speak freely about a few of Manitou’s new-for-2006 products. If you couldn’t guess from my somewhat cryptic comment last week, Manitou is back to taking a serious look at the cross-country segment for 2006. Welcome to the lightweight, high-performance world of the Manitou R-Seven. While the race-oriented Skareb served its purpose quite nicely for the past three years, Manitou’s Joel Smith recently explained that it’s the company’s goal to “redefine suspension for the XC market.” Considering what Manitou has

Julich's season was highlighted by a medal-winning performance in Athens

John Tomac was on-hand in Gran Canaria, Spain to show off Manitou's R-Seven

Tech Report: Manitou comes back to cross-country

Tech Report: Manitou comes back to cross-country

Bobby Julich enjoyed a very successful comeback season in 2004, winning a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country, finishing third overall at Paris-Nice and taking home the bronze medal at the Olympic time trial. For Julich, a return to the elite levels of racing was especially sweet. Since his 1998 Tour de France podium ride, the popular Colorado rider struggled to find the winning legs. In joining Team CSC and Bjarne Riis, Julich discovered the team he was always looking for. With his feet firmly planted on the ground, the 33-year-old enters the 2005 campaign with high hopes of building

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’s up with OLN?Editor:What is going on with OLN's 2005 cycling coverage? Last year they dropped daily coverage of the Vuelta late in the season, and now this year the only decent coverage of a race is going to be of the Tour. Major cuts include dropping daily coverage of the Giro

With last year’s needle-prick and transfusion tube scandals still fresh in my mind, the big question surrounding all of that hubbub remains unanswered: What is the proper way to punish a doper? Sure, you can slap ‘em with suspensions, fine their bank accounts dry, drag their names through a trough of mud and make their public image darker than an Angus steer’s tuckas on a moonless prairie night. But will it do any good? Of course, the teams, too, have their own “Don’t do it” policies. But with the pressure to win augmented by the long list of hungry replacements (who will do anything to

This story originally appeared as Timothy Carlson’s weekly column onthe website of our sister publication InsideTriathlon. Because the issue of doping seems to transcend sportingdisciplines, we decided that Mr. Carlson’s column was worthy of a seriouslook from interested parties outside of the sport of Triathlon. - Editor "No, no!' said the Queen. “Sentence first - verdict afterwards.”“Stuff and nonsense!” said Alice loudly. “The idea of having the sentence first!'”“Hold your tongue!” said the Queen, turning purple.“I won't!” said Alice.“Off with her head!” the Queen shouted at

Julich has found a happy home at CSC

"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.Khaleej Times - March 14, 2005UAE plans continental cycling teamDUBAI — UAE is planning to form a continental cycling team toparticipate in all major championships around the world. The proposed teamof 16 cyclists, will

Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie won the 58th edition of the Belgian semi-classic Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne on Sunday, as the American outsprinted his breakaway partner Kevin Van Impe (Chocolade Jacques). The two men slipped off the front of an elite group of riders nearing the end of the 190-kilometer race through the Belgian countryside. The two leaders finished 14 seconds of a hard-chasing Bert Roesems (Davitamon-Lotto). The race, held in cold and cloudy conditions, threw riders into tough conditions including a brutally icy headwind at points. The day was a battle of attrition with

Rochelle Gilmore claimed opening World Cup honors with victory in the first round of the series in Geelong, Australia, on Sunday The 23 year old, riding for the New South Wales Institute of Sport team, outsprinted defending World Cup Series champion and 2004 Geelong winner, Oenone Wood, 24, (Team Nürnberger) with Katherine Bates (Ton van Bemmelen) coming home third to give Australia a clean sweep of the podium. Ninety-three riders from 16 countries started the race including the reigning World Champion, Judith Arndt of Germany (Team Nürnberger) and Olympic Champion Sara Carrigan (Ton van

"Go get him." "No, you get him...." And so it went.... The last 15km of the 60th edition of the Omloop Het Volk presented the peloton with a classic dilemma: Chase the one man off the front and risk setting up a win for the competition, or hope someone else chases and risk losing if no one does. They opted for the latter, and that gave 25-year-old Nick Nuyens all he needed to stay away to claim victory, just seconds ahead of a field of pre-race favorites, including his Quick Step teammate and compatriot Tom Boonen.

Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), stamped his final mark of authority on the sixth edition of the Volta Communidad Valencia on Saturday, winning the fifth and final stage and claiming the overall victory to boot. It was the Italian speedster’s third stage win of the Volta. "For me, with my characteristics, it is very difficult to win a small tour like this one, but I have been very fit since the beginning of the season and I knew that I could race a good tour,” Petacchi said. Spain’s Francisco Ventoso (Saunier Duval) was second on the stage, a 149.5km circuit around Valencia,

Nuyens celebrates his bold victory

CSC's Tristan Hoffman broke his left leg in a crash while descending the Mur de Grammont

The Piil escape

Eki' at the front

Nuyens goes it alone

Up the Grammont

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Peter Van Petegem (Davitamon) are among the favorites in the traditional Belgian season-opener, the Omloop Het Volk, on Saturday. The 200km course between Ghent and Lokeren includes plenty of climbing along with 19km of cobbles, and forecasters are predicting unpleasant weather, perhaps even some snow. Last year’s edition was canceled due to heavy snow and bitter cold, but this time organizers guarantee that the race will come off regardless of the temperatures. Though it’s not included in the new UCI ProTour, Het Volk remains a monument for Flamands, the first

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.We got the predictable ton of letters regarding Fred Dreier’s inaugural column on a pair of ugly motorist-cyclist conflicts. Some readers proposed vengeance via violence and/or vandalism, others counseled peace, still others recommended leaving enforcement to the law, and a few even

Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha defied a spirited chase and wintry weather to claim stage 4 of the sixth annual Volta Ciclista Comunidad Valencia on Friday Bitter weather, a mixture of rain and snow, marked the stage from Alzira to Valada, and though organizers trimmed the route from 161km to 156km, the conditions nevertheless took a heavy toll on the field. Among those who abandoned were Christophe Moreau, Andreas Klöden, Erik and Thomas Dekker, and Stefano Garzelli, along with seven of Kaiku’s eight riders. Flecha and fellow Spaniards Xabier Zandio (Illes Balears) and Rafael Casero (Saunier

Just got back in the office after a five-day trip (or was it six? I’ve never been good with time travel) to check out a bit of Manitou’s 2006 suspension technology. While trapped on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Morocco, I’m pretty sure I signed a piece of paper promising I wouldn’t spill the beans on the new fork. So I’ll be particularly brief and vague here; the full story can be told on March 1. Manitou, which in my opinion has set the standard for freeride and downhill suspension over the past five years, has chosen to dump a ton of R&D into

Last week, I wrote about some of the pioneer American racers who had ambitions of professional careers in Europe. One of them was Michael Hiltner, who was sampling the Italian cycling scene in the early 1960s at the same time as several cyclists from the British Isles were already breaking into the then-exclusive ranks of continental pro racing. Among the most successful were Englishmen Brian Robinson and Tom Simpson. Robinson was the first English-speaking rider to win a stage of the Tour de France (in 1958), while Simpson was the first to win a monumental classic and the first to wear the

Flecha clings to a nine-second lead and gets the win

Peter Van Petegem celebrates his third win at Het Volk

Johan Museeuw winning Het Volk in 2003

Another lousy day for a tech editor . . . .

Saunier Duval's Paris-Roubaix machine

More clearance for bigger rubber . . .

. . . in this case, custom Conti' tubies

Bigger chain rings

And top-mounted brake levers

Dear Readers,Over the last two columns, (see "Part1" and "Part2" )attorney Bruce Epperson has been describing how Colonel AlbertPope, the “Rockefeller of Bicycles,” used the 1866 Lallement patent, thebasic patent covering all bicycles made in the United States, to monopolizethe then-infant bicycle industry, and how this monopoly was threatenedby an obsure patent lawsuit dealing with, of all things, whale-oil lamps!This week, in the last of three parts, we look at how Pope’s lawyers triedto save the Lallement patent by creating a monopoly that would not onlylast until the patent expired in

T-Mobile star Jan Ullrich will re-start his preparation for the 2005 Tour de France on April 5 in the Circuit de la Sarthe, his manager Rudy Pevenage confirmed on Thursday. T-Mobile rider Ullrich, 31, suffered a setback in training and will miss the Tours of Murcia and Cologne on March 3 and March 28 respectively. "Jan will start with the Tour of Sarthe on April 5 and then onto Aragon," said Pevenage. "It is the same preparation as two years ago." Ullrich has finished runner-up five times in the Tour, four since his victory in 1997, and is determined to end the dominance of American Lance

It seems the biggest news of the past week is Lance Armstrong’s decision to race at the 2005 Tour de France. His announcement on Tuesday, February 16th, confirmed, changed or confused the plans of racers, product managers, publicists, tourists, executives and journalists everywhere. Oh, like he wasn’t going to race. Come on, Lance! You couldn’t really skip the Tour, could you? Even if he had announced he wasn’t planning on racing, couldn’t you see him having a change of heart some time around the Dauphine Libéré? I can picture him watching Iban Mayo, Ivan Basso and Roberto Heras battle it

Some days it pays to take chances and in the third stage of the Volta ComunidadValenciana on Thursday an early gamble paid off nicely for Kaiku’sAndoni Aranaga and David Blanco (Valencia-Kelme).Blanco charged out of the main field just 2.5km into the day’s stage. He was joined by Aranaga at 10km and the two set about building what turned into a solid 15-minute lead.Usually able to calculate precisely when to pull in a break, the FassaBortolo team of race leader Alessandro Petacchi waited just a little too long to begin its chase and the two escapees managed to reach the finish with a margin

February 21, 2005—Trenton, NJ—Hutchinson Tires North America announcesthe arrival of Marc Gullickson as the new manager of marketing and communicationactivities.  After recently retiring from a successful career as aprofessional Mountain Bike and Cyclo-Cross racer, Gullickson will jointhe French bicycle tire manufacturer in an effort to strengthen their NorthAmerican consumer and media presence. Having spent the past 12 years as a professional cyclist highlightedby a win at the 1999 Cyclo-Cross National Championships, Gullickson wrappedup his racing career at the recent Cyclo-Cross

Ullrich at team camp in January

Phil turned on the charm at Adega

Aranaga takes the win

Working together, Blanco and Aranaga built their lead to 15 minutes

Petacchi begins to realize the gap may be too big

Fassa Bortolo begins to chase...

... with help from Saunier Duval and Liberty Seguros

Iban Mayo is here to get in shape for July

Dear Joe and Dirk,I seem to recall once reading about not going into the Red Zone too early in one’s training season. Although I am new to mountain biking - the season I am focusing on - I do have a couple years under my belt of triathlon and cyclo-cross racing, so this won’t be my first year of following a training program. Presently, I am in my Base 1 phase and I’m wondering about entering a “C-priority” race (or two) that fit into my Base 3 timeline (April). Will going into the red zone so early hurt my training program, which is being built around peaking in July for my “A-priority”

With frame materials and production processes becoming so advanced,one must wonder if there is room for the custom frame builder to competewith major manufacturers. Dotting the map from coast to coast, custom buildersare often individuals working in their garages making one frame at a time.These individuals rarely have home offices to visit, so to get a read what’snew with custom builders, VeloNews visited the 1st Annual HandmadeBicycle Show, held in Houston, Texas, in January.Aftera lap of the show floor, it was evident that these builders favor variety.The 30 craftsmen who went to Houston

Alessandro Petacchi continued to show-off his early season form Wednesday,winning his second successive stage at Spain’s Volta Ciclista Comunidad Valenciana. With a day of frequent attacks ending in another field sprint, Petacchi easily beat Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears - Banesto) and Liquigas’s Luciano Pagliarini to the line.The day's stage featured a largely flat, 178-kilometer route from largely flat route from Xàbia to Port de Sagunt. The only rated climb was a Cat. 2 ascent with 33km remaining.The day featured several attacks, with the Saunier Duval team of race leader Constantino

Astarloa sidelinedSpain's 2003 world road race cycling champion Igor Astarloa is set to be on the sidelines for the next two months due to a double fracture of his right arm and wrist, his Italian team Barloworld revealed on Wednesday. The 28-year-old suffered the injuries during a race in Marseille, France, last Sunday and will have to rest for a month before resuming training towards the end of March. It will mean Astarloa missing the opening classic races of the season including Milan-San Remo. Wesemann drops German citizenshipT-Mobile's Steffen Wesemann has announced that he

SPOT ON - Santa Cruz framebulder Rick Hunter is known for his fine fillet brazing.

Petacchi makes it look easy

Zaballa