The outcome of Monday’s stage 4 time trial at Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi came as a surprise to almost no one. A naturally strong time-trialist, Aussie Nathan O’Neill has always ridden well at this early-season race in Southeast Asia, and Monday was no exception. The Navigators pro blasted his way around the flat seaside circuit, posting a day’s best 24:42 on the 20.3km course in Bachok.
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.DeCanio should try smarter tacticsEditor:Matt DeCanio can speak out all he wants but he should likely not, as one letter writer put it, “bite the hand that feeds us.” Most everyone agrees that we want doping out of the sport, but there is a time, place and approach to voice what is going
Perez in happier times
True-to-form: O’Neill was expected to do well and he did.
Cox held his own and remains a favorite for the overall
Barry is happy with his form, especially after training on frozen gravel.
Prime viewing from the Motorworks
Beppu is still Asian despite the jersey, right?
In light of his recent domination of the sport, Sven Nijs might have expected he’d have an easier time of things in Sunday’s UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships in St. Wendel, Germany; but if the 28-year-old’s winning ride wasn’t easy, it was certainly thrilling. Nijs led home yet another Belgian sweep of the elite men’s podium after a last-lap attack freed him of countrymen Erwin Vervecken and Sven Vantourenhout, good enough for Nijs’ first elite title after a series of past frustrations. Many figured Nijs would ride off the front early, as he had in many recent wins, but after a fast
It probably won’t be the big break that launches him onto a ProTour team roster. And it is not likely the signal that the dawn of Asian cycling dominance is upon us. But make no mistake about it, the fact that Japan’s Koji Fukushima finally made one of his suicide breaks stick, winning the third stage of the 2005 Tour de Langkawi on Sunday, had plenty of significance.
Hanka Kupfernagel takes her third world title
Kupfernagel battles Frances Maryline Salvetat on the run-up
Melchers rode a strong race to take third
Former world champion Leboucher took fourth
Top American, Ann Knapp finishes seventh
Sabine Spitz makes it One-Two for Germany
Kupfernagel in a familiar jersey
Cyclo-cross is a big draw in Germany
Kupfernagel on her own
Vervecken leads
Belgian, Belgian and Belgian... but why does Nijs get a Cycle Ball jersey?
Vanthourenhout and Mourey
Jonathan Page finishes 14th...
... and Ryan Trebon two seconds back in 15th.
Fukushima takes a page from the Jacky Durand playbook: Attack, attack, attack... and some day it pans out.
Fukushima only has 172 km to go
Panaria gives chase
ONeill struggles on the climb. The slope, coupled with heat, humidity and that fur coat made for a hard time.
Welcome to Malaysia
Page had to fight traffic
Nijs has had a spectacular season
Vervecken and Vanthourenhout round-out the top-three
Nijs and Kupfernagel tops at world cyclo-cross championships
A day after his Ceramica-Panaria teammate Graeme Brown grabbed the opening stage of the 2005 Tour de Langkawi, Argentine Ruben Bongiorno fired back with a win of his own on Saturday. And just as they did the day before, the pair of teammates went wheel to wheel all the way to the line, with Brown settling for runner-up status this time around.
There were plenty of pre-race favorites going into Saturday afternoon's under-23 race at the 2005 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in St. Wendel, Germany. And Czech Zdenek Stybar was neither at nor near the top of that list. But after soloing away from a select lead group with four laps to go, the 19-year-old from a small town near the German border showed he belonged on that list of chosen riders. Stybar wasn't even the best-known racer on the Czech squad coming into the championships. While Stybar had won his country's elite championship this year, against international
Moreau hoping for more at Credit AgricoleAfter an up-and-down career, French veteran Christophe Moreau is hoping to be on the upswing again in 2005. Fourth overall in the 2000 Tour de France, he’ll lead Credit Agricole once again in the Tour, where he hopes to nudge closer to the final podium. “I know that I can do a lot better than these last years. 2000 remains my reference year. I was not on the podium, but fourth of the Tour, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Moreau said in an interview on the team’s web page. “Since then I have not always been very lucky, but I know that sooner or later I
The junior podium
Malacarne on the march
The start of the juniors race
Espoirs on the podium
The U-23s tackle the staircase
Powers had a poor first lap, but bounced back into the top 20
Simunek leads the U-23s
Stybar wins the U-23 title
Imagine that if besides the backbiting that so often characterized the Kobe-Shaq era, the pair of NBA stars had literally fought for the ball during their stint with the L.A. Lakers. Sounds preposterous, but don’t think it never happens in the world of sports — including cycling. Take for example, the pair of speedsters from Italian pro squad Ceramica Panaria. Though Graeme Brown and Ruben Bongiorno sport the same bright orange jerseys, when it comes time to sprint one might as well be riding for the Hatfields, the other the McCoys.
Casey - Stage 1
Not so long ago, English-speaking racers were non-existent in professional road racing. Now they are one of the strongest elements in the sport. The evolution has been long and complicated. Over the past few weeks, I’ve written about some of the pioneering efforts of British cyclists in the 1940s and ’50s, how they established true road racing in the British Isles and then started competing in major international races. This week, I will show how those developments continued and how they eventually influenced road racing in North America. But first let’s backtrack a little…. Prior to World
They may be racing in sleeveless jerseys at the Tour of Langkawi, but don't expect to see a lot of bare skin at the 2005 UCI cyclo-cross world championships this weekend in St. Wendel, Germany. Despite the cold, snowy conditions, however, the forecast is for plenty of sweat, if Chris Milliman's pictorial tour of the rolling, 2.8km course is any indication.
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.Outbursts aside, DeCanio is honestEditor:In regards to your article about Matt DeCanio being fired from Ofoto: Yes, there are occasional outbursts of incoherent jargon and outlandish claims on DeCanio’s site, but that is part of the fun. Within the site there is honesty and validity. His
Well, training camp part deux is officially over. It was a good experience, all in all. Got the miles in, plus intensity, and we were treated to some great Italian food. The quality of food in Italy is second to none, and we had plenty of it. In fact, Dave Z was feeling quite nervous since the hotel cafe asked for his room number every morning. He was envisioning a Starbucks-size bill for 100 cappuccinos when he checked out. I do love Italy for the food and the culture, and I kind of laugh at their driving – until I'm on my bike. Then I realize why people get hit by cars every day. The
Azevedo: Ready for Tour with or without LAFollowing his impressive fifth place last year, it’s no surprise Portuguese rider José Azevedo is putting everything into the 2005 Tour de France. The big question now for Azevedo is in what capacity he will ride. All that depends on team captain Lance Armstrong, who said he won’t decide until this spring whether he’ll race for a seventh Tour crown. If Armstrong does race, Azevedo will once again be the Texan’s faithful lieutenant in the high mountains. But if the six-time champion skips this year’s Tour, Azevedo will be the natural heir to the
U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive Jim Scherr competed in wrestling when Seattle staged the Goodwill Games in 1990. He returned to Seattle on Wednesday to drum up support for another Olympic-style event. The Pacific Rim Sports Summit will be held June 7-12, with 900 athletes from nine countries: Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. “I'm going to stay on the sidelines for this one,” Scherr said. Athletes will compete in archery, track and field, basketball, track cycling, diving, gymnastics, softball, synchronized swimming and
The opening stage
Stage 2 map
Grajales doing his best Tom Hanks imitation.
Langkawi - Stage 1 Photo Files
Langkawi - Stage 1 Photo Files
Langkawi - Stage 1 Photo Files
Langkawi - Stage 1 Photo Files
Langkawi - Stage 1 Photo Files
Langkawi - Stage 1 Photo Files
Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: Over There
Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: Over There