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The reigning French national women’s champion Sonia Huguet scored her first international victory at Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne, but it was the fight for the 2004 UCI World Cup that held center stage at the hilly 97.5km event. And that brought added success to Australia’s Oenone Wood, who extended her overall lead by 20 points on Russia’s Zulfia Zabirova. So after five of the year’s nine World Cup races, Wood has 202 points to Zabirova’s 154, while Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands remained in third with 115 despite finishing outside the points Wednesday. After Wood, 23, crossed the line

Rebellin stayed with Di Luca

Postal's Devolder tries an escape

Hamilton: Ready for Sunday?

On the Mur

Dekker shook things up with 16km to go

Vino' tries his legs

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The day's first break had some horsepower

Health Net leads the chase

Pate and Fraser at work

Julich and ther climbers are looking forward to the hills

Fraser gets a big kiss from his sis'

Defending Dodge Tour de Georgia champion Chris Horner made a bold pre-race press conference statement Monday when he announced he would not be content with anything less than overall victory. “My form is very good,” said Horner, who is fresh off an overall win at the Sea Otter Classic to add to his stage race wins at Redlands, Pomona Valley and just about every other domestic stage race he has chosen over the past two years. “I’ve got the legs and I’m here to win. Anything less and I won’t be satisfied.” It’s not the first time Horner has predicted victory. Last September, on the eve of the

April 13, 2004 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) – EN-R-G Foods, Inc., makersof Honey Stinger energy bars and gels, announced today that it has becomethe official bar and gel supplier to the elite Subaru-Gary Fisher mountainbike race team. Boasting several of the world’s best mountain bike racers,the Subaru-Gary Fisher Team includes:· Ryder Hesjedal – reigning NORBA NCS XC champion andSilver Medalist at both the 2003 Elite World Championships and 2003 CanadianNational Championships. He will race in Europe this spring with the USPostal Service cycling team then focus on the World Cup and Olympics

Dear Lennard,The question is simple enough: What is the quickest/best way to change/fixa tubeless tire? While I love the ride characteristics and generally betterflat resistance of tubeless, fixing a flat--when it eventually does happen-orsimply swapping tires for another tread pattern is nothing short of anordeal. Skinned knuckles, broken tire levers (which you're not supposedto use anyway) and at least a half-hour's worth mano-a-rubber WWF styleaction seem to be the minimum commitment. On a recent ride, a friend who used a tubeless sealant nicked his sidewallon a sharp rock, adding a

Former junior world champion Damiano Cunego (Saeco) delivered his first big victory as a pro in the opening stage of the four-day Giro di Trentino in northern Italy. The 22-year-old, who won the junior world title in 1999, attacked late in the 168km opening stage and held off Jure Golcer (Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave) to take the stage. Vaunted as one of the future grand tour hopes in Italy, Cunego is a keen climber eager to show his stuff in the next month’s Giro d’Italia. Two-time Giro champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) came to life under the Italian (not Tuscan) sun and finished sixth in the

20 April  – Pozzoleone, Italy – Fi’zi:k, the elite hand-madeItalian saddle manufacturer is releasing limited edition Team Replica Arionesaddles.  In honor of Italian fi’zi:k sponsored teams participatingin the 2004 Giro d’Italia, the company is producing a limited number ofcustom team replica Saeco Macchine per Café, Alessio-Bianchi andVini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie Arione saddles.The limited edition Arione team replica saddles retailing for $139,will be available in late May and will be distributed in the US throughfi’zi:k’s exclusive US distributor, BikeMine (www.bikemine.com –

Canadian veteran Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) took the opening stage of the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia Tuesday, beating sprint specialist Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) and last month’s Criterium International winner Jens Voigt (CSC) to the finish line in front of an enthusiastic downtown Macon crowd. Fraser’s lead-out man Greg Henderson finished fourth, with Landbouwkredit-Colnago’s Ukrainian sprinter Yuri Metlushenko in fifth.

Horner gets his time trial bike dialed in for Thursday's double-day

Julich, Wohlberg and Baldwin listen as Horner gives yet another animated answer

Cipollini brings a new quality to racing in Georgia

Horner in Georgia: “I’m here to win”

Horner in Georgia: “I’m here to win”

Race announcer Dave Towle hams it up with Jacky Durand

Fraser put it all on the line

Getting in TV time

Cipo' was there with a lap to go, but faded on the last climb

Julich, waiting for the big climbs later in the week, was happy to have finished in the main field...

... as was Armstrong.

Fraser's happy no matter what

Armstrong: I'm happy

Gilberto Simoni admitted he’s not on the same form as he was this time last year after stumbling through a lackluster string of performances in Spain. The defending Giro d’Italia champion said cold, rainy weather during the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour of Aragon were not to his liking. He abandoned both races while arch-rival Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) took victory in Aragon on final-day time bonuses. "I know I’m not in the same form as I was last year and I know that Garzelli is definitely riding better than me at the moment,” Simoni said on the team’s web page. “However,

Last Saturday Primo Life Club entertained the latest selection of the beauty contest binds to the 2004 Road Cycling World Championships. Few votes between the three finalists: the first place has gone to Elisa Basso, 22 years old from Varese (Lombardy), the second to Eleonora Sorato and the third to Elisa Prando, both are 18 years old and from Veneto region. On Friday 30th April the Hollywood Dance Club in Bardolino will entertain the final evening. The six winners will prize the champion of the World’s, scheduled from 27th September to 3rd October in Verona and Bardolino. The five

Joe and Dirk answer questions on rowing for cyclists and customizing a second peak

Pro racers from across the U.S. and Europe trickled in to the town of Macon,Georgia, over the weekend as organizers of the country’s richest stagerace, the Dodge Tour de Georgia, made final preparations to commence racingTuesday, April 20. In only its second year, the event received a huge boost with the Januaryannouncement that five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong wouldbring his U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor team to the event and use therace as preparation for a sixth consecutive Tour win. Shortly thereafter,2003 title-sponsor Dodge renewed its commitment for 2004, and a more

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com, appearing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 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.OLN's bait-and-switch?Editor,Well, I see it's beginning to happen to OLN's coverage of bike racing. They suck you in with promises, good coverage, plans to show all the stuffyou want and then cancel it all so they can show more motor sports

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA (April 19, 2004)- Sportsbook.com, oneof the world’s largest retail-focused Internet sports bookmakers, formallyannounced today that it will become the new title sponsor for the erstwhileworlddiff.com Women’s Cycling team, one of America’s best developmentalprograms.Founded in 1997, Sportsbook.com had amassed a database of nearly 350,000customers from about 150 countries when it was purchased in 2001 by Sportingbet.com,a British company traded on the London Stock Exchange that processed morethan $900 million in bets last year. Today, Sportsbook.com is

NORRISTOWN, PA (April 19, 2004) – On Saturday, June 5, one hundredformer international cycling legends and patrons of the sport will pedal65 miles, with police escort, from the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertownto Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  It’s the annual Founders’Ride and Legends Luncheon which, this year, will celebrate two decadesof pro cycling in Pennsylvania and raise money for the Allentown-basedNicole Reinhart Memorial Fund.Since 1985 Philadelphia has hosted the national professional road cyclingchampionship, now one of the world’s top ten international cycling

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It had been seven years since Gerolsteiner’s Davide Rebellin had taken back-to-back World Cup victories at the Clasica San Sebastian and Championship of Zürich. And despite having won 30 races since then, he was desperate to regain the prestige that had been grabbed in recent years by his fellow Italians Paolo Bettini and Danilo Di Luca.

Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) outfoxed – and outsprinted – Denis Menchov (Illes Balears) to snatch overall victory in the 49th Tour of Aragon in Spain. Garzelli finished third behind stage-winner Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) to earn a four-second time bonus to put him in a tie with Menchov, who held the lead since winning the opening stage Wednesday to the ski area at Valdelinares. Based on stage placements, however, Garzelli earned the tie-breaker and the overall title in an important victory as he prepares for next month’s Giro d’Italia. “The objective was to arrive in good

With two separate gravity events on the agenda for Sunday, the pro men and women were scheduled to tackle the characteristically short Sea Otter downhill course at an early 9 a.m. start time, with Aussie Mick Hannah (Haro-adidas) and American Marla Streb (Luna) atop the podium as the day's downhill runs finished up. On short course, with sub-three-minute times for both men and women, small mistakes could cost riders a lot, a point underscored by the sub-one-second-time-gaps separating first and second places in both categories. Early on it looked as though Eric Carter’s (Hyundai-Mongoose)

Veteran Tara Llanes (Giant-Pearl Izumi) and newcomer Donny Robinson (Avent) capped off the weekend's gravity racing at the Sea Otter classic with victories in Sunday afternoon's mountain cross event. Racing on what many riders said was one of the most exciting courses ever constructed for the four-up gravity discipline, Llanes earned her win in a dramatic pass over the course's final obstacle: a six foot wide water-filled moat, while BMX pro Robinson scored his in a three-up sprint for the finish. Most impressive is the fact that, until this trip to the Sea Otter, Robinson had never ridden a

Alison Dunlap and Filip Meirhaeghe entered Sunday’s cross-country races with the same goal but entirely different strategies. Dunlap needed do little more than follow the wheels in front of her, knowing that as long as she stayed close her 1:03 lead in the overall standings was safe. Meirhaeghe, meanwhile, had some work to do. Trailing GC leader Seamus McGrath by 14 seconds, and with three other riders in front of him, the reigning world champion would need to go on the attack if he hoped to end up with the day’s biggest prize. In the end both plans worked, as Dunlap and Meirhaeghe left

Bettini's move had promise

Di Luca tried his luck on the Keutenberg

Of the two leaders, Rebellin had just a bit more at the finish

The Amstel is a big draw for Dutch fans all along the route

Landis finishes in 29th

Rabobank at the helm

Wesemann still leads the World Cup

Streb credits an 'intense off-season' for her win

Australia's Mick Hannah took second in the mountain cross and won the Downhill Domination Omnium title

Some riders weren't so lucky getting over the infamous 'moat' section of the mountain cross course

Mick Hannah

Dunlap

Filip Meirhaeghe

Geoff Kabush

Katerina Hanusova

Reigning champion Alexandre Vinokourov leads a growing list of contenders for victory at Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, where the Dutch hosts will be hoping that Michael Boogerd's ship comes in. Along with compatriot and Rabobank teammate Erik Dekker, the 31-year-old Dutchman is the most popular rider in the country, but since his only win here in 1999 he has had to stop short of the top step on his other three visits to the podium. Dekker has also won the race, in 2001. Last year, “Boogie,” a stage winner on the 2002 Tour de France, had to shuffle with Lance Armstrong in the final kilometers

A day after losing a stage by inches in the Tour of Aragon, Spanish rider Oscar Laguna (Relax-Bodysol) got it right in Saturday’s 192km fourth stage from Huesca to La Muela. Laguna, who lost to compatriot Constantino Zaballa (Saunier Duval) in a photo-finish Friday into Sabiñanigo, nipped Colombian rider Ivan Parra (CV-Kelme) to take his team’s first win of the 2004 season. Laguna and Parra were the only survivors out of a seven-man break that split away early in Saturday’s relatively flat stage. The hard-working main bunch slowly picked off the break, but the two stayed away. Parra started

Today, instead of “Jammin’ with Julie: Back in the dirt,” it was more like “Hurtin’ with Hudetz: Off the back in the dirt.” Have you ever had one of those days when it’s like, “What is wrong with me? Why won’t my legs go fast?” You check your bike over and over, hoping to find your brakes rubbing or a slow leak in a tire to explain why you feel like crap. But to no avail – your bike is in fine working order. On top of that your wonderful support person tells you, “Oh, by the way, I lubed your chain with White Lightning today to make sure you go extra fast!” Today, during the six-mile time

With a stiff crosswind blowing across the Laguna Seca Raceway, the third event of the Sea Otter Classic mountain-bike stage race saw a former (Alison Dunlap) and current (Filip Meirhaeghe) world champion take short track wins on a cool Saturday afternoon. In the women’s race it was overall race leader Dunlap (Luna) breaking away from a lead group of four on the last lap, earning her second stage win in three days. Right on Dunlap’s wheel was Canadian Melanie McQuaid, who made the initial last-lap move that would eventually spring Dunlap to the win. “Melanie really split the field by

On a dual-slalom course considered a very technical lung-burner, the Sea Otter Classic saw its first gravity competition of the weekend on Saturday afternoon. As the sun set on the Laguna Seca Raceway, it was Australian Mick Hannah (Haro-adidas) and Frenchwoman Sabrina Jonnier (Intense) taking the opening event of the three-race gravity omnium. It came as no surprise to find the two fastest qualifiers of the day - Hannah and Wade Bootes (Trek-Volkswagen) - going head-to-head in the men's final. What did come as a surprise was to see crowd favorite Shaun Palmer (Palmer Snowboards) out of the

Chris Horner wasn’t shy when talking about his strategy for today’s 100-mile road race finale to the 2004 Sea Otter Stage Race: wait as long as possible to attack for the stage and overall win. Neither was he coy when discussing the reason for his simple plan: save his legs as much as possible for the Tour of Georgia, which starts on Tuesday. The beauty of Horner’s simple plan was that it actually worked, giving the 32-year-old Webcor rider the stage and overall victories in the three-stage event. With a few fruitless breaks punctuating the first three-quarters of the stage, and with the

Vinokourov, shown en route to winning the last stage of Paris-Nice last month, is defending champ at Amstel Gold