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French team Ag2r enjoyed a banner day Sunday in the final day of theEtoile de Bessèges, claiming the overall title with Laurent Brochardand the stage victory for veteran sprinter Jaan Kirsipuu.Thirteen riders escaped early in the 145.8km stage between Pont Gaignièresand Bessèges and stayed away until the final lap on the finishingcircuit. Kirsipuu surged ahead of Saulius Ruskys (MBK-Oktos) to take hissecond stage of the five-day race.Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) nipped former teammate and rival Thor Hushovd(Credit Agricole) to take third, but the Aussie didn’t win a stage in hisseason debut.

Stage 3 map

Before the storm: Lancaster led from km36.

Health Net leads the chase

Gord' gets the points jersey

Perez loses lead

Teammates Marlon Perez and Freddy Gonzalez of the Columbia-Selle Italia squad set the stage for the general classification on the first of two mountain stages at the 10-day Tour de Langkawi Saturday, finishing first and second on the day’s nearly 60km gradual climb into the Cameron Highlands. It was a good day for the South American squad, which now holds both the yellow leader’s jersey (Perez) and the blue sprinter’s jersey (Gonzalez).

Laurent Brochard (Ag2r) won Saturday’s fourth stage and slipped into the overall lead of the Etoile de Bessèges with just one stage remaining. The victory makes it the first by a French racer of the 2004 season and proves the 36-year-old former world champion still has the desire to race at the sport’s top level. Brochard outfoxed the younger French rider Sylvain Calzati (MBK-Oktos) and Spanish rider Joseba Zubeldia (Euskaltel) in the 150km stage between Branoux les Taillades and Les Salles du Gardon in France. Seven riders attacked on the day’s climb at La Baraque and took a one-minute

Stage 2 map

[nid:26826]Spectators at the finish of the Tour de Langkawi’s flat stage 1 from Penang to Taiping, Malaysia, were surprised to see the peloton roll across the line intact without a contested sprint. What initially appeared to be a rider protest proved to be more a matter of survival after local police marshals errantly waived traffic onto the course following the first of two 8km closing circuits.

With our 2004 Buyer’s Guide entering the critical home stretch, I was hoping I’d be able to dodge this week’s Tech Report, but this press release from Michelin was too important to overlook. As rumored for the past three years, tubeless technology is officially making the crossover to the road. Here are some excerpts from Michelin’s release: Michelin is initially targeting the world of professional road racing in 2004 with three new products: the Michelin Pro Race Tubeless, the Michelin Pro Grip Tubeless and the Michelin Pro Grip Special Paves Tubeless. This year, Michelin-sponsored

South African sprinter Robert Hunter (Rabobank) took care of business in the Middle East to win Friday’s final stage and claim the overall title of the third Tour of Qatar. Hunter won his second stage in three days to claim the overall prize, scoring a big win ahead of Italian Francesco Chicchi (Fassa Bortolo) and Wouter van Mechelen (Vlaanderen), who came across third. With only one second separating race leader Hunter and archrival Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) going into Friday’s 163km finale, it was heated battle from the gun. A group of about 40 riders tore away early as Lotto-Domo

Page 2 news in my local paper yesterday was the story of the 11 Cubans who tried to sail to the U.S. in a 1959 Buick. They had sealed shut the car’s doors and added a double bottom, bow and propeller. However, they were intercepted on their 90-mile journey to Florida by a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, and it was unclear whether they would be allowed to stay in the U.S. or be returned to Cuba. This wasn’t the first attempt for some of them. Some members of the group were intercepted by the Coast Guard last July, trying to make the journey in a 1951 Chevy pickup converted into a boat with

Stage 1 map

Health Net takes the front ... only to find traffic on the circuit

The peloton wrapped up the first stage in parade fashion

Division 3 squad Pagcor-Casino Filipino has Merculio Ramos in the leader's jersey ... sort of

Toni Colom (Illes Balears-Banesto) sewed up the overall title of thefive-day Mallorca Challenge on Friday – too bad it won’t be in the officialrecord books. The Mallorca Challenge is technically a series of one-day races, whenriders can pick and choose which races they want to start. Officially,there are no UCI points for the final GC, but that didn’t stop the Spanishriders from racing break-neck through the final five-climb stage. Kelme – oops, Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme – tried to rattle Banesto –oops again, that's Illes Balears-Banesto – but couldn’t over the challenging up-and-down

The 10-day, 1251km Tour de Langkawi is set to start Friday, February6, on Malaysia’s resort island of Penang. Now in its ninth year, the Tour’s2004 course will follow a clockwise loop along the western coast of PeninsularMalaysia, offering a feast of sprint finishes with just three mountainousstages and two mountain-top finishes. Twenty teams of seven riders will contest the Tour, which boasts thefourth largest prize list in pro cycling. However, missing from the raceis any one overwhelming favorite, generating a consensus that it’s anyone’srace to win. Last year’s winner, American Tom

Honda Racing Corporation announced on Thursday that as part of its global activities program, it is launching Team G Cross Honda, a downhill mountain-bike team that will contest the world championships, NORBA series and selected World Cup races. HRC has entered into a multi-year contract with Spanish based sports management company 23 Degrees to manage the team, which will include reigning world downhill champion Greg Minnaar and young French rider Cyrille Kurtz, who was third in the junior downhill race at world’s. The team will also have two mechanics, a soigneur and a team director. The

Saturn was tops last year

Belgian Tom Steels (Landbouwkrediet) got his season off to a good start Wednesday, beating compatriot Jo Planckaert (Mr Bookmakers) in a bunch sprint to open the five-day l'Etoile de Bessèges race in France. Stuart O’Grady (Cofidis) and Gorka Gonzalez (Euskaltel) livened things up early with a long breakaway, but the Aussie was reeled in with 15km to go and it came down to a mass gallop coming into Marseille. The race continues Thursday with the 149km second stage into Palavas-les-Flots. l'Etoile de Bessèges, Stage 1, Marseille1. Tom Steels (B), Landbouwkrediet, 139km in 3:34:03 (39.131

Training camp has finished. I am back in Colorado and will soon be heading overseas for the beginning of the season. In the last week the training load increased and that old competitive spirit reappeared in the team. We rode between 4.5 and 6 hours each day with one easy day and one travel day when we left Solvang, California for Scottsdale, Arizona and our "sponsor camp" - which consisted of a weekend of fine meals at a nice hotel, where we could both ride and meet up with our sponsors and friends of the team before heading overseas for the races. The new team jerseys were also unveiled

Organizers of California’s annual spring bike bash, the Sea Otter Classic, have announced that they have signed a title sponsorship agreement with Hyundai Motor America. This year’s Hyundai Sea Otter Classic Cycling Festival is scheduled for April 15-18 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area in Monterey, California. Hyundai has long been an active sports-related sponsor. Its recent partnership with the Mongoose mountain bike team marked the brand's entry into the cycling category. “Hyundai Motor America’s sports related sponsorships have proved an effective medium to promote the Hyundai Santa

Tour de France green jersey winner Baden Cooke (Française desJeux) stormed to victory in the Grand Prix La Marseillaise on Tuesday toopen the French racing season. Cooke nipped Jo Planckaert (MR Bookmaker.com) to take the bunch sprintin the 152km race from Gardanne to Aubagne. Italian Fabio Baldato (Alessio-Bianchi) came across the line third. Racing continues Wednesday in France with the five-day l'Etoile de Bessèges.GP La Marseillaise (UCI 1.3)1. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJeux.com, 152km in 3:38:302. Jo Planckaert (B), Mr Bookmakers3. Fabio Baldato (I), Alessio-Bianchi4. Stefan Van Dijck

Things that work and things that don't Dear Lennard, Would my 9-speed FSA Carbon cranks work with my 2004 Campagnolo Record 10-speed? Do I need to take off my 10-speed rings from my Record cranks and put them on the FSA cranks? Chad Dear Chad, Yes, it will work fine as is. And you could not take your Campy rings and put them on the FSA crank anyway, because the Campy rings have a 135mm bolt circle, and the FSA crank has a 130mm bolt circle (or 110mm, if it is a Compact Road crankset). Lennard Were it a Brooks, it would just be getting broken in Dear Lennard, How many miles can a saddle last

Tuesday's EuroFile: Cooke at GP Marseillaise; Valverde in Mallorca; Boonen in Qatar

Oscar Freire profited from quality work from his orange Rabobank train to win Monday’s stage into Port d'Alcudia by a half-bike length ahead of Erik Zabel (T-Mobile). Five Rabos set a blistering pace over the final 10km to catapult the former two-time world champion to victory. Sunday’s winner, Allan Davis of Liberty Seguros, was caught out of position but sprung back to finish third. “Today was different than yesterday’s circuit course when it was hard to find the right position,” Freire said after winning in 3 hours, 57 minutes, 38 seconds. “Today the team did amazing work over the final

As part of a renewed push into gravity events, Specialized has signed 16-year-old Californian Kyle Strait to a season-long contract to race national and international events. Strait, the 2003 NORBA’s junior 4X national series champion is expected to ride the company’s new Demo 9 in downhill races and a selection of free ride events in the coming year. Strait has an option to continue riding the company’s bikes at least through 2006 “Specialized has such an amazing history,” Strait effused in a release issued Monday. “They were building a name in racing before I was born! To be at the head of

If bikes are outlawed...Editors,Bravo to Selz and Magas for seeing the case in Trotwood to the end(see "LegallySpeaking - with Bob Mionske: You gotta fight for your right to slooooowdown"). I've long since lost track of how many times I've explainedto non-cycling friends that it is not illegal for me to rideon the road at a slower pace than cars, as long as I don't break the lawsregarding impeding traffic (such as by holding up a line of five or morecars unnecessarily).Darcy AdamsCovington, Washington...only (really slow) outlaws will have bikesDear VeloNewsThank you for publishing Steve

Jean-François Lamour outside of Interpol Headquarters on Monday

Zülle

Monday's EuroFile: Freire in Mallorca; Ventoso in Qatar; Zülle keen on Hamilton

Using the climbing skills that won her the world mountain-bike title at Mont-Ste-Anne five years ago, French off-road star Laurence Leboucher took her second world cyclo-cross title on her home turf Sunday morning. “We’ve talked about the world’s taking place in Pont-Château for a long time, but actually doing them, and winning, was another thing,” said Leboucher. “And I couldn’t have won without Maryline’s help behind.” She was referring to her teammate Maryline Salvetat, who closely marked two-time world champion Hanka Kupfernagel when the German was the only rider strong enough to chase

Bart Wellens made the right choice, Mario De Clercq didn’t. The younger of Belgium’s past world elite cyclo-cross champions chose to start the final sprint from the front. The older man chose to follow. And though there was only about an inch between their knobby front tires at the line, Wellens just held on. “Eight times out of 10 I would lose the sprint to Mario, so it was a great honor to beat him,” said a jubilant Wellens, 25, who thus kept the title he first earned last year in Monopoli, Italy. “Today was much more special for me than Monopoli.” Perhaps this was De Clercq’s final best

Allan Davis christened the 2004 European road season with a sprint victory in Sunday’s Trofeo Mallorca to give his new Liberty Seguros team the best possible start to the year. The Australian fought hard to get back in position after being boxed out in the final kilometer of Sunday’s 82.5km circuit course along the harbor at Palma de Mallorca to open the five-day Mallorca Challenge. Davis overcame a strong effort by Rabobank to set up former two-time world champion Oscar Freire to grab the victory. Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) ill-timed his sprint and came through to take third. Racing was

Kupfernagel sure wasn't getting any help from Salvetat

Leboucher wanted to win at home

Knapp turned in a strong performance

French women go 1-2 at ’cross world’s

Pontoni leads Dlask. The Italian was the only non-Belgian to break into the top six

Page and Jacques-Maynes (front)

A familiar sight

It was clear that Saturday afternoon’s under-23 men’s race at the cyclo-cross world’s in Pont-Château, France, was going to be dramatic and highly tactical when there was a crash on the first turn. This was not just another of those crashes caused by a traffic jam of riders when they are still grouped together. This crash happened right at the front when the first six riders tangled wheels and fell on a muddy, off-camber slope as they emerged from the long bend. Among the six fallers were the three top favorites: defending champion Enrico Franzoi of Italy; Belgian champion Wesley Van der

UCI president Hein Verbruggen, road committee chief Pat McQuaid and cyclo-cross committee chair Sylvia Schenk emerged from an all-day session of the UCI management committee on Friday evening to reveal large-scale changes to both the world road-racing and cyclo-cross calendars, while Verbruggen made a scathing appraisal of the current doping situation in cycling. The most far-reaching proposals concern the much-trumpeted UCI Pro Tour that will start in 2005. McQuaid confirmed that only 20 teams will compete on this circuit, which replaces both the UCI World Cup and UCI world rankings system.

The 2004 European bike racing season kicks off Sunday with the five-day Mallorca Challenge, the continent’s first major race of the road season. Many big-hitters are starting the series among the 19 teams and 300 riders, including such big guns as Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Alejandro Valverde (Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme). Held over five stages, the races are held as a string of one-day races rather than accumulative time. Races: Day 1: Palma to Palma, 82.5km; Day 2, Alcudia-Port d’Alcudia, 159km; Day 3: Soller-Port de Sóller, 150,6km; Day 4: Calabona-Manacor,

Gil, Pauwels and Zlamanik (l-r) took a rough and tumble U23 race.

The U23 men's race got off to a rough start

Minard

Pauwels

Powers

Niels Albert

Lhotellerie

Driscoll, tops for U.S. in 22nd

Dear Readers,In this weeks column I have chosen to highlight a critical bicycle rights case handled by fellow “bike attorney” Steve Magas. I am including Steve’s personal account of this important case for cyclists throughout the U.S. in its entirety.Enjoy,BobDear Bob,In the summer of 1999 I was asked to become involved in the case ofa young man who had received a traffic ticket for “impeding traffic” inTrotwood, Ohio. Little did I know that the case would ultimately garnerinternational intention, cause countless e-mails to be sent to the Cityof Trotwood, and generate an appellate court

There’s plenty happening around VeloNews headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, as our editorial crew ramps up for the upcoming season. We’re just midway through production of issue No. 2, a packed preview of the international road season, but already production has begun on issue No. 3, our Buyer’s Guide. Good thing those Buyer’s Guide pages will be glossy, my friends, because you’re guaranteed to be drooling over the gear splashed across the pages. Carbon, titanium, aluminum – oh my! Myself, I’m trying to get all my ducks in a row, finishing up assignments for both issues while preparing for

With the race calendar about to kick off, it’s season preview time here at VeloNews. Over the next couple of issues, the print magazine will feature previews of the European road season, the European and U.S. mountain-bike seasons, and the domestic North American road season. We’ll have first looks at the new teams, all the key players and the races. Since that territory will be covered ad nauseam, I thought that this week I’d present a season preview from a little different perspective. So, without further explanation, here’s the Notes from the road “to do” list for the upcoming year: Get

Former world cycling champion Mario Cipollini wants the Tour de France to grant him a final farewell appearance before the end of his career, Reuters reported Friday. Speaking during the presentation of his Domina Vacanze team on the shores of Lake Como, the 36-year-old Italian said he deserved a place on the Tour because of his 185 victories as a sprinter over the last 15 years. “I'm convinced I can still win stages in the Tour de France and I think I deserve a place in this year's race as a kind of lifetime achievement award," Cipollini said. “I don't know how much chance we've got ...

When most of the 190 riders who will compete in the four events at this weekend’s world cyclo-championships had departed the circuit Friday afternoon, one man remained on his bike, plying a lone furrow around the hillside course. You might guess that it was a junior or under-23 participant making the best use of late-afternoon sunshine to take one more look at the 2.65km Coët-Roz course in Pont-Château, France. But, no, it was the oldest rider here: three-time world champ Mario De Clercq, who will be 38 next month. De Clercq had toyed with the idea of retiring last year, but the stone-faced

Depending on how things shake out, downhiller Chris Kovarik’s 2004 racing campaign could be spent in either Intense or Haro team kit. But both of those scenarios depend on the 25-year-old Aussie making a full recovery from a motocross accident in September that left him with a badly broken ankle. According to Intense president Jeff Steber, Kovarik cased a jump on his motocross bike, breaking his ankle so badly that he’s been outfitted with a leg halo and pins just to hold his bones in place. “My understanding is that it’ll be another month before they can even put a cast on him,” said

“This is the strongest I’ve been for a ’cross world’s … ever,” said Alison Dunlap Friday night, “and that’s because this is the first season that I’ve actually raced a full season, starting in September.” The reigning U.S. national cyclo-cross champion was both confident and relaxed when she spoke with VeloNews at the Ibis-St. Nazaire Hotel, where the American team is based for this weekend’s world cyclo-cross championships in Pont-Château, France. “It’s a really fair course,” Dunlap said. “It’s wide-open, not super technical, only two short runs, and so the strongest person will win.

Surfer dudes Chris Wherry and Walker Ferguson at the Health Net camp

T-Mobile's lineup

Landis meets the press

Demonic possession? No, it's just Creed being Creed

Mario DeClercq was getting extra practice in on Friday ...

... but Bart Wellens has to be the favorite to defend his title

Chris Kovarik: Intense, Haro – or sidelined?

Aussie Niki Gudex has signed up with Intense

Alison Dunlap is ready to race, come rain or shine

Right from the gun, I gotta apologize because I missed last week’s column. I swear; it was the damn 2004 VeloNews Buyer’s Guide that made me (not) do it. You see, it falls upon my (and Lennard Zinn’s) shoulders to put this puppy out every year and, since last year’s edition was something of a success, the beast has gotten even bigger this time around. Of course, that means more pages to fill; more bikes and components to write about; more (hopefully) insightful features to generate. So getting back to last week’s excuse, I found myself with VeloNews photo editor Galen Nathanson