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And U.S. champ Page wasn't having a banner day, either

In fact, everyone had that look on his face ...

... even Wellens, who was winning

Last year's Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series champions – Marc Gullickson (Redline) and Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) – returned to the fore on Saturday as the series moves into its final weekend. From the starting whistle in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, the men's elite race was on fire. Series leader Mark McCormack (Saturn) got the hole shot on theuphill sprint start, with newly crowned under-23 national champion JesseAnthony (Hot Tubes) right on his wheel. By the end of the first lap, a leadgroup containing McCormack, Anthony, Gullickson, Ben Turner(7UP-Maxxis), and Zak Grabowski

U.S. Postal Service sport director Johan Bruyneel said the team’s paramount goal for the 2004 season is putting Lance Armstrong into the yellow jersey on the Champs Elysees for a sixth time. “In theory, (winning the Tour) is the only thing that counts. If we can do that, that’s history,” Bruyneel told VeloNews during the presentation of the 2004 Vuelta a España in Madrid on Wednesday. “It’s going to be difficult. This year was more difficult than other years, and we’ve tried to learn a few things from last year. It was a combination of things, and Lance is not improving anymore, but that

Although he signed with the domestic Health Net squad just six weeks ago, 26-year-old David Clinger is now rumored to be in negotiations with Mario Cipollini’s Domina Vacanze squad for the 2004 season. Health Net team management would neither confirm nor deny the rumor. “We can’t completely comment on that,” said Thierry Attias, President and COO of Momentum Sports Group, the organization that owns and runs the Health Net cycling team. “I’d say it’s half true. We have a completely valid and enforced contract with David. He does now have an opportunity to ride with Cipollini, and we’ve been

Big team news this week came courtesy of the Kona camp, which unveiled its 2004 squad as well as a unique new sponsor. But it was the one name missing from the roster that grabbed most of the attention. After spending the previous seven years aboard a Kona, Canadian cross-country pro Geoff Kabush will not be back with the team in 2004. The reason for the parting of ways depends on whom you ask, but it’s safe to say it wasn’t the most harmonious ending. “I spent a little time checking to see what else was out there, then decided that I wanted to be back with Kona,” explained Kabush. “But

Gary Houseman, who won the rain-soaked UCI World Cup downhill July 12 at Grouse Mountain, British Columbia, has accepted a one-year suspension after testing positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at that race, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced Friday. THC, a metabolite of marijuana, is a prohibited substance under UCI regulations. The suspension for the 23-year-old ITS-Santa Cruz rider, from Temecula, California, began on July 12. All results that occurred on or after that date – including his Grouse Mountain downhill win – are declared invalid. Houseman also was fined 2,000

Clinger

Houseman racing at Grouse Mountain

Kelme-Costa Blanca and Angel Casero reached a verbal agreement Wednesday for the 2001 Vuelta a España champion to join the Spanish green team for a one-year contract. News broke during Wednesday’s 2004 Vuelta presentation in Madrid, and Casero seemed relieved to get the deal done after finding few options for a contract next season after the collapse of his former employer at Team Bianchi. “We got it done this morning, and I have a verbal agreement with (Kelme team manager Pepe) Quiles, and the only thing left is to sign the papers,” Casero said. “I’m happy, and I look forward to getting

Will Frischkorn has signed with Colavita-Bolla for 2004, rejoining former Saturn teammates Mark McCormack, Ivan Dominguez and Nathan O’Neill. "I am very excited that both Will and Nathan (O’Neill) will be joining Ivan and I on the Colavita-Bolla team for 2004,” said McCormack. “We all shared in a magical season during 2003, and it will be great to be able to build upon the accomplishments we achieved together.” The 22-year-old Frischkorn turned pro with Mercury in 1999 while still a junior. He has won five national championships, including the under-23 national road-race title in 2002. In

Pablo Lastras models the new Balears-Banesto jersey

Angel Casero

Will Frischkorn at Redlands

Pro shooter Rob Karman of Roadbikephotos.com, who captured more than 3000 images from this past weekend's mud-splashed national cyclo-cross championships in Portland, Oregon, is selling those shots – along with a pledge to donate $1 from every 5-by-7 print and $2 from every 8-by-10 to the American Cyclo-cross Foundation (ACF). If you'd like a reminder of what it felt like to wear a few soggy pounds of Oregon real estate on your jersey, this is your chance. And you'll be helping the ACF with its annual drive to help send the U.S. cyclo-cross team to the world championships, which will be held

Dear Monique,In lieu of recent, and reoccurring, substance infractions committed by many elite athletes after taking relatively "safe" nutritional supplements, how can one go about ensuring that the product one takes is free of banned additives? Thank you,RC Dear RC,That’s an important question for the upcoming racing season, especially for elite athletes who rely on many types of legal sports nutrition supplements to support their training and recovery. In general, quality assurance of dietary supplements continues to be a concern, with some companies following good manufacturing

Alejandro Valverde was all smiles in Madrid on Wednesday while he watched Wednesday´s unveiling of the 2004 Vuelta a España. With 11 of the 21 stages hitting medium to hard mountain passes, Valverde and every other mountain goat sitting inside the posh King Juan Carlos convention center couldn´t help but smile. "It´s a climber´s fiesta," said Valverde, third overall last year. "It suits me, but it also suits a lot of other riders, too." Riders like Oscar Sevilla, Roberto Heras, Iban Mayo and Joseba Beloki all sounded like stuck records: lots of mountains, good for us. That comes as a

As this is the time of year when many race promoters/directors are finalizing their 2004 dates, this is also prime time for VeloNews to update its 2004 race calendars. If you haven’t already, have a look at our web submission page or send us an email at vncalendar@7dogs.com. Please include the following information:Race category (i.e., road, mountain bike, cyclo-cross)Region (i.e., Pacific Northwest)Race nameDate(s) of eventContact nameContact emailContact phoneRace web site URLCity and state of race (not promoter) All race listings are free; magazine listings are subject to space

Five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said on Wednesday that he intends to race in two more Tours before bringing down the curtain on his career. "I will probably run two more Tours de France in 2004 and 2005," Armstrong told the National Press Club of Washington. "The team is in place, and our preparation out of season has gone well." Armstrong added that he knew where his biggest challenge will come from when he defends his title in 2004. "Jan Ullrich is my biggest rival and the most dangerous," said the 32-year-old. –Copyright 2003/AFP

La Vuelta 2004: A route only a mountain goat could love

Two-time champ Roberto Heras gets the star treatment

Iban Mayo practices giving a Lancesque 'look'

Carlos Sastre: Is he already feeling the pain?

Pavel Tonkov sports an ... interesting ... hairdo

Dear Lennard;I wrote you this question right after I saw the downtube shifter onLance's bike last July, but I'm guessing it got lost in the flood of TDFe-mails, so here it is again:During one of the mountain stages, I saw an old-school front derailleurdowntube shifter on Lance's bike, and then in a later stage, I saw oneon Ullrich's bike. What is up with that? Were they really front shifters,or for something different?TedDear Ted;Yes, they are front shifters to save the weight of the STI or Ergopowerlever and extra cable and housing.LennardDear Lennard;I was intrigued by your statement that

What would be the inaugural edition of the Vuelta a España femenina is back in the starting gates and already has its date on the UCI calendar (April 29 to May 9), but the race could be sidelined for a second year if efforts to secure a television contract fail. Plans last year to offer a women's Vuelta were scuttled when a title sponsor couldn't be lined up to cover the costs of a major stage race. Negotiations to ensure television coverage on Spain's national channel are on ice and are again threatening the race, according to reports on the Spanish wires. The race is tentatively scheduled

USA Cycling has released its list of automatic qualifiers for the 2004 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Pont–Château, France (January31-February 1, 2004).By virtue of their elite victories at the national cyclo-cross championshipsthis past weekend in Portland, Oregon, Jonathan Page and Alison Dunlap received automatic nominations in their respective categories.In the U23 men’s category, Jesse Anthony received an automatic nominationas the newly crowned national champion while Jeremy Powers was nominatedon the basis of his UCI cyclo-cross rankings.In the junior men’s category, national

The agony of technologyEditors;There is no other sport that I know of (including alpine skiing, whichis crowded with "tech weenies") in which athletes/participants would writesentences like those offered by Keith, Metallurgist or Ben, (apparent)physicist (see "TechnicalQ&A, 12/16/03"), for publication in a magazine of general circulation.My head hurts - I think I'll go for a ride.Kevin KinnearBoulder, ColoradoSure, go ride, but will you know precisely how much drag your out-datedsteel bearings will be generating? - EditorGood luck TJ!VeloNews;Congratulations to Tim Johnson, I am so happy to

Who would have known that Christmas would come early this year? Well, for the nerdy technical staff of VeloNews, anyway. Flashback to this past Friday. It’s the annual Christmas party for the management and staff of Inside Communications (the publisher of VeloNews), and everyone is all tidied up and pretending to be on our best behavior. As I’m loitering around the buffet line, secretly trying to hone in on the calamari, I overhear our very own John Wilcockson mentioning something about “Tyler’s bike” to our editor, Kip Mikler. My attention switches from the succulent deep-fried squid to

After his solo breakaway victory at the 2003 Univest Grand Prix, team rider/manager Ted Huang explained he was just pretending he was Chris Horner at the T-Mobile International. Next season, Huang and rest of the Webcor squad will have a much more intimate opportunity to work on their Horner impressions, as the 2002 and 2003 NRC winner has signed to ride for the Bay Area-based team in 2004. It’s a major acquisition for Webcor, a team that finished 16th in the 2003 national rankings, with Huang, ranked 39th, its highest-placed rider. “We’re looking forward to racing with him and for him,”

The Webcor Professional Cycling Team announced Tuesday that 2003 T-Mobile International Winner and NRC overall standings leader Chris Horner will join the Northern California-based team for 2004. “I look forward to racing with the Webcor Cycling Team and helping them bring it up to the next level,” said Horner. “This is a huge step forward for Webcor Cycling,” said Ted Huang, team rider and manager. “We’re looking forward to an epic season and to making Chris feel at home here.” “We’re going to have a great time,” Andy Ball, CEO of Webcor Builders, the team’s title sponsor added.”

Not yet available in the U.S., Tyler's bike will look similar to this production version.

Horner (left) with O'Neill and Roland Green after the 2003 Redlands Classic Oak Glen stage

Employed!

Italian national team coach Franco Ballerini said performance in nextsummer's Tour de France will be the key element in his selection of riderswho will compete in the Summer Games in Athens in August.Ballerini, who led Mario Cipollini into the rainbow jersey in 2002,was quoted in Datasport during a bike festival in Milan on what his thinkingwill be next summer.“The Tour de France will help me define the hierarchy of the nationalteam that will race in Athens,” Ballerini said. “The Tour is always thebest indicator of form in perspective of an Olympic Games.”The comments are sure to rankle some

Tim Johnson, the Saturn rider who signed with the U.S.-based Division III Colavita-Bolla squad last month, is now poised to ink another deal with the new Spanish-based Division I Saunier Duval team. “This is the kind of thing I’ve been hoping to land ever since I started riding,” the 26-year-old Johnson told VeloNews on Monday. “I’ve always wanted to get on a European team, and suddenly this opportunity came up.” Johnson, who recently won the Vic Roads Herald Sun Tour in Australia, said he was pleasantly surprised when he brought word of the offer to Colavita owner John Profaci. “Man, my

Johnson at Dulles airport on Monday

Johnson wins the Sun Tour

While the route of the 2004 Vuelta a España will be officially unveiled Wednesday in Madrid, route details are popping up everywhere in the Spanish media. The latest tease is that the course will skip the feared Angliru climb in northern Spain as well as the demanding Pyrénées and instead hit six summit finishes in central and southern Spain, including a climbing time trial up the grinding 35km climb up to the Sierra Nevada ski station in southern Spain. Details released in the Spanish daily AS reveal that a difficult mountain stage on the penultimate day will feature five climbs in the

The rain stopped in Portland Sunday, but the mud stayed, and, if anything, it got muckier as racers contested the final day of the U.S. national cyclo-cross championships. The day’s two favorites scored big wins in the elite categories, as Alison Dunlap took a decisive win in the women’s race while Jonathan Page – visiting the States amid a season racing ‘cross in Belgium – repeated as first across the line in the men’s event.

There was no stopping reigning world champion Bart Wellens as he easilywon the third round of Belgium’s Gazet van Antwerpen-trophee series inKalmthout on Sunday.Wellens attacked early in the race and was quickly joined by Sven Nijs,Sven Vanthourenhout and Tom Vannoppen. The foursome managed to elude some big guns in the field, including Mario DeClerq and Richard Groenendaal.In the third lap Wellens showed his strength and rode off alone. Hewas in leading position with more than one minute when a hard-chasing Nijs had a mechanical and was forced to run to the pits, losing any advantage he had

Wellens

Sven Nijs

Erwin Vervecken

Britain's Roger Hammond

Mario DeClerq missed the big move

Czech Republic's Peter Dlask

Wellens leads the series

Page plows puddles

Dunlap digs deep

The 2003 U.S. National Cyclo-cross Championships kicked off Friday in Portland, Oregon, as collegiate and under-23 women and several masters categories slalomed through the soup toward the stars and stripes. It being December in the Pacific Northwest, the weather was gray and damp, and the course at Portland International Raceway slick and muddy in spots. Still, the track was relatively fast and flat, with a few off-camber bits to keep things interesting.

[nid:26610]In just his first year racing in the U-23 category, 18-year-old Jesse Anthony took a fifth consecutive national cyclo-cross championship in a dramatic, mud-soaked battle with Alan Obye (Balance Bar-Devo) and Anthony’s Hot Tubes teammate Zak Grabowski. Obye’s teammate Troy Wells, younger brother of 2001 national ‘cross champ Todd Wells, was in the hunt early but fell off the pace to take fourth. Missing from the action was No.1 U-23 ranked Jeremy Powers (NCC-Bikereg.com) who suffered from the flu all week and finished out of contention.

That's the face of a national champion under all that mud

Wet conditions made for a strongman's course

According to reports in the Spanish daily El Mundo, police are investigating contents of a package of white powder reportedly found in the room of José Maria Jiménez in a health clinic where the star rider died on December 6. El Mundo noted that police are examining the contents of “a bag weight about five grams and containing a white substance that could be cocaine.” Hospital workers reportedly found the bag after the star rider died suddenly. Jiménez, 32, died of a cardiac arrest at about 10:30 p.m. in a Madrid mental health clinic where he was being treated for depression. Earlier in

Lance Armstrong says his sole objective next year is to win the Tour de France for a record sixth time. "I'm more motivated to win a sixth Tour de France than I think I was to win five," the American U.S. Postal rider told a news conference in Brussels on Friday. Armstrong joined cycling's most select club in July when he claimed his fifth victory in the sport's biggest race, matching the feat of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. "The Tour de France is the only objective we have,” said Armstrong. “Sometimes that's a controversial issue, but the Tour de

I don’t know why there’s all this furor over the BCS. I’m confident the college football will come down to a satisfactory conclusion. After all, the BCS, co-created by ABC Sports, is really nothing more than reality-TV programming, and as we’ve seen in the past few years, there’s nothing reality TV likes better than changing the rules of the game as it goes along. Latest case in point — “Average Joe,” where model-good-looking “ringers” were introduced mid-show to go head-to-head with the average Joes wooing the show’s blonde beauty. Big surprise, one of the pretty boys won out over the No. 1

On Sunday, December 14, one man and woman will be crowned elite national cyclo-cross champions in Portland, Oregon. And while nothing is ever guaranteed in bike racing, there are three near-certainties for the weekend: The race will be contested in wet, muddy conditions; the crowd will be downing plenty of race sponsor Portland Brewing Company’s beer; and the winners of both events will likely have been previously crowned national ‘cross champion. The forecast for the weekend is rain followed by rain and then more rain. Local Cross Crusade promoter Brad Ross is known as a beer-drinking,

Armstrong meets the press in Brussels

Looks like rain...

'Cross Nationals race director Brad Ross knows how to get into the spirit

Roberto Heras says he’s “happy to be back in Spain” after penning a three-year deal Wednesday to ride with the new Liberty Seguros. Heras, speaking to the Spanish media after finalizing his contract, said he’s ready to face new challenges after helping Lance Armstrong for the past three years on U.S. Postal Service. “The negotiations have been long but they ended very well,” Heras told the Spanish daily MARCA. “It makes me proud as a rider. Liberty is a major team and has a director like Manolo (Saiz) that has given a lot to Spanish cycling and will continue to give more.” Heras admitted it

Hi Bob;I was riding on a sidewalk in downtown Portland last month and a policeofficer, riding on the same sidewalk “pulled me over.” At first I thoughthe was kidding and said something like “how fast was I doing officer?”It turns out he wasn't all that amused and said it was against the lawto ride on sidewalks in downtown. I had entered the sidewalk to get arounda huge construction hole. Should I fight this ticket and what advice doyou have? By the way, the cop was also riding on the sidewalk!M. EisenhartPortland, OregonDear M. Eisenhart;In the words of Shakespeare you were “hoisted with your

Spanish climber Roberto Heras finalized his move to the Liberty-Seguras team on Wednesday when he signed a three-year contract. Heras' departure from Armstrong's U.S. Postal team was confirmed last week by the American team. Heras had a year of his contract left to run and Liberty had to pay a 1.6 million euro buy-out clause. Press reports in Spain say Heras will earn at least 1.2 million euros per season at Liberty, where he will be the number one rider after Joseba Beloki quit to join French team La Boulangere. Postal, meanwhile, has signed up Portugal's Jose Azevedo to replace Heras,

Solano Bicycle Classic president Scott Reynolds announced Tuesday that the 2004 edition of the race has been canceled. “Although we were encouraged by the support we had seen in the last several weeks, we have simply run out of time to plan for races early next April,” Reynolds said, following a meeting of the SBC board at his office. “The seven board members in attendance tonight were unanimous that the finances in particular were too uncertain at this point to move forward as we had planned.” Reynolds estimated that SBC was short about $35,000 in confirmed sponsorships out of a required

We had our first T-Mobile gathering for the 2004 season at the OlympicTraining Center in Colorado Springs last week. We met for four days, theobjectives were to spend time dialing in our positions on our new bikes,meet with the physiologists and nutritionists who are part of our PerformanceEnhancement Team, undergo some testing, outline our team goals, get toknow one another a little better and have a little fun partaking in some"team bonding" exercises. Actually, I came to camp thinking that Starbucks was a new sponsor of the team, as I had recently received a box of coffee, a coffee card

Verge Sport and the American Cyclo-cross Foundation (ACF) have teamed up to help send American racers to the cyclo-cross world championships January 31-February 1 in Pont-Chateau, France. Verge has produced and is selling a commemorative ACF T-shirt designed by cartoonist and ’cross fiend Patrick O’Grady. The shirts go for $19.95, and $10 of every sale goes to the ACF’s fund for underwriting the U.S. team’s annual trip to world’s. USA Cycling will be financing six athletes’ travel to the world’s — one elite man, one elite woman, two under-23 men and two junior men. Any discretionary picks

Dear Monique;I have a question about any potential negative health effects fromRed Bull. Particularly, does it contain ephedra or ephedra sulfates? Myweb research has yielded different answers to this. Some sites claim itdoes, while others insist it does not. A response to an e-mail I sent toRed Bull via their website claimed there was no ephedra in Red Bull, butso many websites (perhaps not credible ones), and many athletes I know,claim it does.I have been drinking Red Bull for about a year, only after very hardefforts or racing, and two months ago was diagnosed with a mild heart

Questioning the Jimenez diagnosisDear VeloNews;I was truly saddened and stunned in reading about the untimely passingof Jose Maria Jimenez at the age of 32. Not unlike Denise Zanette'sdeath last year at a similarly young age, it makes one come face-to-facewith the reality that youth and athletic fitness are not the only factorsin overall health.On this note, I did want to clarify something that I suspect regardingJose Maria Jimenez’s mental health condition leading up to his death. Fromreading about his stunning emotional and performance highs and the tremendouslows that followed, his

I just got back in from Boston where VeloNews ad rep Nick Ramey and I narrowly missed New England’s, “Worst Winter Storm of the Year -- so far.” Thanks to a bit of sweet-talking from Ramey, we were able to sneak aboard one of the last flights out of Bean-town before the FAA cracked-down as hard on outgoing flights from Logan International as Tipper Gore did on harsh lyrics. But we weren’t just in town to shuck oysters and draw butter. Nope, we both actually had a bit of work to do while visiting a few key manufacturers. I needed to visit with two of the country’s top titanium manufacturers

See ya

Indy Fab's new 'Top Secret' full suspender with 4 inches of rear travel 'might be' available in April

'Full of character,' those IF boys...

Ritchey's new Adjustable Stem has more angles than a Pan Anderson photo shoot

Never too late for 'cross goodies

Verge T-shirt helps cover 'cross-world's costs

Dear Readers;It's fall and, as is usually the case, some folks' hearts turn to cyclo-cross.I often get questions about brake selection on 'cross bikes, so I am offeringtwo recent examples.LennardDear VeloNews;Let me start by saying thanks to your magazine for making me a fanof cyclo-cross. I primarily ride the road with an occasional trip ontothe dirt on my mountain bike but have never owned or ridden a cross bike,my question is; why do cross racers prefer cantilever brakes over V-brakes?Mountain bikes changed over to V-brakes and/or disc brakes years ago forbetter brake performance, I don't