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Lagutin went early

Van Summeren tries his luck

Van Summeren stuck with Lagutin...

... but Lagutin takes the win

The U.S. chase came a little too late

There was a very telling remark made by David Millar after he trounced the opposition in Thursday’s elite men’s time trial at sunny Hamilton, Ontario. “I’ve been like a junior the past 10 days,” he said, “just scared.” He was scared because he didn’t want to come up short again, as he did two years ago in Lisbon, Portugal, where Jan Ullrich made a desperate last push to snatch the victory from Millar. There was no doubt this time. He defeated an excellent Michael Rogers of Australia by 1:25 — it would have been closer to a minute had Rogers not flatted with 8km remaining — with Germany’s

Two-time Giro d’Italia champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) said he wants anothershot at the Tour de France, but wouldn’t elaborate on reports that he’llskip the Giro to prepare solely for the Tour.“I still haven’t made my program for next season, but with a preparedteam I could be closer to winning the Tour de France,” Simoni said duringa press conference in Palermo. “It’s too early to say what I will racenext year because this season is still not over.”Simoni barnstormed to a dominate Giro victory last May, but sputteredagainst winner Lance Armstrong in the Tour. Simoni rebounded to win a

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It wasn’t your normal weekday morning in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. “I need a German-English dictionary,” said the waitress at the Sunrise Restaurant as she topped off a cup of coffee. “And French, Italian and Swiss….” The streets of this no-nonsense center of industry, which usually goes by the name “Steel City,” have been taken over by foreigners, some wearing bug-eyed Rudy Project helmet shields and others asking where they can get a decent espresso. The local media seems mostly delighted with the spotlight on Hamilton, and the Hamilton Spectator newspaper is even printing special

After watching the five time trials at the 2003 road world’s, and witnessingthe damage done by the climbs up Hamilton’s Niagara Escarpment, everyoneis wondering what many more repetitions of those climbs will effect onthe road-race fields.The first opportunity to see what will happen on the 12.3km road-racecircuit comes on Friday, particularly in the under-23 men’s 14-lap, 172.2kmevent. Fourteen times up the 1.5km, 6-prcent Beckett Drive and 14 timesup the 2km, 5-percent Claremont Access adds up to virtually 10,000 feetof climbing.The feeling among seasoned race observers is that not many

The only woman to ever win Olympic cross-country gold is looking to keep it that way. Two-time Olympic champion Paolo Pezzo recently met with several key members of the Italian cycling federation and has committed herself to making a run at next year’s cross-country race in Athens, Greece. Pezzo, the winner at both Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, retired from high-level racing following the 2000 season, then gave birth to her first child — a boy named Kevin — in the fall of 2002. But now the 34-year-old Italian is feeling the lure of racing once again. “I am very happy with this choice,” said

julic wu

Levi

Frigo

BJ Wohl

Am

Rogers

(L-R) Rogers, Millar, Peschel

Nozal got passed by Millar, but still finished fifth

PreservationistDear Lennard;I have several repair books including your “Art of Road Bike Maintenance,”and I can’t find the answer to this question. I have a nice late '80s Stronglightcrank that has the threads stripped on the drive side where you put thetool in to extract the crank. Is there anything I can do to get the crankoff and save the BB and crank?--Drew Dear Drew;Were you ever a trumpeter or other brass instrument player? I was,and I frequently managed to get my mouthpiece stuck in my trumpet. To removeit, you had to slip two notched steel plates around the tube of the mouthpiece,one

Specialists are changing the face of cycling, particularly the world championships, UCI president Hein Verbruggen said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. Verbruggen noted that “specialists,” who focus on big events such as the Tour de France, have changed the dynamic of the season. Verbruggen’s comments come as five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and many of cycling’s top stars are giving this week’s world championships a pass. Since the UCI moved the road racing championships from late August and early September to early October, riders often complain the season is too

So the world road championships are officially under way, and as you may have noticed, the seventh-place finisher in the men's under-23 time trial was Belarussian Viktor Rapinski, who spent the 2003 season racking up wins for Saturn, including overall victory in the Fitchburg-Longsjo Stage Race and the International Cycling Classic (Super-Week). It was announced Tuesday that the former junior world champion has signed with Navigators for 2004. With a return to Europe planned in the spring, team director Ed Beamon thinks Rapinski may just find his niche in the classics. “Viktor is absolutely

On goatheads and tech-headsEditor;Andrew's musings on 'cross (see "Acrisp in the air?") are a nice sign that our "fringe of a fringe" sportis growing up. I like to think I've earned the right to have a 'cross bikethat makes my road bike look like old tech. There must be some joy in workingeveryday and if it takes the form of a "more-money-than-brains" 'crossbike, then so be it.After three decades of active 'crossing I've watched tire technologyrun the gamut from Clement Grifos and homemade cross clinchers (think oldGrifo tread glued to Michelin Elan tires) in the '70s  to the modern-dayTufo

image files

After Judith Arndt finished second to take the silver medal in the elite women’s time trial at the Hamilton road world’s on Wednesday, the German rider said what everybody already knew about Joane Somarriba, the woman who had beaten Arndt to take the world title. “Joane prepares herself for two or three events during the year,” Arndt said. “And then she wins.” It made perfect sense that Somarriba, the Spanish climbing specialist you usually see winning grand tours, not one-day events like the world time trial championship, circled this day on her calendar. Hamilton is not your average TT

Looking like a young Viatcheslav Ekimov, compact and powerful, 18-year-old Mikhail Ignatiev put in an impressive performance to win the junior men’s time trial for the second year in succession on Wednesday. This second world TT title goes with the four rainbow jerseys he has won in the past two track world’s: two team pursuit titles along with the points race (2002) and Madison (2003). In 2002, on the flat Zolder, Belgium, TT course, the dark-haired Russian won by 10 seconds over Australian Mark Jamieson. On Wednesday in Hamilton, Ignatiev was already 12 seconds ahead of the competition

Dear readers;As cyclists we are all familiar with those occasional and quite memorable moments of enmity between motorists and cyclists.  For many, this is not a particularly new subject, but in view of several examples of cyclist-bashing comments recently broadcast by radio stations across the country, there is concern that some misguided motorists may have acted or will act upon this encouragement (See "Legally Speaking - with Bob Mionske: Shock jocks"). The letters we've received on the subject, prompted us to wonder ifyou have been harassed, threatened or even assaulted by a motorist

In this 10th year of elite men’s time trialing at the road world’s therehas been an alternation between wins by specialists and all-rounders. SpecialistsChris Boardman (1994), Abraham Olano (1998), Sergei Gontchar (2000) andSantiago Botero (2002) took the title on courses that were devoid of seriousclimbs, while grand tour winners Miguel Induráin (1995), Alex Zülle(1996), Laurent Jalabert and Jan Ullrich (2001) won on tougher courses.Of the 44 starters in Thursday’s 41.3km elite men’s TT (two laps ofthe hilly circuit raced by elite women and junior men on Wednesday), thereare two riders who

The latest set of UCI mountain bike ranking came out Wednesday, and theyincluded some bad news for Canada. In the women’s cross-country nationrankings Switzerland has jumped into third place ahead of Canada, meaningif things stay as they are now, the Swiss would get three start spots forthe 2004 Olympic cross-country race while Canada would settle for two.But don’t count this race as over just yet. The gap between the twocountries is just six points and there is still a smattering of races tobe contested. Because of that, Canada has sent three of its best, AlisonSydor, Kiara Bisaro and

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Repair, replace, restore?

Rapinski in Hamilton

view from the press room

TT Profile

TT Map

image files - world's women's TT

Dutch

Soma

Longo

Focused

Jeanson. Home-field advantage didn't help.

Armstrong: You had to be mentally strong

Happy Birthday, Dede!

Ignatiev

Cozza

Road rage. Do you have a story?

Is Millar still the favorite?

Julich

Warmup

Michigan got a good taste of international cyclo-cross racing on Saturday with the Michael R. Rabe Midwest Cyclo-Cross Championships. Promoted by Robert Linden of Tailwind Enterprises, the first-time UCI event saw racers come from Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Massachusetts. To make it a true international event, riders even came from as far as Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The junior men's event saw a tightly fought battle among the top three. Konrad Lebas (Richard Sachs) had to take a change early on due to a problem with his rear wheel,

The 12-man Spanish national team left for Hamilton with high hopes ofdelivering Oscar Freire into his third world championships in five years. “We are going with the intention of winning. We know it’s not easy,but we have a team that can do it and we’re going to fight for the gold,”said Spanish national team coach Paco Antequera in the Spanish dailyAS. “If we get another medal, we’ll welcome it.” Freire, without a doubt, will be the Iberians leader. Since the Rabobankrider won his first world title in Verona in 1999, he’s won a second in Lisbon (2001) and took bronze at Plouay (2000). Last

The 2003 world road championships opened Tuesday morning with three first-time medalists in the junior women's time trial. Racing in only her "fourth or fifth" time trial, German Bianca Knöpfle, 18, finished the 15.4km course in 22:17.08 to take gold, while a pair of Dutch riders - Loes Markerink and Iris Slappendel - finished second and third respectively. "I can't even imagine I've won this medal," said Knöpfle after taking the win on the hilly course in Hamilton. "It's incredible, I don't know what to say." With a time that was more than 16 seconds faster than Markerink's, Knöpfle was

Germany finished the first day of the world road championships undefeatedas 22-year-old Marcus Fothen won the men’s under-23 time trial on a breezyTuesday afternoon in Hamilton, Ontario. Fothen beat Niels Scheuneman ofthe Netherlands by the comfortable margin of 18.99 seconds to score a secondgold medal of the day for Germany, after Bianca Knöpfle’s win in the junior women’s time trial. Fothen, who finished fifth in the U23 time trial at last year’s worldchampionships, was confident before the 30.3km race. In addition to beingthe 2003 German U23 time trial champion, he had won the time trial

Ever since the individual time trial was introduced to world championshipracing at Palermo, Italy, in 1994, a list of familiar names have won thewomen’s event. French perennial Jeannie Longo has won the TT title fourtimes, Dutch world hour record holder Leontien Van Moorsel has two goldmedals and, last year, 1996 Olympic champion Zulfia Zabirova of Russiacame out on top. Perhaps that was the last big result for the old guardof women’s cycling.Knocking on the door with two silver medals at the past two world’shas been Switzerland’s Nicole Brändli, who’s now 24. Her compatriotKarin Thürig, a

Call them the first fallen dominos in what will surely include many more. On Monday, mountain-biking’s “silly” season officially kicked off with the announcement that Rocky Mountain-Crystal Decisions had signed longtime mountain-biking star Alison Sydor to a multi-year deal. The agreement ends Sydor’s two-year relationship with the Trek-Volkswagen team. Prior to that the three-time world cross-country champion rode for Volvo-Cannondale. Elsewhere, former world junior cross-country champion Walker Ferguson has decided to forsake fat-tire racing for at least a year, inking a deal with the

Here in Colorado, the leaves are certainly turning but there sure isn’t a crisp in the air-at least not yet. Take, for example, this past weekend. Sunday was the official ‘cross season kick-off here in Boulder. Held at the local reservoir, it somehow felt a bit odd hoofin’ about while jet skiers slalomed past and Eliminator jet boats shot up mile-high rooster tails under a relentless 80-degree sun. Somehow racing seems so much easier when you’re not forced to watch attractive women sipping lemonade and laying out on the very beach you’re running across. While not in the hunt for the lead

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is noticeably absent from the worldchampionships in Hamilton as the Union Cycliste Internationale followedthrough on its threat to ban the world agency from cycling events followingthe recent leaking of a confidential document on this year's Tour de France(see "UCInow seeks to ban WADA" - September 23, 2003).A sport regularly tainted by doping scandals, the UCI's decision notto invite an independent WADA observer could cast a shadow of suspicionon results.WADA president Dick Pound told Reuters he has scheduled a meeting with the UCI in Hamilton on Friday to

Freire in Zolder in 2002

Marcus Fothen

Michael Creed

Bianca Knöpfle

Alexandr Bespalov

A bit of a breeze and lots of sunshine

The Moose from Belarus

Jan Ullrich says there is only one reason for his move back to the Telekomcycling team -- to beat Lance Armstrong in next year's Tour de France. "I just want to beat Lance and to do that I need a strong team," saidthe 29-year-old German. Of course, the financial side of the deal probably helped his decisionto return to the team with which he spent the bulk of his professionalcareer. German media reports say Ullrich will earn 2.5 million Euros ($2.9million) a year with Telekom. Ullrich, who won the 1997 Tour as a Telekom rider, will be bringingwith him his teammates from the Italian Bianchi

What's good for the Goose...Editor;Funny how los ditto heads want to slag all over Bryan Jew fordoing in a cycling forum (see "TheMail bag: Of Rush, Wheat Thins, lawyers, world's and flat repairs")exactly what Limbaugh did in a football forum (see "Notesfrom the road: From foolishness to food"). I guess opinions aregreat until someone shouts theirs a little louder, huh? I'm sure when BryanJew oversteps the bounds of decency as determined by VeloNews, he'llfind the exit, too.Until then, shut up and ride.Jose Martinez,Boston.That dreaded liberal cycling mediaMr. Jew;Having read the bashing that

Two young Americans, Larssyn Staley from Beaverton, Oregon and MichaelCreed from Colorado Springs, have a great chance of giving the U.S. teama winning start to the 2003 world road championships when the first timetrials are held in Hamilton, Ontario, on Tuesday.Staley, 18, is the top favorite in the junior women’s 15.3km time trialover one lap of Hamilton’s demanding course. She has already won a worldtitle this year, the points race at the world junior track championshipsin Moscow, and her Polish coach Merik Mazur (who lives in Hamilton) believesshe will be ready for the road time trial. On

An arbitration panel with the Court of Arbitration for Sport has recommendeda six-month suspension for T-Mobile's Amber Neben after she tested positivefor nandrolone metabolites following the UCI World Cup race in Montrealon May 31.Neben accepted a provisional suspension on July 13, when she was informedof the positive test, which is now regarded as the starting point of hersix-month penalty.The United States Anti-Doping Agency announced interim decision by thethree-member panel of the American Arbitration Association (AAA)/NorthAmerican Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday.Neben

The World Cup stop long hyped as a sprinter’s race finally delivered on its promise after successful breakaways have ruled the undulating Paris-Tours course since 1996. The sprinter teams led by Fassa Bortolo, Telekom and Saeco worked in harmony to keep an eight-man break that included the indefatigable Jacky Durand (Fdjeux.com) at arm’s length until 13km to go when the real fireworks started. Despite two attacks in the final 8km by World Cup leader Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), the 97th running of Paris-Tours came down to a mass gallop on Tours´ wide Avenue de Gammont. Bettini's 11th place,

Unhappy ditto headTo Bryan Jew:While you are entitled to your opinion, I really don't want to knowwhat your political views via your Rush Limbaugh commentary (See "Notesfrom the road: From foolishness to food") This is not why I reada cycling magazine. So stay with your core competency which is cyclingand leave the adult stuff like politics to us adult, common working stiffs. Thinking your opinion is uninformed,MSRush likes Lance, so we should like RushEditors;Brian should stick to cycling commentary.  If he had ever listenedto Rush Limbaugh, he would know that Rush has praised Lance for what

Zabel celelbrates, Petacchi still looked surprised

Escape