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Everybody in the peloton is still waiting for an early breakaway to stick and go to the line. It still hasn’t happened and as a result three quarters of the peloton is trying to get in the elusive break. The race is still going from the gun each day and never relents. Because of that, we averaged close to 48kph on a hilly circuit on Wednesday. We have now left the olive groves in the south and are on a train to Madrid. The entire peloton and most of the staff is aboard a bullet train and are headed from Cordoba towards the capital. We’ll be in Madrid for the next four days-until the race’s

Dear Bob;A year or so ago, my apartment was broken into, and my bicycle wasstolen. It was a classic Italian racing bike from the early 1980’s, soI didn’t get all that much money from my insurance company. Recently, I went to a century ride and started riding in a pacelinewith a group of cyclists I didn’t know. As I dropped back from riding onpoint, I looked over, and there was my old bicycle! I followed the guy back to the finish line, got his auto tag numberand called the cops. They say they are looking into it, but nothing sofar. What would have happened if I had just grabbed the bike,

Legally Speaking - with Bob Mionske: My stolen bicycle

Nozal still No. 1

Three's a charm for Diaz Lobato

CSC drives the chase

Madrid bound

With ONCE firmly in control with only five days of racing left, U.S. Postal Service is readjusting its target for the Vuelta a España. While the team vows to keep fighting, sport director Johan Bruyneel is realistic when he admits the 3:09 gap between Roberto Heras and race leader Isidro Nozal might be too much to overcome. "After surviving the stage to Sierra Nevada, Nozal has nearly won the Vuelta," Bruyneel told reporters following Tuesday's 16th stage. "Unless something unexpected happens, our objective now is second place." Heras attacked in the final steep switchbacks up the 30km

David Millar perfectly timed an attack on the Category 2 Alto de Jerónimo and turned on the turbos in the snaking descent into Córdoba to win Wednesday’s 17th stage of the Vuelta a España. In a day that saw no major shake-ups in the overall standings, the Cofidis rider made up for two close calls in the individual time trials to score his third career Vuelta stage victory. Millar jumped off the front of the main bunch early up the 11km Jerónimo climb and later held off a chase group that included Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank). “I told my team this morning I wanted

The World Anti-Doping Agency appears to be taking steps to settle a dispute over news leaks that flared earlier in the week with the Union Cycliste Internationale and its president Hein Verbruggen. The dispute resulted in a UCI threat to ban WADA from future cycling events. The UCI threat came after the publication of portions of WADA’s Independent Observer Report on this year’s Tour de France in Monday’s edition of L’Equipe several days prior to the scheduled release of the largely complimentary report (see "WADAgives tentative nod to Tour doping effort"). The UCI and several other affected

This week I opted to provide a few more vegetarian nutrition tips providedby the many cyclists and triathletes who responded to our request to hearfrom vegetarian endurance athletes. Of course, any athlete interested innew snack and meal ideas can use the healthy and nutritious suggestionsbelow. Well-planned vegetarian diets are also a great of nutrients suchas fiber, carbohydrate, vitamin A and phytochemicals, and contain healthyfats.Some favorite vegetarian meals:Tofu tacos- use extra firm tofu, cubed and cooked in a little olive oil,mix with Spanish rice, refried beans, tomatoes, onion,

Hot pursuit: Sevilla leads the chase

Training for world's

High speed across Andalucia

Landis and 18 others formed the day's first break.

Nozal looks more and more secure

After a few narrow misses, the Vuelta a España King of the Mountains Felix Cardenas (Labarca-2) finally got a stage win on Tuesday, but he didn’t make any friends in the process. Just like he did to Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal Service) going up La Pandera on Sunday, Cardenas sat on the wheels of Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla and Alejandro Valverde up the grinding 30km climb to Sierra Nevada before making a strong solo attack with 1km to go to reel in local hero Juan Miguel Mercado (iBanesto.com) to snag the victory. Heras, meanwhile, used Tuesday’s 16th stage to make the most of what was his last

Cycling's world governing body the UCI on Tuesday said it wanted nothing more to do with the World Anti-Doping Agency following the leaking of its report into this summer's Tour de France. The UCI took its decision to ban WADA inspectors from future cycling events after the drug agency's verdict on the 2003 Tour appeared prematurely in the French sports daily L'Equipe on Monday. In a statement the UCI said that "its confidence in the system put in place by WADA had been seriously damaged," adding that "no observer from this organization will be recognized at upcoming cycling events. This

Dear readers;I am writing this from Italy, a few days after I had the chance to visit Milan for what has to be one of the world’s best bike shows. So if you don’t mind, I would like to start my weekly column with a look at fewof the treasures I spotted at Milan’s EICMA show. Conducted under gorgeous warm, sunny weather, the 61st EICMA bicycleand motorcycle show marks the official launch of a new road season. Italy is a great place for a show, and Milan in particular, because of the heritage of great design. As always, gorgeous Italian bicycles are in abundance, and the theme of ever more

Last week I expressed my enthusiasm for the upcoming October 10th-14thInterbike trade show. After checking out the list of exhibitors forthis year’s show, I got to thinking about the host of manufacturers whoweren’t going to make it to Vegas this year. In speaking with afew of the manufacturers who couldn’t/wouldn’t make this year’s show itbecame clear to me why so many companies won't be making the trip outto Interbike: Cost. Even on the cheap, when all is said and done, to lease the smallestspace available; design, build and ship even the most a modest booth; paythe mandatory set-up

Heras gained time, but less than he had hoped

“El Niño” was strong, but he had a passenger glued to his wheel

Nozal: One day closer to Madrid

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Treasures from Milan

No, it's not breakfast-it's the two types of polymer injected into Sampson's framesets

The $2400 Sampson Z9 with the SAS system

George Hincapie won’t be starting Tuesday’s 16th stage of the Vuelta a España. The U.S. Postal Service rider left the Vuelta following Sunday’s stage to La Pandera and returned to his European home base in Girona, Spain. “We discussed it before that if Roberto was leading the Vuelta in the final week I’d stay and help,” Hincapie told VeloNews. “Now I’m going home to prepare for the world’s.” With Heras sitting third overall at 4:02 back, the team decided it was better for Hincapie to rev up for the road world championships than stay on for the Vuelta’s final run into Madrid. “This way I

We are in Granada and will be staying here for the next few days. Today we have another rest day that has been sandwiched between the final two big mountain days. To the PanderaYesterday’s stage to the summit of the Pandera was tough and left much of the team drained as we spent much of the race on the front controlling the peloton. Our goal going into stage was to keep the peloton together, or at least ensure it was together by the bottom of the final ascension to the top of the Pandera, so that Roberto could race for the stage victory. After chasing an early breakaway of 16 riders we

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), in a report issued early because of news leaks, has given the fight against drugs in this year's Tour de France a cautious endorsement but noted testing procedures included "weaknesses." The WADA Independent Observers report from the Tour de France published Monday said that since the doping scandal featuring the Festina team rocked the 1998 Tour, "things have changed for the better," but added that "weaknesses" in the testing procedures "can help potential cheats to bypass the system or help them find ways to assist their defense." The report was made

"You're entering a world of pain." – John Goodman in "The Big Lebowski.” Big John wasn’t talking about cyclo-cross. He was talking about bowling. Specifically, he was talking about shooting a fellow bowler for allegedly crossing the foul line during league play. But he could have easily been talking about this past weekend’s Brecktobercross, where I would’ve been happy to cross any line, foul or otherwise, if someone would have been kind enough to shoot me. I hadn't raced any sort of bicycle in nearly three years, so a cyclo-cross at 9800 feet was probably not the ideal venue for my big

Saturday’s stage started at the gravesite of Michela Fanini, an Italian rider who I raced against a few times in the early 1990s before she died instantly in an automobile accident. Cathy Marsal and I were reminiscing about the last race we both competed in with Michela. It was the 1994 World Championships in Sicily. Cathy was in a breakaway with her and they both crashed just a few kilometers from the finish. Michela was a super talented bike racer and from what it seems like; she came from a cycling family. Since her death, her father has been promoting the Tour of Tuscany in her memory

It's been a while, but I still look pretty good in Lycra, don't you think? Huh? Hello?

The 8.3km final hump to La Pandera to cap the 172km 15th stage of the Vuelta a España proved too short for Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal) and too steep for Isidro Nozal (ONCE), but just right for Alejandro Valverde (Kelme). Heras attacked as promised, but couldn't make up the time he needed to against Nozal on the steepest climb of the Vuelta. The young race leader forfeited some time to his rival - 1 minute, 11 seconds - but retained a comfortable 4:02 margin over Heras. "We're still pretty happy with how things went," said Johan Bruyneel, U.S. Postal's sport director. "The team controlled

Tour de France runner-up Jan Ullrich said Sunday he is set to make a decision on his cycling future with three cycling teams interested in securing the services of the Olympic champion. The German rider, 29, has become disillusioned with the Bianchi team - where he is captain - and looks set to move onto pastures new with former employer Telekom and an unnamed team rivaling Bianchi for his signature. "Before I go on holiday for a few days I will clarify my sporting future," Ullrich told his official homepage www.janullrich.de. "There are a lot of offers on the table so I will examine them

China clinched two tickets for the Athens Olympic Games next year and Japan took one after the cross country races at the Asian mountain bike championships ended Sunday in Aomori, Japan. Ma Yanping defeated Japan's Hiroko Nambu to win the women's race and earned a seat for China in the Olympics, covering five laps on the 6.4km course in 2:27:35 seconds to beat Nambu by 1:08.44. Gao Xiaoning was third in 2:29:44, followed by fellow Chinese Zhang Xinhua fourth in 2:31:05. In the men's six-lap race, Shinobu Noguchi secured a berth in the Olympics for Japan with his winning time of 2:19:04.24,

Stage 2 has historically been the most decisive in the Giro Toscana — often, the race has been won or lost on this day. It was hot at the start of the stage, which took us up two short category-3 climbs followed by two 10km ascents to the picturesque town of Volterra. We had a laugh at the start of the stage, as Svetlana Boubnekova and Zita Urbanaite had a bit of a cat fight on the bike and were yelling and hitting each other. I am not really sure what they were arguing about, but everyone gave them a little space in the bunch and they finally seemed to work it out and quiet down. Mountain

Germany's Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner) won the 67th Grand Prix des Nations time trial Sunday in Dieppe, France. Rich, who will celebrate his 34th birthday on Tuesday, won the 70km race,the biggest time trial in the world, by a second from Belgian specialist Bert Roesems. Ukrainian veteran Serhiy Honcher came third ahead of defending champion Uwe Peschel of Germany, with Hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi finishing fifth and Australian Michael Rogers sixth. Rich is also the reigning German time-trial champion. Switzerland’s Karin Thuerig won the 35km women’s race, outpacing last year’s winner, German

Following the news that the Saturn division of General Motors would be withdrawing from pro cycling at season's end, Schroeder Iron has announced that it, too, will be leaving the sport at the end of this month. “After careful consideration, I have decided to end my association with pro cycling with the close of this 2003 season,” said team owner Frank Schroeder in a press release issued Sunday. “The stresses to my business and to my family have been too great this year, and it would not be wise for me to stay involved for 2004 and beyond.” Schroeder, who told VeloNews earlier this year

The speedy Valverde storms past the two breakaways

Heras attacked, shadowed by Cardenas, who refused to work

Heras's move put Nozal into some difficulty, but not nearly enough

Alessandro Petacchi just can’t help himself. Even in the sloppy sprint finish at the end of Saturday’s 14th stage, the Fassa Bortolo strong man still had the legs to claim his fourth stage of the Vuelta a España. Giovanni Lombardi (Domina Vacanze) tried to surprise Petacchi with an early sprint, but the Italian surged late to hold off Fred Rodriguez (Caldirola) by a half-bike length to claim victory. “This certainly was the hardest stage to win,” said Petacchi, who came through in 3 hours, 44 minutes, 16 seconds (44.9 kph). “It was a very strange sprint. Lombardi started very early and I

Yesterday was a second big test for Roberto and Triki. To place on the podium they both need to ride well in the time trials. They can climb without difficulty so it is against the clock that they need to limit their losses. Going into the time trial both of our leaders had the two Fassa leaders breathing down their backs. The course was fairly flat, a loop that started and ended in downtown Albacete. Most of the 53 km course was on roads wide open to the wind with a few rolling hills. It was a nice circuit but not a particularly spectator friendly one - most of the loop was devoid of human

Petacchi, just a touch faster than Fast Freddy

Aitor Gonzalez gives up and goes home

Lunchtime for the leader

Joachim joined the break

Telekom on patrol: Julich and his teammates worked to set up Zabel.

Getting ready to race the clock

Last year's winner calls it a day

U.S. Postal’s Roberto Heras knows the cards are stacked against him going into Friday’s 53.3km individual time trial at Albacete. Already at 3:28 behind race leader Isidro Nozal (ONCE), Heras admits his chances of winning the Vuelta a España are slim. “If Nozal responds like he did in Zaragoza, the Vuelta will be his. I can only hope to lose as little time as possible so I won’t be off the podium,” Heras said after Thursday’s stage. “This stage will be more decisive than the two (remaining) summit finishes. In La Pandera, if you’re in form and remain calm, you won’t lose much time.” The

Now there's no doubt at all who's the strong man of the Vuelta a España. After some pesky questions regarding who was the true leader at ONCE, Isidro Nozal roared to his second time-trial victory in little more than a week and firmly established himself as the man to beat with nine days left in the 21-stage Vuelta. Nozal covered the windy 53.3km course - the Vuelta's longest in 35 years - in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 3 seconds (51.5 kph) and relegated time-trial specialist David Millar (Cofidis) into second place yet again by 13 seconds. No one else could come within 40 seconds. Nozal’s closest

SA Cycling has announced the names of riders selected to represent the U.S. in the elite men’s road race at the 2003 World Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on October 12, 2003.Bobby Julich (Reno, Nevada)Chris Baldwin (Bouder, Colo.)Chris Horner (Bend, Ore.)Christian Vande Velde (Boulder, Colo.)David Clinger (Los Angeles, Calif.)Floyd Landis (San Diego, Calif.)George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.)Guido Trenti (Milan, Italy)John Leiswyn (Ames, Iowa)Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.)Mark McCormack (Northeaston, Mass.)Tim Johnson (Boston, Mass.)Care to comment? Send letters to

Heras would prefer to fight this one out in the hills

Nozal does it again, taking a tighter grip on the leader's jersey

TT specialist Millar finds himself denied again

Heras had a great time trial, but trails Nozal by more than five minutes

Leipheimer was the top American in ninth

They’re called abanicos in Spanish – echelons to the rest of the cycling world – and U.S. Postal Service played the peloton like a fiddle in the brisk cross-winds of Thursday’s 168.8km 12th stage of the Vuelta a España. With 50km to go, Postal Service massed at the front as the peloton roared across the bleak, treeless plains of Castilla-La Mancha. Strong winds were cracking from the left and the Posties' blistering pace quickly blew the peloton into three groups. Caught out of position were Fassa Bortolo’s Dario Frigo, who started the day fourth at 3:05 back, and defending champion Aitor

I feel as if I haven’t stopped moving for the past week. Seven days ago, I was sitting tranquilly in our little apartment in Spain and since then, I have traveled to San Francisco, attended several sponsor events, visited with friends, raced in San Rafael and in the T-Mobile International, traveled to Italy, and started racing in the week-long Giro Toscana. Welcome to the world of a professional cyclist. Amazingly, I still feel energetic and am eager to get on the bike each day. While arriving at the prologue yesterday in Pistoia, we were notified of an unfortunate accident that had

While the rest of Spanish cycling is buckling under the imminent disappearance of ONCE and iBanesto.com, Kelme is poised to renew its contract with a key co-sponsor that will ensure the team's presence in the peloton through 2006. Kelme, a Spanish shoe-maker, has committed to staying with the team and the team's co-sponsor, the Valencia provincial government, is expected to sign on for three more seasons. Despite the assurance, Kelme hasn't been in the market this spring and seems committed to staying with established team leader Oscar Sevilla and rising star Alejandro Valverde. More talk

In our meeting this morning Johan told us about a stage in the Vuelta back in 1996 when Tony Rominger lost his shot at the overall due to inattention on a flat stage with crosswinds. It was the same stage we rode today from Cuenca to Albacete. Needless to say, we were all ready for a fight in the wind and an attempt at gaining Roberto and Triki a minute or so before tomorrow’s TT. Back to workAfter the rest day, Wednesday’s stage was insanely and relentlessly fast, with a never-ending succession of attacks and counter-attacks. At the end of the hilly 165km stage we had crossed the line in

Many observers at the Vuelta a España are making comparisons between the break-through performance of Isidro Nozal at this year's race and the Vuelta victory scored by Melchor Mauri in 1991. Like Mauri, Nozal rides for ONCE, is in his fifth year as a professional and was aged 25 going into the Vuelta. In his first four seasons, Nozal won a single race (a 9.7km time trial at last year’s Clasica de Alcobendas), while Mauri had just two criterium wins in his palmarès. When it was pointed out to Nozal last week that his ascendancy at the Vuelta was just like Mauri’s 12 years ago, Nozal said,

Dear Bob,Last week, a city commissioner in our town was quoted as saying that“there is no constitutional right for bicycles to use the streets of thiscity—cyclists may ride only at the pleasure of government.”Is he right, or is he just blowing smoke?P.H.KentuckyDear P.H.;Constitutional law is the playground of law professors, not humblebicycle lawyers. Understanding the typical U. S. Supreme Court decisionis about as easy as reading Latin backwards, and usually makes about asmuch sense.The most common deskbook for municipal lawyers says that while “reasonablemunicipal regulations for the

Driving the train... Posties break things up.

Petacchi's win was not the big story of the day.

Happy to help: Nozal made the cut

Acoss the open plain

The day's first escape went early