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The king is dead; long live the king No, those weren’t obscene gestures from Alessandro Petacchi as he roared across the finish line victorious in Wednesday’s 165km fifth stage of the Vuelta a España. Two fingers, then six and another four followed by another two -- that was Petacchi’s version of sign language for what has been his history-making season. Petacchi became the first rider in history to win at least two stages in every major tour and wanted the rest of the world to know. “I made signs to show that it wasn’t by chance that I won. If you win once you can say it’s just luck,”

Roland Green (Trek-VW), the former world cross-country mountain-bike champion and World Cup champ, is heading home from Europe and will skip this week's World Cup final in Kaprun, Austria. According to his team manager, Eric Wallace, "the prostate infection he has had is not clearing up, and the course of antibiotics he is on means that he is tired and unable to sleep. We decided that it was best just to send him home so that he can get healthy for the road world’s." Green has been named to the Canadian time-trial squad for the world road championships in Hamilton, where he will join

With two stage wins and the points jersey lead to his credit, Alessandro Petacchi vows he won’t abandon the Vuelta a España as the race heads Friday into three decisive and very difficult climbing stages in the Pyrenees. Petacchi was heavily criticized after abandoning the Tour de France in the opening mountain stage in the Alps, pulling out on the first major climb of the race after winning four stages and controlling the points jersey. “I like this jersey a lot and I want to arrive in Madrid to win the jersey,” Petacchi said after winning Wednesday’s fifth stage. “This is like the jersey

For the last two stages we have had 54 tooth chainrings fitted on our bikes. On Tuesday we left the coast and headed directly south towards Burgos. The wind howled at our backs as we headed inland towards the center of the country. Thankfully, we had those bigger gears on our bikes, as we were often rolling along in the 54x11 at 70kph. Tuesday’s stage was nervous from the start, as everybody was anticipating a battle for the front on the hills and in the wind. Racing in a nervous peloton drains your energy. We were constantly fighting to push to the front and keep everybody together and

Quite a bit of attention is being given to this weekend’s T-Mobile International (formerly the San Francisco Grand Prix). With Tour winner Lance Armstrong, Alexander Vinokourov (Telekom), Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) and Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola-Sidermec) expected, the demanding course should be as exciting as a World Cup event. “Possibly the best field ever gathered in the U.S. for a one-day race,” suggested T-Mobile’s sports manager Herwig Reus. But for all the attention that is being paid to the men’s race, it should be noted that the women’s field stands to see some of the bigger

Dear Monique:What is your opinion regarding the effect of sodium phosphate loadingon cycling performance for a time trial?Thanks,LKDear LK;Sodium phosphate is a phosphate salt, and phosphate salts can playan important role in metabolism at it relates to sports performance. Phosphatesalts may buffer lactic acid and produce energy via the oxygen energy system-and consequently enhance performance during aerobic endurance activities.The important questions regarding the use of phosphate salts are the following.Does the research support that phosphate salt loading actually improvesperformance? Are

Madrid bound?

A long finish line celebration today

The escape

Bobby J and the Telekom squad in pursuit

Nozal gets another day in the jersey

That's us on Stage 4...

...and us on Stage 5.

Barry on the bus

Winning a stage in any grand tour used to be a big deal for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team until the orange-clad Basques barnstormed through this summer’s Tour de France. Haimar Zubeldia and Iban Mayo were the Tour revelations, with Mayo winning at Alpe d’Huez and Zubeldia and Mayo finishing 5-6, respectively. Since both have pulled the plug on their seasons, stage victories might be all Euskaltel can hope for in the 2003 Vuelta a España. Euskaltel worked two riders into the winning move Tuesday and Unai Etxebarria slipped away from an eight-man break with just under 15km to go in the 151km

Australian Cadel Evans (Telekom) has retired from the Vuelta a España after breaking his collarbone in a fall, it was revealed on Tuesday. The former mountain bike World Cup champion, considered an outside bet for overall victory, did not start the fourth stage from Santander to Burgos following a fall in the closing stages of Monday’s race in rainy conditions. The Australian, who had been ambitious to excel in stage races –even leading the 2002 Giro d’Italia for a day - has had an unfortunate season, breaking his collarbone three times this year, first at the Amstel Gold race in April and

French rider Pierrick Fedrigo (Credit Agricole) won the 136km sixth stage of the Tour of Avenir from Saint Flour to Mende on Tuesday. Spanish rider Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) retained the overall lead. Ullrich expected to sign with Bianchi Despite threats to move to another team, Tour de France runner-up Jan Ullrich is expected to sign a three-year contract extension with Bianchi. Ullrich, 29, has complained that he needs a stronger team if he wants to dethrone Lance Armstrong in next year’s Tour. His former Telekom team came out last week with public comments that he’s welcome back at the

First off, let's correct an oversight:Last week when I mentioned ceramic bearings (see "TechnicalQ&A with Lennard Zinn: Campy's Carbon Clincher"), I forgotto mention Zipp’s ceramic bearings in the Z3. I wrote about it in a "TourTech" report during this year's Tour de France.--LennardKeeping a classic on the trailsDear Lennard;My question concerns my desire to keep my old Bridgestone MB1 runningas a single speed. I'm afraid during the five years of hard use it underwent,it developed quite a bad case of "indexed steering" and an inability tokeep the headset tight. My local shop informed me that

I just got back to VeloNews's almost fully re-carpeted headquartersafter a bit of time over in Europe covering the 2003 Eurobike trade show.My first time to the show, I was impressed by the superb organization (those crafty Germans!) of the event. Promoters had the foresight to place similar categories of product ineach of the halls (for example, clothing was mostly in one hall, whileItalian manufacturers were mostly placed in another). This organization made the show easier to digest for us ever-complaining journalists as well as the attending professionaland citizen crowds. Look for

Evans on Monday, after his crash

The break

Evans on Monday

Jeker

The jersey is still in ONCE's hands

FIR was just one of a few compaines exhibiting all-carbon clincher wheelsets

Casco's new TT helmet (as modeled by VeloNews' own Nick Ramey)

A twenty pound race rig is hard to ignore

Carbon for 'cross? Yep-you betcha'

Clean lines for Shimano levers

Shimano stopped SRAM cold in its trigger-shifting tracks in Germany

Fassa Bortolo's Alessandro Petacchi won the third stage of the 2003 Vuelta a España, a 154.3km race from Cangas de Onís to Santander on Monday. By easily out-sprinting Telekom's Erik Zabel and Quick Step's Tom Boonen, Petacchi became only the third rider in history to win stages in all three grand tours in the same season and the first to do it since 1958, when Italian Pierino Baffi achieved the feat 45 years ago. Petacchi won six stages in the Giro d'Italia and four in the Tour de France this year. "I'm very happy because I wanted to win in the three big races and give this win to the

Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) wrapped-up the American Criterium Championship Series by winning the 42nd Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix Sunday afternoon. This was his fourth win in the seven-race series which includes some of America’s longest-running and most notorious criteriums (Athens Twilight, Superweek, Tour of Somerville) and ended Sunday in Manhattan Beach. Racers competed on a 1.4 mile loop, an out-and-back course along North Valley Road which included two 180-degree turns and a short, seven-percent grade climb at the halfway mark. With a headwind along one straightaway and the

Hit 'em wear it countsEditor;In my humble opinion, the rule to adopt for all pro sports is simple:You test positive (A and B) for drugs, your annual earnings are cappedat 10-percent of what you are making or $1,000,000 a year, whichever isless (see Especially at the higher echelons, this still allows an athlete to makea substantial - albeit reduced - income from his or her talent. However,the kicker - a second positive test gets a lifetime ban from professionalsports - anywhere. Doesn't matter the sport you start out in or want toplay - cycling, baseball, anybody's national type of football

The Vuelta, unlike any other three-week race, started with a tough day in the mountains. Climbing the second day of the race is dangerous for the GC riders, especially after a tough TTT the night before. In our team meeting before the race we talked about the climbs and how the Vuelta could be lost on stage 2, but not won. At the end of the day, this was the case with several team leaders minutes off of the overall lead. The last few days we have woken up to gray skies and threatening rain. On Sunday, rain began to fall down half way through the stage, just prior to the second climb. ONCE

Jonas Carney

Money in the bank

Pay day

Petacchi had room to spare

Day 2 in gold for Rodrriguez

Leipheimer finished 5:13 back and is now 19:06 off the lead

The boys on the bus

Floyd before spending a day in the rain

Well, that was fast. World champion Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) has pulled out of the Vuelta a España, missing the start of the race’s second stage Sunday and catching an early flight back to Italy. Cipollini abandoned the race after having completed only one stage, Saturday’s opening 28-kilometer team time trial. Cipollini rode poorly during the stage, having to be pushed by teammates on several occasions, leading to Domina Vacanze receiving a fine from race officials. In a statement given to Spanish radio station Onda Cero, the Vuelta’s race director, Victor Cordero characterized

Finishing second might be good enough for some riders, but not for three-timeworld champion Alison Sydor. The 37-year-old mountain biking legend missed the gold medal by a painfullysmall gap of 16 seconds behind rock solid German Sabine Spitz in Sunday's elitewomen's world championships. "It's the world championships I always want to win," said Sydor, whosuccumbed to Spitz in the final lap of the 36.9km race. "I'm not thinkingabout medals. I want to win." Sydor set a punishing pace early with two-time world champion MargaFullana but Spitz clawed back on with two laps to go to grab

Cofidis's Luis Perez scored his maiden win in the second stage of the Vuelta a España Sunday, a 148km ride between Gijon and Cangas de Onis. ONCE's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano was overtaken as the overall race leader by teammate Joaquin Rodriguez. The 29-year-old Spaniard broke away with compatriot Carlos Sastre on the final climb of the day, the first category Fito, and then outsprinted Sastre in the streets of Cangas de Onis. His time at the end of the 148-km stage was three hours 27 minutes 32 seconds -14 seconds ahead of the peloton. The Cofidis rider said: "Last year a fall prevented

Filip Meirhaeghe had been close before. Three times in his long mountain biking career he’d walked onto the podium at the world mountain bike championships, but all three times he’d not been the winner, twice settling for bronze in the late 1990s, before grabbing silver a year ago after finishing an agonizing 19 seconds behind Canadian Roland Green. But this time, with Green not a factor and Meirhaeghe on fire again, the Belgian used a stunning charge from outside the top 10 to finally capture that elusive world title. “I’d had thoughts that I was not meant to win this,” admitted

Vasseur takes the Tour of HesseCedric Vasseur (Cofidis) took the final overall victory at Germany’s Tour of Hesse, as Telekom’s Daniele Nardello took the fifth and final stage of the race, a 170.2km run between Wetzlar and Wiesbaden.Results–Stage 51. Daniele Nardello (I), Telekom, at 170.2 km in 4:23:06 2. Franck Renier (F) 3. Serge Baguet (B), both s.t. 4. Sven Teutenberg (G), at 0:3:01 5. Rene Haselbacher (A), at 0:5:16 6. Danilo Hondo (G)Final Standings 1. Cedric Vasseur (F), Cofidis, 22:35:16. 2. Maryan Hary (F), at 0:03 3. Axel Merckx (B), at 0:07 4. Sylvain Chavanel (F), at 0:37 5.

After the fall: Cipollini at the Giro

Perez edges Sastre

The break

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano spent just one day in gold.

Julich rode in 8:02 back.

The jersey remains in ONCE's hands.

A day in Asturias

Despite losing two riders early on, ONCE-Eroski lived up to its role of overwhelming favorite in the opening team time trial event in the Vuelta a España on Saturday. It was a repeat of the Spanish squad's 2002 victory in the same stage over American squad U.S. Postal-Berry Floor. ONCE-Eroski clocked 32 minutes, 1 second for the 28km course starting and finishing in Gijon, 10 seconds faster than Postal and 24 seconds ahead of third-placed Ibanesto.com. Spaniard Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, 29, crossed the line at the head of the ONCE-Eroski team to take the first gold leader's jersey of

Image files for Vuelta

In a season that saw Anne-Caroline Chausson step back from the international circuit, many thought the 25-year-old would be vulnerable in Saturday's women's downhill world championship. Chausson erased any doubts as to whether she's still the queen bee of the women's gravity circuit when she roared through the intermediate time check 12 seconds faster than runner-up Sabrina Jonnier en route to her record eighth consecutive world title. "I didn't think I was going that fast. That's when you know things are going well, when things seem too easy," said Chausson, who won in 5 minutes, 10.23

Johan Museeuw may miss the road cycling world championships in Canada next month after his house was raided in a police drugs investigation, his manager said in an interview published on Saturday. "I still have full confidence in Johan Museeuw," Patrick Lefevere, manager of the Quick-Step team told La Derniere Heure - Les Sports. "The inquiry will prove Johan made no errors. But, on the other hand, I fear his image is damaged." Museeuw will continue with his race program over the next few days starting with the Dutch Delta Ronde this weekend, but Lefevere said his preparation for the

Go ahead, call him the heir apparent. Greg Minnaar is more than worthy. First he shocked the downhill-racing world in 2001, snatching the overall World Cup title from Nicolas Vouilloz. Now, after hiring Vouilloz’s former coach to be his personal trainer, the South African has taken over the spot the retired Frenchman owned for so many years, winning the downhill title at the world mountain biking championships in Lugano, Switzerland, on Saturday. Taking off from the No. 3 qualifier’s spot, Minnaar blasted his way down the steep, 1.45-mile track on Monte Tamaro, posting a 4:37.78. That was

After three days of sitting around in a hotel and counting the hours and then minutes until the start, the Vuelta is finally under way. The course around Spain this year takes us first through the Pyrénées, then along the east coast toward the southern peaks, and then up to Madrid. The course suits our team, with six mountain stages where Chechu, Roberto and Triki can shine, some flatter potentially windy days where the rest of us can control the race from the front, and some sprint stages where Max can show his strengths. The team has come to the Vuelta this year with perhaps the

ONCE shows Spain how a team time trial is done

Postal finished 10 seconds down

Gonzalez de Galdeano sports the first leader's jersey

Too much Metallica for Hincapie, y'think?

Evans stage 3

Evans stage 3

This year's Vuelta a España will kick off Saturday against a harsh economic backdrop with the sport in crisis in the host nation following the recent news that Banesto and ONCE will both end their long sponsorship of cycling at the end of the season. The Kelme team is also having its problems and minor races are falling by the wayside in a poor climate for cycling. "It's the worst news I've had since my fall in the Tour de France," said ONCE’s Joseba Beloki, several times a podium finisher in the world's toughest race, on learning last month that his sponsor had elected to pull out the

Readers who caught DedeDemet-Barry’s diary from the eighth round of the women's World Cupheld in Nürnberg, Germany, may have been concerned about the statusof Saturn rider Lyne Bessette, who was taken down in a crash just 2km intothe race and landed squarely on her head and right shoulder.Although her helmet was shattered and she remembers none of the crash,Bessette emerged relatively unscathed.“I just came back from the doctor and it’s really positive,” Bessettereported Thursday afternoon. “My head and neck are fine. It’s just a broken[right] collarbone, but nothing else. It’s broken

Veterinarian Jos Landuyt has admitted selling hormones to professional cyclists, the public prosecutor's office in Kortrijk in western Belgium has said. Landuyt, who comes from Oostrozebeke, which is about 15km from Kortrijk, was interviewed late on Thursday after police raided 20 houses, including that of the country's leading cyclist, Johan Museeuw. The prosecutors' office mentioned no cyclists by name, and Musseuw has yet to make any comment to the media on the matter. Kintana withdraws from Vuelta after B test positiveSpanish rider Aitor Kintana has withdrawn from the Tour of Spain

In the aftermath of the incident that saw American cross-country racers Todd Wells and Adam Craig ruled ineligible to race here in Lugano, Switzerland, at the 2003 world mountain bike championships, the finger-pointing has begun. Each of the four parties involved — the riders, the UCI, the trade teams and USA Cycling — are all looking elsewhere when asked who was at fault. But it’s more likely that all four bear at least a portion of the blame. So what caused the information disconnect that resulted in Craig and Wells making a wasted trip to Europe? Settle in, it’s complicated. The

"Tales from the gutter" made great readingEditor:I have really enjoyed Jed Schneiders’ "Tales from the gutter.” He gave a very real account of racing in Europe, both the up and the down side. I especially liked his latest, hopefully not his last, article. I grew up in England and raced in the early 1970s. There was not a "that guy" that I could remember, but I had always wanted to follow the footsteps of Tom Simpson and Barry Hoban. I eventually took the big step and went to Brittany thinking I would show those Frenchies a thing or two. I even used to practice going over an imaginary finish

Swiss rider Balz Weber's legs held out just long enough to win Friday's hotly contested under-23 world championship race. Weber had just reeled in Spanish pocket rocket Ivan Alvarez at the beginning of the fifth of seven punishing laps when his legs froze up with cramps. Germany's Manuel Fumic was hot on his tail and edged within nine seconds of catching Weber when his legs bounced back to life just in time to win the gold. "I went at my own rhythm when my legs cramped. I thought I was going to lose everything, but they felt better in the final lap and I could ride 100 percent again," said

Editor’s note:VeloNews.com received the following letter from Amber Neben, of the T-Mobile women’s team, today. Neben is currently ranked 25th in the world, the highest ranked American and, until now, a favorite to land a spot on the U.S. team for next year’s Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.After testing positive for nandrolone metabolites in samples taken May 31, 2003 during competition in Montreal, Neben has voluntarily suspended herself from competition, pending the resolution of further test results and appeals. The decision will, of course, mean that she will not participate in this