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Lance Armstrong gets a little doctoring after a spill in stage 5.

The consequences of laying it down at 70kph ...

Laurent Lefevre scores for his Jean Delatour squad.

Bob;Is it possible to get comprehensive bicycle insurance that will cover theft, injuries to me caused by a motorist, and liability arising from any damage I might cause to someone else while riding?GW Dear GW;In general, there is no such thing in the United States as “comprehensive bicycle insurance,” although it’s pretty common in the United Kingdom. In fact, a quick internet search indicates that “consumer report” type comparisons exist between policies offered by different firms in the UK. Unfortunately, to obtain comparable insurance in the U.S. requires that one “cobble together”

Got a message this week and it’s for the vast majority of the world’s elite gravity racers — or at least the ones who were at Alpe d’Huez. You all need to stop whining, bitching, moaning and protesting, and start paying attention to the writing on the wall. Because if you read it, you’ll see that right now more than ever, the sport of mountain-bike racing needs solidarity, not sit-down strikes. Now, I don’t doubt that the courses at Alpe d’Huez were sub-standard. The legend of UCI course designer Frank Roman and his general lack of competence is well known. Just last year he refused (or

Too bad Iban Mayo isn't talking up a big game for the upcoming Tour de France. The tenacious Euskaltel rider won his second stage of the 55th Dauphine Libere on Thursday, edging out Lance Armstrong and Francisco Mancebo after attacking hard in the Alps. "In a stage like that, held in such heat it's, not the quickest who comes out on top but the freshest," said Mayo, who also won the opening prologue. "It was a good win, but Armstrong is stronger. It's clear he's going very good now and will be even better at the Tour." Mayo, Armstrong and Mancebo chugged away from the fractured peloton on

THURSDAY: It’s been two very telling days here at the Dauphine. The contenders have shown their cards. Yesterday’s time trial and today’s stage of nearly 245 kilometers put a gap between the guys here to win and the rest of the race. The time trial was demanding, as I predicted it would be. I wanted to set a pretty good tempo at the beginning so my teammate, Carlos Sastre, would have some benchmarks to work off of. For the remainder of the race I tried to stay steady, but didn’t push myself too far into the red. Yesterday turned out to be a great day for the Americans. Lance’s decisive

This story originally appeared in the July, 2003, issue of Inside Triathlon magazine Chann McRae pulls off his cycling jersey and pauses a minute before putting on his running clothes. There, on McRae’s spare, sinewy arms, shoulders and hips, you can see a veritable oad map of his past. And if you know what you’re looking for you can see the marks of his future. After 14 years as one of the top bike racers in the U.S., McRae has taken his share of tumbles. Faded scars dot his body, the faint reminders of scrapes with the roads of France, Italy, Spain and most of North America. But what you

Health Net’s Gord Fraser will no longer be barred from some ofNorth America's most prestigious road races, after a legal settlement reached on Tuesday. Fraser, long regarded as one of the top road racers in North America, had been relegated to the sidelines by Threshold Sports because of a mounting legal argument with the company. (See "Why Gord Fraser and Health Net won't be in Philly" - June 2, 2003) "I'm just glad it's finished," Fraser said yesterday in a telephone interview from Ottawa, where he is visiting his mother. "I'm looking forward to racing in Threshold events again." Fraser

You can't make me....

The freshest win on days like this

Still in yellow. Still in control.

The team is finding its form, too.

Mancebo makes a charge.

The move of the day

Fans

Bjarne's back

Congratulations are in order to Saturn’s Lyne Bessette and Mark McCormackon their performances in Philly last weekend — Bessette for her LibertyClassic win ahead of former teammates Petra Rossner and Judith Arndt (bothnow with Nürnberger) and McCormack for his fourth-place at the USPROChampionships, good enough for a year in the stars-and-stripes jersey. In addition to being long-time Saturn athletes, both are down-to-earth,hard-working riders from the Northeast deserving of their successes. 2002wasn’t an easy year for either of them: On April 1st of last year, McCormackwas struck by a car

Dear Monique;I have heard about the glycemic index and have incorporated it intomy training program. However, I have also recently come across the ideaof a "glycemic load," but have a question concerning it. I was wondering,does the glycemic load of a food double if one consumes twice the amountof that food was used to determine the original glycemic load? Thanks,-- NP  Dear NP;I think that you will be hearing more about glycemic load in the future.Referring to a food simply by it’s glycemic index may seem too simple whenyou look at the big picture of how you portion foods and how they

Dear Doctor,I am a competitive cyclist who has been experiencing excruciating abdominalpains after my training sessions. The episodes usually occur approximately15-30 minutes after I am finished. The symptoms are severe bloating andunbearable pain that sometimes doubles me over. Usually if I take an anti-gaspill the discomfort is minimal and shorter in duration. What do you thinkthe problem could be and what can I do about? -- HG Dear HG:Exercise-related abdominal pains like you're describing can have severalcauses. Your question is a good one because studies have shown than 30to 40 percent

As if there was ever any doubt. Of course, just in case there was any, Lance Armstrong made a point of reminding the cycling world that he's the alpha male of the pack with a blistering performance under Texas-like heat of central France. Armstrong blasted his way to his first victory of the 2003 season in Wednesday's 33.4km individual time trial and jumped into the overall lead of the Dauphine Libere race. The win comes just in time to remind everyone that Armstrong won't be arriving at the July 5 start of the Tour in anything but winning form. "I think it's more important to show myself

The Lampre team has confirmed that a urine sample submitted by Raimondas Rumsas following Stage 6 of this year’s Giro d’Italia has tested positive for EPO. Rumsas, who is still awaiting the results of his “B-Sample” test from the Giro, has ridden under a cloud of suspicion ever since his wife was jailed for procession of performance-enhancing drugs on the final day of last year’s Tour de France. Rumsas finished third in 2002 Tour and was twice tested for drugs in the three-week race. None of those tests came back positive. Nonetheless, Rumsas was the center of a firestorm of controversy on

Manuel Beltran hasn’t been with U.S. Postal Service very long, but he already feels at home just three days into his debut as one of Lance Armstrong’s blue and white Posties. “There are a lot of riders right now who’d like to be in my skin,” Beltran told VeloNews on Tuesday evening just before dinner at the team hotel along the Rhone. “I am honored that I am racing with Armstrong. Who wouldn’t be?” Just a month ago, Beltran was riding with Team Coast and was wondering whether his next pay check would show up. When the UCI finally pulled the plug on the troubled German team, it didn’t take

With Philly week behind us, all eyes — well, okay, at least those focused on domestic road racing — now turn to the four-day, five-stage Nature Valley Grand Prix. The premiere component of the twin cities’ Great River Energy Bicycle Festival, Nature Valley begins Thursday, June 12, in Two Harbors, Minnesota. Last year’s event, a three-day omnium — scored on cumulative finishing positions, rather than overall time — was won by John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis) and Laura Van Gilder, who rode for Trek Plus but now rides for Saturn. For 2003, the event sees several important changes: the event has been

Armstrong in his favorite color

Looking to Paris?

The Kivilevs joined Armstrong on the podium

Millar still in second

Mayo didn't expect to keep the jersey

The Iron Range Road Race

The Stillwater Criterium

The Winona Road Race

I get nervous every year at the start of the Philadelphia Liberty Classic. This race had always been one of my favorites on the U.S. racing calendar. The energy surrounding the event is motivating. I get a rush climbing the Manayunk “Wall”, as the cheering crowd erases any painful sensations that are usually associated with steep climbs. This race gathers most of the cycling industry in the center of Philadelphia as well local and foreign bike fans. The hospitality is incredible, as tents are set up around the course stocked with food and televisions for race viewing. In nineteen years, it

Dear Lennard;I remember a while back you mentioned some auto part glue that worked well for glueing on sew-ups. What is it and any tricks to using it? --Ignacio Dear Ignacio;The glue is 3M Fast Tack.Except on Continentals (which have no coating over the base tape), scrape the base tape (instructions in “Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance”). Layer the glue on the rim and tire, letting dry between coats. After the final coat on the rim, stick the tire on. Fast Tack can be problematic with Continentals, as it has a solvent in it that can soak through the base tape and loosen the glue

Strong winds moved riders up the Rhone Valley in a hot and toasty stage Tuesday, with Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) winning the bunch sprint into Vienne. The brisk tailwinds pushed the peloton into Vienne nearly a half-hour faster than expected and Hushovd held off Alexandre Usov (Phonak) and Baden Cooke (Fdjeux.com) to grab the victory. A familiar moveJacky Durand (Fdjeux.com) just couldn't help himself and went on the attack in the opening kilometers, quickly followed by U.S. Postal's Victor Hugo Pena and three others, but the move was just as quickly snuffed. But Durand

Patrick O'Grady cartoons from recent issues of VeloNews magazine.

TUESDAY: Stages one and two of the Dauphine-Libere were fairly similar. Both featured rolling terrain, and ended with field sprints. There was a nasty crash inside one kilometer to go yesterday. I was lucky to stay out of trouble. Overall, the day went better than I expected, mainly because I felt better than I thought I was going to. I’m still not firing on all cylinders, but at least I’m starting to come around. Today we had a nice tail wind all day, which was good, considering it’s been ridiculously hot here in France. I finished yesterday’s stage feeling, and probably looking like a

Suspension is a funny thing. While the majority of mountain bikes soldin the United States these days are full-suspenders, talk to "the averageJoe" on the trail, and you start to get the feeling that knowledge oftenlags far behind technology. Of course, with any broad generalization, there are always exceptions–guysand girls who are 100 percent up-to-speed about rebound, compression andwheel path–but for the most part, the average mountain biker is, at best,lost in a sea of marketing-speak when it comes to understanding and adjustingtheir suspension. I'm not trying to point fingers here,

Finishing in Vienne

Out front for much of the day

Mayo

Crossing the Rhone

Cyclo-cross nationals were 'blessed' with rains - Published in VeloNews - January 6, 2003

NORBA turns 20! Published in VeloNews - February 3, 2003

World Anti-Doping Agency tightens its rules - Major League Baseball has rules, too! -- Published in VeloNews - March 3, 2003

NORBA takes a 'leadership' role in 24-hour racing - Published in VeloNews - April 4, 2003

George Hincapie had the 'misfortune' of missing the Spring Classics - Published in VeloNews - April 19, 2003

Pro roadies declare 'Condition Orange' at Sea Otter - Published in VeloNews - May 5, 2003

One team emerged dominant this spring - Published in VeloNews - May 19, 2003

NORBA's National Championship Series begins another successful season - Published in VeloNews - June 2, 2003

Jan Ullrich gets a new team, but the jerseys are late - Published in VeloNews - June 16, 2003

Cannondale falls off the edge of bankruptcy -- and lands it (but they had to use a bicyle to pull it off) - VeloNews - February 24, 2003

Tuning In

Tuning In

Tuning In

Bulgarian Plamen Stoianov (Big Mat) endured the heat, a crash and a string of attacks to win the mass gallop in Monday’s 198km first stage of the 55th Criterium du Dauphine Libere. Temperatures soared into the 90s as the peloton drove south out of the mountains near Grenoble into Vaison La Romaine, a quaint Provencal village nestled at the base of Mont Ventoux. Riders went down on a sharp corner just 300 meters from the finish line, cutting the peloton as the bunch came in for the sprint. “I came through clear from the crash and was in good position,” said Stoianov, who raced with Mercury

We all know what it is like explaining bicycle racing to non-racers. We've all been there; explaining the intricacies of drafting to our closest family and friends. The earnest attempt to comprehend the words from your mouth is always betrayed by the glazed over look in their eyes. Bicycle racing is an experience. Bicycle racing is cooperative (in the sense that it is a mass start event) so often people imagine it as a fun run: “come on guys, we can make it to the finish together!” Their only other explanation of bicycle riding has come from an office partner who has a nephew raising

An in-form Australian, Michael Rogers, wrapped up the Tour of Germany in Sarrebruck on Monday, adding to his victory in the Tour of Belgium two weeks ago. The 23-year-old finished in the peloton at the end of the seventh stage, the 173.2km ride from Bad Durkheim being taken in a mass sprint finish by Germany's Olympic track champion Olaf Pollack. Rogers ended with a one-minute and 19-second advantage over Portugal's Jose Azevedo while Telekom’s Alexander Vinokourov was third, a further 33 seconds adrift. Vinokourov’s former Telekom team-mate, the 1997 Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich

'...but I’m no Mario Cipollini,' said Stoianov.

Challenging terrain

Mayo stays in yellow.

An interactive experience

On the biggest single day of racing in the U.S., the Europeans may have slowed the Saturn train a bit, with Saeco’s Stefano Zanini winning the Wachovia USPRO Championship in a field sprint, but Saturn still took home the stars-and-stripes jersey, with 10-year Saturn veteran Mark McCormack earning the right to wear the American champion’s jersey for the next year. It was a somewhat unexpected ending to a day in Philadelphia that early on began to unfold like recent editions of the race. Of the European teams, CSC was pegged as the favorite, after Jakob Piil and Julian Dean winning Lancaster

Lance Armstrong said Sunday that "mathematics" was not foremost on his mind as he prepared to continue his Tour de France preparations by racing the Dauphine Libere. Armstrong, the U.S. Postal team leader, is aiming for a record-equaling fifth Tour victory this year and, as usual, is riding the Dauphine Libere stage race this week as part of the build-up. The race, in the south-east of France, includes some key climbing stages which will give the 31-year-old Texan a good indication of his fitness less than four weeks before the July 5 start of this year's centenary race. But he refrained

Euskaltel's Iban Mayo held off a bunch of favorites including Lance Armstrong to win the prologue time trial of the Dauphine Libere race in Villard-De-Lans, France on Sunday. Mayo, one of the up and coming riders from Spain, dons the race leader's jersey after the short 5.1km ride. The Dauphine, long regarded as a prime warm-up for the Tour de France, ends next Sunday. Prologue results(Click here for FullResults)1. Iban Mayo (SPA), at 0:Euskaltel 8:442. David Millar (GBR), at 0:053. Lance Armstrong (USA), at 0:114. Alberto Lopez de Munain (SPA), at 0:145. Francisco Mancebo (SPA), at 0:156.

Hometown favorite Anne-Caroline Chausson and first-time winner Nathan Rennie were fastest Sunday on a speedy, rocky downhill course high in the French Alps. On a mountain more famous for being climbed up, cycling’s fastest downhillers ripped down a wide-open course criticized for its lack of technical challenges. With wide sweeping turns and long straights, the course favored big riders and that was certainly true in the men’s field, where young bucks Rennie and Chris Kovarik ruled the roost. A decent crowd turned out under brilliant sunny skies to catch the action for the second round of

SUNDAY: It’s been over a month since my last race, so it’s good to be getting back to business. However, I’m not sure I’ll be riding at the level I was at Liege-Bastogne-Liege or the Tour of Romandie this week. But that’s okay; my goals aren’t quite the same here at the Dauphine-Libere. When the first leg of the season came to a close in early May, I took a week long break from the bike to allow my body a little time to recuperate. After the down time, I started training specifically for the Tour de France. The goal being, to allow my body to recover and to slowly rebuild my strength in a

Like all streaks, it had to come to an end sometime. Since 1997, German Petra Rossner has held a virtual monopoly on the Wachovia Liberty Classic, the 56 mile former World Cup run concurrently with the USPRO men’s championship in Philadelphia. This year, it was not to be, as Rossner, riding for Equipe Nürnberger this year after five years with Saturn, faced stiff competition from her former team as well as the all-American T-Mobile squad. After a year away from the Saturn squad, Lynne Bessette returned home to end her former teammate’s reign and continued Saturn’s, jumping away from three

Armstrong: My first priority is to win again