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Riding through Tuscany

Charging to the line

Cipollini nailed 'em all

Number 42

Cipollini drinks a toast to Jean-Marie

World champion Mario Cipollini did Sunday what everyone expected him to do last weekend: win a stage at the Giro d'Italia and equal the 41-win record held by the late Alfredo Binda. In Sunday's eighth stage, Cipollini shook a monkey off his back that, to some, seemed to be quickly growing into a gorilla after he failed to win a stage in six consecutive sprints that opened the 86th Giro. Domina Vacanze's zebras shot the 36-year-old toward the line and this time no one beat him to the tape. Lotto-Domo's Robbie McEwen took second while three-stage winner Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)

Haruko Fujinaka was in the United States on her honeymoon. But instead of heading to the beaches of California or some other romantic destination, the native of Japan made the trip to Big Bear Lake, because just like almost everybody else who drove up Highway 18 this weekend, Fujinaka loved bike racing. Sadly it was that love that ended the 33-year-old’s life, the victim of a bad crash in the Naked Falls section of the Snow Summit Resort downhill course. “From what I was told, it was just a classic endo,” said Tom Spiegel of Team Big Bear, the local organizer of the opening round of the

Teams are holding their collective breath going into Monday’s announcement of the final four teams to race in July’s Tour de France. Several teams are on the bubble to be selected by the Societe du Tour de France for the four wild-card invitations to join 18 other teams already lined up for the July 5 start of the centenary Tour. One of the major question marks is the status of 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich and his now defunct Team Coast, which was suspended two weeks ago by the UCI for not paying riders’ salaries. Bike manufacturer Bianchi stepped forward last week to take over sponsorship

It was bound to happen sooner or later, and on Sunday in Big Bear Lake, California, it finally did. After combining for 20 straight wins on the NORBA national championship series circuit, neither Roland Green or Ryder Hesjedal had the guns to stay with Jose Adrian Bonilla, as the Costa Rican grabbed the first NCS win of his career with a victory in the short track. In the women’s race it was another first-timer, Trek-Volkswagen’s Sue Haywood, who beat back the challenge of fellow American Alison Dunlap. Bonilla’s win came courtesy of a perfectly timed attack with 2 laps to go in the

Quick, in the long illustrious mountain-bike racing career of Eric Carter, how many big-time downhill races has the American won? Got your answer? Well if you said anything but zero before this weekend, you would have been wrong. But Carter changed that on the steep slopes of Snow Summit Resort on Sunday, earning the first major downhill victory of his career. In doing so the Hyundai-Mongoose rider ended a long slump for U.S. riders that dated back to Myles Rockwell's win at the 2000 world championships. The last NORBA DH win for an American male was at round No. 2 in 2000 (also

David Clinger and his Prime Alliance team fended off a day of attacks and other pressure to hold on to the overall lead as the inaugural Tour of Connecticut wrapped up with the Houstonic Valley Classic on Sunday. On paper, this wasn’t a day that was supposed favor the sprinters. Nope, Danbury’s Housatonic Valley road course, with its rolling terrain and formidable length shouldn’t have podium that looks like the winners’ list at a typical criterium. Still, the sprinters shined in both the men’s and women’s events Sunday with Russian Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) repeating his win of a year

Matched... but still not bettered

No talk of retirement on Sunday

To the line

A couple of new faces were atop the short track podium.

Bonilla was understandably gassed after his win.

An exultant Haywood.

Hanusova's face shows the pain of the day.

Carter's second trip to the podium.

Top qualifier Hannah settled for fifth in the final.

Moseley was all smiles after her win.

Mayolo-Pic takes the sprint

Davidenko

Work horses: Pate (L) and Vaughters kept tabs on the front of the field

This time, it was revenge for Stefano Garzelli. A year after his days in the Giro d’Italia were numbered because of a positive doping test, Garzelli returned to the top of the mountain in Saturday’s 146km stage to Terminillo. The 2000 champion is back in the pink jersey after an emotional victory ahead of Saeco’s Gilberto Simoni in the Giro’s first mountain stage, which saw the chances for many pre-race favorites fade to black. “It was a great stage for me and a very special day,” said Garzelli after racking up his second stage win in a week. “Exactly one year ago I won the stage to Limone

On a perfect blue-sky day in Southern California, Canadian Ryder Hesjedal and American Alison Dunlap each took wins at the NORBA NCS season opener at Snow Summit Resort. Hesjedal’s triumph brought an end to the seven-race win streak of fellow Canadian Roland Green, who hadn’t lost an NCS cross-country since he was a no show at race No. 3 in 2001. Green, still suffering the effects of a bad crash at the Tour de Georgia, did not finish Saturday’s race. But while Hesjedal’s win ended Green’s streak, it kept alive the run of consecutive NORBA victories the pair of training partners have strung

Germany’s Steffen Wesemann won the Peace Race for the fifth time of his career after finishing safely in the lead bunch in Saturday’s final stage. Wesemann won one stage and broke apart the race when he attacked with defending Ondrej Sosenka in stage 4. Sosenka won the stage, but Wesemann grabbed the lead. He never let go and even widened his gap in Friday’s difficult climbing stage. Saturday’s 160km flat stage from Bad Elster to Erfurt offered little chance to shake up the overall standings. Italian rider Enrico Degano (Mercatone Uno) won ahead of Rene Hasselbacher (Gerolsteiner) while

For the first eight of the 15 laps in Saturday’s Waterbury Circuit Race in Waterbury, Connecticut, it looked like racing as usual on the men’s pro circuit. That is, Saturn’s Chris Horner was dancing all over the field on a brutal course that saw an attrition rate of nearly 75 percent. But in the end, a potent combination of patience and strength finally paid off for Prime Alliance, the team that has spent the better part of the past three months watching Horner and his Saturn teammates ride away from them. David Clinger (Prime Alliance) sprung loose from the dwindling pack on lap 12 and

The first day of racing at the NORBA NCS season opener in Big Bear Lake, California wrapped up with wins from one very familiar name, and one that’s just starting to make its way round the pits. The name everyone knows was longtime pro Eric Carter, who used a great start to out duel Brian Lopes in the men’s mountain cross final. The new name was young Jill Kintner, who parlayed her No. 1 qualifying position into the first NORBA win of her short mountain biking career. Carter came in as just the No. 3 qualifier, but said he anticipated the gate drop perfectly in the final. “I started moving

With the Big Bear cross-country course offering predominantly dry, fast fireroad conditions, it was no surprise that most of pro men chose to run hardtail rigs. In fact, a straw poll of the top-20 call-ups revealed 17 hardtails and only three full-suspension rigs (two Giant NRS's and one Specialized Epic). Coincidence or not, both the Giant and Specialized pro teams mandate that their riders ride full-suspension technology–like it or not. By the end of the race, the winner and top nine finishers rolled across the line on hardtails. Full suspension was nowhere to be found. And while the

Marco Pantani was not having one of his better days.

Gilberto Simoni and Stefano Garzelli dueled all the way to the top.

Prime Alliance's David Clinger salutes the crowd in Connecticut.

Saturn's Chris Horner went early - a little too early.

Hesjedal sets a fast early pace.

Dunlap was at the front all day.

Bisaro had plenty to smile about.

Carter takes NORBA No. 1.

Kintner tops the women's podium.

Tubeless tires were on-order for the day, as well as Shimnao's new XTR M-956 wheelset

Ryder left his granny in the pits

Alessandro Petacchi is pretty in pink yet again Friday after winning his third stage of the 86th Giro d’Italia in what was another disappointing finish for world champion Mario Cipollini. The world champ’s Domina Vacanze zebras burst out of the herd in the finale to sling Cipollini toward the finish line in customary fashion, but when final set-up man Giovanni Lombardi finished his pull, Cipollini stopped pedaling. Super Mario didn’t have the legs to contest the sprint and rolled across sixth. Petacchi, meanwhile, was right on Cipo’s wheel and dashed ahead of Kelme’s Isaac Galvez to clinch

It looks like Jan Ullrich will at least have a team after a new sponsor stepped forward Friday to take over the cash-strapped Team Coast. Whether he starts the Tour de France now depends on race organizers. According to an agreement taken Friday by the Council of Professional Cycling, Bianchi will take over the sponsorship from Team Coast, which was suspended last week by the UCI for not paying riders’ salaries in April, L’Equipe reported. Sport director Rudy Pevenage is reportedly working on a deal to hire the entire Team Coast staff, from the racers on down. The professional body awarded

I’ve got to admit, I’m a little on edge. After months of writing longingly about donuts, greasy spoons and the like, it suddenly struck me that I could become a target. What is it that has me worried, you ask? In California earlier this week, a public interest lawyer in San Francisco filed a lawsuit seeking to ban the sale of Oreo cookies to minors. The argument: Oreos contain trans fats, which, according to the suit, are too dangerous for children to eat. Stephen L. Joseph argued that the general public is unaware of the danger of trans fats, which are present in about 40 percent of the

Host nation Australia was rolling in medals after the first day of competition in the fourth and final round of the 2003 UCI World Cup track-racing series, May 16-18 at Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney. Australia has won two gold medals and one bronze in the six finals contested so far in the three-day event, which features almost 200 riders representing 42 countries. Mark Jamieson, Australia’s 19-year-old 4km individual-pursuit champion, posted the fastest qualifying time in the morning - 4:24.425, good enough for selection to the national team for July’s senior world championships in

Minus a full OLN TV crew, some sponsor banners and prize money for the pros, the opening race of the NORBA national championship series doesn’t look much different from years past. On Friday in Big Bear Lake, California, 24 hours before pro racing commences, the pits seemed as vibrant as ever, with all the expo space filled up and plenty of riders and spectators milling about in anticipation of the coming weekend’s action. “It’s a NORBA national,” said a matter-of-fact Eric Moore of USA Cycling. “We all know there’s some things missing, but it still has the vibe. It’s been a huge team

Saturn's Eric Wohlberg of Canada won the fastest of two heats in the opening stage of the inaugural Tour of Connecticut Friday evening in New Haven. The 75km criterium was run in two heats due to the tight half-mile circuit around New Haven's famed Green. Wohlberg, by virtue of winning the fastest heat, was awarded the yellow jersey, while teammate Ivan Dominquez of Cuba, winner of the slower heat in a terrific sprint battle with Gord Fraser (Health Net), was given the green jersey of best sprinter. Brice Jones (7UP-Maxxis), second in the fast heat, was given the best-climber jersey. Stage

Cristian Moreni (Alessio), Costantino Gutierrez Zaballa (Kelme) and Team fakta's Magnus Backstedt sparked the early action.

Fassa Bortolo comes to the fore.

Saturn's Eric Wohlberg wins the fast heat at the Tour of Connecticut opener.

The first of two rest days comes early in the 86th Giro d’Italia, just six days into the three-week march to Milan. There’s been plenty of action and story lines both on and off the bike in what’s been a scandal-free Giro, including Cipollini’s stalled motor, McEwen’s relegation and subsequent redemption, Pantani’s helmet hatred and Petacchi’s run in pink. Here’s a look at where some of the major players stand nearly a week into the Giro: Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) 1st overall Two stage-wins and the maglia rosa, not bad for a guy who’d never won a Giro stage before this year.

Dear Bob;Here’s an odd one for ya: Can someone get their driver’s license revoked for cycling while drunk? Is it illegal and, if so, what can they do to you if you are caught riding while intoxicated?OtisNorth Carolina Dear Otis;I have to admit that at first, I didn’t think this question was really all that applicable to readers of this column. But, the more I thought about it, the more relevant it seemed. For instance, I’m sure many cyclists have attended a summer barbecue by bike only to partake in all that is offered before riding home. Then there is former 7-Eleven rider Alex Steida’s

Greeting from beautiful Berkeley, California. I just finished up taking the grand tour over at Clif Bar world headquarters and let me tell ya, if you’re looking for a progressive, outdoor oriented company, dust off the resume. Besides all the bars and shots you can get your hands on, employees at Clif have a top-notch gym, yoga instructors, massage therapists and a whole bunch of other cool stuff at their disposal to make the work day not seem so much like work. Clif Bar also does a fair bit for the cycling world, sponsoring at one level or another the Luna, U.S. Postal and Sierra-Nevada

From a gastrointestinal perspective, it’s been a bad week for former Mercury teammates Tom Danielson and Chris Wherry. Danielson and Saturn teammate Nathan O’Neill were forced to abandon the eastern European Peace Race after a bout with the stomach flu, while, for better or for worse, Wherry, now with Navigators, has finally nailed down what’s been ailing him this season — a parasite. A common microscopic parasitic organism found throughout the world, Blastocystis hominis has invaded Wherry’s system, leaving him weak and unable to fully recover from hard efforts on the bike. It’s a

One of the greatest all-around athletes in cycling history, Hendrik (“Rik”) Van Steenbergen, died in an Antwerp, Belgium, clinic on May 15 after a long illness. He was 78. At 6-foot-3 and 183 pounds, Van Steenbergen was big for a professional cyclist, but his renowned resilience made him a formidable rider on both road and track throughout his exceptionally long career. In 24 seasons as a professional (1943-1966), Van Steenbergen won 270 times on the road, including three world road championships, eight classics, and 25 stages of the grand tours; and 715 times on the track, including 40

Team Coast’s loss is the Postal team’s gain. Nope Lance Armstrong hasn’t recruited Jan Ullrich for this year’s Tour de France, but the team did announce on Thursday that it had signed former Coastie Manuel Beltran for the remainder of the 2003 season. Following Team Coast’s second suspension of the year for financial problems, UCI rules allow riders to negate their existing contracts with the team and become a cycling equivalent of a free agent. Ullrich announced his plans to leave Coast on Wednesday and Beltran finalized a deal with Postal on Thursday. "This is a great addition to our

How many more bottles in store for Petacchi?

Deja Vu: Cipo' has been close twice.

Garzelli's back.

Pantani has showed good form this first week

The Navigator

Van Steenbergen celebrates his win at Milan-San Remo in 1954

Beltran leads Heras in the 1999 Tour of Catalunya

What a great week it’s been for Alessandro Petacchi and what a bad one for Mario Cipollini. Petacchi, deep in the best run of his career, beat the world champion in Wednesday’s fifth stage even before the peloton roared into Catania for the mass sprint. Super Mario’s Domina Vacanze zebras took firm control of the race with 6km to go, and typically the battle among the would-be contenders is the fight to grab Cipollini’s wheel. But Petacchi weaseled his way in front of Cipollini, and when lead set-up man Giovanni Lombardi pulled up, it was Cipollini who was forced to come around

Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich has split from the financially-troubled Team Coast, his manager said Wednesday. “A Team Coast containing Jan Ullrich does not exist any longer,” Wolfgang Strohband told the SID sports news agency. Ullrich signed a four-year contract with the German team in January, but the team was suspended by the UCI last week for non-payment of riders’ salaries in April. Ullrich, winner of the Tour in 1997, left Telekom in September after a dismal season during which he was sidelined by a knee injury and tested positive for amphetamines. Whether this means

Dear Ms. Ryan;With all the controversy regarding nutritional supplements, I am curious as to whether they are really necessary. Is it possible for a highly competitive cyclist (which I am not) to get the required vitamins, etc., in a normal, well-thought-out diet? Or are the demands of training and racing so high that it's just not possible to force down enough food? --GPDear GP;Thanks for your question. Because of the demands of your training and racing, you are able to eat significantly more food than your sedentary counterpart. However, what matters is that the foods you choose are quality

You’ve probably been there before: Up all night between stages because you have a fresh batch of road rash and it’s throbbing. Every time you roll over in bed, your nasty gooey aching hip sticks to the sheets and wakes you up in pain. Your significant other is grossed out and reminds you that you get to do the laundry for the next few weeks. If you’re a cyclist in a stage race, you probably dread facing the next stage because your body aches like an NFL lineman on Monday morning. You are leaking icky wound goo on your skin suit on the starting line the next morning. Yuck. Wouldn’t it be

We are preparing for the first stage race of the year: the Fleche de Sud, in Luxembourg. The longer that I spend in Europe, the greater appreciation I have for the incredible support needed to race. Going to a stage race in the U.S. is a lot easier, really. Yes, it is comforting to have someone in the feedzone to hand up a bottle, but not necessary. I know plenty of riders, good riders, that have done races like Gila, or Fitchburg unassisted. Well, that’s just not possible in Europe. At a minimum, you need someone in the feedzones, and someone driving the team car in the caravan (that

Denver-area residents with an open Thursday afternoon might want to head to Aurora on May 15 to check out the formal grand opening of what is being touted as the world’s largest bike shop. Beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 15, the new Bicycle Village, at 2802 S. Havana in Aurora, Colorado, will be hosting a party and benefit with a portion of proceeds going our friends at IMBA and Bicycle Colorado. The shop, run by Ken and Tom Gart and Kat Jobanputra, covers more than 30,000 square feet, stocks at least 1500 bikes on the display floor at any given time and features a huge outdoor test

It was that last little push...

Giro: Petacchi nips Cipo' at the line again

The escapees