Half of the new boards sit outside the Superdrome in Frisco waiting to be installed by volunteers who have traveled from as far away as Tulsa, Oklahoma to help.
Progress! The first section of new surface is installed.
Notes from the road: The Breakfast of Champions!
Bisbee was a new kid once, too
Dog breath* Blinded by the white
Add two-time Olympic champion Paolo Pezzo to the growing list of riderswho are setting their sites on the first-ever mountain-biking marathonworld championship. And don’t be surprised if Pezzo follows that with arun at a third Olympic title in the summer of 2004. According to Gary Fisher’s Dean Gore, while Pezzo will not be “an officialmember of the Subaru-Fisher team” this season, she will be “structuringher own European-based program that will focus on European Grand Fondosand marathon events, with the new UCI sanctioned marathon world championshipsdate highlighted on her calendar.”
Angel Casero won the 2001 Vuelta a España, but suffered through injuries and poor form in 2002. The proud Spanish rider is committed to returning to top form in the 2003 season and vows to challenge for the Tour de France podium. Despite problems at his Team Coast, Casero said he’s confident the team will be shining at the season’s major races. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with Casero earlier this season. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews: What are your sensations now that Coast is assured of going to the Tour de France and facing Lance Armstrong?
Hello Bob,At what point does a Canadian athlete need to pursue an American visato compete in the USA? If one receives a small stipend from a company,does that mean they are "working" in the U.S.? What are the tax laws surrounding winning prize money? It seems some athletes have been having problems with crossing the U.S.border as border agents seem to think they need visas, and I was wonderingif you could clarify who needs a visa, and who doesn't. -- M.M. Dear MM;I am assuming that you are a Canadian citizen. The United States Codeprovides for two categories of entrants into the United
Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi easily won Thursday’s second stage of the Tour of Aragon in Spain, scoring his fourth win of the season. Leonardo Piepoli (iBanesto.com) safely finished in the front group to retain the overall lead in the five-day stage-race in northern Spain. Scores of riders tried to escape in the final 20km coming into Sabinanigo, but Banesto, Fassa and Euskaltel worked to keep things together. Petacchi had a nice set-up and bolted across the line with both arms in full victory salute a full bike length ahead of Angel Edo (Milaneza-MSS). Petacchi safely negotiated the
I’m a curious person. I raced my bike quite successfully after my two kids went to kindergarten and I no longer had to hire a sitter just so I could sneak out and train. Women in the peloton are always amazed to find out that I have a white-collar high stress day job, two special needs boys, and still manage to get by as a Cat. 2. But I know I’m hardly alone. On the podium of a mountain bike race a couple years ago the woman in third place tried to say something smug to my friend and I who were first and second. “Well I have to go home now to my husband, job, and 3 kids.” We laughed. As if!
Maps and such
Paola wants another?
Sheppard offers an opinion
New pedals
A conversation with Angel Casero
Kids! They can make you stronger... and happier.
Amstel Image Files
Amstel Image Files
I gotta start hanging out at DIA (Denver International Airport) more often. This past Wednesday, I'm on my way to the Sea Otter with our photo editor, Galen Nathanson, when who other than "Charlie Hustle" Pete Rose rolls up to the first class counter. Picture this: an aging overweight white fella wearing a pair of the goldest pair of Dolce Y Gabana shades (complete with gold grandma "safety" chain), a honest-to-goodness man-blouse, a pair of overly tight-fitting black chinos and topping off the whole kit with a pair of the fruitiest pointed boots you've ever done seen. Galen and I were
Leonardo Piepoli won his first race of the 2003 season, attacking with 1km to go to drop Saeco’s Gilberto Simoni and take the lead of the Tour of Aragon in Wednesday’s first stage. Piepoli jumped with 3km to go in Wednesday’s 154km stage from Huesca to the Category 1 summit finish at Cerler, a ski station high in the Spanish Pyrenees. Simoni and Coast’s Manuel Beltran followed, but the defending champion was too strong. Simoni hung on until the final kilometer when Piepoli put on the after-burners to roll across the line with his finger pointing to the skies. Simoni isn’t the only big name
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this week I thought I’d put that theory to the test and quickly crank out a ten-thousand-plus word photo album from the two weeks I spent in California, covering the ins and outs of the Redlands and Sea Otter stage races. There was, no doubt, plenty of racing to see and report, but seeing as the results are, by now, old news and real race photos best left to the professionals (Casey B. Gibson, this means you.). Instead, I thought I’d try to give readers a glimpse behind the scenes.
Dear Monique;What's the deal with muscle cramps? I'm suddenly getting them in my calves after about an hour or two of riding. Is it simply a matter of hydration or is electrolyte balance more important? I usually only drink water on rides and take gels for energy. I didn't get cramps in the early season when the rides were just as long (though maybe not as hard). By the way, thanks for taking time to answer readers' questions. I know you can't get to all of them, but it is very cool of you to take time out to do this for all of us who love cycling. Have a great one,Eric Hi EricSorry to
Michele Ferrari, the Italian doctor formerly attached to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) who is alleged to have assisted an array of top athletes with detailed doping programs, took the stand in his own defense at his trial in Bologna, Italy on Wednesday. Ferrari, the physician and trainer for four-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, said he had never prescribed any banned substances. "I've never prescribed illicit substances because I know that doping, in other words the use of substances to improve performance, is a boomerang which will simply return to damage the athletes
Professional riders will probably be forced to wear helmets during races no later than the start of the Giro d’Italia, UCI president Hein Verbruggen said Wednesday. Verbruggen said he hoped the plans, prompted by the death of Kazakh rider Andrei Kivilev (see “ Kivilev mourned at Paris-Nice”), would be put in place before the Giro's May 10 start date. "It is our intention to establish this new rule prior to the start of the Tour of Italy," Verbruggen said in a letter Wednesday to former rider Francesco Moser, the president of the professional cyclists' association (CPA). “And we will await
Charlie Hustle, AKA Pete Rose
Motocross technology for your slalom bike
Sea Otter Hustle
Litespeed goes lightweight freeride
...and so does Intense
One cool cat
Sevilla made his first appearance of the season
2001 world cross-country champ Alison Dunlap (Luna Women’s MTB Team) ponies up to the start line at the stage 4 downtown Redlands criterium
Charles Dionne, winner of the San Francisco Grand prix last year, shows off his new scar — the result of a crash at the Tour de Langkawi — that required 47 stitches.
“Hey, you gotta earn those stripes!” A cold Eric Wallace, manager of the Trek-VW MTB team, sporting part-time roadie Roland Green’s world champion jacket atop the Redlands stage 2 Oak Glen summit.
Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker) takes in a bundled up moment of solitude while awaiting the Oak Glen stage ceremonies.
Getting Primed: Alex Candelario and Michael Creed caffeinate in preparation of the Sea Otter’s ill-fated stage 1 Redwood City circuit race.
Class clown: As the peloton waits for a decision regarding the dangerous course, Chann McRae, Floyd Landis and Phil Zajicek listen as Dave Zabriskie suggests the peloton let him break away for a solo win.
Private Party: On top again, the Saturn trio of Chris Horner, Tom Danielson, and Nathan O'Neill swept the Sea Otter’s time trial.
Warming it up: Michael and Dede Barry and Jonathon Vaughters chat before the final stage’s 100-mile road race.
Taking the good with the bad, second-place overall Tom Danielson manages a smile after crashing on the wet Laguna Seca raceway, just one-mile from the finish on the final stage.
Matt Decanio, left, and Michael Creed of Prime Alliance soak in some of the glory after winning the Sea Otter’s last two stages.
McEwen last year
The Union Cycliste Internationale has given former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich the all clear to return to competition in the Tour of Aragon in Spain on Wednesday. The 1997 Tour champion received the news he had been waiting on from the UCI, which had refused to allow him to take part until Team Coast deposited a bank guarantee to cover the salaries of Ullrich and other riders on the squad. Coast spokesman Marcel Wüst said he was elated by the news. "I've had a SMS (mobile phone text message) from Jan Ullrich's manager, Wolfgang Strohband,” Wüst told the French wire service AFP. “It's
Dear Lennard Zinn,I have a Chorus Ti seat post (less than a year old) and Flite Gel saddlewith Ti rails. I cannot get the saddle to stay in the right place; it keepsslipping back and has to be reset every couple of days. I screw the boltas tight as I dare and keep the saddle rails and clamp grease free (withgrease it slips back in about 5 minutes). Previously I had the Daytonapost on the bike and did not have this problem (same saddle), but the clamplooks the same. --Peter Dear Peter,Check to see if there is some sort of obstruction that is preventingthe top of the clamp from moving
The man from Telekom is still No.1
Ullrich at last week's Circuit de la Sarthe
Shimagnolo derailleur adapter
Things have been looking up for our team since my last update from GP Flandres Francais. The majority of the riders have been in Belgium for about a month and we are starting to find some form. Likewise the firepower in the house continues to grow as Austin King and Corey Steinbrecher will be joining us this week. But first for some cultural insight. Normally. Normally Belgians have a problem with the meaning of the word “normally”. We would say, “Normally it rains in Belgium”. However, the Belgian translation is: “Hopefully, it will rain in Belgium,” but sometimes it can mean “Probably, it
Johan Museeuw said Sunday's Paris-Roubaix was his last. The Lion of Flanders struggled through his 16th Paris-Roubaix as a professional and said he would not race again on the cobbles of northern France. "As a racer, I will never enter the Roubaix velodrome again hoping to win the Paris-Roubaix. I will be back for other reasons, but this is the last time I will race," said Museeuw told the Belgian press after finishing a lack-luster 33rd at 4:33 back. Museeuw flatted on the cobbled section at Hornaing with 81km to go and the gap opened up to just over 1 minute and it was obvious Museeuw
Editor:I must agree with Mike McCormack of Maverick Sport Promotions. ForMr. Vaughters to declare that "race promoters very rarely take into accountanything other than pleasing sponsors when putting a race on" is absurdand offensive (see "Vaughters'view: Safety first!").Think about it. Most race promoters across the United States work full-timeand consider race promotion a "labor of love."They are not putting on a Sea Otter or Tour de Georgia, but a city-parkcriterium or county road race. I would guess most do not turn any sortof profit for their hard work. And yes, it is hard work. If you
It's been nearly 15 years since Doug Smith’s smiling face first appeared on the Wheaties box, giving the cycling community a nice boost in the mainstream world. Unlike many of today’s top domestic riders, Smith's initial exposure to cycling was not the result of extensive media coverage of elite American racers. He took to cycling because it was better than walking, especially for a guy who was still a year away from getting his driver's license. Smith soon discovered he had something of a talent for riding the bike, and his favorite mode of transportation became his passion. His season
Room with a view... of the other two guys you have to share this with.
Bettini at San Remo, March 22.
This Paris-Roubaix will be his last, says Museeuw
Hey, what ever happened to... Doug Smith?
Hey, what ever happened to... Doug Smith?
Peter Van Petegem proved that his fortitude is harder than the cobbles of northern France in a dramatic victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Van Petegem (Lotto-Domo) had better luck than most in a day dominated with crashes and punctures and becomes the first rider to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same year since Roger de Vlaeminck in 1977. Dario Pieri (Saeco) earned a well-deserved second-place while Viatcheslav Ekimov scored the second consecutive third-place podium finish for the U.S. Postal Service team in cycling’s "Hell of the North."
Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) is anxious to win mountain bike races and wants to do it on his own terms. His feisty racing style sometimes comes back to haunt him, but win or lose the 22-year-old remains unphased. Hesjedal made the race in Sunday’s 36-mile cross country race, the final stage of the 2003 Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race, attacking from the gun and stringing out the 106-man pro field. But in the end Hesjedal couldn’t match a final surge from his friend, countryman and overall winner, Roland Green (Trek-VW), who won his third stage of the four-stage race. Green
A busy day for the gravity set. Sunday saw six gravity athletes take the top spots on the podium. Champions were crowned in both the men's and women's categories in the downhill and mountain cross events. These results were then combined with Saturday's dual slalom results to produce the inaugural Sea Otter Gravity Omnium champions. With two serious tangles in both the men's and women's mountain cross finals, two surprise winners were crowed overall champions. Sunday's schedule of gravity events saw racers tackling a "new and improved" downhill course in an early morning "dawn patrol" raid
Eki' makes the bridge
Pieri and Aldag
That early break
The tough and dusty road
Wheels, wheels, wheels and finally a bike change for Tafi
Number four wasn't in the cards for Museeuw
Under control: Van Petigem was confident coming into Roubaix
Hesjedal: The animator
Green: The champ
The four cross produced extremely tight racing
King wore a much-ridiculed skinsuit to take the downhill victory
Sea Otter Gravity Sunday
Blatter and Dunlap
Immediately after finishing seventh at Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday, Johan Museeuw was angry with how the race had developed for his Quick Step-Davitamonteam, but he later said, “I again felt a little weakness [from my coldlast week], but in any case I will be ready for the Hell” — referring toParis-Roubaix’s moniker, the Hell of the North. In hindsight, Museeuw andhis Quick Step teammates Tom Boonen and Servais Knaven should havecontrolled the 12-strong break that emerged 40km from the finish of Ghent-Wevelgem,and protected each other in the strong head winds before making some attackspay off