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Baldato

Ina wins another

Jeanson was the focus of Saturn's efforts

Fraser on the podium - again

There's power in numbers

Tony Cruz is back for his third season with U.S. Postal Service and he’s more optimistic than ever. Cruz caught the attention of America’s elite team following his breakout 2000 season when he won a berth on the U.S. Olympic team and stages at the Tour of Langkawi and the Solano Classic. After getting used to racing European-style, Cruz says the best is yet to come. Cruz has already been racing nearly two months in Europe and finished 11th in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne semi-classic in Belgium. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with Cruz at Paris-Nice, just before the

Editor's Note: In keeping with traditions established at VeloNews more than a decade ago, VeloNews.com posted several "news" stories on this site on Tuesday, April 1. We have repackaged all of that content into a single file for your enjoyment.

Under bright, sunny skies and intermittent winds, the 19th annual Redlands Bicycle Classic kicked off April 1st in Southern California with a hard, fast 5km prologue time trial ending atop Riverside’s Mount Rubidoux. The day’s winners included Geneviève Jeanson (RONA), the talented young Canadian who set the course record last year, and a heavily favored Saturn men’s team that swept the podium and took control of the six-day event almost before it had begun. Although characteristically known as the grand season-opening National Racing Calendar (NRC) stage race, the Redlands Classic was

A conversation with Tony Cruz

Even our reporter at Redlands was greeted by protestors

It's actually real - sorta

Another win for Geneviève

Bruckner

Danielson

Nathan O’Neill

With the classics season now in full swing, U.S. Postal Service is regrouping with its consistent heavy-hitter George Hincapie out of the picture. Hincapie returned to the United States just days after it was announced March 15 the 29-year-old he would not be competing in the spring classics due to a lingering viral infection that left the 2001 Gent-Wevelgem champion rundown and tired. With Hincapie undergoing tests for a possible return by May, however, the Posties will be entering Sunday’s Tour of Flanders in uncharted territory. “We have to rethink our tactics because George was

This has been a pretty busy week at the Cycling Center. We moved this week from Oostende 20 miles east to Hertsberge. Things are still in disarray as we are trying to settle into the new place, but the place gets better by the day. In December our director Bernard and his Wife Ann bought an old hotel and restaurant that is now the home of the Cycling Center. To put it kindly, the hotel had a … uhhhh … a reputation. A reputation of ill repute. So the last few weeks, between training and racing, we have spent some time turning this trashed hotel into our new home. The first task was

Editor:O’Grady turned 49, from his writings (see "Friday's foaming rant: Down with O'Grady") it sounds like he turned 79, what a bore. Perhaps you need some young blood in that office, because this person is not only boring, he is another reason why young people are not getting into cycling, he represents the majority, that is sad.Will BeemanBaton Rouge, LAActually, O’Grady is another reason why people of all ages are getting out of cycling. - Editor Old slow guys unite!... or retireEditor:Patrick, you have described me! Sold the mountain bike last year and did not replace it,

Not this year - Hincapie at Paris-Roubaix in 2002

The new digs: Rooms with a view... and a history

The restaurant.

If you move the bikes out, you can even use it at dinner time.

Frenchman Laurent Brochard (Ag2R) dominated Sunday’s double-stage finale to win this weekend’s Criterium International. Brochard won the morning sector Sunday to take the race lead and finished third-fastest in the afternoon time trial to win for the first time this season and give his team’s a big boost at earning an at-large bid for July’s Tour de France. Brochard’s win is the first by a Frenchman at Criterium International since Laurent Jalabert won eight years ago. “It is important to win after Laurent, I hope I can go on this way,” Brochard said. “Today, the final victory was very

Chris Horner (Saturn) and Kimberly Bruckner (T-Mobile) locked up the overall titles at California’s Solano Bicycle Classic, as Horner continued his dominance and took the final circuit race and his teammate Ina Teutenberg scored a sprint win in the women’s race. Horner not only held on to his leader’s jersey, he won the stage. Jumping out of the penultimate corner, Horner bested the sprinters outlasting Greg Henderson of 7Up-Maxxis and HealthNet’s Gord Fraser in a blazing fast field sprint. The day started for the men promptly at 1 pm, when the neutralized parade of riders left downtown

With a win on Stage 2, Brochard took the lead on GC

A well-timed move

Voigt scores a win in the TT

Hamilton's TT gave him sixth overall.

Bruckner had plenty of buffer to take the overall

Saturn in charge

Teutenberg makes it look easy

T-Mobile's Cowden and Bruckner

The Criterium International, aka the “mini Tour de France,” opened Saturday with the 187km rolling stage through the French Ardennes and ended in a mass gallop with Frenchie Damien Nazon (La Boulangere) repeating his brother’s win in the same stage last year and taking the victory. Nazon rode off the wheel of Fdjeux’s Jimmy Casper to win ahead of Swiss rider Aurelien Clerc (Quick Step) and Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner). With just about all the riders wearing a helmet, Nazon rode sans helmet and it was easy to spot the nearly bald-headed rider in the red jersey. The race was animated with

It was all about Saturn at Solano on Saturday. The criterium, the third stage of the Solano Bicycle Classic, proved to be a showcase for the red and yellow, with Eric Wohlberg taking first on the men’s side and Laura Van Gilder atop the women’s race. Saturn led a charging breakaway in the men’s race, with five teammates pulling together, including Chris Horner, Trent Klasna, Mark McCormack and Viktor Rapinski, to keep the pace very high. Horner put in terrific turns at the front, stringing along Prime Alliance’s Jonathan Vaughters, Ben Brooks of Jelly Belly and all the strong GC contenders

What, me worry?

You guys get paid yet? Zülle was there, too, in a new uniform

The 'mini Tour' kicks off

If it's spring, that must be Chris Horner off the front

Saturn kept tabs on Vaughters (in red)

Wohlberg led the Saturn charge

Van Gilder

Saturn in charge

Bessette and Bruckner will do battle on Sunday

German sprint ace Erik Zabel added one more to his palmares in the rain in Spain on Friday while Dario Frigo wrapped up the overall title at the Setmana Catalana. Zabel’s faced criticism all spring that he’s lost his touch. His first win didn’t come until Tour of Murcia, then he finished sixth at Milan-San Remo before losing his top-spot in the world rankings. Zabel, however, stayed quiet and simply let his legs – and his professionalism - do the talking. On Friday, he took his second win of the week by charging to an easy victory in the 176km fifth and final stage of Catalana week. Rain

For a story on the Health Net team in the upcoming issue of VeloNews I had the pleasure of speaking to Mike Sayers this week for the first time this season. Long the unsung worker on the Mercury team, Sayers has taken his act to the new Health Net squad after the dissolution of Mercury. But it almost didn’t happen, Sayers said. “Basically, I told [Health Net] I was retired in December,” Sayers said. In a winter that he called “poor and frustrating,” Sayers got tired of hearing the same things from prospective teams. “I talked to every team,” he said. “It was always the same story: Take it

Well he went down down downand the devil said where you beenhe went down down downhe screamin' down around the bend.-Tom Waits, "Down Down Down" I would make a poor match for Lucifer, though judging from the mailbag lately a number of readers would be delighted to see me "hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky/With hideous ruin and combustion down" to race that fallen angel around the Lake of Fire. Alas, the best I could expect from any head-to-horns competition with the Prince of Darkness - a descender of legendary ability who became directeur sportif down below after

Editor:Your photo of the '04 Dura-Ace rear derailleur, (not that you evenhave such a photo yet, nor would publish it) was intriguing.Without a cable attached, it was in what would normally be the extremeposition. So, either someone had been majorly jacking with the set-limitscrews... or it is Rapid Rise? Can you comment? I happen to like RapidRise on the dirt, but I'm not sure I'd like the idea on the road.Steen RoseA conspiracy theorist speculatesEditor:Just when I was starting to think, “What devious upgrade will Shimanocome up with to compel people to buy the new Dura-Ace?"

On a road so steep that many found it easier to walk their bikes over the final kilometer, T-Mobile's Kim Bruckner and Prime Alliance's Jonathan Vaughters took top honors on what has to be one of the toughest hill climbs in North America, the second stage at this year's Solano Bicycle Classic. Bruckner maintained her overall lead in the Solano Classic, winning the Stage 2 hill climb up Mix Canyon under warm, but windy skies. Saturn’s Manon Jutras and Lyne Bessette bucked and swayed up the 22-percent grade locals like to call the "death zone" behind her to finish more than a minute and a half

Mike Sayers

Goin' down, down, down....

Don't write him off yet

Cipo' has a new outfit he wants to bring to the Tour

Bruckner on her own

Bessette

Gaggioli

Vaughters managed to hold off Horner, but by only a small margin

Jonas Carney may be happier on Saturday

Room — and bathroom — for rentAs I recently searched the Web for upcoming local races, I came across a helpful Boulder-area Web site, cyclingevents.com, that, among race listings also features a headline offering a room for rent in North Central Boulder, available January 2003, complete with photos of the room and bathroom. That’s fabulous! Very thorough. No word yet if it’s still available. Undercover BrotherWhile working on a review of Jamie Paolinetti’s new feature-length domestic road racing documentary “The Hard Road,” I was surprised to discover that the film’s oh-so-sophisticated

Dario Frigo chugged away from Lance Armstrong and other top favorites to win the fourth stage of Setmana Catalana and take control of the race with just one stage remaining. The four-time Tour de France champion stayed with the lead group of riders up the long, difficult 19.5km Category 1 climb to the finish at the ski village of Pal, high in the Spanish Pyrénées, until the attacks by Juan Miguel Mercado fractured the lead group with 2km to go. Armstrong, racing in his second race of the season as he prepares for the Tour de France in July, came across 24th at 1:11 back. Frigo, however, is

Dear Bob Mionske;While riding a local canyon here in Salt Lake City, we were stopped by a police officer in a car who told us (two of us riding side by side) it is not legal to do so. I ask him why? Just because it is unsafe for us. We could be a hazard. I also ask why then if we have the same right to the road as any motor vehicle can we not ride as our local police do on the motorcycles. Thank you,Kenny GSalt Lake City, UT Dear K.G. To quote my old coach Eddie Borysewicz, you and your friend were riding “side by each.” Before I answer your question, let me start with the general state

First off, a little trivia. Take a good look at this recent cover of Time Magazine and tell me how it relates to our little world of mountain bike racing. Here’s a hint: NORBA pack fodder. Look for the answer at the end of this column. Now, on to more serious topics: Several weeks ago, the folks at Trilife Sports International, who run the 24 Hours of Adrenalin series, e-mailed out a press release announcing that they had decided to end their six-year relationship with NORBA. That in turn meant that there was now no federation sanctioned 24-hour national championships race on the 2003 race

Chris Horner and Kim Bruckner won Thursday’s windy opening stage of the Solano Bicycle Classic, both beating a field of strong climbers on the day's final ascent to the finish at the Lake Berryessa recreation area. Horner, who has won the Solano Classic twice before, charged off the front soon after a serious mid-race breakaway had been reeled in... and he was certain that his teammate Will Frischkorn had not gone up the road solo. “I didn’t want to pull other guys up with me if Will was up there. He’s the National Road Champion, so he’s totally capable of controlling the break,” said

Calling all bike racers...

Keith David (right) explains the ins and outs of pro cycling to a stunned Ice Cube

Stage 2: Mix Canyon Hill Climb 'Don't be proud - Consider a triple!'

Stage 3: Panorama Point Road Race

It's spring... no need to hurry

The escapees

Frigo and Piepoli

The man in charge

MTB News and Notes: The great 24-hour debate

Are 24-hour racers running away from NORBA?

MTB News and Notes: The great 24-hour debate

Horner makes his move

The green hills of spring.

Editor;In response to Mr. Tew's letter (see "Absolutely the last helmet letter we'll publish ... until the next one" - below) I would like to point out the following facts: 1. This was a staged photo shoot, where I was riding about 5 mph past the camera, trying to look like I was riding fast. 2. Our new helmet sponsor, Rudy Project, had not been able to deliver my new team helmet at the early date of this photo shoot, and so being the reckless fellow I am, I chose to wear no helmet at all, rather than the Credit Agricole-splattered helmet of another brand that I had with me. 3. I

Rabobank’s Beat Zberg sneaked into the overall lead of the 40th Setmana Catalana after finishing third in Wednesday’s third stage. Italian Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo) delivered another loss to Erik Zabel in the bunch sprint into Parets del Valles while Gonzalo Bayarri (Phonak) finished behind Zberg to forfeit the leader’s jersey. Thursday’s 144km “queen’s stage” from Parets to Alto de Pal will be the decisive stage. U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong could jump into contention for final victory if he continues to demonstrate the strong form he’s shown so far in his “home race.” “Lance wants to