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Editor's note: A few weeks ago we began making arrangementswith emergency room physician and cyclist Dr. Dawn Richardson to provideVeloNews.com with a regular column on medical issues facing those who participate in this sport. Scheduled to begin this week, Dr. Richardson had drafted her opening column on preparing a proper "crash kit," the sort of basicsthat every team should carry to races in order to treat the standard fareof cuts, bruises and the ever-present road rash. The events of this weekat Paris-Nice, however, prompted her to delay that column and deal witha more critical

Last week I wrote a column about the passingof Fred Rogers, a.k.a Mr. Rogers, who succumbed to cancer at the ageof 74. Of course I prefer to write about bike racing, or music, or women,or women who bike race, but I felt it appropriate to pay tribute to theman from whose lifetime contribution I’d borrowed the title of my column. I didn’t expect to be writing about anyone else’s passing so soon, buttoday, it’s all I can imagine writing about. I’d set the alarm so I could watch Paris-Nice from bed Wednesday morning,and upon waking, a quick hit on the remote brought me an image of

Former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani was banned for six months Thursday for being caught in possession of insulin during last year's Giro d’ Italia. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reversed last year's acquittal by the Italian federation. The penalty, however, carries little significance since he is being credited for time served in the off-season and the suspension finishes on March 17. An Italian federation appeal commission ruled last August there was no proof that the cyclist had taken the banned substance despite police finding a syringe with traces of it in his

Dear Bob;I have a legal question concerning the building I rent for my bikeshop. I never signed a lease and have been paying each month for threeyears. I am thinking about moving my business to a different part of townand want to end my rental arrangement with the landlord. Can I just tellhim or do I need to send him formal notification?Thanks,J.RFlorida Dear J.R.,You may think you don't have a lease, but you do. It's justnot on paper! Of all the different areas of law, landlord-tenant relations vary themost from state-to-state. Therefore, let me start with the general andwork my

The fourth stage of Paris-Nice has finished in Vergeze, France. Dario Frigo has turned in a stellar time and has taken over as race leader. Yesterday's 192.5km stage was neutralized out of respect to Andrei Kivilev who died of head injuries sustained in a crash on Tuesday. To see how today's 16.5km individual time trial unfolded clickhere to bring up our Live Update window. 61st Paris-Nice, March 9-16, stages:Prologue, March 9 - Issy les Moulineaux , 4.8kmStage 1, March 10 -Auxerre to Paray le Monial, 191kmStage 2, March 11 - La Clayette to Saint Etienne, 182.5kmStage 3, March 12 -

Fassa Bortolo's Dario Frigo stamped his authority on the 61st edition of Paris-Nice, winning Thursday's 16.5km individual time trial and jumping into the overall lead, while defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) promises to take the overall title for his fallen friend and comrade. The focus was back on racing after Wednesday's emotional stage when the peloton woke up to news that Cofidis rider Andrei Kivilev had died from head injuries suffered in a crash Tuesday. A subdued mood still hung over the race on Thursday, but riders decided the best way to pay homage to Kivilev was to

The plan had been to pen this latest column on the happenings from the world of mountain biking while making the 90-minute trip from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen on the Spirit of British Columbia ferry. But when the mustached man in the orange jumpsuit gave me the unmistakable “that’s it” wave of his arms, I was left to write from the front seat of my rental car, while rain pattered down on the roof. Couldn’t believe it. Two — maybe even three hundred cars fit on that ferry, but I was No. 301, meaning I had two hours to kill before the next sailing. Anyway…Swartz Bay sits on the eastern coast of

World champion Mario Cipollini, of the Domina Vacanze team, dominated a sprint finish to win the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico as it finished in Sabaudia, Italy, Thursday. The 35-year-old Italian held off compatriot Dario Pieri to take the leader's jersey after the 178km ride around Sabaudia. After some mediocre riding in the early season Spanish races, Cipollini took full advantage of his team's close protection throughout the day before they led him on to a flat final straight. "I was feeling quite calm, I knew I had worked well recently and knew my fitness was up to scratch,"

Forget the fact that we just got the run-down on the 2004 Dura-Ace (10-speed as reported). Hold off on the report about the latest road hardware unveiled at this weekend's Pomona Valley Stage Race. Don't worry a bit about Jonathan Vaughters's speed secrets, because I've got much bigger news. I got to hang out with Kelly Osbourne on Monday night. You know, Ozzy's daughter? Bad hair, short, a bit on the chunky side…? Well, "hang-out" might be pushing it, but I did run into her at baggage claim at Denver International (and boy, does she have plenty of baggage to claim). She was on her way

A good day for Tyler

VDB had a good day, too

No room for VeloNews

Strike a pose

Flight of the Navigator

The future has arrived

And to think I missed the show...

Team Giant 2003

Vaughters gets analyzed

Dear Ms. Ryan;I have been experiencing severe headaches after riding (usually abouttwo to 2.5 hours; 45 miles). I believe that it has some connection to fluidloss. I was interested in your recent response to a triathlete who mentionedsalt depletion- could my problem be similar? I drink a reasonable amountduring my ride. Can you suggest a solution? Thanks very much for your help.I enjoy your column. -- GBDear GB;You should focus on a number of strategies, including focusing onhydration, maintaining blood glucose levels, and normal sodium levels.Sodium depletion is most likely to occur in

The tragic death of Andrei Kivilev at this year’s Paris-Nice is not thefirst time that helmets – specifically, whether pros should be requiredto wear them as a safety measure – have been an issue at the race. As Rupert Guinness noted in his coverage of the 1991 Paris-Nice, publishedin the April 8, 1991, edition of VeloNews, Tony Rominger’s victorythat year was overshadowed by a riders’ strike sparked by the Union CyclisteInternationale’s new requirement that pros wear hard-shell helmet and thesubsequent disqualification of Francis Moreau for removing his on MontFaron, during stage six — a

The mood at Paris-Nice turned sullen Wednesday morning as riders, support staff and fans learned that Cofidis’s Andrei Kivilev had died from injuries caused in his freakish fall during a stage a day earlier. Kivilev fell face first with about 40km left in 182km stage into Saint Etienne and later lapsed into a coma, which doctors sustained with drugs to control his blood pressure. Cofidis team doctors said Kivilev died at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday morning at a hospital in Le Puy-En-Velay, France, after attending physicians doctors lost an all-night battle to control swelling of the 29-year-old’s

Cofidis at the finish

Team Coast says its racing suspension is unfair and that the UCI is not treating them fairly. Coast was suspended last week by the UCI until further notice and could not take part in the start Sunday of Paris-Nice. Coast team manager Marcel Wüst said the team has shown documents to the UCI to prove they have paid riders and that their finances are in order. “We have done everything correctly and given proof that the payments have been made on time,” Wüst told Reuters. “We feel we are not being treated fairly. We have done everything right and therefore the suspension should be lifted.” Last

Dear Lennard;I have a 2000 60cm Trek 5200 OCLV carbon fully stock bike. Notlong after I bought the bike, I noticed a periodic creaking coming fromthe bottom bracket area of the bike that usually appears when torquingon the pedals out of the saddle. I had my shop pull the bottom bracket,grease it up, and reinstall it, but it still makes the noise. I'vegotten new pedals and make sure the crank bolts are nice and tight, butthe noise is still there. My mechanic told me that OCLV frames arenotorious for this mysterious creak, and indeed I have noticed the noisedon 2 other OCLV frames (one in a guy

Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin won the second stage of Paris-Nice, sprinting out of a lead group of six riders that escaped on the slopes of the Category 1 Croix de Chaubouret and held off pursuers on a long descent into Saint Etienne. With time bonuses, Rebellin also took the yellow jesey of overall leader, three seconds ahead of defending champion Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom), who finished second in the stage. The group also included Fassa Bortolo's Dario Frigo who drove the pace on the day's hardest climb and now stands in third place overall at 13 seconds. Stuart

Paris-Nice got its third race leader in three days after Gerolsteiner’s David Rebellin out-sprinted his five rivals in a breakaway that shook up the 61st Paris-Nice. Tuesday’s 182km second stage from La Clayette to Saint Etienne hit four rated climbs, then Category 1 Croix du Chaubouret before an 18km descent to the finish-line and the long, grinding stage separated the contenders from the rest of the field. 2001 champion Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo) punched the accelerator with 2km to the summit to Chaubouret to split the lead group of about 40 riders. Only Rebellin and defending champion

The recent suspension of the Coast team has prompted the UCI to accelerate the implementation of a set of reforms designed “to change the way cycling is run in the future.” Union Cycliste Internationale president Hein Verbruggen pointed to the example of the financially troubled German team as he outlined the changes, originally slated for 2005, that would see the best riders and best teams race in events as part of a separate “elite league.” Speaking here at the second stage of Paris-Nice, Verbruggen said reform was needed if cycling was to be enhanced, and teams were to guarantee their

Cofidis’s Andrei Kivilev remained in a drug-induced coma late Tuesday following his fall in the second stage of Paris-Nice, according to his team doctor in Saint-Etienne. Kivilev, who finished fourth in the 2001 Tour de France, lost consciousness after his fall and was rushed to a hospital where he has been undergoing tests. "He has cerebral edema (general swelling of the brain)," said the Cofidis team's doctor Jean-Jacques Menuet. "We still have to wait a few hours before we can make a full diagnosis." The 29-year-old from Kazakstan is still on a life support system. Physicians often

The winning break

Rebellin gets the jersey

The Jalabert group

Damon Kluck

Daniele Bennati is the next big thing in Italian cycling. Many are hyping him as the natural heir to Mario Cipollini. In just his second year as a pro, Bennati is already an integral part of Cipo's train, filling the penultimate position, right behind Giovanni Lombardi. He's already scored a win this year, grabbing a stage at the Tour Mediterranean in February. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood sat down with Bennati at the team presentation in Egypt to talk about the Lion King, media and the spring classics. VeloNews: What have you learned most from riding with

Racing resumed Sunday at the Pomona Valley Stage Race in patented 75-degree Southern California weather, with just enough of a breeze to blow back the smog curtain that normally covers nearby Mount Baldy (snow-capped this time of year). While not pivotal in determining the overall winners of the race (that was essentially decided in the race's first uphill time-trial stage), Sunday's criterium still provided a remote possibility of dethroning overall leaders Genevieve Jeanson and Tom Danielson from their top spots -- if either suffered a race-ending crash, or California's much-anticipated

As predicted, the 191km first stage of Paris-Nice finished in a field sprint, perhaps the only opportunity for the sprinters to show their stuff in this mountainous edition of this early season French stage race.VeloNews.com followed the action all the way to the finish line in Paray le Monial. Just click here to bring up our live update window.Check in soon for a complete stage wrap up from European correspondent Andrew Hood, full results and stunning photos from the camera of Graham Watson. 61st Paris-Nice, March 9-16, stages: Prologue, March 9 - Issy les Moulineaux , 4.8km Stage 1, March

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi made it look easy in Monday’s firststage of the 61st Paris-Nice, and he wasn’t even feeling all thathealthy. Fassa Bortolo did nice work driving Petacchi to his third win this seasonwhile Stuart O’Grady (Crédit Agricole) came across third to earn just enoughtime bonuses to grab the overall leader’s jersey away from prologue winnerNico Mattan (Cofidis). “I really have to thank my team because I was not feeling very goodtoday,” said Petacchi, already a winner at Trofeo Luis Puig and of a stageat Tour of Valencia last month in Spain. “Our train did a great

Orlando's Festival of Speed was very nearly an all-Ivan affair, as Saturn's Ivan Dominguez won the Saturday criterium and local rider Ivan Franco (Jet Network-Home Finance) tested Jittery Joe's Jeff Hopkins in Sunday's circuit race. Hopkins, though, managed to edge out Franco for the win to complete the weekend of National Racing Calendar racing. On Saturday, Dominguez was clearly the strongman in the evening criterium, winning out of a group of seven that included 7UP-Maxxis teammates John Lieswyn and Brice Jones, who tried repeatedly to work over the Saturn rider. "Ivan was just

Daniele Bennati

Joly Good Time: Sebastian Joly gets away from Virenque, but is caught by the field 600 meters from the line.

Hamilton started the day in the sprinter's jersey

O'Grady is now in yellow.

Gord Fraser (HealthNet) pulled off his second win at the Pomona Valley Stage Race on Saturday, the Stage 3 Puddingstone Road Race held in and around Bonelli Regional Park. The 7.8 mile loop offered 700 feet of climbing per lap with a total elite men's distance of 98 miles with the elite women riding 72 miles. Fraser credited his team's ability to close down any of the breaks that tried to escape the pack (a mistake that almost cost them Friday's Circuit Race). And while an early break of six riders comprised of fellow HealthNet riders Russell Stevensen and Jason Lokkesmoe provided just

Belgian rider Nico Mattan saw his recent time trial training sessions pay off with victory in the 4.8-kilometre prologue of the Paris-Nice stage race in Parisian suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux on Sunday.Mattan came in two seconds ahead of CSC’s Tyler Hamilton, with French Cofidis rider Philippe Gaumont and Australian national champion Stuart O'Grady, of Credit Agricole, tying for third at 5 seconds."I've been training specially for this prologue," said Mattan. "During the week I've worked a lot on my intensity on a bike with a sloping frame and riding behind a derny (moped)."The 31-year-old

It was a day's of two's for Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong. Each barely missed winning a race against the clock by just two seconds; Hamilton at the opening prologue of the 61st Paris-Nice and Armstrong in the final time trial of the Tour of Murcia in Spain. Both were making their respective season debuts this week and it's obvious both are already in fine shape heading into more important races later in the season. Here's a look at all the racing action Sunday in Europe: Hamilton debuts in P-N openerCSC's Tyler Hamilton just missed winning Sunday's opening

Fraser's teammates pulled hard to eventually get him across the line first

Fraser confidently took his second stage victory in as many days

Lyne Bessette took her first stage win of the race

Great Start: Hamilton finished second in his first race since August

Llorente surprised even himself on Sunday

What a difference a year makes

Practice pays

Damon Kluck

The 61st edition of Paris-Nice opens Sunday with an opening prologue justoutside of Paris and ends, as the name suggests, in Nice along the FrenchRiviera. The “Race to the Sun” is the first major stage race of the seasonand a difficult and challenging course will certainly deliver up an excitingrace. The race returns with its traditional climb up Mont Faron, but the finalein Nice is sure to keep the suspense all the way down to the wire. The160km stage hits the famed Col d’Eze, another Paris-Nice fixture, no lessthan three times on a demanding circuit course before a screaming 16kmdescent to

Two familiar names in North American racing – Gord Fraser and GenevieveJeanson -- scored wins Friday at the KB Home circuit race, the second stageof the Pomona Valley Stage race. Held in one of Southern California's newest planned communities, atthe very end of Southern California's newest freeways (as if it needs both),the stage kicked off under sunny skies and mild breezes (only partiallysmog-filled). With the women's race starting at 1:25 in the afternoon andthe men following at 3:00, competitors raced on a 2.3-mile nearly dead-flatloop around a work-in-progress, the ultra-suburban KB

Victor Hugo Peña scored U.S. Postal's first victory of the season Saturday after taking the fourth stage of the Tour of Murcia and bounced into 10th overall. Kelme's Javier Pascual Llorente held on to the overall lead despite struggling earlier in the stage, but the stage-win must taste somewhat bittersweet for Peña. The Colombian won here last year and finished second at the Tour d'Algarve in Portugal last month, but got caught behind a crash in Thursday's climb and fell out of contention. Peña attacked up the final climb of the three-climb 167km stage from Cartagena to Alto de La Santa

Michael Rasmussen and Joaquim Lopez

Leipheimer on the move.

When USA Today ran its recent series on "The 10 hardest things to do in sports,” with the Tour de France landing in eighth place, I was expecting a slew of e-mails to hit the VeloNews.com mailbox, similar to the flood of complaints we got last summer when MSNBC’s Ron Borges made his ridiculous “Lance is not an athlete” argument. Luckily, we were spared the dozens of e-mails from incredulous (and whining) readers asking, “How is ____, harder than riding the Tour!!??” Sure, I had a few of my own beefs with the series, like how did "Landing a Quad" make it on the list at all? (Haven’t we all

A day following the news that Team Coast was suspended by the UCI, former teammate and CSC team manager Bjarne Riis said Jan Ullrich is still welcome to join his team. Riis tried in vain to sign Ullrich over the off-season, but Ullrich opted for the German Team Coast, signing a three-year deal worth a reported $5 million. “There’s always interest, but if he wants to collaborate with us, it has to be him who makes the initiative,” Riis told the Danish newspaper BT. “I spoke before with (Ullrich’s agent) to hear about how things were going. It’s up to Jan if he wants to come to our

Telekom’s Erik Zabel seems to be finding his legs just in time for his favorite race of the season – Milan-San Remo. The world’s No. 1 had been slipping into a bad habit of finishing second and third in his early races so far this season, but the German Telekom veteran put an end to that streak at Spain’s Tour of Murcia on Friday. Zabel got the monkey off his back taking the 160km third stage in beautiful Caravaca, scoring his first victory of the season. Kelme’s Javier Pascual Llorente retained his overall lead in an exciting stage that saw U.S. Postal’s Victor Hugo Peña make a move that

Bicycle racing and bicycle advocacy don’t often cross paths. But whether you ride with a pant leg strap or not, you were welcome at the third annual National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists in Washington D.C., March 5-7. The summit gives state, local and national advocates, as well as industry leaders, the opportunity to discuss pertinent cycling issues with government officials, and to lobby members of Congress. While the majority of attendees had no interest in strapping a number to their backs, the organizers clearly know the value of having a proven winner on

“Remember when being ‘up for the game’ used to be kind of a spiritual thing?Now, man…‘You up for the game?’ ‘Been up all week, man.’”--George Carlin, “FM & AM”If Scott Moninger happened to stumble across a story by Amy Shipley while surfing the ’Net on March 2, he must have wondered whether he fell down Lewis Carroll’s rabbit hole when he stepped off his bike last August in Breckenridge. Shipley’s piece on the Washington Post web site, headlined “Stimulants Are a Major League Hit,” recounted some professional baseball players’ fondness for a variety of stimulants that you can’t get for $5 at

Notes from the road: What's hard?

Zabel had reason to smile in Caravaca

Peña on the attack

Volunteers? Casero and Perez at Murcia on Friday.

All he is saying is give peace a chance

Friday's foaming rant: WADAp with that?

Despite the insistence of director Juan Fernandez that his team is financially healthy the Union Cycliste Internationale on Thursday suspended Germany’s Team Coast for its failure to provide necessary financial guarantees. Fernandez had earlier said that the team is in a good position to retain the services of 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich (see “Ullrich still a Coastie, says Fernandez” below), but the UCI action now puts that contract in doubt. The troubled team's riders have been told they may continue participating in Spain’s Tour of Murcia, which ends on Sunday, however