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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

Ferrari

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

Quick Step1. Museeuw (B)2. Boonen (B)3. Bramati (I)4. Cretskens (B)5. Kashechkin (Kz)6. Knaven (Nl)7. Tankink (Nl)8. Vandenbroucke (B)Telekom11. Zabel (G)12. Aldag (G)13. Hundertmarck (G)14. Klier (G)15. Kopp (G)16. Nardello (I)17. Schaffrath (G)18. Schumacher (G)Saeco21. Pieri (I)22. Bonomi (I)23. Commesso (I)24. Fornaciari (I)25. Ludewig (G)26. Pepoli (I)27. Quaranta (I)28. Zanini (I)Fassa Bortolo31. Cancellara (Swi)32. S. Ivanov (Rus)33. Kirchen (Lux)34. Larsson (S)35. Loda (I)36. Petito (I)37. Trenti (USA)38. Zanotti (I)fdjeux.com41. Guesdon (F)42. Casper (F)43. Derepas (F)44. Durand

When riders roll up to the start line in front of the Place du Palais in Compiegne on Sunday morning for the 101st Paris-Roubaix, there will be only three Americans in the field. Tony Cruz, 32, will be riding in support of U.S. Postal team leaders Max Van Heejswick and Vietcheslav Ekimov; 30-year-old Fred Rodriguez of Sidermec will be hoping to score a good result for himself. There’s a third American, if count Fassa Bortolo’s “virtual Italian” Guido Trenti, the young man who made his American debut on the U.S. world’s team in Zolder last October. Both Rodriguez and Cruz are recovering from

On paper a 30-minute event wouldn’t seem too hard. After all, no matterhow hard it is, it only lasts half an hour. But don’t tell that to theracers whose tongues were dragging after 3 minutes of Saturday’s third stagein the 2003 Sea Otter Classic MTB event. The short track race always delivers on its promise of being the hardesthalf hour in mountain bike racing. “That is the hardest stage of the Sea Otter right there,” said men’swinner Roland Green (Trek-VW). Green, who went into the day as the overall leader on GC, extended his lead after a last-lap attack took him clear of his three

In a day marked with cold, wet and windy weather, Matt Decanio of Prime Alliance and Saturn's Manon Jutras took big wins in the Sea Otter Classic's Stage 4 road race on Saturday. In the men's race, an initial break consisting of Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) and Jacob Erker (Schroeder Iron) dangled in front of the field for almost the entire day, reaching a maximum gap of 1:45 — with Saturn’s trio of GC leaders controlling the front off the field — before it was brought in at the base of the final climb. Once there, the peloton spread thin as racers, tired from nearly three weeks of continuous

With the promise of heavy rain in the late afternoon, dual slalom racersqualified early Saturday morning knowing course conditions were sure tochange by the 3:00 p.m. main event. And, almost as if on cue, Mother Naturelet loose a torrent of rain just as competitors lined-up for the firstofficial gravity racing of the weekend. The dry course qualifying saw the usual suspects taking their respectiveplaces on the leader board. Chris Kovarik, Cedric Gracia were the onlytwo male riders able to complete both the blue and red courses under oneminute (59.86 seconds and 59.84 seconds respectively),

Can Museeuw make it four?

Rodriguez

Americans ready for Hell of the North

Green tightens his grip

Green and Dunlap take short track at Otter

Jutras kept her eye on Jeanson on the final climb

Nathan O'Neill held on to take the overall

Postal and Saturn battle it out... and Decanio bides his time

Gracia

Donovan's idea of retirement

Dunlap keeps getting stronger

Editor:Just wanted to share an experience I had with a poorly marshaled racein a residential neighborhood. A few years ago, there was a crit held in Fox Point, Wisconsin (justnorth of Milwaukee), on the Fourth of July. I figured that it would bea good final test for the legs before Superweek, and a cool race for mymom to come watch. Almost until the end, it was a fun race on a good course. On the lastlap, as the field came out of the last corner and accelerated towards thefinish line, an ambulance pulled onto the course, trying to get acrossto the fire station - not a good thing during a

The 1890s1896 Josef Fischer (G) 280km&Nbsp; (30.162kph)1897 Maurice Garin (F) 280km (28.124kph)1898 Maurice Garin (F) 268km (32.599kph)1899 Albert Champion (F) 268km (31.976kph)The 1900s1900 Emile Bouhours (F) 268km (37.352kph)1901 Lucien Lesna (F) 280km (25.861kph)1902 Lucien Lesna (F) 268km (28.088kph)1903 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (29.104kph)1904 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (32.518kph)1905 Louis TROUSSELIER (F) 268km (33.206kph)1906 Henri CORNET (F) 270km (27.034kph)1907 Georges PASSERIEU (F) 270km (30.971kph)1908 Cyrille VAN HAUWAERT (B) 271km (25.63kph)1909 Octave LAPIZE (F)

Spain’s Iban Mayo ruled the final day of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco while CSC’s Tyler Hamilton finished second overall in a classic shoot-out in the rugged hills of northern Spain. Hamilton rode strong in Friday’s rain-marred final split stage, finishing with the lead group of just three riders in the morning’s difficult climbing stage and then performed well in the afternoon time trial. But it was Mayo who stole the show, winning the morning stage and the afternoon time trial to wrap up the overall title. It’s an important victory for his Euskaltel team, hoping for a bid to this summer’s

The Cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, 2003 - Total= 49.100 kmSection 26 Km 99.8 TROISVILLES Rue de la Sucrerie2200 metersSection 25 Km 106.3 VIESLY - Rue de la Chapelle1800 metersSection 24 Km 108.5 QUIEVY - Rue de Valenciennes3700 metersSection 23 Km 113.7 QUIEVY à SAINT-PYTHON1500 metersSection 22 Km 121.9 HAUSSY 900 metersSection 21 Km 128.6 SAULZOIR 1200 metersSection 20 Km 132.9 VERCHAIN-MAUGRE à QUERENAING1600 metersSection 19 Km 136.0 MAING 2500 metersSection 18 Km 139.2 MONCHAUX SUR ECAILLON 1600 metersSection 17 Km 145.8 HASPRES 1700 metersSection 16 Km 158.3 HAVELUY 2500 metersSection 15 Km

For many European road teams, a win at a major spring classic can go a long way toward calling the season a success. With Peter Van Petegem’s win at the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, his Lotto-Domo squad, beloved by their Belgian fans, has one feather in its cap already. And Telekom had a pleasant surprise when its 27-year-old German Andreas Klier stole a win at Ghent-Wevelgem Wednesday. But two days before the 101st running of Paris-Roubaix, arguably the most prestigious race of all the spring classics, one team is growing restless for a win: Quick Step-Davitamon. Stacked with talent, the

I just managed to sneak away from the Tech area at Sea Otter long enough for a quick update. A pre-dawn raid on SRAM's tech headquarters proved fruitful with us coming away with another first-look at 2004 products. Wanted to make sure you read it here first. Here's the short story (look for complete coverage in VeloNews #8 due out in two weeks). SRAM has introduced two all-new trigger shifters: the X-9 and X-7. Both use 1:1 "Impulse Technology" which is said to provide riders the flexibility to activate shifts with multiple parts of their hand. This translates into shifting ability with