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Like the man said, potato guns are fun.

An alleged nationwide insurance scam may have left hundreds of bike races, sanctioning organizations and clubs without coverage for much of the 2002 season, and could make it difficult for mountain-bike clubs and promoters to insure events independent of USA Cycling or other large groups. On July 17, Iowa-based McKay Insurance Agency Inc. began informing its clients - among them USA Cycling Inc. and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) - that policies McKay issued through insurance companies Harbour Entertainment and Sports and American International Group, Inc. (AIG) may

Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas, third in this year's Tour de France, has been suspended after his wife was found in possession of doping products, the rider's team Lampre announced Monday. "If we discover that the rider is at all responsible he will be fired straightaway," Lampre said in a statement announcing Rumsas' suspension pending an internal investigation. "The team is confused by what has happened and we state we have no involvement in this whatsoever," he added. Rumsas' wife was arrested on Sunday at Chamonix after customs officials found her in possession of

Lithuanian cyclist Raimondas Rumsas, third in this year's Tour de France, has been suspended after his wife was found in possession of doping products, the rider's team Lampre announced Monday. "If we discover that the rider is at all responsible he will be fired straightaway," Lampre said in a statement announcing Rumsas' suspension pending an internal investigation. "The team is confused by what has happened and we state we have no involvement in this whatsoever," he added. Rumsas' wife was arrested on Sunday at Chamonix after customs officials found her in possession of a number of

The maple leaf was a common sight on the podium this weekend at the Commonwealth Games, as Canadian riders took both gold medals and asilver in the cross-country. Chrissy Redden held off a late charge bySusy Pryde (New Zealand) to take the women's gold, and Roland Green andSeamus McGrath easily cruised to a 1-2 finish in the men's race before acrowd of over 50,000. The 6.5 kilometer circuit around the village of Rivington, north ofManchester, wasn't regarded as technical, but certainly demanding with its relentless intensity. A long gravel and pavement climb followed by a sharp descent

Well, I can finally check off Tour number six. I'm happy to have arrived here in Paris. This was a tough battle for me personally. I think I'm more tired today than I was after the final stage of the Giro. It's safe to say this year's Tour took its toll on me. I'm a bit haggard. The final time trial on Saturday was a full suffer fest. I felt completely awful that morning during the training ride before the stage. My lungs were quite restricted due to the congestion from my cold. If I had been at any other race besides a Grand Tour, I probably wouldn't have started. And that's saying a lot,

Rumsas on the Tour podium in Paris on Sunday.

Rumsas on the Tour podium in Paris on Sunday.

As expected, Lance Armstrong arrived in Paris as the winner of the 2002 Tour de France. Take time to review those parts of our extensive stage-by-stage coverage you might have missed. It's all there in our specialTour de France Section. Throughout the Tour, VeloNews's John Wilcockson and Andrew Hood produced daily reports and Rupert Guinness gave a slightly off-beat perspective on events leading to Paris. Riders Tyler Hamilton and Jonathan Vaughters offered their insights of what it was like to be in the Tour this year and Graham Watson and Casey Gibson supplied readers with a

Lance Armstrong is king for a day once again in the City of Light. The Texan confirmed that he’s cycling’s most dominant force in a generationafter winning four stages en route to his fourth consecutive Tour de Francevictory. Armstrong basked in his moment in the sun on a brilliant summerafternoon in Paris. Surrounded by thousands of his fans on the Champs-Elysées,Armstrong was clearly enjoying his day. President George W. Bush even calledto congratulate him. “It’s an honor and it makes me happy to be able to win again,” Armstrongsaid. “It was a long three weeks. With so many mountains, it

5:15 p.m. Robbie McEwen takes his second stage win on the Champs-Elysées and his second stage win of this Tour, but more importantly, he has broken Erik Zabel's six-year hold on the points jersey. 5:13 p.m. Zabel and McEwen ...McEwen wins the stage and wins the jersey! Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France. It's done. 5:12 p.m. We are one kilometer from the line. Armstrong can now not lose the Tour with less than 1km to go. The field is together and Telekom is leading. 5:11 p.m. Rumsas is now off on his own. He will be caught. 5:10 p.m. We have 3.5 km to go, Rumsas and Ivanov are

Riders who have won four or more Tours de France: Jacques Anquetil (Fra): 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964Eddy Merckx (Bel): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974Bernard Hinault (Fra): 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985Miguel Indurain (Spa): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995Lance Armstrong (USA): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 List of Tour de France winners: 1903 Maurice Garin (Fra) 1904 Henri Cornet (Fra) 1905 Louis Trousselier (Fra) 1906 Rene Pottier (Fra) 1907 Lucien Petit-breton (Fra) 1908 Lucien Petit-breton (Fra) 1909 Francois Faber (Lux) 1910 Octave Lapize (Fra) 1911 Gustave Garrigou (Fra) 1912 Odile Defraye (Bel)

(Editor's Note: - North American riders listed in bold;Riderson North American teams underlined)1. Robbie McEwen (Aus), LOT, 144 km in 3:30:47 (40.990 kph)2. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJ, at at 00:00.3. Damien Nazon (Fra), BJR, at 00:00.4. Fabio Baldato (Ita), FAS, at 00:00.5. Davide Casarotto (Ita), ALS, at 00:00.6. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), C.A, at 00:00.7. Erik Zabel (Ger), TEL, at 00:00.8. Jan Svorada (Cze), LAM, at 00:00.9. Arvis Piziks (Lat), CST, at 00:00.10. Nicola Loda (Ita), FAS, at 00:00.11. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra), A2R, at 00:00.12. Gianluca Bortolami (Ita), TAC, at 00:00.13. Danilo

Sure, you've seen the finish, watched the awards and read all aboutthe official Tour de France podium. Well, with the Eiffel Tower in our sights and the rumble of cobblestones on the Champs-Elysées under our wheels, we thought it opportune to announce our own awards for Tour de France 2002. The Happy Camper award for stage winningMichael Boogerd (Rabobank) on stage 16 to La Plagne. Grinninglike a Cheshire cat with 500 meters still  to go was Boogie. No matterthat Lance Armstrong was only 1 min 25 secs behind. With big white horsechoppers like his, Boogerd could do Colgate commercials. The

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Jonathan Vaughters (Crédit Agricole) came all the way back to Colorado from the Tour de France to tackle one of his favorite races, the 38th running of the Bob Cook Memorial Mount Evans Hill Climb, only to find Scott Moninger (Mercury) there waiting for him. Named in honor of its five-time winner, the late Bob Cook, the 28-mile race ascends from 7540 feet at the start in Idaho Springs to 14,265 feet at the finish atop Mount Evans. Noting the windy conditions at the bottom on Saturday, neither Vaughters nor Moninger expected to topple Mike Engleman’s course record of 1:45:30, set in

Commonwealth Games records were set in both the men's 1000m time trial and the women's 500m time trial during the first night of track competition. Chris Hoy (Scotland) beat his friend and mentor JasonQueally (England) with a personal best time of 1:01.726. In the women's race, Kerrie Meares' 35.084 second ride was half a second in front of favored Lori-Ann Muenzer, who finished with the bronze, behind a surprising Julie Paulding (England). "I didn't know what to expect" said Meares, "but I did hope that I could do a personal best, that's what I was achieving for here." Muenzer was

The 2002 Tour de France drew to a close with a great sprint on the most famous boulevard in cycling. Robbie McEwen’s win on the Champs Elysees signaled a changing of the guard in the peloton; but regardless of those changes, Lance Armstrong plans on continuing to lead the Tour de France. McEwen is the first Australian to win the green jersey in the Tour de France, and the first man other than Erik Zabel to win it in the past seven Tours de France. That battle went right down to the wire, and McEwen left no doubt as to who the faster man was by showing the entire field his back wheel and

In Paris again. Armstrong makes it four-in-a-row

McEwen broke the Zabel streak.

Having a good team helps.

These two jerseys were pretty much settled by the time the peloton arrived in Paris. The green jersey contest came down to the wire again.

Telekom was overwhelmed at the finish.

Happy camper!

Miss Ed

I have the prescription right here.

The VeloNews awards for Tour 2002

Moreau - Our biggest winner.

Huge Image (It will make a nice Windows wallpaper)

Americans in Paris 1

Americans in Paris 2

Texans, Texans everywhere...

Orca comes to Paris, too.

The Rabobank boys remind Levi of his past duties.

Levi fans in Paris.

Lance's final podium

Andrew Miller (Trek-VW-Landis) leads Jonathan Vaughters (Crédit Agricole), Chris Baldwin (Navigators), Scott Moninger (Mercury) and Mike Creed (Prime Alliance) up the road to Mount Evans.

When Lance Armstrong was asked about his defeat in the stage 9 timetrial at this year’s Tour, he said Thursday night, “The time trial wasnot a good day … I don’t know why. I didn’t feel great.” Armstrong was beaten in that 52km time trial at Lorient on July 15 by11 seconds by Colombia’s Santiago Botero of Kelme-Costa Blanca —who has since proved one of the men of the race and is now holding fourthplace overall. As for the American, he emerged from the funk he experiencedat Lorient to displace Igor Gonzales de Galdeano from the yellow jerseyby winning two stages in the Pyrenees, and he is now

5:24 p.m. Armstrong finishes with a time of 1:03:50.... more than two minutes better than Beloki, averaging 47kph. Whoa... 5:23 p.m. Beloki finishes with a time of 1:06:01 Beloki hangs on to second overall by a full minute. Armstrong is up next. 5:20 p.m. Rumsas is the new best finishing time of the day, with 1:04:43. Beloki looks like he may barely hang on to second overall. 5:18 p.m. Armstrong crosses the 44km time check with a time 34 seconds better than Rumsas. 5:17 p.m. Beloki has hit the 3rd time check, 1:22 off of Rumsas's time. Meanwhile, Botero is done and has the sixth

Deutsche Telekom’s 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, recently suspended for six months after testing positive for amphetamines, has been told by his team he will go without pay until further notice. Olaf Ludwig, the team spokesman, said: "For the moment we're not paying Ullrich. The last time he was paid was in June. The Telekom company decided after speaking to (team manager) Walter Godefroot. "There will be further discussions when Jan returns from his ban," added Ludwig following the race's 18th stage. The 28-year-old Ullrich has a contract with the German team through

Italian cyclist Gilberto Simoni has been given the green light to start competing again after being cleared of doping offences, cycling officials in Rome said Saturday. Simoni twice tested positive for cocaine earlier this year and was hit with a suspension while an Italian Cycling Federation disciplinary commission investigated the case. The Saeco rider and 2001 Tour of Italy winner claimed that the first positive test on April 24 was the result of an injection given by his dentist. The second test on May 21 apparently arose after Simoni consumed cough sweets for a sore throat. The

Stage Results - Stage 19 - Régnié-Durette - Mâcon(TT)(Editor's Note: - North American riders listed in bold;Riderson North American teams underlined)1. Lance Armstrong (USA), U.S. Postal, 50 km in 1:03:50 (46.997kph)2. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), Lampre-Daikin, at 00:53.3. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Mapei-Quick Step, at 01:06.4. David Millar (Gbr), Cofidis, at 01:14.5. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa), ONCE, at 01:42.6. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), Fassa Bortolo, at 01:43.7. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat), Lampre-Daikin, at 02:09.8. Santiago Botero (Col), Kelme-Costa Blanca, at 02:11.9. Joseba

Lance Armstrong was not about to lose another time trial. The three-time Tour de France champion -- who’s about to become thefour-time Tour champion Sunday in Paris -- had some business to settlein Saturday’s 50km time trial through the spectacular wine country of France’sBeaujolais region. Armstrong roared over the final half of the difficult, challenging courseto make up a 17-second deficit on Lampre-Daikin’s Raimondas Rumsas.Armstrong’s fourth stage victory in this year’s Tour is a nice punctuationmark to the race he’s dominated from start to finish. The 2002 Tour will soon be in the

One prize. Two men. Three sprints. That should be the story of the finalstage of the 2002 Tour de France.The prize is the green jersey for winning the prestigious points competition.The men are six-time defending sprint champion Erik Zabel and his Australianchallenger Robbie McEwen. And the sprints that will settle things are twointermediate ones and the final showdown on the Champs-Elysées.In recent years, the last stage has had a familiar pattern: an openinghour when the riders let their hair down, and the winners of the yellow,green and polka-dot jerseys ride alongside each other for photo

Clara Hughes surprised even herself by taking the gold medal in the women's 23.4 kilometer individual time trial today. Australia's Anne Millward was second, and another Canadian, Lyne Bessette was third. The course was an 11.7 kilometer loop, the same one to be used for theroad race next week. The riders face narrow twisting roads, witha series of stepstone climbs halfway through each loop. While thereis no extended climbing, the short power climbs range from 6% to 17%. The day began overcast and gray, but as the last riders were completingtheir second lap the sun came out. Palmer-Komar

Paris in July is a hot and wondrous city. After weeks of traveling with the three-ring circus that is the Tour de France, through little towns and villages all over France, arriving in Paris is a definite culture shock. When you’re this close to the Tour, you sometimes forget that other people are simply not interested. The Tour is a major event in Paris, but the city doesn’t shut down completely for it. There are even people here who don’t know the Tour is coming tomorrow. That’s fine, and at this point it is even a bit refreshing. I have had little chance to think or talk about anything

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

SAECO-TEAM PRESS RELEASE - Rome - July 27, 2002After being absolved today, Gilberto Simoniwill start racing again on Sunday in HamburgThe favourable ending to the case involving Gilberto Simoni, with theannouncement today by the Italian Disciplinary Commission of the ItalianCycling Federation of his complete absolution, has finally ended an extremelydifficult and delicate moment for the whole Saeco-Longoni Sport team eventhough they always tried to face things in a rational and balanced manner.It’s pleasing to see how the decision of the disciplinary organ of theItalian Cycling Federation ,

Armstrong hopes to avoid another second-place time trial finish

Clearly in Charge: Armstrong dominated the closing kilometers.

Rumsas may have missed second overall because of a loose screw.

Armstrong's taste in summer clothing usually includes yellow.

'Hard, damn hard.' Millar is now aiming for the Vuelta.

Leipheimer had a great first Tour.

Hamilton's Tour performance comes on the heels of a podium spot in the Giro.

Bougelais Grapes - what folks in this part of France are usually concerned about..

...but today, it's TT bikes.

Bravo Jaja

... and Vive le Tour

You can never be too aero' for an afternoon walk.

Waiting to present the best young rider award.

Waiting to present the points jersey.

In some ways, the 2002 Tour de France is pretty much ending the way it started. The first road stage of the Tour de France way back on July 7 was muchlike the final true road stage Friday: long, hard and very hilly over narrowroads. Nearly three weeks ago in Luxembourg, the peloton hit the difficultfirst stage of the Tour with Lance Armstrong in the yellow jerseyafter winning the opening prologue. Friday’s 176.5km stage 18 ended thelast real day of hard racing with Armstrong back in yellow. All that remains in the 89th Tour de France is Saturday’s final timetrial and Sunday’s frolic back to

Preliminary Stage Results1. Thor Hushovd (Nor), C.A, at , 176.5 km in 4:28:28 (39.446kph) 2. Christophe Mengin (Fra), FDJ, at ˆ 00:00. 3. Jakob Piil (Dk), CST, at 00:05. 4. Leon Van Bon (Nl), DFF, at 00:33. 5. Jorg Jaksche (G), ONE, at 00:33. 6. Nicki Sorensen (Dk), CST, at 00:33. 7. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita), TEL, at 00:40. 8. Erik Dekker (Nl), RAB, at 00:40. 9. Thierry Loder (Fra), A2R, at 00:40. 10. Nicola Loda (Ita), FAS, at 06:59. 11. Robbie McEwen (Aus), LOT, at 11:42. 12. Erik Zabel (G), TEL, at 11:42. 13. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), C.A, at 11:42. 14. Jan Svorada (Cz), LAM, at 11:42. 15.

A Swiss disciplinary committee on Friday handed down a suspension to Italian cyclist Stefano Garzelli after he failed a drugs test during this year’s Giro d’Italia. But the two-year penalty, which takes effect on Saturday, will be suspended after April 23, 2003, allowing the 29 year-old to take part in next year's Giro, the judge heading the committee, Henry Peter, said. Peter told AFP that the board had decided not to apply the full minimum two year ban for a first offence because Garzelli had no history of suspected doping, and the traces of the drug Probenecid found in the tests were

Frank Connell, who competed in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics road race, died July 25 in Columbia, SC at age 92, according to his nephew, Harold Bayerl. Connell, a bachelor, had been in declining health. Connell was born in Hoboken, NJ, and grew up in northern New Jersey when outdoor board vélodromes in Newark and other Eastern Seaboard cities drew international competitors. As a member of the Century Road Club of America, he won the New Jersey state Amateur Bicycle League of America (predecessor to the US Cycling Federation) championship at age 15 in 1925 and scored a bronze medal at the

Results Stage 18 -- Cluses to Bourg-en-BresseOverall, points, KOM and other results below.(Editor's Note: - North American riders listed in bold;Riderson North American teams underlined)1. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, 176.5 km in 4:28:282. Christophe Mengin (F), FDJeux.com, at 00:00.3. Jakob Piil (Den), CSC-Tiscali, at 00:05.4. Leon Van Bon (Ned), Domo-Farm Frites, at 00:33.5. Jorg Jaksche (Ger), ONCE, at 00:33.6. Nicki Sorensen (Den), CSC-Tiscali, at 00:33.7. Gian Matteo Fagnini (I), Telekom, at 00:40.8. Erik Dekker (Ned), Rabobank, at 00:40.9. Thierry Loder (F), Ag2R Prevoyance, at

Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-allfor f---offs and misfits — a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy,piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but justdeep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate likea chimp in a zoo-cage.— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas It must be a dull Tour. Otherwise I wouldn’t be getting a dozen e-mailsa day about the latest outrage perpetrated upon the cycling public by themainstream media, which as usual are either completely indifferent or activelyhostile to

Results from days 1 and 2 of junior track nationals at the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

With less than a week before racing is set to commence, organizers of the Durango NORBA say that all is set to go for the event despite this summer's scary fire season. "There was a point where things were a little touch and go," said Patti Zink, who along with husband Ed runs the Durango race. "If it came to the point where if we weren't going to have our best face and not be able to do all the events, then we wouldn't want to put our reputation on the line and not come out with flying colors." Most of the uncertainty was caused by the Missionary Ridge fire, which started

Guest columnist Jonas Carney of Prime Alliance has been reporting on this year's International Cycling Classic in Wisconsin. This is his latest report. Every year the races at Super Week are difficult to win. This year is no exception. There are no teams with enough power to control the field, and so it's almost always a break. No matter what, you have to plan on some serious suffering. First, you've gotta make the break and go pull for pull with Viktor Rapinski or Hilton Clarke or John Lieswyn until you lap the field. After that you have to cover every attack. Then it's time to fight it

The Tour de France is a sporting phenomenon when it comes to logistics.It still impresses the veteran followers how its 5000-strong entouragecan complete a three-week journey over cobblestones, down narrow lanes,up and over mountains and on bikes, cars, motorcycles, buses and truckswithout too many mishaps. The Société du Tour de France receives annual praise forits organizational skills. But it is also open to criticism for fallingshort. And fall short is what it has done this year from the start in Luxembourgon July 6 to what I assume will be to the finish in Paris on

VeloNews photographer Casey Gibson is at the Tour de France and is taking time to shoot not just the race, but also the scenes along the road and the activity just outside of the peloton.

Bike maker Cannondale is offering mountain bike racers the chance to partner with the ultimate ringer — five-time NORBA national champion and two-time Olympian Tinker Juarez — at this fall’s 24 Hours Of Adrenalin in Idyllwild, California. Besides teaming with the Mountain Bike Hall Of Fame member in the race’s two-person class, the winner gets free air fare to California from anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, an overnight stay at Tinker’s house (with an authentic Mexican dinner cooked by his mom), mechanical support, swag, and the use of a full-suspension Cannondale Scalpel for the race. Those

It was another heartbreaker for CSC-Tiscali. It would have been great to see Jacob Piil give it a real go there in the final sprint - but yet again, our team was the victim of unfortunate circumstance. On the brighter side of things however, we're lucky Jacob wasn't hurt. Seeing him clip out of his pedals like he did and then recover, was nothing short of incredible. Great bike handling on his part. I'm sure he rode into the finish with shaky hands though. I can't imagine what was going through his head during those final meters. We've had so many close calls in this race, but that's all

'After a healthy diet of MSNBC and Shake 'n Bake, Peaches the cockatoo likes to put the Tribune-Review to its intended use.

Hushovd's long break paid off this time.

Former Durango resident Missy Giove will be among the favorites at next week's race.