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Hey, local race promoters - after you get done folding up the registrationtable, taking down the sponsors’ banners and picking up all those orangecones, peel the race results off the car window you taped them to and e-mailthem to us here at VeloNews.com. There’s more to bike racing than the Tour, and we’d like to tell our readers about how you’re mixing it up, from Maine to Spokane.Weekend race reports e-mailed by Monday morning to veloresults@maddogmedia.comwill appear on the VeloNews.com Web site later that day as part of ournew Finish Line column. Tell us where and when the race took place

The final time trial in the 42nd Vuelta al Pais Vasco turned out to be a 15-km victory parade for home boy Aitor Osa, who sealed a dramatic victory Friday just down the road from his home in Elgoibar. The Basque cycling fans came out in their best orange to bring homethe first local overall victory at this race since Inigo Cuesta in 1998. Long riding in the shadow of his younger brother, Osa tore apart therace in a shattering attack in the cold, wet third stage. Osa's iBanesto.com squad protected his lead through the final climbing stages and the 27-year-old withstood an aggressive attack

A cold north wind was howling across the open fields of northernFrance Friday afternoon; but there was no sign of rain. That probably meansthat riders in Sunday's 100th edition of Paris-Roubaix will most likelyhave to face stinging dust blown in their faces rather than the gooey mudthrown up by the wheels in front of them. Either way, the infamous Hellof the North classic is bound to create its usual toll of terror and destruction.In fact, the course that the 190-or-so starters will face is probablythe hardest that the organizers have ever mapped out. Last year, they "discovered" three nasty

(Exchange rate as of April 12, 2002:  1€ =  $0.87)1st - 30000 €2nd - 22000 €3rd - 15000 €4th - 7500 €5th - 3000 €6th - 1600 €7th - 1320 €8th - 1250 €9th - 1120 €10th - 1050 €11th - 920 €12th - 785 €13th - 650 €14th - 585 €15th - 385 €16th - 335 €17th - 335 €18th - 335 €19th - 335 €20th - 335 €21st - 270 €22nd - 270 €23rd - 270 €24th - 270 €25th - 270 € 

Km 99.8 - TROISVILLES | rue de la Sucrerie - 2200 metersKm 106.3 - VIESLY | rue de la Chapelle - 1800 metersKm 108.5 - QUIEVY | rue de Valenciennes - 3700 metersKm 113.7 - QUIEVY à SAINT-PYTHON - 1500 metersKm 121.9 - HAUSSY - 900 metersKm 128.6 - SAULZOIR - 1200 metersKm 132.9 - VERCHAIN-MAUGRE à QUERENAING - 1600metersKm 136.0 - MAING - 2500 metersKm 139.2 - MONCHAUX SUR ECAILLON - 1600 metersKm 145.8 - HASPRES - 1700 metersKm 158.3 - HAVELUY - 2500 metersKm 166.5 - FORET D'ARENBERG | Drèves des Boules d'Herin- 2400 metersKm 173.2 - WALLERS - 1000 metersKm 179.5 - HORNAING à

1896   J. FISCHER (GER) 1897   M. GARIN (FRA) 1898   M. GARIN (FRA) 1899   A. CHAMPION (FRA) 1900   E. BOUHOURS (FRA) 1901   L. LESNA (FRA) 1902   L. LESNA (FRA) 1903   H. AUCOUTURIER (FRA) 1904   H. AUCOUTURIER (FRA) 1905   L. TROUSSELIER (FRA) 1906   H. CORNET (FRA) 1907   G. PASSERIEU (FRA) 1908   C. VAN HAUWAERT (BEL) 1909   O. LAPIZE (FRA) 1910   O. LAPIZE (FRA) 1911   O. LAPIZE (FRA) 1912   C. CRUPELANDT (FRA) 1913   F. FABER (LUX) 1914   C. CRUPELANDT (FRA)Cancelled due to World War I 1919   H. PELISSIER (FRA) 1920   P. DEMAN (BEL) 1921   H. PELISSIER (FRA) 1922   A. DEJONGHE

Friday’s foaming rant: Putting the “loon” in “Walloon”

Osa

Etxebarria was a double winner Friday

Hincapie in '01

Former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani was on Thursday interviewed by officers from Florence's anti-doping unit that carried out a blitz on team hotels at San Remo during last year's Tour of Italy. Pantani, who won both the Tour and the Giro in 1998, was giving evidence as part of an inquiry into doping during last year’s Tour of Italy. In May of last year police officers discovered, among a host of other substances collected, traces of insulin in a syringe at the hotel where Pantani and his team were staying. However the Mercatone Uno team leader on Thursday played down the

It seems Cadel Evans is making friends quickly in his first season with the Mapei powerhouse. During the Vuelta Ciclista a Pais Vasco the 25-year-old Australian is roommates with fellow mountain biker-turned-roadie Dario Cioni. Evans says he earns a different nickname every race he starts from the Italians on the team. His nickname this week? Gianni, as in Gianni Bugno. "They say I have a head like Bugno, who isn't a bad guy to be compared to," Evans said. Evans continues on his impressive trajectory, riding strong at the Basque race where he comes with illusions of overall victory.

Franco Pellizotti won Thursday's fourth stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco that was shortened due to cold weather while Aitor Osa widened his overall lead. Several inches of snow fell overnight on the high peaks surrounding the start of the stage at Alsasua, prompting officials to shorten it by 64 kilometers and taking out climbs over the category-two Alto de Zuarrarrate (780 meters) and the category-three Alto de Huitzi (792 meters). A major descent to the coastal plain of northern Spain was also eliminated after several riders suffered minor hypothermia in Wednesday's frigid stage,

Good morning. The 64th edition of Gent-Wevelgem is underway. At the start Defending champion George Hincapie is in the field along with seven of U.S. Postal teammates, including Lance Armstrong. The wind is a steady and brisk breeze from the north and the day is still quite sunny. The official start time is now listed as 11:43 a.m. Almost from the start Lotto’s Nico Eeckhout made an attack. Now by kilometer 35, he has about a 4:20 lead. Behind the escapee, the wind is forcing the field into echelons. VeloNews editorial director John Wilcockson remarks that the day is already somewhat

Outrageous. That's the only way to describe the "new" Mario Cipollini. Dressed in his zebra-stripe tights, he engaged the media in a light-hearted post-race press conference Wednesday evening, discussing his, yes, outrageous, victory in the 64th edition of Ghent-Wevelgem. He has won this Belgian classic twice before, in 1992 and ’93, beating out first Johan Capiot and then Eric Vanderaerden, both in massive field sprints. Wednesday was different.

Aitor Osa was about the only guy smiling at the finish line of Wednesday's brutally cold third stage of the Vuelta Ciclista a Pais Vasco. After all, he won the stage and took the overall lead. But even the iBanesto.com rider was shivering as he slipped across the line ahead of Cofidis' Bingen Fernandez. "I've never been so cold on the bike," said a disappointed Fernandez, shivering from the front seat of the team car after Osa held him off for the stage-win and the leader's jersey. "I had no strength at the end to fight Aitor. I simply wanted the stage to be over." Don't believe those

Giro d'Italia champion Gilberto Simoni is hoping to arrive at the May 11 start of the Italian tour in top form, but the 30-year-old is nursing a sore knee he suffered during a fall at Setmana Catalana on March 26. Simoni returned to racing this week for the climb-riddled Vuelta a Pais Vasco which the Saeco rider is hoping to use as a spring-board back to winning form in time for the Giro, his top goal of the season. "I have to be very careful now. I have to watch how I prepare and be very careful how I race. The Vuelta Ciclista a Pais Vasco is very important for my preparation,"

Joe Friel is author of the successful "Training Bible" series ofbooks, a regular columnist for VeloNews and Inside Triathlonand the founder of www.ultrafit.com.Friel also offers answers to a selection of questions in this weekly column here on VeloNews.com. Readers can send questions to Friel in care of VeloNews.com at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.(Be sure to include "Friel" in the subject line.) Question: I have recently (1 year) been cycling more seriously. I did an Aids Ride in Alaska (500 miles in 6 days) and every day I feltstronger. In the past 6 years I was more of a runner and I did a

Bicycles and skateboards are barred from most sidewalks, and mopeds are no-no’s on bike/pedestrian paths, but we could soon see Segway Human Transporters on both. On Thursday (April 11), the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is scheduled to vote on a measure that would permit “electric personal assistive mobility devices” to use sidewalks and paths built or maintained with federal funds “when state and local regulations permit,” according to the Bikes Belong Coalition, a group that lobbies for bicycle-friendly policies in Washington, D.C. The group says Segway has spent $741,000

The peloton early in Wednesday's third stage of the 42nd Vuelta a Pais Vasco.

Kelme riders bundle up before the start of Wednesday's cold third stage, when temperatures hovered around 7-degrees celsius.

Cipollini made it to the winning break.

Coming down the Kemmelberg

Training Bible Studies with Joe Friel

ONCE's Joseba Beloki is hoping that his troubles are behind him. The 27-year-oldhas finished third overall in the past two Tours de France (2000-2001)and hopes to do at least as well this year. Beloki has had a rocky startto the 2002 season, however. He's only recently returned to racing afterpain in his Achilles tendon kept him off the bike for much of March. Sofar this year, he's only competed in the Mallorca Challenge early in theseason before his comeback in Saturday's GP Miguel Indurain. Beloki finallyhad to resort to seeing an acupuncturist to ease the pain in his

The strongest man at the Vuelta a Pais Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country)is out of the race. Francesco Casagrande, who blew apart Monday'sopening stage of the Spanish race, crashed on a railroad crossing as severalriders went down just 12 kilometers into Tuesday's second stage and abandonedsome 40 kilometers later.The Fassa Bortolo strongman, one of the favorites for the 2002 Girod'Italia, was banged up but early reports indicate he did not break anybones."I tried to continue but it hurt too much to breathe," Casagrande saiden route to a local hospital for a checkup. "I continued

Despite a profile that looks like a roller coaster, a stage into Vitoriatypically finishes in a field sprint. That's because area's major climb- the Category I Alto de la Herrera - is nearly 40 km from the finish,giving the peloton plenty of time to set up their sprinters.Mapei's Stefano Zanini has been victorious here before, but the pelotonwas just 6 seconds late in pulling off the tried and true recipe in Tuesday'scold, windy stage of the 42nd Vuelta a Pais Vasco.Relax Fuenlabrada's Cesar Garcia Calvo outmaneuvered Euskaltel's UnaiEtxebarria to snatch the stage win after the pair

It's time to surf the web, place a bid and spend some cash to help out a friend.The friends of Kelli Turcotte -- UCI Technical Delegate, former employee of Castelli, GaleForce and the Alt Bike and Board in Minneapolis -- are currently conducting several eBay auctions of items of interest to cyclists (all of which are linked below) to help pay for costly cancer treatment therapy that Kelli's insurance does not cover.Turcotte, who most recently was the Technical Delegate at the Downhilland Dual World Championships in Vail, has been fighting ovarian cancerwhich has now spread to her

The dust is settling following Sunday's Tour of Flanders, whichsaw Andrea Tafi (Mapei) score a huge upset over local favoritesJohan Museeuw (Domo) and Peter Van Petegem (Lotto). AmericanGeorge Hincapie proved he's a Classics power, finishing an impressivefourth after making the final five-man selection.Lance Armstrong was a big help in the middle of the race, butHincapie could only watch as Mapei's Daniele Nardello neutralizedlate-race attacks to secure the victory for his teammate Tafi. Hincapiegoes into Wednesday's Ghent-Wevelgem as the defending champion and looksstrong for

Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke is to launch an appeal over his six-month drugs ban at the Sports Arbitration Tribunal (TAS) in Lausanne, the Belgian news agency reported on Monday. The ban was handed down by the country's cycling federation after a police raid in February on the 27-year-old's home discovered banned substances such as blood-boosting EPO, anabolic steroid Clenbuterol and morphine. That raid came a day after his French physiotherapist Bernard Sainz was also charged with possession of illegal substances after a large quantity of amphetamines and syringes were

Cannondale USA has become Team T-Mobile after USA Cycling announced a three-year exclusive sponsorship deal with VoiceStream Wireless, T-Mobile’s U.S. subsidiary. The first-year elite women’s squad, announced on January 28 as Cannondale USA - complete with pink Cannondale bikes and matching clothing from the Bethel, Connecticut company – will compete as “Team T-Mobile” through 2004, according to a USA Cycling press release dated April 5. VoiceStream will begin operating under the T-Mobile brand name in this country beginning this summer. And if that logo appears familiar, it’s because the

Deutsche Telekom's ace sprinter Erik Zabel regained top spot in the world cycling rankings on Monday as Italy's Paolo Bettini staked his claim for respect from the world elite after jumping one place into third behind Lance Armstrong. Zabel, of Telekom team, had been second behind Erik Dekker when the rankings were last released on March 25 however the Dutchman, who rides for Rabobank, has been out since breaking his hip during the Milan-San Remo classic. Three-time Tour de France winner Armstrong also moved up one place to fourth while German Jens Voigt, of the Credit Agricole

The 24 Basque riders starting the five-day Vuelta a Pais Vasco (the Tour of the Basque Country) believethey own this race.For a Basque racer, losing this week in this race issomething akin to an American team folding to France in baseball. So youcould say the New York Yankees lost to Paris today.The local boys in orange from the Euskaltel-Euskadi team tried theirbest to pull off a victory in the opening stage of the 2002 Vuelta a PaisVasco on Monday, but it was another team in orange - that of the DutchRabobank team - that triumphed. The best the locally sponsored squad couldmuster was fourth

Whenever Johan Museeuw says he's retiring from bike racing, we take it with a grain of salt, right? Remember October 1996 when a frustrated Museeuw said he was quitting after losing the Paris-Tours classic? Well, a week later, in Lugano, Switzerland, he made his comeback to the sport ... and won the world title. Now, he's at it again. Before this year began, Museeuw said that it would be his last, ending with the world road race championship in Zolder, Belgium, which just happens to coincide with his 37th birthday. He also said that he wanted to go out on a high note -- and winning

With the cash-poor Tour of Willamette on hiatus, the Colorado racing season got off to a star-studded start April 6-7, with riders from Mercury, Rona, 7UP, Luna, and Prime Alliance contesting the Stazio Criterium and Boulder-Roubaix Road Race. In Saturday’s men’s crit at the Stazio softball complex in Boulder, Mercury’s Chris Wherry soloed away from an early break on the 1.1-mile circuit to triumph in 1:02:17, trailed seconds later by teammate Henk Vogels, then Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance). In the women’s race, world mountain-bike champ Alison Dunlap (Luna) outkicked Karen Bockel (Rona)

Cannondale USA becomes Team T-Mobile

End of the road? The Lion of Flanders may be ready to call it quits.

Good morning. Welcome to our updated reports from this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. There were 192 riders at the starting line today, with Gerolsteiner’s Saulius Ruskys the only rider on the original start list not to make the race. There are 264 kilometers of racing ahead, punctuated throughout the last half by short, but brutally steep climbs that will cut the peloton down to just a few by the time they reach the finish.Postings are now in chronological order At the start The weather in Flanders is bright and sunny and there is a cold wind, which should place the peloton into a head wind

George Hincapie seems to be making a habit of collecting fourth places in World Cup classics. It's a habit he wants to break. But each time he looks to be in with a chance of victory, he comes up against a team with superior numbers, or loses out to one of the sport's veteran stars. In his fourth-place finishes at Paris-Roubaix, superior numbers have been the problem, while his frustration at Sunday's Tour of Flanders was due to both a stronger team (Mapei-Quick Step) and an experienced, aging winner -- in this case, Mapei's 35-year-old Andrea Tafi.

Kirk O’Bee and Vassily Davidenko (Navigators) scored a one-two punch Sunday in the 24th Grand Prix Cycliste de la Ville de Rennes, a thriller that went right down to the wire … and only missed being a top-five Navigators sweep by a single placing. Team director Ed Beamon called the 189.4km race, which winds up with five laps of a 6.3km circuit in the city of Rennes, “a great event for the sprinters.” And with U.S. crit champ O’Bee in the mix, it proved to be a great event for the Navigators as well.An early break by Arturas Kasputis (AG2R) and Eddy Seigneur (Jean Delatour), followed by a

Come the final stage of the Tucson Classic on Sunday, Geneviève Jeanson and her Rona teammates didn’t rest on Jeanson’s laurels from the previous two days of racing. Though the powerful young Canadian held an insurmountable overall lead of more than 11 minutes, the squad dropped the hammer in the closing Speedway/Artisan Prosthetics Circuit Race, sweeping the top four spots on the day and finishing 1-2-3 on general classification. Gord Fraser, meanwhile, had a sweep of his own going. Mercury’s very own quick Canadian won his third consecutive race on Sunday, ending as he began, in a battle

The first half is flat.

It gets tough near the finish

Thijs's 225km effort ended just 19km from the finish.

Fresh from winning the Three Days of de Panne race, Lotto team rider Peter Van Petegem leads a Belgian cast of potential champions for Sunday's second leg of the World Cup, the Tour of Flanders. But pretenders beware -- the one-day race known affectionately by locals as the "Ronde" and described by French cycling legend Bernard Hinault as a "circus" -- is not for the faint-hearted. Lots of cobblestones, unpredictable windy conditions and 16 climbs spread over 264km of racing that begins in Bruges and ends in Meerbeke will separate the boys from the men. It's a "nightmare" of a race, as

The sun is shining in Belgium, although a wickedly cold east wind makes you remember that this is Tour of Flanders weekend. This annual spring classic, which celebrates its 86th edition Sunday, is a national institution here. There were even crowds out on the course Saturday, most of them visiting the Koppenberg, the legendary cobbled climb that hasn't been included in the 264km course since 1987. People here remember very clearly what happened that last time. You just have to look at two words painted in huge white letters on the road at the Koppenberg summit: "Remember Skibby." The

The U.S. Postal Service cycling team on Saturday fired Gianpaolo Mondini following the revelation that the Italian rider was under investigation for doping. Mondini, who only joined the star-studded American team in the off-season, was one of 13 riders for whom the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has requested lengthy bans for doping. The 29-year-old Italian was one of the riders caught up in the police blitz on team hotels that brought the Tour of Italy into disrepute at San Remo on June 6 last year. A number of products were seized, although it has not been revealed which products

Fierce desert winds couldn’t blow Mercury’s Gord Fraser and Rona’s Genèvieve Jeanson off the podium on Saturday as the two won their second consecutive stages at the 17th annual Tucson Classic. Fraser and Jeanson kicked off the weekend’s racing by winning their respective prologue time trials on Friday – Jeanson by an astounding 46 seconds over the legendary Jeannie Longo (Vitalli) – then punched back in Saturday morning and went straight to work in the Gates Pass Road Race. The tough up-and-down course, a 21-mile circuit with a short 12 percent climb up the backside of Gates Pass, was made

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.comthat causes you to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to thisaddress, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. A guy who's been there enjoyed news from the gutterDear Editor;Michael Scherer says that the racing in Europe is much faster, longer,against fields over 200 riders, and it's fast from the gun: "no first hourof walking the dog like in the states." (see

Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner whose nagging knee problems have left his early season preparations in tatters, says he is hopeful of returning fully fit for this year's Tour de France. "If I have no more problems between now and July I'll be at the Tour start line," affirmed the 28-year-old German in an interview Friday with French sports daily L'Equipe. But for many observers, Ullrich's dream of breaking American Lance Armstrong's three-year grip on the most prestigious yellow jersey in world cycling is already seriously compromised. Ullrich, who came

George Hincapie is ready for Sunday's Tour of Flanders after his strongshowing at Three Days of De Panne, where he finished third overall. A stomach virus forced Hincapie to skip Tirenno-Adriatico the week before the World Cup opener at Milan-San Remo on March 23, something that he said helpedin De Panne. "This was a good race for me. The first day I didn't feel super but the second day I felt better and today I felt much better.  I feel fresh having missed all of those races and now I'm here amped and excitedto race," "I think that has been the difference over the past years,"

One of the newest members of the U.S. Postal team is among 13 riders beingtargeted with lengthy bans for doping by the Italian cycling federation,sources in Rome said Friday. Gianpaolo Mondini, a 29-year-old former Tour de France stage winnerwho joined Armstrong's American team in the off-season, is threatened withup to a four-and-a-half-year ban following a request by the anti-dopingcommission of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). On Friday, CONI handed the files of the 13 accused riders, who fellvictim to a policeraid on team hotel rooms at San Remo during last year's Giro

"A leader who is charismatic, competitive, enthusiastic about thesport of cycling, competitions, athlete development, in addition to beingable to motivate everyone toward excellence and pride in his/her work,including one’s own, is a must."—From the convoluted help-wanted ad on USACycling's Web site, part of its search for a new CEO, which also said the ideal candidate should be “a successful communicator.” With fewer paying members than the Ramallah chapter of the Ariel Sharon Fan Club, and fewer sponsors than Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now!” USA Cycling has finally begun looking for a

The 17th annual Tucson Classic kicked off on Friday with the McCain Loop Prologue Time Trial, a three-mile roller-coaster ride through Tucson Mountain Park with a couple miles of uphill — on grades of 4 to 6 percent — to separate the contenders from the pretenders in the three-day Arizona stage race. Mercury speedster Gord Fraser turned the fastest time among the Pro/I-II men, crossing the line in six minutes, 48 seconds. Teammate Plamen Stoyanov was second, just 11 seconds slower, followed by Jelly Belly’s Mariano Friedick at seven minutes flat. Defending champ Scott Price (Landis/Trek-VW)

Ullirich still plans to be at the Tour

Help Wanted: A leader who is charismatic, competitive and enthusiastic.

Peter Van Petegem won a huge victory just three days before the Tour of Flanders, taking the overall title at the Three Days of De Panne in Thursday´s double-stage. Italian Fabio Baldato (Fassa Bortolo) won the morning road stage, but Van Petegem won the final time trial through the streets of De Panne to score the stage-win and the overall title. With Lotto teammate Andrei Tchmil out of Sunday´s second round of the World Cup, Van Petegem goes into Flanders as the top favorite. U.S. Postal´s George Hincapie put down the fastest time early in the time trial until Van Petegem came across and

Cycling's world governing body the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on Thursday gave the thumbs-up to requests from teams and riders to increase out-of-competition testing for the banned endurance booster EPO (erythropoietin). "We were approached by riders, either directly or through their teams," Hein Verbruggen, the UCI president, told AFP. "And that request has officially been adopted by the organization which represents all the teams." The tests will be carried out in collaboration with the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) between April and August, meaning most of the one-day

Lithuanian Saulius Ruskys (Gerolsteiner) won Wednesday´s 232 km second stage of the Three Days of De Panne, but the big news was the crash by Belgian Andrei Tchmil Ruskys won a sprint over Belgians Tom Steels and Nico Eeckhout while Stefano Zanini, the winner of the first stage, retained the overall lead. The 39-year-old Tchmil -- a favorite for Sunday´s Tour of Flanders -- went down with six other racers – Belgians Chris Peers, Kritof Found, Italians Dario Pieri, Paolo Bossoni and Daniele Bennati as well as French racer Robert Sassone. Tchmil was the most seriously injured, with a double

Joe Friel is author of the successful "Training Bible" series ofbooks, a regular columnist for VeloNews and Inside Triathlonand the founder of www.ultrafit.com.Friel also offers answers to a selection of questions in this weekly column here on VeloNews.com. Readers can send questions to Friel in care of VeloNews.com at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.(Be sure to include "Friel" in the subject line.)Question: Your Bible has been an inspiration for us- a groupof Mexican riders – that are following your system for our first seasonand we are really getting good results on races. Thanks.Just one question:

Tchmil

Training Bible Studies with Joe Friel

Marcus Ljungqvist of Sweden won the Paris to Camembert cycling race on Tuesday. He finished the 208 kilometer race ahead of French pair Ludovic Turpin and Sandy Casar and Dane Lennie Kristensen after the quartet had broken clear. The 27-year-old Swedish champion owed his victory to a good effort by his Fakta team with particularly Denmark's Lennie Kristensen putting in a lot of work. Three-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong finished in 75th place, 8:52 behind the winner. Meanwhile 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani, withdrew from the race. Copyright AFP2002

Stefano Zanini (Mapei) narrowly defeated Lotto´s Peter Van Petegemin the opening stage of Threes Days of De Panne in Belgium on Tuesday.With the victory, Zanini joins a growing list of favorites for Sunday´sTour of Flanders. Van Petegem attacked hard with 10 kilometers to go in the 181-km stage between Moeskroen to Zottegem and only Zanini could follow, dropping a break that also included Andrei Tchmil (Lotto), Christophe Mengin (Française des Jeux) et du Slovène Andrej Hauptman (Tacconi),who crossed the line third. Van Petegem and Zanini worked together to holdoff the riders coming into the

Although she admits that “no one is going to clear me,” oft-concussed downhiller Missy Giove says she’s planning to race a full World Cup and NORBA schedule this year. “I don’t want to go out like I did last year,” said the 30-year-old, who crashed in sight of the finish line at the 2001 world championships. “Right now I’m riding better than ever.” Over the years, Giove has suffered multiple injuries, including three concussions at last year’s world’s alone. During the offseason she underwent a battery of tests on her brain, which have left her doctors concerned about her continued

There was plenty of racing action throughout Europe, headlined by LanceArmstrong's second-place finish in the Criterium International,March 30-31. Spanish rider Alberto Martinez (Euskaltel) beat thethree-time Tour champ by just one second."I felt good in the race," Armstrong said Sunday.  "Yesterday'sstage was not too difficult, therefore it was hard to judge my form, butthis morning's stage was a tough one and I was happy with what I felt. The time trial was a bit of a disappointment, as it's tough to lose byhalf a second, but if you asked me before if I thought I would be

Who had the best run in March?Well, after three events of VeloNews's virtual season series,the Bro Tour, Saturn's Lyne Bessette and Prime Alliance's Chris Hornerlead the stage race rankings.No surprise there, as Horner swept the three California stage races,Redlands, Sea Otter and Solano. Sea Otter winner Bessette, meanwhile, isin a tight race with teammate Judith Arndt, who won both Redlands and Solano.The Bro Tour is three race series in one: road race, criterium and stagerace. Based on carefully selected races, the Bro series is VeloNews's unofficialtracker for the domestic

Editor's note: Michael Scherer is an American who has beenliving and racing in Oostede, Belgium, for the past month. Originally from Casper, Wyoming, Scherer spent last season riding for Prime Alliance while living in Boulder, Colorado. He moved to Belgium this year to take the next step and "to prove that I have what it takes to be a bike racer." Schererwill be sending back regular updates throughout the season.Why I'm hereAmerican racing is great, but in Europe we will get to race muchfaster races, more often with a lot less travel in between. Hopefully,we will see the benefits.

The Criterium International is called the "Mini Tour de France," so it's only natural the Tour de France champion should do well here. Lance Armstrong came within a second of scoring the overall title Sunday, but Spanish rider Alberto Martinez edged the Texan in the individual time trial of this two-day, three-stage race. Martinez, a 26-year-old on the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, finished with the same time as the three-time Tour de France champion in the morning climbing stage and barely nipped Armstrong in the 8.5-km time trial in the afternoon to claim the overall victory. A pro with

We're pretty sure that by now you've heard that USA Cycling is searchingfor a new chief executive officer to replace Lisa Voight beginning in mid-June.In a posting on USACycling's Web site, the organization says the successful candidatewill face a wide range of tasks, including: working with the USAC boardto continue American successes in elite international competition whilesimultaneously growing the sport here at home; increasing the numbers ofboth members and sponsors; and “building the athlete-development pipeline”from grass-roots juniors to elite international competition.OK,

Your top two.

Armstrong says he's feeling fit.

Voight won the time trial.