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In fourth place, Palmer-Komar (left) earned the top non-Saturn spot on the results sheet.

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.) Qustion: I have never lifted weights before, but I'm following your book—The Cyclist’s Training Bible. Since time is my biggest limiter, I'm lifting two days a week. I can workout five days a week. On

When all was said and done, only Mario Cipollini was faster than reigning U.S. champion Fred Rodriguez in the hotly contested 93rd Milan-San Remo on March 23. It was a dazzling result for the multi-lingual American now in his second season with Domo-Farm Frites. VeloNews's Andrew Hood spoke with Rodriguez from his home in Girona, Spain, on Monday about the race and his expectations for the 2002 season. Here are some excerpts from that conversation: How did you celebrate your ride at Milan-San Remo? "We drove back to Spain, not very exciting. My wife and Floyd Landis's wife came

Italy's Giuseppe Guerini gave Telekom its third stage victory in the Setmana Catalana, beating new overall leader Juan Miguel Mercado in a two-sprint to the line in a long climbing stage up the category-one climb to Col de Pal. Nearly three years ago, Guerini won the dramatic stage at Alpe d'Huez in the 1999 Tour de France when he collided with a fan on the course but recovered to take win. Nothing got in Guerini's way Wednesday except heavy fog and cool temperatures in the 157-km stage between Castello de Empuries to Pal. "I finally get to win again. I have forgotten what it's like to win.

Defending Giro d'Italia champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) didn'tstart Wednesday's stage of the 39th Setmana Catalana following his spillin the morning stage of Tuesday's two-part stage. Simoni crashed hard onhis right knee in the first sector and his knee didn't respond well toanti-inflammatories overnight.Saeco officials said it was better that Simoni not start than risk furtherinjury to the knee … With Simoni out, the SetmanaCatalana is with one less star in a race that many top riders choseto avoid, something that grates Vuelta a Espana director Enrique

Reigning World Cup and world mountain bike champion Roland Greenwas named Canadian Male Athlete of the Year on March 26th at the 29th AnnualCanadian Sports Awards sponsored by the Spirit of Sport Foundation. The 27-year-old native of Victoria, British Columbia, received the awardafter completing a year that included winning the World Mountain Bike Championship and the overall World Cup.The formal gala in Toronto featured a “who’s who” of Canada’s top athletes.The other nominees for Male Athlete of the Year included Olympians JeremyWotherspoon and Jasey-Jay Anderson. The Canadian Sports Awards

Training Bible Studies with Joe Friel

A conversation with Fred Rodriguez

Rodriguez likes the outfit and wants to keep it for another year.

Guerini held off Mercado up the Col de Pal.

Mercado holds the jersey

Spain´s Juan Carlos Dominguez (Phonak) took the overall lead of the 39th Setmana Catalana in Spain on Tuesday after winning the afternoon stage of the two-stage second day, a 10.3-km time trial. Erik Zabel (Telekom) won the 106-km morning stage from Lloret de Mar to Empuribrava in a sprint to make it two in a row for the German at Setmana Catalana. Zabel later lost the lead to Dominguez, the overall winner here in 1997. Americans Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) and Tyler Hamilton (CSC-Tiscali), both riding into form for more important goals later in the season, didn´t push for the stage-win in

According to German television reports, Jan Ullrich’s knee injuryis more serious than originally thought. Ullrich didn’t start at Milan-San Remo after over-training caused pain in his knee. Team Telekom officialshad hoped Ullrich would be able to return to competition in April, butGerman TV reports that the 1997 Tour de France champion still has not trainedseriously on the bicycle and has been limited to working out in a swimmingpool. Mapei pushed to victory in the morning team time trial at the opening day of the five-day Coppi-Bartali in Italy on Tuesday. The five-man team, powered by none

Juan Carlos Dominguez

Simoni remounted and was able to finish the stage

Brian Lopes and Anne-Caroline Chausson reprised their 2001 triumphs on March 24 as mountain-cross paid a return visit to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. Chausson went three for three at Laguna Seca, adding a win in the four-up gravity grand prix to her downhill and dual-slalom victories. Fastest in qualifying on Friday, and never challenged in the early rounds on Sunday, the Volvo-Cannondale star suddenly found herself chasing Katrina Miller (Jamis) in the final after Miller stole the hole shot and dove down the course first. But the Frenchwoman poured it on and rocketed

Still basking in the afterglow of his dramatic victory at the93rd Milan-San Remo on Saturday, Mario Cipollini now says he willcertainly compete in the world championships in Zolder, Belgium in October."The worlds will be my Milan-San Remo of the autumn," Cipollini toldLa Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's a course well-suited for a sprinterand I will prepare 100 percent for it."Now that Super Mario is overall leader of the 2002 World Cup, Cipollinisaid he will race at Tour of Flanders (April 7) and possibly Paris-Roubaix(April 14). He said he will also race Ghent-Wevelgem, a race he's won

Rabobank's Erik Dekker, who broke his femur during last week's Milan-SanRemo Classic, took the number one spot in the world cycling rankings for the first time in his career Monday.The 31-year-old Rabobank rider pushes Germany's Erik Zabel out of thespot he has held since last year into second thanks to his win in the Tirreno-Adriatico race last Wednesday.Dekker, who turned professional ten years ago, is the current World Cup leader, but could lose ground as he will miss all the spring classicsnotably the Amstel Gold Race which he won last year and the Tour of Flanders,where he

Erik Zabel doesn´t cry over spilt milk for very long. Two days after a disappointing Milan-San Remo, the Telekom sprinter drove home a victory in the opening stage of the Setmana Catalana. Zabel -- who couldn´t win his fifth "La Classicissima" on Saturday when bad luck derailed his chances -- beat a handful of Spanish riders in the 152-km stage. Angel Vicioso, David Etxebarria, Angel Edo and David Fernández were close, but they´re not Mario Cipollini. UCI's "vampiros" swooped down at the start of the race, testing 48 riders from Itera, Milaneza, La Pecol, Relax, Fassa Bortolo and Credit

Chausson chases down Miller.

In the offseason they shared an apartment in Spain. On Saturday Cedric Gracia and Anne-Caroline Chausson shared the spotlight, too, as the pair of French Volvo-Cannondale riders each earned wins at the Sea Otter Classic dual slalom. For Chausson it was a repeat of her 2001 victory at the race in Monterey, California. And like last year, the reigning dual world champion had little trouble marching through the 16-rider field. After advancing to the round of four, Chausson took down Marla Streb (Luna Chix) in the semis, before besting Katrina Miller (Jamis) in the final. "It’s a good start to

A pair of North Shore residents ruled the third day of the Sea Otter Classic mountain-bike stage race Saturday, as Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Alison Sydor (Trek-Volkswagen) picked up short track wins. Hesjedal’s victory came after hooking up with a three-rider break that formed four laps into the 7-lap race. Right there with the young Canadian were overall leader Bart Brentjens (Giant) and Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen). Once together the trio steadily pulled away from the pack, with only Seamus McGrath (Haro-Lee Dungarees) and Filip Meirhaeghe (Specialized) able to stay in

Saturn’s Lyne Bessette won the women’s road overall at the Sea Otter Classic in style Saturday, taking the final stage, along with the points jersey, in a two-up sprint against Rona superstar Genevieve Jeanson. Entering the circuit race with a one-minute, 20-second lead over teammate Kimberly Bruckner, and a comfortable 2:15 over Friday’s road race winner Susan Palmer-Komar (Talgo America), Bessette was poised for the overall victory; however the Saturn women were still without a stage win. With the assurance of a powerful team her defending her leader’s jersey, Bessette took matters into

It’s not the world’s most challenging course, but with strong fields in both the men’s and women’s divisions, Nathan Rennie and Anne-Caroline Chausson could take satisfaction in their Sea Otter downhill wins on Sunday in Monterey, California. A year after a surprising Sea Otter defeat, Chausson was back to her old self, bettering her closest competitor by more than six seconds on the short, twisty course. In fact Chausson’s time (1:31.20) was so good that it would have put her ahead of 27 of the 60 men’s finishers. "I’m in better shape this year than I was this time last year," said

There’s a reason they call them world champions, and Alison Dunlap and Roland Green showed why Sunday, each taking the overall wins in the Sea Otter Classic mountain-bike stage race in Monterey, California. In his first major mountain bike race since winning gold in Vail, Green (Trek-Volkswagen) earned his GC title by putting 46 seconds into Dutchman Bart Brentjens (Giant) and winning stage 4’s 36-mile cross country. Brentjens, the 2001 Sea Otter champ, would settle for second on the day and in the overall, after surrendering the 7-second advantage he had begun the day with. The pace of the

Chausson won her second-straight Sea Otter slalom.

Gracia made it a VC sweep.

King is examined after his crash.

King's loaded onto an ambulance.

Hesjedal leads the short track.

Brentjens remains the overall leader.

The final six in the women's race.

Besssette

Rings around Genevieve. Everywhere Jeanson looked there would be a Saturn jersey.

Chausson wins again.

Rennie earned his second Sea Otter win.

What happens when you land on your face.

Green leads early.

Alexander leads the ladies, with Dunlap right on her wheel.

The lead group in the men's race.

Under gray skies that intermittently wet the course, Talgo America’s Susan Palmer-Komar won stage three of the women’s road stage race—however the real victory belonged to the women of Team Saturn. Going into Friday’s Fort Ord Road Race, the Saturn women held the number two, three, and four spots on the general classification after Thursday’s time trial and criterium. Standing in their way was the 20-year-old cycling phenom from Quebec, Genevieve Jeanson (Rona), who had shown her strength by not just winning the time trial but setting a new course record—by a full minute. A fourth place in

After 14 seasons as a professional, 35-year-old Mario Cipollini finally won the race he wanted to win more than any other. Cipollini, riding in the zebra-esque colors of his new team, Acqua & Sapone, survived a long day that saw many pre-race favorites succumb to crashes and injuries to win the 93rd Milan-San Remo. [nid:21955]Cipollini and the lead sprinters reeled in a two-man breakaway of Mapei’s Paolo Bettini and Panaria’s Giuliano Figueras with less than a kilometer to go after the pair had pulled away on the Poggio climb just seven kilometers from the finish.

Dutch racer Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites-Hartol) won the 118km Primavera Rosa, winning a three-up sprint. The win puts her into second place overall in the women’s World Cup, 32 points behind Germany’s Petra Rossner. The race, the third in the nine-race World Cup, basically followed the final half of the men’s route of the Milan-San Remo. Melchers pulled away late in the race with Diana Ziliute (Acca Due) and Chantal Beltman (Acca Due) and beat the teammates in the sprint.

Chris Horner wrapped up the men’s road title at the Sea Otter Classic as he finished in the main field of the Laguna Seca circuit race Saturday, easily protecting the nearly three-minute lead he had in the overall standings. Saturn’s Mark McCormack took advantage of a final-lap charge and held off a closing field to earn a win in the final stage of the three-day, four-stage event, near Monterey, California. With just 20 laps around the twisting tarmac of the Laguna Seca speedway, there was little chance that anyone would come close to making a dent in Horner’s substantial 2:49 lead over

Mari Holden, Sue Palmer-Komar and Kimberly Bruckner

Jeanson gambled and lost.

Cipollini beats out U.S. champ Rodriguez

Rodriguez, Cipollini and Zberg

On the road to San Remo

McCormack

O'Bee

And the winner is....

Herr San-Remo, aka Erik Zabel, says he's ready for the race he's won four times since 1997. Zabel, 31, told La Gazzetta dello Sport he thinks he can win again despite winning just the opening stage at Tirreno-Adriatico. "I've already ridden 5000 kilometers this season and I feel strong. I felt strong in the climbs at Tirreno, and although I didn't win a stage [after the first day], I just lost to Bettini and Cipollini in sprints, but I was close." Zabel is one of 200 riders from 25 teams lining up for the 93rd Milan-San Remo. Zabel called Milan-San Remo the "the world’s of the

“There are a lot of guys in the peloton who are fit right now,” Ed Beamon remarked. “It’s just that Chris Horner is about two levels above that.” Had there been doubts about the Navigators director’s assessment of the Prime Alliance star’s form before, Horner surely put them to rest on the rolling hills of the Fort Ord road race at the Sea Otter Classic on Friday. The 30-year-old from Bend, Oregon and his team started the day as if he already had the leader’s jersey on his shoulders and by race’s end he did, well padded with a comfortable three-minute margin. By the strength of his

Used to be the Sea Otter Classic served as the final tune-up for the mountain-bike World Cup season, and that meant the stage race in Monterey, California was a prime indicator of who had gone hard and who had gone soft during the off-season. But this year, without the Napa Valley cross-country looming a week away, there was talk that some of the top riders might not be in top form when they arrived at the Laguna Seca Raceway for the Sea Otter’s four-stage affair, March 21-24. But following the second day of racing here, all but a few of the big names were right were you expected them to be.

In pursuit: Barry put in a heroic effort to protect Zabriskie's hold on the lead.

Alexander won the time trial.

Saturday's World Cup opener Milan-San Remo promises to be one of the most competitive in years. A baker's dozen of cycling's biggest Classics riders are roaring into the traditional kick off to the European racing season. Topping the list of favorites is Mario Cipollini, hot off his impressive victory in the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday. The 35-year-old Tuscan has new colors (check that zebra-striped kit), a new bike (Specialized) and a new lease on life (Acqua e Sapone). Cipo is desperate for a victory at Milan-San Remo. Erik Zabel has owned Milan-San Remo,

Eight days after breaking the time trial course record at the Redlands Classic, Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson was at it again on Thursday, taking down the all-time mark at the opening stage of the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. Jeanson sailed around the Sea Otter’s 17-mile time trial circuit in 42:50, setting a new course record and putting 1:27 into Saturn’s Kimberley Bruckner, who came across in second despite suffering a puncture. The rest of the top five included Saturn riders Lyne Bessette (at 1:34) and Judith Arndt (at 2:06), and Cannondale-USA’s Mari Holden (at

With just a few hours of rest after this morning’s opening time trial, riders tackling this year’s edition of the Sea Otter Classic moved down to Monterey as Mercury’s Gord Fraser and Katrina Berger (Cannondale-USA) won on the tough and grinding criterium course through the streets of the historic Cannery Row district. After two stages, the day ended with U.S. Postal’s David Zabriskie and Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson maintaining their hold on the overall lead. Depth of field Seeing Fraser take a sprint finish in a criterium has been not an unusual sight in American racing over the past few

The first stage of the Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race, a criterium raced on mountain bikes with slick tires, was won Thursday by a pair of Americans — current world champion Alison Dunlap, and veteran pro Steve Tilford. Marking the inaugural year of the Fatboy Crit at California’s Sea Otter, the course was identical to that used by the roadies — a fast half-mile lap around downtown Monterey’s Cannery Row. In the men’s 50-minute race, cross-country world champion Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen) got things started early, jumping out front and controlling the pace. But after 15

Jeanson prepares to take on the TT.

Zabriskie on the downtown streets of Monterey.

New colors, same old Gord

Berger timed her move just right

Seems like old times. Tilford has a knack for these things.

Cannery Row

Tina Mayolo-Pic

Damon Kluck

 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.Cycling can clean up like football and baseball didWe all reallyneed to decrease our focus on the UCI to help solve thedoping issue in cycling, and look far more to the team ownership and sponsors.Like the NFL, or Major League Baseball, the anti doping rules

George Hincapie enters what will be his most important World Cup campaign at the Milan-San Remo season-opener Saturday, March 23. It will be the eighth time Hincapie's entered the traditional start of the European racing season. Following his breakthrough season last year, when he won Ghent-Wevelgem and the San Francisco Grand Prix as well as helped teammate Lance Armstrong win a third-straight Tour de France, Hincapie has high hopes for 2002 season. Last week, however, Hincapie was sidelined by a stomach virus that struck March 12 and kept him in bed for two days and out of the

Rabobank’s rider Erik Dekker won the 37th edition of Tirreno-Adriatico in San Benedetto Del Tronto Wednesday. Dekker triumphed overall after the 162km stage around San Benedetto on Italy's Adriatic coast which was won by Italian veteran Mario Cipollini. Cipollini, riding for the Acqua e Sapone team, pipped Germany's Erik Zabel and Lithuania's Saulius Ruskys in a sprint finish. Dekker had stamped his authority on the race by winning Sunday's time trial in Rieti, taking over the leader's red and yellow jersey from Italian Danilo Di Luca. Many had expected Di Luca to take it back but

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. This marks the start of Friel's weekly Question-and-Answer column here on VeloNews.com. Friel will answer a selected group of questions each week. Readers can send questions to Friel in care of VeloNews.com at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Be sure to include "Friel" in the subject line. Q: I am finding that my biggest weakness is in recovery afterrepetitive hill climbs and being able to respond to attacks before crestingthe hill. Although,

Ghent-Wevelgem

Friel

Italian cyclist Fabio Sacchi, suspended by his Saeco team after banned substances were found at his home at the weekend, needed the products to help his wife become pregnant, his teammate Mirko Celestino said on Tuesday. Sacchi was one of six riders whose hotel room at Rieti was raided Sunday morning at Rieti before the fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico but the products were found at a simultaneous search of his home. Amid reports that the substances found were gonadotropina and profasic - which help stimulate testosterone - Celestino revealed that his teammate had confided in him that