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The dual slalom at NORBA national No. 1 will likely go down as the beginning of a youth movement. After years of seeing names like Brian Lopes and Wade Bootes at the top of the results sheet, it was a trio of under-21 kids who ruled the day at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. The winner was the youngest of them all, 17-year-old Mick Hannah of the Global Racing team. The Australian teenager was part of an all Global final where he squared off with Greg Minnaar, a 19-year-old from South Africa. Minnaar reached the final by knocking off Lopes (GT-Fox) and Bootes

Gilberto Simoni has been saying for two days, ever since he took over the pink jersey, that he would not lose much time in the time trial. He was good on his word, crushing former world time trial champions Abraham Olano and Sergei Gontchar and losing only 29 seconds to specialist and second-placed Dario Frigo in a 55.5km time trial on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. If it was not already apparent, especially after the disqualification of third-placed Wladimir Belli yesterday, this has become a two-man race. Frigo’s best hand to play was the time trial, so Simoni might very well have

Mick Hannah might not have known it, but he made a little history on Sunday. In winning the downhill at NORBA national No. 1 at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, he became just the second man to ever capture both the dual slalom and downhill on the same weekend. The other guy on that list: Brian Lopes, who did it once in 1995 and once in 1996. Throw in the fact that Hannah is just 17 years old, and he probably deserves a record all his own. In the downhill Hannah (Global Racing) started far back of the favorites because he lacked a NORBA ranking, but when the youngster stormed

Hesjedal outlasts McGrath, while Green comes across third.

Hesjedal on the attck in the early going.

Dunlap exults as she crossed the line.

Florit was out fron for much of the race, but couldn't hold on at the end.

Hannah takes out Minnaar in the final.

Bootes looked fast here, but ended up fourth.

Donovan on her way to another win at Big Bear.

Who me worry? Even yesterday, Simoni had numerous reasons to smile about the Giro.

On the road, Frigo closed to within seven seconds of Simoni.

It was all Aussies at the top of the men's downhill podium.

Despite his rainbow jeresy, Rockwell could do no better than 16th.

Streb heads for the win.

Goive couldn't match her teenage teammate.

The day after climbing four first-category passes, the riders hit two more, and the results were once again devastating for some top riders. The top two on GC, however, showed that they can recover overnight from a brutal stage, and once again, Simoni was the strongest climber and Frigo was almost as good. Carlos Contreras (Selle Italia-Pacific) won the 166km stage in a sprint from five others, just barely beating Wladimir Belli. Unai Osa (iBanesto.com) followed in third ahead of Simoni, Frigo and Contreras’s teammate Hernan Buenahora. But Fassa Bortolo’s co-captain Belli was thrown out of

Quebec's bicycle racing phenomenon Geneviève Jeanson has answered all naysayers to her abilities with a race-dominating performance at the Montreal Women's World Cup on June 2, which saw her finish over seven minutes ahead of her closest rival. Quebec's other cycling star, Lyne Bessette, finished third, losing a sprint to Sweden's Susanne Ljungskog. Jeanson came into the race, the fifth in the season long series, with fans anxious to see how the young Lachine rider would do against a full field of the top pros in the world. Among the 80 assembled riders was Bessette's Saturn racing team,

Simoni (in pink), Frigo, and the tifosi were the big players in today's stage.

Here's what we're all missing by not seeing this race in person. You gotta click to see this full size!

Wonder Grrl: Geneviève Jeanson

Her manager told her to go on the third climb. She listened -- and that's the last the peloton saw of her.

The World Cup math worked against Bessette (r) when Melcher (front) covered her move.

Montreal's podium (l to r): Ljungskog, Jeanson, Bessette.

After coming as close yesterday as one could without actually getting the maglia rosa, Gilberto Simoni took it from Dario Frigo by 48 seconds on a tough day in the Dolomites under sunny skies. And Mexican Julio Perez, already the sentimental hero of this Giro, finally broke through with the stage win he has shown himself so deserving of. Simoni finished with him, while Frigo placed third, 45 seconds back. The 225km stage climbed four first-category passes and totally shook up the overall standings. While at the start in Montebelluna there were a couple dozen names clustered within two

Day 1 of the 2001 NORBA national championship series looked a lot like the 2000 season opener. But anybody who said they weren’t surprised was probably lying. That’s because mountain biking’s No. 1 enigma, Californian Kirk Molday, went from having no team in January to winning the season opening cross-country race at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. Molday’s win, along with Mary Grigson’s victory earlier in the day, meant there was a pair of repeat winners at Big Bear. In the men’s race Molday was part of a four-rider break that pulled away from the field during the first of

The 23-year-old Perez (right) after the win: 'I’d trade two teeth for a day like today.'

Frigo (left) led the chase once Simoni jumped away, and kept his time loss to 45 seconds. The jersey, for now, is Simoni's.

Molday leads a four-rider breakaway near the top of the first climb.

Grigson explains another win.

Molday on his own on the second lap.

Dunlap got the hole shot but ended up second.

Disgraced Italian rider Sergio Barbero was unceremoniously ejected from the Giro d'Italia by his Lampre team prior to the start of the 12th stage in Gradisca d'Isonzo on May 31; the move followed the announcement that he was one of the two riders who tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin) during the Tour of Romandy at the start of May. Lampre general manager Giuseppe Saronni said he told Barbero not to turn up at the start line, although he could still have officially taken part in the race. "We asked him not to turn up for the day's stage," Saronni said. "He asked for a second

Gilberto Simoni once again showed attentiveness, sharp wits, courage and great descending skills to turn a sudden rainstorm to his advantage on final descent of the May 31 stage. The Lampre-Daikin team captain came up one second short of taking Frigo’s shirt from him, but he is poised ideally to take it tomorrow on the tough, long stage tomorrow in the high Dolomites. The 139km 12th stage was won by Frigo’s teammate Matteo Tosatto in a three-up sprint from Slovenian Zoran Klemencic and Simoni. The stage was animated by the other Verbrugghe, Ief, who made two long solo breakaways today, the

Team Saturn continues to hold down all the top spots in the National Racing Calendar standings, with Trent Klasna and Kimberly Bruckner leading the individual standings. Both the Saturn men’s and women’s squads lead the team standings as well following the U.S. national championships and the Tour of Somerville. Men 1. Trent Klasna, Saturn, 739 pts 2. Scott Moninger, Mercury-Viatel, 490 3. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Saturn, 385 4. Chris Horner, Mercury-Viatel, 339 5. Baden Cooke (Aus), Mercury-Viatel, 287 6. Levi Leipheimer, U.S. Postal Service, 240 7. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly, 221 8. Danny

Laurent Chotard was fired from the U.S.-based Mercury-Viatel squad today, May 31, after it was announced that the French neo-pro tested positve for EPO at the Tour of Romandie. The sample was taken during that race, held March 8-13. "We fully support any action taken by the French Cycling Federation and by the UCI and commend their efforts to improve our sport. Chotard's actions were of his own initiative and without the knowledge of any staff or team member and his removal from the team was immediate," Mercury team director John Wordin told VeloNews.

Finally, after what seems like half a lifetime, the 2001 mountain biking season resumes in North America. Stop No. 1 of the NORBA national championship series commences Friday at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake, California. It’s the 13th time the NORBA series has touched down in these tree-topped mountains just 90 miles from the sprawl of Los Angeles. Day 1 will feature the men’s and women’s cross country races. The ladies kick things off at 11 a.m. pacific time. The men follow at 2 p.m. The 8.47-mile course at Big Bear is a lung-buster, with a base elevation of 7200 feet and 1200 feet

National TT champion Trent Klasna

Dario Frigo (left) holds the lead by one second -- a thin margin to pin his team's hopes with Friday's big climbs.

Lotto Adecco's Lef Verbrugghe rode clear on two solo breaks, and it was on the second when the rain storm hit the peloton.

Belgium's Tom Steels (Mapei) narrowly beat World Cup holder Erik Zabel in yesterday's first stage of the Tour of Germany, a 210.4km stretch from Hamburg to Hanover on May 29. Steels, who has won nine stages of the Tour de France, said his win over the leader of the powerful Telekom team gave him a boost ahead of this year's Tour de France. "It was a great battle between me and Erik and I'm still breathing hard," said the 29-year-old. "It's good to have beaten him again and that encourages me for the Tour de France." The second stage is a 173km run from Goslar to Erfurt on

Pablo Lastras escaped a 10-man breakaway group with four kilometers to go and held a solo advantage of a handful of seconds to win this 187km stage that crossed the Slovenian-Italian border seven times. Giovanni Lombardi won the sprint from Uros Murn and the rest of the nine pursuers. The stage rolled east through hilly and beautiful forested country along the Austrian border north of Slovenia’s Triglavski national park and crossed into Italy before heading south up a large first-category climb of the Passo del Predil at 63km. At the top of the pass, it crossed back into Slovenia and

Telekom's sprint ace Erik Zabel won a field sprint to take the second stage of the Tour of Germany, on May 30. Today's 173km stage ran between Goslar and Erfurt. The German gained revenge on Belgian rider Tom Steels -- who beat him to the line on Tuesday -- to record his 12th win of the season and take the overall race lead. Zabel, the current World Cup leader, stopped the clock after 4:21:06 of racing, to come in ahead of Moldova's Igor Pugaci (Saeco) with Russian Guennadi Michailov (Lotto) in third position. The race centered around the early solo break of Swiss rider Roger Beuchat

You may have thought that Il Diablo, a.k.a. Didi Senft, is the craziest guy that follows the major European bike races. But that’s only because you see him waving his pitchfork on TV and you haven’t seen some of the unique race groupies who don’t get on TV. My current choice for most way-out is Skippy, an Australian who rides every single stage on his bike ahead of the peloton. He starts on the course a couple of hours before the race starts and finishes each stage just before the peloton. The publicity caravan that precedes the racers has around a hundred cars in it, each with a giant

IBanesto's Lastras scoring his biggest win of the season

With eight teams in the break, the odds were good that it would stick.

From the Giro, Skippy will ride each stage of the Tours of Austria, Switzerland, and France.

After 10 stages, Fassa Bortolo’s Dario Frigo continues to hold on to a slim lead in the Giro d’Italia as the race left Italy for a two-day detour into neighboring Slovenia. Liquigas’s Denis Zanette won the stage that finished in this former Yugoslav republic’s capital city of Ljubljana. Zanette broke away from a nine-man lead group about six kilometers from the finish of this 212km stage. Zanette finished three seconds ahead of another Italian, Marion Manzoni, with Spain's Isidro Nozal in third. Frigo came home more than 10min off the pace but since none of the lead group posed much of an

With 7km left in the 212km stage, Denis Zanette of Liquigas-PATA attacked eight breakaway companions he had been with for 123km and rolled in alone through the streets of the Lubljana, the capitol of Slovenia. He crossed the line, arms upraised, throwing kisses to the huge crowd that was happily welcoming the Giro on this warm, sunny day. Mario Manzoni (Alexia) outsprinted Isidro Nozal (ONCE-Eroski) three seconds later, and the rest of the breakaways finished at 15 seconds – 10 minutes up on the main pack. The top rankings didn't change, with a dozen riders wedged within a minute of overall

In the five-day Ronde de I'Isard d'Ariege, U.S. National teammates Michael Creed and Danny Pate racked up strong results. Though Pate eventually abandoned the French event due to sickness (but not before placing sixth in the opening stage), it was Creed who earned a second-place finish in stage two, a stage win in the race finale, and a podium spot for snagging third overall on the final standings. In that final stage, Creed was part of a four-rider break, and finished in a dead heat with Belgian Johan Van Summeren. The officials couldn't pick a winner from the finish photo, and awarded the

Following ther rules, Cipo' kept his regulation uniform

'I gave it everything I had, because if I had been caught I would not have been able to try it again,' Zanette said.

The break rode away with 130km to go -- but Zanette jumped clear in the closing kilometers.

It couldn’t have been easier for Mario Cipollini. Instead of having to duke it out in another physical sprint like other flat stages have ended in, the Lion King was able to roll to an easy sprint win because of a crash behind him in the last corner. While most of Italy is as up and down as a crumpled rug, over the millennia the mighty Po River has ground down every bit of topography in a crosswise swath where the country widens at the top of the boot. Consequently, stage nine, which ran northeast for 142km in the Po valley and crossed the river once, was flat as a pancake and certain to

The Tour of Somerville is famous for the names that dot its deep winners list. Olympians, national champions, and trendsetters have all won this race that has taken place on Memorial Day for nearly 60 years. But the 2001 edition of the race paid tribute to a rider who will never have the chance to put her name in the event's record books: Nicole Reinhart. Reinhart, a star sprinter for the Saturn women’s team, died from injuries sustained in a crash in a race last fall. But now, thanks to the committee that organizes this quintessential American race, the spirit of Reinhart - a rider who

Cipo' strikes a familiar pose

On a day when a tireless 40-year-old animated the action all day long, it was an up-and-coming 26-year-old on a first-year team who stole the show at the elite men’s national road race championship in Redding, California, on Saturday. A teary-eyed Remi McManus of the Boise Stars team accepted the national championship jersey after outsprinting four breakaway companions at the end of the 111-mile race. The finish came down to McManus and four others: Brice Jones (Mercy Fitness), Patrick Heaney (Lombardi Sports), Tim Unkert (Capital Velo Club) and Chris Walker (Triathlete Zombies). Of those,

Once again, Julio Perez was the animator of a pivotal stage and came agonizingly close to winning it. The pack had not even left the vacation spa town of Montecatini Terme when the Mexican Panaria rider attacked with five others just two kilometers into this difficult 185km stage. Among those with him was Pietro Chaucchioli, who rolled into Reggio Emilia alone 183km later. Behind, in a small chase group finishing a minute behind the 26-year-old Alessio winner was ONCE’s José Azevedo, who came within a whisker of taking over the maglia rosa. After 9km, a group of 11 took off after Perez’s

Iban Mayo ( Euskaltel Euskadi) achieved his first career win by taking the final overall victory of the Grand Prix Midi Libre, following the end of the sixth and final stage as the race concluded in Sete Sunday. The 23-year-old, who only turned professional last year, had an overall 35 second advantage on stage winner and former champion here Benoit Salmon of France following the final run between Florac and Sete. Mayo, a virtual unknown, set a cracking pace under the blazing sun and was in second position following the double climb of 12 percent incline of Mont Saint-Clair. But French

Favorites reigned in the pro men and pro women cross country races at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango, Colorado on Sunday. In the men’s race 1999 NORBA national champion and 2000 Olympian Travis Brown (Trek-Volkswagen) had an easy go of it, winning the three-lap, 20.4-mile race with a time of 1:40:48. Costa Rican José Adrian Bonilla (Café Costa Rica) came across second, 1:46 behind Brown. Jay Henry was third, at 3:09. "I was going pretty hard from the start because José was really pushing the pace," said Brown, who grew up in Durango. "I was getting small gaps on almost every

Canada’s Lyne Bessette overcame a final stage challenge to lock up her second overall win at France’s Tour de l'Aude on Sunday. Germany’s Judith Arndt and Bessette successfully chased down breakaway attempt by Susanne Ljungskog (Vlaanderen) the winner of the women’s edition of the Milan-San Remo World Cup, La Primavera Rosa. With 40 kilometers remaining in the final stage, Lungskog – who started the day in fifth place overall at 7:50 -- moved off the front of the field in an attempt to lock in a solo win, and a possible upset in the overall standings. But the two race leaders – Bessette in

McManus

Caucchioli makes his move

Whew! Frigo holds on.

Stefano Zanini outsprinted a group of 49 riders to win the longest stage of the Giro, beating Gabriele Missaglia and Jan Ullrich after a great leadout from Stefano Garzelli. For the first time in the race, the Olympic road champion was feeling well enough again to come over the top of a big climb with the front group and even to mix it up in the sprint. The 239km stage started in Rieti in the province of Lazio, headed north through the entire length of Umbria and finished in Montevarchi in Tuscany. It started slowly, winding along picturesque roads in hilly country along lakes and past

Swiss rider Sven Montgomery (La Française des Jeux) assumed the overall lead of the GP Midi-Libre after winning the fifth stage of the race as it moved to the city of Mende on Saturday. Montgomery broke away in the final kilometer on the Col de la Croix-Neuve to pull away from Mercury’s Andrei Kivilev of Kazakhstan. It was the second straight win for Montgomery's team after Bradley McGee triumphed in the fourth stage on Friday. Copyright AFP2001

Scott Price seemed to be smiling all the way from Durango to Silverton on Saturday. The Team Landis rider's grin was even wider after he won a three-man sprint in the 30th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race. Price, 31, nipped Federico Ramirez (Cafe de Costa Rica/Pizza Hut), part of a four-person Costa Rican contingent, and Durango favorite Ned Overend (Specialized), who at 45 was looking to add to his four Iron Horse road race titles that he began accumulating in 1983. The three riders, along with Price's teammate, Drew Miller, crested Molas Pass, the course's last long climb,

At Saturday’s national road race championships, Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner demonstrated again that she was the strongest woman on the roads of Redding. Two days after winning the national time trial championship, Bruckner broke away with Harbour Lights’ Amber Neben 27 miles into the 69-mile championship road race and eventually soloed in for her second national title in three days. Saturday’s women’s race consisted of four laps of a hilly, 14-mile circuit west of Redding, with a six-mile starting and finishing tail from town to the circuit. The 64-woman field was content to stay together at

Canadian Lyne Bessette held on to her overall lead in the Tour de L’Aude as AutoTrader.com's Sarah Ulmer won eighth stage of the French stage race. A break of 10 riders escaped the field at the halfway point of the 122km stage between Limoux and Espéraza. None of the escapees posed a threat to Bessette’s grip on the overall lead. The American Autotrader team had two of its riders in the break – Ulmer and the team’s new recruit Katrina Berger. Berger attacked as the lead group -- now down to eight riders -- reached the final finishing circuit. With her teammate ahead, Ulmer sat on as the

A long day in the saddle. Stage 7 covered 239km.

Bruckner wrapped up her second title of the weekend.

Australian Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) raced to a sprint finish to win the 209km fourth stage of the Midi Libre in Laissac, France, on Friday. Overall leader Kazakh Andrei Teteriouk of the Mercury team retained his leader's jersey after the stage, which included two first category climbs, between Pont-du-Gard and here. Former track rider McGee sprinted ahead of a packed peloton to relegate Italian Nicola Loda into his second second-place finish of the week after he came second in Pezenas on day two. Copyright AFP2001

With another tremendous burst of power, Mario Cipollini has become the second-winningest rider in Giro history. With extremely aggressive riding once again, the big Saeco rider turned a seemingly hopeless position with 500 meters to go into a perfect one with 200 meters to go. And when he stood up to finish it, he blew the doors off Danilo Hondo and Massimo Strazzer, grinning the entire way to the line. The going in the sprint was a bit easier by virtue of a long climb with 27km to go that caused Ivan Quaranta to lose contact. Yesterday’s sprint winner showed once again that he is the

Lyne Bessette, riding as a member of the Canadian national team, took over the lead of the Tour de L’Aude Friday, after escaping in a crucial break in the second of the day’s two stages. The first of Friday’s two stages saw two riders escape early in a short 45km race between Castelnaudary and Bram. France’s Magali Le Floc’h (C.A Mantes La Ville) and Australia’s Sara Carrigan (Australian National) crossed the line 56 seconds ahead of Anna Millward, who won a field sprint for third. After a brief break, the race resumed with another short 63km stage between Bram and Limoux. Despite the

Andy Hampsten and Davis Phinney, who played major roles in leading modern U.S. professional cyclists racing in Europe during the mid-1980s, will be inducted May 27 into the U.S. Bicycling Hall. The 15th annual awards banquet will be held at the Somerville Elks Club in nearby Bridgewater, N.J. Both athletes plan to attend the ceremony, as do other athlete inductees: Ned Overend and Victor Vincente of America. Phinney won more than 300 races, including two stages of the Tour de France, over his career from 1976 to 1993. He also won a bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Hampsten,

Graham Watson

Hampsten, shown here on the Gavia, a decade after his historic ride up the pass.

Phinney, at his long-time home in Colorado.