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Verbrugghe won two of three stages to take the win

Belgian Rik Verbrugghe of the Lotto team won the first stage of the Criterium International in France on Saturday. Verbrugghe was one of 12 riders to escape with less than 15km left in the 190km stage. On a day that included three category 4 climbs, the breakaway occurred on the last climb and despite chase efforts by Saeco and ONCE, the group gained 18 seconds on the rest of the field.

The field passes the Meuse River

Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd held on to win the overall title at Setmana Catalana Friday, finishing the fifth stage safely in the main group. Italian Marco Zanotti (Liquigas) won the 152.4km stage between Berga and Cornella de Llobregrat in 3:17:34. American Lance Armstrong was the most consistent of the big-name Tour de France contenders in the five-day stage race in Spain, finishing eighth overall, 1:13 off the winning pace. Italian Marco Pantani (Mercatone Uno) showed some aggression early in the week, going wheel to wheel with Armstrong in the mountains, but he withdrew on Thursday’s

On Friday the UCI became the first sports federation to announce the employment of a test for EPO, to be introduced on April 1. The test has been developed primarily as a response to revelations of widespread EPO use in professional cycling. Former French Cycling Federation president Daniel Baal called the validation of a test for the endurance stimulant EPO "historic" and said that it will change the face of drug abuse in cycling. "Everything we've gone through the past few years would not have happened if, technically, this method of testing had been available," Baal told AFP shortly

Italian Danilo Di Luca of the Cantina Tollo team won the 162km fourth stage at Setmana Catalana Thursday, while Rabobank star Michael Boogerd took the leader’s jersey by finishing second, 11 seconds behind Di Luca. American Lance Armstrong put in a strong effort to finish eighth, 1:24 back, while his Tour de France rival Jan Ullrich continued to go easy in the Spanish stage race, finishing more than 20 minutes off the winning pace. The final stage of the five-day stage race is Friday. 2001 AFP

The UCI announced Thursday that it will unveil a new drug to detect EPO (erythropoietin) on Friday. According to a report by AFP, the new test will employ both blood and urine sample testing, and will first be used at the Tour of Flanders World Cup race on April 8. UCI president Hein Verbruggen announced in December that the problem of finding an acceptable test for cyclists would be "resolved before April." EPO has, until now, been relatively undetectable. Under current procedures, a rider who exceeds the hematocrit (red blood cell) threshold of 50 is given a 15-day "warning" in order to

Laurent Jalabert has chosen the April 25-29 German stage race, the Tour of Lower Saxony, as the place to start his comeback. The 32-year-old Frenchman, world No. 1 from 1995 to 2000, is putting in three to five hours of training per day after the freak accident on February 12, when he fell off a ladder and fractured three vertebrae. Jalabert says his morale is "high" and if his Danish team CSC-Online is invited, he should be ready for his main focus of the season, the Tour de France. "I'm happy, I've got back to some semblance of normal activity," said Jalabert, talking to a few

Sometimes it pays to gamble. Spaniard Aitor Silloniz, ranked 1077 in UCI standings at the start of the 2001 season, took a flyer just 50km into Wednesday’s 173.3km stage 3 at the Setmana Catalana. With a time of 4:29:25, the Euskatel rider hung on to win, beating second-place Jose Manuel Vasquez, also a Spaniard, by 6:39. Finishing third on the day was Italian Denis Zanette, 7:06 back. Zanette, of Liquigas, moved into the leader’s jersey with two stages remaining in the Spanish stage race. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, and Marco Pantani all finished the day with the main group, 7:06 behind

With his back-to-back wins at Redlands and Sea Otter, Saturn's Trent Klasna moved out to a sizeable early-season lead in the USCF's National Racing Calendar standings, ahead of U.S. Postal Service's Levi Leipheimer and Mercury-Viatel's Chris Horner. Meanwhile, Saturn's Kim Bruckner moved closer to Genevieve Jeanson (Rona), following Bruckner's second-place finish at Sea Otter. Jeanson skipped Sea Otter and instead raced at Another Dam Race in Parker, Arizona. Men: 1. Trent Klasna, Saturn, 435pts;2. Levi Leipheimer, USPS, 240;3. Chris Horner, Mercury-Viatel, 234;4. Eddy Gragus, Jelly Belly,

Jazztel rider Serguei Smetanine won the second stage of the Setmana Catalana stage race in Spain Tuesday, while Spain's Angel Edo held onto the overall lead in after a 169km race from Lloret to Empuriabrava. Smetanine was part of a five-man break that built up a maximum 17-minute lead before the first of two mountains, one a category 1 climb. That group was eventually pulled back to within two minutes of the main group, but Smetanine, a Russian, outsprinted teammate Carols Torrent of Spain, Italan Eilo Aggiano and Spaniard German Nieto, to the line for the win. "We took the hill at our own

Angel Edo of the Spanish outfit Maia won the first stage at the Catalan Cycling Week in Spain on Monday. Edo outsprinted Italians Denis Zanette and Stefano Garzelli at the end of the 143km route around Lloret De Mar. Earlier in the race, Marco Pantani and Lance Armstrong tested each other in the mountains, and both finished with the lead group. "I'm thrilled to win on home territory," said the Barcelona-born Edo, a 30-year-old pro who also won here in 1994. On reaching the foot of Alt de Sant Grau, a category 1 climb, Pantani attacked, leaving much of the peleton stretched out behind

As far as gravity disciplines go, dual slalom and the new mountain cross disciplines get more play than the course-challenged downhill race at the Sea Otter Classic. Nonetheless, some of the world’s best gravity racers gathered on a sunny Sunday morning for the season’s first taste of real competition at Monterey. World champion Anne-Caroline Chausson broke out the new Cannondale downhill bike; Missy Giove was sporting the nuclear green-and-blue of the new Global team (with matching blue hair); and Steve Peat was up to his old tricks with GT. Peat won the short jaunt through a series of

The final day of the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, saw a shake-up in the women’s cross-country stage-race standings, but no change at the top of the men’s leaderboard. Specialized’s Caroline Alexander came from 17 seconds back to win the women’s overall. Alexander supplanted teammate Barbara Blatter, who entered Sunday’s race wearing the leader’s jersey. In the final stage, the 36-mile cross country, Alexander was second to GT’s Alison Dunlap, who won a sprint finish. Blatter held on for third, despite a problem with her fork that left her without front suspension for most of

Peat explains how he did it.

Chausson looks good here, but it wasn't good enough.

Dunlap won the sprint, but Alexander won the war.

It wasn't the plan, but Alexander wasn't complaining.

The top three in the men's GC -- Van Dooren, Brentjens and Green.

Susanne Ljungskog sat in for 110km of the Varazze-San Remo, but just before the top of the Poggio climb with 8km to go, the 25-year-old Swede made a blistering attack. The Vlaanderen-T-Interim rider had a 200-meter gap at the high point in the village of Poggio overlooking the green waves of the Ligurian sea below. She said later, “I am a good descender, and I thought I could hold it until the finish. When I looked back with one kilometer to go and saw that I still had a good gap, I knew that I would win.” Mirjam Melchers (Acca Due O/Lorena) won the sprint in this World Cup stop number

It looked like a magical finish in the making for the Italian throngs lined up along Via Roma in San Remo. Super Mario, the guy whose face was on half of the T-shirts being hawked in the crowd, had caught back onto the front group on the descent of the Poggio, and he had a four-man Saeco train pulling him to the front. [nid:20289]But Erik Zabel’s Deutsche Telekom train was also working well, and despite Cipollini closing the gap rapidly, he was still a half bike-length behind at the line after charging past world road champion Romans Vainsteins with 25 meters to go.

As the designated finisher for Mercury on the final day of the Sea Otter road race Saturday, Australian Baden Cooke was on the hot seat. His team – accustomed to taking wins in buckets with sprinter Gord Fraser – had been stymied by a hot Saturn squad and hadn’t won all weekend. With Fraser feeling under the weather, Cooke did just fine, outsprinting Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens, among others, to chalk up the biggest win of his young career. In the women’s Laguna Seca circuit race, Anna Millward just kept rolling, winning the stage and the overall Sea Otter title. Joining Millward in the

It’s called the Sea Otter Classic, and Saturday the event lived up to its name, providing a pair of classic match-ups in the finals of the dual slalom. On the men’s side it was defending world champion Wade Bootes taking on reigning World Cup champ Brian Lopes. The women’s final saw American Missy Giove taking on her nemesis, Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson. Give round one to Lopes and Chausson. Each drank in the first taste of victory in 2001, after picking up wins on a warm, sunny day in the hills outside Monterey, California. For Lopes, the road to the final proved tougher than the

For the second day in a row the gang from Specialized dominated the mountain-bike stage race at the Sea Otter Classic. On the men’s side it was Fillip Meirhaeghe who was first across the line in the 8-lap short-track race on a sunny Saturday, outside Monterey, California. Meirhaeghe’s teammates, Barbara Blatter and Caroline Alexander, went 1-2 in the women’s race, a 7-lap affair, duplicating a feat they accomplished a day earlier in the time trial. The Belgium Meirhaeghe finished in a time of 20 minutes, 22.30 seconds, beating out Giant’s Bart Brentjens by 13.10. Third place went to

This is how you win Milan - San Remo four times.

Matveyev and company

Bartoli and Rebellin on the Poggio

Colombo on the Poggio

Lopes knocked off Bootes, last year's Sea Otter champ.

Giove was ahead here, but Chasson was ahead when it counted.

Bootes knocked off King and Carter to advance to the finals.

Gracia got knocked out in the second round, but hung around to compete in the big-air contest

Ellsworth's John Jesme didn't win, but this back flip got the biggest big-air applause

Brentjens was all smiles after the short track

Meirhaeghe gets the win

Alexander (left) and Blatter work over Dunlap (right)

When Thursday afternoon’s Cannery Row Circuit Race came down to the last of 80 laps for the men, the safe bet was on a guy in green. With the Monterey Bay to their left, the John Steinbeck Building to their right, and gray clouds rolling above their heads, the Mercury train was in full effect in downtown Monterey. It’s a common scenario: Bell banging away, five Mercury men on the front. Sure enough, less than one minute after the bell stopped clanging, that guy in green hit the Cannery Row finishing stretch with a gap that would get him through. But the Navigators wear a true green, not

It was a busy day in Monterey on Thursday as the 2001 Sea Otter Classic kicked off with a double stage day. In the morning, all the usual suspects found their way to the top of the standings after the Laguna Seca Time Trial. Fresh from two World Cup wins on successive weekends Saturn’s Anna Millward hit the ground running when she arrived in the U.S. to earn a win in the stage. On the men’s side, U.S. Postal’s Levi Leipheimer emerged on top and confidently predicted that this race will probably come down to two men: himself and Mercury’s Chris Horner.In the women's 40km crit, Saturn

Milan-San Remo is the first big classic and the chance for many riders to cop a big win. It has ended many times in a large sprint, as well as in solo victories. Erik Zabel (Deutsche Telekom) has won three of the last four editions and looks to be the strong favorite again, having shown good form in February and March races in Spain. After interviewing many team mechanics the day before the race, in fact, those who would make a prediction of a rider not on their own teams, Zabel was the one. Milan-San Remo is not only the first of the major classics, but it is also the longest. The course is

There was a time when Barbara Blatter resided in the quiet corner of obscurity. This one-time kindergarten teacher didn’t even start racing mountain bikes full time until 1998. And before last year most of her competitors viewed her as a strong rider, but not a serious podium threat. But in 2000, Blatter changed those perceptions, picking up three World Cup wins on her way to the overall title. A year later, Blatter has picked up right where she left off. The 30-year-old Specialized rider made a sparkling debut in the colors of her new team, finishing first in stage 1 of the Seagate

If early-season happenings on the domestic road circuit are any indication, we are experiencing a planetary shift. Move over, Mercury, it’s Saturn’s turn to shine. Trent Klasna is red hot, Harm Jansen is as aggressive as ever, and Anna Millward just can’t seem to lose. Those three Saturn riders led the charge in Friday’s grueling Fort Ord Road Race at the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca Speedway in Monterey, California. As usual, Jansen couldn’t hold himself back in the men's race. With more than 70 miles of rugged California coastal roads still ahead of him, Jansen initiated the day’s

Levi Leipheimer, who thought the Mercury Sea Otter Classic would be a two-man race after he won the difficult opening time trial on Thursday, needed time to compose his thoughts. Sitting in the back of the U.S. Postal Service team van, Leipheimer pulled off his race leader's jersey and pulled on his dark-blue team sweats. A few minutes earlier, he had crossed the line in the company of his closest rival, Mercury's Chris Horner, but they were almost four minutes behind Saturn's two-man express: Harm Jansen and new race leader Trent Klasna. The first words out of a shattered Leipheimer's mouth

Levi Leipheimer, who thought the Mercury Sea Otter Classic would be a two-man race after he won the difficult opening time trial on Thursday, needed time to compose his thoughts. Sitting in the back of the U.S. Postal Service team van, Leipheimer pulled off his race leader's jersey and pulled on his dark-blue team sweats. A few minutes earlier, he had crossed the line in the company of his closest rival, Mercury's Chris Horner, but they were almost four minutes behind Saturn's two-man express: Harm Jansen and new race leader Trent Klasna. The first words out of a shattered

Victory for Vassiliy

Teutenberg in TT

Mercury's Gord Fraser

Chris Wherry

Women's start at Cannery Row

Teutenberg is back

Lotsa Saturn there

Leipheimer

La Primavera kicks off World Cup season

Blatter continues to fly

Green gets ready to ride

Alexander focuses in the starthouse

All the usual suspects found their way to the top of the standings after the Laguna Seca Time Trial, stage 1 of the Robert Talbott Elite Road Race, the opening event of the 2001 Sea Otter Classic. On the women’s side, Saturn’s Anna Millward was the quickest around the up-and-down 27.5km course. The Aussie posted a time of 44:11, knocking teammate Kim Bruckner from atop the leaderboard and setting up a 1-2 finish for Saturn. The win in the hills just outside of Monterey, California, continued Millard’s impressive run that includes wins at the year's first two World Cups. Under overcast

Millward continues to shine

Postal is on top, but Mercury lurks close behind

Nick Chenoweth, the point man for EDS's sponsorship of USA Cycling, was indicted this month in Texas on federal mail fraud and wire fraud charges in connection with the alleged misappropriation of $379,000 in funds intended the company's cycling program. EDS ended its sponsorship of its team and individual riders, including Olympic champion Marty Nothstein, in 1999. The company also maintained a separate sponsorship with USA Cycling which it ended in 2000. According to the indictment, Chenoweth, 46, submitted false reimbursement claims for bikes, equipment and for services that were

Davide Rebellin of Italy won the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race here Wednesday after what amounted to a photo-finish with countryman Gabriele Colombo. Rebellin was given the same overall time of 29hr 41min 09sec for the eight-stage race as Colombo, but was adjudged the winner by a fraction of a second and on better stage placings. The final stage over 161km along the Adriatic coastline went to another Italian, Endrio Leoni who clocked 4hr 28min 57sec. Rebellin, who grabbed the leader's white jersey in the seventh stage Tuesday, said that he never felt confident of winning the race until

She came to Redlands in top form, ready to act as team leader for the Saturn-Timex women's team in North America's road season opener. But on the second stage of the six-day event, Bessette gave a strong lead out to teammate Ina Teutenberg who then crashed at the line in front of her. Teutenberg suffered some serious cuts to her face, requiring 32 stitches. Bessette, meanwhile, broke her collarbone, putting a temporary halt to what could still be a very productive season. We had a chance to chat with Bessette at the side of the road during the Sunset Road Race, the final stage at

Bessette won't let the Redlands crash get her down.

VeloNews Q&A: Lyne Bessette

Italian rider Davide Rebellin retook the overall lead of Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday after the 223km seventh stage of the race ended in Ascoli. But Rebellin was edged out for the stage win as the in-form Dutchman Michael Boogerd sprinted past at the line. However, the 29-year-old Rebellin, who held the lead after Saturday's fourth stage but lost it the next day, will have to be on his guard in Wednesday's final 161km stage as Boogerd, second in the recent Tour of Valencia, trails by just three seconds in third place. Rebellin, though, said he was confident he could hold on. "I have

Kona-Ford Focus has signed former Saturn road star Bart Bowen to its team. Bowen will make his debut at the Sea Otter Classic, in Monterey, California this weekend. "Bart was looking to do less racing on the road on a full-on contract, high-pressure situation," said Kona team manager Mark Peterson. "The Kona team will be a much more relaxed atmosphere." Bowen joins Geoff Kabush, Tracey Moseley, and Scott Beaumont headlining the 2001 team. Bowen will also be part of Kona’s cyclo-cross team, which includes Dale Knapp, and Ann Grande. "Cross is where we'll be getting serious," added

One face you didn't expect to see at Redlands this year was that of Jeroen Blijlevens. But there he was, taking part in the 17th edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Dutch sprinter was in California, because of a "slight delay" to the start of his 2001 season. Though he has an impressive résumé that includes five stage wins at the Vuelta España, two stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and four at the Tour de France, Blijlevens has most recently gained attention for a fight on the last day of the 2000 Tour. After finishing the final stage in Paris, Blijlevens charged at American Bobby

Blijlevens racked up some early-season miles at Redlands.

Latvia's Romans Vainsteins won the sixth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycle race Monday, a 136km run from Torre San Patrizio to Monte San Pietrangeli. Vainsteins defeated Swiss rider Markus Zberg in a sprint finish but the conclusion was marred by the fall of overnight race leader Sergei Ivanov of Russia who had to be taken to hospital after tumbling 500m from the finish. Ivanov was being treated at Fermo Hospital where he was undergoing tests while Italian cyclist Lope Boselli was also treated for injuries sustained in the same incident. Ivanov was credited with finishing the stage in

On the strength of their overall wins at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, Saturn's Trent Klasna and Rona's Genevieve Jeanson moved into the lead of the USCF's season-long NRC series. In the team rankings, Mercury-Viatel remains atop the men's standings, with Saturn leading the women. Men 1 Trent Klasna Saturn 252pts 2 Roland Green US Postal Service 175 3 Chris Horner Mercury/Viatel 155 4 Baden Cooke Mercury/Viatel 129 5 Levi Leipheimer US Postal Service 127 6 Michael Rogers Mapei-Quick Step 103 7 Eddy Gragus Jelly Belly 101 8 Gord Fraser Mercury/Viatel

Schwinn downhiller Leigh Donovan has announced she’ll retire from mountain bike racing after the 2001 season. The 29-year-old Donovan began her career in BMX, where she became a national champion. She started racing mountain bikes in 1992, and by ’93 had turned pro, signing with Team Iron Horse. In 1995, then with Mongoose, Donovan became the only person to ever win the U.S. downhill series, the U.S. slalom series and the downhill world championship. For her career Donovan has 14 NORBA dual slalom wins, nine NORBA downhill wins, and three World Cup wins. Last year she was third in both the

The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to immediately begin sponsorship of USA Cycling’s National Junior and Espoir teams. The U.S. Espoir squad competing at Redlands showed up for Saturday’s downtown criterium wearing redesigned jerseys sporting a new USPS logo to reflect the new sponsorship. At a press conference on Saturday, USPS senior vice president for sales, Gail Sonnenberg, said the sponsorship reflects the service’s long-term view of the sport. “The Postal Service is committed to the development of the next generation of cycling champions. We believe in the values of hard

Dario Frigo became the first Italian for 55 years to win Paris-Nice on Sunday while countryman Fabrizio Guidi won the seventh and final stage. Guidi gave Mercury the perfect end to a near-perfect week with a clinical finish for their third stage win out of eight in front of the sun worshippers and rollerbladers on Nice's promenade des Anglais. After late attacks from Big Mat's Loic Lamueller and the prologue winner Nico Mattan had been swept up, the peloton swept down the windblown finish straight led by Peter Van Petegem. He repaid Guidi his sterling work through the week by leading him

Saturn’s Anna Milward made it two-for-two when she won her second women's World Cup race in just over a week, at the Hamilton, New Zealand, World Cup. The Australian was part of a six-strong group that broke away on the seventh of 17 laps of the 6.3 km circuit. The group included Sarah Ulmer, Mirjam Melchers, Sara Carrigan and world road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia. World time trial champion Mari Holden missed the break, started when Melchers sprinted away on the circuit's biggest hill. But Holden launched a tremendous three-kilometer chase to join the group. The bunch increased the gap

While Dario Frigo was winning Paris-Nice, his Fassa Bortolo teammates were also lighting it up at Tirreno-Adriatico. Italian Roberto Petito, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won the fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in Torricella Sicura Sunday, a 14.2km time trial. The overall lead changed hands for the third time in three days, as Petito’s teammate Sergei Ivanov displaced Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. Petito finished ahead of second-placed Spaniard David Plaza Romero and his Russian teammate Sergei Ivanov, who takes over the lead in the overall standings. It confirms

Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) and Saturn’s Trent Klasna successfully defended their leads at the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic to emerge as the overall victors after Sunday’s tough Sunset Road Race through the hilly residential neighborhoods of south Redlands. While Jeanson simply rode away from the field adding to her already substantial lead, it was the U.S. Postal Service’s Levi Leipheimer who took the final sprint in the men’s event. Jeanson entered Sunday’s final stage with a nearly two-minute lead in general classification over Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner. While two minutes may be an

The Negresco Hotel in Nice

Frigo (in white) and Bartoli (r)

Jeanson decided to test her fitness by riding a 95km TT. She is apparently quite fit.

Saturn team director Jim Copeland congratulates Klasna after stage 6.