Michael Barry couldn’t figure out why he had trouble breathing nearly all spring. His doctors told him it was likely allergies or perhaps asthma. Like professionals often do in the face of pain or setback, he kept pushing on. His breathing problems became so bad, however, he was forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia after just one stage. He finally went to see a local doctor in his European home in Girona, Spain. The diagnosis: pneumonia. “I got really sick at Paris-Nice and I never really felt normal all spring. I had problems with my breathing,” Barry told VeloNews. “It was about 10 days

T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel and Ina Teutenberg are well on their way to clinching the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling after they both won Thursday afternoon’s Reading Classic in central Pennsylvania. They also won the first leg of the Triple Crown series last Sunday in Lancaster. One big difference between Sunday and Thursday was the weather. Following tropical rainfall that drenched the men in Lancaster, the 172 starters enjoyed sunshine, low humidity and 80-degree temperatures in Reading for the second edition of the Reading Classic. The change in the weather didn’t faze Eisel, the

The T-Mobile team has opted not to select Ukrainian time trial specialist Sergei Honchar for next month's Tour de France following a suspicious blood test last month. Honchar, the winner of two time trial stages in last year's Tour, was sidelined from T-Mobile’s Giro d'Italia squad last month after a blood test showed “abnormalities,” suggesting that he had doped. T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton said the one-time Soviet rider, who will turn 37 four days before the July 7 start of the Tour, will not race for the team next season. "A blood health check showed abnormalities four

For those who didn’t know him before last year’s Tour de France, David de la Fuente was just another Spanish journeyman who happily did the unglamorous work of a domestique with the occasional breakaway thrown in for good measure. No one could have guessed that the son of a butcher would be one of the main protagonists, winning the most agressiver rider prize and giving climbing king Michael Rasmussen a run for his money in the hunt for the polka-dot best climber’s jersey. De la Fuente gained his 15 minutes of fame last year in the Tour’s second stage, when the Saunier Duval-Prodir rider

Discovery Channel rider Vladimir Gusev won the overall title in the Tour of Belgium on Sunday. The Russian classics specialist finished 39 seconds ahead of Maaten Tjallingii with Leif Hoste nabbing third at 40 seconds back. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) snagged his first win since returning to competition after a three-week break to recover from injury after sprinting to victory in the 148.8km final stage from Aywaille to Putte. Kenny Van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) was second with Allan Davis (Discovery Channel) coming through third. Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) was 10th. “This morning I asked my teammates

Consolation was the theme for the winners of Sunday’s finale in the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the stage-6 Downtown Hood River Criterium. For men’s winner Heath Blackgrove of Toyota-United, the win was a welcome return to racing after a spring season derailed by a nagging knee injury. The win was also a gift to his Toyota-United team, which had not yet won a stage and was not able to land a rider on the podium overall. For women’s criterium winner Katherine Carroll, who collected her second stage victory, it was the next best thing to her Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings team winning the

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s Wy’East Road Race lived up to all expectations, delivering suffering, anguish and heartbreak for many of the day’s stage and overall contenders, and ultimately relief for the GC leaders of the pro men’s and women’s fields. Saturday’s epic 89.5-mile slog from Cooper Spur Mountain Resort to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort dished up 9200 feet of elevation gain and saw a pair of first-time Mt. Hood stage winners in Darren Lill (Navigators Insurance) and Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Neither rider was able to take over the general classification,

Rashaan Bahati delivered his first-year Rock Racing team its biggest win yet on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Virginia, blazing to the head of a field sprint to take home the 10th edition of the CSC Invitational. Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) won the women’s race, outsprinting race-long breakaway companion Rebecca Larson (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine) was third. Bahati in the heatWith temperatures hovering around the 90-degree mark, it was once again a race of attrition on the notoriously difficult 1km, five-turn course, which winds its way through Arlington’s

Italian Fabiana Luperini (Menikini-Selle Italia-Gysko) ignited the definitive break and outsprinted American Mara Abbott (Webcor) to win the sixth round of the Women's World Cup series in Montréal on Saturday. Luperini rode Abbott's wheel into the finishing straight and easily came around her in the final 100 meters for the win. Once again, the quality of the Montréal course came to the forefront. With 11 laps of an 11km circuit, including the famed climb up Mont Royal, attrition is always the name of the game here. Numerous attacks always take place, but it is a difficult course to

On a summery Thursday afternoon in Riese Pio X, 33 year-old La Spezia speedster Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) avoided a final corner crash to claim his fourth victory in the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia. Largely unaided up to the line, Petacchi, seemingly unperturbed after what happened in front of him, closed the gap to Quick Step's Matteo Tosatto with casual aplomb, launching himself down the finishing straight with nearly 600 meters remaining and charged to the line largely unchallenged.

Tyler Farrar is racing his “home tour” this week in his adopted country of Belgium in his return to major European competition since crashing out of Ghent-Wevelgem in April. The budding Cofidis classics rider sprinted to third in Thursday’s second stage at the Tour of Belgium and fourth in Wednesday’s first stage in a clear sign that he’s doing better than expected after his nasty fall on the notorious Kemmelberg cobblestones last month. “After my crash, I went back to the U.S. to see a specialist and tests showed it wasn’t as bad as first that, so I was back on the bike after three weeks

With just 10km remaining of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s hilly stage 3 Cooper Spur Circuit Race, Navigators Insurance rider Glen Chadwick was the virtual race leader on the road, nursing a 45-second lead over a dwindling peloton. But the final climb proved to be a few kilometers too long for Chadwick to take the yellow jersey from Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) — and almost a bit too long for Chadwick to take the stage win. Chadwick entered the day seventh on GC, 24 seconds behind Jacques-Maynes. Three and a half hours later, the Aussie attacked off the front of a dwindled

NRC individual points leader Ben Jacques-Maynes showed that he is one of the top riders in America by winning stage 2 of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Wednesday. The Priority Health-Bissell team leader's bunch-sprint win, ahead of Navigators Insurance rider Phil Zajicek, came with a 15-second time bonus, propelling Jacques-Maynes into the race lead. Wednesday's Columbia Hills Road Race, a long, hot affair at 112 miles in dry 90-degree heat, began with a correction in general classification after race officials determined that overnight leader Devon Vigus (California Giant

Armed with the cunning – and innate sense of timing – that come from 11 years as a professional, 33 year-old Stefano Garzelli, just as he did three days before in Bergamo, gave a textbook display of controlled aggression Tuesday in Lienz, Austria. The reward? His second victory of the 2007 Giro.

The next stage race on USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar, the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, kicks off Tuesday in Hood River, Oregon. Now in its fifth year and its third as an NRC event, the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic has quickly emerged as one of the top stage races in the U.S., drawing professional and amateurs from several different categories. But with the Commerce Bank Triple Crown series beginning in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, June 3, the final day of Mt. Hood, many teams are either splitting their squads or simply skipping the Oregon race. That’s not to say that the six-stage

More than 15,000 spectators from Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium braved rain and mud to cheer on the stars of mountain biking at the second round of the World Cup on Sunday in Offenburg, Germany. Nestled in the southwest corner of Germany, next to Switzerland and France, Offenburg is a region of vineyards on the edge of the Black Forest. The cross-country World Cup was restarting after a month-long break, a respite that meant previous results were no clear indication of form. This indeed proved to be the case, with one leader's jersey changing hands, and neither of the

Australia's Bradley McGee will miss the Tour de France for a second year in a row because of an ongoing problem with the herniated disc in his back. McGee, who spectacularly won the prologue of the centenary Tour in 2003 with the slimmest of margins over Britain's David Millar, had been hoping to get back to the world's biggest race after missing it last year. But despite appearing to be on the road to recovery from his back problem, McGee said he has been "forced to face reality.” A statement on the 31-year-old Sydneysider's website explained: "It is time to face facts and

Tina Pic gave the United States Cycling Team its ninth medal and sixth continental title with a victory in the elite women's road race at the 2007 Pan American Road and Track Championships on Saturday. Pic won the 72-kilometer road race to conclude competition for the American squad by outsprinting silver medalist Yumari Gonzales of Cuba and bronze medalist Gina Grain of Canada. Pic's victory gave the American women a sweep of the road events after Alison Powers won Friday's time trial. Given the relatively flat course and short distance of the road race, Pic was designated as

Fresh off a successful European road trip, the professional continental Navigators squad announced its return to domestic criterium racing with a dominant performance at Saturday’s Kelly Cup in Baltimore, Maryland. The team put six men in a 20-strong escape that formed with 15 laps of the 1-mile course remaining, and it was Aussie Hilton Clarke (Navigators) that struck the winning blow, soloing the final four laps to victory and nearly lapping the field in the process. Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) won the women’s event in tight field sprint over U.S. national criterium champion Theresa

This is the Alessandro Petacchi we all remember, the world-class sprinter delivered to the line by a well-orchestrated machine of a lead-out team and fending off a field of the world’s best over the last meters of a stage. It’s enough to make a guy forget the last 12 months.

Jennie Reed won her second medal of the week at the 2007 Pan American Roadand Track Championships on Wednesday, adding a silver medal in the matchsprint to the gold she won on Monday in the keirin.After securing a spot in Wednesday's semifinals on Tuesday, Reed tooktwo out of three head-to-head sprints from Mexico's Nancy Contreras toadvance to the gold-medal final against Cuba's Lizandra Guerra.  Guerra,who finished second to Reed in the keirin two days ago, got the best ofReed to claim the gold.In his first race since announcing his return to competitive cycling,Colby

American Olympic cross-country hopeful Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher) of Boulder, Colorado, scored an impressive third place finish at the sixth round of Germany’s Budesliga national series in Albstadt on May 20. Irmiger finished four minutes down on Russian Irina Kalentyeva (Ergon-Topeak) and three minutes behind German national champion Sabine Spitz (Ghost International). “The course really suits me,” Irmiger said. “The long climb mentally is very [good] for me. The people were screaming so loud, it was amazing. I never had [a race] like this.” Irmiger’s podium performance came

In a nation that’s produces sprinters like Texas churns out linebackers, Danilo Napolitano hardly rated on the power rankings in the Italian sprinter hierarchy. All that changed Monday for the 26-year-old Sicilian when he bullied his way past Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) and Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) to win the 177km ninth stage by a whisker.

In its first day of racing in Europe the Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing came out swinging at the FBD Insurance Ras on Sunday, with young rider Jesse Anthony capturing the King of the Mountain jersey and team sprinter Dominique Rollin taking fourth place on the stage. On an uncharacteristically sunny day, the field set off from Naas after a brief morning transit from Dublin. Enthusiastic crowds assembled to greet the race as the riders took a neutralized parade ride through the village streets. Once outside of town, it didn't take long for the racing

Kurt-Asle Arvesen doesn’t win very often, but when he does, he has a knack for beating some pretty big names. The 32-year-old CSC rider scored his 15th professional win in Sunday’s 200km eighth stage ath the Giro d’Italia with style, out-sprinting reigning world champion Paolo Bettini (QuickStep) in a stinking hot stage that saw a 22-man breakaway featuring George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) take four minutes out of the main peloton.

It was a bike stab to turn the page on a year of suffering. Alessandro Petacchi jammed his bike across the line in Saturday’s seventh stage to win for the second time in a week and officially close the book on his long comeback from injury in last year’s Giro d’Italia. The Milram rider timed his move perfectly to win a high-octane sprint on the Mugello race circuit ahead of Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and Paolo Bettini (QuickStep-Innergetic) by a half-wheel length.

George Hincapie is enjoying his first crack at the Giro d’Italia. The American national champion sat on the hood of the Discovery Channel team car Saturday morning as he soaked up the sights ahead of the start of the 254km seventh stage. The hilltop town of Spoleto was bathed in pink for the partenza and Hincapie was clearly digging the scene. “I am really enjoying the Giro,” Hincapie told VeloNews. “The racing is good but it’s a lot more relaxed here than the Tour. This is just what I needed.” Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that Hincapie’s never raced the Giro during his

No one seemed particularly happy with the finish of the fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday - except the guy who won it. Gerolsteiner’s Robert Förster emerged at the front of a mad dash through a frightening closing kilometer at the end a 173-kilometer stage from Teano to Frascati to score the second Giro stage victory of his career. Overall race leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) finished comfortably in the main field to hold on to his 26-second advantage over teammate Franco Pellizotti on general classification.

Danilo Di Luca repeated his victory atop the Montevergine climb from 2001 in Wednesday’s rainy and crash-marred fourth stage, but things have changed a lot for “The Killer” since those heady days six years ago. Back then, Di Luca was the hot, emerging star who everyone predicted would one day win the Giro d’Italia. Other than come close with fourth overall in 2005, Di Luca has never delivered on that promise.

You could almost hear the “delete” buttons being tapped in the Giro d’Italia pressroom in Cagliari on the Island of Sardinia on Monday. All of those stories about how Milram’s Alessandro Petacchi was a washed-up version of yesterday’s news were sent to the trash can as the man known as Ale-Jet scored his 20th Giro stage win at the end of a largely flat, 181-kilometer stage from Barumini to Cagliari.

Robbie McEwen doesn’t speak much Italian, but he knows enough to tell TV reporters at the finish line in a hot and challenging 205km second stage along the west coast of Sardinia that was he was tickled pink with his 12th career Giro d’Italia stage victory. The Australian pocket rocket bolted past a wilting Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and held off a late burst by Paolo Bettini (QuickStep) to notch his 153rd career victory.

Stanford University claimed the Division I road racing national championship this weekend in Lawrence, Kansas, while Western Washington University took the Division II crown at the 2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships. After three days of racing, May 11-13, Stanford didn’t win any of the individual events – the team time trial, road race nor criterium – but instead won the Division I championship by the virtue of the consistency of its finishes. “We finally had the depth in both men and women to do it,” Stanford’s Devin Flaherty said. “Usually it’s one or the other, but

Marzot wins the sprint for D2 Men's Road champ.

Now that Saturday’s team time trial has sorted out the field, the peloton in the 2007 Giro d’Italia hits the road with a 205-kilometer stage from Tempio Pausania to Bosa on the island of Sardinia. The stage offers a prime opportunity for renowned sprinters like Alessandro Petacchi, Robbie McEwen and Paolo Bettini, but the outcome is by no means a forgone conclusion. The favorites are joined in the field-sprint stakes by several impressive talents, including Thor Hushovd, Danilo Napolitano and Giro newcomer J.J. Haedo. These and others are likely to be the names we'll see contesting

Managing the heat and an aggressive peloton, Midwestern State University’s Alex Boyd captured the men’s Division I road race national title Saturday in Perry, Kansas. Racing a rolling, 28-mile circuit for three laps (84 miles), Boyd remained dormant through most of the race, the second race of the 2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, which began on Friday and wraps up Sunday. An eager peloton unleashed attack after attack on the country roads of east Kansas, but no riders could open up any significant gaps early on. Under an unforgiving sun, fatigue set in, and the

"Cycling in the News" is a regular service of VeloNews.com. Readers, reporters and friends are encouraged to send links to current stories about competitive cyclists and cycling that appear in the mainstream media. If you come across a news item that you believe may be of interest to other VeloNews readers, we would be grateful if you choose to send it to rosters@InsideInc.com. After scandal, cycling struggles for sponsorsThe New York TimesWith the Tour de France approaching this summer, the sport of cycling is taking brutal spills in corporate suites, where deals are made to sponsor

For the two years four-cross racer Jill Kintner has been America’s best hope to bring home a medal from the mountain-bike championships. She has delivered wonderfully, collecting the rainbow stripes in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, her gold at the world’s was America’s only medal in the sport it created back in the late 1970s. Over the last two years, Kintner has seen few women racing four-cross. Some have traded in their mountain bikes for BMX rigs to chase after the 2008 Olympics. Others have been scared away by the World Cup’s monstrous four-cross courses. Kintner, a former world champion BMX

With Operación Puerto eliminating defending champion Ivan Basso and potential contenders Michele Scarponi and Tyler Hamilton, the list of potential winners is much shorter. This will lead to a more uncertain Giro, but the podium is almost sure to be contested by the big four: Cunego, Simoni, Savoldelli and Di Luca. TOP FAVORITES Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital Age:25 Giro highlights: Overall winner, four stage wins and 11 days in the maglia rosa in 2004, 4th overall in 2006 (but almost 20 minutes back), 18th in 2005, 34th in 2003. The skinny: After being zapped by mononucleosis in

UCI PROTOUR TEAMSAg2r (F)Race numbers: 51-59GC contender: New team leader Rinaldo Nocentini (I) is most interested in winning a stage.Best sprinter: Alexandre Usov (Blr) had a top-three stage finish in the 2004 Giro. Other rider to watch: Carl Naibo (F), a late replacement, is a useful climber.Giro will be a success if: Nocentini wins a stage.Astana (Swi)Race numbers: 11-19GC contender: Paolo Savoldelli (I) is looking for his third Giro title after contending and then falling sick in 2006Other rider to watch: Eddy Mazzoleni (I) is a strong climber riding support for Savoldelli.Giro will be a

Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) and Katherine Carroll (Aaron’s) took their respective openers as the 30th Joe Martin Stage Race kicked off Friday in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The 110-mile pro men’s race started in 80-degree heat and gradually grew hotter, but rains late in the stage dropped the temperature to a more comfortable 70 degrees. Dominguez, who took the sprint finish ahead of teammate Ivan Stevic and Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly), said the rains were a welcome relief. “The beginning was a little bit hot, but it was great when the rains came. It really cooled down,” Dominguez said.

The course for the 90th Giro d’Italia offers something for everyone — but the climbs in the final week should decide the winner. The May 12-June 3 grand tour has eight “flat” stages, five “mixed” stages, five mountain stages (with four summit finishes), two individual races against the clock (one of them a hill climb), and an opening team time trial that could see a bitter battle between the top teams — with CSC, starting with world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and U.S. TT champ Dave Zabriskie, the favorite. Indeed, the opening stage TTT is a challenging 25.6km long, linking the

American continental road team BMC made history on Thursday when it won the team time trial at the May 9-13 Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy. It was a round of firsts for the team — its first European race, its first European win, and, according to team consultant and USA Cycling president Jim Ochowicz, BMC was the first all-American squad to win a team time trial in Europe. The win launched BMC’s Jonathan Garcia to the top of the general classification and landed Scott Nydam in second place overall. Both Garcia and Nydam were members of a 20-man breakaway during stage 1 that

Curtiss Gunn (Successfulliving.com) and Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine) won the finale to the USA Crits Southeast Series on Sunday, the Decatur Daily Downtown Criterium in Decatur, Alabama. Gunn spent most of the men’s race off the front with Mike Olheiser (Memphis Motor Werks), soaking up all the primes, then took an easy sprint win over the Cat. I from Huntsville. The women’s race saw Uhl and five other riders escape the field, with Uhl proving strongest at the finish, as the contenders for the overall sat on behind. When the final points were tallied, the overall titles went to Mark Hekman

Thousands of people beat the barriers lining downtown Anniston, Alabama, on Saturday as AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork's Frank Travieso roared across the line to win the Sunny King Criterium. With several teams having abdicated their top-10 positions (among them Kodak Gallery's Dominique Rollin and Josh Thornton, Health Net's Kyle Gritters, and Rock Racing's Rahssan Bahati), the large crowd witnessed a decidedly revitalized field battling for points in the 2007 USA Crits Southeast series. Breakaway action came in the form of a quartet that included Yosvany Falcon

Argentina’s Juan Jose Haedo (CSC) won a sprint finish in Denmark’s Colliers Classic on Sunday. The Argentinean sprinter outkicked Alex Rasmussen (Team Odense Energi) and Jens-Erik Madsen (Team Designa Køkken) to win the 199.5km race, run around Aarhus. Top five1. Juan Jose Haedo (Arg), CSC, 199.5km in 4:41:102. Alex Rasmussen (Den), Team Odense Energi, same time3. Jens-Erik Madsen (Den), Team Designa Køkken, s.t4. Staffan Loffler (G), Team Sparkasse, s.t.5. Kurt Asle Arvesen (Nor), CSC, s.t.Complete results Nibali wins Giro di ToscanaItalian Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) won the 80th Giro di

The final stage of the 2007 Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila ended with two pairs of winners — stage winners Scott Moninger (BMC) and Marisa Asplund (Tibco), and overall winners Nathan O'Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mara Abbott (Webcor). The infamous Gila Monster stage began at Gough Park in Silver City and finished in Pinos Altos. The pro men’s field followed a 105.7-mile loop to its turnaround point at the Gila Cliff Dwellings Visitor Center, then went on to the finish in Pinos Altos, climbing 9131 feet. Pro women followed an abbreviated loop of 71.8 miles, bypassing the Gila Cliff

Brice Jones (Jelly Belly) and Jill McLaughlin (Touchtone Climbing) took commanding wins at the Downtown Silver City Criterium, the fourth stage of the 2007 Ben D. Altamirano Tour of the Gila. The stage did little to shake up the general classification, with Nathan O’Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mara Abbott (Webcor) retaining their pink leader’s jerseys. Wind and blowing dust assaulted both the professionals and amateurs who raced around the 1.1-mile downtown circuit, which included two short, punchy climbs. The small ascents created separations in both pro races — but the course’s long,

After several close calls, AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork finally cracked the code on day 5 of the 2007 USA Crits Southeast series. Taking a good 5-meter gap on Martin Gilbert (Kelly Benefits), Keith Norris blasted through a serious headwind that swept through Greenwood, South Carolina, during the final moments of Thursday's Uptown Greenwood Pro Cycling Challenge. "With 15 laps to go the wind started kicking up really bad, and going through the turn you could actually feel it catching your wheels,” Norris said. “At turn number four I jumped and started sprinting. The cookie crumbled the right

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Italian rider Matteo Bono (Lampre-Fondital) won the third stage of the Tour de Romandie on Friday, but his breakaway group narrowly failed to deprive Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) of the yellow jersey after they squandered a 19-minute lead. The experienced Savoldelli held on to his overall lead by just a handful of seconds over fellow Italian Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile) after his rivals tired and hesitated in the final kilometers. Pinotti had been more than four minutes behind Savoldelli in the overall standings, in 98th place, at the start of the day. Bono and third-placed Pinotti had led for

Michael Rasmussen’s road back from a career-threatening crash in last October’s Giro dell’Emilia continues in the Giro d’Italia. The Danish climbing specialist is hoping to be back in peak form in time for a run at a third consecutive King of the Mountains crown at the Tour de France, and the mountainous profile of the Giro provides the perfect training ground. “I am doing the Giro, only as preparation for the Tour, though,” Rasmussen told VeloNews in an e-mail. “If the legs are good, I might try something in a few stages. If not, I am prepared to take a beating. I guess the latter scenario

Australian Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) won Thursday’s second stage of the Tour de Romandie in a sprint finish marred by a fall in the final yards. Italian Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) escaped unscathed to retain the leader's yellow jersey after Colombian Leonardo Duque took a tumble in the last 150 meters, bringing down several riders in the bunched pack, including Briton David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir). Slovenian Borut Bozic (Team LPR) was second, followed by Italian Enrico Gasparotto (Liquigas). "In the sprint I got into a good position. And I'm really happy because it's

Fresh from his fourth-place finish at the 2007 Tour of Virginia, Rite Aid's Alejandro Borrajo made his presence felt at Tuesday’s Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic, pipping Cuban sprinter Frank Travieso (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) at the line. "I'm very happy. Now I'm getting the outcome that I was hoping for,” said Borrajo. “I think the racing in Virginia served me very well. I'm recovering well and I have momentum now, so I'm very content."

Markus Fothen (Gerolsteiner) won the first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday. The German outsprinted Spaniards Francisco Perez and Joaquin Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne) to win the 157.8km stage from Granges-Paccot to La Chaux-de-Fonds. Italian Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) retained the leader's yellow jersey. Fothen's win in the northern Swiss town took him to third place in the general standings behind the 32-year-old Savoldelli and Czech Roman Kreuziger. Five riders broke away just 18km into the stage and their valiant effort only came to an end 125km later. Veteran

Fothen takes the sprint

The Giro d'Italia and Tour de France may be a long way off for some - but the conclusion of the spring classics season on Sunday has brought the pink and yellow jerseys that much closer. The Tour of Romandie begins Tuesday with six of days of mostly climbing in the Swiss mountains signaling the steady run in to the first two Grand Tours of the season. The three-week Giro begins on May 12, and the tour of Romandie gives the race's pink jersey aspirants a chance to test their legs over some tough climbing terrain. Cadel Evans of the Predictor-Lotto team is the reigning champion, but

Italian Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) won the prologue of the Tour de Romandie on Tuesday, leaving his main rivals trailing in the hilly 3.5km time trial through the streets of Fribourg. The 34-year-old, two-time Giro winner claimed his fourth prologue win in the Swiss race, finishing with a five-second lead over Czech Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) and seven seconds ahead of third-placed American Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto). Complete results "I didn't come here to win but to test myself and to do the best possible," Savoldelli said after tackling the long steep climb and a flat sprint to

An astounded and elated Mark Hekman stood in the floodlit streets of Athens, Georgia, on April 28 as the winner of the Heyward Allen Toyota Athens Twilight Criterium. The 29-year-old Abercrombie & Fitch rider was one of the few in the elite men's field to walk away unscathed by an evening of spectacular crashes.Two significant pileups, one of which led to the neutralization and subsequent restart of the race, changed the fortunes of many hopefuls who came geared up for the kickoff race to this year's USA Crits and USA Crits Southeast series. At one point, dozens of riders went down

The final and deciding stage of the 29th La Vuelta de Bisbee unfolded Sunday on the high desert terrain of Southern Arizona. In past years, a familiar script had played out — a group would leap off the front, build a sizable gap in the rolling terrain west of Bisbee and be reeled back in as the mountains approached and the climbers took over. But this year, the gap was bigger, and there were able climbers in the breakaway. At the first intermediate sprint, a group of nine driven by three RideClean riders worked to build a 4:30 lead. In the break were Daniel Ramsey (Successful Living) and

Coming into the 93rd Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the number of riders named as potential race favorites was almost overwhelming. Nearly a dozen men were believed to have a serious shot at winning the hilly classic on its demanding course that suits a variety of riders. In the end, the cadre of serious contenders proved to be a hindrance for all the favorites, except one — Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas). The Italian, who won the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone in 2005, completed a career triple of the Ardennes Classics by bridging across to a late attack by CSC’s Frank Schleck and then jumping away

Riding an early breakaway Sunday, Colombian Javier Zapata held onto the GC leader’s jersey to win the 2007 Tour of Virginia. Zapata (Caico) came into the 100-mile stage 7 with just an eight-second lead over second-place Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid), but 40km into the race, Zapata latched on to a 10-man breakaway. Borrajo did not, a problem his team attributed to a technological breakdown. “We had problems with our radio and never got word that Zapata was in the break,” Rite Aid director Jonathan Wirsing said. Showing no signs of slowing down, the breakaway stretched its lead to 2:45

A patient Geoff Kabush used his experience to win the Santa Ynez Valley Classic, the second round of the 2007 National Mountain Bike Series. The Canadian, suffering from admittedly bad legs, spent the day riding in the draft of Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and Barry Wicks (Kona), before out sprinting the two Americans for the win. “I took one pull today and it was in the last 50 meters of the race,” Kabush conceded after the win. “Something wasn’t right with me from the get go, and I just tried to hang on today as long as I could. Luckily I just let Wicks and JHK chase each

Anthony nails the sprint

“It’s the best one-day race in cycling.” American Chris Horner, who placed eighth at last year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, says this weekend’s coming edition is the highlight of the season. But the Predictor-Lotto man’s assessment could just as easily come from world champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) or defending Liège champion Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), or any of the 192 riders expected to start the 93rd edition of Liège Sunday, the final race of the spring classics season. “It’s a race almost any type of rider can win — a climber, a Tour rider, a time-trial

With just one stage remaining, Michael Grabinger (Successful Living) and Meshy Holt (Expresscopy.com) lead their respective categories in the 29th La Vuelta de Bisbee. Grabinger scored a pair of runner-up finishes on Saturday’s wind-whipped, double-stage day to move into the overall lead, just five seconds ahead of Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance). The victory in the Stage 1 Sulphur Springs Road Race went to Mexico’s Antonio Aldape (Halcones). Adalpe, countryman and teammate David Salomon and Grabinger had been part of a 13-man break that formed at the first bonus sprint in the 79-mile

Australian sprinter Jonathan Cantwell won his second stage in as many days Saturday at stage 6 of the Tour of Virginia, as Alejandro Borrajo continued to cut into Colombian Javier Zapata’s general classification lead. “It’s getting a little surreal by now,” said Cantwell (Kahala-La Grange), who trails Borrajo (Rite Aid) by six points in the sprint classification. Borrajo finished third in Saturday’s criterium stage, earning a four-second time bonus. Zapata (Caico) finished 11th, with the same time as the pack. Borrajo now trails Zapata in the GC standings by eight seconds. The 35-mile

At just 22, Canadian cross-country rider Max Plaxton (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) already owns palmarès worthy of envy. He is twice the Pan-American U-23 champion (2006 and ‘07) and owns a bronze medal from the 2006 world championships U-23 cross-country race. Now, with countrymen Geoff Kabush and Seamus McGrath entering their 30s, Plaxton is undeniably the future of Canadian cross-country racing. “Young Max,” as his peers call him, took another step toward the big time by winning his first NMBBS race — Saturday’s short-track cross-country at the National Mountain Bike Series’s Santa Ynez

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Aussie Jonathan Cantwell claimed a sprint victory at stage 5 of the Tour of Virginia Friday, as Argentinean Alejandro Borrajo continued to whittle down Colombian Javier Zapata’s overall lead. Taking second and the resulting time bonus in a group sprint, Borrajo (Rite Aid) shaved six seconds off Zapata’s (Caico) lead, bringing the Colombian’s GC advantage to just 12 seconds. Cantwell, originally riding support for Kahala-La Grange, was able to take advantage of the group sprint, thanks to the peloton re-materializing in the final kilometers of the race. Early on in the drizzly, 99-mile

With a victory in stage 4, Argentinean Alejandro Borrajo cut race leader Javier Zapata’s overall lead to 18 seconds Thursday in the 2007 Tour of Virginia. Zapata (Team Caico) came into the stage boasting a 58-second lead over the second-place Borrajo (Rite Aid), but the Argentinean joined an early break on Thursday’s 103-mile stage from Douthat to Waynesboro and stayed away to win. Borrajo, who finished fifth in the points classification in the 2004 Giro d’Italia, rolled through the three Cat. 1 and two Cat. 3 climbs. Sprinter Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) mounted a successful chase effort

After a stage in the lead at the Tour of Virginia, Russ Langley gave up the general classification leader’s jersey to Team Caico’s Javier Zapata of Colombia after stage 3 Wednesday. Zapata, down six seconds heading into the third stage, rode clear from an early breakaway on the 110-mile stage through the Alleghany Highlands, the first true road race and the longest of the seven-stage tour. Heading up the Cat 1. Warms Springs Mountain, Zapata launched himself off the front and didn’t look back. Zapata came into stage 3 in 11th place overall after a tough performance in stage 2, a 25-mile

Our latest reader-submitted Photo Gallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure. Of course, a new gallery also means the naming of the winner of our most recent contest. This week’s winning photograph captures the essence of competitive cycling, even the participants aren’t actually going anywhere. Take a look at Luke Seemann’s “Chicago IRO Sprints,” and see if you agree. Nice work, Luke. Please drop us a note at Rosters@InsideInc.comto work out the details and we’ll send you a copy of our new Coors Classic DVD. Meanwhile, go ahead and take a look at our latest gallery,decide what

The 71st Flèche Wallonne is set to start Wednesday morning in Charleroi, Belgium, amid swirling controversy surrounding the non-participation of both Discovery Channel’s Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso and the embattled Unibet.com team. The race’s name, meaning the “Walloon Arrow,” stems from its eastwardly course direction from the industrial city of Charleroi to Huy, in the French-speaking Walloon, or Wallonia, region of Belgium — an area that represents roughly one-third of Belgium’s population and one half of its territory. The UCI ProTour race will feature a start list of 24 teams

Chicago IRO Sprints

It would take a true trivia buff to remember the last time a rider won a spring classic with a dozen stitches in his knee, but 26-year-old German Stefan Schumacher of Gerolsteiner did just that at the 42nd Amstel Gold Race on Sunday in the Netherlands. Schumacher, who crashed during the final stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on April 14, came into the Ardennes Classics quite unsure of his fitness, after taking four days completely off the bike in the week before Amstel Gold. He rode on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leading into the race, and decided to give it a go.

Discovery’s Janez Brajkovic cruised across the line at the end of the 66.8-mile circuit race that capped off the fifth edition of the Tour de Georgia, comfortably ensconced in the overall leader’s jersey as the sprinters in the peloton battled for the day’s stage honors and points.

It’s been a long dry spell for the man they call “Fast” Freddie Rodriguez. But on Saturday the American blazed back into the winner’s column, taking a blistering bunch sprint that concluded the Tour de Georgia’s stage 6 run from the Lake Lanier Islands to Stone Mountain Park. The win was Rodriguez’s first since stage 4 at this same race exactly a year ago to the day. The victory also moved the Predictor-Lotto rider out of a first place tie with Canadian Gord Fraser on the race’s all time stage wins list. Rodriguez now stands alone with four.

Freddie leads out the sprint, 12 wide.

Carl Menzies wins the day's first sprint and $2000.

After a frustrating finish to Monday’s opener, Toyota-United was rejoicing on Tuesday as Ivan Stevic sprinted to victory in stage 2 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia. J.J. Haedo (Team CSC) and Freddie Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) crossed second and third, while Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems) retained the leader’s jersey after a 135-mile day filled with crosswinds, crashes and a long, three-man break that wasn’t mopped until the peloton began marching on Rome. Complete results