If history is any indication, the 2007 Tour de France will be full of surprises. Whenever there are no former winners on the start line — as will be the case this year — anything can happen. That was certainly the case with last year’s race, which had the largest number of surprises since Lance Armstrong took the first of his seven victories in 1999 — the only other time in the past 30 years when there were no previous winners in the field. While uncertainty is a given, there are still favorites for the overall. The Astana team is led by two former podium finishers, German Andreas Klöden

Trek-Volkswagen teammates Chris Eatough and Jeff Schalk grabbed a hard-fought sprint victory over local favorites Andreas Hestler and Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain-Haywood Securities) on Sunday in stage 1 of the B.C. Bike Race on Vancouver Island. Eatough and Schalk covered the 67 miles from Sooke to Lake Cowichan, primarily gravel road with a pair of swoopy single-track sections, in 4:22:32. Hestler and Calhoun were five seconds back on Canada Day, with Manuel Prado and Jason First (La Ruta-Sho-Air) taking third at 2:14. The race features teams of two riders who must stay within two

Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca and Milram sprint star Alessandro Petacchi have been asked to appear before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) next week as part of two separate doping investigations. Petacchi hopes to to clear his name in time for the Tour de France, which begins a week from Saturday in London. The 33-year-old Italian sprinter, who as a precautionary rather than an official measure has been suspended by his team, will be interviewed on the morning of Monday, July 2 by CONI's anti-doping prosecutor, Ettore Torri. CONI is the governing body for all sport in

Alessandro Petacchi faces a race against the clock to prove his innocence over an alleged doping offense so that he can take part in the Tour de France, which starts in London on July 7. The 33-year-old sprinter produced a "non-negative" urine sample when tested by Italian anti-doping officials after the third of his five stage wins at this year's Giro D'Italia at Pinerolo on May 23. The Milram sprint star also won the Giro's points jersey. His sample showed unusually high levels of Salbutamol, a substance primarily used to treat asthma. Salbutamol is a banned substance but

Although news about the inaugural Tour of Missouri has been sparse over the past few months, the race is all systems go, says Medalist Sports managing partner Chris Aronhalt. Medalist Sports, which oversees race management for the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia and the USA Cycling National Professional Championships, will also manage the Tour of Missouri, scheduled for September 11-16. The race will begin in Kansas City and finish in St. Louis. In a year that has seen both the Tour of Utah and the Montréal-Boston UCI stage races canceled due to lack of sponsorship, some had

Kristin Armstrong and Ivan Stevic both put a decisive stamp on this race Friday, but there was plenty of cake to go around for consolation. Toyota-United's Stevic, who regained the yellow jersey from Health Net's Kirk O'Bee in Friday morning's time trial by a six-second margin, had his hand firmly on the wheel for almost the entire race — the second of the day, run on an exciting 1km course set in the heart of Minneapolis in front of a captive audience of 30,000. With a fair sky and cool breezes, Toyota-United weren't just protecting Stevic's lead — they were

The penultimate stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix was an 86-mile tour through the cornfields of Southern Minnesota. But in its final miles, the route dropped into the river city of Mankato, and finished on a brutal 1000-meter climb that was repeated three times. It was the Midwest's approximation of a mountain-top finish, particularly after a long day on hot and humid rollers. For the women, the cornfields were all prelude, with two small breakaways — one for 25 miles by Rushlee Buchanan (Apple Jazz) — that turned out to be fruitless. When the women hit the first circuit, Kristin

O'Bee takes the sprint

With just four victories so far, compared to many more in years before, Robbie McEwen's Tour de France form was a little suspect. On Wednesday in Giubiasco, the pocket-rocket from Predictor-Lotto took a vital step in his quest for a fourth maillot vert by triumphing on Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse. It wasn't easy, however, the 34-year-old veteran Aussie sprinter having to use each and every part of his compact, muscled frame as he fought with his bike more than anything else to eventually overcome Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati and Milram's Erik Zabel, stage winner last

The possibility of thunderstorms after a long hot summer day did nothing to deter 5000 cycling fans from showing up for an evening of criterium racing in downtown St. Paul for the opening stages of the 2007 Nature Valley Grand Prix, won by Cheerwine’s Catherine Cheatley and Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic. Minnesota's capitol city provided a tight one-kilometer crit’ course with six 90-degree turns punctuated by heavily painted crosswalks and lightning to the south. Under a sultry and threatening summer sky, the women's field was dominated by Stage 1 Video HighlightsKristen Armstrong,

Frank Pipp of the Health Net-Maxxis team was on his own at the Austin Criterium last Saturday. With no teammates helping him at the AT&T Criterium, he had to play the race smart and take advantage of opportunities when they opened up. His tactical prowess helped earn him a strong second place in the race behind Frank Trevieso (AEG-Toshiba), and ahead of Ivan Stevic and Henk Vogels (both Toyota-United). "It was a fast race, with a pretty good field," Pipp said. In addition to three riders from Toyota and AEG-Toshiba, he also had to contend with a three-man team from Abercrombie & Fitch,

While Navigators Insurance rider Ben Day was securing his overall leadat the Tour de Beauce, his teammate Kyle Wamsley scored another team win when he took the sprint at the inaugural Crystal City Classic presented by the United States Air Force in Arlington, Virginia. Wamsley and Jon Hamblin (Manulife Financial-Kane Bikes) attacked a high-pacedmain field with 12km to go, and stayed away until the finish of the NRCevent. Local rider Peter Cannel (Artemis Elite-Immediate Mortgage) tookthe field sprint for third.“It is a technical course and hard to make a break so we had to be alittle

Confession appears to have its rewards. Milram's Erik Zabel, who three weeks earlier admitted to using EPO, says he's a man reborn, and on Sunday in Lucerne, the 36-year-old used his newfound spiritual freedom to win the opening road stage of the Tour de Suisse. It was a perfect throw of the bike by the veteran Zabel, who just pipped Lampre-Fondital's Daniele Bennati at the line, surprisingly followed by race leader Fabian Cancellara (CSC). The maillot jaune and local hero was given a superb lead-out by his Australian teammate and friend Stuart O'Grady, who finished fourth,

Defending National Mountain Bike Series short-track champions Geoff Kabush and Katerina Nash each grabbed their second short-track victories of 2007 at the Deer Valley NMBS on Sunday. Nash, ranked 13th in the World Cup cross-country standings, scored a come-from-behind victory against Luna teammate Georgia Gould. Kabush, leader of the 2007 NMBS cross-country standings, stretched a second-lap gap into a winning solo breakaway. Gould seized the lead on the opening lap of the women’s short track after surging up the course’s one dusty climb with Subaru-Gary Fisher rider Willow Koerber in hot

The 22nd edition of the Tour de Beauce ended Sunday with the Navigators Insurance squad taking their its third consecutive victory, as Australian Ben Day easily held off last ditch attempts by second placed Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) and Danny Pate (Slipstream) to put him in difficulty. The stage was won by veteran Soren Petersen (Farso Denmark), who – perhaps unsportingly - outsprinted breakaway companion Christian Meier (Symmetrics), after letting Meier pull for the final 34 kilometers. The final stage of Beauce always takes place in the host town of St-Georges. It is by no means a parade

It is time. When the Tour de Suisse begins in Olten on Saturday, the occasion is not so significant for the opening time trial, as it is that the Tour de France is exactly three weeks away. For the time being at least, the Puerto headlines do not rule the sporting pages of magazines or newspapers. The confessions, that have so far numbered four, have stopped. But the cynicism is still there; the public wants - no, the public needs - to see some clean winners, and it must start now. One of two primary lead-up events to Tour itself, the Tour de Suisse runs concurrently with the Critirium du

Farrar wins in PortugalTyler Farrar scored his first win as a pro in Europe in Friday’s second stage at the GP Correios in Portugal. The 23-year-old Cofidis rider opened up an early sprint that not only earned him a breakthrough victory but also slotted him into the overall leader’s jersey. Farrar fractured his left kneecap in a fall on the infamous Kemmelberg cobblestone descent at Ghent-Wevelgem in April, but luckily, surgery wasn’t required. That allowed him to return to Europe to race at the Tour of Picardy and the Tour of Belgium last month. The Portuguese tour ends Sunday and Farrar is

Those who began to hail Bradley Wiggins as the likely winner of the Tour de France prologue spoke too soon. On Saturday in Olten, reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC) smashed the prologue of the Tour de Suisse and his rivals, sending out a flashing red warning light to his adversaries all over Europe. "This victory is a confirmation that everything is working right, that I am back to winning form," announced Cancellara, who by default also took the first yellow jersey as race leader. "The Tour de France [prologue] will be completely different, because the roads

Mike Sayers (BMC) won Saturday’s Twilight Criterium in Reno, Nevada. The race concluded with a tactical sprint between Sayers and Jaior Perez of the Colombian National Team. Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) used his explosive sprinting ability to win the chase-group sprint, finishing third in the stage and first in the omnium. Saturday’s race was extremely fast from the moment it began. Once again, the Colombian team kept the pace painfully high on the 0.8-mile loop, turning the 90-minute criterium into a race of attrition. An early breakaway by Perez was followed by 10 of the field’s

With an 11th-hour burst of speed, Frank Travieso placed a commandingfootprint on the 2007 AT&T Downtown Austin Criterium which went downon Saturday, June 16th. Coming out of the final turn of the four corner,1KM circuit Travieso clearly demonstrated that he had gotten the betterof his competition.

Conflicts with the USA Cycling Elite National Championships in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, have forced organizers of the Cascade Cycling Classic to cancel this year’s women’s stage race. A decision was made this week to postpone the women’s Pro 1-2 race until 2008. Race organizer Chad Sperry called it “one of the toughest decisions in recent history.” “We are just heartbroken about this situation,” said Sperry, who also directs the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. “Last fall I sat down with the owners of the event, Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation (MBSEF), and we had decided to take the

Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) won the first of two criteriums in thisyear’s Tour de Nez on a beautiful Friday evening in Truckee, California. The local favorite took advantage of a mid-race break and capped offhis effort with a ferocious sprint. Finishing just half of a wheel length behind Candelario was Juan PabloForero of the Colombian National Team, and just behind Forero was TonyCruz (Discovery), the overall winner of last year's Tour de Nez. During the first 30 minutes of the race, the field was at the mercyof the Colombian National Team, which maintained a blistering pace,

Mont Ventoux served up a dandy in Thursday’s 197km fourth stage as the Dauphiné Libéré remains anything but decided with six riders within 53 seconds of each other in the overall standings. Christophe Moreau (Ag2r) attacked to his second win in three days as Andrey Kashechkin inherited the race leader’s jersey from Alexandre Vinokourov just as Astana promised, but it didn’t come without pain.

There were two races going on today in stage three of the Tour de Beauce - the one to claim victory at the top of Mont Megantic, and one for the yellow jersey of overall race leader. Glen Chadwick (Navigators) took his second consecutive win for the former, and Gregorio Ladino Vega (Tecos) won the fight for yellow, deposing Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). The Mont Megantic stage is the 'big one' at Beauce. It is not the longest, but it does have 4 KoM climbs, ending with a five kilometer ascent to over 1100 meters atop Mont Megantic. The average gradient for the final 3

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) successfully defended his race leader’s jersey in the second stage of Canada’s Tour de Beauce on Wednesday. A group of nine riders - nine minutes down on the leaders - was able to break away 40 kilometers into the race, with Glen Chadwick (Navigators) then soloing in the final 27 kilometers to win the stage. The 171 kilometer stage represented a new circuit for the Tour, north of the race hub town of St-Georges. The stage opened with a KoM climb, which was guaranteed to cause some action among riders hoping to make up for missing the split in the

Christophe Moreau started the Dauphiné Libéré hoping to test his form before next month’s Tour de France. If Tuesday’s bumpy ride into Saint-Etienne was any indication, he’s done that and more with a stage victory that also put him into the race leader’s yellow jersey. At 36, Moreau is no spring chicken, but he rode hard enough to bridge out with about 40km to go, joining a two-man breakaway that pulled away early in the 157km hilly route from Saint-Paul-en-Jarez to Saint-Etienne. Riding Moreau’s vapors were Juan Antonio Redondo (Astana) and Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step-Innergetic). The

Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) took his first victory in more than two seasons on the opening day of the Tour de Beauce with an extremely bold solo breakaway from the lead group after 158 kilometers of racing. Walters' team mate Dominique Rollin, the Canadian national champion, took the 10 rider sprint for second, while the original break initiator Jacob Erker (Symmetrics) took third, giving Canada a sweep of the podium. The 171-kilometer Lac Etchmin stage is a classic Beauce race: long, steady and constant climbs, rough roads and steady wind. Temperatures in the high 80s

If the Dauphiné Libéré is just as much about a preview of the upcoming Tour de France as it is about actually winning the race, then Monday’s 219km first stage changed the plotline just slightly. The 219km hilly trek from Grenoble to Roanne followed the script throughout most of the day. A two-man no-hope breakaway slipped away in the early going, built up a seemingly large lead of nearly 10 minutes, only to be reeled in by the collaborative efforts of Cofidis – looking to defend the leader’s jersey for Bradley Wiggins – and Quick Step-Innergetic – looking to slip Tom Boonen in for the

When a 156-mile race ends in a massive field sprint it’s easy to think that nothing much happened. But that wasn’t the case in the 23rd edition of the Commerce Bank Philadelphia Championship on Sunday. Indeed, there were many subplots behind the final result: a clear victory for Team CSC’s rapid Argentinean J.J. Haedo from his rookie Australian teammate Matt Goss, with T-Mobile’s Bernhard Eisel placing third to easily clinch the Commerce Bank Triple Crown after winning the first two events of Philly Week. It seemed like a logical result, but several factors affected the outcome, including a

A booming thunderstorm cleared out the humid, 95-degree air above Philadelphia Friday night, making way for cooler, breezy weather at this weekend’s climax of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. Also Friday evening, Giant Bicycles hosted a dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant, where the mighty T-Mobile team’s general manager Bob Stapleton introduced the eight men and six women who are seeking to give their team a perfect record in this year’s Triple Crown. Already this past week, Austrian Bernhard Eisel and German Ina Teutenberg have notched up victories in Lancaster and

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