Any sprint victory with Alessandro Petacchi among protagonists is one worth celebrating, especially when it comes in the run-up to the season’s most important race for Italian sprinters. Daniele Bennati (Lampre) snatched a morale-boosting victory ahead of next month’s Milan-San Remo after he surprised a leg-heavy Petacchi, who was forced to chase back from a puncture with nine kilometers to go in the 162.7km Valenciana opener in Alzira. “I knew the only chance to beat Petacchi was to anticipate his sprint and I did that today just at the right moment,” said Bennati, who held off Petacchi by

The early season Spanish racing calendar continues this week with the five-stage Volta a la Comunidad Valenciana. With riders anxious to put some racing miles in their legs ahead of the approaching spring classics, the race is enjoying a fine field with top sprinters and classics-hunters looking to hone their form. Among preliminary start lists are such heavyweights as Alexandre Vinokourov, making his season debut in Astana colors. The Vuelta a España champion will likely keep a low profile as Vino is betting everything on being prepared for the Tour de France. Caisse d’Epargne will have a

Shoreline Drive in Long Beach may not be the Champs-Élysées, but just as the Tour de France traditionally ends with a sprinters’ showdown, so the 2007 Amgen Tour of California climaxed Sunday afternoon with a spectacular mass charge to the line. And just as a surprising winner often takes the Tour’s final stage, so Cuban Ivan Dominguez shocked the heavy hitters of the UCI ProTour and give the stage 7 victory to his domestic American team, Toyota-United.

Eusebio Unzué has had a front-row seat to some of the most exciting exploits in cycling. The affable and passionate sport director for Spain’s Navarra region helped guide Pedro Delgado and then Miguel Indurain into the record books during what were the golden years of Spanish cycling in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. As sport director at Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears, Unzué is already well into his third decade behind the wheel in Spain’s most consistent and successful team. Unzué, who celebrates his 52nd birthday on Monday, has been the right-hand man to team manager José Miguel Echávvari

Pozzato snags Haut VarItalian Filippo Pozzato snagged an impressive victory Sunday in the 39th Tour du Haut-Var as a warm-up toward defending his Milan-San Remo crown next month. The Liquigas captain edged Simon Gerrans (Ag2r) and Spanish rider Ricardo Serrano (Tinkoff) to win the 200km race in the hilly country around Draguignan that also kick-started the season-long French Cup series. Pozzato, the heavy pre-race favorite, covered an early move that included 22 riders in the open half of the race. Leonardo Giordani was the day’s main protagonist after slipping away in a solo move for some

[nid:37650]When people look back at the developing history of the Amgen Tour of California they will say that the race came of age on stage 6 of the 2007 edition. Even though Saturday’s 105.4-mile stage from Santa Barbara ended in a mass sprint in sunny Santa Clarita, won by Team CSC’s J.J. Haedo from T-Mobile’s Greg Henderson and Quick Step’s world champion Paolo Bettini, this was no parade.

Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins returned to the track with a winning individual-pursuit ride on Friday during the final round of the 2006-07 UCI Track World Cup series in Manchester, Great Britain. In his first individual pursuit since winning gold in Athens in 2004, the 26-year-old beat Russia's Alexander Serov in a time of 4 minutes, 17.864 seconds while Australia's Brad McGee was almost five seconds slower. "To do that in a first competitive race - I'm really pleased," said Wiggins. "Because you can go as hard as you like in training but you never know until you get on the

[nid:37630]Seconds after Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer hurtled across the finish line in Solvang to win Friday’s time-trial stage of the Amgen Tour of California, he repeatedly punched the air and let out a guttural scream of excitement. The thousands of fans lining the finishing straight roared their approval for his stunning performance, realizing that it virtually wraps up his overall victory in the eight-day race.

Petacchi takes win in AlgarveAlessandro Petacchi scored another confidence-boosting win ahead of Milan-San Remo after charging to victory in the third stage of the Tour of the Algarve while Bernard Eisel (T-Mobile) snagged second and moved into the overall lead. Petacchi held off Eisel, the winner of Thursday’s stage, to claim victory for the second time this year and makes up for a relegation earlier this week for dangerous sprinting. Eisel came through second to take the time bonuses to move into the leader’s jersey while Roman Vaitkus (Discovery Channel) was third. "Today was finally

The Tour of California is starting to become interesting as there are still several riders with a good shot at winning the overall classification after Wednesday’s hard and fast stage into San Jose. It seems every team wants to make the race hard on race leader, Levi Leipheimer’s team, Discovery Channel, and today they had to control the race on the front for most of the stage—and it was certainly not an easy stage to control as it was hilly and windy, and the peloton that sat in their draft feisty. Since the start, we, T-Mobile, have been fighting hard for a stage win. We narrowly missed

[nid:37614]Just as sunshine followed rain on Thursday’s beautiful ride along the Big Sur coast at the Amgen Tour of California, so the stage 4 victory in San Luis Obispo by world champ Paolo Bettini of Italy was just a trailer for Friday’s time-trial showdown. Going into the rolling 14.5-mile TT in Solvang, Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer still has a three-second margin over his main challenger, Jens Voigt of CSC, but a half-dozen others remain in contention, including three-time world TT champion Michael Rogers of T-Mobile, who’s 19 seconds back.

[nid:37587]Things didn’t start well for Team CSC at this year’s Amgen Tour of California. Largely due to shifting wind conditions, the squad’s time-trial specialists, including Dave Zabriskie and Fabian Cancellara, who went one-two at the 2006 world time trial championships, were shut out of the top three spots in the opening prologue in San Francisco.

Boonen turns it up in RutaTom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) is back in the winner’s column after coming out of a self-imposed hibernation since the Tour of Qatar in January. The Belgian out-kicked Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) to win Wednesday’s 179.2km fourth stage from Cabra to Córdoba at the Ruta del Sol in Spain to claim his sixth victory barely a month into the 2007 season. Boonen raced discreetly last week at the Mallorca Challenge without contesting the sprints and kept his head low during the opening three stages of the five-day Ruta while he battled through a stomach

Argentinean ace J.J. Haedo blasted to the front of another all-ProTour sprint finish Tuesday to win the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California. After yesterday’s chaotic finish, Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) was happy to have remained intact and safely inside an upright peloton after three circuits of downtown Sacramento concluded the 116-mile stage from his hometown of Santa Rosa.

Ignatiev wins againMikhail Ignatiev is quickly proving he can bump shoulders with the big boys. The 21-year-old Russian won for the second time in a week with a victory Tuesday in the 44th Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy. The Tinkoff Credit Systems rider – who won the third stage last week at the Tour Méditerranéen – put down a surprise attack with about 7km to go after the peloton split going over the 690m Passo Balestrino in the 188km hilly march. The 2004 Olympic points champion had enough in the tank to hold off some chasing Italians to snag the win. Coming through second at four seconds

For the second year in a row, American Levi Leipheimer took the podium of the Amgen Tour of California as the race leader in his hometown of Santa Rosa. This year, however, it wasn’t under circumstances the Discovery Channel rider would have chosen. Australian sprinter Graeme Brown (Rabobank) won Monday's Stage 1 after Leipheimer went down in a 50-rider pile-up with two 3-mile laps of a downtown finishing circuit remaining in the 156.4km stage.

Freire wins in RutaOscar Freire drove home the bunch Monday to win the second stage of the Ruta del Sol, a 156.6km stage from Vegas del Genil to Cazorla in southern Spain. The three-time world champion held off Francisco José Ventoso (Saunier Duval-Prodir) in the mass sprint to snag his second win of the 2007 season. The Rabobank sprinter, who just missed victory in Sunday’s opener after Dario Cioni (Predictor-Lotto) held off a long breakaway, clawed within one second of Cioni’s lead thanks to time bonuses. The race continues Tuesday with the third stage. Hamilton satisfied, eyes Georgia

After a several months of training we are now ready, and eager to race. The last few weeks the eight-man T-Mobile Tour of California squad has been in Buellton, California training and fine-tuning for the coming season. Storm after storm blew through Boulder every weekend during the last months of 2006 and the first months of 2007 and after spending a few good weeks in the sun in Mallorca, I wasn’t too keen to train outdoors in the snow or indoors on the trainer, so I made the decision to head to the California for some sun and time in the saddle. Prior to our team camp I rode alone in

Defying an increasing wind that saw the likes of world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC) fall out of contention, Levi Leipheimer stormed to the Amgen Tour of California prologue win on Sunday atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. The last rider to leave the starting house, Leipheimer flew down the flat one-mile stretch of The Embarcadero along the water before turning onto the steep Telegraph Hill climb towards Coit Tower with pitches as steep as 22 percent.

Never before has there been such a plethora of leading time trialists on display in an American stage race as fans will see this Sunday and next Friday at the Amgen Tour of California. Three of the top four from last year’s world TT championships will be competing — gold and silver medalists Fabian Cancellara and Dave Zabriskie of CSC, and their former teammate Brian Vandborg, now with Discovery Channel — along with the top two from the Tour de France prologue, Thor Hushovd of Crédit Agricole and George Hincapie of Discovery. Joining them are such powerful riders against the clock as CSC’s

The Amgen Tour of California is just rolling into its second year as a domestic event, but its organizers hope it can become the fourth grand tour of worldwide bicycle racing. "Our finish line is to host a grand tour," said Shawn Hunter, president of AEG Sports, during a kickoff press conference at the Argonaut Hotel at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. "People laughed when we said that over a year ago. They said, ‘Let’s see you pull off one year of the race first.’ Well, we did, and we’re constantly looking for ways to improve. We want to grow this into a fourth grand tour. We want to

Buyer’s Guide CorrectionBrain fade set in on the finishing sprint for the VeloNews Buyer’sGuide. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show, March 2 – 4, takes placein San Jose, California, not San Diego as the Buyer’s Guide states. Forcomplete information, visit the Show’s site: www.handmadebicycleshow.com 

Organizers of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday released a list of riders* slated to compete in this year’s event, slated to begin in San Francisco.  North American riders in bold*Team rosters are subject to changeProTour TeamsDiscovery Channel Pro Cycling Team [USA]The Discovery Channel’s big off-season news was the controversial signing of Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso from CSC — controversial because, despite his being cleared to race by the Italian authorities, his status regarding the Spanish blood-doping scandal Operación Puerto could change through 2007. Basso won’t be

When half a dozen of the world’s top professional cycling teams showedup for the start of the inaugural Amgen Tour of California in February2006, they didn’t quite know what to expect. Was this going to be an early-seasonevent only half-heartedly contested by Tour de France riders nervous aboutpeaking too soon? Or would the stars allow their lieutenants to race forthe win while using the race as training for themselves?In the end, the efforts made by overall winner Floyd Landis and hismain challengers DaveZabriskie, BobbyJulich, GeorgeHincapie, LeviLeipheimer and Cadel Evans proved they could

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18: PROLOGUEINDIVIDUAL TIME TRIALPresented by Union BankSTART: Justin Herman Plaza,San Francisco, 1 p.m. to 3:23 p.m.DISTANCE: 1.9 milesLifestyle Festival Presented by Health NetHOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19: STAGE1Presented by HerbalifeSTART: Sausalito, 11 a.m.DISTANCE: 96.7 milesSPRINTS: Point Reyes, Tomales, Bodega BayFINISH: Santa RosaETA: 3:13 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.Lifestyle Festival Presented by Health NetHOURS: 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20: STAGE2START: Santa Rosa, 10 a.m.DISTANCE: 116.3 milesSPRINTS: Winters, DavisFINISH:

Not much has been revealed about the new stage race due to take place on the East Coast this August, but the Montréal-Boston Tour is likely to be the biggest cycling event New England has seen since the second Tour de Trump finished in Boston in May of 1990. The eight-day, 1200km race will feature four days in Canada’s Québec province, followed by one day in Vermont, two days in New Hampshire, with the finale in Massachusetts. Race organizer Daniel Manibal, who also runs the women’s Montréal World Cup race and Tour du Grand Montréal stage race in June, has indicated that there will be a

Angel Fire ski resort sits in a secluded corner of northern New Mexico, about two hour’s drive from Santa Fe. A far cry from the mega resorts in neighboring Colorado, Angel Fire prides itself as a winter and summertime playground where the crowds are light and the price of admission is low. Like many other ski areas, Angel Fire hosts mountain-bike races in the summer — the Chile Challenge is a regular stop on the Mountain States Cup. In 2005, the venue hit the pinnacle of its mountain-bike racing when it hosted a stop on the UCI World Cup — the first American World Cup since 2001. Angel Fire

German attacker Stefan Schumacher says his planned Tour de France debut later this season will help him decide where his future lies. If he can get through the Tour in good shape, he might try to focus on improving his skills to perhaps battle for the overall prize in the future. If not, he’ll instead focus his energy into winning stages and shining in the classics. It all depends on how things go in July. “I don’t know if I can ever challenge for the Tour, but what happens this year will tell me a lot,” Schumacher told VeloNews before the start of Monday’s stage at the Mallorca Challenge.

In the 20 years that the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame has existed, morethan 100 individuals have been inducted — both in person or posthumously.Their names vary from 1899 world sprint champion Major Taylor to three-timeTour de France winner Greg LeMond. And now you can nominate your favoriterider for consideration in the “class of ’07.” The main requirements are that nominees be U.S. citizens and have notraced for five years — so that rules out nominating shoo-ins like LanceArmstrong and Marty Nothstein for another few years. There are actuallyfive categories of competitors eligible for the

Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau wrapped up the overall victory at the Tour de Langkawi on Sunday as Alberto Loddo added yet another win to his tally, equaling the record of five stage wins in a single year.

Anthony Charteau is well on his way to winning the Le Tour de Langkawi overall title, following a largely tactical ride from Putrajaya to Seremban on Saturday. Although the ninth – and penultimate – stage of the Tour put the Crédit Agricole rider up against the winding roads of Kuala Klawang, he kept up with the leaders over the course of day’s many climbs to maintain his 1:02 over Jose Serpa (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovannio), who won Thursday’s decisive stage to the Genting Higlands.

For the second time in as many years Jose Serpa was first man across the line at the top of the hors categorie Genting Highlands stage, but the Colombian Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni rider couldn’t make up enough time to unseat the overall race leader Anthony Charteau.

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you havea comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen incycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write toWebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name andhome town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Writersare encouraged to limit their submissions to one letter per month.The letters published here contain the opinions of the submittingauthors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies or positionsof VeloNews.com, VeloNews magazine or our parent company, InsideCommunications,

Wearing thick gloves, long tights and hats beneath their helmets, New Mexican cyclists of all ages crowded the parking lot of the Anderson-Abruzzo Balloon Museum in Albuquerque on a brisk Saturday morning on February 3. They awaited the arrival of the Navigators Insurance and Lipton professional cycling teams, both of which had come to Albuquerque for a winter training camp. When both squads rolled up, accompanied by riders from the neo-pro Cycling Center team, the entire group of 200 hit the streets for a group ride. It isn’t often that professional cycling teams spin alongside locals

Japan’s Shinichi Fukusima proved that persistence and hard work are the key to success as he became the first Asian to win a stage in this year’s Tour de Langkawi following a strong 174km ride from Kuantan to Karak. The stage win for the rider from the Nippo-Meitan Hompo team was only the third stage victory for an Asian rider in the 12-year history of the tour, following wins by Wong Kam Po in 2000 and Koji – the younger brother of Shinichi – Fukushima in 2005.

Making the leap from top-flight amateur to ProTour neo pro is never easy. But throw in a continent’s worth of distance from cycling’s European epicenter and the task becomes exponentially harder. That’s the challenge that faces South African Daryl Impey, one of the top national team riders at this year’s Tour de Langkawi. Through seven stages, the 22-year-old from Johannesburg has scored three top 10 finishes in the five bunch sprint finishes, and he is one of only two riders to sprint ahead of the race’s dominant force, four-time stage winner Alberto Loddo (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni). On

After a spending a day in their normal team kits, riders from the Belgian-Swedish Unibet.com team were forced back into their distinctive question-marked jerseys Thursday at the Etoile de Bessèges. Oddly enough, the team resumed its winning ways with the switch, as Unibet’s Baden Cooke easily won the sprint at the end of the 155km second stage from Nîmes to Saint-Ambroix. The team was once again required to wear jerseys sans the name of its title sponsor because French authorities said the team – sponsored by an online betting site - was promoting gambling and “lotteries,” which are banned

The man is on a streak. Alberto Loddo scored his fourth win at the Tour de Langkawi Wednesday, again frustrating Ceramiche Panaria’s Maximiliano Richeze in a charge to the line at the end of a 137-kilometer ride from Kuala Terengganu to Cukai. Loddo (Selle Italia-Serramenti) charged across the line ahead of the main field, which included Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau, the overall race leader who was more than content to finish in 59th place, secure in the knowledge that he holds a four-minute buffer with Friday’s short, but decisive, ride to the Genting Highlands ahead.

You could never tell by talking to him, but Julian Dean is a man under the gun. New Zealand’s reigning national road race champion is in the final year of his contract with Crédit Agricole and knows he needs to perform if he wants keep his place with the French ProTour team. But instead of worrying too much about the future, Dean remains the same laid-back rider that made him a fan favorite on the U.S. Pro circuit during his days with Mercury and U.S. Postal. “It’s the first race of the season so some guys have done a bit more prep than others,” said the soft-spoken Dean on the morning of

Riders endured all the elements in Wednesday’s opener at the l’Etoile de Bessèges with Italian Angelo Furlan delivering the victory through rain, sleet, wind and eventually sun. The Crédit Agricole sprinter out-kicked Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) and compatriot Ruggero Marzoli (Tinkoff Credit Systems) to win the 148.2km stage from Pezenas to Palavas-les-Flots in a bunch sprint. Several riders tried in vain to escape the clutches of the peloton in France’s first stage-race of the season. The bunch rejoined for three finishing circuits with Unibet.com working hard to try to control any escapes

Four-out-of-five: Loddo's won four of the five sprints he's contested in this Tour

Italian Alberto Loddo pulled off a hattrick of stage victories at the Tour de Langkawi Tuesday, winning the Tour’s fifth stage in a field sprint at the end of a 167-kilometer race from Kota Bharu to Kuala Terengganu. With the most of the field finishing together, Crédit Agricole’s Anthony Charteau easily held on to the comfortable four-minute lead in the overall standings, a buffer he earned on Sunday in the stage to Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands.

Italian Alberto Loddo claimed his second stage victory at the Tour de Langkawi Monday in an intense bunch sprint that resulted in at least 10 riders crashing just 50-meters from the finish line.

The directive for the day was simple. If a promising move peeled off the front of the peloton during the early portions of the Tour de Langkawi’s stage three run from Kuala Kangsar to Cameron Highlands, Slipstream team director Johnny Weltz’s wanted one of his six riders to be there. Beyond that he asked only that they make sure to “help each other out.” Weltz knew that the first climbing test of this 10-day event in Malaysia would challenge his young team in ways it hadn’t yet faced in 2007. He was cautiously optimistic that they would be up to the task. “I feel like we can be

Argentine Maximiliano Richeze earned an impressive win at the end of the second stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Saturday, edging out a hard-charging field at the end of a 166-kilometer stage between the Malaysian cities of Kangar and Kulim. Richeze, who along with his Ceramiche Panaria teammate, Ruben Bongiorno, were pipped at the end of Friday’s opening stage by Italian Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia), fought hard in the final 250 meters to fend off a big group of strong sprinters, earning both the checkered flag and the overall leader’s jersey.

Belgian Wilfried Cretskens (Quick Step) was crowned winner of the Tour of Qatar after the sixth and final stage on Friday. Tom Boonen, Cretskens's compatriot and teammate, won the 134km stage between Sealine Beach and Doha. Indeed, Boonen won four of the tour’s six stages. But the overall win went to 33-year-old Cretskens, the first tour success of his career. The one stage the former world champion failed to win, on Thursday, saw Cretskens leapfrog him into the leader's jersey and maintain a lead of more than two minutes. "Today was a very special day," said Cretskens. "The team

Italy’s Alberto Loddo (Selle Italia-Serramenti) provided a sizzling start to the 12th edition of the Le Tour de Langkawi when he charged to the line to claim the first stage on a day when Malaysia’s first continental team, LeTua Cycling, grabbed two top-10 slots in the overall classification Friday.

Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet (Predictor-Lotto) won the fifth and penultimate stage of the Tour of Qatar on Thursday. Van Avermaet beat home German Marcel Sieberg and Frenchman Stephane Poulhies in a sprint finish to the 156km stage between Al-Zubarah and Mesaieed. Fellow Belgian Wilfried Cretskens (Quick Step), who was part of the race-deciding 10-man breakaway, took the race leader's jersey from teammate and compatriot Tom Boonen, who finished 20th, more than two minutes down, along with the main chasing pack. Tour rookie Van Avermaet was overjoyed with his stage win. "It's my

This could be the pivotal stage of this year’s Amgen Tour of California. Stage 6 is not only long, at 105 miles, but it features four King of the Mountain climbs, two sprints and a demanding finishing circuit in Santa Clarita. With this year’s individual time trial being less selective than last year’s, there could be several contenders separated by just a few seconds at this point in the race. After a start in view of the Santa Barbara shoreline, Stage 6, which is sponsored by Health Net, will be the last chance for a solid favorite to emerge before the circuit race finale in Long Beach.

The Stage 7 circuit race is flat and fast, and sure to be a favorite with spectators. This is where the sprinters will come to the fore, as the pack races 10 laps around a circuit course in downtown Long Beach. Sponsored by Amgen, the stage includes part of the famous Long Beach Grand Prix course used for CART races. These roads are wide and fast. Views of San Pedro Bay and the Pacific Ocean will be visible for the entire course, with a backdrop of the famed Queen Mary in the bay. Course designers expect a hard sprint to the finish. Just like with the grand tours of Europe, a win on the

Belgian Tom Boonen dominated Australian Graeme Brown in a bunch sprint to win an explosive fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar on Wednedsday. Quick Step’s Boonen thus picked up his third individual stage win in as many days after a mainly flat 139km of racing between the Camelodrome and the Gulf of Doha. Brazilian Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) finished third behind Rabobank’s Brown, who on Monday was accused of causing mayhem in the bunch sprint during which Predictor-Lotto’s Tom Steels crashed and was left with a broken collarbone. Boonen will take a 27-second lead over teammate Steven De Jongh

Boonen leaves little doubt as to whose sprint is better... at least at this point in the season.

Belgium's Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the third stage of the Tour of Qatar around Doha on Tuesday, beating Italian sprint king Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) for the second consecutive day. Austria's Bernard Eisel (T-Mobile) took third spot behind Boonen who strengthened his grip on the leader's gold jersey. Boonen said afterwards: "I was in about 50th place with three kilometers to go, which was too far back, but Matteo Tosatto helped me get up to the front. I then let the Milram team do the work before waiting for the right moment to start my sprint." Boonen refused to go

Former world champion Tom Boonen won the second stage of the Tour of Qatar over 135km from Al Wakra to Doha on Monday, moving into the overall leader's gold jersey in the process. The Quick Step rider beat Milram's Alessandro Petacchi and Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon in a sprint finish to snatch the gold jersey from his Dutch teammate Steven de Jong, who held it after Quick Step's team time trial victory in Sunday's opening stage. The defending Tour of Qatar champion Boonen admitted he had been lucky to win after Pettachi's Milram team launched their leader's sprint

Katie Compton gave the United States its second silver medal in two days at the World Cyclo-cross Championships today in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, as France’s Maryline Salvetat overcame a rough start to battle her way to victory in the women’s race on Sunday. Salvetat’s teammate Laurence Laboucher hung on for third, while pre-race favorite Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) faded to fifth after crashing at the halfway point while in the lead.

Belgians narrowly averted what could have been viewed as a national tragedy at this year’s Cyclo-cross World Championships as defending champion Erwin Vervecken came from behind to win the elite men’s race on Sunday. In an event often swept by the Belgian squad, Vervecken was the only one of his countrymen who managed to step onto the podium in front of a huge home crowd in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, as the efforts of pre-race favorites Sven Nys and Bart Wellens were hampered by crashes and a series of difficulties throughout.

Belgians and Americans got off to a great start at the world cyclo-cross championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, Saturday, as host-country prospect Joeri Adams and U.S. rider Danny Summerhill sprinted to a tight finish in the junior men’s event. Summerhill battled back from a crash with two laps to go to earn second, as pre-race favorite Jiri Polnicky (Czech Republic) crossed the line one second later in third.

Danny Summerhill’s explosive second place at Saturday’s 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross Junior World Championships in Hooglede-Gits, Belgium, may be best remembered not for the 17-year-old’s raw talent in the four-up sprint but rather for his composure with two laps to go. Sitting in the lead group of four on the penultimate lap, Summerhill washed out his front wheel on one of the course’s three slippery drop-offs. Coming completely off his bike, Summerhill hit his head and twisted his stem. But rather than panic, the two-time U.S. junior national champion showed poise, straightening his bars,

Joeri Adams took the sprint, but Summerhill made a big impression in Belgium, too.

Sporting a modified team logo, a new bike sponsor and four new riders, the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team presented its 2007 roster to the media Thursday in Agoura Hills, California. The team introduced four marquee additions to its roster — Australians Henk Vogels and Caleb Manion, Irishman Mark Scanlon and American Burke Swindlehurst. Both Vogels and Scanlon come from ProTour teams — Vogels from Davitamon-Lotto and Scanlon from Ag2r. Gone are Argentinean sprinter J.J. Haedo, to CSC, and all-rounder Tony Cruz, who returned to Discovery Channel. Returning riders include 2005 USPRO champion

Juan José Haedo is busy packing his bags as he prepares for his big European adventure with Team CSC, but first he has a detour through the United States and some old haunting grounds at the Tour of California. The Argentine ace, who turns 26 on Friday, will be traveling to California for a two-week training camp with his new Team CSC teammates before making his team debut at the Tour of California, where he won two races last year to attract the attention of several European teams to his aggressive, fearless sprinting style. “It’s a big step to take, to come from racing in the USA to

Erwin Vervecken radiates calm as he goes about the business of final preparation for the defense of his world cyclo-cross title. A tall genial man with an overwhelming sense of ease both on and off the bike, Vervecken wore the rainbow stripes for the second time in his career in 2006-07. While his year in the jersey in 2001-02 saw the Belgian win a fair number of big events, including the Belgian GVA Series, this season has been more modest, with Vervecken having the privilege of spraying the winner’s champagne only twice, despite frequent appearances in the top three. Vervecken has taken

Alessandro Petacchi hopes a return to form at the Tour of Qatar will help him erase a disappointing 2006 campaign that saw him riddled with injuries. The Milram sprinter will bring his full train to the desert race (January 28 to February 2) with ambitions of snagging a victory and boosting his confidence ahead of what the “gentleman sprinter" hopes will be a comeback season. “I want to regain the sensations I had at the beginning of last year. I’ve had a good training block and I am motivated for the coming season,” Petacchi said. “I haven’t been able to raise my arms in victory since last

Former Swiss cycling champion Martin Elmiger relaunched his professional career by winning the Tour Down Under after some thrilling final-day drama on Sunday. Australian sprint king Robbie McEwen meanwhile claimed victory in the 81km, 18-lap final stage, extending his record victory tally in the race to 12. McEwen, a three-time winner of the Tour de France green jersey, held off fellow Australian Mark Renshaw, who gestured prior to the finish line about being squeezed into the barriers by the Predictor-Lotto sprinter. McEwen was unapologetic.

American Sarah Hammer’s trophy case could soon need structural reinforcing. The world individual pursuit champion added another gold medal to her stack with a win in her signature event during day two of the track World Cup in Los Angeles. Earlier in the day, Hammer set a new U.S. record of 3:32.058. After the effort Hammer said she would just "put it on cruise" in the evening’s gold-medal match against Germany’s Verena Joos. Sure enough, Hammer quickly made up time against her rival, gaining time with every lap to build such a comfortable lead she sat up well before the line and waved to

Sarah Hammer put to rest any ideas that she’s not a top mass-start racer with a gold medal in the Los Angeles World Cup scratch race, her third win of the three-day event. Hammer won the opening-night points race and followed it up with gold in the individual pursuit. Hammer and American Becky Quinn repeated the tactic that put them one-two at last year’s World Cup scratch race in Los Angeles. Hammer hit the front with a few to go, Quinn battled to get on her wheel, then Hammer dialed up the pace so high no one could come around her. There was no need for the UCI officials to check the photo

and overcame some serious opposition to win the sprint, locking up the overall title in the process.

Menzies' teammates fought to control the pace as they day's first bonus sprint approached.

Bauge and Chiappa dueling in the sprint

Americans Liz Carlson and Jennie Reed in the women's team sprint final

Roberto Chiappa and Hoy in the prelims of the sprint

Chiappa's legs show the veins of multiple sprints

The Brits took the team sprint

Francois Pervis of France in the team-sprint reride after his crash

The US team sprint led by Gideon Massie

Swiss racer Martin Elmiger was rewarded for his persistence with the lead of the Tour Down Under after the fourth and penultimate stage on Saturday. On another rain-soaked day in the hills around Adelaide, Elmiger took the ochre jersey from overnight leader Karl Menzies of UniSA after the Australian managed only to finish 11th in the 147 kilometer stage. The 24-year-old Belgian Pieter Ghyllebert won the stage, picking up his maiden professional win and the second in the five-stage race for his Chocolade Jacques outfit. Teammate Steven Caethoven celebrated a fine win on Thursday. A former

It turns out there is a little something to those rainbow stripes. At the opening night of the Los Angeles Track World Cup, American Sarah Hammer, Brit Chris Hoy and Aussie Anna Meares showed their respective fields just why their biceps are circled with cycling’s most powerful design. Tour de France winner Floyd Landis and his friend, CSC rider Dave Zabriskie, were among the crowd of thousands at the Home Depot Center velodrome. Hammer, a world champion in the individual pursuit, won the January 19 women’s points race with some last-lap assistance from her American teammate Becky Quinn.

Australian cyclist Mark French has been sent home after breaching the national team's code of conduct on Wednesday during a Qantas flight to Los Angeles, where he was to have raced in this weekend's round of the UCI track World Cup series. French, who would not say what happened on the flight, is trying to resurrect his track-racing career, stalled for 18 months following drug allegations that led to a two-year ban in 2004. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban on July 2005. While he successfully fought to prove his innocence then, the former world junior champion is

Brouchard was in the hunt for sprint points

Meares in the sprint