Katie Compton (Spike-Primus Mootry) had to dig a little deeper in Sunday’s Boulder Cup to shell a gritty Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com), intent on avenging her loss on Saturday at Longmont’s Xilinx Cup. Team Kona repeated its victory of the previous day, too. But it was not the white-clad U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross series leader, Ryan Trebon, crossing the line first at Boulder’s Harlow Platts Park — it was teammate Barry Wicks, collecting his first win in the 2006 USGP. After simply riding away from the field on Saturday, U.S. national champion Compton was clearly the woman to beat

One can forgive the thick crowds at the third round of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross if they were hoping for more competitive battles in the elite men’s and women’s races Saturday at the Xilinx Cup in Longmont, Colorado. Instead, spectators bore witness to a pair of dominating performances by two of the strongest Americans perhaps to ever race cyclo-cross. The day’s winners, series leader Ryan Trebon (Kona) and U.S. women’s national champion Katie Compton (Spike-Primus Mootry), took wins in similar fashion, riding away from their respective fields early to finish alone by

National-level cyclo-cross racing returns to Colorado’s Front Range this weekend as the second round of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross lands in Longmont and Boulder, 30 minutes north of Denver. Round 3 of the USGP, the Xilinx Cup, will be held Saturday in Longmont, with round 4, the Boulder Cup, slated Sunday in the talent-rich racing community of Boulder. This weekend marks the first national-level cyclo-cross event held in Boulder, home of VeloNews, since the November 2000 round of the former SuperCup, when then-national champion Marc Gullickson defeated Tim Johnson.

Edmonton, Alberta (AP) — Olympic champion cyclist Lori-Ann Muenzer has decided she won't try to defy the odds one more time. Muenzer, who won the sprint gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games at the age of 38, announced on Monday she is retiring from cycling. She plans to concentrate on her company Pure Momentum Inc., which promotes Canadian female motivational speakers, and devote time to a program she's established to develop young cyclists. “I really thought long and hard about it,” Muenzer said. “To be able to have the ultimate performance you have to have so many things in

U.S. champs rule Boulder CyclocrossA pair of U.S. national champions took top honors on Sunday at the Boulder Cyclocross race at the Boulder Reservoir. Todd Wells (GT) won the open men’s race, attacking halfway through the hourlong race to finish solo. A minute later, Danish ’cross champion Joachim Parbo edged Boulder’s Jonathan Baker (Harshman Wealth Management) for second in the sprint to the finish. Wells was the only guy bunny-hopping the boat-dock obstacle, and it paid off. "[The barrier] was the only place to really open up a gap, because there were so many straight, paved sections

Next year’s Tour de France doesn’t include any of the rumored features. No Paris-Roubaix cobbles. No team time trial. No Puy-de-Dôme. No climb over the unpaved Colle della Finestre in Italy. No Mont Ventoux. Even so, the 2007 Tour route announced last Thursday in Paris does include a host of unexpected challenges that could produce a race as tumultuous as any Tour in the past decade. But the bigger questions, particularly for American fans, are: (1) can the 2006 Tour-champion-in-limbo Floyd Landis win his appeal against a drugs violation, fully recover from his hip surgery, and find a team

Twenty-three-year-old Radomir Simunek Jr. (Palmans-Collstrop) won the third round of the UCI World Cup cyclo-cross series held Saturday in the Czech Republic. Simunek celebrated his first World Cup win in front of a Czech crowd at the site of the 2001 World Championships in Tabor. Simunek joined an early attack by Bart Wellens (Fidea)and rode with the former world champion for the bulk of the hour-long event. Simunek, however, proved to be the stronger of the two on Saturday and he powered away from the Belgian on the final lap. "I tried a little acceleration," Simunek said, "and I found I

A bright, vibrant light has gone out in the cycling community as well asin the community of cancer survivors.Karen Hornbostel, a four-time master’s national road champion and recipientof the 2003 Lance Armstrong Spirit of Survivorship award passed away peacefullyat home in Littleton, Colorado, surrounded by family and friends on Tuesday,October 24, eight days past her 54th birthday. She had battled metastaticbreast cancer for over 13 years. Hornbostel made a difference in the cyclingcommunity with her devotion to improving opportunities for women in cyclingas well as with her infectious wit

Given the doubts surrounding 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, thestill uncertain fallout from the Operación Puerto dopinginvestigation and the grand tours continuing power struggle with the UCIProTour, this Thursday’s 2007 Tour de France presentation in  Pariscan only be contentious. It’s rumored that Landis won’t even get a mention in this year’s Tourvideo produced by race organizer ASO, while a big asterisk will replacehis name in the official list of winners. And, like last year, new racedirector Christian Prudhomme will no doubt have some strong words to sayabout the sport’s

Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Katie Compton (Spike Professional-Primus Mootry) did it again on Sunday as the Verge MAC Cyclocross Series moved north for round two of its 2006 campaign. The Wissahickon Cyclocross, held at Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair Ground, offered a course that was more windswept and less steep than the one the two ruled on Saturday at Granouge Estate near Wilmington, Delaware. And the racing proved different, too — in the women’s race, at least. Canadian champ Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Compton quickly gapped U.S. mountain-bike champion Georgia Gould

Final standings are in from the 2006 Women’s Prestige Cycling Series (www.womencyclists.com),and showing the parity in domestic women’s road racing, four differentteams took category titles. At September’s Hurricane Florence-shortenedCD&P Bermuda Grand Prix, Webcor-Platinum came from behind to claimthe team title, while an absent world time-trial champion Kristin Armstrong(Lipton) retained her individual lead. The Women’s Prestige Cycling Series began at the Nature Valley GrandFinal 2007 NRC RankingIndividual Women1. Tina Pic, Colavita-Cooking Light, 2106 points2. Kristin Armstrong, Lipton,

Remembering Jon Jonathan Dechau was a friend of mine. Like many, I was shocked tohear of hispassing. I hadn’t talked to him a couple of years and it was a shockfor me to come across it on all the cycling websites. It was almost surreal.Jon and I had both started out racing in New England and had gotten toknow each other. I got to thinking about Jon again after recent developments.Years ago Jon and I were both chasing the dream. We were bothracing the better part of the NRC schedule that year and seeing each otherat all the events. In that same year the Olympic trials were held in

Tom Boonen has signed up to take part in a 10-hour endurance race at the wheel of a Porsche 996, the former world cycling champion reported on Thursday. The 25-year-old Quick Step rider is normally known for his prowess in one-day cycling classics and can count the prestigious Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders and world road race crowns among his list of honors. Now with the season drawing to a close Boonen will team up with Belgian pair Bert Longin and Anthony Kumpen, the national touring endurance champion,for the race which will be held at the Zolder race track - which coincidentally

CLIF BAR’s Development Cyclo-Cross Team Starts Global Cooling, Starts Season Boulder, Colorado October, 2006—When the members of the TIAACREF/CLIF BAR Cyclo-Cross Team rolled to the start line in Gloucester, MA for the opening round of the 2006 Crank Brothers US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series, they not only began the third season for the national-level development program, but also set off on a pioneering environmental sustainability mission. The American Cycling Association’s Junior and Under-23 cyclo-cross development program took inspiration from CLIF BAR’s exemplary sustainability

Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com) doubled up in Maine on Sunday, winning day two of the Downeast Cyclocross in New Gloucester, Maine, the second round of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-cross Series. Bessette was well warmed and ready to go for the women's race, having competed in the men's B race just beforehand. After the start and the first tour in the woods, she and Katerina Nash (Luna) reprised Saturday’s battle at the front, leaving the rest of the riders to chase. Unlike Saturday, however, Bessette could not get rid

Passions were running high in Mendrisio, Switzerland on Friday 24 hours before the UCI ProTour comes to its climax in the 100th edition of the Tour of Lombardy. First, a “reprieved” Ivan Basso said he wasn’t going to make a dramatic return to racing at the Italian classic. ProTour leader Alejandro Valverde then scratched from the list of starters to protest the organizers’ decision not to present the ProTour champion’s jersey on the winners’ podium. And defending champion Paolo Bettini gave an emotional press conference following the death last week of his older brother. Basso looks like

It’s only been six months since Steve Johnson took over the reins at USA Cycling, but already the new CEO is dreaming big. Among the items on his wish list: a nation where obesity and an over-dependence on gas guzzling cars are wiped out by the new dawn of the bicycle. Johnson believes “the time of the automobile is rapidly drawing to a close, and I see the bike as a wonderful vehicle for transportation, health and fitness, and everything else that is wrong with America.” That might be just a tad overly optimistic, but some of Johnson’s other visions seem very attainable. He’s looking to

Day two of the Crank Brothers Grand Prix of Cyclocross once again saw sunny skies and a wide-open speedway of a course in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the women’s race, Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) charged to the front just as she had the day before — only this time, both Wendy Simms (Kona) and Georgia Gould (Luna) managed to find her wheel. While the rest of the field shattered, Gould and Simms surprised spectators as they shadowed the hard-charging Bessette despite multiple attacks and accelerations throughout the course.

A who's who of cycling's fastest sprinters will assemble in Paris on Sunday hoping to claim a prestigious victory in what will be the 100th edition of the Paris-Tours one-day classic. From Belgian starlet Tom Boonen to aging German Erik Zabel, almost the entire European sprint squadron will turn up to pay their respects in the254.5 km race that was first won by Eugene Prevost, as an amateur, in 1896. Quick Step sprinter Boonen recently failed to defend his world champion's rainbow jersey in Salzburg, and will be motivated to make amends on a luscious and seemingly endless

The 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships concluded Saturdayafter Jennie Reed (Spike) and Sarah Hammer (Ouch) added more stars-and-stripesjerseys to their closets.  Reed claimed two more national titles tosweep the women's sprint events with four victories and Hammer won thewomen's 15-kilometer scratch race to score a hat trick in the enduranceevents.After successfully defending her sprint and 500-meter time trial victoriesearlier in the week, Reed won the keirin and teamed up with Liz Carlson(East Coast Velo) to win the women's team sprint Saturday.Hammer, already

The 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships continued Fridaynight as both Sarah Hammer (Ouch) and Jennie Reed (Spike) each rode totheir second national title of the week. After setting a new nationalrecord in the women's three-kilometer individual pursuit Wednesday, Hammertook a convincing win in the 25-kilometer points race while Reed addeda women's 500-meter time trial title to her sprint jersey. Giddeon Massie (Spike) also captured his first-career men's sprint titleand the TIAA-CREF foursome of Mike Creed , Mike Friedman, Will Frischkornand Brad Huff bested a

Carson, California - Three more national champions were crowned in Southern California Thursday night as the 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships closed the books on day two of the four-day event. In the men's kilometer time trial, Stephen Hill (East Point Track Club) clocked a winning time of 1 minute, 6.239 seconds to claim the national title ahead of silver medalist Steve Beardsley (Rubicon-Chinook Cycling) and third-place finisher David Espinoza (JC Investors). With none of the top-three finishers from 2005 returning, there was no clear-cut favorite in the 26-rider

Each Monday, throughout the season, VeloNews.com will happily post race promoters' news releases regarding cyclo-cross races from around theU.S. and Canada. Please send releases and results to "Weekend 'Cross Wrap"in care of VNInteractive@InsideInc.com.Promoters are responsible for the content of those releases.2006 BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series “Ed Sander Memorial CyclocrossBuckeystown, Maryland - Lilypons Water Gardens inBuckeystown, Maryland, is renowned for its expertise in water gardeningand the wide variety of water lilies it grows. It also a beautifulgarden in its own right,

– Scott Peterson designed the $499 Rock and Roll Kinetic trainer, which allows the bike to tilt side to side, imitating road riding conditions like climbing or sprinting.

The miracle comeback of Saul Raisin took another step forward as he returned to Europe this week for the first time since nearly dying in a crash last April in France. Raisin, 23, hasn’t ruled out a return to the professional peloton next year if he continues to make positive steps in his recovery. He’s back in Europe this week for a month-long visit and he’s already climbed some of the big cols near his home in Monaco. “My goal is to move back to Europe in January and do some intense training and see how far I can go,” Raisin told VeloNews. “There’s no guarantee I can race again, but

The second and final day of Interbike’s Outdoor Demo began has it has for the past few years, the annual 8 a.m. “Hangover Road Ride” sponsored by the trade show and by Scott USA. A hearty group of 100 riders showed up, heading immediately downhill for a good quarter of the 24-mile out-and-back loop, with the remaining half of the out leg being rolling, yet continuing to lose altitude. We rode into the park at Lake Mead and turned around at the point where the Colorado River first flows into the huge reservoir. Nice and cool relative to the heat of the day, once that truly settled in, and

Cycling’s history is full of racers who wilted under the curse of the rainbow jersey after winning the world championships. Perennial pre-race favorite Paolo Bettini seemed fated to never win cycling’s most prized tunic, but after several close calls – including second in 2001 at Lisbon – the Italian pocket rocket bolted past Erik Zabel and Alejandro Valverde on Sunday in Salzburg, Austria, to erase any hint of a jinx. “It’s so satisfying to win after coming close so many times. It was almost an obsession for me,” Bettini gushed. “I’ve won the world’s and the Olympics, the classics and some

Britain's David Millar said he could have done more to boost a doomed Australian bid for an historic first world crown here at the world road championships on Sunday. Italy's Paolo Bettini kept to his pre-race promise by adding the world crown to his Olympic title on the final day after a tactical finale in which he out-sprinted German veteran Erik Zabel. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde of Spain finished third, with Robbie McEwen and Stuart O'Grady finishing fifth and sixth having been outfoxed by the sly Spanish outfit after 265.9 km of racing. Going into the final bend, Spaniard

Life is good for Gerald Ciolek. A year ago he was working 10 hours a day as an 18-year-old apprentice electrician at the Ford auto factory in Cologne, Germany. Today he is the world under-23 road race champion with a big, two-year contract on T-Mobile in his pocket. He won the title on Saturday afternoon by easily out-sprinting a six-man break that formed halfway through the final 22km lap in the eight-lap, 177.2km race in Salzburg, Austria. When Ciolek was clocking in at 6 a.m. to his Ford Motor Company job last year, he would train for bike racing in the evening. He was on a low-budget

Dutch teen sensation Marianne Vos surprised her elder rivals to kick to an impressive sprint victory of an elite group of 15 to become the youngest elite women’s world champion. Vos, just 19, relegated German sprinter Trixi Worrack into second with world No. 1 Nicole Cooke settling for bronze in the hard-fought, 132.9km race. “With 150 meters to go, I saw Oenone (Wood) taking the sprint and I just went as hard as I could,” said Vos, winning in 3 hours, 20 minutes, 26 seconds (39.783kph). “I didn’t see anyone around me, so I knew I had won.” Amber Neben led the way for the Americans,

When the UCI world road championships were last held in Austria in September 1987, Irishman Stephen Roche shocked a lead group of 13 riders with a lightning acceleration a kilometer from the finish of the 276km pro road race. Roche, who had already won that year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, held on to a narrow lead to take Ireland’s first (and still only) rainbow jersey. As Roche crossed the line, another rider in green also raised his arms in triumph. It was the top race favorite, Sean Kelly, whose presence in the break forced the other fast finishers, none of them left with

The last kilometer banner brings the route into some tricky corners coming into the final sprint.

Alexandre Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde and Paolo Bettini are just some of the big names who will be hoping to brighten up the cycling world by winning the rainbow jersey next week. The annual world cycling road race championships begin in Salzburg, Austria, on Tuesday in the hope they can overcome a summer of discontent which has placed huge question marks over some of the sport's biggest stars. Worried bosses at the UCI, the sport's world ruling body, will certainly be hoping the six-day event will finish on a more positive note than the season's signature race, the Tour de

The 61st Vuelta a España ended with a fiesta in Madrid as huge numbers of fans turned out Sunday to watch the season’s final grand tour come down to an exciting finale. Erik Zabel (Milram) proved that some things get better with age to win for the second time this Vuelta while Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) enjoyed an easy day on the bike to win his first major grand tour. “This Vuelta has been very hard and complicated and I am very happy with the victory,” Vinokourov said after sealing the success over Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with Astana teammate and compatriot Andrey

Despite rolling in with a three-man roster at the September 15-17 Parker Mainstreet Omnium, the Health Net team showed why it’s been the top domestic dog for three years running at the final National Race Calendar event of the season. Scott Moninger and Karl Menzies went 1-2 in the road race after both placing well in the time trial, then Menzies won the concluding criterium Sunday to take the overall title with Moninger in the second podium spot. Priority Health time-trial specialist Tom Zirbel won the opening 7-mile time trial in conditions so windy many riders rode the final downhill

SpeedyReedy to Host Power Meter Clinic for Cyclists and TriathletesBoulder, CO, September 15, 2006 — Seattle's top triathlon retailerwill host a workshop with one of the world's leading power meter coaches.Hunter Allen will lead a workshop on the benefits and methodology of trainingand racing with a power meter on Friday, September 22 beginning at 7:00p.m. After the presentation, Allen will answer questions and autographcopies of Training and Racing with a Power Meter. The event is free ofcharge and is open to interested triathletes and cyclists.SpeedyReedy is located at 1100 N.

In fine form, Vino’ stomped his pedals on the peloton one last time and flew around the time trial course to seal his first victory in a grand tour. It is said that the winner of a grand tour should win a time trial stage; not only did Vinokourov win the time trial today but he also dominated the last ten days of the race, winning three stages, placing second twice and never spending a moment in difficulty. In all, he won a mountain stage, a field sprint and a time trial which is incredible and shows he is truly the most complete rider of the Vuelta. This morning, prior to the time trial,

Friday’s long and slow 19th stage across the flats Castilla y La Mancha seemed tedious after three gripping days in the mountains of southern Spain. The 205.3km trudge from Jaén to Ciudad Real – the third longest of this year’s Vuelta a España – produced a seven-man breakaway and a winner in José Luis Arrieta (Ag2r) to give the Spanish journalists something to write about. Otherwise, the Vuelta was on a holding pattern. "I have been waiting for this moment for 14 years," said the 35-year-old after scoring just his second professional victory. "I knew there was a headwind at the finish, I

The Kazakh one-two punch took the fight out of the Spanish mountain goats in Thursday’s grueling summit finish at La Pandera during the Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov delivered the knockout blow in the 18th stage to take firm control of the leader’s jersey with only three days left as Astana teammate Andrey Kashechkin won the stage and slipped into third overall. Vino’ did what he does best, attacking archrival Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) with about 6.5km to go in the brutally steep La Pandera climb to widen his lead to 53 seconds. "I would have preferred to win the Tour

Tuesday’s thrilling 17th stage of the Vuelta a España was a lesson in conviction. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) stormed into the race leader’s gold jersey on the strong belief that he could simply will his way to overall victory while stage winner Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) buried two weeks of frustration with the joy of his biggest pro win. "I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was perhaps even more special because the beginning of the race was such a disaster," said Danielson, who’s jumped from 12th to sixth overall in two days. "So many people lost faith in me and

Tom Danielson won’t win this Vuelta a España, but his dramatic stage victory in Wednesday’s 159.2km 17th stage from Adra to Granada bolstered his belief that someday he might. The 28-year-old finally delivered the big victory that everyone has been expecting from him since he came to Europe to race in 2004 with Fassa Bortolo. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood caught up with Danielson at the finish line in Granada (portions of this interview are from the post-race press conference). Here are excerpts of what he had to say: VN.com: This is the win you’ve been looking for since

With the futures of Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubeldia uncertain for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Tuesday’s victory by youngster Igor Anton in the wet and mountainous stage 16 couldn’t have come at a better time. The 23-year-old counter-attacked an elite group of six leading riders through pounding rain with 4km to go in the 145km stage to win his first professional race. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) sprinted to second place, picking up a valuable time bonus to further tighten his grip on the overall lead with just five days left of the 2006 Vuelta. "Today was a lot more than we could

There are six days to go in the Vuelta – five if you don't count the last stage into Madrid, which is essentially a parade. Nonetheless, on today's rest day we are still resting, napping and lounging around with our legs up, as the three days ahead of us are some of the hardest of the twenty one we will have raced. Yesterday, the stage was controlled, the peloton lethargic in the strong headwind, and the final outcome one we could have all predicted: a sprint finish. The day was, however, a long one as the race started early so that we could fit in an afternoon plane and bus transfer

Sunday’s mostly downhill 182km run from Spain’s central plateau to the sunny Mediterranean coast went according to script, with a brave breakaway falling short and German ace Robert Forster winning a frenetic mass sprint. The Gerolsteiner rider outkicked Stuart O’Grady (CSC) to take the first mass gallop in a week while Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) retained his 48-second grip on the overall leader’s jersey. “It was very dangerous,” said Forster, who won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia this year. “I thought that Petacchi would make the sprint and that is why we tried to get

Navigators second-year pro Shawne Milne closed out the North American UCI season in style, taking a close victory in Souderton, Pennsylvania’s Univest Grand Prix. Milne came around breakaway companion Fausto Munoz (Tecos-Alderfer Auction) in the steep uphill sprint to the line following an arrow-straight, screaming downhill.

Move over, Paolo Savoldelli. Euskaltel’s Samuel Sánchez is ready to give the Italian – nicknamed “the Falcon” for his fearless runs down Europe’s steepest mountain roads - a run for his money as road racing’s king of the downhill. Sánchez put down a kamikaze attack with 5km to go on a harrowing descent off the Cat. 3 Alto de Castillo to claim victory in Friday’s hilly 180km 13th stage thanks to fearless descending skills. “If you don’t take risks, you won’t win,” Sánchez said after just holding off a lead group of 30 riders from the busted up peloton. “I’ve always been good in the

It’s been a season of close calls and falls for Fred Rodriguez. The three-time U.S. champion has piled up a armload of seconds and thirds as well as gotten caught up in his fair share of pile ups this season, including one that sent him tumbling out of the Tour de France. Rodriguez, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Sunday, is back in action at the Vuelta a España where he’s looking for a stage victory to save what he’s called a “sour season.” The Californian came into the Vuelta to help teammate Robbie McEwen to hunt for a stage victory in the first week. The Aussie sprinter missed the

Frenchman Stephane Auge of Cofidis claimed the 192km fifth stage of the ProTour's Tour of Poland from Legnica to Jelenia Gora on Friday.Auge edged out fellow escapee American AaronOlson (Saunier Duval) with Max van Heeswijk (Discovery)  leadinghome the peloton 21 seconds back.Italian Daniele Bennati held on to the leader's yellow jersey after finishing sixth.Auge broke away from the peloton after just 12km and was soon joined by Olson. The pair gradually increased their advantage to over 14 minutes before the peloton put on a serious chase, but the pair just held off the pursuit

The stage to Cuenca is a Vuelta classic as the finish is challenging, picturesque and always provides and exciting finale with a cobbled climb, a fast descent and a slightly uphill sprint to the line. The last two stages have been fast, uncomfortably fast, and the peloton has spent much of the races lined out in single file. The attacks in the first hour are relentless as everybody still wants to get into the breakaway that makes it to the finish. Yesterday’s break made it, so why not again today? In my last diary I think I mentioned that the 12th stage to Guadalajara would be flat and a

Luca Paolini left his role as Paolo Bettini’s sidekick at Quick Step-Innergetic last season to sign a big-money contract with Liquigas to become a team leader. Save for a win at the GP Citta di Camaiori, the glory has been sparse. But on Thursday the 29-year-old Italian attacked early out of a 11-man breakaway featuring none other than Bettini to claim a victory in a major stage race for the first time in his career. "It’s great to finally win in a big tour," Paolini said after holding off an attack with 4km to go in Thursday’s hilly 12th stage. "I’ve been trying to win with many attacks in

Don’t expect to see Paolo Bettini in Madrid. The Quick Step-Innergetic rider told VeloNews in a rest-day interview Monday he’s planning an early Vuelta exit to put the finishing touches on his preparations for the Salzburg world championships later this month. “I will probably leave around the stage near Granada,” Bettini said, referring to stage 17. “The (Italian) team is arriving in Salzburg on Sunday and I need to go home at least one day to see my wife, or she’ll kill me!” Such is the life of one of cycling’s superstars as he prepares for what’s the last major race that the 32-year-old

Discovery Channel doesn’t have the Lance Armstrong guarantee anymore, so the squad has to find satisfaction in more modest goals. The team no longer rules the Tour de France like it did seven Julys in a row, but a gutsy solo victory by Egoi Martinez in Wednesday’s 11th stage of the Vuelta a España delivered the team a unique accomplishment in the first year of the post-Armstrong era - stage victories and stints in leader’s jerseys in all three grand tours. “This victory was important for the team,” said Martinez, who shot away from a pair of riders with 12km to go. “Even without Armstrong,

Frayed nerves and frustration poured out of Carlos Sastre at the finish line of Tuesday’s hilly 10th stage, opening up raw wounds between Team CSC and Caisse d’Epargne dating back to the 2006 Tour de France. An exasperated Sastre – third overall at 44 seconds back – couldn’t believe that it was left up to his Team CSC troops to lead the chase to trim the nine-minute difference a 15-man breakaway held midway through Tuesday’s stage. "Caisse d’Epargne wants to win the Vuelta without working," Sastre told reporters. "We were the ones who had to prevent Karpets and Paulinho from getting back

Transitional stages are ideal for the opportunist as there is a good chance a breakaway will get away and make it to the line as the sprinters’ teams are not interested in chasing as the course is too hard for their sprinter, and it is interest of the overall leader’s team to let the break go as it makes it easier on them to control the race. Today, we had another transitional day, like yesterday’s stage, and we all knew the break would succeed and make it to Burgos ahead of the peloton. Egoi Martinez, our fervent Basque teammate, was the opportunist today, and took advantage of his

Astana – kept out of the 2006 Tour de France for alleged links to Operación Puerto - is making up for lost time with a vengeance in the 2006 Vuelta a España. Sergio Paulinho, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, attacked a 15-man group with just under 1km to go in Tuesday’s 199.3km 10th stage, leaping away over a small finishing climb to give the troubled Astana team its third consecutive stage victory of this year's Vuelta. "Things are going well for the team," said Paulinho, hailed as Portugal’s best prospect since José Azevedo. "We’ve won two stages with Alexandre (Vinokourov) and now

Reversing his fortunes of 2005, Jittery Joe’s sprinter Jeff Hopkins took his first NRC win in the US 10K Classic on Labor Day in Marietta, Georgia. Edging out last year’s winner Emile Abraham (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) and 26 other riders who got away from the remaining 140 finishers, Hopkins began his sprint not completely aware what was at stake. "I thought that there were still two dudes away from the (previous) break, so I thought we were sprinting for third. I didn’t get a chance to do a victory salute or anything." Hopkins said minutes after he came across the line. With three other

A rest day is the calm before the storm. As always in a grand tour, today’s stage after yesterday’s rest day was fast as it seems every rider had found renewed motivation and ‘fresh’ legs. In our team meeting Johan reminded us of what we already were envisioning: that the start would be fast. He also told us that we had to be in the breakaway as we are leading the team classification and also, having a rider in the breakaway would also give us a shot at a stage victory. We knew the stage was going to be up and down on sinuous roads along the coast but the race profile in the “Libro

A pair of Alexanders conquered Sunday’s epic, six-climb “queen stage” across the abrupt mountains of northern Spain to seize control of the 61st Vuelta a España. Alexandre Vinokourov – the attacking Kazakh from Astana – jumped with teammate Andrey Kashechkin with 7km to go on the final 8km La Cobertoria climb to win for the second day in a row and confirm his candidacy for overall victory despite a slow start. Alejandro Valverde – the dashing Spanish star hunting the first grand-tour victory of his career – counter-attacked with 2km to go to drop archrivals Carlos Sastre (CSC), Danilo Di

To the delight of a partisan hometown crowd, Discovery Channel’s George Hincapie won the first-ever all-American national road championship in Greenville, South Carolina, Sunday, crossing the finish line alone in front of a decimated field that produced only 31 finishers. Fellow ProTour rider Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner finished second, 16 seconds behind Hincapie, with TIAA-CREF’s Danny Pate rounding out the podium, 1:20 off the winning pace. It was Hincapie’s second national road championship, following a win in Philadelphia in 1998.

Alexandre Vinokourov has been waiting a long time for a win like this one. It almost came Friday on the barren slopes of El Morredero, but the attacking Kazakh was reeled in with just 200 meters from the line by a surging Alejandro Valverde. Vinorokourov returned the favor in Saturday’s hilly 181.6km eighth stage across Spain’s Galicia region, shooting past a hapless Luca Paolini (Liquigas) late on a rising finish straight into Lugo to win for the first time in an Astana jersey. "After the disappointment of yesterday, I really wanted to win today," Vinokourov said after holding off the

QuickStep's Francesco Chicchi won a farcical fifth stage of the Tour of Britain from Rochester to Canterbury on Saturday. Italian rider Chicchi edged T-Mobile's Mark Cavendish into second place, while Aart Vierhouten of Skil-Shimano finished third. But it was the chaotic start to the Kent stage that dominated the day as the entire peloton was accidentally sent in the wrong direction during the neutral zone. It is thought the police escort leading the riders had taken the wrong route and the stage was halted for 20 minutes while riders and race officials tried to determine the

In the first week of racing there were few attacks, controlled racing and many field sprints, but today the tide changed and we became the lucky ones responsible for controlling the peloton on its most energetic and aggressive day. After more than 70km of relentless attacks and an average speed of more than 50kph, the field finally lost some steam and relented. It was as much a relief to us as almost everybody else as virtually the whole peloton stopped for a pee once there was one rider clear and off the front, the race was in control and we had slowed down. Our goal going into the stage

Discovery Channel put a rider atop the overall Vuelta a España standings in Friday’s 154.2km seventh stage up the grinding Alto de el Morredero climb, but it wasn’t the rider they expected to see in the gold jersey. Tom Danielson’s bid to become the first American to win the Vuelta took a serious blow after struggling halfway up the 18km climb to lose more than three minutes while teammate Janez Brajkovic continued to show savvy beyond his 22 years and calmly rode his way into the overall lead. “This is my first grand tour and I came here to help Tom and to gain experience,” said Brajkovic,

After a week of racing things are starting to sort themselves out and, thankfully, our team is looking very good for the moment. Janez the Wonder Boy has continued where he left off two days ago, when we were in the mountains, and has come away from today's mountaintop finish with the leader's gold jersey. Triki, Stijn and Tom also did a great climb and were there right there leading into the final kilometers. Three of them crossed the line among the first 10 riders. Janez is leading every jersey competition other than the points for the moment, and we are also leading the team

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) pipped two Germans in a tight sprint to end an otherwise long trudge across the sun-baked plains of northern Spain in Thursday’s 177km sixth stage from Zamora to León. The Norwegian came around big German André Greipel (T-Mobile) in the final 75 meters and held off another German, Erik Zabel (Milram), to sneak to his first victory in the 2006 Vuelta a España after three second places earlier this week. "It’s true I’ve had a problem to win a stage here, but I think it cost me a little when I got the leader’s jersey. You always think about trying to defend a

Belgian cyclist Christophe Brandt, who suffered multiple injuries in a high speed crash on Tuesday, was brought out of a medically induced coma after showing signs of improvement on Thursday. The 29-year-old Davitamon team rider was due to stay in a coma for two days as doctors assessed his injuries following the accident on the Sels to Merxem Cup race. But in a statement his team reported: "After doctors examined him and saw an improvement in the condition of his lungs they decided to bring Christophe out of the coma earlier than planned. He is now awake and has been speaking with his

There was quiet jubilation at the Discovery Channel camp ahead of Thursday’s sixth stage, with three riders in the top 10 overall and Janez Brajkovic nearly pulling off a surprise up Wednesday’s summit finish at La Covatilla. "It was great to be up there with Di Luca," Brajkovic told VeloNews.com Thursday morning. "I had great legs and Johan (Bruyneel) told me to follow the attacks if I could. I could stay with Di Luca without any problem, but he was able to beat me in the sprint. I am here at this Vuelta to gain experience and learn about big tours for the future. Right now I doubt that I

Thursday marked the opening of the Eurobike trade show for the 15th consecutive year The show takes place in Friedrichshafen a small village on the banks of Lake Constance in southern Germany, the home of the once-great Zeppelin airships. There has been a quiet grumble over the past few years about the state of the cycling industry in Europe and the rest of the world; that it has been stale or even in some cases faltering. One couldn’t know it by the volume of exhibitors at Eurobike. Even more assuring was the amount of time and capital exhibitors were putting into their displays. The

Danilo Di Luca poured a season of bitterness into his pedals to score a sweet victory atop a big pile of granite in western Spain to take the overall lead in the Vuelta a España Wednesday. The defending ProTour champion attacked with just under 3km to go in the 177km four-climb fifth stage from Plasencia to the Vuelta’s first summit finish at La Covatilla to win for the first time this season and surge into the overall lead. “I came to this Vuelta to win a stage and that came sooner than expected. I will not fight for the overall victory in this race. I am at this Vuelta to get into top

Australian Matthew Goss (SA.com) took the yellow jersey after the second stage of the Tour of Britain from Blackpool to Liverpool, won by Britain's Roger Hammond on Wednesday. The 32-year-old won the stage from Holland's Aart Vierhouten, while Russell Downing (DFL) was third. Road race world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) was 16th. In the overall standings, Goss was two seconds ahead of first stage winner Martin Pedersen (CSC) after picking up time bonuses from intermediate sprints. Spaniard Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) was in third place and only eight seconds

At the start today I had flashbacks as we had ridden the same stage and started in the same spot in 2004. It was a vicious day in the heat and our team was pummeled by Liberty Seguros; in fact they throttled the entire peloton. Today, thankfully, was a little different. From the start, riders attacked relentlessly until we hit the first slopes of the first climb – the Puerto del Piornal – thirty kilometers into the race. On a mountain day a good chunk of the peloton - the sprinters and those not vying for the stage or the overall - try to get into the breakaway as the ride up front is

With the heart of a warrior and the squeaky voice of a teen-ager, Erik Zabel proved he still has a few victories left in his 36-year-old legs. The German veteran profited from a strong setup from the Milram train to score his first grand-tour victory since the 2003 Vuelta, relegating the younger generation to the runner-up status to which he has lately become so accustomed. FullResults "Today I am very happy because the whole team worked for me and it’s good to see the train is working better and better," said Zabel after notching just his second win of the season. "I am very happy with

Fred Rodriguez will race the world championships next month in Salzburg after what he hopes will be a successful and crash-free Vuelta a España. The Davitamon-Lotto sprinter is racing his second Vuelta, looking to help Robbie McEwen win a stage and then try something for himself in the second half. "I will be doing the world’s and then going back for the Vegas (Interbike) show and returning to Europe for Paris-Tours to help Robbie [McEwen]," Rodriguez told VeloNews.com after Monday’s third stage. "It’s important for me to be in Vegas for the work I do with my foundation and with my coffee

Martin Pedersen (CSC) took the yellow jersey with a dramatic sprint-finish victory in the first stage of the Tour of Britain on Tuesday. The Danish rider was part of a three-man breakaway with Australian Mathew Goss (SA.com) and Luis Pasamontes (Unibet.com) and the trio engaged in a thrilling battle for first place in the 162km stage from Glasgow Green to Castle Douglas. Pedersen eventually finished two seconds ahead of Goss, while Spaniard Pasamontes was five seconds off the lead in third place. Defending champ Nick Nuyens (Quick Step-Innergetic) finished 15th in a large peloton that also

Today we spent another day in the extreme, oppressive heat, although at least today’s stage was 100km shorter than yesterday's so we didn't wilt as badly or go through quite as many bottles. The heat is affecting the whole peloton and it’s all any one was talking about today: Their feet were sore from swelling in their shoes; their lungs were sore from breathing in the hot air; their mouths were dry; they were sunburned; they had headaches; or they were just plain uncomfortable. To keep cool during the race we unzip our jerseys and leave them blowing in the wind. We loosen our

Monday’s long stinker of a stage ended fast and hot as Saunier Duval put down the double hammer, sending David Millar on the attack in the final kilometer and then unleashing Spanish prospect Francisco Ventoso against the veterans to earn a surprise victory. Temperatures surged into the 100s for the Vuelta’s longest stage, 219km from Córdoba to Almendralejo, and the peloton replied in kind, finishing nearly 20 minutes slower than the slowest projected time. A three-man escape featuring another Saunier Duval rider – the most aggressive rider from the Tour de France David de al Fuente – was

The peloton is lethargic due to the heat and racing in the south and center of Spain makes it is easy to understand why the country invented the siesta; it is simply too hot to move. On the road today, our computers read between 44-47 degrees Celsius (111-116F) all day. Yet, because everyone is off work during siesta, it is a great time to have a bike race as they can all come out and watch it live or on television (most Spaniards opt to watch it on television as it is even too hot to stand out in the heat all day). Unfortunately, the show must go on no matter the temperature, we slog

The world’s two most-dominant cross-country racers, Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesja and France’s Julien Absalon, wrote themselves into the pages of mountain biking history at the 2006 World Mountain-bike Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand, with each claiming a third-consecutive world title Sunday. Absalon, who took the title in 2004 and 2005, became only the second man ever to take three individual world cross-country titles. Denmark’s Henrik Djerins won three consecutive titles during the sport’s primordial years, from 1992-’94. Dahle-Flesja, the world champion in 2002, ’04 and ’05,

This year’s Vuelta a España has attracted a world-class lineup of sprinters, but one rider looking ahead to next month’s world championships surprised the favorites in Sunday’s heated charge into Córdoba. Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) sprang past front-runners Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) to win the 176km second stage, marked by an early unsuccessful breakaway and glaring heat. FULLRESULTS "I am not a pure sprinter and I don’t plan to make a sprint until I know the legs feel good," said Bettini, who grabbed his second career Vuelta stage. "I am

Magnus Bäckstedt sees the Vuelta a España with very clear objectives: to take home a scalp. The 2004 Paris-Roubaix winner has suffered through a difficult season and is looking to the Vuelta for redemption. “I’m here for a stage win,” Bäckstedt told VeloNews. “I so want one now, after having a seriously shitty year, it’s all I can think about.” Bäckstedt helped motor his Liquigas troops to a ninth place finish in Saturday’s team time trial and said he feels good after the short, but intense effort in Málaga. “I felt good up at Holland [Eneco Tour], now if I have the legs I want to try to do