At the end of the 2005 race season, I found myself with a hard drive chock-full of strange images from the year’s racing scene. Most (if not all) are on their way to an eternity in the digital afterlife, having been erased to make way for next year’s crop. But before I 86ed all of the images, I felt compelled to share a few with you. For whatever reason, none of these shots made it into a velonews.com race report this year. That said, more than a couple are worth looking at. Enjoy.

Alison Dunlap showed she was virtually unbeatable in a paved sprint at Sea Otter.

The Southern California Cyclocross Cup reached its halfway point in grand fashion on Sunday as nearly 100 riders took to the European-style course of Hart Park in Bakersfield, California. The course, designed by race director Sam Ames, featured pavement, grass and one short, steep run-up. Two high concrete curbs were a crowd favorite - a few riders were able to bunny hop them, but most stuck to the traditional dismount. In the women’s A race series promoter Dorothy Wong (Kelly) took the win from rival Carolyn Popovic followed by Amy Bowen in third. "It was a tough race but such a good

American Colby Pearce took the silver in the 30km points race on Saturday during day two of the UCI track World Cup in Moscow. The TIAA-CREF rider, from Boulder, Colorado, scored 27 points to secure the runner-up spot behind Argentina’s Sebastian Cancio, with 32 points. Petr Lazar of the Czech Republic was third with 24. In other action, Australia easily won the team pursuit; Stefan Nimke of Germany won the sprint; Natalia Tsylinskaya of Belarus took the 500-meter time trial; and China’s Lee Meifang con the individual pursuit. UCI World CupMoscow, RussiaNovember 5MenTeam pursuit1.

Add Thor Hushovd to the name of stars making an early season trip to Australia for the 2006 Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. The winner of the green points jersey at this year’s Tour de France will join Crédit Agricole teammates Laszlo Bodrogi, Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and Frenchman Patrice Halgand for the season opener. It is the first time the Norwegian sprinter has raced in Australia's premier road event and ensures the sprints will be hotly contested in 2006. Hushovd, who pipped Australians Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen, for the prestigious green jersey in July, also claimed

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Where the real problem isHey VeloFolk,To be as brief as I can… I love our sport and the pure athleticismit requires. Obviously, there is a doping problem at hand. However, itseems to me that ASO and WADA and their "War on Doping" is only perpetuatinga greater problem.With

Last week, I left you with a thought from Greg LeMond after Frenchman Laurent Fignon won the 1983 Tour de France: “We all thought it was kind of a fluke.” Had LeMond, then 22, started that Tour, he might well have won it. He was two months older than Fignon, who was his teammate, and LeMond would have gone into the race with much better results, including victories at the 1982 Tour de l’Avenir and 1983 Dauphiné Libéré. Backing up that theory was the manner in which LeMond continued the 1983 season, winning the world championship and then the Super Prestige Pernod title (see “Inside Cycling,”

American Floyd Landis announced Friday that he will prepare for next year's Tour de France by competing in the Giro d’Italia in May for the first time. "I hope that it will be a perfect warm-up for the Tour", said Landis, a leader on the Swiss-based Phonak team. "I'll begin my training in the United States and continue it in Europe from January. I'll check out the Tour (de France) route in June." Landis’s announcement comes a day after the route of the 2006 Tour de France was announced in Paris and two weeks prior to the announcement of the Giro route. The American finished in

The Michelob ULTRA Grand Prix of Cyclocross races this weekend at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, Massachusetts, marks the East Coast debut of the 2005 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. The traditional seaside venue, long one of the highlights of the New England circuit, attracts riders from throughout North America with its guarantee of big crowds, fast racing, and a grab bag of autumnal weather conditions. Whether soaked in late-October sun or blasted by ocean-driven rain, Gloucester’s sweeping, sandy course never fails to foster back-and-forth racing with thrilling sprint

Whenever a dominant Tour de France champion like Lance Armstrong retires or is absent because of injury, the vacuum is nearly always filled by at least one, probably two, very open, exciting editions of the race. That should be the case in 2006, which might recall the dramatic Tours of 1987 and 1989 (post Bernard Hinault), or 1997 and 1998 (post Miguel Induráin). Perhaps that’s why the Tour organizers, ASO, have chosen for the emblem of their 2006 edition a yellow jersey pulled into the hexagonal shape of France by six gloved hands. Figuring out whose grip is the strongest on that yellow

Paris (AP) - Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc has predicted an exciting 2006 race in the absence of Lance Armstrong and taken another shot at the seven-time champion. Leblanc announced the 2006 Tour route Thursday, with the notable points being the absence of a team time trial, the return of L'Alpe d'Huez, and the matter of which rider takes the start line in the No. 1 jersey now that Armstrong has retired. “It is a classical, well-balanced course. There are five wonderful mountain stages,” Leblanc said. “It is a change of era. A period of long domination is over. There

Speculation about the route for the upcoming Tour de France is always high in the days before it is officially announced. This is particularly so this year because for the first time in eight years the Tour will start without its dominant champion. So the layout of the 2006 Tour course, to be announced Thursday, will play a much bigger role in determining what type of rider will emerge as the successor to Lance Armstrong. Will the course favor a time trialist like Jan Ullrich, a climber like Ivan Basso, experienced challengers like Levi Leipheimer, Francisco Mancebo or Alexander Vinokourov,

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.The story behind that photoHello,Becky Brandt's dad here. Becky is at school right now, so I am writing in on her behalf. She took that photo at the WORS Ultimax Challenge in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on October 9th of this year. It was the citizen/beginner race in the area simply called

The route for the 2006 Tour de France will be unveiled Thursday in a glittery ceremony in the Palais des Congrès in Paris. That is, if the leaks appearing in the European press don’t ruin the surprise before then. What’s officially known is that the 93rd edition of the French national tour will run from July 1st to the 23rd, with a 7.5km prologue along the Rhine in Strasbourg to get the party started. A road stage starting and finishing in Strasbourg on July 2 will dip into Germany. Beyond that, reports in a variety of European newspapers have the Tour route pushing north into Holland and

Olympic kilometer champion Chris Hoy is planning an attempt on Arnaud Tournant’s world kilo' record in 2007, The Scotsman reported Monday. Tournant became the first man to record a sub-minute time in the kilometer track event when he clocked 58.875 seconds at 3,658 meters altitude in La Paz, Bolivia in October 2001. “Bolivia is the only place to do it,” Hoy told The Scotsman newspaper. “It needs to be at altitude because it’s just not feasible to try at sea level.” Hoy said first he’ll try to win the kilometer title at the Commonwealth Games and the world championship in 2006, events

Center-pull cantilever brakes, once common on mountain bikes, are now completely gone from the racing circuit. However, as summer winds down, the leaves turn and cyclo-cross bikes come out of hiding, the center-pull cantilever can once again enjoy the spotlight. To understand what makes a good cyclo-cross brake, you first have to understand some of the intricacies of cantilever geometry, lever ratios and the whole idea of mechanical advantage. At the most basic level, a brake and its lever must be matched in terms of mechanical advantage. A prime example is a linear-pull brake (the

Wicks, Gould tops in Verge Mid AtlanticOctober 16, 2005, Bridgeton, NJ, USA-Kona riders dominated Sunday’s second race of the $30,000 Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross Series with wins in both UCI Elite races, and a convincing podium sweep in the UCI Elite Men’s event in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The three-century-old river port town is the county seat and boasts a city park almost as large as the town itself. Within the park, residents can find a riverside beach, an amphitheater and even a small zoo. Unfortunately for the eastern regulars of the Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross Series, the zoo wasn’t

Riders and staff are scrambling to try to find new jobs in the wake of news last week that the Sony Ericsson deal to take over the sponsorship for Fassa Bortolo fell through. The mobile communications giant issued a terse statement Friday saying it had no intention of sponsoring a professional racing team despite news that Italian manager Giancarlo Ferretti had already penned more than a dozen riders to long-term contracts. Ferretti was on the verge of tears when he told La Gazzetta dello Sport that an intermediary had misled him and others in believing that a multi-year, multimillion

Will Sprint For Food: Collapse of the Sony deal means O'Grady and others are scrambling for contracts

Before Saturday’s Tour of Lombardy, which was celebrating its centennial, Olympic champion Paolo Bettini was totally relaxed, chatting with friends and signing autographs for the fans who gathered at the start in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Asked by RAI television how he saw the day going, the 31-year-old Quick Step-Innergetic team leader said he would see how things went, follow the wheels, and maybe go for the final sprint. More than six hours later, on the misty lakeside in Como, Italy, he was there for the final sprint, but he didn’t just "follow the wheels." Bettini exploded the race on the

Rebellin led the chase and took the bunch sprint for fifth

The new Sony Ericsson team headed up by cycling legend Giancarlo Ferretti looks to be on the verge of collapsing. The veteran Italian team manager is reportedly in Sweden for emergency meetings with Ericsson officials after it was learned that high-level officials were threatening to pull the plug on the recently announced six-year deal to sponsor the team. In fact, the mobile communications giant couldn’t have put it more bluntly Friday on its web page. “There have been a number of press reports across Europe speculating that Sony Ericsson will sponsor a cycling team. Sony Ericsson can

When the Tour of Lombardy was first held in November 1905, bike racing was in its infancy. The Tour de France had just been held for the third time, while the Giro d’Italia was still four years away from its first edition. And the only one-day classic being organized on an annual basis was Paris-Roubaix, which had been held 10 times. The first Giro di Lombardia was held on an almost flat loop, starting and finishing in the region’s capital, Milan. The winner, in a long solo break, was a solid local with slicked-back straight hair, Giovanni Gerbi, who covered the 230km course in a little over

When Eddy Merckx recently commented on his being called the greatest cyclist of all time, he played down the description in typical “modest Eddy” fashion. “Comparisons between one generation and another don’t mean anything,” he told Vélo Magazine. “For me, the most important is to be the best of your generation.” Merckx, no question, was the best of his generation. And after he retired in 1978 there was a void waiting to be filled, just as there is today on the retirement of Lance Armstrong. The après-Merckx years were marked by some fierce competition for “best in class.” The first

It looks like Brazil might have its first real break-out star on its hands after another thrilling victory by Murilo Fischer. Just last weekend, Fischer beat Paolo Bettini in the GP Beghelli and he quietly finished fifth in the world championships in Madrid last month. Taking advantage of his late-season form, Fischer shot to another impressive win in Thursday’s Giro del Piemonte in northern Italy. An early breakaway was reeled in with just 8km to go to set up the sprinters. The South American held off Steven De Jongh (Rabobank) to carve his eighth win on the year. “This win is very

Insisting on an embargo until Thursday, the SRAM corporation has releasedadditional information on the shifting mechanism behind the company’s newroad components, first introducedat the Eurobike tradeshow in September.While show-goers and consumers have had a look at the group,bikes equipped with the new components were kept behind glass and thosewho who were allowed to play with the shifters were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Few chose to argue the point with SRAM's six-foot-five-inch media rep' Michael Zellman.Now that the embargo is lifted SRAM is touting what calls its

Shifting during a sprint

Luca Paolini (Quick Step) won’t start Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia while ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) is in doubt for Saturday’s season closer. Paolini injured his hand in a collision with a T-Mobile team car in Sunday’s Paris-Tours and has pulled the plug on his racing season. Quick Step, meanwhile, will enter Lombardia looking to win the season’s last big race with a determined Paolo Bettini. Di Luca, meanwhile, promises to start despite a knee injury that prompted his early departure from Paris-Tours after 200km of racing. L’Equipe reported that Di Luca was scheduled

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.LeMond pieces are greatEditor:I'm really enjoying the John Wilcockson articles about Greg LeMond. This is great stuff. Thanks. John BrownOrange, Connecticut Wilcockson’s recollections deserve bookEditor:So John, when are you going to put this all down in a book? I'd buy it.

German sprint king Erik Zabel sensationally brought the curtain down on his career with the T-Mobile team by claiming a record-equallng third victory in Paris-Tours Sunday. Zabel, riding his last race for the German outfit after 13 stellar seasons, dominated a rare bunch sprint in the one-day classic to beat Italian Daniele Bennati of Lampre by half a wheel. Australia's Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) finished third with Australian champion Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) fourth. Zabel, the winner here in 1994 and 2003, produced a powerful burst in the final meters of the 253.5km race to

Two very different race stories developed at the Rad Racing Gran Prix of Cyclocross, held at Fort Steilacoom Park in Tacoma, Washington, on Sunday, the second round of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross The first scenario, in the elite women’s event, held a similar plotline to that of one day earlier, as Canadian Lyne Bessette charged to the front of the race and never looked back, crossing the finish line comfortably ahead of an outclassed field. The second, in the elite men’s event, offered up more plot developments than a bestselling-mystery novel, as a six-man lead group

One winner of the opening round of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross was last year’s defending series champion; the other was the only competitor, man or woman, to have won a World Cup cyclo-cross event. So when Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Canadian Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) took convincing solo victories at the Cannondale Stumptown Classic in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise — except that both brought to the start line extenuating circumstances that led many to question whether either rider could dominate a

Brimming with confidence after becoming America’s first world pro road champion on September 4, 1983, Greg LeMond took aim at the final weeks of the season with great form and big ambitions. He had a good chance of becoming the first American to win not only a European classic but also the Super Prestige Pernod competition (equivalent of today’s UCI ProTour). The remaining three Super Prestige races were the Grand Prix des Nations time trial and the one-day classics Paris-Tours and the Tour of Lombardy. His main rival for the truly prestigious Pernod award was Sean Kelly, the Irishman who

The second Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross kicks off Saturday with a pair of Northwestern races – Saturday’s Cannondale Stumptown Cyclocross Classic in Portland, Oregon, and Sunday’s Rad Racing Gran Prix of Cyclocross in Tacoma, Washington. The six-race national series rewards overall winners in the elite-men, elite-women, under-23 and junior-men categories with automatic selection to the U.S. team that will contest the world cyclo-cross championships on January 28-29, 2006, in Zeddam, The Netherlands. All six races will be held under UCI regulations, and leaders’ jerseys will

Redmond, WA - What do mail carriers and ‘cross racers have in common? Rain, hail, and unwavering dedication to their chosen courses. Nearly a thousand spectators proved just as passionate to the sport as true northwest-style (read: “muddy”) cyclocross reigned at the Group Health Velodrome Saturday night.Despite the drenching downpour on the early races at King County’s MarymoorPark in Redmond, WA, our hardy bell-clanging fans still packed the windingcourse and Toña Cerveza Beer Garden, letting riders know they wereall in it together.In stark contrast to last year’s balmy event, this year’s

“I’ve always felt, tactically, that I was a fairly smart rider. Everything’s timing, and you’ve got to be feeling good for that one moment when it’s gonna make the difference.” Those words could well have been spoken by Tom Boonen, who timed his effort so perfectly at last week’s world road championships in Madrid that the first time he was seen at the front of the race was when he crossed the line as the winner. But it wasn’t Boonen talking about his rainbow-jersey victory in 2005, but Greg LeMond after winning the world’s in 1983. LeMond seemed destined to become the first American to

It looks like Christian Vande Velde will be staying with Team CSC for at least another year. The 29-year-old confirmed to VeloNews that he reached a verbal agreement with Bjarne Riis’s red and white team Wednesday night and will likely sign the contract during this weekend’s GP Zürich to make it official. Vande Velde joined Team CSC this year along with compatriot Dave Zabriskie and rode strongly in both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. Despite crashing three times, Vande Velde toughed it out to help Carlos Sastre finish third overall. In other team news, Sastre has decided to

Following an excellent neo-pro season, which includes the best climber’s jersey at the Tour de l’Avenir and ninth overall at the Tour of Germany, Saul Raisin has decided to stay where he feels most comfortable. The 22-year-old Georgian signed a two-year extension with Crédit Agricole that will keep him on the French team through the 2008 season. “I had a lot of offers from other teams after the Tour of Germany, I decided I just wanted to stay focused and not have to worry about changing teams,” Raisin told VeloNews after his impressive world’s debut when he was part of the day’s early

Tom Boonen was among the top-line favorites for the 2005 world road cycling championships, but with less than three kilometers to go in Sunday’s 272km race, it didn’t look like he, Alessandro Petacchi or Robbie McEwen had a chance. A six-man break had slipped away from the sprinters in a chaotic, attack-filled final lap, but Boonen’s Belgian bodyguards saved the day, hurling him onto the finishing straight to catch the attacking Alexandre Vinokourov with 600 meters to go. Boonen finished off the job with a long, 300-meter sprint and roared across the line to claim the coveted rainbow

At the CD&P Bermuda Grand Prix racers come with two priorities: racing hard and having a bit of fun in the process. This is, after all, Bermuda. The four-day stage race is the final stop of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series. The top ten teams after the International Tour de Toona are provided free airfare and accommodations to come race on the remote tropical island. The relatively short stages allow plenty of time for the competitors to experience the island, but the demanding courses provide exciting racing action. In Thursday’s first stage, a criterium through the streets of downtown

Boonen wins the field sprint easily.

Amber Neben dared to try to hold off the sprinters in Saturday's elite women's road racing world championships on the 21km Madrid circuit course that almost everyone agrees favors a mass gallop. Neben, winner of the Tour de L'Aude earlier this season, sprung away after the second climb with about 7km to go to nearly catch the sprinters by surprise. Neben clung to a five-second gap, but was reeled in with 4km to go before the powerful German team sling-shot Regina Schleicher into the rainbow jersey. "I was able to get a gap there, but I didn't have the legs to stick it," said

It was a double dose of disappointment Saturday for the American U-23 men's team in the 168km world championships as Ukraine's Dmytro Grabovskyy soloed to an impressive victory. The motivated five-man team missed an early breakaway in the second of eight laps and then American captain Tyler Farrar crashed out in a high-speed pileup in the final kilometers. U.S. team doctor Eric Heiden reported Farrar had some "pretty bad road rash," but no broken bones, but the disappointment was obvious when teammate John Murphy led the Americans across the line 119th some 11 minutes down. "We were

Most observers agree there are three favorites for the elite men's road race: Alessandro Petacchi, Robbie McEwen and Tom Boonen. But every world's delivers at least one surprise. Here's a look at some of the characters who could rock the sprinter's boat: Alejandro Valverde, SpainThe enigma of this year's world's, the 2003 silver medalist has only raced once since pulling out of the 2005 Tour with a sore knee. With three-time defending champion Oscar Freire sidelined, the Spanish team will be doing everything to avoid a sprint. Valverde and other Spanish riders such as

Italian Alessandro Petacchi, one of the favorites to take the men’s road race title in Madrid on Sunday, has inked a three-year deal with the newly formed Milram professional team. The 31-year-old Italian, who has been the Fassa Bortolo team's shining star for the past few years winning stages in all three big Tours, will be joined by German rival Erik Zabel. Zabel, 35, the former six-time winner of the Tour de France green jersey for the sprinters' points competition, also signed a three-year deal. Petacchi, however, failed to show at the team presentation because he was due to

They’re already calling it the "McEwen Corner," the tricky, 180-degree U-turn that comes 450 meters from the finish line in the road world championships course in Madrid. There’s a growing consensus that the technical finish favors the puckish Australian, known for his tenacity both on and off the bike. McEwen is scheduled to arrive to Madrid on Thursday and head up a motivated and well-disciplined Australian team built around setting him up for a sprint finish. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood spoke with McEwen on Tuesday evening via telephone at his home in Belgium to get the

Tyler Farrar will end his 2005 season with Saturday’s espoirsroad race, when he lines up as one of the favorites for the gold medal. The 22-year-old sprinter from Washington state has enjoyed a fabulousseason, winning the U.S. criterium title, a stage at the Tour de l’Avenir,Belgian races Trofee van Haspengouw and Challenge de Hesbaye as well asa stage in the Ronde de l'Isard d'Ariege in France. Farrar is set to make the leap into the European pro leagues in 2006as he joins Cofidis on a two-year deal and he’s hoping he can cap his seasonwith a rainbow jersey. VeloNews European

If anyone knows the Madrid world’s road race course, it’s Giovanni Lombardi. The 36-year-old veteran Italian lives in Madrid’s trendy Cheuca neighborhood, just around the corner from the finish line in front of Real Madrid’s Bernabeu soccer stadium. The Team CSC rider was waiting for the Madrid’s world’s for what was expected to be his final race as a professional. He was intending to race in support of the Italian national team, ride straight through the finish line to his apartment, hang up his bike and officially call it quits. Those best-laid plans were dashed after he recently signed

It’s not often the world championships are held in a bustling city of 5 million inhabitants, but that’s just the setting for the 2005 world road cycling championships which open Tuesday evening with an official celebration. Whether the Madrileños will be cursing the numerous traffic closures in the heart of this very Spanish capital remains to be seen, but a very urban flavor will be one of the hallmarks of the 2005 road world’s. Racing kicks off Wednesday with the women’s and U-23 time trials and concludes Sunday with the elite men’s road race. In between there should be plenty of

There’s an air of open rebellion as a behind-the-scenes power struggle threatens to overshadow action on the road at the eve of the 2005 world road cycling championships. A nasty catfight at the highest levels of the UCI is spilling out of the boardroom and onto the front pages just as athletes file into this thriving Spanish capital for what’s sure to be a unique and exciting venue for the battle for the rainbow jersey. The open hostilities hit rock bottom Monday when the UCI executive committee angrily notified its members to change travel plans, directing them to Geneva instead of its

The Vuelta finale in Madrid was an exciting climax to the three-week race, as there were thousands of fans on the final circuit, located in the north part of the city. The riders raced over this week’s 2005 World Championships road racecourse and Petacchi won in his usual style by dominating the sprint finish. Is that a foreshadowing of Sunday’s professional road race? The finish of a grand tour sometimes seems a bit anti-climatic for the riders, as after three weeks of being together pushing themselves to the limits day after day, the riders cross the line and quickly rush to shower, pack

Roberto Heras could finally smile after safely crossing the finish line in Sunday’s 21st stage of the 2005 Vuelta a España. While the race had all but been decided in last weekend’s epic climbing stage, it wasn’t official until he made it through Sunday’s 136.5km finale, finishing 32nd behind stage winner Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo). With that, he rode into the history books by winning a record fourth Vuelta crown. "I don’t know what I will do next year. Right now I want to enjoy this win at the Vuelta, the race that’s given me so much," said the triumphant Heras. Heras’s easiest

While the Tour de France boasts a seven-time winner and the Giro d’Italia has a handful of five-time winners (Binda, Coppi and Merckx), no one had won more than three Vueltas until this year. On Sunday, Roberto Heras made history when he became the first to win a fourth Vuelta crown after finishing safely in the bunch in the final sprint. Despite crashing in the second week and finding himself up against a stubborn Denis Menchov, the 31-year-old Spanish rider took his fourth victory with one dramatic attack in last Sunday’s stage up the brutal Pajares climb in northern Spain. To add a nice

Michael Friedman (Northwestern Mortgage-Fuji) won the Univest Grand Prix criterium on Sunday from a group of three riders. While the criterium doesn’t hold a UCI ranking like Saturday’s 160km road race, it is still a hard-fought event. The race in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was added last year, transforming the Univest Grand Prix from a one-day classic to a two-day omnium. The 80km criterium is run on a narrow rectangular course with a small hill before the final turn. Friedman, the 2001 under-23 national champion, escaped with Chad Hartley (TIAA-CREF), who finished second, and David Clinger

USA Cycling names road team for world championshipsJulich, Armstrong, Farrar Headline RosterColorado Springs, Colo. (September 17, 2005)-USA Cycling announced todaythe riders that will represent the United States at the 2005 UCI Road WorldChampionships in Madrid, Spain September 21-25.A total of 21 riders in three categories - elite and U23 men and elitewomen - will compete for the title of world champion in road race and timetrial events.Headlining the list of elite men is 2004 Olympic time trial bronze medalistBobby Julich (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) who will be gunning for a rainbowjersey in

Unsung German rookie Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner) delivered a surprise Friday to snatch the 142.9km 19th stage while Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) enjoyed a relatively easy day in the saddle with only two days left in the 60th Vuelta a España. Haussler was all smiles as he streaked through ahead of Swiss national champion Martin Elmiger (Phonak) and David Latasa (Comunidad Valenciana) to win his first professional race. The rolling race through the hills north of Madrid proved a frenetic day of racing for riders desperate to win a stage as the Vuelta rolls into its final weekend of

Michael Barry is zeroing in on finishing his third Vuelta a España, but the Discovery Channel rider says the Giro d’Italia is a harder race. Barry rode the Giro earlier this year in support of winner Paolo Savoldelli and the Canadian says he notes a big difference between the three-week tours. “The Giro stages are longer, but this year’s Vuelta is longer than the ones I’ve done before,” Barry said. “In the past the Vuelta has been flat-out racing from the start every day.” Barry enjoyed racing at the Giro, where huge crowds turned out to cheer the peloton every day. A more spirited

Mammoth Mountain, California - For the second-consecutive year, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher) stormed to the men’s professional cross-country national championship. After riding two laps at the front of the field alongside Adam Craig (Giant) and Walker Ferguson (Scott USA), on Friday, the 27-year old Horgan-Kobelski launched his decisive attack near the summit of the day’s long climb. “My plan coming into this race was to put in a huge effort on the second or third lap,” Horgan-Kobelski said. “I wanted to get a gap and hoped to demoralize some people. I think I stuck to the

Sometimes it’s cruel that only one rider can win a stage as spectacular and attack-laden as Thursday’s 18th stage in the 60th Vuelta a España. Nicki Sörensen (CSC), Javier Pascual Rodríguez (Comunidad Valenciana) and Chente García Acosta (Illes Balears) went mano a mano in the 197.5km, five-climb march over the final hard mountains of this year’s Vuelta and the Dane came out the winner. The three were the survivors of a 16-man breakaway on a day that saw no major shifts in the overall standings. Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) retained his 4:30 lead with just three stages to go in the 2005

Christian Vande Velde stuck his nose in the wind in Thursday’s stage, leading the peloton over the final hard climb of the 2005 Vuelta a España up the Cat. 2 Puerto de Navalmoral. The 29-year-old CSC rider was looking to get a head start on the peloton in case there were any dangerous attacks from Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears), the Spanish rider who’s trying to take third place away from Carlos Sastre. "I knew that Mancebo was going to attack again and it was better to get ahead of the storm so I would be there for Carlos," Vande Velde said while he was getting a massage post-stage. "It

Sorensen takes the two-up sprint

Quick Step’s Paolo Bettini was forced to dig deep to win the 16th stage of the Vuelta a España on Tuesday. The 2004 Olympic champion almost ran out of space as Fassa Bortolo’s feared sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi, who has already won four stages in this year’s Vuelta, came surging up on the outside at the end of the 162.5km stage from Leon to Valladolid in northern Spain. Already the winners of four stages in this year's Vuelta, Petacchi's Fassa Bortolo team lost control of the stage on a slight ascent close to the finish and Bettini made his move 300 meters from the line, narrowly

CYCLING COMMUNITY UNITES TO HELP IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE KATRINASeptember 9, 2005Boulder, CO - Pro cyclists around the world join VeloNews and 3 CatsPhoto to raise funds for the American Red Cross and Hurricane Katrina.In light of the tremendous tragedy in New Orleans, Mississippi and otherGulf States, cyclists from Ivan Basso to Tim Johnson signed and donatedteam jerseys for an on-line auction on Veloswap.com. Additionally, USACycling has donated an official USA National Champion jersey that is currentlytraversing the USA garnering signatures from Davis Phinney, George Hincapie,Freddie

The flat days are misleading in Spain, as I have now learned after racing the Vuelta four times. They are usually in the wide-open countryside and the racing is nervous and not as easy as a bike rider might imagine a flat stage to be. We woke up this morning, ready for a stage without a hill but with about a dozen corners in 160 km and a lot of wind on open stretches of prairie. As we rolled out of Leon, the start town, towards the official start banner on the outskirts, the peloton was already nervous and expecting the race to open up from the gun. It did, and never really relented until

Baden Cooke (Française des Jeux) won the opening stage of a glitch-marred Tour of Poland on Monday. The Aussie won a bunch sprint at the end of the 149km stage from Gdansk to Elblag, outkicking Luca Paolini (Quick Step) and Francesco Chicchi (Fassa Bortolo) after more than three hours of racing. The Polish tour, making its debut as part of the UCI ProTour, got off to a dubious start when Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile) - who was only 48 points behind Pro Tour series leader Danilo Di Luca of Italy (Liquigas-Bianchi) in the individual rankings - was one of four riders from Kazakhstan who did

Australian Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) won a sprint victory in the 73rd Grand Prix de Fourmies-La Voix du Nort in Fourmies on Sunday. McEwen outkicked Stefan Van Dijck (MrBookmaker) and Jean-Patrick Nazon (AG2R Prévoyance) to win the 200km race. Results1. Robbie McEwen (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 200km in 4:28:02 (45.376 km/h)2. Stefan Van Dijck (Ned), Mr Bookmaker), same time3. Jean-Patrick Nazon (F), AG2R Prévoyance), s.t.4. Anthony Ravard (F), s.t.5. Jean-Luc Delpech (F), s.t. Bronzini, Scholz win NurembergAustralian Oenone Wood (Team Nürnberger) clinched the women’s World Cup on Sunday

Australian Robbie McEwen warmed up for the world road race championships in two weeks time by winning a sprint finish for the Paris-Brussels cycling classic Saturday in Brussels. The Davitamon rider sprinted home ahead of Dutch rider Stefan Van Dijck (MrBookmaker) and Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon (AG2R). "It's a team victory," said McEwen, winner here already in 2002. "My teammates, headed by Axel Merckx, put in great work to chase down the leaders. Then Peter (Van Petegem), Nico (Mattan) and Bjorn (Leukemans) put everything in place to fend off attacks." McEwen notched up his 24th

The 2005 mountain-bike World Cup is drawing to a conclusion. Saturday brought the final races in the cross-country and four-cross events at Fort William, Scotland, and while all four events proved anti-climactic, in that the series winners were already known, that did not mean poor racing, with two first-time World Cup winners crowned. Women's cross-country This was the easiest race to pick. World champion and World Cup leader Gunn-Rita Dahle (Multivan Merida) came into the final race with an insurmountable lead - plus she had won the Fort William race the previous two years. The real

Disaster can strike at any time in a bicycle race, just ask Roberto Heras. The three-time Vuelta a España champion was rolling along safely tucked in the main bunch when suddenly someone clipped tires with less than 40km to go in Friday’s 12th stage, causing riders to drop like dominos all around. Jakob Piil (CSC) dropped out with a concussion and Niels Scheuneman (Rabobank) broke his hand, but all eyes were on the frail Heras. The Liberty Seguros rider fell hard on his left knee, leaving him with blood streaming down his leg as he gingerly remounted the bike. Nothing was broken, but Heras

VdV down again; Danielson okayChristian Vande Velde (CSC) was caught up in Thursday’s big crash that took out CSC teammate Jakob Piil. The Dane was knocked unconscious and taken to a local hospital for overnight observations, but early indications are that he wasn’t otherwise seriously injured. Vande Velde, however, was banged up when riders fell in front of him like bowling pins. “Everyone went down in front of me and I went down on top of them,” Vande Velde said. “I fell on the same place I did the other day. I have a big hematoma there and I kind of aggravated it. I crashed Monday and

While most eyes have been turned to the Vuelta a España thismonth, the smaller six-stage Tour of Britain (August 30–September 4) featuredsome of the most competitive racing the European continent has witnessedin 2005. When all was said and done, only 40 seconds separated the race’stop six finishers. Although the Tour of Britain does not carry ProTour status, a handfulof peloton's top squads, including T-Mobile, CSC, Quick-Step and MrBookmaker,did send riders. Present were some heavy hitters, including reigningworld time trial champ Michael Rogers and Belgian strongman Nick Nuyensof

Francisco Mancebo was dropped at least twice on the grinding climb to the Arcalís ski station high in the Andorran mountains, but each time he fought his way back to rejoin a lead group composed of all of the Vuelta a España’s top players. The Illes Balears captain put everything into a last-gasp dig to bridge back to three-time Vuelta champion Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) and race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) with 3.5km to go, then found the legs to sprint to victory in Monday’s four-climb, 206.3km 10th stage. “I won more today with the heart than the legs,” said Mancebo, who nudged

Mancebo gets his winIt’s been a long time coming, but Francisco “Paco” Mancebo finally got his first big-time, grand tour stage victory in Monday’s hump to Arcalis. They eight-year pro has been close before, including second in last year’s final time trial and third in the seventh stage of the 2004 Tour de France, but the 29-year-old Spanish rider had never won a stage in a grand tour. “I’ve been close over the years so it feels good to finally win one,” said Mancebo, who out-sprinted Roberto Heras and Denis Menchov to win. “I’m not one of those explosive riders who can blow up the race. I

The riders are now in the midst of the toughest mountain stages of the Vuelta and the race organization and drug testers are not making it any easier on them, as they put the riders in lousy hotels over the weekend, with loud music playing all night long, making for a lousy night sleep and then woke them up at the crack of dawn for blood testing. While visiting Michael this weekend in Lloret de Mar, I felt like I was having a bad nightmare, in which I was brought back to the ‘70s and stuck in a cheesy all-inclusive family resort. Normally, the guys stay in nice hotels, so this was totally

My roommate, Tom Danielson had a fantastic ride and moved himself up into the top five overall. He is a great time trialist but an even better climber so he is motivated for the coming days. Both of us have been sweating up a storm the last 24 hours as our hotel has no air conditioning and gets direct sunlight for most of the day. We have the door and the windows open to try and get a breeze through the room but it doesn’t seem to be doing much other than attracting the tourists to our room who have no qualms about coming in and saying “hello.” The highlight of the time in Lloret has

Fabian Wegmann’s first trip to the United States was capped on Sunday afternoon with a tidy profit earned near San Francisco’s Financial District. The 25-year-old German, who rides for Levi Leipheimer’s Gerolsteiner squad, won the 108-mile Barclays Global Investors Grand Prix after catching John Lieswyn (Health Net-Maxxis) and Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) in the final two miles, then outsprinting the two Americans for the $15,000 winner’s purse. While the sun finally broke through the famous San Francisco fog in time to shine on Wegmann as he sped across the finish line on the

Tom Danielson might have had trouble falling asleep Sunday night a few hours after riding the best time trial of his career, but it wasn’t because of any post-stage euphoria. A karaoke show was in full flight in his hotel courtyard, and he was hoping the singers would shut up soon enough for him to catch some shuteye before hitting two difficult climbing stages in the Pyrenees beginning Monday. Danielson shot to fifth place overall in the Vuelta a España after his strong sixth-place finish in Sunday’s 10th stage around the party town of Lloret de Mar. While revelers were bringing the Spanish

In 2002, Mario Cipollini won Milan-San Remo, dominated the sprints at the Giro d’Italia, skipped the Tour de France (his team wasn’t invited), returned to the Vuelta a España to win three stages in the first week to abandon by stage eight, then stormed into Zolder and walked away with the rainbow jersey. In 2005, Alessandro Petacchi is close to repeating that script. After winning Milan-San Remo, Petacchi ruled at the mountainous Giro and then skipped the Tour (his team was invited) to arrive fresh for the world title. In Saturday’s 189km eighth stage the Fassa Bortolo speedster put the

Though its relationship with the city of San Francisco has occasionally shown signs of strain since its 2001 debut, the annual late-summer race here has gotten nothing but love from the tens of thousands of spectators who come out to watch each year. With a charming Golden Gate city backdrop and ladder-steep climbs, the race that took on the name of its new sponsor a few weeks ago to become the Barclays Global Investors Grand Prix has quickly earned a distinguished place on the American cycling calendar. Or, in the words of the Jittery Joe’s-Kalahari rider Tim Johnson, a veteran of all four

We have finally arrived in Catalonia and are close to Girona tonight. Dede and Liam were at the finish today and I will get to spend the evening with them as well as tomorrow as we’ll be in Lloret de Mar for two days. Lloret is a strange town that reminds me of Niagara Falls. It is overpopulated with tourists and tourist attractions and it not one of the more attractive towns on the Costa Brava. Next to our hotel there are haunted houses, wax museums, and water parks. Tonight we’ll enjoy a buffet dinner with hundreds of sunburned tourists. Today’s stage looked flat on the profile but any