I love the tropics. Before Sea Otter, Meg and I took a trip to Rincon, Puerto Rico, for the Ultimate Dirt Challenge mountain bike race. Rincon is a small town on the northwest side of the island that is legendary for its incredible waves, but for a week it was taken over by mountain bikers. I was lucky enough to find out about this race last year while chasing points for the Olympics and looking for races that were warm and dry as opposed to the wet and dreary Euro races. I can’t say enough good things about the promoters, Doel and Jorge. These guys put on the best race I go to all year. The

Remember the adage, “Start drinking before you get thirsty?” Perhaps this is a medical truism that isn’t. A surprising article about a study of hyponatremia among marathon runners in the April 14 New England Journal of Medicine may inspire Velonews.com readers to rethink how they drink. Thirteen percent of Boston Marathon finishers who participated in the study by Dr. Christopher Almond et al suffered hyponatremia (abnormally low blood sodium), mostly caused by overhydrating. 1 Three participants had dangerously low levels of blood sodium. The early symptoms of hyponatremia - confusion,

Cunego 'ready' for Giro defenseDamiano Cunego said he’s arriving in peak form just in time to defend his Giro d’Italia title. Like arch-rival Ivan Basso, Cunego is also planning on racing in the Tour de France, so both riders are arriving to the Giro a little off peak fitness with the idea of being able to hit their stride for the decisive second half of the Giro. “The victory at Romandie lifted the pressure from me for not having a win so far this season,” Cunego told Datasport. “I had some good feelings in the time trial in Lausanne, but obviously my condition wasn’t at the top. I

With 12 Aussies, five Americans, two Canadians, a Brit and a New Zealander, there may be a record number of English-speakers starting the 2005 Giro d’Italia on Saturday. The teams arrived on Wednesday evening for UCI medical testing and the team presentation. The race itself gets under way with a 1.5km prologue Saturday evening in Reggio Calabria. After three days of relaxation in their hotels, facing a course whose end you can see from the beginning, riders will be exploding out of the start gate. Discovery Channel’s Michael Barry said everyone is “very eager to get started.” The Discovery

There’s no stopping Belgian phenom Philippe Gilbert in France. After taking a pass on the Giro d’Italia because he felt he wasn’t in top form to compete in the season’s grand tour debut, the Française Des Jeux rider scored an impressive victory in Thursday’s 204km second stage to grab the overall lead at the Four Days of Dunkirk. Overnight leader Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) slipped to second after finishing eight seconds back in fifth place. Gilbert charged away from a 19-man breakaway with just three kilometers to go on the course that pounded over two sections of pavé featured in

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) drew first blood in the opening stageof the Four Days of Dunkirk in northern France on Wednesday. The Norwegian national champion held off Jimmy Casper (Cofidis) in the153km stage from Dunkirk to Marcq-en-Baroeul to take the opener and jumpinto the leader's jersey. Jaroslaw Zarebski (Intel-Action) came throughthird. Americans Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Kirk O'Bee (Navigators)finished safely in the front group, but weren't in the finale to disputefor the stage victory. Amerrican Saul Raisin (Credit Agricole) and ColombianCesar Grajales

Gerolsteiner’s Davide Rebellin has ruled himself out of the Giro d'Italia only a few days before the prologue in Reggio Calabria, it was reported by the ANSA news agency on Tuesday. The 33-year-old all-rounder had been one of his team's main hopes for the race but Rebellin said he is suffering from fatigue following the three Ardennes Classics. The Ardennes classics include the Amstel Gold Race, the Fleche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège - all of which are raced over distances of over 250km and held within the space of a week. Rebellin became the first rider to win all three of

Erik Zabel won for the first time this season after taking Sunday’s Rund um den Henninger Turm in Frankfurt for the third time of his career. The 34-year-old German ace has been stuck a cold spell this season, unable to score a victory despite some close calls. The T-Mobile rider slipped away with a group of 20 riders with 35km to go in what proved to be the winning move of the 211km race. Zabel broke free with a 300-meter sprint to the line and was timed in 5 hours, 10 minutes, 34 seconds in a ride through Frankfurt's streets to score his 149th career victory. Alejandro Borrajo

As if the torrents of rain that soaked last week’s Tour of Georgia weren’t enough to dampen the state’s bicycle racing fan base, the clouds once again offered up soggy conditions for the 25th running of the Athens Twilight Criterium, in downtown Athens, on Saturday. The estimated crowd of 15,000 was noticeably smaller for this race – in past years it had swelled to more than 40,0000. “It’s a little smaller this year, but Twilight night is still the biggest non-football event in this town,” said race director Gene Dixon, who has organized the race every year since it’s inception in 1980.

Silver City, N.M. - Silver City residents handed over the streets of their historic downtown for the fourth stage of The Outside Magazine Tour of the Gila Saturday. In return, they got the chance to see something special, both Todd Wells and Cat Malone winning their first National Race Calendar stage victories. Wells sprinted across the finish line, leading a peloton of 83, to finish the race at 1:34:33 in the men’s pro. A former national mountain bike champion, Wells said this win gave him a little vindication as a road racer. “I do a lot of cyclo-cross racing, which is similar to

It seems international politics can even trickle down to stymie bicycle racers. Yaroslav Popovych, the promising grand tour rider in his first season with Discovery Channel, has been having problems getting the proper visa following the recent political upheaval in his native Ukraine that made headlines worldwide. After some early season racing, Popovych had returned to the Ukraine to settle some paperwork issues, an ordeal that won’t keep him from starting this summer’s Tour de France. “It’s been difficult for him to obtain the necessary visa due to the change in governments but I talked

Attorneys representing the U.S. Olympic Committee’s former medical director have subpoenaed a series of documents they allege contain the names of hundreds of athletes whose positive dope tests have been covered up by Olympic officials. Doctor Wade Exum, who until his “forced resignation” in 2000 served as the USOC’s director of drug control administration, filed an employment discrimination suit against his former employers in federal court that summer. A federal appeals court has since ruled that the case was not one that fell within the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary and so the

Oscar Pereiro kept the yellow jersey in Wednesday’s first stage of the Tour de Romandie despite Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) moving into a tie with the Spanish prologue winner. Pereiro won the opening prologue in Geneva by less than a half-second over the surprising Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), but to Pereiro, it was no surprise at all that he won. “I told the team and also my wife that I'd celebrate my first win of the season in Geneva. I'm in good shape. Also, the course, which is very demanding technically, is ideal for me. The fact that I was the last rider to

If there was any doubt that Alessandro Petacchi wouldn’t be ready for the Giro d’Italia, he’s erasing those at alarming rate in the Tour de Romandie. The Italian won his second stage in a row and pulled on the yellow jersey in Thursday’s second stage. Italians Daniele Colli (Liquigas-Bianchi) and Mirco Lorenzetto (Domina Vacanze) were second and third, respectively. Overnight leader Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) lost his lead on time bonuses. “I’m feeling good,” Petacchi said. “I still don’t have the form I did at Tirreno or San Remo, but I have good rhythm for this time of year. I need to work on

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.Keeping the faithDear Editor,I am responding to the article about Tyler's innocence or guilt by Fred Dreier (see "AFred's Eye View: Questions, questions, questions"). Why is it thata guy who finishes the 2003 Tour with broken collarbone all of a suddenthinks, “Geez, I think

An anonymous e-mail sent Tuesday afternoon quietly marked the end of an era in modern cycling. At 38, and definitely a pedal stroke or two past his prime, Mario Cipollini – the Lion King, Ruler of the Sprints and the Master of Kitsch – said it was time to hang up the cleats. “Announcing my withdrawal less than two weeks before the Giro d'Italia is a painful but honest decision. The public will understand," said Cipollini in a statement released by his team, Liquigas. "Maybe, an ‘old man’ like me, who has given a lot to cycling and has also received a lot, has to recognize when is the

Michele Scarponi won’t be among the starters for Tuesday’s prologue at the Tour de Romandie, the Italian rider who will lead Liberty Seguros in the upcoming Giro d’Italia. For many riders, the Romandie tour is the ideal warm-up before the season’s first grand tour, but that’s not the thinking of Liberty Seguros boss Manolo Saiz. Only Joseba Beloki will be racing this week in Switzerland among the Liberty riders heading to the Giro start May 7. “I believe the Giro will be decided between the second and third weeks, so I preferred (the Giro leaders) to come slightly short of form and they

This time he means it. One-time super sprinter Mario Cipollini announced plans to retire from cycling on Tuesday, exiting the peloton before this year’s edition of the Giro d'Italia. The 38-year old, whose 42 stage wins in the Giro is a record, retired two years ago before coming back and breaking the Giro stage-win mark established by Alfredo Binda. However, this time, the flamboyant Italian, known as the “Lion King,” to many of his fans, appears to be serious about his decision. "Announcing my withdrawal less than two weeks before the Giro d'Italia is a painful but honest

Many of the top contenders for next month’s Giro d’Italia will be looking to hone their form in the mountainous Tour de Romandie, the next stop on the ProTour series. With five stages and a prologue, the 656-kilometer Romandie race zips around Switzerland on a challenging course that provides a perfect setting for Giro-bound riders to test their legs. The race opens Tuesday with a short prologue in the narrow streets of Geneva before rolling over scenic farm roads on circuit courses in west-central Switzerland in stages one and two. Stage three is the most difficult day, with three Cat. 1s,

Jan Ullrich will be back to defend his title at the Tour de Suisse (June 11-19), meaning his first chance in a showdown with Lance Armstrong won’t come until the Tour de France. The 1997 Tour winner was debating between racing the Swiss tour or the Dauphiné Libéré (June 5-12), but finally opted to return to the friendly mountains of Switzerland, which he now calls home. Ullrich recently raced in the Vuelta a Aragon, where team officials said he looks buff, motivated and confident, the best since 1997. Up next he’ll return to Spain to race in the Volta a Cataluyna (May 16-22). Alexandre

Tom Danielson isn't all that interested in hearing the talk, but it is the inevitability that every great up and coming athlete must face. Following his overall victory at the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia, the young American cyclist who can climb and time trial with the best of them, must endure the reality that will come with riding for a Discovery Channel team that is about to lose its No. 1 rider. Whether Danielson likes it or not, the comparisons to Lance Armstrong begin now.

Alex Vinokourov’s exciting victory over Jens Voigt in Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège not only ended the T-Mobile’s season-long losing streak, but also laid to rest the assumption that a long-range breakaway couldn’t succeed in this super-hilly classic. Vinokourov was not among the top favorites to win this 10th race of the UCI ProTour, but his rising form and savvy racing brain allowed him to take advantage of a race that was in flux after the trilogy of climbs that were restored to the 260km course.

One-Two punch: Fraser and Henderson take the sprint for Health Net

[nid:30845]On a day of high drama, riveting plot twists and an outcome that was literally undecided until the last second, the most telling moment may well have come during the ascent of the category 1 Hogpen Gap climb, 96 miles into stage 5 of the Dodge Tour de Georgia. It was there that the world’s most famous bike racer went to the front of a four-rider break and started hammering away for one of his teammates, American Tom Danielson.

A steady rain that started in Liège Saturday afternoon is forecast to return Sunday, which - combined with a 20-kph wind from the south - should make the Belgian super-classic even tougher than it already promises to be. The new 260km course has 10 major hills compared with eight last year, and the restoration of the Wanne-Stockeu-Haute-Levée trilogy of climbs has added meat to what was becoming a less demanding race. Even the hot race favorite, Italy’s Danilo Di Luca, seems to agree. The Italian, who is hoping to increase his UCI ProTour lead in this 10th race of the series, said Saturday:

Astarloa patched up, but not packing it itIgor Astarloa is all screwed up – literally. The 2003 world champion is trying to kick-start his season after crashing hard at the Haribo Classic in February, leaving him with a fractured arm. To keep things all in one piece, he’s racing with five screws and a metal plate in his left arm. “Things are going better, but it still hurts,” Astarloa told the Spanish daily MARCA. “I was with the lead group going up the Cauberg (at Amstel Gold), but I wasn’t in good enough shape to challenge for the win. I was upset, because there are going to be few

The results sheet for stage 4 of the Dodge Tour de Georgia showed CSC’s Brian Vandborg as the day’s winner. And indeed the Dane did win the wicked 133.4-mile test from Dalton to Dahlonega, finishing in 5:33:02. But the bigger victor on a Friday afternoon where racers were brutalized by wind, rain and hail, was American Floyd Landis.

There were two definite declarations to be made following the third stage of the Dodge Tour de Georgia in Rome on Thursday. First, if it wasn’t already, American Floyd Landis made it clear that with or without the services of the now-suspended Tyler Hamilton, the future of the Phonak team is in solid hands as it heads into the important months of the 2005 season.

For the hopeless romantics among us, a victory by Andrea Tafi in the second stage of the Dodge Tour de Georgia would have been a fairy tale with the classic happy-ending. Tafi, the 38-year-old one-time Paris-Roubaix champion and always one of the sport’s most compelling characters, rolling off the front and soloing home for the win in what will be one of his last events as a professional. It was almost too good to be true — and it turns out it was.

The Dodge Tour de Georgia, the biggest stage race of the 2005 domestic road-racing season — with what is arguably the most competitive field in North American history — is set to begin Tuesday morning in Augusta, Georgia. Marked by appearances from American ProTour team leaders Bobby Julich (CSC), Floyd Landis (Phonak), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and defending champion Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel), the race will again serve as an early season stage racing test, with the state of Georgia as the backdrop. It’s no overstatement to describe Lance Armstrong’s decision to return to

After what was more leisurely stroll than bike race, it was Phonak's Robbie Hunter taking the first stage of the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia on Tuesday. Hunter charged to the front at the end of the 128.9-mile stage that started in Augusta, taking the win in downtown Macon. Jelly Belly's Ben Brooks took second, with Italian Michele Maccanti (LPR) in third.

American racer Chris Horner (Saunier Duval-Prodir) will be forced to sit out the upcoming Dodge Tour de Georgia, as well as next month’s Giro d’Italia, due to a broken hip. The hairline fracture on Horner’s left hipbone occurred at stage 2 of Tirreno Adriatico on March 10th. After returning to the U.S. following Setmana Catalana, where Horner finished 16th overall, an initial MRI revealed the fracture. At that time, he was told he could continue training on the painful injury, and that it should be healed in time for next week’s Tour de Georgia. But soon after, a panel of experts reviewed

After sucking on the fumes of Alessandro Petacchi all week, Aussie sprinter Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros) finally got a stage victory in a hard-fought battle in the final day of the 42nd Vuelta a Aragon in Spain. Petacchi, a winner of two stages in the five-day Aragon race in his return to racing since Milan-San Remo, faded out of contention in the heated final sprint more than a minute back on a gradually climbing finish to Illueca at the end of the 139km stage. Davis, who finished second twice to Petacchi earlier this week, showed off some strong finishing skills on the deceptively steep

On Saturday, Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) followed up his pre-race promise to ignite a mid-race afterburner by flaming out feet from the finish line of the short track. Sunday, few thought the 28-year old Canadian would be brash enough to make a another pre-race promise, but before the 36-mile long cross country, Kabush announced that he had a similar battle plan. “I’ve come in third and second this week. I’m going to take risks and either win it or go down trying,” said Kabush, who decided to run an unconventionally skinny pair of tires, weighing only110 grams, on the course. “It’s a risk, but

You can’t help but feel the anguish of Michael Boogerd. Although he did win the Amstel Gold Race in 1999, by narrowly outsprinting Lance Armstrong, Rabobank’s lanky Dutchman has since been the runner-up no less than four times. The cruelest of those second places came on Sunday, when the latest man to beat him to the line was Danilo Di Luca, the revitalized Liquigas-Bianchi team leader who last week won the Tour of the Basque Country.

To celebrate the 40th edition of the Amstel Gold Race, the Dutch organizers are hosting this weekend as many of the past winners as could come. Among those who could accept the invitation are the inaugural 1966 winner Frenchman Jean Stablinski, now a septuagenarian, and the event’s most prolific winner, Dutchman Jan Raas, who won the race five times between 1977 and 1982. The Amstel champion who has traveled the farthest, literally from halfway around the world, is 1983 winner Phil Anderson. “This is the first time I’ve been back since I retired,” said the bronzed Aussie, who’s growing his

I was in my office on Boulder Wednesday afternoon wondering what I was going to write about this week when the phone rang. “Art Valencia here,” said the Spanish-accented voice on the other end of the line. “Do you remember me?” “Of course,” I replied, “Tour of Baja.” I met Art in the early 1980s at the sorely missed Tour of Baja in Mexico. Art was the promoter of the weeklong event (and its main benefactor) for seven years. So, yes, I remember Art. He’s now 68 and retired, but still enjoying the many bikes that always hung in the garage of his suburban home near San Diego. “I’m still

Rebellin: Don't expect a repeat of '04Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) lines up Sunday at Amstel Gold Race as defending champion, something he’ll do all week during the Ardennes run, which also includes Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Last year, Rebellin became the first racer to sweep the Ardennes treble, but he says repeating the feat is unlikely. “To have the same success I had last year I believe is almost impossible. These are races I like very much, but what happened is once in a lifetime,” Rebellin said earlier this year. Rebellin has had some close calls this year,

At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, German Michael Rich has made an improbable career as a time trialist. Dating back to his participation in Germany’s Olympic gold-medal-winning team time trial squad at the Barcelona Games in 1992, the 35-year-old Gerolsteiner rider has missed out on the world champion’s rainbow jersey five times – three times in the individual time trial, and twice when it was contested as a team event. On the eve of Paris-Roubaix, I sat down with Rich to ask him his thoughts on Roubaix, the controversial finish at the recent Ghent-Wevelgem and about his unusual preparation for

When it comes to pro road racing at the Sea Otter Classic, you can always expect the unexpected. Things are just different at the Otter. On Thursday the pro stage race kicked off in Monterey, California, with a rollicking downhill time trial that sent riders spiraling through the famous “corkscrew,” a twisting section of banked turns at the Laguna Seca Raceway. On Friday, more than 100 riders in the pro men’s field were pulled after a Health Net-Maxxis-fueled break lapped the majority of riders in the 96.5km, 27-lap race. Scroll down for a photo gallery from Casey Gibson As expected, Health

The war of words between the UCI and the three major grand tours is heating up again, threatening to derail the ProTour just as the new series is gaining traction. The organizers of the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia issued a strongly-wordedcommuniqué Wednesday that resists what they call “the UCI’s maneuvers designed to divide them.” It’s a real alphabet soup as the three businesses behind the grand tours – ASO for the Tour, RCS for the Giro and Unipublic for the Vuelta – have once again closed ranks to resist changes that they insist are imposed in an top-down

Former Olympic and world champion Bart Brentjens isn’t showing any signs of slowing down after soloing to victory in the men’s Super Cross-Country to open the 2005 Sea Otter Classic. At 36, the Dutchman is more than fifteen years older than some of his competitors, including 20-year old Trent Lowe of Subaru/Gary Fisher, who was in the lead group that tried in vain to chase Brentjens down for three of the race’s six laps. The five-mile laps were divided evenly between dirt and pavement, with a tough climb up asphalt to the top of the famed “corkscrew” of the Laguna Seca raceway. At the top,

A week after abandoning the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, last year’s Tour de France runner up Andreas Klöden will make changes to his training program ahead of July’s Grande Boucle. His racing program, however, won’t change and he’s expected to race next week at Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The 29-year-old underwent extensive testing at a clinic in Freiburg on Monday which showed the German all-rounder is behind in his preparation for the Tour. “Andreas’s test results are not bad at all,” reported team doctor Andreas Schmid on T-Mobile’s web page. “Based on these insights, we will now

The team start list for the third annual Dodge Tour de Georgia reminds me of the guest list for a trendy Hollywood club on a Friday night. In are the superstars, hometown heroes, good-looking up-and-comers, more Euro-trash than a Kraftwerk concert and a few darn lucky regular Joes. Who's out? The somewhat jaded schmoes of the domestic peloton. Now, being kept out of a club is an easy enough concept to grasp – it’s usually explained by a beastly man with forearms as big as your thigh. But being shot down by the Georgia crew is a tad more on the subtle side. Take the Webcor Builders

Boonen Storms Roubaix on HutchinsonApril 11, 2005—Boulder, CO— It’s hard to find a more demandingtest of both rider and equipment than the brutal Paris-Roubaix.  After258km and 26 sections of cobbles Tom Boonen out sprinted George Hincapieto win the 103rd addition of this great spring classic and in doing sobecame only the 9th rider in history to pull the Tour of Flanders/Paris-Roubaixdouble, all on Hutchinson tires.In a race that is often decided by untimely punctures, last year beinga perfect example when Johan Museeuw’s late race flat tire crippled hischances at a record fourth

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) shot to the top of the ProTour standings following his dramatic victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. The 24-year-old Belgian slipped ahead of Milan-San Remo winner Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) with wins at Flanders and Roubaix. George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) moved into fourth with 75 points while Bobby Julich (CSC) sits in eighth with 50 points. Boonen was crowned king of the cobbles on Sunday and the feat made the covers of all the major Belgian dailies. Wednesday’s GP Scheldeprijs will be Boonen’s last race before he takes a “mini-vacation” before

Hundreds of collegiate cyclists from the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) convened on the Boston area for the 6th annual Boston Beanpot Classic. The three race event once again set a new record with over 470 collegiate racers from 60 colleges and universities across 11 states and two countries. The large turnout makes the 2006 Boston Beanpot Classic the largest collegiate race in U.S. history for the third straight year.

With baby daughter Julia Paris cradled in his arms, a physically and emotionally drained George Hincapie finally stood on the Paris-Roubaix podium he’s doggedly pursued for so many years. Standing one step higher was Tom Boonen, the Belgian bomber who swept to an emotional victory in a three-up sprint that also included Spanish charger Juan Antonio Flecha.

Cycling-mad Belgians appear more than ready to embrace yet another hero as 24-year-old Tom Boonen claimed victory in the grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic on Sunday, his second major win in a week. It was a race for which Boonen became the favorite after his stunning victory in the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, where he decided not to rely on his formidable sprint powers to put his rivals to the sword. And after claiming victory in the 259km seventh race of the ProTour series on Sunday, in which his illustrious predecessors Roger De Vlaeminck, Eddy Merckx and Johan Museeuw have shone

American George Hincapie took a couple of steps closer to realizing a career-long dream on Sunday but the Discovery Channel rider was pipped at the finish line of the grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic. Hincapie, who has been a teammate of Lance Armstrong's since the early days of U.S. Postal, has twice come close to winning the race known as the Hell of the North - and twice, in 1999 and 2000, he finished in fourth place. This year the 31-year-old New Yorker grabbed his chance at victory with both hands, getting into the decisive breakaway with all the top contenders with 80km of

Dominican national road champion Wendy Cruz captured the inaugural edition of the Tour of Puerto Rico Sunday, finishing third in an 84km criterium through the streets of Hato Rey. Cruz took the race lead on Friday by finishing second in the 152km race from San Juan to Mayaguez. The following morning, he won a difficult 68km mountain stage by outsprinting American Jonathan Baker, who jumped from eighth to second overall. Cruz’s margin of victory was 1:29 over Baker and 1:46 over third-placed Dominican August Sanchez of the Dominican national team. Cruz, 28, also won the race’s points and

O'Bee scores in Hell of the North (Way North)Navigators Insurance's Kirk O'Bee scored the 2nd step of the podium today in the 43rd Ronde Van Drenthe, held in the far northeastern corner of Holland. The race, modeled after a similar event held in France, is known as much for its 12 sections of demanding pave, totaling 28Km, as for the 4 trips up the 23% Vamberg climb. On his way to 2nd place in the race, Kirk also took the KOM jersey for his display of power on the steep pitch of the "Vam." The race, officially titled: 43rd Internationale Albert Achterhes Profronde Ronde Van

Last week, I told the story of how Californian Audrey McElmury in 1969 became the first-ever American to win a world road race championship. Emphasizing the enormity of that rainbow victory is the fact that her feat has since been repeated by only one woman, Beth Heiden in 1980, and two pro men, Greg LeMond in 1983 and 1989, and Lance Armstrong in 1993. McElmury’s breakthrough was a giant step for American cycling, and was confirmation that California — where McElmury often raced with the men — was producing high-quality U.S. riders. We had already seen the limited success in Europe of men

It had been a long hot day in the Auvergne region of central France. 237km in six hours – the longest stage of the 2004 Tour - and the July sun had baked the roads mercilessly. But the climate and the physical strains of the day were not the only reason why Erik Zabel was steaming. Clearly his temper had passed the boiling point: Having torn off his sweaty jersey, Zabel stood shirtless next to the team bus in a side street of the medieval town of Saint-Flour, screaming furiously at team director Mario Kummer until veins popped out of his neck. Only 10 feet away Andreas Klöden was calmly

San Juan, Puerto Rico – TIAA-CREF’s Tim Duggan put the chaos of a hectic morning behind him to win Thursday’s opening time trial stage of the inaugural Tour of Puerto Rico. Duggan awoke to the sounds of a howling wind and a torrential downpour, then coped with a series of logistical and mechanical problems before firing down the start ramp in front of the Olympic House in San Juan. The stage started nearly 20 minutes late and some team personnel found themselves stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic miles from the start/finish line. Duggan said TIAA-CREF was not without its problems, too. “We

Depending on your perspective, Nico Mattan’s win at the 67th edition Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday was either one of the most heroic come-from-behind efforts of the season, or it was something that bordered on cheating.

Sandwiched in between last Sunday’s Tour of Flanders and this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix is Wednesday’s Ghent-Wevelgem, a slightly shorter “semi-classic” which rejoins the sport’s highest classification on the UCI’s new ProTour. When the World Cup was created in 1989, Ghent-Wevelgem had to make due with hors categorie status, as only two events were allowed per country, and Belgium’s Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège occupied those precious spots. Unlike the hilly Flanders course and the heavily cobbled Roubaix, crosswinds often play a major factor at Ghent-Wevelgem, a 208km

It’s midway through Sunday’s 142km Sunset Road Race –the final stage of the 2005 Redlands Bicycle Classic –and Jelly Belly’s star sprinter Alex Candelario is watching the line of racers stream by from his perch in the feed zone. There are plenty of other racers in the vicinity. Most of them are still clad in their team kits after abandoning the race, which today was set at a breakneck pace early on. Candelario wishes he could have the good fortune to abandon the race on his own terms, but, as the sling around his left arm shows, his premature abandonment came for other reasons. On lap

Liquigas’s Danilo Di Luca won the first stage of the Tour of the Basque Country (la Vuelta ciclista al País Vasco) on Monday, a 133km route that started and finished in Zarautz in northern Spain. Di Luca, who also earned the leader's jersey with the win, finished ahead of Spaniards Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Illes Balears) and Alejandro Valverde (Phonak) in a mass sprint finish. Americans Bobby Julich (CSC) and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) finished in the main field, while the Discovery Channel's Tom Danielson and Jason McCartney finished at 1:32 and 2:50 respectively. T-Mobile’s

Belgian Tom Boonen has worn many race numbers over his young career, but he may just pin the number 172 he wore at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders on his wall. Boonen, along with the overwhelming majority of the region of Flanders, got what both had collectively wished for when the QuickStep sprinter rode himself into the history books with the biggest win of his young career with a win at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, or Tour of Flanders.

Petacchi retains ProTour leadDespite Tom Boonen’s stylish victory in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, Italian sprint ace Alessandro Petacchi retains the overall lead in the ProTour series. Boonen moved into fourth on the point’s scale with 62 points, but Petacchi remains comfortably in the lead with 93 points thanks to his Milan-San Remo victory and success at Tirreno-Adriatico. T-A winner Oscar Freire, who did not start Flanders, remains in second in 78 points. Bobby Julich, winner of the first ProTour event at Paris-Nice, sits fifth at 50 points. UCI ProTour Standings, after four events1.

It wasn’t easy, but after fending off serious challenges in Sunday’s Sunset road race, both Webcor’s Christine Thorburn and Health Net’s Chris Wherry held on to the leaders’ jerseys they’d won in the opening prologue to take the overall titles at California’s Redlands Bicycle Classic. Despite heading a team weakened by illness, injury or plain old attrition, Wherry managed to protect a slim seven second advantage over Australian Trent Lowe of Jittery Joes/Kalahari to earn his first overall title in two years. After marking a late move by Lowe, Wherry threw his arm up in victory as he

If it comes down to a sprint, who else would take it?

Coming into Saturday’s Beaver Medical Group downtown criterium, the day’s objective for both the men’s Health Net squad and the Webcor Builder’s women’s team was not to gun it out for glory points, but to protect the yellow jersey at all costs. With that in mind, the tactic opened the door up for more opportunistic teams to light up the 1.6-km course that winds its way through downtown Redlands. The day did not disappoint. Early in the women’s race it appeared the duel would be between the sprint-heavy Quark and T-Mobile teams. On the second lap T-Mobile’s Laura Kroepsch attacked down the

The buildup for the April 19-24 Dodge Tour de Georgia sure took some interesting turns this week. First, cycling’s biggest star announced that he … okay, well, he didn’t actually make an announcement, but he said he would make an announcement about something important at the Tour de Georgia. Everyone’s buzzing about the possibility that Lance Armstrong will either announce his impending retirement, following the 2005 Tour de France, or, given his recent visit to Italian magistrate Giuseppe Quattrocchi, announce an attempt at a Giro d’Italia-Tour double this year — and then ride off into the

Positive changes continue to be implemented for USA Cycling’s track program as the national governing body revealed today a qualification process that will be in place for the 2005 USCF Elite National Track Cycling Championships later this year in Carson, Calif. Riders who want to compete on the track for stars and stripes jerseys must qualify for nationals through the 2005 Velodrome Championship Series, a schedule of 17 races to be held at 22 velodromes across the nation. This initiative is a major step toward tying together all of the nation’s facilities and forming a true national

While bike racing in the British Isles was making breakthroughs into continental cycling through the late 1950s and early ’60s, most American road racers were still using fixed-gear track bikes. I recently had an e-mail from VeloNews reader Prosper Bijl who said that when he began road racing in the Washington, D.C., area in 1963, it was on a single-gear track bike with a front brake. It wasn’t until 1966 that the Amateur Bicycle League of America ended the use of fixed-gear bikes in road racing. No wonder riders from North America were slow in making an impact on the world scene. Across the

USA CYCLING HIRES GARY WEST AS HEAD TRACK COACHVeteran Enjoyed Success During Career with Australian and JapaneseProgramsColorado Springs, Colo. (March 31, 2005)—In a move expectedto significantly bolster the competitiveness of USA Cycling’s nationaltrack program, the national governing body announced today the additionof distinguished track coach Gary West to its staff.  As head trackcoach for USA Cycling, West hopes to revive a modest program that was onceconsidered one of the strongest in the world.West’s name has become synonymous with success in the internationaltrack cycling arena

Discovery Channel successfully defended its title at the Three Days of De Panne and barnstormed through the final stage to score important victories ahead of this weekend’s Tour of Flanders. Rising Belgian rider Stijn Devolder scored a major win with the overall title while veteran workhorse Viatcheslav Ekimov proved yet again he’s still one of the best after taking the win in the afternoon time trial. Devolder went into the time trial finale trailing Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) by four seconds following the morning road stage won by Belgian national champ Tom Steels

Following what could only be described as a disastrous effort at the world track championships last week in Carson, California, it was clear something had to change with the U.S. national team. On Thursday what is being called the first of many changes came, as USA Cycling announced the hiring of Australian Gary West to serve as the program’s new head coach. The 44-year-old West comes to USAC after a four-year stint with the Japanese Cycling Federation, where he helped lead the lightly-touted cycling nation to a team sprint silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Prior to his stay in Japan,

My father Joe and I had the great pleasure of visiting South Africa for two weeks in March. What started out as a business trip became an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience. We not only came face to face with lions, but also saw a cycling-crazed country and took part in a world class Ironman experience. The trip was organized by our friend Stewart Miller, who lives in Johannesburg and has started www.expertonline.co.za, a training web site for South Africa. Stewart contacted us to see if we would conduct some presentations the week of the Cape Argus bike race and the Ironman South

Laurent Brochard (Bouygues Telecom), won the Paris-Camembert semi-classicrace in Vimoutiers, France, for a third time Tuesday.Former world champion Brochard crossed the line after 200km of ridingwith a lead of a few seconds over the first group of pursuers, includingsix-time Tour de France winner American Lance Armstrong.Brochard, 37, also won the French Cup event - a one-day race from Magnanville,west of Paris, to Vimoutiers in Normandy - in 2001 in 2003."I have really found my form," Brochard said afterwards. "PhysicallyI feel just as good as a few years ago and mentally I'm

Editor's Note: Nineteen-year-old Larssyn Staley - the 2003 world champion in the junior women's points race - is the only American riding for the Swiss-based Andeer team. Throughout her first season on the continent,the Beaverton, Oregon, native will be sending us updates about life inthe women's peloton and providing a newcomer's perspective on racing in Europe.Two weeks ago I had my first race in Italy. After that race, I couldn’t get over the chaotic mess of the field. However, having that race under my belt, I rode in the field with ease this weekend at The Trofeo Alfredo

Emotions ran high at the ADT Center velodrome Saturday night in Carson, California, when all four finals produced first-time world champions: Great Britain scored gold in the team pursuit and women’s sprint, Australia won the women’s pursuit, and Denmark took the men’s scratch race. The British pursuiters won in grand style, crushing a young Dutch squad in the final by a four-second margin, Defending champion Australia took bronze ahead of New Zealand. “We’ve been getting silver medals year in, year out,” said British veteran Chris Newton. “We were nearly there last year, so this makes up

Reigning world road race champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) warmed up for next week's Tour of Flanders by winning the Fleche Brabanconne one-day classic held over 198km between Zaventem and Beersel, Belgium, on Sunday. The 29-year-old Freire, who a few weeks ago won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, held off Dutchman Marc Lotz of QuickStep and Davitamon’s Belgian Axel Merckx, who took third place after 3:38:56 of racing. Freire was one of the day's main animators, the Spaniard forming part of a 15-strong group that charged out of the main field in the latter stages of the race. The

The final day of racing at the world track championships in Carson, California, featured two themes which had been gaining momentum throughout this four-day event. One was good for Great Britain, the other not-so-hot for the host country. On the upside was the continued rise of the British squad. After placing a solid second behind the Australians on the track at last summer’s Olympic in Athens, the Brits climbed the final hurdle in Southern California, snagging four gold — double that of any other nation racing at the ADT Event Center velodrome. The final win came courtesy of Rob Hayles

Vicky Pendleton came out of nowhere to take gold in the sprint

Never in the 40-year history of the kilometer time trial or 25-year history of the keirin had a Dutchman won a world title. Remarkably, within the space of a few minutes on Friday night at the ADT Center velodrome in Carson, California, the men in orange raced to gold medals in both of those disciplines. First Theo Bos, 21, won a superb kilo competition in 1:01.165, a record performance in North America, and then Teun Mulder, 23, took a dominant win in the keirin. “We can train together now in the same jersey,” quipped Bos, whose latest rainbow jersey complements the world title he won in

Boonen takes E3 Prijs VlaanderenBelgian sprinter Tom Boonen coasted to victory in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen Saturday as he warms up for next weekend's Tour of Flanders, the fourth race in the 27-leg Pro Tour series. Boonen, who rides for Quick Step, crossed the finish line of the 200km race ahead of Germany's Andreas Klier (T-Mobile), who had been the 24-year-old Belgian's breakaway companion for nearly a third of the race. Belgian Peter Van Petegem (Davitamon-Lotto) crossed 10 seconds later for third. Boonen's second consecutive victory here, his fifth win this year, followed

Spaniard Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) drew first blood on Saturday as the three-stage Critérium International opened in Charleville-Mezieres. In claiming his first victory on French soil, the former track racer handed another disappointment to one-time sprint king Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), who crossed in second place. Robert Forster (Gerolsteiner) took third. Illes Balears was looking to add another Mallorcan to the roster when it recruited 29-year-old Galvez, a 1999 world track champion in the Madison. And after pulling out of the UCI world track championships being held in Los Angeles