[nid:29504]If the standard perception of Northwestern cyclo-cross racing conjures images of mud splattered riders battling it out in the driving rain, then the opening round of the inaugural Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross did nothing to change that image.

Rest and RecoveryDear Joe and Dirk,Help me understand "recovery days." I know what all the training manuals,including yours, say, and my body sure seems to need them. My problem is,I never hear about pros having them. Every time I read about a pro's trainingschedule, it involves riding three to six hours a day, and none of it soundseasy. I asked a member of Sierra Nevada, our local pro team, about recoverydays and he looked at me like I was insane. Or, read Bob Roll's descriptionof training with Lance for a week in "Bobke 2" -- no recovery days there,I'll tell you. So are the pros just

The "Weekend 'Cross Wrap" is a service of VeloNews.com.Stories and results are provided by race promoters and are not producedby VeloNews or VeloNews.com. Promoters are welcome to submit race reportsthroughout the cyclo-cross season to Rosters@7Dogs.com.Reports may be edited for length and clarity.

How satisfying it must feel to be Oscar Freire when the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to turn. There’s something extra gratifying about winning the last big event of the year, when instead of just getting back to work in the following weeks, you can enjoy the success in the quiet off-season. Winning the world championships is cycling’s version of a walk-off homer, the buzzer beating swish. And no one in today’s pro ranks does it better than Freire, a Spaniard who put his name alongside cycling legends Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx by winning his third world road

Rafaá Chtioui dropped like a rock off the final passage over the Torricelli climb to electrify an already attack-riddled junior men's road race Saturday and make history. The tall, gangly Tunisian didn’t win. That honor went to calculating Czech rider Roman Kreuziger, but Chtioui took second and became the first African rider to win a world road championship medal. “All of Tunisia is smiling with me now,” said the happy 6-foot-3 18-year-old from a suburb of Tunis. “It’s the first time a Tunisia has won anything in cycling and it’s the first time an African has won a medal. I am very

After three days of time trial competition in Bardolino, Italy, road racing at the 2004 world championships got underway on a foggy Friday morning in the city of Verona. The first to don the rainbow stripes in Verona was Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, the winner of the 73.75km junior women’s road race. On a course similar to the one used in 1999, when road world’s were last held here, Vos won on a solo breakaway after escaping 8km from the finish near an ancient Roman arena in Verona’s Piazza Brà. After several attempts by others to get away on the Torricelle climb, the main obstacle in

After producing two solo wins in two races on the opening day of the road racing portion of the world road and time trial championships in Verona, Italy, on Friday, it’s clear that the course, with its punchy climb up the Torricelle, can be selective. In Friday afternoon’s race, the little known Belarussian Kanstantsin Siutsou became the latest gold medalist after winning with flair in the under-23 men’s road race. Siutsou, impressive in the manner in which he stood up to the powerhouse squads including Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia and Spain among others, outlasted everyone to

Wow, is it really October already? I guess it must be, from today’s activity in my checking account. Judging from the automatic deposit of my twice-a-month paycheck, and my impending automatic mortgage payment, it must be the beginning of the month again. Between debit and credit cards and online payments, it’s amazing how you never actually even see your money these days. Then again, the way I tend to blow through cash when it’s in hand, I suppose that’s a good thing.

Dekker takes the sprint for second.

The final stage of the CD&P Bermuda Grand Prix, the Cheerios Dockyard Criterium, was held at the old Naval Dockyard’s at the far end of the island. Cruise ships, quaint tourist shops, and various bars and restaurants now inhabit the Dockyards, at one time a base for the British fleet. The Elite women set off on a perfectly sunny afternoon for a 50-minute race with multiple sprints throughout. With both time bonus primes and sprint points in the Women’s Prestige Cycling series to contend with, the pace stayed hot throughout the event. Despite multiple chances to split the field the

A demanding road course rearranged the general classification in boththe men’s and women’s fields at the CD&P Bermuda Grand Prix Saturday.The circuit, approximately 10 kilometers in length, contained shortsteep hills, brutal cross wind sections, and wild chickens to avoid nearthe finishing stretch.During the Women’s Elite race intermediate sprints were a main concern.With the overall classification tightly stacked together, almost twentyriders were within seconds of taking the lead. A sly counterattack after a time bonus sprint by Kenda Tire’s KateSherwin netted a large gap over the field

Cruz one more year with DiscoveryTony Cruz will ride with Discovery Channel in 2005. Cruz is on the cusp of finishing the 2004 Vuelta a España and told VeloNews he’s already penned a contract to race next year as the team switches title sponsors from U.S. Postal Service to Discovery Channel. “I got a better deal with the team and I’m ready just to start winning races,” Cruz told VeloNews after Thursday’s stage into Ávila. “I’m satisfied with this Vuelta and with how the season went. I will be more confident next year to win more races.” Cruz enjoyed a banner year in 2004 which saw the

The Bermuda Grand Prix kicked off Thursday evening in downtown Hamilton. Cruise ships sat stoically near the start-finish as racers sped down the main strip and tourists cheered from the balconies of bars and restaurants lining the course. While the island has a distinctly laid-back vibe, the race did not. With a steep climb, a 180-degree turn, and thousands of dollars in primes on the line, the course took a toll on both the men and women's fields. In the 30-minute elite women's race, Webcor, Quark, Genesis and Rona all took turns attacking the front, eventually splitting the field into a

Racing again after the rest day is always a bit of a shock to the system. After a day without hard efforts in the legs, the body shuts down, therefore when the first attacks go the following day it feels quite painful. The other things that make these stages hard is that everybody is fresh, or fresher, and is eager to attack and race. We were faced with a fairly flat stage towards Careres, yesterday, the day after our rest day. As Petacchi went home on the weekend, and Zabel lost most of his teammates early in the Vuelta, there were no teams willing to control the race for a field sprint

It’s that time of year again, when the rumor mill starts spinning with tales of trades and transfers. And while the majority of domestic teams aren’t yet ready to make any official announcements yet, there appear to be a few “done deals” that should have a profound effect on next year’s North American road racing calendar. Sources indicate the biggest shakeup is taking place on the Colavita Olive Oil squad, as a pair of GC contenders, Will Frischkorn and Nathan O’Neill, as well as star-sprinter Ivan Dominguez are all reportedly moving on to different programs. Again, nothing’s yet been

The road to Madrid is always bumpy in the Vuelta a España. A day after Wednesday’s decisive stage to La Covatilla, Thursday’s four-climb 196.6km stage from Béjar to Avila was perfect for a breakaway. In fact, one stayed away with journeyman Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Valenciana-Kelme) hanging on for his team's fourth win of this Vuelta. But there was certainly no cease-fire among the favorites. While Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) was able to hold his 1:13 lead over Santi Pérez (Phonak), several challengers went on the attack on yet another blistering hot day. Fourth-place Francisco Mancebo

The UCI 1.6 Univest Grand Prix is America’s premier elite amateur event, traditionally taking top domestic and international riders around a 100km loop through the Pennsylvania countryside before taking on 13 laps of a brutal 5km finishing loop through the towns of Souderon and Telford. But when you’re at the top of your class, there’s always someone waiting to take you down a peg. In this case, it was the remains of Hurricane Ivan, which plowed its way northward to douse the Univest course with five inches of rainfall on race day. Washed-out roads, downed trees, and flooding on the long lap

Phonak came to the Vuelta a España hoping for big things from Tyler Hamilton and Oscar Sevilla. With Hamilton gone and Sevilla struggling, the Swiss team has been more than happy to watch Santiago Perez step into the void. On Thursday’s etapa reina, the three-climb monster that saw Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) claw his way into the overall lead, Perez finished an impressive second behind the two-time Vuelta champion. The result was a jolt of positive energy for the 27-year-old Spanish rider, who has had his share of hard knocks the past few years. “I was able to stay with the strongest

Alessandro Petacchi sped into Málaga Friday, outsprinting Erik Zabel, and offering up his traditional victory salute, this time raising four fingers – the number of stages he’s won thus far in this year’s Vuelta a España You’d think some days he’d lose count. The win is the 21st of the year for Fassa Bortolo’s sprint ace, the 13th in a major tour this season, joining the nine he won at this year’s Giro d’Italia. Indeed, Petacchi’s only disappointment this year is that he failed to score a single victory in this year’s Tour de France, after he tore a ligament in his shoulder in a

Hamilton goes homeOlympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton did not take the start to Friday’s 13th stage at the Vuelta a España. Hamilton won stage eight to become the first American to win stages in all three grand tours, but faded out of contention on the steep climbing finish to Aitana the following day. Hamilton complained of stomach problems that kept him from properly feeding during the race and said he felt sapped of strength up Aitana. He suffered again Thursday, finishing uncharacteristically in the last group at 31 minutes behind winner Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros). “He had

Roberto Heras insisted that a win on the slopes of Calar Alto wasn’t in his game plan for Thursday. The defending Vuelta a España champion said after winning the 145km 12th stage from Almería to the Observatory complex at Calar Alto that he had simply hoped to “put a little time on some of my main rivals.” Whatever his game plan, the Liberty Seguros team captain found himself putting time on all of his rivals, including Kelme’s Alejandro Valverde and the man who began the day in the leader’s jersey, Floyd Landis of U.S. Postal. Landis finished 3:06 off Heras’s winning time, ending the

San Francisco is one of the most culturally diverse, cosmopolitan cities in North America, and environmentally, it is one of the most beautiful as well. For a cyclist, the beauty of San Francisco is having all the conveniences of a big city, plus great riding to boot. With T-Mobile sponsoring the Grand Prix in San Francisco, I came early to take part in a few media and sponsor events, and managed to squeeze in some enjoyable training each day. We would head towards the Golden Gate Bridge on the Embarcadero, roll across the bridge and then ride up Mount Tamalpais or along the bike path after

Two weeks ago, when we arrived at the start of the Vuelta, we sat down as a team, had a meeting and talked about our goals for the race. The team time trial was our first goal — from there, we would aim for stage victories, first in the field sprints with Max and second as individuals trying to win out of breakaways. Max pointed to the third and 11th stages as ones he was looking to win. The third stage ended up being too hard an uphill sprint for him, and he didn’t make it to the 11th — but Dave did, and he took the stage in his grasp and rode away with the victory. Dave has had a lot of

SOUDERTON, Pa., September 10, 2004—Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania (listed on NASDAQ: UVSP), today announced that Jonathan Vaughters, a former professional rider and a stage winner at the 2001 Tour de France, will lead the Cyclosportif 100K ride at the seventh annual Univest Grand Prix on Saturday, September 18. All proceeds from the ride will benefit the Indian Creek Foundation in Harleysville, Pa. Vaughters, considered one of the greatest mountain racers in U.S. history, was a long-time record holder on the famous Mt. Ventoux (France) climb, a record he set in the 1999 Dauphiné

It’s as predictable as the swallows to Capistrano: Big tour, flat stage, early break, heart-breaking capture and a field sprint. It happens so often that one begins to wonder, why bother? But every now and then one of those early gambles pays off. This time it was U.S. Postal’s David Zabriskie who hit the jackpot in the 11th stage of the Vuelta a España with an exhausting 161km solo ride to the finish. The win added another to the team’s laurels this Vuelta, as team leader Floyd Landis stayed in the maillot de oro for another day, keeping the jersey in Postal hands, where it’s been since

It almost had to be. Not only had Kelme’s Eladio Jimenez won when the 2000 Vuelta finished here at Xorret de Catí, he had done so while working for his then Banesto team leader, the late Jose Maria Jimenez, who won the stage in 1998. On Monday, after winning the tenth stage of the 2004 Vuelta a España, Eladio Jiminez took his laurels from none other than the great 1960s climbing sensation Julio Jimenez. Are we beginning to see a pattern here? Unlike his win in 2000 – a battle of top climbers – Jimenez’s win this time around came at the end of a long, long, break that began in the first

British national champion Nicole Cooke (Safi Pasta-Zara Manhattan) broke away on the final climb up San Francisco's steep Taylor Street to win the T-Mobile International on Sunday. It was the second consecutive win here for the 21-year-old Cooke, who soloed in for the victory ahead of the charging field in the 51.6-mile race, which started and finished on the Embarcadero, near San Francisco's famous Ferry Building. After Quark’s Manon Jutras spent a lap away with a maximum lead of 50 seconds, the French Canadian was brought back with two laps remaining. T-Mobile’s Dede Barry then

The third time was not a charm for Jason McCartney, who was off the front alone and apparently bound for victory in the final miles of the T-Mobile International in San Francisco Sunday. His Health Net-Maxxis team had put five riders - McCartney, Danny Pate, Mike Sayers, John Lieswyn and Mike Jones - into an early 15-man break in the hilly 108.4-mile race, the finale of the 2004 Pro Cycling Tour. With nine 8.8-mile laps and five five-mile laps, the course dished up a total of 23 trips up the steep Fillmore and Taylor Street climbs, peaking at gradients of over 20 percent. Also in the break

A California teen-ager is America's newest national sprint champion as the USCF Elite Track National Championships concluded this weekend at the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas. Eighteen-year-old Michael Blatchford of Cypress, California, began his season by setting records in the 200-meter qualifying rounds at the Pan Am Championships and went on to become the junior national match-sprint champion and the silver medalist in the sprint at the junior world championships. On Friday, he added an elite-level national title to his collection, beating 2004 Olympian Giddeon Massie (Lansdale,

With six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong out of Sunday’s T-Mobile International in San Francisco, the 108-mile race is wide open. And while defending champion Chris Horner (Webcor Builders) was hesitant to predict victory, as he did a year ago, Horner’s teammate Charles Dionne was less reluctant. The Canadian sprinter, who won the race in 2002 and has enjoyed a strong showing this season after an injury-plagued 2003, said his form “is similar, if not better than in 2002.” “I’ve been training on the hills in Québec, which is similar to San Francisco but with less traffic,”

Belgian Nick Nuyens (Quick Step-Davitamon) won the 84th edition of Paris-Brussels on Saturday, edging Philippe Gilbert (Fdjeux.com) and Denmark’s Allan Johansen (BankGiroLoterij). Briton Jeremy Hunt (MrBookmaker.com) won the field sprint for fourth a few seconds later. The race really began 60km from the finish when the favorites’ teams decided to end a long breakaway by Netherlander Rudie Kemna (BankGiroLoterij) and Frenchman Benoit Poilvet (Crédit Agricole), who had an 11-minute lead on the bunch. Quick Step worked particularly hard to bring them back. Meanwhile, Italian Paolo Bettini

If he’s there, he wins. Alessandro Petacchi may have missed the cut on a relatively tough day of climbing Wednesday, but he sure made up for it Thursday, scoring his third victory of this edition of the Vuelta a España. “I know this finish, it seemed almost perfect for me,” the Fassa Bortolo sprinter said. “I asked my team to do what they could for me and they came through and they did so on what has to be the best run to the finish at this Vuelta . . . at least as far as the sprinters are concerned.” It was one surely designed with riders like Petacchi in mind: a wide, nearly

A week has of racing has almost passed, we are now in Valencia on the Mediterranean, and the team has held on to the gold leader’s jersey for the entire week. Triki has now held it for a couple of days, and with each passing moment in gold he becomes more of a Spanish hero. He has been grinning like a kid that has just found a jar full of cookies. The countryside has become a little more interesting in the last two days. We have gone from Alberta-like prairie to Southern California-style hills and orange groves, from straight roads in the open wind to sinuous and undulating roads along the

Becky Conzelman continued her winning ways during the USCF Elite Track Nationals on Thursday, adding a victory in the 500 meter time trial to her gold medal in the previous day's sprint finals. The Pennsylvania native turned a 36.272 at the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas, to best silver medalist Annette Hanson (Kirkland, Washington) and bronze medalist Miranda Moon (Beaverton, Oregon). In the 200 meter time trial, 18-year-old Michael Blatchford, a resident at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, turned a 10.719 to win gold over 2004 Olympians Giddeon Massie (Lansdale,

Mark Garrett muscles up in the 200m sprint qualifier

Gideon Massie in the men's sprint

Brent Stein wins his 1/8 men's sprint, seconds before crashing hard and ending up in the hospital with minor injuries

Another day, another jersey. Ever since Saturday's opening team time trial the U.S. Postal team has been in what team director Johan Bruyneel describes as "a very comfortable position." "The time trial gave us the lead and we really don't feel like we need to protect it," Bruyneel told VeloNews before the start of Thursday's 157km stage from Benicarló to Castellón de la Plana. "We're here to see what happens, but there really is no pressure on any of us." Pressure or not, the Posties again succeeded in keeping one of their own in the leader's jersey when a group of nearly 80 riders charged

Three national champions were crowned Wednesday during the USCF Elite Track National Championships at the Superdrome in Frisco, Texas. Nerac.com – Colby Pearce of Boulder, Colorado, Jame Carney of Durango, Colorado, Robert Lea of Taneytown, Maryland, and Guillaume Nelessen of Bellemead, New Jersey – turned a 4:31.9 to win the team pursuit. Team Veloworx – Douglas Beck of Maynard, Ohio, Curtis Gunn of Tucson, Arizona, Julian Cushing of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Kenneth Williams of Kirkland, Washington – raced to the silver in 4:36.4. The bronze went to Cody Racing – Marcus Black,

And Conzelman gets the stars and stripes in the sprint

It was all a matter of timing, and Denis Menchov knew he had timed it right when he looked over his shoulder near the finish line of the fifth stage of the Vuelta a España on Wednesday and saw that Alejandro Valverde wasn't with him. Menchov (Illes Balears-Banesto), was not in the minority at the start in Zaragoza when he pegged the Kelme rider as the day's favorite. "This course suits a rider like Valverde," Menchov said of the 186km haul to Morella. It wasn't the wind-blown flats that opened up the stage, or the seemingly endless run of tough, but un-rated, climbs that peaked out with

Olympic bronze medalist Bobby Julich could be joining compatriot Fred Rodriguez at the new Belgian super-team Davitamon-Lotto in 2005. The Belgian newspaper Het Niewsblad reported that Julich is close to inking a deal with the team and the 32-year-old Coloradan’s name was linked to the team in a press release by new bike sponsor Ridley Damocles. Julich did not reply to an e-mail query Tuesday from VeloNews but his current team, Team CSC, said there was no contract yet for Julich to stay with the Danish team. In 2004, Julich enjoyed his finest season since finishing third in the 1998 Tour de

Dear Lennard,I just installed a new Wippermann 10-spd chain on an otherwise Campy Record group. All the components are one year old. I'm trying to eliminate an annoying "tinging" that I'm getting when climbing hard out of the saddle or sprinting. No success with the "tinging" but I introduced a new problem ... the new chain jumps and skips and won't stay engaged in the larger cogs. Have I worn out the rear cogs? I'm now thinking that the "tinging" noise may be coming from the engagement of the chain with the chainrings (30-42-52 ); the old Campy chain engages the rear cogset okay, but perhaps

Winds were the star of the fourth stage of the 59th Vuelta a España, all but smothering the action in the 167.5km stage from Soria to Zaragoza. Heavy cross- and headwinds made escape all but impossible. Several tried in vain, but the stage finally came down a mass sprint with Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) taking his second win in three days. And the day wasn’t without mishaps. Several riders hit the deck, including Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton (Phonak), who crossed the line with a bloodied right knee and hip. Zaragoza equals wind Wind is always a protagonist in

Fresh off winning Tuesday’s rainy stage into Soria in the 59th Vuelta a España, Alejandro Valverde said he will leave the troubled Valenciana-Kelme team if it’s not included in next year’s UCI Pro Tour. “I still don’t know what I am doing. I still have three years of contract with Valenciana-Kelme and in principal I have to continue with them,” Valverde told the Spanish daily AS. “The team has asked for a racing license to be in the Pro Tour but it appears it’s not sure they’re going to get it. And if I am going to be among the best then it’s obvious that I have to go.” Several teams have

There’s never a dull moment in the Vuelta a España. Well, not if you slept through the first 100km of Monday’s soggy 157.1km third stage from Burgos to Soria. For the first half of the stage it seemed the peloton was on siesta as a four-man breakaway that included U.S. Postal Service foot soldier Benoit Joachim chalked up a lead of nearly 10 minutes. But the bunch awakened from its slumber when it got a sniff of the finish line and the lead quickly dwindled against headwinds and heavy pressure from T-Mobile, Valenciana-Kelme and Cofidis – but not before Joachim gobbled up all three

Passing around the Vuelta a España leader’s jersey wasn’t necessarily in the plan for U.S. Postal Service, but Floyd Landis was more than happy to pass the lead to teammate Max Van Heeswijk in Sunday’s second stage. Van Heeswijk chased time bonuses during the longest stage of the 2004 Vuelta and earned a six-second bonus to slip into the lead. Postal’s Benoit Joachim was third in the intermediate sprint to grab a two-second time bonus and moved ahead of Landis into second overall. “It wasn’t part of the plan that I would take the lead,” Van Heeswijk said on the Vuelta’s official race page.

Some riders would have packed it in after having struggled the way Anna Milkowski (Rona) did for the first three days of Vermont’s Green Mountain Stage Race. The first-year pro suffered through every stage, losing time to the leaders she knew she should be riding with. On Monday, however, the former schoolteacher from Maine soloed off the front with three laps remaining to win the Burlington criterium, the fourth and final stage of the 2004 Green Mountain Stage Race. “I entered the race with absolutely nothing to lose because I was very far down [on GC] and I really wanted to race hard and

Valverde wins a soggy sprint

Valverde came from fourth wheel to take the sprint

Following Saturday’s team time trial to kick start the 59th Vuelta a España, the peloton hit the road Sunday with the 207km second stage, the longest of the three-week romp across Spain. With a largely flat course across the treeless expanse of northern Spain, two factors proved to be decisive in the Vuelta’s first road stage: the wind and Fassa Bortolo’s silver train. Both were protagonists, with heavy crosswinds buffeting the peloton in the second half of the stage before the bunch came in for a mass gallop. Alessandro Petacchi was back to his old tricks, winning his eighth career Vuelta

Floyd Landis was the center of attention Sunday morning in the Vuelta a España start village as the U.S. Postal Service rider proudly showed off his leader’s jersey. It’s the first time an American has worn the Vuelta’s leader’s jersey and the first time for Landis to wear a European race leader’s jersey since the Tour de l’Avenir in 1999. Landis won the Volta a Algarve in Portugal in February but took the lead in the final stage, not giving him much time to enjoy the spotlight. “I didn’t sleep in the jersey, but it’s nice to have it,” Landis joked to VeloNews before Sunday’s second stage

Tyler Hamilton could become the first American racer to win a stage in each grand tour if he can roll out of the 59th Vuelta a España with a stage victory. The 33-year-old New Englander already has stage wins in the Giro d’Italia (a time trial in 2002) and in the Tour de France (a mountain stage in 2003) and said he’s motivated to make it a hat trick. “I have won stages in the other grand tours, so I wouldn’t mind to win one here to complete the circle,” Hamilton said before Friday’s opening ceremony. “We’ll see how things go. I’m here thinking about the overall but I will also work for

History has a way of repeating itself at U.S. Postal Service and now Floyd Landis is hoping that trend continues after he became the first American to wear the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a España on Saturday after his team roared to victory in the opening team time trial. “We didn’t have a particular plan about who would come across first, but we had a plan on how to ride the time trial,” said Landis, who enjoyed some quality time on the podium following the stage. “Johan called in on the radio in the last 500 meters and he was generous enough to give me the lead, so I wasn’t

On a day when all signs pointed to bunch sprint finishes, the finales of the elite men’s and women’s circuit races at day two of the Green Mountain Stage Race produced something else altogether. Men did 72 miles and the women 52 on Saturday’s undulating 19.4-mile circuit in Moretown, Vermont. On paper, the course was hard, but not hard enough to break up the respective fields. All previous editions of the race had ended in furious field sprints, but the 2004 edition was an exception. Joe Papp (ACT-UPMC) soloed off a group of four to win the men’s race, finishing off a 10km breakaway effort

Levi Leipheimer has signed a two-year contract to join the German squad Gerolsteiner for the 2005-06 seasons. After two top-10 finishes in three Tour de France starts, the 30-year-old American will join rising star Georg Totschnig as team leader going into the ProTour inaugural next season. “This is a major coup,” said team manager Hans Michael Holczer on the team’s web page. “We’ll have a strong reinforcement for the grand tours, secondly he will be able to share leadership duties with Totschnig and finally his strong experience can help young riders on our team.” Leipheimer couldn’t be

Italian star Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) and Spanish rider Carlos Golbano (Paternina-Costa de Almería) won’t be starting the Vuelta a España on Saturday after UCI blood tests conducted Wednesday evening revealed the pair “unfit” to start. The 189 starting riders in the Vuelta, which starts Saturday with a team time trial in León in northern Spain, were given blood screening to test levels of hemotacrit, hemoglobin and reticulocytes. While not considered a positive doping test, inconsistent indicators can suggest, but not prove, the use of EPO, Nesp or other banned blood boosters. Vuelta

We are now in the hotel in Léon sitting and waiting for the Vuelta España to begin on Saturday. We arrived in Leon last night, as we had to be at the hotel three days prior to the start for the medical testing-which is essentially a blood test. This year the Vuelta starts out with several flat to rolling stages as we race across the middle of Spain towards the Mediterranean and the coastal town of Valencia. Valencia will host the first of three individual time trials, one being up to the peak of Sierra Nevada, the other being the final stage in Madrid. Today we rode our time trial bikes

Stefano Zanini (Quick Step) team has won the 128-mile opening stageof the Tour of Britain in Manchester city centre. The Italian out-sprintedKevin Van Impe of Belgium and Alejandro Borrajo of Argentina. British national champion Roger Hammond, of Oxford, finished sixthin the same time as Zanini. By winning the first stage Zanini pulled onthe race leader's jersey which he will wear during tomorrow's stage fromLeeds to Sheffield over 107 miles.Navigators are thereThe Navigators will be racing this week in the revival of the BritishTour that began Wednesday and concludes with a circuit course in

Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle Williams, bronze medalist in last week's Olympic women's points race, has tested positive for a banned stimulant and has been stripped of her medal, the International Olympic Committee announced on Sunday. As a result, American Erin Mirabella has been awarded the bronze medal, the only American track-cycling medal of this year’s Games. Mirabella's bronze brings the total medal count for American cyclists to four along with Tyler Hamilton's gold, Dede Demet Barry's silver and Bobby Julich's bronze in the individual time trial on August 18. Traces of

Growing suggestions by critics before the Athens Games that IOC president Jacques Rogge would falter in his attempt to carry out his promised war on doping in the Olympics have been proved wrong. The 62-year-old former surgeon did more than wage a war - he oversaw a massacre that will be felt for years by those athletes who remain convinced that cheating and drug taking is the way to gold. While the 20-plus victims might have spilled tears instead of blood as they queued up to file out of the athletes' village in disgrace, their Olympic futures were dead and buried. Greek sprint idols

Julich, Voigt second at GP Eddy MerckxThe Dutch tandem of Thomas Dekker and Koen De Kort (Rabobank) edgedrecently crowned bronze Olympic time trial medalist Bobby Julich and JensVoigt (CSC) in Sunday’s two-man time trial race GP Eddy Merckx.Dekker and De Kort covered the 49km course 20 seconds faster than Julichand Voigt while George Hincapie and Viatcheslav Ekimov (U.S. Postal Service)came through fifth at 52 seconds slower.GP Eddy Merckx (BEL 1.2), two-man timetrial1. Thomas Dekker, Koen De Kort (Ned) – Rabobank, 43.9kmin 52:35 (50.07kph)2. Jens Voigt (Ger), Bobby Julich (USA) – CSC +0:203.

The Mail Bag 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.Olympics coverage much worse than Tour TV Editor:Having read your mailbag and other cycling forums with all the whining about Al, Bob, Phil and Paul during the coverage of the 2004 Tour de France, I found the comments quite comical after hearing some of the butchered commentary during

The last three weeks Paolo Bettini and Davide Rebellin have done some serious racing - especially Bettini, who has competed in the Olympics on top of the three World Cups. The Championships of Zürich was the last of the World Cups until the two final weekends in October - Paris Tours and Tour of Lombardy. Rebellin and Bettini have been dueling for the lead the last few weeks, and Bettini is slowly tugging Rebellin’s leader’s jersey from his shoulders, consistently placing in front of him in the races. Zürich is a tough race with one large rolling loop and then four hilly 40km loops. The

In almost the same style with which he took the overall victory at lastyear's edition, U.S. Postal's Viatcheslav Ekimov won the time trial stageof the Tour of Holland, Thursday, taking the overall lead in the race fromDutch Max van Heeswijk.Ekimov's win in the fourth stage time trial, 22.2km race agains theclock in Goch, was the third Postal victory in the Tour. Van Heeswijk scoredsprint wins in the first and second stages and retained the leadafter Alessandro Petacchi's stage 3 sprint win on Thursday morning.Ekimov's win comes on the heels of his silver-medal ride in the Olympictime trial in

For the second straight day the Russians proved to be the masters of the points race. This time it was Olga Slyusareva, who powered to a six-point win over Mexico’s Belem Guerrero in the 100-lap race at the Olympic velodrome on Wednesday. Slyusareva was quiet early in the race, while Guerrero and Colombian Maria Luisa Calle Williams were trading the lead, but the Russian won two straight sprints at lap 80 and 90, putting her over the top. Guerrero came back to score two points in the final sprint snagging the silver, with Calle settling for bronze. Slyusareva is a four-time world champion,

Whispers that U.S. Postal Service strongman Floyd Landis is leaving theblue train took on more weight Wednesday when sport director Johan Bruyneelconfirmed reports that Landis is poised to join former teammate Tyler Hamiltonat Phonak.In an interview with the Spanish daily MARCA, Bruyneel all butconfirmed Landis´s departure from Postal Service, where he rode thepast three years alongside Lance Armstrong en route to Tour de France victories.“We had an option to keep him and we were ready to equal the offer madeto Phonak, but at the same time we didn´t want him to force him tostay with us,”

In the moments after a tacitly perfect run to Olympic glory in the Madison, Aussie Graeme Brown could barely stand. Minutes earlier he and teammate Stuart O’Grady had given Australia its fifth gold medal of these Athens Olympics, but now Brown needed help getting his shoes off. “It was the most painful race I’ve ever ridden,” said Brown. “I never been in so much pain in my life.” Clearly the pain was worth it, though. Brown and O’Grady started fast, gaining a lap along with the German duo of Robert Bartko and Guido Fulst. From there the Aussies picked their spots wisely, winning the fourth

Aussie Ryan Bayley affirmed his status as world’s fastest man on a bike, taking his second gold medal of the 28th Olympiad by winning the keirin on the final day of track racing in Athens on Wednesday. The shaggy haired 22-year-old shot out from the bunch in the final of the keirin, cruising across the line well ahead of second-place finisher Jose Escuredo of Spain. German Rene Wolff was third, but was later relegated by the judges giving Shane Kelley the bronze, yet another medal for the green and gold. Paired with the Madison win by Graeme Brown and Stuart O'Grady, Australia will leave

In a battle of grace and finesse versus brawn and power, the brute force of Australian Ryan Bayley was the ticket to gold in the men’s sprint at the Olympic velodrome on Tuesday. After losing the opening heat of the best-of-three final against Dutchman Theo Bos, Bayley stormed back to take two straight, giving Australia its fourth cycling gold medal of the 28th Olympiad. It’s the best ever showing for the green-and-gold clad team that had been shadowed by a drug scandal on the lead-up to the Games. “After I lost the first heat I just got really agro,” said Bayley, who fits the part of a

Lori-Ann Muenzer earned Canada's first-ever Olympic cycling gold medal in the women's match sprint on the boards of the Athens Velodrome Tuesday. To reach the podium, Muenzer first had to reverse her world championship sprint loss to Australian Anna Meares in the semifinals and then dispatch Russian star Tamilla Abassova in the final. In a sport which rewards youthful power and speed, where certified legends like Florian Rousseau (30) and Jens Fiedler (34) just retired, Muenzer climbed to her sport's summit at 38 years of age and has no plans whatsoever to quit. "Age is just a number

The Spanish newspaper MARCA is reporting that Tyler Hamiltonwill race next month´s Vuelta a España to make up for his disappointing Tour de France, when he was forced to pull out after injuring his back after falling in the first week.Hamilton is fresh off his gold medal performance in the Olympic time trial race and said last week he still wasn´t sure about which races he would start in the second half of the season.Hamilton told VeloNews editor Jason Sumner last week in Athens he was considering racing the Vuelta and had even gone to check out some of the routes after he returned to his

After warming up with a weeklong training camp in France, the American triumvirate of Todd Wells, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Mary McConneloug arrived in Athens on Monday and got their first look at the Mont Parnitha mountain bike venue on Tuesday. With only one sustained descent, and two sharp climbs, Wells said there wouldn’t be much time to rest. “You’re going to be pedaling most of the time,” said the GT-Hyundai rider, who qualified for the Olympic team behind a 10th place finish at the Calgary World Cup. “It’s really dry, kind of loose and pebbly. There’s two climbs and a couple of

Jorge Ferrío (Almería Paternina) won the one-day classic Vuelta a los Puertos on Sunday in the mountains north of Madrid that will play a starring role in next month’s Vuelta a España. Almería Paternina delivered a one-two punch in the 146km race that started and finished Guadarrama with teammate Ramón Golbano taking second. The teammates opened up a two-minute gap on the mostly Spanish peloton on the lower ramps of the Alto de Navacerrada, which will see a summit finish in the Vuelta’s penultimate day. Ferrío and Golbano stayed away for the rest of the day, with Gustavo César coming through

In the battle for supremacy at the Olympic velodrome in Athens, the men from Australia beat back the challenge of Great Britain, claiming gold in the team pursuit. The Aussies’ effort didn’t match their world record time from qualifying the day before, but their mark of 3:58.233 on Monday was easily enough to outclass the Brits, who trailed throughout on their way to a 4:01.760. That left the gold medal count for the two countries at two apiece, with Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins having each taken wins for Great Britain, while Anna Meares and now the team pursuit squad of Graeme Brown, Brett

It’s been a long road to the summit for Sara Ulmer of New Zealand. As a callow 20-year-old in Atlanta, she was an anonymous seventh in the 3000-meter individual pursuit final. Four years ago in Sydney, 24-year-old Ulmer finished the 3000-meter individual pursuit in the cruelest Olympic position — eight-hundredths of a second out of bronze. Ulmer lost third to 39-year-old Yvonne McGregor’s of Great Britain with just 125 meters to go, and remained deep in the shadow of Sydney’s golden girl of cycling, Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel, who crushed silver medalist Marion Clignet by five seconds

If you were looking for a sentimental favorite for this year’s USPRO Criterium Championships, there were several good choices, but the two best candidates were probably Jonas Carney and Robbie Ventura. Postal’s Ventura has been going after the title in Downers Grove all his career, but has always fallen short, coming closest two years ago when he lost the USPRO title to Kevin Monahan in a photo finish. Carney does have a pro criterium title to his name, winning in Downers Grove in 1997, but having announced his retirement earlier this season, the Jelly Belly rider was shooting for one last

As his mentor and one-time gold medalist Chris Boardman looked on from inside the velodrome at the Olympics in Athens, Bradley Wiggins scored the second gold medal in two days for the team from Britain, winning the individual pursuit. Wiggins beat back the challenge of Aussie Brad McGee in the final, while Spain’s Sergi Escobar topped the U.K.’s Rob Hayles in the bronze-medal round. Wiggins said his Olympic dream first began while watching Boardman win gold at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Since then the two have become good friends, as Boardman helped guide his protégé to Saturday’s golden

On a day when it wasn’t clear whether the riders were heading up towards the clouds or the clouds down to the riders, Justin England (Webcor) and Phillip Wong (Fior di Frutta) staged an epic mano á mano fight at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb in Conway, New Hampshire. England and Wong rode side-by-side for more than half of the 7.6-mile climb, with England sprinting away with 500 meters to go for the win in near-whiteout conditions. “I knew I only had one attack left in me,” said England. “And so with 500 to go I gave everything I had, and it was just enough.” England’s last-ditch attack

If the “warm-up” races in Downer's Grove, Illinois, were any indication, the national criterium championships on Sunday could see an unprecedented hat trick in the elite women's category, while the men's USPRO Criterium Championship could be a rough-and-tumble affair among the major domestic teams gunning for one of the last big races of the season. Saturday night's Ice Mountain USCF International Women's Open saw two-time defending national criterium champion Tina Pic (Genesis Scuba-FFCC) take a convincing victory on the eve of her title defense, while in the men's American Airlines Pro-Am