The Germans started in the team sprint and just kept on going

Bobby Julich, fresh off his bronze medal in the Olympic time trial, won’t start Sunday’s World Cup race, Zürich Metzgete. According to information from Team CSC, a medical check found another fracture in the wrist he broke in a fall during the Tour de France last month. Julich will likely get the wrist into a cast, but said earlier this week he wants to keep racing and is scheduled to race the GP Eddy Merckx later this month. Team CSC said Fränk Schleck is also questionable for the Swiss race, as he has not been able to train in a couple of days due to a knee injury. Replacing Julich in

For most Olympic athletes in Athens the heat is a hindrance, but when it comes to track racers, the balmier the better. The heat makes the boards of the 250-meter wooden track expand and tighten, and that makes conditions fast. That was certainly the case on the opening day of competition at the Olympic velodrome, where two Olympic records and one world record were eclipsed on a sizzling Friday afternoon in Greece. The new world’s best came in the women’s 500-meter time trial, with Aussie Anna Meares becoming the first woman to complete two laps in under 34 seconds. Her time of 33.952 also

Looking ahead to Sunday’s USPRO Criterium Championship in Downers Grove, Illinois, the phrase “the usual suspects” springs to mind, as the majority of the top domestic criterium racers will be on hand gunning for the race win and the stars-and-stripes champion’s jersey that’s up for grabs to the first American to cross the line. Several of the men have been there before, as the race will feature at least six former race winners and U.S. champions. That list of past winners includes 2002 winner Henk Vogels (Navigators Insurance), 2001 U.S. champion Kirk O’Bee (Navigators), 1999 winner Gord

Britain, desperately searching around Athens for an Olympic gold medal, gets their big chance with an assault on the men's kilometer time trial on the opening day of the track cycling on Friday. The British look strongly placed to break through as they did in Sydney four years ago with world champion Chris Hoy, Craig MacLean or, possibly, defending Olympic champion Jason Queally in strong contention for gold. Back in 2000 it was a similar scenario before Queally became an instant hero when he claimed the kilo ahead of German Stefan Nimke and Australian Shane Kelly. Hoy has the form on the

Saeco gregario Leonardo Bertagnolli won Wednesday’s Copa Agostoni, thesecond leg of the “Trittico Lombardo” in northern Italy. Bertagnolli finishedahead of hard-luck Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo), trying to recapture hiswinning ways after missing most of the 2004 season.Copa Agostoni (ITA 1.2)1. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita), Saeco, 196km in 4 hours, 39 minutes(42.262 kph)2. Dario Frigo (Ita), Fassa Bortolo at 0:043. Gonzalo Bayarri (Spa), Phonak Hearing Systems4. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita), Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie5. Francisco Patxi Vila (Spa), Lampre all same timeFedrigo takes over

Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel hopes to defend her Olympic time trial crowd on Wednesday despite a hard fall that knocked her out of Sunday’s road race and left her with bruises on shoulder, elbow and hip. The 34-year-old Dutchwoman, who won the road race, the individual time trial and the individual pursuit on the track at the Sydney Games four years ago, fell when she clipped Canadian Lyne Bessette’s rear wheel and brought Swiss Nicole Brandli crashing down on top of her. "I feel good, I slept good. I just hope that my legs are good," Zijlaard-van Moorsel said Tuesday of her recovery. "I

Arndt irked at German federation, not CarriganJudith Arndt says her hand gesture as she crossed the finish line in Sunday's women's road race in Athens was not directed at Australian winner Sara Carrigan, but rather at the German cycling federation for excluding her partner, Petra Rossner, from the German Olympic cycling team. Asked by reporters if her finger gesture was aimed at Carrigan, the 28-year-old said: "It wasn't anything to do with Sara. We gave the gold away. Petra is the best sprinter in the world. I'm sad that she did not ride with me. I dedicate my medal to her." The

The contrast couldn’t have been greater as the latest batch of cycling medalists faced the media shortly after the conclusion of the women’s Olympic road race on the downtown streets of Athens on Sunday. In the center seat of the raised podium sat Sara Carrigan, a starry gaze striped across her youthful face. Moments earlier the Aussie had grabbed gold, after pushing away from Judith Arndt on the last lap of the 118.8km race. Meanwhile, Arndt looked downright disgusted despite the silver medal swinging from her neck. The German was still seething over the Olympic-team exclusion of former

Och’ fined for water handup outside feed zoneU.S. Olympic road coach Jim Ochowicz was fined Sunday for giving a bottle of water to a rider outside the approved area during the men's road race on Saturday. Ochowicz was fined the equivalent of about $162 by the UCI. No rider was named or fined, officials said. Temperatures topped 100 degrees on parts of the course Saturday, so race officials allowed team cars to pass water and food to riders over an expanded stretch of the course. Temperatures were cooler for the women's road race Sunday along the same 8.2-mile course, but the more generous

In the aftermath of the brutal 224.4km men’s Olympic road race run on the historic downtown streets of Athens on Saturday, the sentiment toward race winner Paolo Bettini was nearly universal. For a man so marked to still pull off a gold-medal victory was testament to his vast abilities on the bicycle. Outside of a stacked Spanish squad, Bettini’s name was the one most proffered when the favorites list was compiled, yet the Italian still managed to pull one of his trademark late-race escapes, earning him the first cycling gold of the 2004 Summer Games. Bettini grabbed victory by slipping away

Ian Macgregor (TIAA-CREF/5280) won the under-23 national championship road race Friday at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort, attacking a 13-man breakaway and then fencing with Blake Caldwell (U.S. National) over the final kilometers. Macgregor and Mike Cody launched the first serious break of the day just 15km into the 193km race, run on the same circuit on which Lance Armstrong won his first road title 13 years ago. Soon, a second group of six riders bridged up, followed by another group of four that included Caldwell and U.S. National’s Stuart Gillespie. Then TIAA-CREF’s Todd Yesefski, Jay Ku, and

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.Link racers’ pay to drug-free performanceEditor:It seems as though every single cyclist who has been caught doping or trafficking has recited the same excuse: "I had to succeed because my livelihood depended on it.” And it's hard to argue against their course of action. Mr. Millar

Spanish rider Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Saunier Duval) uncorked a vicious sprint with 250 meters to the line in Saturday’s Clasica San Sebastián to surprise pre-race favorite Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) for the biggest win of his career. Martin Perdiguero was part of a seven-man break that cleared the always-decisive Category 1 climb up Alto de Jaizkibel with 31.5km to go in the sweltering 227km race across the verdant hills of northern Spain’s Basque Country. “I sprinted at 250 meters, it wasn’t too far,” said Martin Perdiguero, the first Spanish winner since 1990. “I was confident I

Ongarato sprints to win in PortugalAlberto Ongarato (Fassa Bortolo) won the 147.2km ninth stage of the Tour of Portugal between Figueira da Foz and Alcobaca on Saturday. The Italian outkicked Pedro Costa (ASC-Vila do Conde) and Ramon Zaragosa (Imoholding-Loule Jardim Hotel) to win in 3:18:48. With only Sunday’s final stage remaining, David Bernabeu (Milaneza-Maia) held onto his eight-second overall lead on David Arroyo (L.A. Pecol), with Rui Lavarinhas (Milaneza-Maia) third at 0:36. 66th Volta a Portugal (POR 2.2), Figueira da Foz to Alcobaca, 147.2km1. Alberto Ongarato (I) Fassa Bortolo,

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.Stop paying attention to all this crapEditor:If you pay attention to the ratio of articles posted on your site (which has always been my favorite, by the way, and I go to it several times a day), about half of them are about drugs. Everyone keeps saying, “Show something else other than

Clerc takes Burgos finaleAurélien Clerc, a Swiss flier on the Quick Step team, sprinted to victory in the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos in northern Spain on Thursday. Clerc was a clear winner ahead of Alexandre Usov (Phonak) and Roger Hammond (Mr Bookmaker.com) in the rolling stage to cap the four-day Burgos tour. Alejandro Valverde (Kelme) finished safely in the main bunch, choosing not to contest the final sprint after charging to three consecutive victories to claim the overall title for his 14th win of the 2004 season. Early in the rolling stage a group of 16 riders tore away from

Spanish sensation Alejandro Valverde earned a hat-trick Wednesday in the Vuelta a Burgos after taking his third consecutive stage in the difficult 139km climbing finish up the narrow, twisting roads to Lagunas de Neila. Valverde, a winner of the opening two stages of the four-day Burgos tour, faltered within the final kilometer of the steep climb with ramps as steep as 14 percent, but bounced back to catch the wheel of Italian Leonard Piepoli (Saunier Duval) and Denish Menchov (Illes Balears). Valverde caught back on with less than 200 meters to go and shot ahead of Menchov to score his

Alejandro Valverde (Kelme) stormed to his second consecutive victory Tuesday in the second stage of the four-day Tour of Burgos in northern Spain. A day after winning atop the Alp de Altotero on Monday, Valverde took a bunch sprint coming into Aranda de Duero to conclude the 170km stage. Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears), fresh off his sixth-place finish in the Tour de France, fractured his left wrist in a crash and was forced to abandon. Vuelta a Burgos (SPA 2.1), Stage 2, Lerma to Aranda de Duero, 170.45km1. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 3:46:132.

After narrowly missing a rainbow jersey in the 200-meter sprint at the junior world track championships on Saturday, Michael Blatchford was looking toward Sunday night’s team sprint as an opportunity for redemption. “We’ll get another chance tomorrow,” said the 18-year-old U.S. junior national sprint champion after taking the silver behind Australia’s Shane Perkins at the ADT Event Center velodrome near Los Angeles, California. Come Sunday, once again it was the U.S. versus Australia – but this time, the race was for bronze, after Germany and Japan advanced to the gold-medal round. In the

With a final stage breakaway at the International Tour de 'Toona in Pennsylvania, Health Net’s John Lieswyn and Scott Moninger were able to snatch the race lead away from Webcor Builders’ Chris Horner, with Moninger capturing the stage win and Lieswyn nailing down the overall title. In the women’s race, Quark’s Lyne Bessette led the seven-day event from start to finish, beating Canadian Olympic teammate Sue Palmer-Komar (Genesis Scuba) by 34 seconds in the overall. In the men’s race, Colavita Olive Oil’s Nathan O’Neill made an impressive return to the race where he suffered a crash that

Stuart O’Grady continued on his winning ways Sunday after pipping pre-race favorites Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) and Igor Astarloa (Lampre) in a much tougher version of the HEW Cyclassics race in Germany. A new course took the World Cup riders over the short but steep Waseberg climb five times, including the final pass that broke up the main bunch in the final 15km. In a sprint finish, O’Grady shot ahead of last year’s winner, Bettini, to win his first World Cup victory of his career. World Cup series leader Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) came through sixth to retain the overall lead while

Surviving an early crash on the slippery, rain-drenched New York streets, New Zealand’s Greg Henderson (Health Net-Maxxis) came back to win the third annual New York City Cycling Championships in a massive field sprint. Henderson shot off the wheel of countryman and teammate Hayden Godfrey in the final 50 meters of the 60-mile race through New York’s financial district for his highest-profile win of the year. Another teammate, designated sprinter Gord Fraser, said he wasn’t feeling great but still slotted in for second behind Henderson. “We wanted to be patient in the sprint,” said Fraser.

Surviving an early crash on the slippery, rain-drenched New York streets, New Zealand’s Greg Henderson (Health Net-Maxxis) came back to win the third annual New York City Cycling Championships in a massive field sprint. Henderson shot off the wheel of countryman and teammate Hayden Godfrey in the final 50 meters of the 60-mile race through New York’s financial district for his highest-profile win of the year. Another teammate, designated sprinter Gord Fraser, said he wasn’t feeling great but still slotted in for second behind Henderson. “We wanted to be patient in the sprint,” said Fraser.

With the overwhelming support of a partisan home crowd, all signs seemed stacked in favor of American junior national sprint champion Michael Blatchford securing a rainbow jersey at the junior track world championships Saturday, held at the ADT Event Center velodrome near Los Angeles, California. Blatchford, who hails from the nearby city of Cypress, was first in the 200-meter qualifying sprints Friday, laying down a 10.696 ahead of Australia's Shane Perkins, winner of Thursday night's keirin, who rode a 10.701. And when both Blatchford and Perkins required just two rides in the

Hamburg is probably the easiest of the World Cups…but it is not easy. The race draws massive crowds and is always a welcome home race for Jan and the Telekom team after the Tour. The race starts out with a large flat loop and then several smaller loops with some tight turns and a steep climb. It is not the difficulty of the climb that splits the race up, but the fight for position going into the climb and the tight corners after the climb. As the World Cup script pretty much dictates, the race started off quick, a break got away, the peloton settled down and cruised along, and then teams

Hamburg is probably the easiest of the World Cups...but it is not easy. The race draws massive crowds and is always a welcome home race for Jan and the Telekom team after the Tour. The race starts out with a large flat loop and then several smaller loops with some tight turns and a steep climb. It is not the difficulty of the climb that splits the race up, but the fight for position going into the climb and the tight corners after the climb. As the World Cup script pretty much dictates, the race started off quick, a break got away, the peloton settled down and cruised along, and then

Henderson sprints to victory ...

Sprint Podium

Sprint Podium

T-Mobile leader Jan Ullrich and his manager Walter Godefroot have talked through their differences and will continue to work together, Godefroot said here Saturday. "It was a good discussion. In the future we're going to speak more often together. Jan will continue to race for T-Mobile," said Godefroot. Both men refused to comment on the nature of the talks. Despite being heralded as Lance Armstrong's main rival on the Tour de France, former champion Ullrich finished fourth and a massive nine minutes behind the six-time winner, his lowest placing ever in seven races. Godefroot has

When American Kimberly Geist took third place in the women’s 2km individual pursuit Friday, USA Cycling officials could breathe a sigh of relief. Though it was a narrowly won bronze medal, the host country was “on the board” at the junior track world championships, held in Los Angeles at the new world-class ADT Event Center velodrome. After qualifying fifth behind Marlijn Binnendijk (Netherlands), Geist beat out Australian Amanda Spratt, winner of the points race Thrusday, to enter the 3-4 final against New Zealand's Paddy Walker. Though Geist seemed to fade slightly during the middle

Blatchford was smokin' in the sprint

Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) will be among the starters Sunday for the sixth round of the 2004 World Cup stop in Hamburg, Germany for the HEW Cyclassics event. Also joining Ullrich, fresh off a somewhat disappointing fourth place finish in the Tour de France, will be T-Mobile teammates Andreas Klöden and Erik Zabel. Also set to race are two-time World Cup defending champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), current leader Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Domo), Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner) and Milan-San Remo Oscar Freire

Cyclist Jobie Dajka was dropped from Australia's Olympic team after being found to have lied to a doping inquiry involving the country's top cyclists, the Australian Olympic Committee announced on Friday. Dajka admitted on Thursday he had been untruthful when he told an inquiry that he had not injected himself with performance-enhancing drugs in the room of a former teammate at the Australian Institute of Sport's cycling base in Adelaide. DNA evidence subsequently contradicted Dajka's statement to the inquiry, which was chaired by lawyer Robert Anderson, QC, the AOC said. "Given Anderson's

While Australia’s elite track program continues to facehardships and scandal, the country’s juniors have taken a strongholdat the junior track world championships, held at the new Home Depot Center’sADT Event Center velodrome in Carson, California, outside of Los Angeles. Two days into the five-day event, held July 28 through August 1, Australiahas taken three gold medals in six events; Germany leads the medal countwith five. Perhaps the greatest beacon of hope for the program’s new blood comesin the form of Michael Ford, the reigning junior world record holder inthe 3km individual pursuit.

Iban Mayo will race the Vuelta a España (Sept. 4-26) after a meeting with team bosses Miguel Madariaga and Julián Gorospe on Wednesday. According to a report in the Diario Vasco, Mayo will be looking to make up for his disappointing performance in the 2004 Tour de France, which he abandoned during the Alps. Haimar Zubeldia, Euskaltel-Euskadi’s other star rider, will also start the Vuelta. Gorospe said he believes there’s enough time for both riders to recover from their problems in the Tour in time to be competitive for the Vuelta. McEwen discovers cause of back troubleLotto’s tenacious

Before coming to Germany, I had a month-long break from racing. I took one week completely off the bike and then started to ramp up my training. I packed in some heavy mileage weeks, riding mostly with Michael each day. Riding with Michael pushes me into fitness, as he rides quite a bit faster than I generally do on my own. We would go out the door together each day, although often when we hit a major climb, or he needed to do some intensity, he would speed off ahead and I would keep going at my pace. It is neat to be able to share so much time together on the bike. Cycling has allowed us

Before coming to Germany, I had a month-long break from racing. I took one week completely off the bike and then started to ramp up my training. I packed in some heavy mileage weeks, riding mostly with Michael each day. Riding with Michael pushes me into fitness, as he rides quite a bit faster than I generally do on my own. We would go out the door together each day, although often when we hit a major climb, or he needed to do some intensity, he would speed off ahead and I would keep going at my pace. It is neat to be able to share so much time together on the bike. Cycling has allowed us

Nicholas “Mickey” Francoise, national amateur and professional sprint champion between 1936 and 1940, died July 20 in a hospital in Glen Ridge, N.J., of heart complications. He was 86. Francoise also raced in the late 1930s in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, where he and Billy Guyatt were popular rivals. In January 1939 Francoise captured the Grand Prix of Melbourne. A second-generation racer born in 1918 in Montclair, N.J., and trained by his father James, Francoise started racing at age 15 in 1933 as a member of the Bay View Wheelmen on the half-mile dirt horse track in Newark’s

It was the day that everyone knew was coming for some time now. But the sight of American Lance Armstrong finally standing atop the podium as the first rider to win the Tour de France six times, gave everyone a chance to take in the history that he had now made real. Obviously, one of the first to be swept up by the occasion was the person who called Armstrong on his mobile telephone just as he stepped off the winners' podium. Tongues were wagging like new-born puppies as to who it could be. “Winning my first Tour (in 1999) was special; but this is unbelievable,” said Armstrong. So happy

Australian Robbie McEwen couldn't hide his joy after holding off the threat of Norwegian Thor Hushovd as he claimed back the Tour de France green jersey for the race's points competition on Sunday. McEwen, flanked by his wife and his son Ewan, admitted he'd missed his family over three weeks of tough racing at the end of which he picked up two stages and the green jersey he won for the first time in 2002. "It's really special. It's been a few week and I miss them. I've been looking forward to this day to see my wife and my son, and to top it off I win the green jersey," said McEwen.

American climber-extraordinaire Tom Danielson (Fassa Bortolo) set anew record at the Mount Evans Hillclimb Saturday, taking a full four minutesand ten seconds off Mike Engleman’s 12-year-old course record. The threat of fog, rain, and snow didn’t deter Danielson, 26, who wason hiatus from his European schedule as he prepares to compete in the Vueltaa Espana in September. In his first ascent of the highest paved road inNorth America, Danielson hoped to break the mark and claim the $500 bonusfor doing so. “Given the weather, gradient inconsistencies, and the altitude change,it is too much to

McEwen's main concern was Hushovd's location in the sprint

Victory for Lance Armstrong in Saturday's stage 19 time trial at Besançon was a fait accompli. So much so, that at his press conference afterward, the man behind what has been dubbed by at least one media outlet as the “Texas Chainring Massacre” was not asked one question about his terrific ride in the 55km time trial. There was really no explanation needed about Armstrong's winning ride over the T-Mobile pairing of Germans Jan Ullrich and Andreas Klöden, who placed second and third on the stage at 1:01 and 1:27 respectively. It was expected. It was provided. And it was so very conclusive.

Robbie McEwen does not now have to be asked how he is feeling every year on the eve of the final Tour de France stage which brings the peloton into Paris. The 32-year-old Lotto rider, for the third year in a row, will ride around the chic quartiers surrounding the Champs Elysees knowing that at the end of the day he could pull on the green jersey for a second time since 2002. McEwen won the points classification's coveted prize two years ago before losing it on the final stage to Baden Cooke last year. This year, he will have to defend a small lead, of 11 points against Norwegian Thor

COURSE: This stage has five climbs but none are particularly steep;the Col de la Faucille, which overlooks Lake Geneva, is the longest, butcomes before halfway. The small Nogna hill and fast descent to the finish offer some chances for a late break. FAVORITES: The sprinters that have survived three difficult daysin the Alps will covet this stage. If someone like Bettini fails in a latemove, the field sprint will favor the talents of a Cooke or Zabel. HISTORY: Two stages have finished at Lons-le-Saunier. In 1937, the fifth stage was held in three parts: a 175km road race from Belfort

It was meant to have been a day for the minnows in the 2004 Tour de France peloton to fight for the scraps. And whoever won the stage could steal some thunder from the Armstrongs and Ullrichs of the race. But instead, the 166.5km stage 18 from Annemasse to Lons-le-Saunier became the platform for an ugly and bitter dispute between the biggest name in cycling, the overall race leader Lance Armstrong (U.S. Postal Service) and one of the lesser known names in the sport, Italian Filippo Simeoni (Domina Vacanze), who has won only seven races in his 11-year pro career. For a race that is now 48

It’s been nearly two weeks since my last column, so I suppose I got some ‘splaining to do. Let’s just say that with the VeloNews editorial staff spread out across France, Italy and the United States, we’ve been running a skeleton crew here at the office putting together our 132-page Tour de France issue. Example: On Monday, July 12, our industrious intern Brock Adams, a junior at the University of Florida, brought his mother into the VN office, video camera and all, to say a round of goodbyes to the editorial staff before they made the drive back home. Sadly, every single member of our

Dear Lennard,How about a report on the stuff that hasn't work in the Tour? I don't think I've ever heard of more riders being injured in crashes or having to stop from broken handlebars, stems and forks and other equipment-related mishaps. One really goofy example is Phonak using track tires in the rainy team time trial. Are these folks pushing the envelope too far? I didn't used to thinkthe minimum bike weight was a good idea, but it might keep things safer. On the other hand, how about Ulrich on L'Alpe? It looks like he carriedan extra couple of pounds of useless aero stuff up the hill.

Australia's Robbie McEwen survived the last mountain stage of the Tour de France on Thursday to remain the favorite to win the prestigious points competition. The Lotto-Domo rider finished 109th in Le Grand Bornand, more than 35 minutes behind stage winner Lance Armstrong, but with none of his rivals scoring points he kept the green jersey for another day. "On paper it looked as if it would be a really hard day but it turned out fine," he said after the 204.5km stage through the Alps. "I got over the first climb with the main field and then we formed a gruppetto on the Col de la Madeleine

Superior fitness makes a rider more versatile, and Lance Armstrong proved that by winning his third stage in as many days. Including the team time trial, Lance has won five stages of the 2004 Tour de France and he’s won them by being a complete athlete. Some riders are pure climbers, while others see the time trials as their best chance of winning a stage. When you are remarkably fit, however, you can excel in almost any racing situation and find a way to win on top of mountains, in time trials, uphill sprints and flat sprints. Extreme fitness provides benefits beyond power and endurance.

Former world sprint cycling champion Sean Eadie was re-nominated to compete for Australia at the Olympics on Wednesday, two days after drugs allegations against him were dismissed. His reinstatement to the Games team is now expected to be a formality. Eadie was cleared by Australia's Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday night of trying to import banned human growth hormones. He was dropped from the Athens line-up when the drug trafficking claims emerged two weeks ago but has fiercely maintained his innocence since. Eadie was replaced on the proposed cycling team by 22-year-old Ben

It was an Armstrong kinda day.... It’s 35 years ago to the day that American Neil Armstrong took that small step that became a “giant leap for mankind,” becoming the first person to step on the Moon. And on Tuesday, with his 18th stage win in his Tour de France career, Lance Armstrong also took his own giant leap, moving closer to becoming the first man to win six Tours de France. Victory in the 180.5km stage 15 from Valréas to Villard de Lans, which took the Tour into the Alps, was not really needed for Armstrong to claim the yellow leader's jersey. That’s because the overnight race

Rather than a display of frequent and vicious attacks on the final climbs to the finish of mountain stages, we’re seeing a much more controlled style of racing in the 2004 Tour de France. The leaders set a fast pace on the final climb and then wait until the last 750 meters to really open the throttle and surge for the finish line. Accelerating from an already high climbing pace is very demanding, but something you can prepare for. During Lance Armstrong’s preparations for the Tour de France, we spent time specifically focused on what happens when you approach a mountain summit in a race.

The Pyrénées did a lot of damage to the Tour de France peloton and to several riders’ chances of challenging for the yellow jersey. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of very strong men left in the race, and the next major challenge before them is stage 16’s individual time trial up L'Alpe d’Huez. The fabled climb, with its 21 numbered switchbacks, is a very difficult and technically demanding time-trial course. However, since it’s only 15.5km long, and it’s not coming at the end of a long road stage, I don’t expect any of the top riders to gain a big chunk of time. Riding by themselves,

Watching the Tour de France, one can easily conclude that one of Lance Armstrong’s biggest strengths is he can be coldly calculating, but the same can be said of the U.S. Postal Service team, which also plays the Tour de France as if it were a game of chess. Armstrong and the team have brought many new things to the Tour, like chiropractors, team chefs, and the scouting of every single stage route prior to the race. Less publicized and perhaps as unprecedented are the tiny details of meticulous planning that the team does. As in chess, every move a team or rider makes during the Tour has

Breanna Loster (Dr. Walker) added a victory in the 200-meter sprint to her 500-meter time trial win on Sunday in the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, while Mike Creed (U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor), fresh off winning the overall at the Cascade Cycling Classic, claimed a win in the 100-lap points race. Sunday’s racing in Portland, Oregon, began with 200-meter qualifiers for the women’s sprint. Defending champion Annette Hanson (Team Rubicon) qualified second in 13.44 behind Loster (13.28), with top local sprinter Heather Van Valkenberg’s (Sorella Forte) third in 13.80. Hanson lost in the

Loster proved fastest in the women's sprint

COURSE: This stage is a straight shot along the coastal plain of the Mediterranean. The main difficulties will probably be the heat, the Mistral wind and perhaps the speed, should the sprinters get a scent of victory. The race could split up in the crosswinds. FAVORITES: Look for good results from tough men like Stuart O’Grady,Jakob Piil, Thor Hushovd and Leon Van Bon, all of whom can out-sprint abreakaway group or do well in a field sprint. HISTORY: The last of 14 stages to finish in Nîmes camein 1986, when the stage also started at Carcassonne. But that was on ahilly course 40km

Aitor Gonzalez's win in the 14th stage of the Tour de France may have given him cause to celebrate, but it has to count as one of the most expensive returns on investment for any sponsor in the sport of cycling. For sure, Fassa Bortolo's Gonzalez was smiling after he time-trialed away from a 10-man break to finish 27 seconds ahead of Frenchmen Nicolas Jalabert (Phonak) and Christophe Mengin (Fdjeux.com). But considering the promise that came with his $750,000 salary, one Tour stage win and a time-trial success at the 2003 Giro d'Italia in his two years with Fassa is hardly great value for

Drizzly Oregon weather didn’t keep Trexlertown regular Cassandra Osorio-McKenna (Hot Tubes) from winning the miss-and-out and points race Saturday at the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, though a couple of events had to be shortened to accommodate the damp conditions, including the men’s scratch race and Madison, won by Milton Wynants and Agustin Margaleff (Uruguay National Team). Saturday’s racing at Portland’s Alpenrose Velodrome began with the 200-meter qualifiers for the sprint tournament. Dean Tracy (Team Rubicon) posted a 12.01, with Stephen McLaughry (Bike Central) upping the ante in

Everyone knew what the script was. Everyone knew what they were supposed to do. Lance Armstrong is here going for a record six Tour de France victories. Then there is the small army of riders who are waiting to spoil it for him: Jan Ullrich is supposed to shake that second-place monkey from his back and score his second Tour win. Iban Mayo, the Spanish climbing master had already proven he can out-climb the Texan, so the mountain challenge is there. Of course, Armstrong’s former teammate and fellow American Tyler Hamilton is ready to show the world that the defending champ and his Postal

Although the organizers of the Tour de France stacked all the mountain stages into the end of the race, their decision to put a relatively easy transitional stage right before the race’s second rest day gives the overall contenders a reasonably long time to recover between the Pyrénées and the Alps. Either wind or tactics could have made stage 14 pretty tough, but after two hard days in the mountains, the majority of the peloton wasn’t eager to ride hard on Sunday. Still, the first two hours of the race were fast and difficult, while riders repeatedly attacked off the front to establish the

Annette Hanson (Team Rubicon) and Kenny Williams (First Rate Mortgage) kicked off the sixth annual Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge on Friday in Portland, Oregon, with wins in the men’s and women’s pursuit. Hanson, a multiple national and world masters pursuit champ from Kirkland, Washington, won the 3000-meter race in 4:09:87 on the 268-meter, cigar-shaped concrete track ahead of teammate Brie Gudsell of New Zealand and Hot Tubes’ Cassandra Osorio of Florence, South Carolina. In the men’s 4000-meter contest, it was Williams turning a 5:01:64 for 4000 meters to outpace a pair of Kiwis racing

The Mail Bag is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday feature on VeloNews.com, but will appear daily during the Tour. 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.Numbers don't lie, do they?Dear Editors,I guess I'm in the minority of those who can't quite figure out howUSA Cycling totals its points. (see "Withsingle-point margin, Haywood gets Olympic nod ")I went to the UCI website and as of

Ivan Basso was on Lance Armstrong’s original list of potential threats for the 2004 Tour de France, but he was not near the top of that list. He is now. The former winner of the Tour’s Best Young Rider jersey has been the only man able to match Armstrong pedal stroke for pedal stroke over the past two days. Though the young Italian said he was forced to his limit to keep up on the final climb to Plateau de Beille, Armstrong didn’t have an overabundance of energy left when it came time to sprint either. Sitting just 1:17 behind Armstrong is a man many believe represents the future of the

French fans suffering from Bastille Day hangovers at the Tour de France Thursday were given the ideal salve when local rider David Moncoutié won the 164km stage 11 from St. Flour to Figeac to give France back-to-back stage victories following Richard Virenque's first place at St. Flour on Wednesday. It was also his Cofidis team's second stage win at the Tour and provided cause for added celebration for thousands of his local fans. While born in Paris, Moncoutié is from Brenetoux in the Lot region into which the Tour passed and finished Thursday. The stage was testing for all, with the heat,

Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tour de France brought two early breakaways with two riders and remarkably different results. On Tuesday’s 160-kilometer stage from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Guéret, Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) and Filippo Simeoni (Domina Vacanze got away at the 6 kilometer mark and quickly built up a lead that at one point was 10 minutes with just 60 kilometers to go. But the peloton knows when to start working the escapees are going to be caught. Sometimes no one is willing to work or the peloton – even with radios and GPS devices – misjudges the strength and speed of the

I’m disappointed. It’s not like I started today thinking about dropping out of the Tour de France. It just turned out that way. My back started really bothering me after the start. I could never get comfortable on the bike and it was even hard to grip my handlebars there at times. I just couldn’t get any power out. I would try and try and try and there was just nothing. I felt like I had about half the power I did yesterday. I tried smaller gears, bigger gears and nothing. It was one of those days when I could neither spin nor turn gears. The stage itself kicked off with the usual charge

Richard Virenque gave French cycling fans all they could have dreamed for to mark their national holiday, Bastille Day, by winning the 237km stage 10 from Limoges to Saint Flour. The win moved him up to fourth place overall and gave him the lead in the King of the Mountains competition -- his primary goal at this year's Tour de France. Furthermore, on this Bastille Day, French could also celebrate another day with a Frenchman in the yellow jersey, as young Thomas Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangere) finished among the overall favorites, more than five minutes behind the day’s lone victor,

It has been said that wearing the yellow jersey can give a rider an extra gear, and Thomas Voeckler is definitely taking advantage of it. Instead of being satisfied with merely finishing with the lead group and preserving his overall lead, the young French champion sprinted to fifth place in Stage 10, because that’s how the leader of the Tour de France should race. Right beside Voeckler in the rush to the line was Lance Armstrong, and his decision to stay at the front in the final 850 meters gained him another seven seconds over Tyler Hamilton, Roberto Heras, Levi Leipheimer, and Bobby

Australian Robbie McEwen became the first double stage winner of this year's Tour de France with his victory in the ninth stage - the last chance for the sprinters to win before the race enters the mountains on Wednesday. In one of the tightest finishes so far, McEwen (Lotto-Domo) beat Norway's Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and Australian Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) in 3:32:55 to take the 160.5km stage from Saint Leonard de Noblet to Gueret. “I'm happy I've won two bunch sprints,” McEwen said. “I probably had a chance at another couple, but you can't win every day. “After today I feel like I

Australian former world sprint champion Sean Eadie launched an appeal on Tuesday, one day after Olympic and cycling officials accused him of trafficking in banned performance-enhancing drugs. Eadie, 35, has been nominated to race at the Athens Games next month but now risks being dropped from the team if he cannot defend himself against the charge. His manager, Kerry Ruffels, said appeal papers had been lodged with Australia's Court of Arbitration for Sport in Sydney. Cycling Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) on Monday issued Eadie an infraction notice after customs

When Domina Vacanze's Filippo Simeoni scampered off the front of the peloton today, he did it astride one of Specialized's new full-carbon, 1100-gram Tarmac S-Works frame. The bike features some pretty cool touches that are worth a closer look. His teammate, Michele Scarponi, gets a special, 40-gram-lighter versionusing finer-weave carbon fabric, while sprint ace Mario Cipollini got his own custom version... well, before he pulled out of the Tour the other day. Last year’s half-aluminum/half-carbon Tarmac will still exist as the Tarmac E5, and the new one has a similar shape to the top

Man, this was a tough day. Like I’ve said here for a few days, I am feeling a whole lot better on the bike, and I sure needed to be, because this was tough! I have to say I’ve never suffered as much on the bike as I did today for the first 40km of this stage. I just cannot remember ever doing a stage this fast on terrain like that. It was unbelievable today … absolutely unbelievable. Everyone in the peloton was just sprinting flat-out for the first 40km. Every attack drew some kind of response from the field, and people just kept attacking and attacking … and the terrain made it absolutely

Australia's former world sprint champion Sean Eadie, nominated to race in Athens, faces a two-year ban after being accused Monday of drug trafficking in the latest doping scandal to rock the country's Olympic preparations. Cycling Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has issued Eadie with an infraction notice after customs officers reported intercepting a package addressed to him of banned and as yet undetectable drugs sent through the mail five years ago from the United States. Australian law at the time did not permit customs to inform cycling officials of its find, but it

Top Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi has a cracked rib and is still suffering from a badly bruised shoulder, according to his Fassa Bortolo team doctor, and may miss out on next month's Olympics. Petacchi sustained the injuries when he crashed in last Thursday's fifth stage of the Tour de France. He and fellow ace Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini (Domina Vacanze) retired from the race on Friday. An X-ray in Italy on Monday revealed the damaged rib, though the doctor said he was more concerned by the 30-year-old rider's shoulder. "It will require around 30 days for it to heal," said Dr

COURSE: Shorter and hillier than the previous day’s stage, but still on the winding roads of Brittany, this one is made for breakaways. Expect to see huge crowds in all the granite-built towns and villages. FAVORITES: With the riders taking a plane after the stage to the rest-day town of Limoges, expect them to race very fast. That could result in a tight sprint finish in the streets of Quimper. With a short finishing straight and bends before that, this one looks ideal for McEwen, Cooke or Nazon. HISTORY: There has been only one stage finish in Quimper. That was in 1991, when Aussie Phil

Crédit Agricole’s Thor Hushovd found himself celebrating for the second time in a week after winning Sunday's eighth stage of the Tour de France. After claiming the yellow jersey for a day on stage 2, the Norwegian road champion won Sunday’s 168km stage from Lamballe to Quimper with a strong, uphill sprint. Under a torrent of cold Breton rain, Hushovd defeated Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) and Germany's Erik Zabel (T-Mobile) in that order. Taking fourth place, but reclaiming the sprinters' green jersey from Australian Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis), was his compatriot Robbie McEwen