More than a dozen Americans will be racing in Europe this season, ranging from five-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong to newbies like Tom Danielson, Tim Johnson and Patrick McCarty. U.S. Postal Service remains the engine behind the strong American presence in Europe, with eight riders representing the colors across the pond. But there’s growing diversity in the American expatriate community, with seven teams from Denmark, Italy, Spain, Holland and Switzerland boasting a Yankee rider, and the U.S.-based Navigators planning another springtime assault on the continent. Americans are

Marc Gullickson (Redline) and Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) made it two for two this weekend, each winning the final weekend’s worth of racing in the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series. Today, in the Patterson Construction-NEBC Cyclo-Cross, riders were greeted with a course that was shockingly slick with ice, snow, and mud, pushing riders' abilities to the limit. In the men’s series, Mark McCormack (Saturn) held the lead in the overall standings over last year's series winner, Marc Gullickson (Redline), winner of the previous day's race in Rhode Island. Meanwhile, in the

Last year's Verge New England Cyclo-cross Series champions – Marc Gullickson (Redline) and Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) – returned to the fore on Saturday as the series moves into its final weekend. From the starting whistle in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, the men's elite race was on fire. Series leader Mark McCormack (Saturn) got the hole shot on theuphill sprint start, with newly crowned under-23 national champion JesseAnthony (Hot Tubes) right on his wheel. By the end of the first lap, a leadgroup containing McCormack, Anthony, Gullickson, Ben Turner(7UP-Maxxis), and Zak Grabowski

On Sunday, December 14, one man and woman will be crowned elite national cyclo-cross champions in Portland, Oregon. And while nothing is ever guaranteed in bike racing, there are three near-certainties for the weekend: The race will be contested in wet, muddy conditions; the crowd will be downing plenty of race sponsor Portland Brewing Company’s beer; and the winners of both events will likely have been previously crowned national ‘cross champion. The forecast for the weekend is rain followed by rain and then more rain. Local Cross Crusade promoter Brad Ross is known as a beer-drinking,

After four years with Wisconsin-based Team Sports, Inc., Saturn women’s team director Giana Roberge has announced that on Friday, December 5, she will amicably part ways with the organization that directed the now defunct but highly successful Saturn Cycling and Volvo-Cannondale Cycling programs. “It’s been an extremely difficult decision for me to make,” Roberge said, explaining that while she and Team Sports’ president Tom Schuler have secured a title sponsor for a scaled down women’s team in 2004, there will not be sufficient sponsorship for her employment. An official announcement of

The 2003 Vergegear.com Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-Cross Championship Serieswrapped up with racing action at Blue Diamond Park 'Cross in New Castle,Delaware. This first time venue scored a big thumbs -up from both Mid-Atlantic'crossers and spectators as it was one of the most interesting and diversecourses this season. The host team, First State Velo Sport, made greatuse of the BMX-moto-cross Park terrain while still keeping the course "cross-friendly". That said, good technical skills were still a must for the day. With the sound of moto-cross bikes in the background, the elite womencharged off the

It’s hard to argue with dominance, and when it came to women’s road racingin North America this year, a palpable air of fear could be felt each timea diminutive 22-year-old from Lachine, Québec, rolled to the startline. In only her fourth year of professional racing, RONA-Esker’s GenevièveJeanson has proven to be one of the world’s preeminent climbers — justask the men’s field from the 2003 Mount Washington Hill Climb, all buttwo of whom she beat. Jeanson started her campaign early, winning all three stages of February’sValley of the Sun stage race, followed by another win at the Pomona

Costa Rica’s Marvin Campos won the latest edition of La Ruta de Los Conquistadores November 14-16, keeping the host country’s record intact – a Costa Rican has won every edition of the 11-year-old mountain-bike race. Campos staved off an unrelenting field in the three-day, 212-mile epic, including Diego Garavito, a top Columbian rider, and Germany TransAlp champion Karl Platt. Campos completed the grueling coast-to-coast race in 15:43:19,12 minutes ahead of Garavito. Fellow Costa Rican Eddy Perez was third in 16:20:38, with Platt fourth in 16:28:24. The women’s race was an intense

If things get any better for Clif Bar riders during their forays to EastCoast cyclo-cross races, they may relocate from their balmy base in SanFrancisco’s Bay Area to the colder, but welcoming air of New England andthe Mid-Atlantic. Clif Bar’s Carmen D’Alusio and Jackson Stewart won theirrespective races at Sunday’s Cycle-Smart International ‘Cross race in Northampton, Mass., the second day running that the NorCal team swept the top spots at an eastern ‘cross event. Fresh off her commanding win in New Jersey, D’Alusio and teammate GinaHall wasted no time making the Northampton race, stop

Team Clif Bar won both elite events in the Highland Park (N.J.) Cyclo-Cross on Saturday, round eight of the Vergegear.com Mid-Atlantic Championship Cyclo-Cross Series. Clif Bar teammates Carmen D’Aluisio and Gina Hall established the early pace in the women’s race, with Hall on the front. D’Aluisio eventually overtook her teammate and rode the remainder of the race solo, increasing her lead with each lap and cruising in for the victory. Hall crossed a minute behind D’Aluisio for second. Anna Milkowski (Gearworks-SpinArts) who had two strong races in the Mid-Atlantic series last weekend,

Former ONCE star Joseba Beloki's plans for next year are still up in theair, after an intense round of negotiations with the new Stayer team collapsedTuesday.The Spanish sports daily Marca reported Wednesday that Belokiand his attorneys failed to reach final agreement with the new Spanish/Italianroad team after ten days of discussions. The 30-year-old Spaniard and hislawyer Pablo Arregui closed off negotiations with the team and left Italydisappointed after failing to gain assurances on many of his financialand staffing demands.The team was reportedly unable to make salary guarantees that

Northern California cross fans were greeted to a great day of 'cross racing Sunday at the third round of the Bay Area Super Prestige Series. Cyclo-cross powerhouses Travis Brown, Todd Wells, Marc Gullickson, Jackson Stewart and Andy Jacques-Maynes all wore each other down trading for the lead. For most of the race, Brown made concerted efforts to get to that front group and was repeatedly forced to close gaps. With four laps to go, Brown caught the lead group of Gully, Wells and Maynes and attacked in a technical uphill section. The group was back together a lap later and with two laps

The second day of the Vergegear.com Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-Cross Championship Seriesdouble-header moved to Marysville, Pennsylvania for the Harrisburg City Islanders’ Rockville Bridge ‘Cross Classic. For the second day in a row, the Gearworks/Spin Arts duo of Marianne Stover and Anna Milkowski overpowered the Elite Women’s field to claim their second one-two finish of the weekend. As she did in the previous day’s Saturn Classic, Stover established a sizeable gap on the first lap and hammered on to extend that lead out to approximately one minute over teammate Milkowski. Hanging tough in

There were both new and familiar faces on the podium at Canada’s national cyclo-cross championships in Vancouver on Sunday. Peter Wedge (Kona Factory) took his sixth national title in the men's race, while Wendy Simms (Steed Cycles-Frontrunners) won the women's competition in only her fifth-ever start in a cyclo-cross race. Mountain bike national champion Max Plaxton (Gears Racing) won the junior men's competition, while Kris Sneddon (Kona) took the Under-23 men's title. Wedge dominated the men's race, immediately breaking away from the field. After one lap he was 15 seconds ahead of a

After weeks of racing in unseasonably mild conditions, riders were finally greeted by cold, windy cyclo-cross weather as they arrived in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, for the Saturn Classic, the first day of a double-header weekend in the Vergegear.com Mid-Atlantic Cyclo-Cross Championship Series. The elite races started with a long road prologue that enabled Marianne Stover (Gearworks-Spin Arts) to establish a small gap by the time the women hit the pits for the first time. Sarah Uhl (Saturn) sat in second, a small gap between her and the rest of the field. While Stover and Uhl worried about

The newly discovered designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), the focus of a doping scandal in world sport, is on the list of prohibited substances, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday. The Olympic and professional sports world was shocked last month when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reported that a new undetectable steroid – THG – had been created that allowed athletes to pass doping tests. "Following the recent developments regarding the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), the International Olympic Committee and the

In the closing lap of Sunday’s Clif Bar/ECV Cyclo-cross race in Gloucester, Mass., round two of the Verge New England ‘Cross series, Ryan Trebon came up a couple corners and a few squirts of tubular glue short of turning in one of the most impressive set of upset wins in American cyclo-cross memory. Having won Saturday’s UCI race in Worcester, Massachusetts, Trebon (Kona East) again made the decisive break in Gloucester, storming off the front with Todd Wells (Mongoose-Hyundai) in what seemed likely to end up as a two-man sprint for the win.

After spending most of Saturday’s Granogue Estate ‘cross race dangling in second place behind winner Todd Wells (Mongoose-Hyundai), Ryan Trebon (Kona-CCA) exacted his revenge on Sunday at the Prophecy Creek ‘Cross in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Trebon took his first elite ‘cross win in the second race of an East Coast UCI double-header, taking the win ahead of Wells. Trebon and Wells comprised half of a four-man break that went away early on the flat, fast course. Clif Bar duo Jackson Stewart and Andy Jacques-Maynes comprised the other half of the break, and looked set to take advantage of the

I spent the road season sending reports across the ocean about a few of us Americans fighting our way through the ranks of the Belgian peloton. I am home now and I can't express how nice that feels. Euro’ road racing has the hype, the excitement and the power to humble the most flippant of riders, but U.S. cycling has its own charms that I truly missed, like racing against riders I grew up with. I didn't have that history in Belgium. It’s good to be back. Sure, like family we may not always get along, but it doesn't mean that it is not enjoyable to see each other again. So, instead of

In another Belgian podium sweep, Sven Nijs drew first blood in the 2003-2004 World Cup with a two-centimeter sprint victory over world and defending World Cup champion Bart Wellens. Fellow Belgian Ben Berden led in the chase group, finishing this World Cup opener in Torino, Italy, ahead of Dutchman Richard Groenendaal and Belgian Sven Vanthourenhout. “I felt very good today, but I knew from the start that I must be tactically perfect and must have great luck," the new World Cup leader told VeloNews. "If I am not the winner, I could easily be 10th.” Wellens told VeloNews that he was not

The official details of the 2004 Tour de France won’t be announced untilThursday morning in Paris, but through a little detective work, some intuitionand a few wild guesses here’s what next year's route could looklike, stage by stage.Saturday, July 3: Liège Prologue Time Trial (6km)The prologue and the following two stages in Belgium were announcedsome time ago. This is a perfectly flat individual time trial startingand finishing on the famed Boulevard de la Sauvinière, where April’sLiège-Bastogne-Liège used to finish until the early 1990s.Should be a perfect

Just like last year, Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) won Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia, the final major European race of the 2003 racing season. Just like last year, Bartoli was left off the Italian road world’s team and came into the “Race of the Falling Leaves” with something to prove. Unlike last year, this time he won the hilly Lombardia with a forceful solo attack with less than 20km to go. Cofidis rider Angelo Lopeboselli was the only rider who stood up to the challenge, but the cagey Bartoli held off the young gun to sprint to victory. Saturday’s 97th running of Lombardia started with

There’s a brewing storm over speculation that four elite men competitors from last weekend’s road world championships in Canada might have failed anti-doping tests. According to reports in the European press, urine samples from two Spanish, one Belgian and one Italian rider have been shipped to the UCI’s anti-doping lab in Switzerland for tests to detect the presence of EPO, a banned performance-enhancing product. The French sports daily L’Equipe reported that pre-race random blood screenings Friday and Saturday revealed “abnormal parameters” and urine samples were later taken for

I only get nervous for a few races each season and the world championship road races had my heart racing all weekend - although, I am not sure if I was more nervous for Michael’s race or for mine. The races in Hamilton provided a few surprises this past weekend. After previewing the course on Thursday and chatting with many of the men and women about the difficulty of the hills, the expectation was that the races would be much more selective than they were. We encountered two climbs per 12-kilometer lap. The first was 1.5 kilometers and the second was 2 kilometers in length. This did not

Belgian Erwin Vervecken and five-time national champion Alison Dunlap repeated their feats of a day earlier on Sunday, besting their respective fields consecutively during a two-day swing of UCI-sanctioned cyclo-cross events in the northwest. After a difficult day of racing in Tacoma, Washington, on October 11, the country’s top ‘cross racers drove three hours south to Portland, Oregon, for the Saturn Stumptown Classic, an event organized by the promoters of the area’s Cyclo-cross Crusade, one of the world’s most highly attended ‘cross series. As expected, over 400 participants showed up,

Everyone talks of the dominance of the Italians, but since 1995, it’s been the Spanish that have ruled the men’s road world championships. Spain has won seven world championship medals to Italy’s five since 1995, including four world titles to Italy’s one.

Just after completing a training lap around the 12.3km Hamilton roadrace circuit Saturday morning, George Hincapie was asked what he thoughtabout the course. “It’s very hard,” he said. “So I’m very happy to haveFreddy on the team, he’s going well.” Hincapie was referring to his friend Fred Rodriguez, who has replacedChristian Vande Velde in the U.S. team lineup. “The decision was prettymuch made on Sunday after Paris-Tours,” Rodriguez said. “Christian wason the team, and Christian wasn’t feeling up for it. I’d been talking toGeorge, and I didn’t think I’d be up for it, but I said if you

The key moment in Sunday’s magnificent world elite men’s road race championship — watched by an enthusiastic 104,000 fans — came 15 minutes from the finish of the 260.4km race, just after a peloton, still 90-strong, started the last of 21 laps. Igor Astarloa, winner this year of the Flèche Wallonne classic in Belgium, was riding alongside his Spanish team leader Oscar Freire, the two-time world champion. “I spoke with Oscar,” Astarloa said, “and he told me that he wasn’t feeling strong enough to follow [Paolo] Bettini, who was sure to attack on the final lap. So he told me to follow Bettini

What a place!The new Bootleg Canyon venue near Boulder City for the 2003 Interbike On-Dirt Demo made for great mountain-bike riding, no matter what you’re into – unless it’s trials. Where the Blue Diamond Ranch venue west of Las Vegas of the past few years had limited trail mileage, all of which were cross-country trails, this location southeast of Vegas has a vast number of challenging cross-country loops, many of which are many miles long. In addition, it boasts a half-dozen steep downhill trails (with names like Kevorkian, Poopchute and Elevator Shaft) dropping down from the top of a

He had the form at the world championships on Sunday, and he proved that an American-based road pro can mix it up with Euro’ stars like David Millar, Paolo Bettini and Peter Van Petegem. But at the end of a long, successful season Chris Horner still doesn’t know how he’ll pay the bills next year. “I’m looking for a job,” Horner said after an aggressive performance in the elite men’s race in Hamilton that saw him in several breaks, including one with world time trial champion Millar. “I was trying to prove today that I can ride with the big boys.” Few can question that. The end result

The future of Dutch cycling appears to be in capable hands. A strong team effort by the Netherlands helped Kai Reus win the junior men’s road world title on Saturday morning in Hamilton, Ontario. Reus’s win brought the medal total for the Netherlands to six, all captured in junior and under-23 race categories. Anders Lund of Denmark came second after outsprinting others in the chasing group with Lukas Fus of the Czech Republic placing third to take the bronze medal. Reus attacked on the final climb of a hard-fought 124km race to take the first solo road victory of the 2003 road world’s.

Sweden’s Susanne Ljungskog scored her second consecutive world championship on Saturday, winning a physical, bar-to-bar sprint over a group of five other survivors at the end of the 124km elite women’s road race in the streets of Hamilton, Ontario. For the thousands gathered in front of Hamilton City Hall to witness the finish on Main Street, it was an electric ending to the day, but the final sprint was just one part of the most scintillating race seen so far at the 2003 road world’s. The real drama of the day was provided by a very familiar face, one that has been thrilling racing fans

With a powerful finishing kick disguised by her small build, 17-year-old Loes Markerink of the Netherlands won Friday’s junior women’s road race, adding a gold medal to the silver that she collected in Monday’s time trial. Markerink survived several crashes, 12 trips up Hamilton’s steep Niagara Escarpment, and a flurry of last-lap attacks to become the first double medal winner at the 2003 world road championships. “This race was very hard,” Markerink said of the six-lap, 73.8km race through the streets of Hamilton, Ontario. “In Holland there are no hills. For me, this was

No one can know how a world’s road circuit will perform until it is really tested. Although the one at Hamilton was used for the Canadian nationals a couple of months ago — and produced solo winners in both the men’s and women’s races — the world’s are different. Happily, the hilly Hamilton course proved its worth Friday afternoon, when three of the most aggressive riders in the 173.6km under-23 men race took the three medals: gold for Sergey Lagutin of Uzbekistan, silver for Johan Van Summeren of Belgium, and bronze for Thomas Dekker of the Netherlands. Lagutin, the most talented rider to

Michigan got a good taste of international cyclo-cross racing on Saturday with the Michael R. Rabe Midwest Cyclo-Cross Championships. Promoted by Robert Linden of Tailwind Enterprises, the first-time UCI event saw racers come from Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Massachusetts. To make it a true international event, riders even came from as far as Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The junior men's event saw a tightly fought battle among the top three. Konrad Lebas (Richard Sachs) had to take a change early on due to a problem with his rear wheel,

The 12-man Spanish national team left for Hamilton with high hopes ofdelivering Oscar Freire into his third world championships in five years. “We are going with the intention of winning. We know it’s not easy,but we have a team that can do it and we’re going to fight for the gold,”said Spanish national team coach Paco Antequera in the Spanish dailyAS. “If we get another medal, we’ll welcome it.” Freire, without a doubt, will be the Iberians leader. Since the Rabobankrider won his first world title in Verona in 1999, he’s won a second in Lisbon (2001) and took bronze at Plouay (2000). Last

The World Cup stop long hyped as a sprinter’s race finally delivered on its promise after successful breakaways have ruled the undulating Paris-Tours course since 1996. The sprinter teams led by Fassa Bortolo, Telekom and Saeco worked in harmony to keep an eight-man break that included the indefatigable Jacky Durand (Fdjeux.com) at arm’s length until 13km to go when the real fireworks started. Despite two attacks in the final 8km by World Cup leader Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), the 97th running of Paris-Tours came down to a mass gallop on Tours´ wide Avenue de Gammont. Bettini's 11th place,

World champion Mario Cipollini won't defend his title next weekend in Canada, he told reporters Friday in a press conference in Milan. "The course is very difficult for my characteristics," Cipollini told reporters. "I don't want to divert interest from my teammates who prepared for the Canadian race." Cipollini, 36, has hardly raced since crashing out of the Giro d'Italia in May. The popular Italian sprinter was forced into starting last month's Vuelta a España, but was clearly not in shape. His team was forced to wait for him during the opening team time trial and Cipollini didn't start

With the mountain biking season all but done and the “silly” season yetto fully ramp up, things are pretty quiet in the fat-tire world. Of coursethere was last weekend’s Tour de Dewey here in Boulder, Colorado, but forthe most part I’ve been sworn to secrecy on that one, except to say thatwhen they put their minds to it, some of America’s top cross-country proscan sure throw down the beers. Things will get rolling again in earnest in two weeks when the cyclingworld descends on Las Vegas for the Interbike Trade Show. Expect lots ofteam/rider news and look for the unveiling of the 2003 NORBA

Former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani has been cleared of sporting fraud for a case of doping during the 1999 Giro d’Italia, by a court in Trentino on Thursday. Pantani was charged after high hematocrit levels were found in his blood on the penultimate day of the 1999 Giro d’Italia. The hematocrit limit was imposed in 1997 as an indicator that a rider might be using the endurance-enhancing drug EPO. The Italian, winner of both the Giro and Tour de France in 1998, had already served a six-month ban for his failed drugs test but faced prosecution charges as doping in Italy is a criminal

Just where Jan Ullrich will ride next season is still unknown, but his chances of returning to Telekom took a blow this week when peace-making efforts between Rudy Pevenage and Walter Godefroot fell a bit short of the mark. Godefroot has refused to allow Pevenage to return with Ullrich to Telekom (next year to be called T-Mobile), but Ullrich’s manager said Wednesday the door remains open. “Ullrich’s return remains an option,” said Wolfgang Strohband, Ullrich’s manager who’s leading the negotiations. “Maybe we have to find another solution for Pevenage. What that could exactly be, we don’t

After three weeks of racing, thousands of kilometers, climbs and time trials Roberto came out on top and won in the final hours. In an uphill time trial of 11 kilometers, he achieved what most thought was impossible: overcoming what was nearly a two-minute deficit. Hoping against hopeGoing into Saturday’s time trial we thought he had a slim chance of beating Nozal. For Roberto to win the Vuelta, Nozal would have to have a bad day and he would need a great day. All of us on the team were dreaming that it would happen but nobody would say they thought it was possible for the fear they would

Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal Service) delivered the time trial of his life to win Saturday's penultimate stage of the Vuelta a España and vaulted into the overall lead after erasing a seemingly insurmountable gap to Isidro Nozal (ONCE). A year after losing the 2002 edition on a final-day time trial, Heras is about to claim his second career Vuelta title after obliterating Nozal's lead of 1 minute, 55 seconds, in an emotional victory that puts him 28 seconds into the race leader's golden jersey with one stage to go. "I wanted to win the stage but instead we saw a miracle," said Heras, who won

Fred Rodriguez (Caldirola-Duval) has left the door open for a possible start at the October road world championships. Earlier this month, Rodriguez told U.S. national team coach Jim Ochowicz he wasn't interested in racing in Hamilton, but has since changed his mind after finding his legs in the second half of the Vuelta a España. "Ochowicz needed to know by September 15 and at that point I thought I needed to shut it down. But I'm feeling better now and I told George (Hincapie) if he needs me, if he feels like the team isn't strong enough, to give me a call," Rodriguez told VeloNews before

Everybody in the peloton is still waiting for an early breakaway to stick and go to the line. It still hasn’t happened and as a result three quarters of the peloton is trying to get in the elusive break. The race is still going from the gun each day and never relents. Because of that, we averaged close to 48kph on a hilly circuit on Wednesday. We have now left the olive groves in the south and are on a train to Madrid. The entire peloton and most of the staff is aboard a bullet train and are headed from Cordoba towards the capital. We’ll be in Madrid for the next four days-until the race’s

Dear readers;I am writing this from Italy, a few days after I had the chance to visit Milan for what has to be one of the world’s best bike shows. So if you don’t mind, I would like to start my weekly column with a look at fewof the treasures I spotted at Milan’s EICMA show. Conducted under gorgeous warm, sunny weather, the 61st EICMA bicycleand motorcycle show marks the official launch of a new road season. Italy is a great place for a show, and Milan in particular, because of the heritage of great design. As always, gorgeous Italian bicycles are in abundance, and the theme of ever more

Saturday’s stage started at the gravesite of Michela Fanini, an Italian rider who I raced against a few times in the early 1990s before she died instantly in an automobile accident. Cathy Marsal and I were reminiscing about the last race we both competed in with Michela. It was the 1994 World Championships in Sicily. Cathy was in a breakaway with her and they both crashed just a few kilometers from the finish. Michela was a super talented bike racer and from what it seems like; she came from a cycling family. Since her death, her father has been promoting the Tour of Tuscany in her memory

The 8.3km final hump to La Pandera to cap the 172km 15th stage of the Vuelta a España proved too short for Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal) and too steep for Isidro Nozal (ONCE), but just right for Alejandro Valverde (Kelme). Heras attacked as promised, but couldn't make up the time he needed to against Nozal on the steepest climb of the Vuelta. The young race leader forfeited some time to his rival - 1 minute, 11 seconds - but retained a comfortable 4:02 margin over Heras. "We're still pretty happy with how things went," said Johan Bruyneel, U.S. Postal's sport director. "The team controlled

Stage 2 has historically been the most decisive in the Giro Toscana — often, the race has been won or lost on this day. It was hot at the start of the stage, which took us up two short category-3 climbs followed by two 10km ascents to the picturesque town of Volterra. We had a laugh at the start of the stage, as Svetlana Boubnekova and Zita Urbanaite had a bit of a cat fight on the bike and were yelling and hitting each other. I am not really sure what they were arguing about, but everyone gave them a little space in the bunch and they finally seemed to work it out and quiet down. Mountain

Germany's Michael Rich (Gerolsteiner) won the 67th Grand Prix des Nations time trial Sunday in Dieppe, France. Rich, who will celebrate his 34th birthday on Tuesday, won the 70km race,the biggest time trial in the world, by a second from Belgian specialist Bert Roesems. Ukrainian veteran Serhiy Honcher came third ahead of defending champion Uwe Peschel of Germany, with Hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi finishing fifth and Australian Michael Rogers sixth. Rich is also the reigning German time-trial champion. Switzerland’s Karin Thuerig won the 35km women’s race, outpacing last year’s winner, German

Alessandro Petacchi just can’t help himself. Even in the sloppy sprint finish at the end of Saturday’s 14th stage, the Fassa Bortolo strong man still had the legs to claim his fourth stage of the Vuelta a España. Giovanni Lombardi (Domina Vacanze) tried to surprise Petacchi with an early sprint, but the Italian surged late to hold off Fred Rodriguez (Caldirola) by a half-bike length to claim victory. “This certainly was the hardest stage to win,” said Petacchi, who came through in 3 hours, 44 minutes, 16 seconds (44.9 kph). “It was a very strange sprint. Lombardi started very early and I

They’re called abanicos in Spanish – echelons to the rest of the cycling world – and U.S. Postal Service played the peloton like a fiddle in the brisk cross-winds of Thursday’s 168.8km 12th stage of the Vuelta a España. With 50km to go, Postal Service massed at the front as the peloton roared across the bleak, treeless plains of Castilla-La Mancha. Strong winds were cracking from the left and the Posties' blistering pace quickly blew the peloton into three groups. Caught out of position were Fassa Bortolo’s Dario Frigo, who started the day fourth at 3:05 back, and defending champion Aitor

I feel as if I haven’t stopped moving for the past week. Seven days ago, I was sitting tranquilly in our little apartment in Spain and since then, I have traveled to San Francisco, attended several sponsor events, visited with friends, raced in San Rafael and in the T-Mobile International, traveled to Italy, and started racing in the week-long Giro Toscana. Welcome to the world of a professional cyclist. Amazingly, I still feel energetic and am eager to get on the bike each day. While arriving at the prologue yesterday in Pistoia, we were notified of an unfortunate accident that had

Being in San Francisco this past weekend felt like a bit of homecoming, as it was my first visit to the United States since the Philadelphia Liberty Classic in June. I have been in Europe most of the summer, training and racing. It was neat to see everyone in American cycling gathered for this event. I have nice memories of the race in San Francisco. The last time I was here was to watch my husband, Michael, race through the streets and up the hills. I wasn’t racing much at the time and was attending school so I walked around the course, wandering through the hundreds of thousands of

Dear Lennard;I have 1990 Campagnolo 8-speed set-up, which still works fine, but,I have beaten my two sets of wheels to a pulp and they can no longer betrued to round. I would like some lighter, new-fangled (and hopefully round)wheels, however none of the new-fangled wheelsets are compatible with Campy8-speed and you can't buy new Campy 8-speed hubs anymore. Now,  I’mtoo cheap to drop $700+ to upgrade the whole drive-train to Shimano 9 orCampy 9/10, then another $300 to $800 on wheels. Do you have any feedback on how well the "Wheels Manufacturing CassetteConversion Kit" works? Excel Sports

Erik Zabel might not be as fast as he used to be, but the Telekom veteran still got around the man who is regarded as the peloton’s fastest these days to win Monday´s 10th stage of the Vuelta a España. Fassa Bortolo´s Alessandro Petacchi delivered on his promise to get through the Pyrénées and almost rewarded his team with his third Vuelta victory, but Zabel had his own plans. After Fassa and ONCE worked hard to reel in a six-man break early in the race and control a frenetic final 10km, Petacchi shot to the line with 400 meters to go up a slightly rising finish into Sabadell, a Barcelona

Coming into the final stretch of the T-Mobile International, Saturn’s Chris Horner knew he’d won the race, he just didn’t know preciselywhen. Away on a solo break — with a one-minute advantage over teammate Mark McCormack and loud crowds drowning out his earpiece — Horner passed through the start/finish area on San Francisco’s Embarcadero and kept right on rolling until spectators lining the area waved him around. “I absolutely believed I had another [5-mile] lap to ride,” Horner smiled, adding, “And I would have held them all off if I had to.” Course understanding aside, Horner and USPRO

Who could have imagined a bunch sprint atop a 2410-meter chunk of rock in the heart of the Pyrénées? But that's just what happened in Sunday's 174.8km ninth stage. Okay, it wasn't a classic Mario Cipollini train, but Kelme phenom Alejandro Valverde won a 13-up sprint in an exciting summit finish up the "especial" Port d'Envalira climb in Andorra. "I'm very happy. I don't know what to say," said Valverde after nipping Italian Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo). "This stage was full speed all day. The team had a lot of confidence in me. I'm very happy with what's happened so far." Despite efforts

Swiss Alex Zülle (Phonak), double winner of the Vuelta a España (1996 and 1997), abandoned this year’s race on Sunday and said he would not race any more grand tours. Obviously tired, the 35-year-old Zülle – who was 114th overall at more than an hour off the lead – told Spanish radio: "I can’t keep the pace. You will not see me me any more in the Vuelta. It was my last grand tour. I will re-examine my calendar the next year, and I will take part only in small tours and the classics." Twice on the podium of the Tour de France (1996 and 1999), Zülle excelled in time trials but was less

Defending Vuelta champion Aitor Gonzalez has had a season he'd like to forget. Now he's making a Vuelta he wants to remember. Although he won a stage at the Giro d'Italia, Gonzalez couldn't deliver the big win for his Fassa Bortolo team. Then his Tour de France was short-circuited by a virus that ran through the Fassa team and sent everyone home early except Ivan Basso and two teammates. Going into the Vuelta's second week, Gonzalez is slowly coming back to life, and he let the peloton see it on the Col del Portillón at 120km into Saturday's eighth stage when he rode strongly over the steep

The Bay Area is heating up as riders from across the globe have amassed in San Francisco for the T-Mobile International, an event that, in just its third year, is being hailed as the strongest field ever assembled on American soil. Organized and directed under San Francisco Cycling LLC, a joint cooperative of Tailwind Sports, the management company that runs the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team, and Threshold Sports, organizing body of the Pro Cycling Tour, the event has again drawn Postal’s Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, as well as first-time appearances from two-time Giro

The king is dead; long live the king No, those weren’t obscene gestures from Alessandro Petacchi as he roared across the finish line victorious in Wednesday’s 165km fifth stage of the Vuelta a España. Two fingers, then six and another four followed by another two -- that was Petacchi’s version of sign language for what has been his history-making season. Petacchi became the first rider in history to win at least two stages in every major tour and wanted the rest of the world to know. “I made signs to show that it wasn’t by chance that I won. If you win once you can say it’s just luck,”

Winning a stage in any grand tour used to be a big deal for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team until the orange-clad Basques barnstormed through this summer’s Tour de France. Haimar Zubeldia and Iban Mayo were the Tour revelations, with Mayo winning at Alpe d’Huez and Zubeldia and Mayo finishing 5-6, respectively. Since both have pulled the plug on their seasons, stage victories might be all Euskaltel can hope for in the 2003 Vuelta a España. Euskaltel worked two riders into the winning move Tuesday and Unai Etxebarria slipped away from an eight-man break with just under 15km to go in the 151km

Fassa Bortolo's Alessandro Petacchi won the third stage of the 2003 Vuelta a España, a 154.3km race from Cangas de Onís to Santander on Monday. By easily out-sprinting Telekom's Erik Zabel and Quick Step's Tom Boonen, Petacchi became only the third rider in history to win stages in all three grand tours in the same season and the first to do it since 1958, when Italian Pierino Baffi achieved the feat 45 years ago. Petacchi won six stages in the Giro d'Italia and four in the Tour de France this year. "I'm very happy because I wanted to win in the three big races and give this win to the

Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) wrapped-up the American Criterium Championship Series by winning the 42nd Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix Sunday afternoon. This was his fourth win in the seven-race series which includes some of America’s longest-running and most notorious criteriums (Athens Twilight, Superweek, Tour of Somerville) and ended Sunday in Manhattan Beach. Racers competed on a 1.4 mile loop, an out-and-back course along North Valley Road which included two 180-degree turns and a short, seven-percent grade climb at the halfway mark. With a headwind along one straightaway and the

The Vuelta, unlike any other three-week race, started with a tough day in the mountains. Climbing the second day of the race is dangerous for the GC riders, especially after a tough TTT the night before. In our team meeting before the race we talked about the climbs and how the Vuelta could be lost on stage 2, but not won. At the end of the day, this was the case with several team leaders minutes off of the overall lead. The last few days we have woken up to gray skies and threatening rain. On Sunday, rain began to fall down half way through the stage, just prior to the second climb. ONCE

Johan Museeuw may miss the road cycling world championships in Canada next month after his house was raided in a police drugs investigation, his manager said in an interview published on Saturday. "I still have full confidence in Johan Museeuw," Patrick Lefevere, manager of the Quick-Step team told La Derniere Heure - Les Sports. "The inquiry will prove Johan made no errors. But, on the other hand, I fear his image is damaged." Museeuw will continue with his race program over the next few days starting with the Dutch Delta Ronde this weekend, but Lefevere said his preparation for the

After three days of sitting around in a hotel and counting the hours and then minutes until the start, the Vuelta is finally under way. The course around Spain this year takes us first through the Pyrénées, then along the east coast toward the southern peaks, and then up to Madrid. The course suits our team, with six mountain stages where Chechu, Roberto and Triki can shine, some flatter potentially windy days where the rest of us can control the race from the front, and some sprint stages where Max can show his strengths. The team has come to the Vuelta this year with perhaps the

Readers who caught DedeDemet-Barry’s diary from the eighth round of the women's World Cupheld in Nürnberg, Germany, may have been concerned about the statusof Saturn rider Lyne Bessette, who was taken down in a crash just 2km intothe race and landed squarely on her head and right shoulder.Although her helmet was shattered and she remembers none of the crash,Bessette emerged relatively unscathed.“I just came back from the doctor and it’s really positive,” Bessettereported Thursday afternoon. “My head and neck are fine. It’s just a broken[right] collarbone, but nothing else. It’s broken

Veterinarian Jos Landuyt has admitted selling hormones to professional cyclists, the public prosecutor's office in Kortrijk in western Belgium has said. Landuyt, who comes from Oostrozebeke, which is about 15km from Kortrijk, was interviewed late on Thursday after police raided 20 houses, including that of the country's leading cyclist, Johan Museeuw. The prosecutors' office mentioned no cyclists by name, and Musseuw has yet to make any comment to the media on the matter. Kintana withdraws from Vuelta after B test positiveSpanish rider Aitor Kintana has withdrawn from the Tour of Spain

Tour revelation Iban Mayo looks to be staying with Euskaltel-Euskadi after all despite a flurry of reports that he was prepared to join a foreign team after last-minute haggling over his contract became too much. Mayo won the stage to Alpe d’Huez to become one of the hottest tickets in Spanish cycling. Last week, he was poised to sign a three-year contract extension to stay with the boys in orange from Spain’s Basque Country. But late bickering over the final amount almost torpedoed the deal and Mayo was prepared to join a foreign team, with such squads at Rabobank, Saeco and Quick Step

A crop of top quality, home-grown riders will be vying for top honors when the 58th edition of the Vuelta a España gets underway in the northern coastal city of Gijon on Saturday. Spanish riders have dominated the race for the past three years and with big guns Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich preferring to stay away and focus their preparations on next year's Tour de France they should have a chance to maintain their supremacy. But even without the presence of the top two from this year's French race, the Vuelta promises to be an exciting affair after the organizers again opted for a

The big news of Tyler Hamilton's transfer to the Swiss Phonak team has made headlines throughout Europe. Hamilton enjoyed a banner year, winning Liége-Bastogne-Liége, the Tour of Romandie and a stage in the Tour de France while riding with a fractured collar bone. The New Englander officially announced Monday a two-year deal to join the Phonak team, which has yet to race in the Tour. Team officials were upbeat about their chances to earn a place in the 2004 Tour. "Over the past two years our strategy has been in keeping with the marketing strategy of the sponsor: young, international, but

Injured Tour de France contender Joseba Beloki said he'll wait one more week for ONCE sport director Manolo Saiz to find a new sponsor before signing with a foreign team. Beloki, 30, told the Spanish daily AS that he wants to stay with Saiz if he can find a new sponsor to take over for the Spanish lottery ONCE, which is ending its long-running sponsorship at the end of this season. "I'll wait one more week for Saiz. If nothing happens, I'll sign with a foreign team," Beloki said. The three-time Tour podium finisher has been linked to such teams as Rabobank, CSC, Gerolsteiner and Phonak,

After a week of training with Michael and a couple of his teammates in the Pyrénées, I was feeling super motivated to race. The boys whipped me into flying form, as I followed them up col after col, panting away. They were doing long, steady rides in the mountains in preparation for the upcoming Vuelta a España, but for me, it was like two to five hours of motor pacing each day. I boarded a plane Saturday night for Nuremberg, after a slight glitch in my travel arrangements. I was happy to arrive at the hotel at a reasonable enough hour to have a good dinner and sleep. None of my T-Mobile

It took a long, long time. Fourteen years, to be precise. But finally I'm there! I started my international mountain-biking career in 1990 by winning the silver medal at the first-ever world championship in Durango, Colorado. Ever since, I have been hunting the rainbow jersey, which is a mystic emblem to any professional cyclist. So many times I was close to winning it – 1990, ‘91, ‘92 and 2001, with the silver medal. In 1994, as the favorite for the title, I broke my collarbone the day before the race. In 1996, I finished second only to become world champion four years later, due to Jerome

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona/Esker) left little doubt Monday as each won their fourth consecutive stage of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont. The Voler Burlington Criterium offered little if any rest to the riders, as the unique general classification points format required racers to stay aggressive throughout this final stage. Certainly that was true in McCormack’s case as he countered a brief early attack with Mark Walters (Navigators) and went clear to stay. McCormack and Walters rode a very smart race, working well together and maintaining

Mark McCormack (Saturn) and Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) followed their victories in Friday’s prologue by winning stage 1 of the Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race, the Moretown Circuit Race. McCormack, who has won this race in each of the previous two years, got into a break with Mark Walters (Navigators), Cameron Hughes (LeMond Fitness-Cra-Z Soap), Tim Johnson (Saturn), and Alex Lavallee (Trek-Volkswagen) at the top of the second KOM sprint. With the top-three overall riders on board, the group maintained its lead, despite several attempts from riders in the field to bridge.

After 78km of racing through the foothills of the Swiss Alps in harsh, windy conditions, the battle for the World Mountain Bike Marathon Championship in Lugano came down to the final 100 meters on Sunday as hometown hero Thomas Frischknecht outsprinted Bart Brentjens of the Netherlands to claim the first-ever world marathon title. Carsten Bresser of Germany rounded out the podium in third, four minutes behind the leaders. With more than 9300 feet of climbing and strong alpine winds, the elements and topography alone provided enough opportunity for the favorites to sort themselves out at

Jan Ullrich won't be racing in October's world championships, his manager Wolfgang Strohband told the German news agency SID on Sunday. Strohband said the 29-year-old would end his season in next week's Hessen Rundfahrt in Germany to close up his 2003 season. Officials from the T-Mobile race are trying to persuade the Bianchi rider to start the Sept. 14 race in San Francisco, but SID reported Ullrich will attend the Formula 1 race in Italy the same day to kick off his vacation. "I didn't race that much this year and I don't want to overdo it," Ullrich told SID. "To prepare for the world's