The Tour de France is an exhausting event for everyone involved. It’s obvious the riders could use a break after racing for two weeks, but this short rest is also important for the journalists, the support crews and the thousands of people who make this three-week traveling circus run smoothly. The brief lull in the action is just the relief everyone needs to make the final push to Paris. Just as on the first rest day, the riders will go out for a two-plus hour ride today to keep their legs fresh and maintain the routines their bodies have become accustomed to. This is even more important

The Tour de France collected its breath Tuesday after a string of spectacular stages through the Pyrénées. One more hard stage remains on tap in the mountains Wednesday before a string of rolling stages winding north toward Nantes and Saturday's time trial clash between Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong in the Tour's penultimate stage. Armstrong on the riseThe mood was buoyant at U.S. Postal's team hotel in Pau during Tuesday's rest day. The team went for a 70km training ride and otherwise enjoyed a relaxing day away from the pressures of the Tour. Team spokesman Jogi Mueller said Armstrong

Aspin, Tourmalet, Luz-Ardiden: This is probably as tough a trio of finishing climbs as the Télégraphe, Galibier, L’Alpe d’Huez combo in the Alps. In the final 78km, there’s almost 43km of climbing totaling 10,000 feet. Luz-Ardiden is not as famous as L’Alpe d’Huez, but it’s almost identical in stats: 13.4km at 7.6 percent compared with the Alpe’s 13.8km at 7.9 percent. 7/21/2003 Start Time: 12:25:00pm7/21/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:34:00pm HISTORYLuz-Ardiden has been included only six times in Tour history, but it’s already left its mark, starting in 1985. Bernard Hinault had been in the

The closest race in Tour de France history is close no more. Lance Armstrong shook off a dramatic crash less than 10km from the finish at Luz-Ardiden when his handlebar hooked a fan's bag to win his first stage of the 2003 Tour and widen his grip on the yellow jersey to a more comfortable 1:07 over second-placed Jan Ullrich (Bianchi). The 159.5km stage 15 started with three riders within 18 seconds of each other, the closest-ever margin at this stage of the Tour, but it ended with Armstrong padding his lead. Ullrich took third on the stage, while Alex Vinokourov (Telekom) faltered after

The Schlitz Park Criterium, right in the heart of Milwaukee, has turned out to be one of the best spectator events in the Superweek series. Tons of people gather on the climb with their coolers to watch the pros suffer. The climb itself isn't too bad – it's just that you have to do it 90 times. The race features some pretty gargantuan primes and a lucrative KOH competition. A large early break got away that included some heavy hitters – Johnny Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis), Sven Teutenberg (Bianchi), Gordon McCauley (Schroeder Iron), Paul Martin (Gomart-West Virginia), etc. Somehow, after taking a

Gilberto Simoni and Lance Armstrong ended up in the same camper van after Sunday's thrilling stage high in the French Pyrénées. The Italian and the American were hidden away inside the innocuous camper van behind the Tour de France winner's podium moments after crossing the finish line. It's a place for podium riders to wipe down, change their clothes, and catch their breath after a hard day of racing. Simoni was there after winning an exciting stage over six punishing climbs, while Armstrong was there after withstanding a dangerous attack by Alex Vinokourov who moved to within 18 seconds of

Tactics, timing and tenacity should all come into play on Monday at what should be the most gripping stage yet of this astonishing Tour de France. For the past two days in the Pyrénées, Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal-Berry Floor team and Jan Ullrich’s Bianchi team have played a delicate tactical battle in addition to the overt one between the two stars. Each day, Postal has sent a rider off in the stage’s long break (José Luis Rubiera Saturday, Manuel Beltran Sunday), which has allowed Armstrong’s team to follow rather than lead the peloton; on Sunday, Bianchi led for much of the last 100km.

Lance Armstrong made it through an epic day in the Pyrénées Saturday, but he only just kept the race leader's yellow jersey on his back after a frantic finale to the 197.5km stage 13 of the 2003 Tour de France. The four-time Tour champion was attacked from all sides on the grinding, 9.1km climb to the Ax-3 Domaines ski area high in the French Pyrénées, but hung on to finish fourth and retain the maillot jaune by a scant 15 seconds over Bianchi’s Jan Ullrich. Armstrong admitted that he was fatigued from the efforts in Friday's individual time trial and tried to limit his losses when Ullrich

Sprinter Robbie McEwen's bid to win a second successive Tour de France green jersey was not going quite to plan, the Australian admitted on Saturday. McEwen won the jersey last year with victory on the Champs-Elysees on the race's final day. This year, he led the points competition from stage one to five, but dropped to third behind Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) and Australia's Baden Cooke (fdjeux.com) after crashing on the sixth stage. Petacchi abandoned the race on the seventh stage to leave McEwen second in the standings, eight points behind Cooke. Speaking before the

Pacific Northwest riders turned in solid performances Friday as the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge kicked off in Portland, Oregon. In its fifth year, the AVC – the sixth race in the American Velodrome Challenge Series – featured temperatures in the mid-90s baking the 268-meter concrete oval with its steep, 43-degree banks. And the racing was equally hot. Portland’s Larssyn Staley (Hot Tubes), just back from winning gold in the pursuit and points race at junior nationals, opened the morning session by taking a hard-fought victory in the women’s 3000-meter pursuit with a 4:05:47. Heather

Four more stages have been completed here at Superweak 2003. The first few road races are out of the way, and there weren't any huge surprises. This year the road races have double points, and so they should dictate who is going to contest the overall. The Alpine Valley Road Race is probably the hardest race of the series. It is also where Stevie Ray Vaughn lost his life in a helicopter crash. Every year I choose not to race there for one of those two reasons. The course has several very steep hills that repeatedly beat you down like a red-headed stepchild. There is also very little shelter

Britain's David Millar said he was battling with breathing difficulties as he finished a disappointing seventh in the Tour de France time trial on Friday. The Cofidis rider, who had predicted he would finish in the top two in the 47 km sprint from Gaillac to Cap Decouverte, ended up nearly four minutes adrift of Germany's stage winner Jan Ullrich (Bianchi). "I've been sick since the (Wednesday) rest day and just couldn't breathe during the time trial," Millar said. "I set off good, but after 20 kilometers my plans all went up in smoke. It was very hot today, but to be honest it was the

Juan Antonio Flecha blazed like an arrow across the finish line on an airport runway to claim victory in Thursday's 153.5km stage 11 from Narbonne to Toulouse. Flecha, which means arrow in Spanish, escaped the clutches of an eight-man breakaway with 15km to go in this relatively easy transition stage that carried the 90th Tour closer to the Pyrénées. Coming across the line four seconds ahead of Rabobank's Bram De Groot, Flecha, 25, reached behind his back to grab an imaginary arrow and shot it toward the heavens. The Spanish ibanesto.com rider was right on target. "I haven't won a race in

Yesterday was a great day for our team. Jacob Piil spent most of the stage in a break away, and then duked it out in a two man sprint for his first Tour de France stage victory. I'm really happy for him. He had a few tough moments during the first week of the race, but fought back hard, and came up with an incredible result. The team celebrated with a little Champagne at dinner last night. Thankfully today is a rest day. Ten stages into this year's Tour de France, and I'm feeling about ten years older. There are days when cycling can make you feel like an old man. And for me, yesterday

Just back from Bend, Oregon, land of breweries, brushfires and bicycle racing, and after my first outing I’d have to say that the Cascade Classic is a fantastic event. Race promoter Brad Ross ran a race with stunning courses and full community support, and the consensus from racers I spoke with was that Cascade is one of the more under-rated stage races in the U.S. “I’m going to tell all the girls from other teams to come next year,” said women’s overall winner Lyne Bessette (Saturn), who raced at Cascade for the first time, easily beating the 50-rider field. And while Bessette did trounce

Team CSC's Jakob Piil won Tuesday's hot and steamy stage 10 from Gap to Marseille as the Tour de France left the Alps behind and headed toward the Mediterranean Sea. Once more, Lance Armstrong retained his hold on the yellow jersey, this time staying on dry pavement a day after his already famous "short-cut" on Monday's stage to Gap. It was stinking hot again Tuesday in what's been one of the hottest Tours in recent memory. It was too hot for a sick Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola), the 2003 Giro d'Italia runner-up, who didn't take the start, leaving 171 riders in the 90th Tour as the race

Stage 1 of Superweek was held in the South Chicago suburb of Beverly. The race was scheduled for 5:35 p.m. on Friday evening. All the athletes enjoyed an authentic taste of Chicago, being treated to several fun-filled hours of bumper to bumper traffic. Everything got off to a late start though, and nobody seemed to miss the start. It was the first year for the stage in Beverly, but surprisingly the crowd was great. Prior to our race, they had a Big Wheel race for the kids, which is always cool. There was also live music and food adjacent to the racecourse. All the fans seemed super excited

The final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 1km afternoon criterium, was held Sunday in Bend, Oregon, and as expected, Saturn’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette held onto their overall leads, with Bessette and Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) winning the stage. Held in the town’s Old Mill district, the flat five-corner criterium offered no real possibility for changes in the general classification: Bessette held a near five-minute lead on second-placed Heather Albert (Team Basis), while Danielson’s 49-seond lead over Jonathon Vaughters (Prime Alliance) was protected by the strongest

Swiss rider Nicole Brandli won the 2003 Giro d’Italia Femminile in dramatic fashion on Sunday, overtaking Edita Pucinskaite on the final day of the race to win by a scant 17 seconds. Trailing by five seconds heading into the 22.9km stage 9 time trial, Brandli put enough time on her Lithuanian rival to take the final pink jersey in Venice. The Giro had become a two-woman race after the mountainous stage 3, won by Brandli, when Pucinskaite assumed the race lead with the Swiss just five seconds behind. Following that came a sprinting display by German Regina Schleicher, who posted four

Olympic champion Florian Rousseau failed to qualify for the world track cycling championships when he finished in 11th place in the keirin event at the French trials in Hyeres on Saturday. Rousseau, who won Olympic gold in the keirin event at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, had also missed out on selection for the sprint event when he finished fourth in the trials on Thursday. Only the first three were picked for the championships, which take place in Stuttgart, Germany, from July 30 to August 3. –Copyright 2003/AFP

The yellow-and-red of the Saturn Cycling dynasty remains atop the general classification at the Cascade Cycling Classic, with Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette all but assured victories heading into Sunday’s final criterium stage after a Friday night criterium and Saturday’s hilly circuit race. The Twilight ZoneA volatile twilight criterium held Friday night in downtown Bend, Oregon, yielded no change in the overall, with Heather Albert (Team Basis) and Chris Horner (Saturn) taking the stage wins. Bessette powered off the front halfway through the women’s 45-minute race, followed by Albert

There's just no stopping Alessandro Petacchi. Not even a suicidal two-man breakaway in Friday's hot, sweaty stage into Lyon could derail the Petacchi express. Crédit Agricole's Stuart O'Grady and La Boulangére's Anthony Geslin peeled away from the pack, a few kilometers away from the day's first points sprint at 36.5km. They lasted out there for nearly 200km, only to be brought back in the final kilometer of Friday's stage, the second-longest of this Tour. Petacchi said he told his Fassa Bortolo teammates that he was cooked after coming over two categorized climbs in the final 70km and

While Alessandro Petacchi celebrated a tremendous week of sprinting with his fourth stage win of this year's Tour de France on Friday, race favorite Lance Armstrong will be quietly delighted to have reached the foot of the Alps perfectly poised to launch his challenge for a fifth successive victory. Whereas the American is usually lagging behind the other leading contenders before the first mountain stage, he will this time tackle the first big climb with a comfortable lead over his rivals. The Texan took it easy in today’s 143-mile ride from Nevers, finishing a comfortable 39th to remain

Lance Armstrong is happy with the way the first week of the Tour de France has gone: A victory in the team time trial and Victor Hugo Peña’s days in the yellow jersey. He is also excited to reach the mountains, as he knows the 2003 Tour de France will be decided on the slopes of the Alps and Pyrénées. Stage 7 will be the first opportunity to see how well the main contenders for the yellow jersey are climbing this year. Lance’s performance in the Dauphine Libéré provided confidence in his climbing form, and he is stronger now than he was then. Jan Ullrich’s abilities in the high mountains

Alessandro Petacchi didn't really want to come to this year's Tour de France. After winning six stages and holding the maglia rosa at the Giro d'Italia, the big Italian sprinter thought his season was pretty much a wrap. But Fassa Bortolo team brass convinced him to change his mind. Now he's glad they did, because on Thursday Petacchi won his third stage in five days after sprinting into Nevers ahead of Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r) to win a steamy fifth stage as the Tour plunged south across the rolling hills of Burgundy and Nièvre. "I came here with the aim of winning a stage," Petacchi said. "I

While Allesandro Petacchi is proving he is the dominant sprinter of the 2003 Tour de France, the sprinters’ days are numbered as the race approaches the mountains. Petacchi seems to suffer more than Erik Zabel or Robbie McEwen in big mountains, and the green jersey competition is still most likely to come down to a contest between the Australian and the German. Even Fridays sixth stage will be a struggle for the Italian, as the two Category 3 climbs near the end of the stage may take the snap out of his legs. Stage 6 may not even come down to a sprint. The course is the hilliest of any stage

Following the World Cup at Mont-Ste-Anne, VeloNews decided to take a look at the current trend in downhill-course design. The track in Québec was far shorter than in years past and had a massive jump near the finish line, which is where John Waddell and Fabien Barel, among others, suffered grisly crashes (Waddell is still in the hospital). After conducting an informal survey of past and present riders, and some team representatives, it seems that the general consensus is that shorter courses are okay, but only in small doses. As for big jumps, they’re part of the game – just make sure

Preparation, motivation, execution. Those were the three qualities that set apart the U.S. Postal-Berry Floor team at Wednesday’s team time trial. By beating the ONCE-Eroski team of Joseba Beloki by 30 seconds, and the Bianchi squad of Jan Ullrich by 43 seconds, Postal put Victor Hugo Peña in the yellow jersey and Lance Armstrong in the driving seat of this centennial Tour only two stages away from the Alps. The preparation for the stage was something begun by the team’s Belgian directeurs sportifs Johan Bruyneel and Dirk Demol, who first came to look at the Joinville-St. Dizier course two

Sorry for the delay in getting this update out. The last 72 hours have been quite a roller coaster ride. Not surprisingly, there have been some mixed reports about my health and status in this year's Tour de France, so with a couple of minutes of down time, I'll try to get my version of all that's transpired typed out. I've probably talked a thousand times about how hard it is to get ready for a Tour de France. It's not something you do in a week, or add to your annual list of objectives at the last minute. It really takes the better part of a year to get yourself to the point where you can

Prime Alliance rider David Clinger took Wednesday’s opening stage ofthe Cascade Classic in Bend, Oregon, beating out a seven-man bunch sprintthat included Saturn’s Tom Danielson and returning champion Chris Wherryof the Navigators. While women’s racing begins Thursday on the decisive McKenzie Pass roadraces stage, the men began a day earlier and many of the major domesticteams showed, including Health Net, Webcor, Sierra Nevada-Clif Bar, SchroederIron and the Trek-VW All Stars. One name that seems to be synonymous with this race belongs to Saturnrider Chris Horner, who lives in Bend.

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) has taken his second stage win of the Tour de France, taking a field sprint at the end of the 168km third stage from Charleville-Mézières to St. Dizier. On the strength of bonus time earned from the day's three intermediate sprints, Jean Delatour's Jean-Patrick Nazon has taken the yellow jersey from prologue winner Bradley McGee (fdjeux.com). Nazon becomes the first French rider to hold the yellow jersey in two years. To see how today's stage unfolded, just Click Here to pull up our Live Update window. Then check back soon for complete results, a full

Tuesday’s 167.5km third stage of the 2003 Tour de France was hot out of the gate and the fireworks continued all the way to the final sprint. Jean-Patrick Nazon (Jean Delatour) gobbled up time bonuses on the day’s three intermediate sprints to grab the yellow jersey from prologue winner Bradley McGee (Fdjeux.com) while Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) again avoided a finish line crash to sprint to his second stage in three days. It was another messy ending, with Austrian Rene Haselbacher (Gerolsteiner) slamming into the barriers along the finish stretch after bumping shoulders with

Jean-Patrick Nazon (Jean Delatour) and Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) each used their sprinting skills to grab a share of Tour de France glory in Stage 3. Nazon focused on the intermediate sprints to win valuable bonus seconds that put him in yellow, while Petacchi confirmed he is the new dominant sprinter in the peloton after winning his second stage in three days. Winning sprints takes a great deal of power, but it also requires skill and experience. There are other riders with the physiological numbers (power) to match or surpass today’s great sprinters: Mario Cipollini, Erik Zabel,

Regina Scheleicher (Chirio Forno D’asolo) outkicked breakaway companions Tina Mayolo-Pic (Team Sats) and Andrea Bosman (Ondernemers Van Nature-Powerplate/Bik) in the fourth stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia on Tuesday. The three escaped in the final kilometers of the 141.1km stage on the climb from the Via Adriatica gate to the old town of San Vito Chietino. Schleicher launched her sprint in the last 200 meters, neatly passing her rivals. The 141.1km stage, from Frosolone to San Vito Chietino was animated from the start – indeed, the first hour was spent racing at over 40kph. Overall

Editor's note: During our live coverage of Stage2 of the Tour de France, our line editor made the brilliant decisionto include a link asking folks to pass on their good wishes to Tyler Hamiltonof CSC, who was starting that day's stage after breaking his collarbonein the finish-line crash onStage 1. Well a short time and 500 e-mails later, we had to pull thelink out. There are a lot of Tyler fans out there. We've been put all ofthem together and sent them on to Hamilton and his wife and included arandom selection below.Tyler’s Truly ToughEditors,Tyler Hamilton just became my favorite American

Freddie Rodriguez at the start, looking for another sprint finish

Sunday’s “avoidable” crash at the end of stage 1 that eliminated Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer from the Tour de France has once again called into question the competence of race organizers who frequently include highly dangerous finishes at big races. And looking ahead to the stage finales for the rest of this week, it seems certain that there is more trouble in store. One of the most vociferous critics of Tour race director Jean-Marie Leblanc after the high-speed pileup at Meaux was American sprinter Fred Rodriguez of Caldirola-So.Di, who was leading the peloton as it headed into the

There really is no such thing as a “routine” stage of the Tour de France. Following the fireworks of Sunday's first stage, when Levi Leipheimer and Tyler Hamilton were the primary victims of a dangerous high-speed crash, everyone was hoping just for that. As far as Tour standards are concerned, Monday's 204.5km second stage from La Ferté-sous-Jouarre to Sedan in the French Ardennes region was relatively calm. Long, but surprising hilly in places, the day more or less followed the script of what's expected from a Tour stage in the first week: early attack by French riders that falls just

Cooke and Nazon react to the sprint finish

This was not a good day at the Tour de France. In fact, it was a downright dark day for Americans competing in the centenary Tour and one that even angered eventual stage winner Alessandro Petacchi, who said a massive pile-up in the closing meters of the 168-kilometer stage from Saint Denis to Meaux was the fault of unthinking organizers. No matter who is at fault, the bottom line is that both Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer are probably out of the 2003 Tour de France, while four-time defending champion Lance Armstrong and teammate George Hincapie also went down in the field-splitting

Fassa Bortolo's Alessandro Petacchi resumed his winning ways by taking the first stage of the Tour de France Sunday, a 168km ride from the outskirts of Paris to Meaux.Australian Bradley McGee will spend his second night in the Tour de France leader's yellow jersey after the crash-marred first stage Sunday in which compatriot Robbie McEwen came second to take the green points jersey. A crash just inside the final kilometer of the 168km ride from the outskirts of Paris to here looked to have snagged 27-year-old fdjeux.com rider McGee but moments later he crossed the finish line with

The Tour de France can change dramatically in a matter of seconds. Crashes can lead to field splits that cause contenders to lost valuable time to their rivals, or much worse, injuries that send riders home early. Lance Armstrong was very fortunate today in that he avoided being injured in the massive pileup just 600 meters from the Stage 1 finish line. Unfortunately, several other riders were not so lucky. Today’s crash occurred within the final kilometer, and all of the main contenders were either caught up in the tangle or just behind it. Tyler Hamilton came down hard on his left shoulder

I've got one big hope for tomorrow as the centenary Tour de France (and my first) continues with stage two: That the peloton relaxes a bit. Then again, maybe I'm dreaming. The ground is pretty hard, as the massive crash in today's finish at Meaux showed. If riders keep racing like they did today, I think everyone is going to go down at some point this Tour. Me? I was right in the middle of the spill, at about 30th wheel. I don't know what happened, except one important fact: I didn’t go down.I was just lucky I didn't. I’m still not sure why, but I managed to avoid the worst of it, while

The trouble with a short prologue is that there is no room for error. After the 2003 Tour de France prologue, the top 20 riders are within 13 seconds of the leader, Bradley McGee, and 96 are within 30 seconds. For Lance Armstrong, his tendency to start time trials slowly proved to be his undoing, as he conceded more time in the first half of the prologue than he could retake in the second half. Lance is sitting in seventh place, five seconds behind principal rival Jan Ullrich and one second behind CSC team leader Tyler Hamilton. It is his lowest placing in a Tour de France prologue since

Although this opening stage of 168km around the Paris suburbs will likely be run at lightning speed, it will be a long day. Things begin at 11:40 a.m. outside the Stade de France (where France won soccer’s World Cup in 1998). There follows a formal 20km procession across the city center to Montgeron, where the actual stage will start at 1:15 p.m. outside the Auberge au Réveil- Matin, a small inn from which the original Tour began in 1903. The actual race loops south through the Forest of Fontainebleau, then north and east to the finish in Meaux. Three Cat. 4 climbs punctuate the middle part

This 204.5km route across rolling terrain northeast of Paris ends on similar roads as those raced every March on the opening stage of the Critérium International — which usually ends in a field sprint. After a flat opening alongside the Marne River, most of the action will take place at the time-bonus sprints in Jaulgonne (43km), Avançon (128km) and Amagne (149km), and the Cat. 4 hills at La Charmel (46km) and Longwé (169.5km). 7/7/2003 Start Time: 12:15:00PM7/7/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:24:00PM HISTORYThis is the first time a Tour stage has ended in Sedan, but neighboring Charleville

At 167.5km, this is the shortest stage of the opening week. The rolling terrain may encourage attacks, but with a fast, straight run in to St. Dizier, it will almost certainly end in a mass sprint— and perhaps in a Tour road stage record speed to top the 50.355 kph (31.289 mph) set by Mario Cipollini at Blois in 1999. 7/8/2003 Start Time: 1:17:00pm7/8/2003 Estimated Finish Time: 5:22:00pm HISTORYThis is the first time that St. Dizier, a town of 35,000, has been included on the Tour route. Besides the novelty of seeing the world’s biggest bike race, the crowds will be rooting for one of the

Judging by the results of Saturday’s prologue time trial, this centennial Tour de France is going to be full of surprises. And a race of surprises is a race of excitement. That should be the case on Sunday, when half-a-dozen sprinters have a great chance of taking over the yellow jersey from prologue winner Brad McGee. With time bonuses of 20, 12 and eight seconds at the Stage 1 finish in Meaux, and six, four and two seconds on offer at the day’s three intermediate sprints, the stage winner could pick up a minimum of 20 seconds and a maximum of 38 seconds. The chief candidates to take the

Dear VeloNews;If the Olympic Games hadn't developed at the beginning of the 20th century - during the heyday of bicycle racing - track events probably wouldn't have been included at their current level, ayway. At this point in history, outside of Europe, track cycling remains a marginal sport, at best. What gets cut isn't too tough to call. The IOC defers to the UCI, and we all know Hein Verbruggen's devotion to the almighty TV audience. Events have to be short, exciting and easily comprehensible to the non-cyclist. The five women's events (match sprint, 500-meter time trial, Keirin,

It is hard to believe that it’s been ten years since consummate professional Sally Zack suddenly left cycling at the zenith of her career to take on a a completely new challenge by becoming a cross-country ski racer. Of course, when one becomes acquainted with all of her achievements in so many cycling disciplines and reads of her passion to continue to “live, love and learn” from the back of her 1992 Shaklee cycling card you begin to understand the restless nature of this woman. You may also understand why it took us a few weeks of serious looking to track her down. We found her and the

U.S. Postal's George Hincapie is back and says he feels "better than ever" in time for Saturday's start of the 2003 Tour de France. Sidelined with health problems that derailed his spring classics campaign, Hincapie turned to non-traditional medicine to help find a cure for sinus problems and parasites that impaired his breathing and recovery. Now he's back in time to help Lance Armstrong make a run for a possible record-tying fifth Tour. "I feel great, I feel really fresh and have a lot of enthusiasm to be on the bike," Hincapie told VeloNews from his home base in Girona, Spain. "Every

While American pros have Philly in earlier in the month, the bulk of the professional peloton holds its national championships on the last Sunday of June. The UCI holds this weekend open for national championship races and those were held throughout Europe on Sunday. (The American race is granted the dual status of an invitational, allowing foreign riders the chance to participate and promoters to shift the date to accommodate that.) France: Rous wins ahead of VirenqueVeteran Didier Rous (Brioches) won ahead of Richard Virenque (Quick Step) in the hotly contested French national road race.

presented by A lot can happen over the course of 23 days in July, especially if you're talking about France and the world's biggest bike race. If you want to stay informed about the events surrounding the centenary edition of the Tour de France, check in with VeloNews.com and be sure to sign up to have our Tour Daily e-mailed to you every day from the evening before the prologue all the way to that final sprint down the Champs-Elysées. As always, we'll keep your name and address private and send you only the newsletter you're requesting.

The Hamiltonroad World's course has been tested, and passed with flying colors at theCanadian Road Nationals, grinding down a field of 121 men to just 17 finishers.Genevieve Jeanson (Rona-Esker) finally won the senior national road titlethat has eluded her, while Dominique Perras (Equipe Quebec) scooped themen's title despite Saturn and Navigator's sending up foreign riders tohelp their Canadian pros.Asexpected, the women's race came down to two riders - Genevieve Jeanson(Rona-Esker) and Lyne Bessette (Saturn). What wasn't expected was sprintfinish after nine laps and 18 trips up the Niagara

Spain's Miguel Indurain, the only rider to have won the Tour de France five times in a row (1991-95) believes Germany's Jan Ullrich has it in him to beat four-time winner Lance Armstrong. The 32-year-old Armstrong (U.S. Postal) will equal Indurain's achievement if he wins this year's centenary race, which is being held July 5-27. Ullrich has only recently returned to competition after a difficult year in which he sat out a ban for taking recreational drugs, left his long-time Telekom team, then joined Team Coast only to see the outfit collapse after a suspension because of its financial

Chris Carmichael is predicting Lance Armstrong will win his fifth consecutive Tour de France if the Texan arrives in the same form as years past. Carmichael – Armstrong’s longtime coach and trainer – said the four-time winner is on track to arrive in top condition. The Texan is currently training at altitude in Switzerland to hone his form and will leave Thursday for Paris for the start of the 2003 Tour. “I think if Lance is at the same condition as last year, barring incident, injury or illness, I believe he’ll win,” Carmichael told VeloNews. “I think if he’s back at that same level as

In its 100 years, the Tour has created countless pages of sports history. Some are astonishing (the first ascent of the Pyrénées in 1910) and some banal (first TV coverage, 1952). Here are some significant firsts of the Tour.1903 (July 1) – The first stageof the inaugural Tour de France, sponsored by the sports newspaper L’Auto,leaves Montgeron, just outside the Paris city limits, at precisely 3:16p.m. with Maurice Garin taking the monumental 467km opening stage to Lyonin 17:45:44. Note that this is an estimate, as Garin crossed the line beforeGéo Lefèvre, the race director, and the time

Last week’s column about the USPRO Championship drew a flood of e-mails. Sorry I couldn’t respond to everyone, but here’s a dip into the mailbag for some of the best, along with my take. It feels very unfulfilling to me to award the USPRO champ jersey to a guy who doesn't win the race. I am in favor of an all-U.S.-citizen race -- perhaps somewhere else than Philly, or just on another day. Your point about attracting riders like Fred Rodriguez is a good one. How do they do it in Europe? Surely there are similar cases. What about talented riders like Allan Davis or Jorg Jaksche, who are the

World champion Mario Cipollini's hopes of joining this year's Tour de France peloton were dashed Friday after an international arbitration body rejected an appeal by the Italian's Domina Vacanze team. Tour bosses did not award Cipollini's Italian outfit one of the four remaining wild-card invitations for this year's centenary race (July 5-27), causing uproar in Italian cycling. Domina Vacanze appealed, with lawyers saying that as world champion he should have been given an automatic entry. But a body set up by the Professional Cycling Council (CCP) to rule on the decision said Friday in

YELLOW JERSEYThe yellow jersey — or maillot jaune — is worn by the overall race leader, the rider who has covered the overall distance in the least amount of cumulative time. Time bonuses (12 seconds for winning a road stage, six seconds for winning an intermediate sprint) are deducted, and time penalties (for infractions like dangerous riding or accepting pushes from spectators on the climbs) are added to riders’ stage times before calculating their GC (general classification) times. 2002 winner: Lance Armstrong, U.S. Postal Service   POINTS LEADERThe green points-leader’s jersey is awarded

After being overlooked for the Tour de France by his Telekom team, American Bobby Julich will now prepare for September’s Vuelta a España and October’s world championships. “Bobby’s plan now is to come back to the U.S. to do some high altitude training during July, then have a great Vuelta and world championships at the end of the season,” read an entry on Julich’s official web page. Telekom will be anchored by sprinting ace Erik Zabel and three riders with eyes on the final podium: Santiago Botero, Alexandre Vinokourov and Paolo Savoldelli. Rounding out the team are Rolf Aldag, Matthias

It's been a long time coming but the Aussie presence at this year's Tour de France is going to reach record levels. A potential seven Australian professionals, riding for four teams, are being lined up for this year's centenary race and although that's no mean feat, just wait till the race itself gets underway next Saturday, July 5. No-nonsense Queenslander Robbie McEwen, who rides for the Belgian Lotto outfit, pulled off a coup of sorts when he ended Erik Zabel's bid to win a seventh straight green points jersey. However McEwen, who goes into the race a little less primed than at this

Three-straight Tour de France podium appearances gives Joseba Beloki quiet confidence going into the 2003 Tour. Often criticized for simply following rather than attacking, Beloki believes his time has come. The ONCE rider says he’s feeling better than ever and promises to give reigning champion Lance Armstrong a run for his money. “I feel better than other years,” Beloki told the Spanish sports daily AS in an interview. “I will go to win. I believe it’s time. You have to try to force Armstrong’s decline instead of just waiting for it and I believe this is a good year for that to

Alexander Vinokourov just couldn't help himself. Leading the Tour of Switzerland since regaining the overall lead in Tuesday's time trial, the Kazakh jumped with less than a kilometer to go in Wednesday's 152km final stage into Aarau and was caught 300 meters from the line. It's not that he really needed the stage win. Second-place rider Francesco Casagrande (Lampre) didn't start the ninth and final stage due to high fever and a urinary infection and all Vinokourov had to do was finish safely in the main bunch to claim final victory. "I tried to win the stage but I'm not disappointed at

Rogers sews up Route du Sud Quick Step's Michael Rogers held off challengers in Tuesday's 156km climb-riddled finale to clinch the overall title of the 27th Route du Sud. Cofidis' David Moncoutie jumped ahead of Alessio's Pietro Caucchioli to win the final stage, which included climbs up the Col de Peyresourde and finished on a steep climb up the on the Port de Balès summit. "It has been a difficult day, but today my teammates were fantastic," Rogers said, a winner of five races this season. "The last up hill section was really very hard. When Moncoutie and Caucchioli launched themselves

Paternia’s Jose Antonio Pecharroman held off the best efforts of U.S. Postal's Roberto Heras to claim overall victory in the Tour of Catalunya after Sunday's seventh and final stage in Barcelona. The 25-year-old Pecharroman beat Heras by 43 seconds with two more Spaniards Koldo Gil and Rafael Casero coming third and fourth in the overall standings. Angel Vicioso (ONCE) won the final stage after holding off Postal’s George Hincapie in the sprint. Both Heras and Hincapie will be key elements in the American team in the next fortnight as Lance Armstrong gets his record-equalling bid for a

John Lieswyn and his 7UP-Maxxis squad successfully defended the yellow jersey in the final stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, Lubor Tesar (Ed's Systeme-ZVVZ) just holding off Charles Dionne (Canadian National) to take the final stage victory. Lieswyn had held the jersey from stage one, and started the final stage47 seconds in front of Chris Baldwin (Navigators). Tomas Konecny (Ed'sSystem-ZVVZ) and Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) were also less than a minute behind, so 7 Up could not afford to rest, despite having spent a week at the front of the peloton. The final stage of Beauce is no

Harreither-VAV Versicherung won the 2003 Insight Race Across America team competition Sunday night when the four men crossed the finish line on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey at 10:13 p.m.(EST). The four Austrian cyclists rode a relay from San Diego over the course of six days, six hours and 13 minutes. After initial head-to-head battles with Team Vail-Go Fast in the deserts of Southern California, Harreither has led the race since Vail withdrew after one of its riders was killed in a tragic accident in New Mexico. (see "RAAM rider killed in New Mexico") The members of the

USA Cycling has announced its automatic selections for the U.S. team attending the 2003 World Track Championships July 30-August 3 in Stuttgart, Germany. Many of the automatic selections earned their world's-team selections by winning their respective events at the 2003 Pan Am and World Championship Qualifier last weekend in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The U.S. team includes: Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs) - team sprint, sprint,keirinJames Carney (Boulder, Colorado) - scratch raceColby Pearce (Boulder) - points raceStephen Alfred (Santa Cruz, California) - team sprint and keirinAnton

Lotto-Domo's Robbie McEwen has claimed his first-ever stage win in the Tour de Suisse on Wednesday. The 31-year-old Aussie topped a Southern Hemispheric podium he beat CSC’s New Zealander Julian Dean and fellow Australian Stuart O'Grady (Crédit Agricole). Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokourov retained the overall lead. Another Australian Bradley McGee saw his hopes of playing a part in the finish ruined as he had his route blocked by a Lotto team-mate of McEwen's in the final 500 meters - it also prevented him from gaining enough bonus time to replace Vinokourov as overall leader. However McEwen

Dear Lennard;I'm building a front wheel for my new FSR, and I am concerned about the torsional rigidity of the front wheel. The spare parts I have can allow me to do radial lacing or standard three-cross. I'm running a Fox Float RL 80mm fork, a standard non-disc XT front hub, and a Bontrager Valiant 32-hole rim. I have run both wheels (three-cross and radial laced) on my old bike with a 75mm Marzocchi bomber Z3, and the three-cross wheel seemed to steer much better. I would prefer to do the radial because it looks cool and I have nice butted spokes for that wheel. By the way I weigh 180, am

The Grande Prix Cycliste de Beauce kicked off Tuesday with a hard 125-kilometer stage around the environs of Quebec City. John Lieswyn (7Up-Maxxis) took the stage and the first leader's jersey in a two-up finish with Chris Baldwin (Navigators). The opening stage was a wake up call to the riders: you will be climbing; A lot. After four circuits of an 8-kilometer loop with a significant climb on the south side of the St Lawrence River, in the town of Levis, the peloton headed north across the river to Quebec, where they did another eight circuits, with a tough 14-percent climb each lap. The

Fassa Bortolo’s Fabian Cancellara was the fastest Monday in the opening prologue of the 67th Tour de Suisse on a 7.1km course in Egerkingen. The 22-year-old Swiss rider won the opening prologue of the Tour of Romandie last month and pipped Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) just one second. Aussie Brad McGee (Fdjeux.com) came across third at two seconds slower. “The course was very hard, but the crowd carried me along,” Cancellara said. “I think my team can win this race, but maybe not me. I still have time.” Defending champion Alex Zülle finished fourth at four seconds back. It was

After riding Saturday’s cross-country in leftover mud from Friday’s drenching rain, riders were treated to a batch of fresh mud during the NORBA NCS #2 short track cross-country at Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia. The skies opened up at 10 a.m. Sunday, and a steady downpour created slick conditions on the short, fast track, but Subaru-Gary Fisher’ Chrissy Redden and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (RLX-Ralph Lauren) stayed upright and at the front to take the STXC titles. For Redden, it was a sixth NORBA short track win, and perhaps her hardest fought. Midway through the race, a strong front group

It was another stellar day for the men and women of Saturn Cycling, as they swept the closing stage — and overall — of Minnesota’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, with Trent Klasna and Katie Mactier taking top honors. Saturn dominated the podium all week long; both the men and women won four of their respective five stages. Coming into Sunday’s Stillwater criterium, Mactier’s podium-top finish was all but assured, but then again, it was so thought of Saturn’s powerful Viktor Rapinski, who started the stage with a 1:02 lead over defending race champion John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis). But it was not

Editor's note: Vincent Gee is mechanic for the U.S. Postal ServiceCycling Team, largely responsible for the domestic circuit. Gee will bereporting back to VeloNews.com throughout the season.June 5 - Tuesday’s race in Lancaster was raining all day long but today (Thursday), it was dry. Nonetheless, it was bike wash, followed by bike wash, followed by yet another bike wash yesterday and this morning. The Lancaster race ended really late Tuesday so we put the dirty bikes away for the night and set off to a late dinner. Wednesday morning Julien (head mechanic) Allen Buttler and I pulled them

Lance Armstrong’s spill in Friday’s fifth stage of the Dauphiné Libéré race was one of the Texans rare crashes during competition. Armstrong went down on a descent after leaving Morzine after his wheel apparently locked up and sent the four-time Tour de France champion sprawling to the pavement. Armstrong wasn’t seriously injured and finished the race with cuts to his right elbow and rips in his cycling shorts. He later received two stitches and was expected to start Saturday’s climbing stage. Typically, Armstrong stays out of trouble by staying near the front of the bunch, the safest place

On a muddy day in the West Virginia mountains that claimed a couple of prominent victims, Jimena Florit and Ryder Hesjedal slipped and slid to cross-country glory, and Jill Kintner and Mike King navigated the brackets to mountain-cross wins on day one of NORBA NCS 2 at Snowshoe Mountain. Alison Dunlap, Luna’s former world champion and World Cup winner, was transported to a nearby hospital with a possibly dislocated shoulder following a crash in the cross country. Meanwhile, Trek-Volkswagen’s Wade Bootes went down hard in the evening mountain-cross competition and required several minutes to

A well-managed, properly officiated and expertly driven road-race caravan can be a beautiful thing. It is a choreographed vehicular ballet, balancing cars, drivers, riders, roads and the climatic elements in a colorful montage moving along at 40kph to sometimes 80kph. On the other hand, a poorly organized and badly handled one can be a dangerous cluster … er… flick. At the Hamilton World Road Championships we’re hoping for the former. If we get the latter, I will have really screwed up. But I won’t be alone, and indeed I will be in very esteemed company, as the other guy – the guy with the

Newly crowned U.S. national champ Mark McCormack’s first defense of his new stars-and-stripes jersey fell short at the opening stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix Thursday. McCormack’s Saturn squad rode wisely, making the key breaks and setting up for the final sprint, but could not hold off a tough Navigators squad determined to show its strength. Riding a three-man break into Virginia, Minnesota, in the inaugural Iron Range Road Race, Navigators’ Irishman Ciaran Power found his legs in the final sprint to beat McCormack, who finished third behind new professional Adam Bergman (Jelly