Swiss rider Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) took the overall jersey from Italian Simone Bertoletti in the Tour of Romandie on Friday when he won the third stage of the event between Moudon and Loeche-Les-Bains, a stage that was marred when Spaniard Francisco Perez Sanchez (Milanez) was mistakenly directed off the course in the final kilometers. Dufaux and Perez Sanchez of Milaneza were credited with the same time and placing on the stage, with Swiss rider Fabian Jeker, also of Milaneza, second and Phonak's Alexandre Moos third. Italian Giosue Bonomi (Saeco) was forced to pull out early in the

Saturn and Navigators both came to the Uptown Greenwood Professional Cycling Challenge expecting to win. And so it was no surprise that between them, the two teams had five riders in a 14-man break that led the 50-mile race from midway on. But when push came to shove Thursday night on the streets of Greenwood, South Carolina, in the third race of the South Carolina Heritage Cycling Series, it was Ofoto-Lombardi pulling off an upset as the big boys concentrated on each other. Ofoto’s Erik Saunders took a flyer out of the front group with less than eight laps remaining, building a 10-second

It was just another day at the office for Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker), who soloed off the front of the pack 12 miles into the 76-mile third stage of the Tour of the Gila on Friday morning, tacking an additional 5 1/2 minutes onto her overall lead. But Gord Fraser (Health Net) had to win his race in company, pouncing at the line on Steve Cate (Mathis Brothers) and Todd Wells (Hyundai-Mongoose) like a famished tabby on a pair of field mice, showcasing to whoever is paying attention that he is to be considered a racer of note in domestic cycling and is in top form early in the season. For

Mario Scirea is one of cycling’s hardest-working pros. The 37-year-old veteran has only won two races in his career that started in 1989, but for a rider like Scirea, it’s not his victories that he’s paid to earn. Scirea is the man that drives Mario Cipollini’s train to the finish line in cycling’s fast and furious sprinting stages. Last year, with Scirea’s uncompromising help, Cipollini enjoyed his best season ever. Next week, Scirea will line up for the start of the Giro d’Italia and will have the pressure on his shoulders as Cipollini eyes breaking the stage-win record set by Alfredo

Ukrainian Yuriy Krivtsov won the second stage of the Tour of Romandie on Thursday but Italian rider Simone Bertoletti retains the overall lead with three days of the event remaining. Krivtsov, riding for Jean Delatour, put in a dominant performance after breaking from the pack early in the race and sprinted home to claim a comfortable victory. He finished the 178.2km test from Couvet to Lucens in four hours, 19 minutes and 36 seconds to finish 12 seconds ahead of Swiss Phonak rider Martin Elmiger. The chasing pack were one minute and 23 seconds behind Krivtsov, with Italian Angelo Furlan,

I think for the rest of my life, April 27th, 2003, is going to stay with me as something special. Achieving victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège is something my team and I will always look back on with amazement and pride. It sounds kind of trite to say it like this, but it's true - everything came together perfectly for us on Sunday. The entire CSC team rode incredibly well together. There wasn't one guy on our squad who didn't play a role. All in all, it was a fantastic day, top to bottom. Heading out, I was a little concerned about the weather. It rained hard on Saturday and the forecast for

Geneviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) did her solitary thing Thursday, extending her overall lead to nearly four minutes in just the second stage of New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila. Meanwhile, Drew Miller relied upon his Trek-VW All Stars team to keep the race under control and leave him free to do what he does best - climb. With perfect weather (clear, with temperatures in the 70s), the 92-mile men’s race offered up two sprint bonuses for riders with GC aspirations. Early on, a 13-man group that included Mike Sayers, two Health Net teammates and a couple of strong Mexican climbers from Team Tecos

Editor:Is Eddy Merckx a protective daddy or a bitter has-been (See "Merckxcritical of Armstrong after Liège)? Either way, why does the cycling community give so much credit to his babblings? In his day he wasgreat. In today's era he would only be slightly more successful than hisson. He wouldn't stand a chance at the Tour, and only the rolling classicswould offer him a chance (no big climbs and no pure sprints). He calls Lance Armstrong arrogant. That goes to show you Merckx's ownarrogance, to think that he knows all and that we really care what he thinks.Any athlete at the top of his game

With the nation’s newest and richest stage race — the Dodge Tour de Georgia — just wrapped up, the five-stage Holiday Inn Express Tour of the Gila, held in Silver City, New Mexico, won’t be pulling in the same caliber of road teams as it has in years past. “It’s going to be a mountain bikers’ training ground this year,” noted race director Jack Brennan, regarding the absence of top domestic teams like Saturn, Prime Alliance and Navigators in the men’s NRC event. “With [NORBA National Championship Series #1] Big Bear two weeks away, it’s a perfect chance for them to get in some racing

Saturn's Viktor Rapinski rode to the top spot on the podium at the first race of the inaugural South Carolina Heritage Cycling Series in Anderson, S.C., Tuesday, April 29. Rapinski took the win in a two-man break with Danny Pate of Prime Alliance. Rapinski, Pate, Saturn's Chris Horner and Roberto Gaggioli of Monex landed the first four spots after lapping the main field 1-1/2 times. Saturn dominated the race from the beginning, with Trent Klasna attacking after the initial lap. His attack went unchallenged and grew into a lead of more than 20 seconds before he rejoined the peloton.

Tyler Hamilton’s dramatic victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège was the lead sports story in European newspapers Monday (well… after soccer news, of course). “Hamilton, the first,” read the French daily L’Equipe. “An American in Liège,” wrote Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The Other American,” wrote Spain’s MARCA. Hamilton’s win was the first by an American at “La Doyenne,” the oldest classic in cycling. Greg LeMond finished third in 1984, beaten in a sprint by Irishman Sean Kelly and Aussie Phil Anderson. Armstrong was runner-up in both 1994 and 1996 and the Texan entered Sunday’s race as the

Word from the Trek-Volkswagen camp is that while Roland Green is beat up pretty bad, he should be fine come the NORBA NCS season opener, May 17-18, at Big Bear Lake, California. According to Eric Wallace, the Trek-VW team manager, Green received 13 stitches in his face after crashing out of the final stage of the Tour de Georgia road race in Atlanta on Sunday. “He has three on his left orbital, two below his left eye and the rest are on his lip,” said Wallace, describing the state of the two-time defending world cross-country champion. “He’s completely bruised and battered in the face, but

If Tyler Hamilton doesn’t achieve any thing else in his career — and he certainly will — his stunning victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday will always hold a special place in his heart. Shortly after winning the 89th edition of the world’s oldest classics (and one of the toughest) on a rainy afternoon in the green hills of the Belgian Ardennes, he made a cell-phone call to his wife Haven at their home in Gerona, Spain. “She just screamed,” Tyler reported. “She had just as hard a job as I did of believing what’s happened.”

Saturday’s stage from Dalton to Gainesville pretty much sealed the overall Dodge Tour de Georgia victory for Saturn’s Chris Horner, but there was still some unfinished business and suspense left for the grand finale in downtown Atlanta on Sunday. In the end, though, there was no catching Horner. Meanwhile, Fred Rodriguez fell short of a third consecutive stage win when Prime Alliance’s David Clinger scored his biggest victory for his new team. The race began on a near-perfect afternoon, under sunny skies at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park in downtown. On the docket was 10 laps of a fast

Only four Tour de France winners have won Liège-Bastogne-Liège:Eddy Merckx (a record five times), Bernard Hinault and Ferdi Kubler (bothtwice), and Jacques Anquetil (once). Lance Armstrong would like to be the fifth. This Sunday will see the Texan on the start line at Liège foronly the fifth time in his career. Prior to his cancer diagnosis, he finishedsecond in 1994, sixth in 1995 and second again in 1996. He returned towhat is the world’s oldest bicycle classic (founded in 1894) only lastyear, when he finished 65th, 8:12 behind winner Paolo Bettini, after ridingthe 258.5km race in support

Dear Editor;Thanks for the live coverage. As someone who doesn't get OLN I look forward to your live coverage of the classics. The only problem is that it has been taking away from my graduate school work. I keep checking back every five minutes instead of studying!! I may fail, but at least I'll know how the sprint finished. Keep up the great work.Todd ShapiroTodd, we appreciate your comments, but would also like to apologize for the spotty coverage we've had out of the Tour of Georgia this year. We seem to have a good system in place for the big European races and will have a full crew

Chris Horner wanted a hard day. He got it. On Saturday’s stage 4 at the Dodge Tour de Georgia, the race blew apart as anticipated, and the major players of the first four days were all in the spotlight. Navigators and Henk Vogels were on the hotseat after defending the race lead for the past two stages; Horner and Saturn were in the driver's seat, with a course finally suited to their strengths; and Fred Rodriguez continued to exact his revenge following the time penalty he was assessed on stage 1. In the end, Rodriguez won his second stage in a row, Horner took the yellow jersey, and

Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) remained in charge of the Tour of Trentino after a long break dominated Saturday's 165km third stage. Elio Aggiano (Pinzolo) won ahead of three other riders that stayed away for most of the stage from Fondo to Levico Terme in northern Italy. Stefano Garzelli (Sidermec) won the bunch sprint at 8 seconds back to take fifth after the lead group couldn't reel in the break. Simoni finished safely with the peloton to retain the overall lead going into Sunday's 118km final stag, which shouldn't present any major problems for Simoni and his motivated Saeco team. Tour of

This is about all I can say about how our day went at Tour of Georgia. We tried. No, we didn't actually miss the key move today. Missing a move is to imply "oops I guess we should have been there". No, we did that at Redlands. Here we had a good strategy, carried out perfectly… and then were simply out-powered. We had our man Svein in the early break. We had everyone nice and fresh at the bottom of the last climb, and then we just got smashed. The best laid plansOur plan was to keep David Clinger (who climbs better than Henk, but not as well as the top guys) as close to the leaders as

While the "other" cycling event in Georgia has garnered the headlines this week, the Athens Twilight just kept on partying this weekend as if nothing had happened. And in front of the big, festive Twilight crowd on Saturday night, Genesis Scuba’s Candice Blickem and 7UP-Maxxis’s Dan Schmatz took the biggest wins of their careers in solo fashion. The women’s favorite, former Georgia Bulldog Tina Mayolo-Pic (Diet Rite), had her problems early on, crashing hard about 10 laps into the race when her front tire punctured. Despite hitting her head hard, Mayolo-Pic got back in the race and was

Saeco's Gilberto Simoni won Friday's climbing stage of the Tour of Trentino in northern Italy and bounced into the overall lead. Simoni and yesterday's winner Stefano Garzelli (Sidermec) traded places, with Simoni taking the flowers this time ahead of the resurgent Garzelli. The opening two days of Tour of Trentino give a nice glimpse of who's in form for the upcoming Giro d'Italia, with both Simoni and Garzelli looking sharp. The race continues with Saturday's 165km third stage from Fondo to Levico Terme. Stage 2, Tour of Trentino (UCI 2.2), Moena to Ronzone 1. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saeco,

After a rocky start to his Dodge Tour de Georgia, Fred Rodriguez has just been taking things day by day. Fortunately for the American, things have been getting better with each passing stage. On Friday, the Vini Caldirola rider outsprinted Prime Alliance’s David Clinger and U.S. Postal’s Tony Cruz to take the stage 3 win after 138 miles from Pine Mountain to Rome. Meanwhile, Navigators Henk Vogels retained the race leader’s jersey while a war of words between Saturn and Navigators heated up. Rodriguez was still upset after being assessed a 20-second time penalty for motorpacing after a crash

Stefano Garzelli (Sidermec) won Thursday's opening stage of the Tour of Trentino in northern Italy in a dramatic comeback for the Italian star. Garzelli, who was kicked out of last year's Giro after testing positive for a banned diuretic, beat compatriot Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) and Slovenian Tadej Valjavec (Fassa Bortolo) in a sprint in the 170km stage from Arco to Moena. Tour of Trentino (UCI 2.2), Stage 1, Arco to Moena1. Stefano Garzelli (I), Sidermec, 170.5km in 4:582. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saeco, at 6 seconds3. Tadej Valjavec (Slo), Fassa Bortolo, same time4. Sabaliauskas (Lit), Saeco,

From looking at the Navigators team car in the closing minutes of stage 2 of the Dodge Tour de Georgia, you’d have been hard pressed to pick it out as the car of the race leader. Sure its windshield was marked with the No. 1, thanks to Henk Vogels starting the day in the yellow jersey, but pulled over by the side of the road in Columbus, Georgia, its rear right tire going flat, the team’s silver wagon looked like just another sign that things were slipping away. Team directors Ed Beamon and Ray Cipollini, and mechanic Mike Spilker, could only watch as the race disappeared up the road,

To breakaway on the first climb of a very hilly road race is usually not a smart tactic, especially when there are still 134km and nine more climbs to go. It’s usually even more stupid to attempt such a long shot in a classic as difficult as Belgium’s Flèche Wallonne. Luckily, the little Basque rider Igor Astarloa doesn’t think much of conventional wisdom. On Wednesday, he became the first Spanish cyclist to win the Flèche; indeed, no Spaniard had ever won a classic in Belgium, France or the Netherlands. And Astarloa did it by being strong, audacious, confident, and very, very smart. You

The U.S. pro peloton hasn’t seen much of the Navigators this spring, but the squad made a big impact in its first major road stage on home soil this year, with Henk Vogels winning stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia and taking the race leader’s jersey in the process. Vogels emerged from a lead group of about 30 riders and beat out Schroeder Iron’s Miguel Meza at the end of the 136-mile stage from Augusta to Macon, heading east to west across the center of the state. While the rest of the U.S. domestic teams were out in California in full force for the opening of the season, Navigators had only

Vogels held his own on the climbs and nailed them all in the sprint

The sprint at Meza

Vogels held his own on the climbs and nailed it in the sprint.

Rabobank’s Levi Leipheimer will be at the start line for this week’s Ardennes classics to cap what’s been a solid buildup throughout the spring for the American. The hilly courses suit Leipheimer’s strengths better than the cobbles and Liege-Bastogne-Liege will be his World Cup debut. Leipheimer said his role will be to help Rabobank teammate Michael Boogerd as much as possible and perhaps look for an opportunity if it presents itself. Otherwise, Leipheimer said he’s happy with his form coming out a series of Spanish races and he’s already looking ahead to the Tour de France. “I’m happy

As he sat under a shade tree along the start-finish straight of the Tour de Georgia prologue, John Lieswyn couldn’t help but reflect on the last major professional stage race in the U.S., the Tour du Pont. "This is just as professional as the Tour du Pont, and it’s only the first year. They’re obviously using the same blueprint for this race," he said. And while the Georgia race has a long way to go before it reaches du Pont proportions, it still had Lieswyn and all of the other 139 starters excited for the upcoming six days. "I don’t get nervous before a race anymore very often," Lieswyn

Jan Ullrich, of the Coast team, claimed his first victory in 18 months on Monday attacking 55km from the finish to win the 88th edition of the Tour of Cologne. Ullrich, the 29-year-old Olympic champion and the only German to have won the Tour de France (1997), recently returned from a long lay-off due to a drugs ban and undergoing operations on a troublesome knee. In his first competition on native soil in 19 months, a slimmed down Ullrich showed he could soon be a force to be reckoned with by initiating a breakaway with around 55km to go on one of the 203km course's numerous small

The Tour of Aragon seemed stuck on rewind for Sunday's final stage. Leonardo Piepoli finished safely in the middle of the bunch sprint to wrap up his third overall title while Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) finished at the front of the mass gallop to win his third stage of the week. Piepoli won Wednesday's opening stage up the Category 1 summit finish to Cerler and saluted to the heavens with three fingers held high. The rest of the week became nothing more than a defensive battle for iBanesto.com to keep a lid on things until everyone arrived to Zaragoza for the final stage. Winds

No one expected Telekom’s Alex Vinokourov to win Sunday’s 38th Amstel Gold Race. Least of all him. “I’ve never won a one-day race until today,” the 29-year-old Kazakh said after the finish. [nid:24206]That is, except for a criterium or two in post-Tour de France appearances. But a criterium is little league compared with the mega-status of a classic like Sunday’s. “I rode the last 80km of the course on Friday,” Vinokourov said. “I learned that you have to be at the front all the time. It’s very technical, turning, left, right, up, down, on very narrow roads.”

Fassa Bortolo's Alessandro Petacchi won his second stage of this year's Tour of Aragon, easily taking the bunch sprint in Saturday's 168km fourth stage from La Muela to Borja. Petacchi pushed Spanish rider Angel Edo (Milaneza-MSS) into second place for the third straight day. iBanesto.com's Leonardo Piepoli finished safely in the main bunch to retain the overall lead going into Sunday's finale. The defending champion will only have to worry about strong winds that could cut up the main bunch, because otherwise the final stage presents little challenge to his hold on the lead. Sunday's 149km

They’ll never forget you ’til somebody new comes along. – The Eagles, “New Kid in Town” There’s a new kid in town this month - the Dodge Tour de Georgia, a prologue and five stages. According to the official web site, it starts in Savannah and ends in Atlanta, traversing “the rolling hills of central Georgia and the state’s rugged northern mountains … a beautiful and ever-changing landscape for the cyclists as they do battle in breathtaking sprints and grueling climbs.” Sounds great. New races are great. In the Land of Golden Arches, where NASCAR is king, all bicycle races are great, even

I’m working on my tan. Oh, man. Working on my tan.– Tim Curry, “Working On My Tan” Colorado just sprinted past spring and plowed straight into summer,like Tom Boonen center-punching a finish-line photographer. This wouldbe a marvelous thing indeed, were it not for this pigmentation problemI seem to have developed over the winter. Where does this unearthly skin tone come from, this Day-Glo, über-ofayeggshell white, a pallor one might expect in the time-machine love childof a Wellsian Morlock and Bruce Willis in “Twelve Monkeys?” If a guy had something like an actual springtime to work with,

I’m a curious person. I raced my bike quite successfully after my two kids went to kindergarten and I no longer had to hire a sitter just so I could sneak out and train. Women in the peloton are always amazed to find out that I have a white-collar high stress day job, two special needs boys, and still manage to get by as a Cat. 2. But I know I’m hardly alone. On the podium of a mountain bike race a couple years ago the woman in third place tried to say something smug to my friend and I who were first and second. “Well I have to go home now to my husband, job, and 3 kids.” We laughed. As if!

I gotta start hanging out at DIA (Denver International Airport) more often. This past Wednesday, I'm on my way to the Sea Otter with our photo editor, Galen Nathanson, when who other than "Charlie Hustle" Pete Rose rolls up to the first class counter. Picture this: an aging overweight white fella wearing a pair of the goldest pair of Dolce Y Gabana shades (complete with gold grandma "safety" chain), a honest-to-goodness man-blouse, a pair of overly tight-fitting black chinos and topping off the whole kit with a pair of the fruitiest pointed boots you've ever done seen. Galen and I were

Peter Van Petegem proved that his fortitude is harder than the cobbles of northern France in a dramatic victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Van Petegem (Lotto-Domo) had better luck than most in a day dominated with crashes and punctures and becomes the first rider to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same year since Roger de Vlaeminck in 1977. Dario Pieri (Saeco) earned a well-deserved second-place while Viatcheslav Ekimov scored the second consecutive third-place podium finish for the U.S. Postal Service team in cycling’s "Hell of the North."

Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) is anxious to win mountain bike races and wants to do it on his own terms. His feisty racing style sometimes comes back to haunt him, but win or lose the 22-year-old remains unphased. Hesjedal made the race in Sunday’s 36-mile cross country race, the final stage of the 2003 Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race, attacking from the gun and stringing out the 106-man pro field. But in the end Hesjedal couldn’t match a final surge from his friend, countryman and overall winner, Roland Green (Trek-VW), who won his third stage of the four-stage race. Green

A busy day for the gravity set. Sunday saw six gravity athletes take the top spots on the podium. Champions were crowned in both the men's and women's categories in the downhill and mountain cross events. These results were then combined with Saturday's dual slalom results to produce the inaugural Sea Otter Gravity Omnium champions. With two serious tangles in both the men's and women's mountain cross finals, two surprise winners were crowed overall champions. Sunday's schedule of gravity events saw racers tackling a "new and improved" downhill course in an early morning "dawn patrol" raid

Immediately after finishing seventh at Ghent-Wevelgem on Wednesday, Johan Museeuw was angry with how the race had developed for his Quick Step-Davitamonteam, but he later said, “I again felt a little weakness [from my coldlast week], but in any case I will be ready for the Hell” — referring toParis-Roubaix’s moniker, the Hell of the North. In hindsight, Museeuw andhis Quick Step teammates Tom Boonen and Servais Knaven should havecontrolled the 12-strong break that emerged 40km from the finish of Ghent-Wevelgem,and protected each other in the strong head winds before making some attackspay off

On paper a 30-minute event wouldn’t seem too hard. After all, no matterhow hard it is, it only lasts half an hour. But don’t tell that to theracers whose tongues were dragging after 3 minutes of Saturday’s third stagein the 2003 Sea Otter Classic MTB event. The short track race always delivers on its promise of being the hardesthalf hour in mountain bike racing. “That is the hardest stage of the Sea Otter right there,” said men’swinner Roland Green (Trek-VW). Green, who went into the day as the overall leader on GC, extended his lead after a last-lap attack took him clear of his three

Editor:Just wanted to share an experience I had with a poorly marshaled racein a residential neighborhood. A few years ago, there was a crit held in Fox Point, Wisconsin (justnorth of Milwaukee), on the Fourth of July. I figured that it would bea good final test for the legs before Superweek, and a cool race for mymom to come watch. Almost until the end, it was a fun race on a good course. On the lastlap, as the field came out of the last corner and accelerated towards thefinish line, an ambulance pulled onto the course, trying to get acrossto the fire station - not a good thing during a

The 1890s1896 Josef Fischer (G) 280km&Nbsp; (30.162kph)1897 Maurice Garin (F) 280km (28.124kph)1898 Maurice Garin (F) 268km (32.599kph)1899 Albert Champion (F) 268km (31.976kph)The 1900s1900 Emile Bouhours (F) 268km (37.352kph)1901 Lucien Lesna (F) 280km (25.861kph)1902 Lucien Lesna (F) 268km (28.088kph)1903 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (29.104kph)1904 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (32.518kph)1905 Louis TROUSSELIER (F) 268km (33.206kph)1906 Henri CORNET (F) 270km (27.034kph)1907 Georges PASSERIEU (F) 270km (30.971kph)1908 Cyrille VAN HAUWAERT (B) 271km (25.63kph)1909 Octave LAPIZE (F)

For many European road teams, a win at a major spring classic can go a long way toward calling the season a success. With Peter Van Petegem’s win at the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, his Lotto-Domo squad, beloved by their Belgian fans, has one feather in its cap already. And Telekom had a pleasant surprise when its 27-year-old German Andreas Klier stole a win at Ghent-Wevelgem Wednesday. But two days before the 101st running of Paris-Roubaix, arguably the most prestigious race of all the spring classics, one team is growing restless for a win: Quick Step-Davitamon. Stacked with talent, the

Day three of racing at the Sea Otter Classic pro stage race saw no major changes on the leader board, as Saturn’s Lyne Bessette and Prime Alliance’s Michael Creed took stage wins in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Originally planned to be a criterium in Santa Cruz, Friday’s course was, at the last minute, changed to the raceway circuit of years past, due both to concerns over the integrity of the Santa Cruz course and a push to intensify the stage race after the pro men protested the controversial Redwood City circuit. Instead, the circuit race course was used, a course that includes a steep

In cycling, you know you’re a bad ass when you get an Italian nickname. While il professore might not rank up there with il diablo, il pirata, or il grillo in sheer gravity, Steve Tilford’s Italian nickname is still cool. The 42-year-old Tilford (Verge Sports) won the second stage of SOBE Sea Otter mountain bike stage race in his specialty, the fat boy criterium, and proved that having a niche, however small, can’t be a bad thing. Run along a scenic coastal course in Santa Cruz, the fat boy crit allowed (forced?) mountain bike racers to shed their knobbies for slicks and then try keep from

It always seemed like a natural fit for mountain biking: the Jeep King of the Mountain series. But until now you had to be involved in snow sports to wear one of those crowns. That could change come this summer’s latest rendition of the KOM, when the fat-tire sect may be battling for a total prize purse of $100,000 during a three-race series, which will receive three hours of television coverage. And while some of the i’s and t’s still need to be dealt with – mostly regarding scheduling – this is a done deal according to Eclipse TV’s Denise Lavaroni. “It’s definitely happening,” said

After being stuck on replay for three days, the Tour of the Basque Country changed the script in Thursday’s 171-km fourth stage. The five-climb stage didn’t end in a bunch sprint and there wasn’t a new leader, as has been the plot line since Monday. With the overall fight coming down to a nail-biter in Friday’s dual-stage finale, the leading protagonists didn’t want things to get too far out of control. Lampre’s Marco Pinotti scored a huge win after going on a mega solo break to finish just three seconds ahead of the surging peloton while Kelme’s Alejandro Valverde led the bunch across just

Andreas Klier was in no hurry to leave on Wednesday afternoon. Perched in a dirty brown chair in a smoke-filled room of reporters in Wevelgem, Belgium — the finishing town of the 65th running of the midweek classic known as Ghent-Wevelgem — the blond-haired, blue-eyed German was soaking it all in.

Another stage at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and another bunch sprint? Yes, and another photo finish in a race in what's usually a shoot-out between the mountain goats. This time it was Kelme's Alejandro Valverde who had the thicker tires to snatch the win away from Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin in Wednesday's 191km stage from Plentzia to Vitoria. Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann was already pumping his arm in celebration, thinking that Rebellin had won when Valverde came from six riders back to score his second win this season. "We went all day thinking it would come down to a sprint, so I was

Sitting at the start-finish line before the Sea Otter’s opening Redwood City road race, Saturn’s Chris Horner was concerned. Relaxed, of course, as he always is, but concerned. In lieu of the Sea Otter’s traditional Fort Ord road race, which was replaced after permit issues hindered a full road closure, the Northern California stage race designed a new circuit race, in the hometown of Sea Otter chief operating officer Rick Sutton. But many of the riders that had pre-ridden the tight and twisty residential course, with its sharp, short climbs and narrow, technical streets, felt it was too

FDJeux.com’s Carlos Da Cruz won a sprint finish to take the first stage of a star-studded Circuit de la Sarthe in Fontenay le Comte, France, on Tuesday. In a race featuring American four-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and Germany's Jan Ullrich, Da Cruz stole the limelight after 188km ride from Nantes, taking the leader's jersey in the process. The 28-year-old Frenchman crossed the line in 5:10:13, beating Russian Alexei Sivakov in a sprint to the line. The rest of the main peloton arrived almost six minutes later, with Ullrich placing 22nd at 5:52, and Armstrong finishing

Iban Mayo ended Euskaltel's drought after he won the opening stage of the 43rd Vuelta al Pais Vasco in northern Spain on Monday while CSC's Tyler Hamilton finished third. It's the first win of the season for Mayo and the first for his Euskaltel-Euskadi team, still hoping to earn a wild-card bid to race in the 2003 Tour de France. The usually high-flying Euskaltel team has been quiet this spring, out-classed by other teams hoping for a Tour bid such as Domina Vacanze, Ag2r, Milaneza-MSS and Brioches La Boulangere. One win won't get the orange-clad Basques into the Tour, but a solid week at

I don't know what to say. I guess I should just stick my head in a hole and not say anything. But, I'll blabber, just for you. How in the world I could just let 1-2-3 Saturn combo ride away must seem a mystery to the velo world? No, I'm not so stupid as to just let them go away thinking they'd come back in time for dinner. It went like this: Our first objective was to get David Clinger in secure in the KOM jersey. All he needed was to win the first KOM to wrap it up 100 percent. Our second objective was to win the stage. This was most likely to be Clinger or Danny Pate. So, off I went

It was a scene you’re unlikely to see anywhere else. The sun was barely up, having made a feeble attempt to rise on a damp, chilly Sunday morning, but already the restaurant patios were filled with customers. And in the hands of those customers were mugs filled with beer.

Russian Oleg Grishkine delivered a huge win for the Navigators in Sunday's 25th GP Rennes in France. Griskhine held off Andris Naudzus (CCC Polsat) and Jeremy Hunt (Oktos) to win the first race in Europe this year for the Navs. Griskhine's win also serves as a repeat for the Navigators, who won GP Rennes last year with Kirk O'Bee. The 157.5km circuit course ended in a bunch sprint and the Russian scored the victory for Navigators, now on their second tour of Europe this spring. Teammate Henk Vogels came across seventh after just missing victory in Friday's Route Adelie. The GP Rennes was

There wasn’t a good deal of bike racing to speak of, in either the men or women’s events, during Sunday’s fifth stage at the Redlands Classic. In fact, the parallels between the two races, held over a twisty, hilly and technical 7.5-mile loop, were the most remarkable story on an otherwise unremarkable closing day of racing. In the women’s 8-lap, 62-mile event, overall leader Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker) attacked up the first hill on the first lap and simply never looked back. A brief chase ensued by Saturn’s Manon Jutras and Lyne Bessette, second and third on the GC, respectively, and

German Matthias Kessler (Telekom) won Saturday's GP Miguel Indurain in a hotly contested race that took race judges a long time to figure out who won. Kessler finished barely ahead of defending champion Angel Vicioso (ONCE) and David Etxebarria (Euskaltel) in a bunch sprint out of a lead group of 34 riders and judges scoured the photo-finish to decide who actually won. Three riders -- Pedro Díaz Lobato (Paternina), Alberto Martínez (Euskaltel) and Benjamín Noval (Fuenlabrada) - attacked with about 35km to go, but were reeled in one-by-one with less than 5km to go. GP Miguel Indurain,

It was another banner day for the Saturn Cycling program in Redlands Saturday, as ace sprinters came through with stage wins at the Redlands Downtown Criterium in both the men's and women's events. In the women’s 60-minute race, Ina Teutenberg easily won a two-up sprint against RONA-Esker’s Cathy Marsal, while on the men’s side it was Charles Dionne, winner of the same stage last year, surprising the field with a surge around the last bend, beating Health Net's Gord Fraser by several bike lengths. Teutenberg’s win, her second stage win in four days, came as little surprise as she had made

Henk Vogels nearly delivered a big result for the Navigators during its second European sorjourn of the 2003 season. Vogels finished second, just two seconds behind winner Sebastien Joly (Jean Delatour), in Friday's GP Adelie in Vitre, France. Joly came across the line in 4 hours, 34 minutes, 38 seconds, while the Australian won the bunch sprint ahead of such names as Laurent Brochard (Ag2r), winner of the Criterium International last weekend. Cedric Vasseur (Cofidis) and Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) came across the line fourth and fifth, respectively. The GP Adelie was the fourth stop in

The top spots in the Redlands Classic general classification remain unchanged Friday, after another tough day of racing saw Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker) win her second consecutive stage, while John Lieswyn of 7UP-Maxxis won a five-up sprint against breakaway companions from Prime Alliance and Navigators. A new course to the Redlands Classic, the stage 3 Panorama Point Road Race, dished out a series of steep climbs over the 10-mile loop — the worst section reaching grades of near 20% grade. The men went up and over the circuit six times, while the women raced for four. If Jeanson’s

It all worked perfectly. Our devious plan of attack was devised with utmost intelligence, and detail. We carried out the plan exactly as it was devised, and everything went right to a number. And we still lost. I hope this isn't the case as to what's happening in Iraq. Actually it can't be, as team Saturn seems to be the superior of the Fedayeen. Anyhow, we decided the best policy today was to attack early and often. We had nothing to lose, as the saying goes. We figured by getting Matt Decanio, and Mike Creed up the road as soon as the pistol fired in Friday's Panorama

Raivis Belohvosciks put down an excellent final time trial in the Three Days of La Panne to score the biggest win of his career and for his upstart Marlux team after beating Italian veteran Gianluca Bortolami by just 1 second. Thursday's final stage was split, with a morning sprint sector and an afternoon time trial to decide the overall winner. Poor weather continued to plague the race and four riders decided not to start, including Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo). More than 50 riders abandoned the three-day stage-race, leaving just 88 riders finishing the race. Rabobank's Steven

The Redlands Classic continued Thursday with it's most feared stage, the Oak Glen road race, 106 miles (82 for the women) that finishes off with a nasty 10-kilometer climb that gains 2400 feet in elevation. Needless to say, it was a day for the climbers, as Canadian Genevieve Jeanson (RONA-Esker) confirmed her position as the premiere climber in North American women’s racing, riding away from her closest GC contenders in the final kilometers and winning the stage by nearly three minutes. In the men’s race, Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill showed that not only can he time trial, as evidenced by his

Italian Fabio Baldato (Alessio) won the second stage of the Three Days of La Panne on Wednesday, a blustery, sunny day in Belgium. Gianluca Bortolami (Sidermec) continued his hold on the overall lead after finishing safely in the lead bunch. Two riders were reeled in with 22km to go in the 228km stage from Zottegem to Koksijde to set up the mass sprint. A strong tailwind pushed the bunch along nicely over the final circuits, with speeds reaching nearly 70 kph on the flats. Fassa Bortolo drove things home, but the veteran Baldato had the legs to beat Gerben Lowik (Bankgiroloterij) and Jimmy

The second day of racing at the Redlands Classic brought stage victories to two familiar names in the domestic race scene, as Health Net’s Gord Fraser and Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg won the hilly stage 1 Highland circuit race. With short, steep climbs and a long, gradual downhill into a headwind, the circuit wasn’t exactly made for aggressive racing; any attempt to get away was vulnerable on the windy, wide-open descent. Although the day was claimed by a pair of sprinters, the course — a five-mile loop consisting of a 300-foot stair-step climb through a local housing community, raced eight

With the classics season now in full swing, U.S. Postal Service is regrouping with its consistent heavy-hitter George Hincapie out of the picture. Hincapie returned to the United States just days after it was announced March 15 the 29-year-old he would not be competing in the spring classics due to a lingering viral infection that left the 2001 Gent-Wevelgem champion rundown and tired. With Hincapie undergoing tests for a possible return by May, however, the Posties will be entering Sunday’s Tour of Flanders in uncharted territory. “We have to rethink our tactics because George was

Frenchman Laurent Brochard (Ag2R) dominated Sunday’s double-stage finale to win this weekend’s Criterium International. Brochard won the morning sector Sunday to take the race lead and finished third-fastest in the afternoon time trial to win for the first time this season and give his team’s a big boost at earning an at-large bid for July’s Tour de France. Brochard’s win is the first by a Frenchman at Criterium International since Laurent Jalabert won eight years ago. “It is important to win after Laurent, I hope I can go on this way,” Brochard said. “Today, the final victory was very

Chris Horner (Saturn) and Kimberly Bruckner (T-Mobile) locked up the overall titles at California’s Solano Bicycle Classic, as Horner continued his dominance and took the final circuit race and his teammate Ina Teutenberg scored a sprint win in the women’s race. Horner not only held on to his leader’s jersey, he won the stage. Jumping out of the penultimate corner, Horner bested the sprinters outlasting Greg Henderson of 7Up-Maxxis and HealthNet’s Gord Fraser in a blazing fast field sprint. The day started for the men promptly at 1 pm, when the neutralized parade of riders left downtown

It was all about Saturn at Solano on Saturday. The criterium, the third stage of the Solano Bicycle Classic, proved to be a showcase for the red and yellow, with Eric Wohlberg taking first on the men’s side and Laura Van Gilder atop the women’s race. Saturn led a charging breakaway in the men’s race, with five teammates pulling together, including Chris Horner, Trent Klasna, Mark McCormack and Viktor Rapinski, to keep the pace very high. Horner put in terrific turns at the front, stringing along Prime Alliance’s Jonathan Vaughters, Ben Brooks of Jelly Belly and all the strong GC contenders

German sprint ace Erik Zabel added one more to his palmares in the rain in Spain on Friday while Dario Frigo wrapped up the overall title at the Setmana Catalana. Zabel’s faced criticism all spring that he’s lost his touch. His first win didn’t come until Tour of Murcia, then he finished sixth at Milan-San Remo before losing his top-spot in the world rankings. Zabel, however, stayed quiet and simply let his legs – and his professionalism - do the talking. On Friday, he took his second win of the week by charging to an easy victory in the 176km fifth and final stage of Catalana week. Rain

Dario Frigo chugged away from Lance Armstrong and other top favorites to win the fourth stage of Setmana Catalana and take control of the race with just one stage remaining. The four-time Tour de France champion stayed with the lead group of riders up the long, difficult 19.5km Category 1 climb to the finish at the ski village of Pal, high in the Spanish Pyrénées, until the attacks by Juan Miguel Mercado fractured the lead group with 2km to go. Armstrong, racing in his second race of the season as he prepares for the Tour de France in July, came across 24th at 1:11 back. Frigo, however, is

Rabobank’s Beat Zberg sneaked into the overall lead of the 40th Setmana Catalana after finishing third in Wednesday’s third stage. Italian Marco Zanotti (Fassa Bortolo) delivered another loss to Erik Zabel in the bunch sprint into Parets del Valles while Gonzalo Bayarri (Phonak) finished behind Zberg to forfeit the leader’s jersey. Thursday’s 144km “queen’s stage” from Parets to Alto de Pal will be the decisive stage. U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong could jump into contention for final victory if he continues to demonstrate the strong form he’s shown so far in his “home race.” “Lance wants to

Swiss rider Beat Zberg (Rabobank) easily zipped past Spain’s Juan Antonio Flecha (iBanesto.com) to win Tuesday’s 158km second stage of Setmana Catalana. Phonak’s Gonzalo Bayarri came across third, but took the overall lead from Erik Zabel (Telekom) after strong placings in the opening two sprints. Zabel lost contact with the leaders of the Category 1 Alt de San Pere de Rodes, a stunning climb high above Spain’s rugged Costa Brava. Two riders – Relax’ Oscar Laguna and Paternina’s Xavier Tondo -- were off the front about 2 minutes at the base of the long, grinding climb, but the lead bunch

With temperatures pushing well into the mid 80s, and almost nowhere to hide from the blistering sun, riders battled through a hot final day at the Nova Desert Classic outside Phoenix on Sunday. When racing was done, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Mary Grigson emerged as overall winners in the three-stage event that served as the kick-off race for the 2003 pro mountain biking season. Horgan-Kobelski earned his victory by facing down reigning world champion Roland Green in a one-on-one battle over the last half of the fifth and final lap around the six-mile course. After spending much of the day

One of the saddest tasks for a journalist is writing obituaries, particularly in the case of young athletes at the height of their careers. A few weeks ago in this column, I wrote about Italian racer Denis Zanette, who died of heart failure at age 32. Who knows how much the harsh life of a professional cyclist contributed to his untimely death? This past week another member of the cycling family left this world prematurely. His name was Andreï Kivilev, a 29-year-old from Kazakhstan who raced for the French team Cofidis. In both cases, the tragedy was heightened by their being recent fathers:

Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Davitamon) won Saturday's World Cup opener, the 297km classic, Milan San-Remo. Stay tuned for a complete race wrap-up from Andrew Hood, more photos from Graham Watson and complete results. Meanwhile, to see how today's race unfolded just clickhere, to pull up our Live Update window. The defending World Cup champion of the Quick.Step-Davitamon team won an exciting sprint finish ahead of Mirko Celestino and Luca Paolini.