Dear Lennard Zinn;Everyone knows you don't have to work as hard if you're drafting off the person in front of you. How does your work effort change if someone is drafting behind you?Here is why I ask: I always thought that if you were riding by yourself, then you had to work harder than if somebody was drafting behind you because as you move through the air, it flows past your bike and body and creates turbulence as it swirls around in the void of space behind you. This almost creates a suction behind you pulling you back against your forward progress (if my logic is correct).

With the Sea Otter Classic moving to April this year, one of mountain biking's newest races looks to be reaping the benefits of an open calendar in March. The Nova Desert Classic - which is billing itself as the rebirth of the Cactus Cup - recently announced that Subaru America has come on board as the event's title sponsor. The race is also doing well when it comes to attracting big-time talent. According to a press release issued in mid-December, Subaru-Gary Fisher, Trek-Volkswagen, RLX-Ralph Lauren and the Luna women's team have all committed to showing up in Phoenix for the

It’s been a long and active season on the American cyclo-cross scene this year. Despite the absence of a national series like the SuperCup, the U.S. schedule has offered a full selection of UCI-sanctioned races, leading up to this weekend’s Shimano-USCF Cyclo-cross National Championships at the Domaine Chandon vineyards in Napa, California. The UCI points earned at those events are a valuable commodity for riders hoping to make the U.S. team traveling to the world championships in Monopoli, Italy on the first weekend of February. Topping the list on the women’s side is ClifBar’s Carmen

Organizers of this weekend's national cyclo-cross championship havescheduled a special fundraiser for the American Cyclocross Foundation onSaturday at Downtown Joe’s in Napa, California.Funds raised will directly benefit U.S. athletes selected to race theWorld Championships in Monopoli, Italy in February.“By simply getting a great meal and a few beers, you’re supporting theU.S. team,” said Rick Sutton, president of GaleForce Sports Marketing,which is promoting the event. “We’ve gotten great support from DowntownJoe’s, which has pledged to donate a portion of every beer poured and

Joe Friel is author of the successful "Training Bible" series of books, a regular columnist for VeloNews and Inside Triathlon magazines and the founder of www.ultrafit.com. Dirk Friel races professionally and coaches along with Joe at Ultrafit Associates.The Friels also offer answers to a selection of questions each Wednesday on VeloNews.com. Readers can send questions to Joe and Dirk Friel in care of VeloNews.com at WebLetters@7Dogs.com. (Be sure to include "Friel" in the subject line.) Dear Joe and Dirk Friel;I am 31 years old and from Copenhagen Denmark. I have been racing for two seasons

Fine weather and a fast course welcomed star-studded fields to Napa Valley College for the final round of the Redline Cup of Cyclo-cross, on Sunday December 8, as series leaders Todd Wells and Gina Hall arrived to successfully defend their leads in the West coast series. With the national championships just a week away in nearby Yountville, the Redline Cup finals had dual implications: not only were the daily prizes and series win on the line, but the all-important “natz” starting positions and Worlds' team points also weighed heavily on racers’ minds. Riders battled on a fast course under

Ofoto-Lombardi Sports 2003 team announcement The Ofoto–Lombardi Sports Cycling Team on Friday announced the riders and sponsors for its 2003 squad. New to the team for the 2003 racing season will be: Switzerland’s Roman Peter (ex-Saint-Quentin Oktos), a former world junior cyclo-cross champion; Andy Bajadali, who had a breakout year as an amateur in 2002; Jon Erdelyi, silver medalist at the 2002 U.S. Under-23 Road Championships; and Saul Raisin, a talented young member of the US U-23 national team. The strength of the Team returns for 2003, led by Ireland’s David O’loughlin and America’s

Joe Friel is author of the successful "Training Bible" series of books, a regular columnist for VeloNews and Inside Triathlon magazines and the founder of www.ultrafit.com. Dirk Friel races professionally and coaches along with Joe at Ultrafit Associates.The Friels also offer answers to a selection of questions each Wednesday on VeloNews.com. Readers can send questions to Joe and Dirk Friel in care of VeloNews.com at WebLetters@7Dogs.com. (Be sure to include "Friel" in the subject line.)Dear Joe and Dirk;I love your column. I am not a racer, just a guy who commutes to work every day and rides

With valuable UCI points on offer and only two weeks remaining before the U.S. national cyclo-cross championships, one of the strongest fields of the year lined up at the inaugural UCI Category 3 Saturn Stumptown ’Cross Classic in Portland on December 1. Mongoose-Hyundai’s Marc Gullickson and Clif Bar’s Gina Hall showed their form is on target to make them favorites in two week’s time in Napa, and they each took advantage of solid teamwork to earn the victories. The Saturn Stumptown ’Cross Classic utilized an exciting new Euro-style course at the Jackson Middle School in southwest Portland.

Cold, blustery wind met the riders for the Stedman Co. Grand Prix ofCyclo-Cross, round five of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series. Race promoters used every inch of the South Kingstown, RI venue to create a course some felt was the best yet in the 2002 Verge Series. The excitement of the racing certainly was at a high level, as Johannes Huseby of Independent Fabrication emerged from a strong group of six to take the win by mere inches over British U23 Champion Sean Snodden (Je James). Many considered Huseby's 2001 Verge Series victory at this same venue to be a breakthrough

MALE ROAD RACER OF THE YEARWe’ve rarely had so many great candidates for this prestigious award, butLotto-Adecco’s ROBBIE McEWEN had the best credentials of all. He tookthe most season wins (19), including two stage races, won consistently fromJanuary to October and ended Erik Zabel’s string of green jersey titles atthe Tour de France. He also won multiple stages at the Tour, Giro and Paris-Nice,improved his UCI world ranking from No. 100 to No. 4, and became the firstAustralian to medal in the world pro road race championship. MALE MOUNTAIN-BIKE RACER OF THE YEARNo one was predicting a

The gods have been with the organizers of the Giro d’Italia for the past six years, which have produced six winners from the home nation. That trend could well continue in 2003 because it’s unlikely that Italy’s favorite three riders, Gilberto Simoni (the 2001 winner), Stefano Garzelli (winner in 2000) and Francesco Casagrande (second in 2000) will vaporize as they did in 2002. You will remember that Garzelli won two stages and led the race commandingly this year before being expelled for an inopportune, and still unexplained, positive drug test involving Probenecid –- the easily detected

VeloNews’s North American Awards are for performances on North American soil. RIDE OF THE YEARAs the lead group approached the jam-packed Taylor Street climb at the San Francisco Grand Prix, every spectator was waiting for the inevitable last-lap attack from one of Postal’s big guns, Lance Armstrong or Viatcheslav Ekimov. But when the Russian veteran Ekimov made the move, he was shadowed immediately by young French-Canadian CHARLES DIONNE. After his undermanned 7UP-Nutra Fig team had kept things in check in the first half of the race, Dionne took over late, marking every important move in

Dear VeloNews;The best thing about Mrs. Dunlap is her great personality - she is talented, beautiful and has a great personality.I had a chance of speaking with her during the Redlands bicycle classic and she spoke to me in a manner that you speak to somebody you know for years. Alison definitely deserves and she is a great champion. We love you in southern CaliforniaFred JacobsRowland Heights, CA Nice women finish FIRSTEditors;I am very glad that Alison got this reward. She very much deserved this and she is a very kind person too.Bike BoyMario the ambassadorEditors;Thankfully, in our

There were some tremendous performances by American pros on the global levelin 2002. Tyler Hamilton, Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimerand Floyd Landis all had banner seasons, and in years past any one of themcould have taken this award. But their accomplishments were all eclipsedby those of Lance Armstrong, who again raced at a superior level. Armstrong’s season didn’t get underway until the first World Cup classic,Milan-San Remo on March 23, but he was immediately effective. For the firsttime in his career, Armstrong finished in the front group at San Remo. Thefollowing week

Team T-Mobile, the all-American women's team structured under USA Cycling and sponsored by the wireless subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, introduced their 2003 international squad at a training camp in Arizona over the November 23-24 weekend. The most notable addition to the team is Kimberly Bruckner, formerly of Saturn. Brucker enjoyed a remarkable 2002 season that brought a second consecutive national time trial championship, as well as numerous stage race podiums, including the Cascade Classic (1st), Sea Otter (2nd), Solano (3rd) and the HP Women's Challenge (3rd). Also new to the

It was a tumultuous season for Italian super-sprinter Mario Cipollini, and a breakthrough one as well. In his 14th year as a professional, the 35-year-old achieved a number of firsts. The Lion King wowed us all year long, from taking the World Cup opener in March, to his mid-summer pursuit of Alfredo Binda’s stage-wins record at the Giro d’Italia, and to his rainbow-jersey-winning sprint at October’s world championships. And it wasn’t just his sprint that kept him in the spotlight. There was a bizarre unveiling ceremony for his Acqua & Sapone team, the “Cats”-inspired skinsuit at the Giro and

Spain's former two-time world champion Oscar Freire ended doubts over his future by agreeing to sign a two-year deal with the Dutch Rabobank team in The Hague on Monday. Despite his record of injuries, Freire is considered one of the most talented one-day riders in the pro ranks. After weeks of indecision, the Spaniard finally informed Rabobank officials of his decision, after they had issued an ultimatum. The 26-year-old former Mapei rider, the world road race champion in 1999 and 2001, is expected to help Rabobank in their quest for one-day classic titles. The team's general

Sunday - Redline Cup-Round 1 It didn’t take long for Todd Wells to dismantle the field at the first round of the Redline Cup in Tacoma, Washington, on Sunday. The Mongoose rider and 2002 national cyclo-cross champion broke clear of the field on the first lap with Andy Jacques-Maynes (Clif Bar), then dropped Jacques-Maynes a half lap latter and rolled to a 26-second win in the UCI-sanctioned event. "Todd is way too strong," said Jacques-Maynes, who finished second. "He’s obviously the strongest guy out here. It’s really a race for second. I was feeling great and had a great day yesterday (at

What a week Italian Michele Bartoli has had. A week after being left off the victorious "Squadra Azzurri" at the world championships, rather than slip into "polemica" Bartoli let his legs do the talking. He won Milan-Turin on Wednesday and culminated his revenge tour with a dramatic victory in Saturday's Giro di Lombardia. Bartoli held off compatriot Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Swiss rider Oscar Carmenzind (Phonak) in an exciting sprint to win the finale of the 10-round World Cup series. The victory was Bartoli's second World Cup victory this season (he won Amstel Gold in April) and

Saturday’s final round of the 2002 World Cup was supposed to be a final showdown between Paolo Bettini and Johan Museeuw, but an early start list reveals the Lion of Flanders isn’t taking the start. Bettini heads into the 96th Giro di Lombardia with a nine-point lead over Museeuw, but the Belgian isn’t starting so all the Italian has to do is finish the race and avoid a victory by Spain’s Igor Astarloa – who could bounce into first place if he wins and Bettini finishes out of the points.1. Paolo Bettini, 279 points2. Johan Museeuw, 2703. Igor Astarloa, 180.It isn’t clear yet why Museeuw

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across somethingin the pages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.comthat causes you to want to write us, dropus a line.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to thisaddress, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.So that's why they're blueDear VeloNews,The light blue colour of nearly all Italian national sporting teams (see"Why so Blue?" in Monday's mail - below) comes from the coat-of-arms ofthe Savoia former royal family; the colour stayed after Italy became a republicin 1946 and

A reader asks about regaining confidence after a race crash

Italian newspapers were not in short supply of superlatives Monday after sprinter Mario Cipollini won the men's world championship road race title for the first time in his career. Cipollini, 35, exploded clear of the pack in a mass sprint finish to win the 159-mile race in Zolder, Belgium by two bike lengths on Sunday to become the first Italian since Gianni Bugno in 1992 to win the coveted rainbow jersey. Nicknamed the 'Lion King', Cipollini won with an average speed of 46.538kph, the fastest ever in a world championship, and saw him beat joint favorites Australian Robbie McEwen and

What a year. On Sunday in Zolder, Belgium, Mario Cipollini capped an incredible, sometimes turbulent season by taking the world champion's crown that he has coveted ever since the Zolder course was announced. Cipollini was carried along by a unified Italian squad that delivered him to the line with the precision usually reserved for a well-oiled professional trade team. And at the finish, Cipollini easily beat out Australian Robbie McEwen and German Erik Zabel for the rainbow jersey, and left his two rivals fighting for the scraps. The Zolder course had "sprinter" written all over it, with

Marc Gullickson (Mongoose-Hyundai) won his second straight Verge New England championship cyclo-cross series race of the year at the ECV Cyclo-cross in Gloucester, MA. Unlike last week when "Gully" attacked on the opening lap and rode alone for the rest of the race, this was a tactical win where U.S. National Champion Todd Wells was instrumental in setting up his teammate's victory.

Craziness That’s what I was thinking on the final lap of the world championship road race when it started to rain and riders where falling down all around me. Rain is common in Belgium in October and we had been fortunate our first few days here, as the sun was shining. I arrived Zolder Thursday morning and rode the course with my American teammates. This is the flattest course I have ever raced on at a world championship and this would make the race wide open, as nearly anyone would have a chance depending on how the tactics would play out and what kind of challenges the weather may

European cycling fans never cease to amaze me. It is a total circus around here. Jiri Manus, the U.S. National team director, traveled to Zolder as soon as it was named the home of 2002 World Championships. He staked out the best hotel location for the U.S. contingent, and he did a very good job of it. Our hotels are located right on the course. We can look out our hotel window, watch the race go by, and then rush back to our TV and continue watching it live on EuroSport. I love EuroSport! The road race circuit is the same for all categories; 13.3 kilometers. The entire circuit is

The first successful breakaway of the 2002 World Road Race Championships delivered French junior Arnaud Gerard to victory on Saturday in Zolder, Belgium. Gerard emerged from a six-man group to take the sprint finish ahead of Jukka Vastaranta of Finland and Nicolas Sanderson of Australia. The weather in Zolder was cool and cloudy for the second day in a row, after three days of sunshine earlier in the week for the time trial championships. On Saturday morning, the junior men set a blazing pace from the start as the field of 164 riders exploded off the line, on their way to an average speed of

It was another exciting day at the world championships Saturday under cloudy skies and cool temperatures. French rider Arnaud Gerard won the junior men's road race marred by a horrible finish-line crash that took down a half-dozen riders. Susanne Ljungskog won the women's road race that was equally blighted with spills. The 2002 world's conclude Sunday with the elite men's road race.Wauters hometown hopefulMarc Wauters, a Belgian rider on the Rabobank team, knows every inch of the Zolder world's course. Wauters lives just 5 kilometers away and first rode the course as a young boy.Since then,

Dutch rider Suzanne De Goede sprinted her way to the gold medal in the women's junior road race on a cold Friday morning in Zolder while American Magen Long finished a strong fifth place. Long started the sprint early, but De Goede came around to win in dominant fashion in 1 hour, 59 minutes. German Claudia Stumpf took silver while Swede Monica Holder hung on for the bronze. Long was ecstatic with the solid finish, the best result so far by an American at the 2002 world cycling championships. Long almost didn't come to the world's because he mother is sick back home in the hospital, but

Belgium’s weather turned foul just in time for the road races. Riders woke up to a bone-chilling morning Friday for the junior women’s and U23 road races. Clouds built as the afternoon went on and it never warmed up. Forecasters are calling for a chance of rain Saturday. Italy and Holland were the big winners Friday, with Francesco Chicchi from Italy taking a dramatic U23 bunch sprint marred by a crash in the final 200 meters to the line. Dutch rider Suzanne De Goede won the junior women’s gold medal while American Magen Long took fifth for the best American result so far. Milne's rocky

On the first day of the road races at the world championships in Zolder, Belgium on Friday, things played out the way they were anticipated, with cold, overcast weather and races that boiled down to field sprint finishes. In the under-23 men's race, things worked out perfectly for Italian Francesco Chicchi, who came out of no-man's land to pull off the sprint win on the Circuit Zolder auto racetrack. Chicchi stayed in front of an ugly pileup with 250 meters to go, and then came from six spots back, swooped across the road from right to left, and then came around Dutchman Hans Dekkers at the

At the world time trial championship in Zolder, American Chris Horner had a disappointing ride, finishing in 36th place, but that didn't stop the always-candid Horner during a post-race interview with VeloNews in which he discussed the race, the U.S. prospects for the elite road race and his plans for next year. How did the day go for you? It's all the same thing, huh? It all boils down to having the best legs. That's always what it is, and I guess they just weren't there. I never felt like they came back, like sometimes when you do a time trial they come back. You start off really good,

Fred Rodriguez is the U.S.’s best hope for a world championship title in the elite men's road race. The Domo-Farm Frites rider had an awesome spring, finishing second at Milan-San Remo and Ghent-Wevelgem, but struggled through the Tour de France after coming down with bronchitis during a trip home to the United States in June. Rodriguez, 29, now says he's fully recovered and believes he has as good a chance as anyone to win at Zolder, a course that's been hyped as the "sprinters" worlds since it was revealed. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood spoke with Rodriguez by phone Tuesday

Gentlemen, and ladies, start your engines. Beginning Tuesday at noon with the junior women's individual time trial and concluding Sunday with the elite men's road race, the automobile racetrack in Belgium's Flanders region is the center of the world for road racing. Road racing with two wheels and no motor, that is. The 2002 road cycling world championships are set to get underway. Perhaps it's no mistake that Zolder rhymes with Boulder. During the next six, action-packed days, 10 rainbow jerseys and 30 world championship medals will be awarded. Twenty-five American athletes will be going

Jakob Piil took his most important victory of his career while Paolo Bettini widened his overall World Cup series lead to nine points over rival Johan Museeuw in Sunday's Paris-Tours race. Piil, a 29-year-old Danish rider on the CSC-Tiscali team, was the worthy winner over Frenchman Jacky Durand, who played rope-a-dope over the final 10km in the 253-km World Cup race on a sunny, brisk autumn day in France. Durand refused to take a pull after the pair dropped two riders from an original five-man break that attacked with just 5 km in the monster 252-km race. Durand, who won Paris-Tours in

Richard Virenque may have surprised the field last year, but a peloton full of anxious sprinters is unlikely to allow the once-shamed climber to escape for another win in the relatively flat Paris-Tour World Cup race on Sunday. Virenque, 32, shocked the rest of the field to win last year's Paris-Tours, the penultimate race of the season-long World Cup, after an audacious breakaway in the company of feisty French compatriot Jacky Durand. Welcomed by a legion of fans who have supported him through the agonies of the Festina drugs trial two years ago, Virenque's victory had little effect in

The 96th Paris-Tours on Sunday will be an exciting preview for the upcoming world championships in Zolder. The 257-km course from Saint Arnoult en Yvelines, just south of Paris, rolls through the lush wheat fields in central France to Tours. The course is similar in length to Zolder and doesn’t feature challenging features to break the race, so it will likely be a final chance for the sprinters to stretch their legs before heading to Belgium for the worlds Oct. 8-13. Domo’s Richard Virenque will be back to defend his surprise victory last year when he held on for victory after making an epic

VeloNews technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder, a former U.S.national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bike maintenance.This is Zinn's regular VeloNews.com column devoted to addressing readers'technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riderscan use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can sendbrief technical questions directly to Zinn. We'll try to print a representativesample of questions regularly.First, some follow-up from previous columns:Comment on rim weight:Froma July, 2002 column,"As an aside- the old wheels

Australia is now assured both gold and silver medals in the main event of the world track cycling championships after Jobie Dajka joined compatriot Sean Eadie in the final in Copenhagen Sunday. Dajka, the 20-year-old keirin champion, dominated reigning champion Arnaud Tournant of France over the two legs of their semi-final, minutes after 33-year-old Eadie had ousted Florian Rousseau twice in their semi. Australia, who are leading the gold medals charge here, have not won the men's sprint title since Darryn Hill won in Bogota in 1995.

Australia's Sean Eadie won the world sprint title at the world track cycling championships in Copenhagen Sunday after beating compatriot Jobie Dajka in a third leg decider. It is Australia's first medal in track cycling's main event since Darryn Hill won the sprint title in Bogota in 1995. France, who won all three medals last year, took the bronze when Florian Rousseau held off his compatriot and the reigning champion Arnaud Tournant in their two-heat match. Meanwhile, French duo Jerome Neuville and Franck Perque handed France their only gold medal here when they retained their world

Australian Baden Cooke scraped home in the Paris-Correze cycle race in Brive, France on Sunday to mark up what he rated the best win of his young career. Cooke, who has had possession of the leader's yellow jersey since his opening stage success in the event devised by former Tour de France champion Laurent Fignon, had to dig deep to hold on to his one second overnight lead over Bernhard Eisel of Austria. The 24-year-old really showed his mettle though as he was going so easily he raced alone without the support of his fdjeux.com teammates for much of the stage until Nicolas Vogondy

The Miami Cycling Classic, Sunday, September 29, went a little bit coconuts when Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg pedaled to victory in the course’s first solo finish, according to race manager and producer, Lee Marks of Velo Racing. Chris Wherry of Mercury followed for second and Saturn’s Ivan Dominguez took out Mercury’s Henk Vogels on the line in a bunch sprint for third place in the final race of the Pro Cycling Tour. “That was a great race. It was the first time the race hasn’t ended in a bunch sprint, except for '99 when Mercury with Fraser and Sayers pulled it off,” said Marks. “The race was

Good morning and welcome to stage 20 of the Vuelta a España. Saturday's 141.2-km 20th stage from Avila to the Warner Bros. theme park in the outskirts of Madrid features two category-three climbs — Alto de la Paramera at 15 km and the Alto Navas del Rey at 66 km. It's rolling flat to the finish with a sharp descent about 5 km from the finish. With tomorrow's time trial to come, all expectations are that today's stage will end in a sprint. 3:35 p.m. Just 3km into the race Oscar Laguna (Relax) has gone off the front. Behind him the peloton seems uninterested. 3:45 p.m. With 60km to go Laguna

Chris Newton bounced back from a disappointing performance in the men's team pursuit qualifying to win the points race crown at the world track cycling championships here on Saturday to hand Britain their third gold medal in as many days. Newton, who celebrates his 29th birthday on Sunday, collected a total of 76 points in the 40km endurance race in which 20-30 riders race for bonus points every 2000 meters, or eight laps of the track. Austria's Franz Stocher came second with 50 points while Argentine Juan Curuchet finished third on 49. Newton, who said it was mainly his fault that

Australia's world record holders in the men's team pursuit event won the gold medal at the world track cycling championships in Copenhagen Friday holding off Germany in an exciting final. Australia, who are the medals pace-setters in the competition so far, timed an impressive 4min 00.362sec to add the world crown to the Commonwealth title they won in world record time in August. Germany finished in 4:07.384 with Britain claiming the honors in the match-up for the bronze medal against a sluggish Ukraine. Australia and Britain have emerged as the main attraction at these world

Good morning and welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the 18th stage of the Vuelta a España. Today’s 193-km 18th stage to the ski area at La Covatilla will be Roberto Heras' best chance to seal the Vuelta a España and the last chance for everyone else narrow their losses in what will be Heras' backyard.The stage features four rated climbs: the Category 1 Puerto de Honduras at 116 km, two Cat. 2 climbs at 150 km and 168 km, respectively, and the summit finish up the "especial" climb to La Covatilla. The 9.5-km climb rises 760 meters with an average grade of 8 percent with ramps as steep

The 57th Vuelta a España is coming down to the wire for the second year in a row. Race leader Roberto Heras got time on his closest rival, Aitor Gonzalez, in Thursday’s 193-km 18th stage to the summit finish at La Covatilla. The 37 seconds he gained mean that he has extended overall lead to 1 minute, 12 seconds over the Kelme rider – but will it be enough? “I climbed as well as I could, but this is not the Angliru,” said Heras, who lives in nearby Bejar. “We tried to do some damage on Kelme on the previous climbs, but Aitor was strong today. It went as well as it could today. We got some

Britain’s Chris Hoy won the men's kilometer time trial in dramatic fashion in Copenhagen on Thursday with a blistering time which left France's world champion Arnaud Tournant in second place by the slimmest of margins. The Scot clocked 1:01.893 - the first time of the evening under 1:02 - to relegate Australian Shane Kelly from top spot on the leader board. Kelly, the former three-time world champion, had set the early pace with an impressive 1:02.18. Tournant, the first kilo rider ever to break the minute barrier in a ride at altitude last October in La Paz, is considered the world's

Good morning and welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the 16th stage of the 2002 Vuelta a Espana. Today’s 145-km 17th stage starts in Benavente and rolls over northern Spain's vast meseta to Salamanca, a bustling university town. There are no rated climbs in this stage. The course climbs some 200 feet with two kilometers remaining, but the final kilometer is flat with one gentleleft turn.3:20 p.m. -- We are now 61km into today'sstage. The hoped for respite of a flat stage has been somewhat disruptedby strong crosswinds today. The wind has forced the peloton into echelonsat one point and

It’s 17 down and four to go for the 2002 Vuelta a España. With Thursday’s climbing stage and Sunday’s final-day time trial looming, Wednesday’s 145-km 17th stage worked just about how everyone was hoping: fast, no crashes, no splits and a bunch sprint. Italian Angelo Furlan (Alessio) was the surprise winner in the very fast stage into Salamanca (49.079 kph), nipping aging warrior Erik Zabel (Telekom) by a half-bike length in the final charge to the line. A sweeping left turn 400 meters to go threw the roaring sprinters into a mess. Zabel started first, but Furlan came around his right side

It may not be a high-altitude velodrome in Bolivia, but Arnaud Tournant -the world's fastest man on two wheels over a kilometer - will be the mainattraction when the world track cycling championships click into gear inCopenhagen on Wednesday.Tournant, one of only two cyclists to have won the kilometer world titlefour times, took the event to new heights last October when he smashed hisown record at altitude in La Paz in the first sub-minute time of 58.850secs.Now at a more reasonable height above sea level, Tournant is still everybit as lethal.The 24-year-old Frenchman is the latest star to

Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of the 16th stage of 2002Vuelta a España. Today's 154-km 16th stage from Aviles to León takes the peloton fromSpain's lush northern coast to the high meseta that dominates northern-centralSpain. The stage features the category-one Puerto de Pajares at 89 km. Speeds shouldbe very high as the peloton drops from the Pajares to León. The finalthree kilometers are flat with two hard left turns in the closing kilometer,but straight in the final 800 meters.3:20 p.m. –  We are now 76 kilometers into today's stage. A leadgroup of 13 riders are now on

Colombian Santiago Botero came to this Vuelta a España a favorite for overall victory. After all, he beat Lance Armstrong in a Tour de France time trial and then won a mountain stage and finished fourth overall. Instead, the Kelme rider came into Tuesday’s stage languishing more than 90 minutes behind the leaders. Botero found the winning legs after working a long breakaway to give himself a little redemption and his Kelme team its third stage victory in this Vuelta. “It’s been difficult to keep racing when I was suffering so much, especially up Angliru. I almost quit, but I know that my

Roberto Heras chugged and ground his way to his second stage-victory and the overall race leader’s jersey Sunday in the 2002 Vuelta a España after an impressive display of mind over pain in the 176-km 15th stage that finished with a climb up the brutally steep Angliru. Heras followed a surprising attack by Aitor Gonzalez against Kelme teammate and race leader Oscar Sevilla with eight kilometers to go on the feared Angliru summit hidden in fog and rain. The U.S. Postal Service captain erased a 1:42 deficit to Sevilla and moved 35 seconds ahead of Gonzalez to take the jersey oro for the first

Good morning and welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the 14th stageof the 2002 Vuelta a España. Today’s 190km stage from Santander to Gijón follows the spectacularrugged northern coast along the Atlantic Ocean with three point sprints andtwo, Category 3 climbs in the closing 50 km. We can expect another sprinters’ battle, though today’s finish is a bit moretechnical than most. The finish is straight in downtown Gijón, a bustlingport city, but features three hard left turns in the closing two kilometers.This is this year’s first stage in the Principality of Asturias. The secondedition

A bad crash marred Saturday’s 190-km 14th stage that was supposed to be a reasonably calm prelude to the storm that awaits the Vuelta a España in Sunday’s epic climbing stage to Angliru. Instead of a relatively easy day in the saddle before Sunday’s feared “Hell of the North,” the rolling stage from Santander to Gijon along Spain’s northern coast meant an early departure from the Vuelta for scores of riders. Race leader Oscar Sevilla, along with all the top favorites, survived unscathed, but it wasn’t what the peloton wanted the day before the most decisive stage of the Vuelta. “It was a

Stage 14: 5km ride to start + 9km of neutral + 190km of racing = 204km. And it actuallyt feels like a million. On the profile today it looked fairly flat, but it was far from flat, it was more like a rollercoaster. I'm glad we are up north a little bit and out of some of the heat, but I'm sure I'll be eating my words tomorrow when it's freezing rain going up the famous Angliru. Today started out again balls to the wall from the first kilometer. It's important to be at the front in the neutral because of that. Guys will start coming off the back from the beginning, but after a while,

After being put on hold for a year due to the September 11th attacks, the Univest Grand Prix roared back to life on Saturday, and the American contingent in the men’s peloton came out swinging. The country’s biggest event for elite amateur men rated a 1.6 on the UCI scale this year, and drew teams from the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. A revolving door break began within a mile of the start, when U.S. Elite national champion Scottie Weiss (Go-Mart-West Virginia) went away and was soon joined by Gregorio Bare (UPMC-Fuji), Cedric Barez (France-Alderfer Auction), Jon

Good morning and welcome to VeloNews.com's live coverage of today's 189-km 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The stage from Burgos to Santander takesthe Vuelta to Spain's lush northern coast, which looks more like Irelandthan Spain's postcard image of sunny beaches and olive groves. The stage features three point sprints and four rated climbs - three Category 3 climbs and the Cat. 1 Alto Portillo de la Sia at 106 km. Today's weather is partly cloudy with wind throughout the day. We can expect the chance of rain to increase as we near the finish. 3:28 p.m. -- We are at kilometer 115 of

All of Spain was livid over what racing fans called a clear case of collusion in Friday’s 189-km 13th stage from Burgos to Santander. Four Italians ganged up on a breakaway and Acqua & Sapone’s Giovanni Lombardi snuck away with a stage victory while Spanish fans cried foul. Six riders escaped off the front of a 15-rider breakaway with 80 kilometers to go and looked to have enough time to arrive over the final flats into Santander, but Italian Pietro Caucchioli refused to work. When the chase group caught on, Caucchioli then counter-attacked with Lombardi and two other Italians to arrive at

Good morning and welcome to VeloNews.com’s live coverage of the 12th stageof the Vuelta a Espana.At 210.5km, today’s stage from Segovia to Burgos is the longest of the VueltaThis is a long rolling transition stage across Spain's meseta. Thereare three point sprints and no rated climbs. The finish is straight on overthe final last kilometer.3:25 p.m. -- We are already 160km into today's stage. The averagespeed for the first two hours was well over 51kph. The pace continued atalmost the same speed over the following hour.Right now, we have a break of 18 riders off the front of the field.

With his second-place finish at Sunday’s San Francisco Grand Prix, Mercury’s Henk Vogels moved ahead of teammate Chris Wherry to clinch the overall title for one-day road races in the VeloNews Bro Tour. Despite not winning an event, Vogels was the most consistent over the six-races: Housatonic Valley Classic, the three races of First Union Week, the Saturn Cycling Classic and the San Francisco Grand Prix. Vogels also place second at Housatonic, fourth at the USPRO Championship in Philadelphia and eighth at the First Union Invitational in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Wherry had led Vogels by two

The longest stage of the 57th Vuelta a España came down to a bike-length despite an 18-man breakaway which held the lead for most of the day in a cloudy, rolling 210-km stage from Segovia to Burgos. Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi won a bunch sprint marked by the absence of Mario Cipollini, who packed his bags for Italy last weekend after winning three stages. Without Super Mario, the Vuelta’s other top sprinters fought for left-overs and Petacchi edged Telekom’s Erik Zabel to be king for the day. “The team worked very hard for me and I made a good sprint. I startedwith 250 meters to go

Will sprint for food (and a healthy salary)

Zabel could only look on as Petacchi sprinted for the line.

The 11th stage of the Vuelta a España from Alcobendas toCollado Villalba on Wednesday saw a little bit of everything; rain, sun,wind, escapes, attacks and heartache. Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokourov, suffering from a cold that derailedhis chances in Monday’s individual time trial, did not start after coldrain welcomed the peloton for the start following Tuesday’s rest day. The rain let up, but the attacks didn’t in the 166-km stage up fourrated climbs, including the day’s main obstacle, the category-one Puertode Navacerrada some 24 km from the finish in Collado Villalba. The punishing pace

Aitor Gonzalez delivered the stage-win but Oscar Sevilla delivered the time trial of his life to retain the jersey oro by less than one second in Monday’s stage of the 57th Vuelta Espana. Nearly a year after he lost the Vuelta in a final-day time trial to Angel Casero, Sevilla ripped the 36.5-km course on a rainy Monday afternoon to conserve the race leader’s jersey by less than 1 second. “I’m very content. I went as hard as I could,” said Sevilla, who conceded 40 seconds to Kelme teammate Gonzalez in finishing second. “To keep the lead by one second after so many kilometers, it’s a great

Saturn’s Petra Rossner left no doubt about who was the world’s strongest woman during the 2002 World Cup finale September 15, scoring a come-from-behind victory at the Rotterdam Tour and claiming the series title. Rossner and Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites Hartol) were separated by just 13 points going into the ninth and final round, held on a windswept, 141km course. An early break of 10 riders with four Farm Frites riders and three Saturns was reeled by Team Nurnberger, and Saturn spent the next few kilometers chasing down a flurry of attacks. At 50km, a pileup split the bunch, and Rossner

In just two years, the San Francisco Grand Prix has established itself as the biggest race in America. It may not have the biggest prize list – that belongs to the USPRO Championships in Philadelphia – but San Francisco draws the biggest crowds and the biggest stars. But amidst the huge fanfare, it was the littlest team in the field that came away with the day’s win. 7UP-Nutra Fig may have brought only six riders to San Francisco, but they came out on top, as Charles Dionne sprinted away from a group that included U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong and Viatcheslav Ekimov to take the $10,000 first

Lotto’s Robbie McEwen won the 82nd edition of the Paris-Brussels classic on Saturday, winning a sprint finish to see off German Olaf Pollack and Dutch racer Jans Koerts after a grueling 270km ride. McEwen's patience paid off handsomely as he warmed up for the world championships at Zolder, Belgium, in a month's time. Frenchman Jacky Durand set off on an early solo attack and spent 180 kilometers out in front on his own but the peloton reined him in and McEwen seized the moment and the race after brief attacks from Italian pair Daniele Nardello and Michele Bartoli. Over the final 10

America's latest road world championships team member doesn't speak a word of English, but that's not slowing him down. Guido Trenti, 29, will be racing in his first world championships, but his selection to the US road worlds team has created a firestorm back in the States because he was picked instead of another American. Trenti's name has popped up in Euro-side results sheet for years, always listed as an American rider even though he was born and raised in Italy. His stage victory in last year's Vuelta is recorded as the only American stage-win in the Spanish

On a sunny day in the shadow of Mission San Rafael, the men’s professional road teams warmed up for Sunday’s San Francisco Grand Prix, but for the women, it was an important showdown in the Pro Cycling Tour at the San Rafael Cycling Classic. Overcoming full teams from Saturn and Diet Rite, Laura Van Gilder (Trek Plus) pulled off a convincing win and moved into the overall lead of the PCT. In the men’s race, Mercury launched Gord Fraser past the Prime Alliance leadout train and delivered the Canadian to the win. In the absence of Tour leader Petra Rossner (Saturn), Van Gilder was poised to

It was a repeat performance for the Lion King on Friday as Mario Cipollinitook his third stage win at the 2002 Vuelta a España taking a furiousfield sprint into the coastal city of Málaga.Cipollini and his Acqua e Sapone team held back until the final two kilometersbefore launching a text-book lead-out for their super sprinter. On the wheelof his reliable lead-out man Giovanni Lombardi, Cipollini easily beat theVuelta's points leader Erik Zabel (Telekom). Kelme's Oscar Sevilla finishedwith the main field and retains the overall lead in the Vuelta.Check back soon for complete results, a stage

Acqua & Sapone put down a text-book sprint Friday to deliver Mario Cipollini his third stage-win in the 2002 Vuelta a España that was executed so well it should be taught in Cycling 101. Cipo's boys in zebra stripes were flawless. They helped reel in a breakaway, hammered at the front leading into Malaga and then the Lion King rode the rails to victory in the 196-km seventh stage from Jaen to Malaga. With speeds topping 65kph, Mario Scirea pulled until 2 km to go, then Italian-American Guido Trenti took over until 1 km to go, followed by final set-up man Giovanni Lombardi pulled to 400

Live updates from Stage 6 Good morning to our U.S. audience. Welcome to Thrsday’s live coverage ofthe sixth stage of the 2002 Vuelta a España. Stage six is a 153kmrace from Granada to Sierra de la Pandera. This is a difficult rolling stage leading to a "special category" summitfinish at La Pandera at 1840 meters. There are three point sprints en routeand the category-three Alto de la Encebras at 46 km, the category-two Puertode los Villares at 140 km and the eight-km climbing finish to La Pandera.The short, but steep climb features ramps as steep as 15 percent with anaverage grade of 6.4

Kelme's Oscar Sevilla finally did Wednesday what he couldn't do at theTour de France. Sevilla attacked hard on the first major climbing stage in the 2002Vuelta a España and, although he didn't deliver a knockout blow,he let everyone else know he's now the man to beat. Sevilla jumped with five kilometers to go and left the rest of the favoritesin his wake. U.S. Postal's Roberto Heras, ONCE's Joseba Beloki and ItaliansGilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande all lost nearly a full minuteto "El Nino." Sevilla couldn't reel in Cofidis' Guido Trentin, who scored Italy'sfourth straight stage at

La Vuelta: Live updates from Stage 4 Good morning to our American audience. Welcome to VeloNews.com's live coverage of Stage 4 of the 2002 Vuelta a España, another short and fast day that should favor sprinters like Erik Zabel and Mario Cipollini, who took yesterday’s 134-km stage to Murcia. Today’s 149.5-kilometer ride from Aguilas to Roquetas de Mar opens witha 60km jaunt along the Mediterranean and then cuts inland, across the Cabode Gata and then heads to a finishing flat again along the Mediterraneanat Roquetas de Mar. There are three "hot sprints" along the route and no mountain

For the third day in a row, an Italian won a stage in the 57th Vueltaa España. For the second day in a row, it was Mario Cipollini witharms wide spread. El Rey Leon, as the Lion King is called in Spanish, made it lookeasy in Tuesday’s 149-km fourth stage from Aguilas to Roquetas de Mar alongSpain’s white-hot Mediterranean Coast. Cipo easily won the stage and senta strong signal to his would-be rivals for next month’s world championships. “It was another fabulous work by my team. They put me in perfect positionand (Giovanni) Lombardi did great work as the last man,” said Cipolliniafter