Dear Monique: I am a 53-year-old triathlete who has been competing for more than 20 years. Recently I have been having difficulty in keeping my weight up. Genetically I am lean. I do my best to consume calories before, during, and after workouts and throughout the day. My training involves weight lifting and stretching, as well as the three disciplines. I have read that HMB will prevent protein catabolism and may increase weight gain. It is also said to promote recovery. I would appreciate your opinion of this supplement and any guidance on maintaining my body weight. -- ST Dear Monique:

There was a change in the weather in Spain’s Andalucia on Tuesday and a leadership change in the Ruta del Sol. The sun was nowhere to be seen as fog, cold and rain welcomed the peloton for the first stage in what’s called the “race of the sun.” Kelme’s Javier Pascual Llorente got out of the cold first, winning the Ruta’s 166-km third stage and catapulted into the overall lead. The stage from Sevilla was dead flat until it reached the short, but steep category-one climb to the Sanctuario de Nuestra Senora de Araceli high in the rugged mountains in southern Spain. The lead peloton split

I have a new pair of Sidi shoes and am considering going from Lookpedals to either Campy Record Pro-Fit Plus or Shimano DuraAce SPD-SL's.Which, if either, will work better with the Sidi sole and plate? Will I need to get longer cleat bolts for either system?  Will I needto use the Sidi plate with either system?How about Sidi with Ritchey Road pedals?  (I understand the Ritcheycleat is a 2-hole SPD style.) --PhilDear Phil;For the Campy or new Shimano SPD-SL pedals, you will use the sameSidi plate you did with the Looks, and both pedals will work identicallywith that shoe as the Looks did. The

If Oscar Freire was happy after winning Sunday’s opening stage of the 49th Vuelta Ciclista a Andalucia – the Ruta del Sol – he was downright ecstatic Monday when he roared to his second straight stage-win. Freire put down a blistering sprint with 350 meters to go, easily holding off nemesis Erik Zabel who couldn’t come around him in the finale of the rolling 165-km stage between Sevilla and Huelva in Spain’s sunny Andalucia region. AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu – winner of two races already this month -- nearly picked Freire’s pocket with a late charge on the left side of the finishing

Genèviève Jeanson (Rona-Esker) won a field sprint on Saturdayto go two for two at the 2003 John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun stagerace outside Tempe, Arizona, while Mark McCormack (Saturn) outfoxed a smalllead group to take his first victory.A three-man group that included Adam Livingston (Schroeder Iron) and ABDCycling teammates Frank Pipp and John Puffer slipped away from the bunchafter Saturn’s Ivan Dominguez won the KoM, building a lead of nearly threeminutes on the 16-mile circuit. But they were retrieved late in the 89-milerace, and a flurry of attacks eventually saw McCormack,

Giro d’Italia winner Paolo Savoldelli (Telekom) is recovering in hospital after being knocked over by a motorcycle during a pre-season training ride in Tenerife, Spain, Saturday. The Italian, one of the new stars recruited by the German Telekom squad, was admitted to a local hospital with fractures to his nose and mouth. He was due to be transferred to the university clinic at Fribourg-en-Brisgau in Germany to undergo surgery. Savoldelli had been expected to line up in the Telekom jersey for the first time in the Tour of Valencia in Spain on February 25. Another new face in his German

After two days of moderately difficult rides, the Navigators decided to head out for what was deemed an "easy" day in the saddle, though it hardly turned out that way. From the sound of things, the pace was easy for the 10km to Bolgheri, and then someone went to the front and turned on the gas. Henk Vogels wasn’t to blame this time - I saw him and Ryan Guay leaving quietly on their own, about 15 minutes after the rest, for a truly easy, flat 50km. Given my present level of fitness (or more accurately, the lack thereof), I skipped the ride entirely and caught up with the mechanics to discuss

Rabobank’s Bram Degroot won the 112km opening stage of the 30th Tour of the Mediterranean on Wednesday. The Dutch rider bested 2002 World Cup champion Paolo Bettini in a sprint to the finish in Arma di Taggia along Italy’s Mediterranean coast. The 150 riders, who left the start in Taggia maintained a moderate pace until the day’s first major challenge, the col du San Bortolomeo, a category 1 climb at that peaked out at the 69-kilometer mark. Bettini tried his luck with a solo attack, but was reeled back in as Phonak’s Miguel Martinez drove a strong chase. With 20 kilometers remaining, a

Chances of anything significant happening on the last day of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi were slim when the day started. But when race officials neutralized the race two laps into the 12-lap criterium because of threatening skies, Tom Danielson and his Saturn team could sit back and coast, assured that the 24-year-old from Durango, Colorado was going home with a yellow jersey in his suitcase.

Brown and Bongiorno battle in the sprint...

How good could Tom Danielson be? Consider this. In the moments after finishing just an eyelash behind stage winner Hernan Dario Munoz on stage 9 of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi, the 24-year-old seemed more upset by the fact that he’d lost the stage than exultant that he’d just all but locked up the overall title in the fourth richest stage race in the world.

Someday someone will actually pull it off here in Malaysia. Break away from the field early in the race, hammer hard for a few hours, and catch the peloton napping just long enough to grab a solo victory. That day, however, was not today. Despite a Herculean effort from the increasingly famous Koji Fukushima, the eighth stage of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi ended with another mad-dash sprint at the end. And like he did two days before, Australian Stuart O’Grady came away the winner.

Saturn’s plan all along, if it worked, was to have Tom Danielson sporting the yellow jersey come the final day of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi. It just wasn’t supposed to happen this early.

Stuart O’Grady just shrugged his shoulders when asked the last time he’d won a bunch sprint like the one that concluded stage 6 of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi. “I don’t know,” he said after a brief pause. “It’s been a while.” Indeed, until Wednesday, it had been nearly three years since the Credit Agricole rider had broken through with a win like the one he grabbed at the end of the 136.3km run from Marang to Cukai on another scorcher of a day in Malaysia. Before that you had to go all the way back to the third stage of the Midi-Libre in May of 2000.

Several minutes have passed since the conclusion of the second stage of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi, but Stuart O’Grady’s motor is still redlined. Moments ago two ugly crashes in the last kilometer of the stage left at least a dozen riders bumped, bruised or worse. Among them are several of O’Grady’s Credit Agricole teammates. Normally O’Grady isn’t one for drama, but the cause of all this carnage has been placed on one of his competitors, a young ambitious Argentinean who rides for the Italian Ceremiche-Panaria team. “It was the most ridiculous sprinting I’ve ever seen,” O’Grady recalls.

Italian sprinter Fabio Baldato spoiled the Frenchies' party Wednesday in the opening stage of the five-day Etoile de Besseges in southern France. Alessio rider Baldato covered the 153.5km stage from St. Cannat to Sainte Tulle in 3 hours, 47 minutes and 6 seconds, edging French rider Franck Bouyer (Brioche La Boulangere) and Mickael Skelde (EDS-Fakta) to score the win. The race continues Thursday with a 150km circuit course in Marseille. Galvez scores second victory in Mallorca Challenge Kelme's Isaac Galvez snagged his second victory in Wednesday's mass sprint in the fourth

Leaning against the Ceremiche-Panaria team van 20 minutes before the start of stage 5, Graeme Brown was very matter of fact about the first four days of 2003 Tour de Langkawi. Sure the Aussie, who went neck and neck with Mario Cipollini at last year’s Giro, had been beaten in three straight sprints by a younger, brasher foe. But Brown wasn’t ready to concede anything to Mendonca Pagliarini, the 24-year-old Brazilian Lampre rider who’d won three straight sprint finishes here in Malaysia.

The French racing season opened Tuesday with Ludo Dierckxsens (Landbouwkrediet) winning the GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, 150km from Gardanne to Aubagne near Marseille. The race was marked by a long breakaway by nine riders that took advantage of favorable winds to build an insurmountable lead that was more than half-an-hour by the finish. In the closing kilometers, Magnus Backstedt (Credit Agricole) attacked, only to be joined by Dierckxsens, who beat the Swede to the line. Most teams who competed on Tuesday will stay on for the 33rd Etoile de Besseges, which enters the Bouches region

One star continued to shine, while another emerged at the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia on Sunday. For the third straight day Brazilian Mendonca Pagliarini took top honors in a bunch sprint, this time winning the 172.9km stage 4 trip from Gerik to Tanah Merah. But getting equal billing on this day was Canadian mountain biker Roland Green, who showed it didn’t matter whether it was dirt or tarmac when it comes to climbing.

American Fred Rodriguez started his 2003 season off with a strong second-place finish in Sunday’s GP Costa del Etruschi in Italy, finishing just behind winner Jaan Kirsipuu. Several riders broke away in the opening Italian race of the 2003 season, but were brought back for a bunch sprint. Kirsipuu, who typically starts the season strong, edged Rodriguez. The news is good for Rodriguez, who joined Sidermec (formerly Tacconi Sport) in December. Rodriguez is hoping to move up one step this spring following his impressive performance last year when he finished second to Mario Cipollini in

The third day of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi lacked the bloody drama of its predecessor, but when the bunch cleared the line in the mining city of Ipoh the result was the same. For the second day in a row Brazilian Mendonca Pagliarini took a sprint-finish win in Malaysia. The pair of victories are the first of the 24-year-old’s 2-year pro cycling career. In the chase for the overall, there was no change at the top, as Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill maintained his 23-second lead over Canadian national team rider Roland Green.

It has to be cause for concern when you look around and see you’re off the front of a bike race with only a two-time world champion on your wheel … and Daphny van den Brandt is no different than anyone else. “I was worried,” Van den Brandt said after earning her first world title in the women’s cyclo-cross world championship in Monopoli, Italy on Sunday. “If you have Hanka Kupfernagel with you in a cyclo-cross race, there really is no time you can relax.” Like virtually every other race on the world’s course in Monopoli this weekend, the outcome of the women’s event was decided largely on

The finish stretch for the second day of the 2003 Tour de Langkawi looked to be perfect for a clean, hard-fought sprint. The road was wide and the final straightaway long. But after what overall race leader Nathan O’Neill called “a bunch of guys racing like it was the last crusade,” two major crashes wreaked havoc on stage 2 Saturday in Malaysia. In the aftermath, Saturn’s Charles Dionne was one of at least a half dozen riders who ended up in the hospital, suffering from a severe laceration on his left thigh and several broken fingers according to a hospital official. Up front Mendonca

Italian Alberto Loddo (Lampre) won Friday's mass field sprint to take the opening stage of the Tour of Qatar, a 90km circuit in Doha. Under sunny skies, Loddo beat out Frenchman Damien Nazon (Brioches La Boulangere) and Italian Massimo Strazzer (Phonak) and claimed the race leader's gold jersey. Loddo counted heavily on his Lampre teammates to bring back the main breakaway duo of the day, consisting of Christophe Kern (Brioches La Boulangere) and Michael Blaudzun (CSC), whose lead reached a maximum of 1:25. In the overall standings, Loddo leads Strazzer by three seconds, and Nazon by

Dear Lennard Zinn;We've been looking around for a good road bike for my girlfriend andone thing we've noticed is that the Shimano STI shifters do not fit herparticularly well. She has relatively small hands and the levers are justtoo far away from the bar for her to comfortably brake. I believe thatShimano addressed this issue in the mountain bike brake set up, but dothey or anyone else address it in the road arena? --MikeDear Mike;There is no alternative, short brake lever from Campagnolo or Shimanowith an integrated shift lever like ErgoPower or STI in it. You can addressit with the

Ag2R's Mikel Astarloza relied on the sprinting prowess of his teammate Jaan Kirsipuu to hold off a final stage challenge from Stuart O'Grady, and a host of other Australians, hoping to keep the Spaniard from claiming the overall title at the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under. Meanwhile, Ceramiche-Panaria powerhouse Graeme Brown should have had little reason to complain after surviving a week of frustration to finally win a stage in this year’s race.

Gianpaolo Caruso catapulted himself into a thrilling four-way battle for overall victory in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under by winning Saturday’s 147km fifth stage. Caruso, 22 and the 2001 Under 23 World Championship silver medalist, won the tough Wilunga circuit race in scorching 44C degree heat outsprinting a 10-man lead breakaway. In his second season with the Spanish ONCE team, Caruso beat Germany’s Stefan Weseman (Telekom) and Italian Paolo Lanfranchi (Panaria) for his first victory as a professional. He is now tied for third overall at 4 seconds behind new race leader, Spain’s

Caruso takes the sprint into Willunga

Fabio Sacchi says he is enjoying the scorching heat of South Australia that baked the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under peloton with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Friday. But when asked about the heat Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen is putting upon his overall lead in the six-stage race that ends on Sunday, the Saeco leader becomes a bit wary. After the 144km fourth stage from Unley to Goolwa on Friday, Sacchi’s overall lead on McEwen dropped from 10 seconds to eight. Racing into a head wind, Australia’s Baden Cooke (FDJeux.com) won the leg in a sprint from Graeme Brown (Panaria), Stuart

With Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown battling the final sprint in the third stage of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under on Thursday, surprisingly much of the day’s attention was turned to a war of words between race leader Fabio Sacchi (Saeco) and Aussie Stuart O’Grady. Sacchi blasted the Credit Agricole star for questioning the abilities of the visiting Italian team. Sacchi, who continued to hold the race leader’s jersey after the third stage from Glenelg to Hahndorf, was upset over comments made by O’Grady in his daily newspaper column. Published in the local Adelaide newspaper The

Saeco’s Fabio Sacchi has learned one thing about racing in Australia: forget trusting anyone, even your mates. Sacchi took the race lead by winning yesterday's second stage through the Barossa Valley to Kapunda. The result continues the Milan rider's success in the event, which includes two spells in the yellow leader's jersey and a stage win from the 2001 and 2002 races. Asked what his past appearances in the race had taught him, he said he came away with just one clear lesson. “I learned not to trust anyone, including your friends,” Sacchi noted. By Sunday, when the 735km race ends in

All the efforts by Australian sprinter Graeme Brown to shed his label as a dirty sprinter were forgotten Tuesday when he was relegated from first place in stage one of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under. After crossing the line first in the 50km criterium in East End Adelaide, Brown, 23, was found guilty of not holding his line in the sprint and dangerous riding. The decision followed a 15-minute deliberation by race commisssaires following a protest by Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) who was third to finish. McEwen’s complaint was lodged to chief race commissaire John McDonnell of New Zealand

To the casual observer, road racing looks like an individual sport. Racers and educated spectators, however, know this is not the case at all. The sport is really like a complex chess game on wheels, in which attacks, blocks, and sacrifices are constant, right up to the finish line. This is most obvious when watching a top professional team, such as the U.S. Postal squad, during the Tour de France. However, by following some basic guidelines, even an amateur club team can employ team strategy and tactics for one-day road races and criteriums. KNOW YOUR ROLESIn laying out the team’s strategy

Dear Editors,Totally agree with Brad Libby. This sport seems to get more and more expensive. By the time my daughter may want to race, the fees will be $100 for a licenseLet's not hit people that are starting with high fees. Let’s find another way of getting the money.Pros could possibly work it into their budget when they make a proposal to a sponsor. The promoter could do the same. I know it's a lot of work to promote a bike race, but just pencil it into the budget: Free registration to all beginners.(See Brad Libby’s letter, “Give it up for the sport you love”)We've got to

Dear readers;I get a lot of questions about cranks – crank lengths, non-standardcranks, compatibility, etc., so I thought I’d just combine a number ofthem here.  --LennardDear Lennard;I would like to read your comments or opinions on a product calledPowerCranks (see at Powercranks.com). I would like to buy a pair to improvemy technique. Thanks for your help. --HeltonDear Helton;PowerCranks are cranks with a clutch bearing at the bottom-bracketconnection in order to only engage the bottom bracket in the forward direction.You can only keep them turning if you pull up and around the entire

Everyone’s crazy except you and me, and I’ve been wondering about you lately.- AnonymousThe VeloNews.com letters column has been stuffed like a Florida ballot box of late with informed opinions about masters and juniors, rednecks and yuppies, and SUVs. Pretty much everyone agrees that one or another of these things sucks like a Hoover upright crosswired to a black hole, especially those SUVs. And it's true, the land-schooner commanders - soccer moms, George C. Scott-as-George S. Patton wanna-bes, and bondage aficionados with sweaty dreams of perpetual confinement in steel and leather

Editors,It may have played itself out in letters already, but I wanted to tossout a reply, as a master, and level the field a bit.I can honestly say that for every young rider with an attitude, I havecome in contact with a masters rider with not only a superiority complex,but also the unfortunate ability to make their comments and actions twiceas bad because they have the experience to pour salt in the wound withthe accuracy of a Navy SEAL sniper.I have met more than my share of "I am so above it all,” know-everything,critical-of-anyone, snobbish, nose-in-the-air,

Dear Joe and Dirk:I have been reading some European studies on stationary trainers and how the inertia of the trainer affects the muscle fibers. The studies say thatlow inertia trainers cause the rider to use all fast twitch muscle fibers and high inertia trainers with large flywheels use slow twitch muscle fibersthe ones predominantly used in road racing and triathlon.I have spoken to some triathlon and cycling coaches and they all agreed. Do you guys have any information on this subject?Thank you,ChuckDear ChuckNeither of us has ever seen such research and tend to doubt that there is such a

I resolve to try and emulate daily in some small way the grace, dignity,humor, good nature, and integrity of two friends sorely missed by many, JohnPavlat and Chris Ethridge. MikeMaverick Sports PromotionsEditors;I resolve to:1) Start slow and ease off.2) Thank the Lord that I can still ride.3) Help those who can’t ride find something to channel their passion.4) Raise as much money as I can for my daughter’s Children’s Hospital.5) Tell my family and friends that “I love them” each day.6) Pray for peace.7) And “kick butt and win a race this year”.Ron Heimburger Tampa, FLEditors,I resolve to do

Dear Mr. Friel;As a serious, mostly self-coached junior racer I have a couple questionswith regards to planning my season. This past year was my first season racing(as well as my first experience cycling seriously at all) and I found shortlythat I had some amount of potential, winning the senior sport classes inlocal mountain bike races, and doing well in group rides. Encouraged by thismodest success, I began putting in substantial miles of training on the road.I ended up riding an average of 500 miles a week (25+hrs) for a little overthree months of the summer, all at very low intensity,

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