Prime Alliance rider Jonas Carney has been in Wisconsin since the start of the International Cycling Classic (Super Week). This is his latest report. stupor Stu"por, n. [L., from stupere to be struck senseless.] Intellectual insensibility; moral stupidity; heedlessness or inattention to one's interests. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. Four more stages are complete here at the 2002 International Cycling Classic. It looks as though Hilton Clark (Schroeder) will battle to the death with Viktor, the Russian Concussion, Rapinski. Viktor is actually the

The biggest purse track event in North America, the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge concluded Sunday. A stiff breeze made the homestretch about 3 mph slower than the backstretch and a baking hot sun further added to the difficulties. Conditions, however, did not deter the athletes from some record-breaking performances nor hundreds of fans from packing the bleachers and lining the rails of the 268-meter track located on the grounds of the Alpenrose Dairy in the Southwest hills of Portland, Oregon. The day started with sprint qualifiers for women and masters and the close proximity of

Richard Virenque of the Domo-Farm Frites team hungtough to win a remarkable stage victory on the summit of Mont Ventoux Sunday, while Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal Service left all of hismain rivals in the dust to consolidate his yellow jersey and pull 4:21ahead of runner-up Joseba Beloki of ONCE-Eroski. This challenging 221km stage 14 from Lodève also had its victims.Former race leader Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano of ONCE-Eroski droppedout of third place, while Colombian Santiago Botero of Kelme-CostaBlanca cracked on the above-category 21km Ventoux climb and tumbled outof fifth into 18th

5:23 p.m. PRELIMINARY STAGE RESULTS1. Richard Virenque (Fra), DFF, 221 km in 5:43:26. 38.610 kph) 2. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus), A2R, at ˆ 01:58. 3. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at 02:20. 4. Marco Serpellini (Ita), LAM, at 02:54. 5. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 03:36. 6. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at 03:39. 7. Francisco Mancebo (Esp), BAN, at 03:51. 8. Joseba Beloki (Esp), ONE, at 04:05. 9. Dariusz Baranowski (Pol), BAN, at 04:10. 10. Ivan Gotti (Ita), ALS, at 04:16. 11. Levi Leipheimer (USA), RAB, at 04:25. 12. Jose Azevedo (Por), ONE, at 04:45. 13. Stephane Goubert (Fra), DEL, at

If two days in the Pyrénées didn’t create enough heat inthe 2002 Tour de France, the sun made sure it was hot on Saturday’s fast,windy 171km stage 13 from Lavelanet to Béziers. Temperatures soared as the Tour rolled out of the foothills of the Pyrénéeswith an appointment with Mont Ventoux awaiting on Sunday. First, therewas a hot day in the saddle to finish. The French made a mass exodus for the beach as the summer holiday seasonstarted, but vacation wasn’t on the mind of Laurent Jalabert. Thesoon-to-be-retired Frenchman will have plenty of time to lie on the beachonce he hangs up the

5:24 p.m. With the sprint starting with a lead-out from Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd for O'Grady. Telekom comes to the front. The traffic is heavy and it's a mess at the front. The two main points contenders do not win the field sprint, but McEwen nis Zabel at the line, giving him a one-point advantage for the day and putting the two men in a tie on the points standings. 5:23 p.m. We are in the final kilometer. 5:22 p.m. The peloton is heading in to town. The gap is still large. McEwen is active and antsy near the front. Zabel is close by. 5:28 p.m. Now the next big contest will be

When Lance Armstrong says that Mont Ventoux is “the hardest climb we’lldo this year,” you know he means it. He clarified that statement by sayingSunday’s 221km stage from Lodève to the 6273-foot Ventoux summitmay not be the most difficult stage, because there are no other climbs.But when you have already been riding on rough, rolling roads in 90-degreeheat for more than five hours, the sudden effort of scaling a 21.5km climbhas an added bite. The severity of the climb cannot be exaggerated. As the French cyclistRaphaël Geminiani said on a stage of the 1955 Tour: “Easy Ferdi, theVentoux is

The 2002 Tour de France is going to end up being a great teaching tool for cycling coaches. All you have to do is go back and watch the way the tactics have unfolded each day. The final 20 kilometers of Stage 8 and Stage 13 should be used to teach racers how to win races from a breakaway. Today David Millar pulled off a perfect counterattack to reduce the leading group from 11 to five men; thereby increasing his chances of getting the stage win. Millar’s attack was critical to the end result of the stage because he was in a breakaway with two iBanesto teammates and two Rabobank teammates.

At the start line of next weekend’s International in Altoona, PA, there will be new faces sporting the stars and stripes jersey of national champion. Team Saturn’s 24 year-old Jessica Phillips took her first win of the year-- and the biggest of her young career-- in downtown Nashville Sunday, winning the women’s USCF Elite national championship in a two-up sprint. In the men’s race, Scottie Weiss, 30, of the West Virginia/GoMart squad won a hot and sweaty 118.8-mile race, breaking away from a five-man split to cross the line alone. Taking home the title of women’s national Espoir champion

Talk about having rules to match the occasion. The Tour de France (dis)organization race jury have excelled themselves this time. A look at the green points jersey classification after stage 13 fromLavelanet to Beziers was a case in point. First glance shows Australian Robbie McEwen (Lotto) having taken the green jersey back from Erik Zabel (Telekom) after outsprinting the German for second place in the bunch sprint. McEwen's 13th place on the stage (offering 13 points) against Zabel's 14th (offering 12) now leaves them tied on 229 points and with the battle destined to go down to the

The Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge continued Saturday in Portland, Oregon in sunny and breezy conditions. Anyone who thinks that track racing is dead has not been to the AVC as hundreds of spectators packed the bleachers to enjoy the warm weather and some hot racing. The morning session began with U.S. 200 meter record holder Jeffrey LaBauve (Focus 2004) knocking down another of Marty Nothstein’s marks, and this time it was the 200 meter time trial record (11:44) that Nothstein set last year. LaBauve blazed around the track in 11:34 to best Stephen Alfred (11:77) and Canadian Keith Bruneau

The sun was shining on Lance Armstrong at Friday’s 199km stage12 of the 2002 Tour de France. The three-time defending champion woke upwearing the maillot jaune for the 37th day of his career. Movie star buddyRobin Williams kept things light at the start, joking with fans and signingautographs. And though Friday’s hot, long, five-climb stage through theFrench Pyrénées was much harder than Thursday’s two-climbstage, the result was the same. Armstrong won the stage in a much more familiar style, attacking with6km to go. He dropped a group of 11 riders and finished alone. ONCE’s Joseba Beloki

5:00 p.m. Heras attacks and takes second, 1:03 behind Armstrong. Beloki takes third at 1:05. 4:58 p.m. Armstrong wins it. 4:57 p.m. With kilometer to go, Armstrong has about 1:00 on Beloki and Heras. 4:56 p.m. Any questions? Armstrong has a lock on the stage, his 14th stage win at the Tour. 4:55 p.m. With 2km to go, Armstrong continues to power through to the finish. He has 32 seconds on Beloki and Heras. 4:51 p.m. With 3km to go, Heras has given up the chase and will shadow Beloki to the finish. Heras just could not close the gap to Armstrong, so the Postal leader will power into the

After finishing their punishing climb to the Plateau de Beille summit Friday evening, most of the 166 survivors in the Tour de France had to turn around and ride back down to their team buses, awaiting them in the valley. The only two who took alternative transport were the two most popular media interviewees Laurent Jalabert (who hitched a ride on a police motorcycle) and Lance Armstrong (who was seen heading for a helicopter). As for the press, we were still filing stories at 10 p.m., and crawled down the 16 kilometers of steep switchbacks in a slow-moving line of traffic. It’s now almost

The Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, now the biggest purse track event in North America, opened Friday in Portland, Oregon with the time trial events. Despite cool, cloudy, and breezy conditions the steeply banked 268 meter oval and noisy crowd drew out some outstanding performances. The highlights included a new track record in the pursuit and a near-miss in the Kilometer. Perennial pursuit power Mike Tillman of Schroeder Iron won the Men’s 4000m Individual Pursuit final in 4:54:23. Chris Carlson’s old mark of 4:54:87 dated back to the EDS Cup held here in 1997. World Masters Champion

Preliminary Stage Results1. Lance Armstrong (USA), USP, at , 158 km in 4:21:57. (36.190 km)2. Joseba Beloki (Sp), ONE, at ˆ 00:07.3. Roberto Heras (Sp), USP, at 00:13.4. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), BAN, at 01:16.5. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit), LAM, at 01:16.6. Oscar Sevilla (Sp), KEL, at 01:23.7. Ivan Basso (Ita), FAS, at 01:23.8. Andrei Kivilev (Kzk), COF, at 01:34.9. Laurent Jalabert (Fra), CST, at 01:49.10. Jose Azevedo (Por), ONE, at 01:52.11. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Sp), ONE, at 01:54.12. Christophe Moreau (Fra), C.A, at 01:57.13. Massimiliano Lelli (Ita), COF, at 01:57.14. David Moncoutie (Fra),

Lance Armstrong is back in his favorite color of summer. The three-time defending champion won Thursday’s 158km stage 11, eraseda 26-second deficit and moved into the overall race lead, just as everyonehad expected. To hear Armstrong tell the tale, however, it wasn’t quite as easy asin years past. Yes, he made his trademark move in the first mountain stage.Yes, he took time out of his opponents. But Armstrong said he couldn’thave done it without superb work from his U.S. Postal Service teammates. Hundreds of American fans showed up to watch the fireworks. And plentythere were. It was

The French finally earned their stage win in this year’s Tour de France.After being skunked on Bastille Day by the Dutch, Jean Delatour’s PatriceHalgand scored one for the home country at Pau on Wednesday. This short, 147km stage 10 was an appetizer before one of the 89th Tour’smain courses: the first climbing stage in the Pyrénées. Thoseamong the 181 riders remaining in the peloton who are hoping to fight forthe final podium know they will have to be at their best to tackle theCat. 1 climb that leads to the finish at La Mongie. On Wednesday, Spanish hero Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano

5:10 p.m. McEwen wins the field sprint and takes over the green points jersey, beating Baden Cooke and Erik Zabel to the line. 5:05 p.m. Halgand wins! Pineau takes the sprint for second! 5:04 p.m. With 1km to go, Halgand is still flying. He's got the stage win. 5:03 p.m. With 2km to go, Halgand has it in the bag. He's got a 20-second advantage over the three chasers. 4:59 p.m. Race radio gives the Jean Delatour rider an advantage of 12 seconds over the three chasers, with 4km to go. 4:55 p.m. Halgand is still out there with a 100-meter advantage with 5km to go. He could be the first

Editor’s note: Prime Alliance’s Jonas Carney will be checking in periodically from Super Week in Wisconsin. This is his first report. Some people call it Super Week. Some people call it Stupid Week. I prefer Stupor Week. Nobody calls it the International Cycling Classic. Anyway, it's happening again this year in the smarmy July heat of Wisconsin, just as it has for the last 33 years. Sixteen stages in 16 days, consisting of 11 criteriums and five road races. Some racers, like Roberto Gaggioli, love this event and return year after year. Others detest having to do 100km criteriums almost

After Sunday's final stage at Cascade-- a short criterium course won by Saturn's Chris Fisher and Hutch's Sandy Espeseth-- there was no change in the overall standings, sealing victory for Chris Wherry (Mercury) and Kimberly Bruckner (Saturn). Entering the criterium, Bruckner had the overall sealed up, leading by over six minutes as a result of her dominant performance in the opening stage's road race. Still, she came out swinging Sunday, attacking the field with eight laps to go, with only Espeseth joining her. At the line, Espeseth benefitted from Bruckner's final efforts for the stage

Sunday’s eighth stage of the Tour de France was a long, hot day in thesaddle across France’s Brittany region and the peloton wanted to get itover with quickly. It was a stage that spelled the end for Mapei’s OscarFreire and Lotto’s Aart Vierhouten, both victims of Saturday’slate-race crashes did not start on Sunday. The group roared past huge crowds of fans celebrating France’s BastilleDay and covered nearly 100 kilometers in the first two hours. A seven–manbreakaway slipped away midway through the stage and became the second successfulbreak of the 89th Tour. Rabobank’s Karsten Kroon ruined

PRELIMINARY RESULTS 1. Karsten Kroon (Nl), RAB, 217.5 km in 4:36:52. (47.135 kpm) 2. Servais Knaven (Nl), DFF, at ˆ 00:00. 3. Erik Dekker (Nl), RAB, at 00:00. 4. Franck Renier (Fra), BJR, at 00:00. 5. Sebastien Hinault (Fra), C.A, at 00:00. 6. Stephane Auge (Fra), DEL, at 00:00. 7. Raivis Belohvosciks (Let), LAM, at 00:00. 8. Robbie McEwen (Aus), LOT, at 01:55. 9. Erik Zabel (G), TEL, at 01:55. 10. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJ, at 01:55. 11. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), C.A, at 01:55. 12. Jan Svorada (Cz), LAM, at 01:55. 13. Fred Rodriguez (USA), DFF, at 01:55. 14. Robert Hunter (SA), MAP, at 01:55. 15.

If there is hell on the Tour de France, we came close to it on 217.5km of mostly long, flat, bumpy and dead roads from St. Martin de Landelles to Plouay in Brittany on Sunday. For followers of the Tour - les suiveurs - anything longer than 200km and without a mountain in sight (let alone under our wheels) is pure and painful purgatory. Today's eighth stage to the site of the 2000 world road championships was a case in point. Okay ... the riders in the peloton behind us attacked, attacked and then some until the final break of seven finally got away. Okay, the last 10km battle between

5:30 p.m. Here are the preliminary results from today's stage. As you can see from the overall standings, Armstrong has lost some time, but the impact was not too serious. He was caught up in a crash about 2km from the finish. 1. Bradley McGee (Aus), FDJ, 176 km in 4:10:56. (42.083 kph)2. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est), A2R, at 00:00.3. Pedro Horillo (Sp), MAP, at 00:00.4. Robbie McEwen (Aus), LOT, at 00:00.5. Erik Zabel (G), TEL, at 00:00.6. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), C.A, at 00:00.7. Jan Svorada (Cz), LAM, at 00:00.8. Baden Cooke (Aus), FDJ, at 00:00.9. Fred Rodriguez (USA), DFF, at 00:00.10. Thor

Just when people were complaining that the 2002 Tour de France was gettingboring, Saturday’s seventh stage gave everyone a quick kick in the derrière. Three-time defending champion Lance Armstrong was caught up ina late-stage crash and lost 27 seconds to race leader Igor Gonzalezde Galdeano (ONCE-Eroski). Armstrong didn’t fall, but U.S. Postal Service riders George Hincapie and Roberto Heras did. Two late-race crashes sent scores of riders to the pavement and sentFrenchman Didier Rous to the hospital and out of the race. Worldchampion Oscar Freire of Mapei-Quick Step and Crédit Agricoleteam

Well, there was another pileup, two to be exact, in the final kilometersof Saturday’s stage to Avranches. And there was a last-kilometer attack,two to be exact, on the uphill finish — resulting in a breakthrough stagevictory for Aussie Brad McGee. Both the crashes and the attacks were predictable,but no one likes to see riders climbing into ambulances, nursing injuredlimbs as they struggle to the finish, or stopping to help their fallenteam leaders. The crash 5km from the finish that dumped riders in ditches was a resultof the symptoms that caused similar mass pileups in 1997. Back then,

The first week of the Tour is always dangerous, and this year is proving to be no exception. Christophe Moreau has been hitting the ground like a paid-off prizefighter. Usually the peloton is somewhat nervous on the first two days, resulting in a few crashes, and then things calm down by this point. I am hoping people are getting their crashes out of the way early and the rest of the race will go more smoothly. This year, the final kilometers of a few stages have included small roads and several tight turns. Almost the entire peloton is reaching the final kilometers en masse too. Without a

Alexandre Cloutier and Clara Hughes were among the winners at the Canadian national track championships in Bromont, with Cloutier taking the men’s 4000-meter individual pursuit and Hughes winning the women’s pursuit. Other senior winners included Lori-Ann Muenzer and Steen Madsen in the match sprints and Marc Ernsting in the points race.

4:55 p.m. Zabel! It came down to a three-up sprint between Zabel, Oscar Friere and McEwen. Zabel beat Friere to the line, but more importantly outscores the Aussie in the points race and has kept the green points jersey as a result. It's Tour stage win number 12 for Zabel. 4:54 p.m. Telekom is leading out Zabel. 4:53 p.m. We are in the final kilometer. Lampre's Dierckxens is at the front and charging. 4:52 p.m. 2.5km to go... there is still a big scramble at the front. Telekom is still up there. McEwen is hanging in a good spot near the front. 4:51 p.m. Rolf Aldag is at the front for

Watching the so-called flat stages of the Tour this week may seem alittle boring. The same scenario seems to play out every day. It startswith lots of attacks, none of which gain more than a few seconds. By thetime live TV comes on, a small breakaway will have developed, generallywith a few of the regional French riders prominent. Then the peloton, pulledby the sprinters’ teams, starts to close in, usually resulting in a masssprint finish.The only real excitement for the casual viewer is what happens in thefinal few meters, which Friday resulted in a hard-earned stage win forworld No. 1 Erik

With the second half of the 2002 Tour de France packed with mountainstages and time trials, the sprinters are hungry to get what they can whilethe stages are flat. Thursday’s l breakaway  into Rouen was the first to arrive at the finish since Rubens Bertogliati made a successful late dash to the line in Luxembourg last Sunday. Scores of riders had similar designs in Friday’s long, 199.5km (123.6-mile) stage from Forges-les-Eaux to Alençon, but the sprinting teams such as Lotto, Telekom and Mapei shut them all down. The peloton roared into Alençon with Germany’s Erik Zabelanxious to get the

The sprint finishes of this year’s Tour have been exciting, but no team seems able to control the front of the peloton the way the old Saeco train could. As a result, the final three kilometers are chaotic and dangerous, and I’m surprised we haven’t seen more crashes in the final kilometer. The lack of a dominant lead-out team could be due to more evenly matched sprinters’ teams than we have seen in past years. Whatever the reason, this year has seen cooperative efforts from Lotto, Telekom, and now Crédit Agricole to keep the pace high enough to dissuade attacks in the final 20 kilometers.

5:08 p.m. -- Estonian national champion Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won the fifth stage of the Tour de France Thursday after he and the other members of a five-man break managed to hold off a hard charging peloton at the end of a 195km stage from Soissons to Rouen. ONCE’s Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano retained the race leader's yellow jersey. Former Danish champion Michael Sandstod of the CSC team came second in the stage with Belgian Ludo Dierckxsens, who rides for Lampre, third following 199.5 km of racing from Soissons to here. The main peloton arrived around 20secs later. Preliminary stage

Lotto’s powerful sprinter, Robbie McEwen, surprises with his choice of bikes. He rides – and sprints very fast – on the superlight compact-geometry climbing frame of Litespeed, the Ghisallo. It does help that he is short, and the flex in the thin tubes is reduced by virtue of being on such a tight little frame, in addition to having the compact geometry to further reduce weight and flex. McEwen wears white shorts and the white jersey of the Australian national champion, and he also chooses a white saddle and white handlebar tape while the rest of his team uses black saddles and tape. The

A long flat stage in the Tour de France can seem incredibly boring, but then something happens. It always does in the Tour.For the overall race favorites, Thursday’s 195km (121-mile) fifth stageacross the lush farm country of northern France was a relatively easy day in the saddle. But for the rest of the peloton, there was the usual mix of drama, glory and disappointment. Lance Armstrong said his U.S. Postal Service team worked wellto keep him out of heavy crosswinds, while the Spanish ONCE-Eroski teamsuccessfully defended the race leader’s yellow jersey for Igor Gonzalezde Galdeano. Up in

Normandy, the region of France the Tour de France entered Thursday andexits on Saturday, has probably seen more bike racing than anywhere elsein the world. The very first cycling road race took place between Parisand Rouen in 1869 when the roads were dusty and rocky, and the bikes werecrude, chainless velocipedes — pedal cranks were attached directly to thefront wheel hub. The winner of that inaugural Paris-Rouen race was an Englishmanliving in Paris, Dr. James Moore, who customized his hubs with ball bearings,made for him by prisoners in a Paris jail.Paris-Rouen gave birth to a series of

5:20 p.m. The ONCE team won the fourth stage of the Tour de France as it finished in Château-Thierry Wednesday after a 67.5km team time trial from Epernay. ONCE's Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano of Spain took the leader's yellow jersey. ONCE finished 16 seconds ahead of the US Postal team of reigning champion Lance Armstrong, while the CSC team of Tyler Hamilton and Laurent Jalabert finished third. Here are the final standings from today's team time trial:1. ONCE - EROSKI 01:19:492. US POSTAL SERVICE 01:20:05, at 00:163. TEAM CSC TISCALI 01:20:35, at 00:464. FASSA BORTOLO 01:21:19, at 01:305.

It seems that everyone except the race organizers is regretting theabsence of Mario Cipollini from this year’s Tour de France. So the LionKing’s decision Tuesday night to announce his retirement from cycling comesat an appropriate moment — although we all regret that his flamboyancewill no longer grace our sport’s biggest stage.Cipollini brought excitement to the Tour, whether it was with his fourconsecutive stage wins in 1999 or his four days in the yellow jersey in1997. And, on a day when this Tour focused its attention on a team timetrial, many have forgotten that it was in a team time

Oscar Freire sprinted past Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel to win stage two aboard the mount that has brought so many victories to Mapei and Rabobank. He was riding a Shimano Dura-Ace equipped Colnago C40, the 2.5-pound frame that won Paris-Roubaix five times between 1995 and 2000. But it is not just another bonded carbon frame, since Colnago’s construction methods C40 are unique and analogous to its method of constructing steel frames. Integral to the C40 are one-piece molded, hand-finished carbon lugs that eliminate the bonding problems and weight of aluminum lugs and are stronger,

5:15 p.m. Either way, Zabel -- who finished second in the stage -- is the new overall leader of the Tour de France. 5:13 p.m. It's a huge scramble for the front. McEwen gets it.... but he's moved out of his line, and cut across Zabel's line. 5:10 p.m. All of the big players are up front. Nico Mantan is attacking. He's caught. Zabel is up front on his own... the Telekoms are not in a position to lead out their man. 5:08 p.m. With 4km to go, Lotto is at the front. Telekom is beginning to set up Zabel. 5:05 p.m. The swarm is beginning. With 5km to go, the sprinters are moving up,

You can always count on Jacky Durand. The 35-year-old bulldogof a racer just keeps on trying. And try he did, with one of his epic trademark attacks early in Tuesday’s174.5-km stage from Metz to Reims. It didn’t work. It rarely does, butit was a good show for the French fans as the 2002 Tour de France camehome after three hot and humid days in Luxembourg and Germany. Durand attacked just 6km into the stage and got reeled in with 6km togo. He didn’t win the stage – his last Tour stage-win came in 1998 – buthe did earn the day’s Coeur de Lion prize for most combative rider. Australian Robbie

Stuart O'Grady was involved in something of a health scare during the third stage of the Tour de France here Tuesday which left the Credit Agricole rider with an accelerated heart rate of 235 beats per minute. The 28-year-old Australian, who has in the past had a history of brief and spontaneous, accelerated heartbeats, was forced to call for help from his team car near the end of the 174.5km stage from Metz to here. Surprisingly O'Grady recovered in time to contest the closing sprint and finished the stage in 10th position, but the fact the heart scare has resurfaced - the last time it

Tammy Thomas, a national-team track rider and resident at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, could be barred from bicycle racing for life after allegedly testing positive for the anabolic steroid Norbolethone, according to press reports. The 32-year-old track racer released a statement regarding the lifetime ban, proposed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. She has asked for a hearing; meanwhile, the agency has declined comment, and the U.S. Olympic Committee has yet to make a formal announcement regarding the test. This is not the first doping controversy surrounding Thomas, who

It all happens at once on the Tour de France.And ain't it great ... at least when you are an Australian reporteron the Tour de France and have covering today's third stage.Not that the outcome made for a easy day, nor for total joy, thanksto four very sound reasons that made a seemingly boring day so dramatic.Reason 1: The third stage from Metz to Reims was won by an Australianin Robbie McEwen (Lotto) who again beat Germany's Erik Zabel (Telekom).Reason 2: Meanwhile, Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) was undergoinga cardiogram after suffering a tachycardia attack saw his heart beat

According to a press release issued on Tuesday by Threshold Sports, organizers of the New York City Cycling Championship, Mario Cipollini will take part in the New York race, August 4. The release states that Cipollini and teammates Mario Scirea and Gabriele Colombo are scheduled to ride the 100km criterium in Manhattan, joining Lance Armstrong and Marty Nothstein on the list of scheduled racers. However, also on Tuesday, in a short statement issued on his Web site, Cipollini announced his imminent retirement from the sport. In a statement titled "I stop here," Cipollini said "the bitterness

5:10 p.m. A quick calculation shows that Lampre's Reubens Bertogliati retains his hold on the yellow jersey, two seconds ahead of Erik Zabel. Zabel, who could have earned the jersey had he finished in second, keeps the green points jersey. Meanwhile, Hushovd is still on the road, within 5km of the finish. We hope he makes the time cut. 5:01 p.m. The Telekoms are leading out Zabel perfectly. Zabel is getting a nice lead-out from Fagnini and Lotto's McEwen is coming on strong... Riders are all across the road and... It's Oscar Freire, the reigning world champion who takes it! McEwen is

Monday’s 181km stage 2 of the 2002 Tour de France was supposed tobe an Erik Zabel homecoming party. The script was already written:Zabel, already resplendent in the green jersey, would win the stage afterhard work by his Telekom team to bring the race to a bunch sprint and takethe yellow jersey, all in front of a rowdy German crowd lining the roadsestimated to top one million. As it happens so often in the Tour, though, it didn’t quite turn outthat way. Not only did the Telekom man not win the field sprint, he finishedonly third and he left the yellow jersey in the hands of Lampre's

Brent Dawson (Jelly Belly-Carlsbad Clothing) and Tina Mayolo-Pic (Diet Rite) took home the top prizes at the Wendy’s International Cycling Classic, the six-race series of criteriums in Ohio that ended Sunday. Dawson beat out 7UP-Nutra Fig’s Dan Schmatz in the final points standings while national criterium champion Nicole Freedman (Rona) was runner-up to Mayolo-Pic. Mayolo-Pic didn’t win a single stage, but finished the week with three second-place finishes and two third places to top Freedman, who won the series opener in Powell, Ohio. Rona scored a total of three wins, with Melissa Holt

How many decisions can you make in one second? Should you go to the left or right? Should you shift? Brake? Where’s the guy in front of going to go? Is it too early to launch for the line? I don’t care how much power you have. To win a sprint stage of the Tour de France, you have to be able to make critical decisions in the blink of an eye. A great field sprinter has as much knowledge as he does power. Riders at this level have trouble explaining exactly how and why a finishing sprint developed the way it did. Thousands of sprint finishes, going all the way back to Junior races, have made

Every day at the Tour there is a stage prognostics competition for journalistsand other official race followers sponsored by Sodexho, a hotel and cateringconglomerate. For the past two days, nearly every entry has had one nameat the top of the “betting” slip: Erik Zabel. Each day, the German sprinterhas failed his supporters.After the last-kilometer upset by Rubens Bertogliati on Sunday, it wasworld champion Oscar Freire who won against the odds on Monday. This time,it appeared that Zabel’s Telekom squad had done everything right.The whole team led the chase that brought back the remnants of

Waiting for the sprint.

5:38 p.m. Credit Agricole's Christophe Moreau has finished some 3:40 behind the main field. Bertogliati finished 19th yesterday, so with his 20-second bonus today, he has earned him the yellow jersey. Quite a win. 5:34 p.m. Talk about your good timing. Bertogliati pulled off the win. Zabel is second, McEwen is third. 5:33 p.m. Lampre's Rubens Bertogliati has attacked. 5:33 With 1km to go Telekom is at the front. 5:31 So, with 2.5km left, it's all together. The big names are up front, including O'Grady; Zabel; Jalabert and Armstrong are up front. Telekom is trying to set up their

Cycling journalists love to play with numbers. All day long, the hackswere figuring the time splits among the favorites in the chase for theyellow jersey in the 192.5-km opening stage of the 2002 Tour de France. Prologue winner Lance Armstrong revealed he wasn’t interestedin defending the maillot jaune when he conceded the time bonusesat the first intermediate sprint after 50km, so the jersey was prime forthe picking. All eyes were on the established riders, especially those immediatelybehind Armstrong in the overnight standings, Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali)and Raimondas Rumsas

When Lance was questioned before the prologue about whether he would try to wear the yellow jersey for the first road stage of the Tour, he replied that when there is a chance to wear the jersey, you simply have to go for it. There is no other choice. Sixty men started the first stage within 30 seconds of the yellow jersey, and judging by the intensity of the racing, every one of them shared the race leader’s philosophy regarding the yellow jersey. Have you ever heard of Rubens Bertogliati before today? Few people have; he’s young and obviously talented, but he’s not on the top of anyone’s

Three years ago, Lance Armstrong was ecstatic when he won the Tourde France prologue at Le Puy du Fou. Tears filled his eyes as he slippedon the first yellow jersey of his career. Saturday, in a finally sunnyLuxembourg City, there were no tears, just the satisfaction of a job welldone when Armstrong was awarded the Tour yellow jersey for the 36th time.What a difference three years can make….Some things will likely stay the same, though, because two days aftertaking the lead at the 1999 Tour Armstrong conceded the yellow jersey toa sprinter, Jaan Kirsipuu. The Estonian achieved that feat by

There’s a lot more to the Tour de France than meets the eye, especiallywhen it comes to behind-the-scenes rules and regulations. Here are somehighlights of some of the rules and regulations taken from 32-page handbookoutlining the Le Reglement or regulations, of the 89th Tour de France.The stakesThere are $2.6 million awarded in prize-money during the Tour paidin euros, Europe’s new common currency. Prize-money is awarded each dayto winners, to the leaders of each respective jersey and for other special“primes” or bonuses along the course. The Tour winner receives $335,390while last place

One of Spain’s best cyclists, Abraham Olano, announced Tuesday he willretire at the end of the 2002 season “to live a life without pressure and fully enjoy my family.” The 32-year-old Olano said he made the decision to retire the day beforethe Spanish championships last weekend despite the fact that he and ONCEwere planning on Olano racing one more season. “I began to realize things were changing when, as a cyclist whose lifeis based on suffering and training alone, I would be sad to go on trainingrides. I missed my family when I was traveling and I began to wonder aboutretiring, the moment

In the peloton since 1997 Sponsor: National lotteryBudget: $3.2 millionManager/directeur sportif: Marc MadiotAssistants: Yvon Madiot, Martial Gayant, Franck Pineau RidersCASAR Sandy   (F),  February 2, 1979CASPER Jimmy   (F),  May 28, 1978COOKE Baden   (Aus),  October 12, 1978DURAND Jacky   (F),  February 10, 1967GUESDON Frédéric  (F),  October 14, 1971McGEE Brad    (Aus),  February 24, 1976MENGIN Christophe  (F),  September 3, 1968ROBIN Jean-Cyril   (F),  August 27, 1969VOGONDY Nicolas (F) IntroductionMarc Madiot presents an up-and-coming team, and the seven victoriescaptured at the

In the peloton since 2000 Sponsor: Cement companyBudget: $5.8 millionManager: Giancarlo FerrettiDirecteur sportifs: Alberto Volpi, Stefano Zanatta, Mario ChiesaAssistant: Oscar Pirazzini RidersBALDATO Fabio   (I),  June 13, 1968BASSO Ivan    (I),  November 26, 1977BELLI Wladimir   (I),  July 25, 1970GONTCHAR Sergei   (Ukr),  July 3, 1970IVANOV Sergueï   (Rus),  March 5, 1975LODA Nicola    (I),  July 27, 1971POZZI Oscar    (I),  December 27, 1971VELO Marco    (I),  March 9, 1974ZANOTTI Marco   (I),  January 21, 1974 Strong temperamentsIn 2001, during Fassa Bortolo’s second year in the

In the peloton since 1986 Sponsors: Domo: rugs, carpets and vinyl; Farm Frites:French friesBudget: $6.3 millionManager: Patrick LefévèreDirecteurs sportifs: Marc Sergeant, Hendrik Redant, WilfriedPeeters, Toon Cruyt Riders (as of June 30)BRUYLANDTS Dave (B), July 12, 1976CASSANI Enrico (I), February 15, 1972KNAVEN Servais (Nl), March 6, 1971KONECNY Tomas (Cz), October 11, 1973MERCKX Axel (B), August 8, 1972RODRIGUEZ Fred (USA), September 3, 1973VAN BON Léon (Nl), January 28, 1972VIRENQUE Richard (F), November 19, 1969WADECKI Piotr (Pl), February 11, 1973 All behind VirenqueThe

In the peloton since 1999 Sponsors: Lampre: manufacturer of sheet metal;Daikin: air conditioningBudget: $4.2 millionManager: Giuseppe SaronniDirecteur sportif: Pietro AlgeriAssistants: Maurizio Piovani, Brent Copeland RidersBELOHVOSCIKS Raivis (Lat) January 21, 1976BERTOGLIATI Rubens (Swi) May 9, 1979CORTINOVIS Alessandro (I) October 11, 1977DIERCKXSENS Ludo (B) October 14, 1964PAGLIARINI Luciano (Bra) April 18, 1978RUMSAS Raimondas (Lit) January 14, 1972SERPELLINI Marco (I) August 14, 1972SVORADA Jan Cz August 28, 1968PINOTTI Marco (I) Experience countsThis Italian team is solid, if not

In the peloton since 1998 Sponsors:Tacconi: sports clothing; Emmegi:heat exchangersBudget: $2.8 millionManager: Davide BoifavaDirecteurs sportif: Fabrizio Bontempi, Vittorio AlgeriAssistant: Pietro Turchetti RidersBORTOLAMI Gianluca I August 28, 1968BOSSONI Paolo I July 2, 1976DONATI Massimo I January 18, 1967FRIGO Dario I September 18, 1973HAUPTMAN Andrej Slo May 5, 1975LUTTENBERGER Peter A December 13, 1972MAZZOLENI Eddy I July 29, 1973FERRARI Diego (I)APOLLONIO Massimo (I) Frigo bears watchingThis Italian team, which has had trouble holding on to its best riders,cannot hope to stand out

Sprinting and climbing have their honors, and winning the green or polka-dotjersey is great, but the puff daddies in the peloton have their eye onone prize: the yellow fleece of the overall race leader. The general classification (GC) is computed by adding together everyrider’s finishing time for each stage, less any time bonuses he earns.For the team time trial (stage 5), the time of the fifth finisher in eachteam is given to each rider in that team, except for those who finish behindtheir teammates — they are given their actual finishing time. The maximumtime for a rider finishing alone

The weekend before the Tour de France is the traditional time on theracing schedule for the Europeans to hold their respective national championshipraces. It’s the last major racing before the Tour, which kicks off thiscoming Saturday in Luxembourg. The races are typically held this weekendso the winners can show off their new colors at cycling’s biggest race,at least for those from teams that will be racing at the Grande Boucle.Here are the winners in the men’s road races from Europe's top cycling powers: FRANCENicolas Vogondy won out of a five-up sprint to earn his first majorvictory

In the peloton since 1996 Sponsor: Dutch banking groupBudget: $3.7 millionManager: Jan RaasDirecteur sportif: Théo de RooyAssistants: Adri Van Houwelingen, Joop Zoetemelk RidersBOOGERD Michael  (Nl),  May 28, 1972DE GROOT Bram   (Nl),  December 18, 1974DEKKER Erik   (Nl),  August 21, 1970ENGELS Addy   (Nl),  June 16, 1977KROON Karsten   (Nl),  January 29, 1976LEIPHEIMER Levi   (USA),   October 24, 1973NIERMANN Grischa  (G),  November 3, 1975WAUTERS Marc   (B),  February 23, 1969ZBERG Beat    (Swi),  May 10, 1971Levi in the mixWhile this Dutch squad is building toward the future with a

The 43rd Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic came to an end on Sunday with Chris Horner (Prime Alliance) and Lyne Bessette (Quebec Selection Team) wrapping up the overall race titles while team Saturn swept the final day with Kim Davidge winning the women's race and Ivan Dominguez taking the men's. Bessette headed into the criterium with an overall lead of 5:21, having already taken care of her weekend's work with wins in the time trial, circuit race and criterium. That left it for teammate Clara Hughes to make the decisive move of the day on Sunday afternoon, with temperatures in Fitchburg topping 90

The black, red and gold striped German National Champion’s jersey was exchanged between two Saturn riders June 30th, as Judith Arndt won while defending champion Petra Rossner finished second. Arndt, who rode for the German National team last year before signing with Saturn, has had an impressive season, already taking overall wins at Redlands, Solano, Tour de L’Aude, Tour de Snowy, and most recently, the HP Women’s Challenge. Sunday’s 60-mile race was determined in the final 10 kilometers, when Arndt attacked 200 meters from the top, on the steepest pitch at the mountain sprint. Trixi

Ceremonial Start: 12:20 p.m. Boulevard de la Foire.Flying Start: 12:45 p.m. N. 12 Luxembourg Exit

Flying Start: 12:42 p.m. on No. 4

Flying Start: 1:00 p.m. on N.3 Rozérieulles exit.

Flying Start: 12:38 p.m., N.31, Soissons exit.

Flying Start: 12:29 p.m., D.921, intersection D.921 and La Ruche.

He’s stronger, smarter, leaner and more confident than at any pointin his career. Now in his fourth season of full-time European racing, FredRodriguez, 28, knows what it takes to win a stage at the Tour de France.His Domo-Farm Frites squad is expecting its best Tour results from GC ridersRichard Virenque and Axel Merckx. But given the right breaks, the two-timeU.S. pro champion also has a great chance of success — particularly sincehis second-place finishes this spring at Milan-San Remo and Ghent-Wevelgem. "I think the team will now have more confidence that I’m capable, ifI get a good

Flying Start 1:02 p.m. on D335, Bagnoles-de-l'Orne exit

Flying Start: 2:05 p.m. on D.932

“How about something positive to say — about anything? You wear me down.” — a critical e-mail from VeloNews.com reader Cary Smith I love a good, long road ride, especially one of those midweek flights of fancy that gobbles up the better part of a perfectly good workday while the proletariat slouches in its cubicles, staring forlornly into space, like trailer-park mutts on short chains. When I lived in Colorado Springs, and had teammates who were either entrepreneurs or slackers and thus could set their own schedules, I could count on two or three of these rides a week, generally on

On day two of the Fitchburg-Longsjo classic, three-time defending champion Lyne Bessette (Quebec Selection Team) moved a little closer to her fourth consecutive win, beating out Kimberly Bruckner (Saturn) in a head-to-head battle in the 40-mile women’s circuit race. In the men’s race, Prime Alliance’s Chris Horner edged out former teammate Mike Sayers (Mercury) for the stage win while Navigators Chris Baldwin grabbed the orange race leader’s jersey. After Thursday’s time trial, Bessette led Bruckner by one second in the general classification, so she was content to keep an eye on Bruckner

Telkom’s Erik Zabel won the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a 235km stretch from Vevey to Lyss on Wednesday, continuing a pattern of wins that the German sprinter vowed to carry into next week’s Tour de France. Alex Zülle (Coast) retained the leader's yellow jersey, holding only a three-second advantage over Laurent Dufaux (Alessio) and 19 over Domo's Piotr Wadecki. Considered a strong strong time trialist, Zülle holds the advantage going into Thursday’s final stage a 34.5 km between Lyss and Bienne. Zabel said win on Wednesday gives him confidence going into the Tour de France,

Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate (Lampre) took the seventh stage of the Tour of Switzerland Tafter Italian Gianluca Bortolami (Tacconi) was stripped of victory. Bortolami was ruled to have swayed from his line as he sprinted towards the finish and pushed back to 18th spot, handing victory to Garate, of team Lampre. Swiss star Alex Zülle of Coast maintains his lead at the top of the standings but the real talking point on Tuesday was Bortolami's demotion to back of the finishing group. The panel, chaired by Belgian Marc Vandevyvere, decided to punish Bortolami for coming out of the final bend