The U.S. track team continued to add to its string of strong performances this year, taking the team title at the latest round of the World Cup in Cali, Colombia, June 21-23. It’s been a remarkable season for the Americans, starting with a team title at the opening World Cup in Monterrey, Mexico in April. The success continued in Sydney and Moscow, and, most recently, Cali, where the U.S. squad claimed their second World Cup title at the series’ fourth stop. With one World Cup competition remaining in Kunming, China (August 9-11)—the United States squad sits unofficially atop the World Cup

Gord Fraser and his Mercury team finally got the win at the Grand PrixCycliste de Beauce that they have been searching for all week, however, to do it he had to hold off Charles Dionne (7Up-Nutra Fig). Michael Rogers (Mapei-Quick Step) finished safely in the pack, and the stage produced no significant changes to the general classification. After being robbed of the chance for victory in the morning stage, when a mix up sent the enter peloton off course in the final 300 meters, the sprinters were anxious for a last chance to claim a stage before tomorrow's concluding road race. Therefore,

Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo), snatched victory in the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland from the hands Phonak’s Alex Moos just 150 meters from the finish in Meiringen on Sunday. The two had broken away from the rest of the field on the descent of the day’s toughest climbm the Susten, just 10km from the finish. Casagrande outsprinted the Phonak rider at the end of the 147.7km race to beat Moos by a matter of inches, for a winning time of 4:37:35. Domo’s Piotr Wadecki took the field sprint 15 seconds later to finish third. Coast’s Alex Zülle maintains his grip on the

Under a hot midday sun, the nine-stage 2002 H.P. Women’s Challenge wrapped up Sunday, with Saturn’s Judith Arndt maintaining her 1:20 overall lead over Rona’s 20-year-old Genevieve Jeanson. Both teams raced the final stage conservatively, with Rona intent on preserving Jeanson’s three leader’s jerseys – overall points, mountain points, and best young rider – while Saturn looked after Arndt. During Sunday’s road race - a 56.5-mile sojourn from Emmett to Boise’s historic Hyde Park district – several attempts were made early on, but Rona swiftly shut them down. The real racing began after the

Casagrande takes it in the sprint

Domo’s Leon Van Bon won the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, a mountainous 160-kilometer run between Coire and Ambri on Saturday. Italy's Daniele Nardello came in second ahead of Briton Charles Wegelius. Coast’s Alex Zülle retained the overall leader's yellow jersey. Van Bon and Nardello slipped the peloton, with 80km of the stage remaining, but this pair were caught by a select group including Wegelius, who led the sprint for the line, only to be retaken by a tireless Van Bon.

Up until the final 300 meters, stage 6a of the Grand Prix Cycliste deBeauce was shaping up to be an excellent display of racing, with a long breakaway that was only shut down in the final 4 kilometers. However, a series of events at the end of the stage led to no winner being declared and all riders being given the same finishing time. The 111 kilometer stage was expected to be aggressive, as other teams took the measure of Mapei's determination to protect Michael Roger's lead. Saturn was particularly aggressive in the opening kilometers, but it wasn't until nearly the halfway point that

Under the figure of Boise’s Idaho State Capital building, Saturn’s Anna Millward took stage eight of the H.P. Women’s Challenge Saturday in a two-up sprint against T Mobile’s Katrina Berger. It was Millward’s second win - and Saturn’s seventh - of the nine-stage tour. The annual Saturday event, which circumnavigates downtown government buildings, drew out the local Boise cycling community to cheer on the riders and seek out autographs from the world-class field. With the overall GC more or less decided – Saturn’s Judith Arndt in first, 1:20 ahead of Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson, and Saturn’s

AG2R PrévoyanceFranceProfileIn the peloton since 1996Sponsor: Provident contingency fundBudget: $3.2 millionManager: Vincent LavenuDirecteurs sportif: Laurent Biondi, Gilles MasRidersAGNOLUTTO Christophe  (F) December 6, 1969BERGÈS Stéphane  (F)  January 9, 1975BOTCHAROV Alexandre  (Rus)  February 26, 1975CHAURREAU Iñigo  (Sp)  April 14, 1973FLICKINGER Andy   (F)  November 4, 1978KIRSIPUU Jaan   (Est)  July 17, 1969ORIOL Christophe   (F)  February 28, 1973THIERRY LODER(F)TURPIN Ludovic   (F)  March 22, 1975Something to proveAlthough only selected as a wild-card team, Vincent Lavenu’s

While the world focuses on Lance Armstrong of the U.S. Postal Service teamduring this year’s Tour de France, the team will be looking toward a personwhose work will be seen by few. Jeff Spencer is officially listed as thePostal team’s chiropractor, a job that requires attending to the variousaches, pains and injuries incurred by riders during every stage of theTour. Spencer is the team’s own special sauce, and his work has helpedput Armstrong in yellow for the last three years. "I don’t know what to call myself, because there are so many thingsthat I do that fall into so many disciplines and

Sponsor: maker of wheel rims for carsBudget: $2.8 millionManager: Bruno CenghialtaDirecteurs sportif: Dario Mariuzzo, Valerio TebaldiRidersBROGNARA Andrea (I), May 26, 1971CASAGRANDE Stefano (I), March 23, 1973DUFAUX Laurent (Swi),  May 20, 1969GOTTI Ivan (I), March 28, 1969HVASTIJA Martin (Slo), November 30, 1969IVANOV Ruslan (Mol), December 18, 1973MORENI Christian  (I), November 21, 1972PIERI Dario (I), September 1, 1975SHEFER Alksandr (Kaz), August 26, 1971Ambitious, but limited Thanks to its team victory at the 2001 Giro, this Italian team snaggeda direct ticket to the 2002 Tour. Team

In the peloton since August 1998Sponsor: French bankBudget: $5 millionManager and directeur sportif: Roger LegeayAssistant: Michel LaurentTrainer: Denis RouxRidersBESSY Frédéric  (F),  January, 9, 1972HINAULT Sébastien  (F),  February 11, 1974HUSHOVD Thor  (N),  January 18, 1978LANGELLA Anthony (F)MOREAU Christophe (F),  April 12, 1971MORIN Anthony  (F),  June 27, 1974O’GRADY Stuart  (Aus),  August 6, 1973VAUGHTERS Jonathan (USA),  June 10, 1973VOIGT Jens   (G),  September 17, 1971The top French team?Of all the managers of the French team managers, Roger Legeay achievedthe most spectacular

Roland Green (Trek-VW) continued his dominance of the NORBA circuit on Friday, taking his second consecutive victory at Snowshoe, West Virginia, and netting his sixth straight NORBA cross-country title. In the women’s race, Jimena Florit (RLX-Polo Sport) built on a commanding early lead to score her second cross-country race of the series. The men’s race began with a familiar look, as Green streaked out to a holeshot trailed by countryman and training partner Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and a third dangerous Canadian, Geoff Kabush (Kona). Hesjedal briefly took a solo lead towards

After two consecutive mountaintop finishes, the 83 riders remaining in the H.P. Women’s Challenge were given a slight respite Friday, as an early thirteen-rider break without GC contenders was allowed to slip away and contest for the stage win. At the line, it was Anita Valen, a 33-year-old fitness instructor from Norway, who took the 88-mile stage in a field sprint. Early on, the Norwegian team Sponsor Services came out swinging. First the team’s Finnish rider Pia Sundstedt took a solo flyer at mile 18, opening a gap of 25 seconds before being caught three miles down the road. However, the

Lubor Tesar (Nürnberger) chalked up his second win in as many days atthe third stage of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, winning a field sprint over Tuesday's second place finisher - David McKenzie (iTeamNova.com). The pace was fast from the start and, coupled with the seemingly endless rolling two-kilometer climbs of 6%-8%, saw the field split. In the end, only 40 riders made the cut for the front group, with the remainder of the field finishing over 21 minutes back, and putting themselves out of contention. After some early solo and duo break attempts, the serious work beganDuring the

Erik Zabel won a hotly-contested sprint at the end the191km second stage of the Tour de Switzerland, beating Phonak's Sven Teutenberg by a tire-width on Thursday. Zabel outsprinted the field after 4:15:30 in the saddle, leaving Teutenberg to accept the runners-up place for the second day running. But the win still wasn't enough to take the yellow jersey away from the gutsy young French rider Eddy Lembo (Oktos) who holds on to a 49-second lead over prologue-winner Alex Zülle (Coast), after winning Wednesday's stage by slightly more than one minute. Lembo finished in the field Thursday as

Eddy Lembo, of the Division II Oktos squad, survived a long breakaway at the Tour of Switzerland Wednesday to steal a win in a stage that was expected to be a natural for sprinters. The 21-year-old Lembo finished more than a minute ahead of the field at the end of the day’s 172 kilometer stage from Lucerne to Schaffhausen. The win gave the young French rider the overall lead, bumping Coast’s Alex Zülle, winner of Tuesday's prologue, out of the top spot. Lembo covered the course in 4:18:36, finishing 1:08 ahead of the field. Phonak’s Sven Teutenberg, won the field sprint, while many of the

Adding a fourth consecutive stage win at this year’s HP Women’s Challenge, the talent-rich Saturn squad continues to redefine the meaning of dominance in the peloton, seemingly taking control of any stage at will. Long before Petra Rossner sprinted to the line to take stage four’s Stanley to Ketchum road race, it was all too clear that the Saturn women’s cycling team is, in effect, unstoppable. And while Rossner flew across the line to take her second field sprint victory in four days, setting a new course record by over two minutes, it was teammate Kimberly Bruckner that animated the

Jaromir Friede (Wüstenrot - ZVVZ), the early leader during thetwo-up sprint opener to the 2002 Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce, hung onto take the first leader's jersey. Friede, the Czech national road champion,finished just ahead of Canadian track rider Alexandre Cloutier (VW-Trek)and Charles Dionne (7UP Nutra Fig). Another Canadian, Pierre Olivier Boilly(Équipe du Québec) was fourth, and Alex Candelario (PrimeAlliance) rounded out the top 5.The riders raced head to head, in pairs, along a 300 metre strip ofRue St-Jean, finishing under one of the gates to the old city.  The'real'

Saturn’s Anna Millward, two-time overall winner of the HP Women’sChallenge (1996 & 2000), won the Lowman to Stanley road race Sunday, out sprinting a select group of general classification contenders for her first sprint victory of the 2002 season. In nearly perfect weather conditions and mild wind, the 56.6-mile stage with a lone saw tooth-shaped profile guaranteed action, delivering over 3000 feet of climbing in the opening 33 miles. Once over the 7000-foot elevation Banner Pass, the course flattened out, with a long, gentle straightaway descent into the small alpine valley town of

Over the years the NORBA National Championship series has become a very international affair, but on the second day of racing at Alpine Valley Resort in Wisconsin it was all North Americans on top of the podium. Racing on a mostly sunny Saturday started with the short track, and like they did the day before in the cross country, reigning world champions Alison Dunlap and Roland Green came out on top. In the evening the other rainbow-striped rider in attendance — American Brian Lopes — took the debut NORBA mountain cross race, with Tara Llanes winning the women’s event. Short TrackDunlap

Saturn's Petra Rossner is on a streak. Fresh off of her sixth win at Philadelphia's Liberty Classic, the German national champion took the opening took the opening stage of the H.P. Women's Challenge Saturday, winning the field sprint into Idaho City by more than five bike-lengths. The 69.5-mile first stage, which last year shattered the field with strong winds, offered very little in action today. With temperatures soaring into the mid-90s, and very little wind to influence the deep field of talented riders, today's peloton was content to ride together. The only true climb of the day, a

La Française des Jeux’s Frederic Guesdon scooted ahead of his jostling breakaway to take the fifth stage of the Dauphine Libere in Grenoble on Friday. Guesdon was lying fifth as the line loomed when an incredible jostle for position by his fellow riders 300 meters out cleared the way for him to win in a time of 5hr 7min and 59sec. Colombian Santiago Botero had been trailing Laurent Jalabert for most of the 206km when he decided to make a move to grab second spot on the final climb. He used his wheel to knock Jalabert out of the way, forcing the Frenchman to take his feet out of his pedals

And then I saw a bike-car altercation that went from horn-honking togiving the finger to full-on hit-and-run. The late-model, white SUV withlicense plate 007-something full on took this cyclist out. Drove rightinto him, knocked him down and drove away.- Big Jonny recounting a Sundaytraining ride on www.drunkcyclist.com(a site bound to give your porn filter a coronary)Ah, ’tis spring, and the psychos are in bloom. A correspondent recently forwarded alink to a cheery column by Wendy Crooks, a contributor to a thing calledThe Villager, in The Woodlands, a subsidiary of Houston. In it,Mrs.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again… or if you’re Jacky Durand try, try, try and try even more. Durand is easily the French peloton’s most renowned “head banger,” those brave souls who try a break early in a race and just pray it sticks. Today, the first stage of Dauphiné Libéré, turned into one of those rare occasions when the 35-year-old Frenchman hit pay dirt, beating Kelme’s Alexis Rodriguez in a two-man sprint at the end of a 151-kilometer escape. The Française des Jeux rider and Rodriguez slipped off the front of the 110-rider field at the 22km mark of Monday’s 173 km stage

After two years of seeing Fred Rodriguez walk away from Philadelphia with the USPRO champion’s jersey, the U.S. Postal Service reclaimed the stars-and-stripes. And after years and years of trying, the Navigators squad finally got everything right and won the big one. In the end, it wasn’t Rodriguez or George Hincapie, but rather Chann McRae and Mark Walters who stole the show at the First Union USPRO Championship in Philadelphia on Sunday. Hincapie and Rodriguez have been the big favorites at Philadelphia the last few years, but for two-time defending champion Rodriguez, the week hadn’t

Everyone knew who to watch at the First Union Liberty Classic, and they’ll have plenty of opportunities to watch her again in the highlight reels, as Petra Rossner (Saturn) rode to victory in the 57.6-mile women’s race. Run concurrently with the USPRO men’s road championship, the Liberty Classic has known only four winners in its nine-year history, and the Leipzig, Germany native has held a monopoly on the top step of the podium since 1998. Her first victory, came in 1996. Unlike Rossner’s 2001 victory, which came in a massive field sprint to the line, this year’s race came down to one key

With all eyes are on Philadelphia this weekend, the Euros are buildingfor the season’s next big goal -- the 2002 Tour de France. Lance Armstrongreturns to racing action next weekend for the Dauphine Libere in France,his final race before trying to win a fourth consecutive Tour.The dust has settled (somewhat) following a wild and woolly Giro d’Italia.The Italians are licking their wounds and resting their legs after theGiro and, despite the expulsion of Saeco out of the Tour, the French raceis still very important to the Italian teams. Five Italian teams will beat the start in Luxembourg:

The focus of First Union Week shifts today from the strong to the fast, as the series moves from Lancaster to Trenton on its way to the final showdown at the USPRO Championships in Philadelphia. While Tuesday’s opener in Lancaster came down to a two-man battle between Chris Wherry (Mercury) and David Clinger (U.S. Postal Service) on the final lap, if things go according to form at the First Union Classic in Trenton, the race should see a large group fighting it out for a sprint finish at the end. The race is 13 laps on a 7-mile circuit for a total of 91 miles, but that’s about all it has in

Gord Fraser has had bad luck at the First Union Classic in Trenton, New Jersey before, but on a day when it seemed that anything possible could go wrong, everything went right for the Canadian Mercury rider. Fraser held off a charging pack at the end of a wet, treacherous race on Thursday evening to give his Mercury team its first Trenton win. The race got off to a rocky start, when, just minutes after the 164 riders rolled off the line in front of the New Jersey State Art Museum, they were called back to the start. A fatal automobile-pedestrian accident had occurred on the downtown end of

Spend any time around the European pro road scene, and chances are, it’ll get into your system. The parade of team cars crowding into a town center for the race, the blaring voice of the announcer at sign-in, the wild crowds along the sides of the roads, the media crush at the finish of a big race: This is big-time sport, with the huge buzz that goes along with it. Euro’ bike racing gets in the blood, and right now, it is coursing through the veins of Kirk O’Bee. Sitting in a Danbury, Connecticut, hotel room on the morning of theHousatonic Valley Classic in late May, the 25-year-old O’Bee is

The U.S. Postal Service squad drew first blood at the First Union Cycling week on Tuesday night, as David Clinger rode away from breakaway partner Chris Wherry (Mercury) on the final lap of the First Union Invitational in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Clinger and Wherry were the two survivors of a typical Lancaster race -– fast, difficult and hard-fought. Coming off his spring European campaign, including a strong support ride for Lance Armstrong at the Midi Libre, Clinger took his first win of the season in the streets of Lancaster. "Everybody wants to win, and everybody’s here to win," he

From the start, the Tour of Greater Montreal was a battle of seconds– or tenths of seconds -- decided by intermediate sprints, timebonuses and tie breakers. That’s why the overall standings of Canada’snewest stage race for women has the top three riders listed has havingthe same time. But having won two of the event’s three stages gave LauraVan Gilder (Trek Plus VW) the edge in the final break down.Van Gilder, U.S. criterium champion for 2000, won Tuesday’s closingstage, a relatively flat 113 km road race, edging out Clara Hughes (ÉquipeQuébec) and Anna Millward (Saturn) in a sprint.The stage

It was a day when seconds mattered in Montreal on Monday and Dede Demet-Barrymade those seconds count as she moved into the overall lead of the Tourof Greater Montreal. Fresh off of her win at this past weekend’s WorldCup event in Montreal, the Talgo America.com rider played her cards wellto pocket bonus seconds and take over the yellow jersey after the secondof three stages, a criterium held in Montreal’s Little Italy. Laura VanGilder (Trek Plus VW), who climbed to the seventh spot the overall standings,took the top spot in the final sprint.Entering the third and last stage tomorrow, Demet

What a long, strange race it’s been.Starting in Holland on May 11 and ending 20 stages and 3363 km later,the 2002 Giro d’Italia ended pretty in pink Sunday in Milan. From doping scandals to inspirational racing, there was never a dullmoment in the 85th Giro. American Tyler Hamilton made history, scoring an historic podium finishand winning a Giro stage. Bolstered by the support of CSC-Tiscali teammanager Bjarne Riis, the 31-year-old Bostonian emerged from Lance Armstrong’sshadow. "Bjarne and I worked so hard to get here, so it was a special momentafter yesterday’s time trial. I had to

When temperatures in Arlington, Virginia had reached 80 degrees at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, the professional cyclists gathered for the fifth edition of the Clarendon Cup knew they were in for a tough day. Undaunted, racers made a hot, windy summer day even harder on themselves as strong fields in the men’s and women’s events came out punching. German Ina Teutenburg (Saturn) and Russian Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) emerged from the fray to take the top podium spots. Few of the locals had forgotten last year’s spectacle in the women's race, when Teutenberg went away early and lapped the

Live Updates1:15 p.m. -- Good morning to our U.S. readers. Welcome to VeloNews.com's live coverage of Stage 18 of the 2002 Giro d'Italia. Start time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Rovereto. Today's 18th stage from Rovereto to Brescia offers something of a breather between yesterday's seven-and-a-half-hour stage in the mountains and tomorrow's time trial. Only 143 km, it features just one ranked climb, the Category II 638-meter Molina di Ledro at 32 km and finishes with three laps on a 6-km circuit in Brescia. 1:35 p.m. -- The peloton is leaving Rovereto. There are 141 riders remaining in

“This has been a very strange Giro.” — Phil Liggett It’s been such fun, watching dopers, has-beens and thugs pile out of the Giro like clowns out of a Volkswagen, or maybe a Fiat, in some David Lynch remake of a Marx Brothers flick with Chico playing all the parts. A conspiracy buff might have seen Marco Pantani’s fine Italian hand behind all of this, sprinkling a little Peruvian marching powder over Gilberto Simoni’s müesli, squirting a touch of Probenecid into Stefano Garzelli’s water bottle, and telling Francesco Casagrande some whopper about John Freddy Garcia calling his momma a ho’.

Just when things seemed to be getting back to normal after the expulsionsof Stefano Garzelli and Gilberto Simoni, Francesco Casagrande pulls a Mike Tyson and gets kicked out of the race. No, he didn’t bite anybody’s ear off, but he’s out of the Giro afterallegedly running Colombian John Freddy Garcia (Colombia-Selle Italia)into the fences and sending him to the hospital with 20 stitches to thechin. Casagrande started the day wearing the green best-climber’s jersey infourth-place at 1:07 back. His “aggressive riding,” as the UCI called it, ended his Giro early. The incident happened early

Saturn’s Judith Arndt completed Saturn’s dominant run at the Tour de L’Aude on Sunday, taking the overall title, while teammate Petra Rossner won the final stage in Limoux, France. Arndt finished the 10-day race 1:16 ahead of Russia’s Valentina Polkhanova (Itera) and 1:24 over Lithuania’s Edita Pucinskaite (Figurella). On Sunday, the five-woman Saturn team set things up perfectly for Rossner, chasing down late breakaway Pia Sunstedt (Figurella) and then leading out Rossner for the sprint win over Angela Brodtka (Redbull). The win was the sixth in 10 stages for Saturn. The Saturn run began

Lance Armstrong held off late attacks by his closest rivals to became the first American to win the Midi Libre, a traditional Tour de France warm-up, on Sunday. Armstrong finished fourth in Sunday’s 172-kilometer mountainous stage in the C´vennes, which was won by the second-year pro Laurent Paumier, of the Division 2 St. Quentin-Oktos team. Armstrong credited his U.S. Postal service team for defending his small overall lead on a stage that saw attacks by many of his most immediate challengers. A dangerous break started by Frenchmen Christophe Moreau of Crédit Agricole and David Monciutié of

It wasn’t the finish the cycling mad Belgian fans were hoping for, but with two riders in the top three it wasn’t a bad day either. The man spoiling the party at World Cup cross country No. 2 in Houffalize was Christoph Sauser, who bested home-country heroes Roel Paulissen and Filip Meirhaeghe in the 38.5km race on Sunday. After spending four laps dueling with a powerful lead group that also included the likes of Roland Green and Bart Brentjens, Sauser (Volvo-Cannondale) and Paulissen (Lanabau-Rainer-Wurz.com) broke away together, building a gap that hovered around 15 seconds. From there

1:15 p.m. Good morning to our U.S. audience. Obviously it has been a busy morning at the Giro d'Italia today, with bicycle racing again taking a back seat to events of a more pharmacological nature. As you can see from the headlines, Saeco's Gilberto Simoni -- winner of yesterday's stage -- has pulled out of the Giro as a result of the cocaine positive registered in an out-of-competition test on April 24. We'll try to keep tabs on that story as well as keep you up-to-date on today's stage -- a 200km race between Campobasso to Chieti -- though, to be honest, this seems less and less like a

A smiling Gilberto Simoni denied Thursday’s stage-win at CampitelloMatese had anything to do with revenge. According to the defending Giro d’Italia champion, his accelerations weren't related to the scandal surrounding his now-costly dentist visit back in April. “No, today wasn’t revenge,” said Simoni, who dominated Thursday’s 140-km11th stage. “I felt bad yesterday because of stupid negligence. It shouldnot have happened. It was very difficult yesterday. I feel sorry for the team and for the sponsor. When I am on the bike, I am thinking only about pedaling. In the night, I am human and I

1:00 p.m. Good morning to the U.S. It is 1:00 in Italy and we are about 10 minutes from the start of today's stage. It's another short one -- just 140km -- but the finish is going to be tough. At 125km, the day's Intergiro will toy with the sprinters, but then the road almost immediately begins to rise. The steep 13.57-km, 885-meter (2920-foot) climb to Campitello Matese, a small ski resort at 1430 meters (4917 feet) deep in the mountains of south central Italy, will test the mettle of the better climbers in the group and may take a big bite out of Jens Heppner's hold on the leader's

It was a day the Giro d’Italia race organizers were happy to get over with. Doping controversies threatened to overwhelm the race with the mostimportant racing still to go. Unfortunately for the already haggard race officials, there's likely more to come. The winner of the 2000 Giro d'Italia, Stefano Garzelli (Mapei), didn't start Wednesday's stage 10 after the test of a second urine sample, taken last week in Belgium, came back positive, while 2001 Giro winner Gilberto Simoni stayed in the race but had his own battlesto fight against a positive test for cocaine back in April. Cynical

VeloNews.com values your opinions and welcomes your letters. If you runacross something in the pages of VeloNews magazine, hear of something inthe world of cycling or see something on VeloNews.com that causes you towant to express an opinion, 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.Blackwelder responds to USADA ruling and suspensionDear VeloNews(see "Blackwelderreceives 8-month suspension") Funny thing, for the last three yearsI've spent countless hours developing a women's team

Live Updates 2:15 p.m. Good morning to our American audience. If you were expecting race updates today, don't worry, they're coming. At 118km, Stage 10 is quite short and the start time reflects that. While the starting time was originally scheduled for 2:40 today, that has been moved up to 2:20. Looking ahead, there is a Cat. II climb soon after the start at 28km and an Intergiro sprint at 47.7km. From the looks of things, Gilberto Simoni is starting today, despite this morning's report that he, too, had a positive drug test this season. We'll try to keep you up-to-date on that breaking

Acqua e Sapone rider Mario Cipollini won a sprint finish to take the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia, chalking up his career 37th stage win at Italy’s national tour. Telekom’s Jens Heppner finished in the field and holds a 3:33 lead over Mapei’s Stefano Garzelli. Garzelli continues to be the focus of a great deal of attention after he tested positive for the diuretic Probenicid – an outdated masking agent – following his stage win last week at Liege, Belgium. Garzelli could be thrown out of the race if a test of his ‘B-Sample’confirms the positive result. His team is pointing to negatives

LIVE UPDATES4:52 p.m. -- Not this time, Robbie. It's Giro win number 37 for Cipo'... McEwen takes second. 4:51 p.m. -- With Robbie McEwen on his wheel Mario Cipollini launches off of Lombardi's wheel. 4:51 p.m. -- With 2km to go, Cipo's acqua boys are setting him up and there is a fight for position. 4:49 p.m. -- Lotto led the chase and pulled Streel back in. Cipo is sitting on Lombardi's wheel. 4:48 p.m. -- With 4km to go, Marc Streel has charged off the front. 4:47 p.m. -- We are within 5km of the finish. Four or five teams are fighting for the prime spot at the front of the

Live updates1:13 p.m. -- Good morning race fans. The eighth stage of the 2002 Giro d'Italia -- 237km from Capannori to Orvieto -- has been underway for just about two hours. This is the Giro's longest stage this year. Today's speed is fairly brisk, averaging just over 41 kph for the first two hours. Just 40 minutes into today's stage, three riders were involved in a crash. Kelme's Santiago Perez Fernandez was injured seriously enough to pull out of the Giro. He was transported to a hospital and we will try to get an update as to his condition as soon as possible. Right now, three riders

Mountain-bike hall of famer Tinker Juarez, twice an Olympian andthree-time NORBA National XC Champion, has yet another stars and stripesjersey to add to the collection.Between noon Saturday, May 18 and noon Sunday, May 19, the Cannondalerider successfully defended his 2001 title as the 24 Hours of AdrenalinNORBA National Champion at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California."It's nice to win these days," Juarez, the overwhelming crowd favorite,told VeloNews. "It means so much more to me to win, because thewins are so much harder to come by. Today was the first time I've beenable to race

For the second year in a row, the top U.S. road teams descended on the lush Housatonic Valley in southwest Connecticut for the Housatonic Valley Classic, which has quickly emerged as one of the top one-day road races in the U.S. On a cool but sunny afternoon, Navigators’ Vassili Davidenko won a field sprint among the tough men of the peloton, while Saturn’s Anna Millward won the inaugural Saturn-Timex Classic women’s race. When the 198-strong men’s field left the start in Danbury just after noon, many of the 34 teams were probably expecting the race to unfold like last year’s, a survival of

The Le Mans style sprint, Saturday at high noon.

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a line.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. Follow the samplesDear VeloNewsGarzelli's initial response to an apparent positive test for steroidmasking agent Probenecid pretends to add an air of doubt as to whethersuch test results can be trusted."It would be ridiculous to take this product. I don't know how it gotinto

5:13 p.m. -- Paolo Savoldelli attacked with 5km to go and finished 45 seconds ahead of the peloton. The big news is that the main group -- including Garzelli -- finished 5:05 behind the lead group. So, Jens Heppner (Telekom) is the new overall leader of the Giro d'Italia, with a margin of more than three-and-a-half minutes.Provisional results from Stage 61. Giovanni Lombardi (I), Acqua e Sapone 4:56:452. Ruggero Marzoli (I), Formaggi Tret3. Bert Grabsch (Ger), Phonak4. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Tacconi Sport5. Angel Vicioso (Sp), Kelme6. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Landbouwkrediet-Colnago7. Jens

Stefano Garzelli lost the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia to Telekom’s Jens Heppner on Saturday after competing despite failing a doping test, while Giovanni Lombardi of the Acqua e Sapone team won the sixth stage. Word leaked out early Saturday that Garzelli tested positive for the diuretic Probenecid, which has drug-masking qualities, after winning Monday's second stage. Garzelli and his Mapei team were informed of the result Saturday. He was encouraged to continue in the race by his Mapei team until a 'B' test has been examined. (see "Garzellistarts stage 6 despite positive drug

My apologies for the delayed recap of stage 5.  I got a little bangedup yesterday and was busy for most of the evening getting some much neededattention to my many wounded body parts.Yesterday was shaping up to be an ideal stage for me.  Coming over the first climb, which was as steep as a wall, I was right along side the riders I thought I ought to be; Casagrande, Simoni and Garzelli.Then the unimaginable happened on the descent.I had a mechanical failure in my rear wheel and I found myself sailingtoward the ground like a missile.  I was literally thinking to myself"this can't be happening"

5:09 p.m. Well,if you had any doubts about Garzelli's form, he probably put them to rest today. He powered a strong charge over the last kilometer, catching the hapless Pellizotti in the final 200 meters. Then the man in the maglia rosa went head-to-head with Casagrande and other contenders in the final sprint. Tyler Hamilton did finish among the leaders despite his hard crash on the descent of the Colletto del Moro. If you are interested, Marco Pantani is still on course... now more than four minutes of the winner's pace. 5:08 p.m. Pellizotti is closing in, but the group is coming in on

Acqua e Sapone's ace sprinter Mario Cipollini earned his 36th stagewin at the Giro d'Italia Wednesday when he took a field sprint at the endof a 206km cross-border run from Verviers in Belgium to Esch sur Alzette, Luxemburg. Mapei's Stefano Garzelli continues to hold the maglia rosa, the race leader's pink jersey. In the race to the line, Cipollini beat Massimo Strazzer (Phonak) and Danilo Hondo (Telekom) to add to a collection of Giro stage wins that began back in 1989. He is now just five victories shy of the all-time record of 41 Giro stage wins held by Alfredo Binda, the great

Live updates:1:23 p.m. Good Morning to our American readers. We are just aboutan hour into today's race, 206km from Verviers in Belgium to Esch sur Alzettein Luxembourg. There were 193 starters this morning after the ColumbianCarlos Contreras (Colombia-Selle Italia) withdrew because of the flu. Theweather should not be much of a factor today since the wind is light andthere is no rain.1:28 p.m.Thus far today, the peloton has stayed relatively intact.There was one Category III climb at kilometer 20. Mariano Piccoli (Lampre-Daikin)took the points on that climb. Just a few minutes ago, at km 30,

1:45 p.m. -- Good Morning USA. We are now a bit more than an hour into today's stage, a 209-kilometer race from Cologne in Germany to the home of one of the year's great classics, Liege in Belgium. It is pleasant under sunny skies. There has been no rain forecast and only a very moderate breeze, so the weather shouldn't be much of a factor today. There hasn't been a ton of action yet today, though there have been a couple of breakaway attempts. The first was reeled in fairly quickly and right now Belgian Thierry Marichal, (Lotto-Adecco) is 1:25 ahead of the main field. He's been out there

Former Giro winner Stefano Garzelli (Mapei) won the second stage of this year’s Giro D'Italia, finishing in Liege on Monday. Garzelli's win in the 209km ride from Cologne, Germany to Ans, Belgium saw the Mapei rider take the leader's pink jersey. The Italian, winner of the 2000 Giro, won a group sprint to pip Fassa Bortolo’s Francesco Casagrande, who had launched the decisive attack on the final, six-kilometer climb, to the line. The leading group, who all timed 5:25:12 also included Jens Heppner (Telekom), who finished third, Italian Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner ), American Tyler

After two days of feeling like luck wasn't on my side, things startedto come together a little bit today.I was a bit concerned about being in the right position going into thefinal climb before the finish. Having just competed on the same roads forLiege-Bastogne-Liege three weeks ago, I knew what to expect in the final20 kilometers of the course. But the critical difference today, would bethat the entire field would probably still be together going into the finalstretch.Heading downhill on a four-lane highway with a full peloton of 196 guys,going 100 kilometers per hour definitely tests your

Acqua & Sapone’s Mario Cipollini of won the 218km first stage of the Giro d’Italia between Groningen, the Netherlands, and Munster, Germany on Sunday, taking over the leader’s pink jersey in the process. Cipollini won the final dash for the line from a splinter group that broke away from the main bunch after a mass fall 3km from the finish. Fassa Bortolo's Michele Bartoli, a perennial challenger in the classics, was one of the accident's victims and abandoned the race. Cipollini beat out two Australian cyclists, Graeme Brown (Panaria) and Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco), on the line with

France’s Sylvain Chavanel (Bonjour) took the overall title at the Four Days of Dunkirk while Mapei’s Tom Steels won the sprint finish of the final stage in Dunkirk, France. After taking the overall lead on Saturday, Chavanel survived a day of frequent attacks on Sunday, but in the end the final stage came down to a field sprint, with the young Bonjour rider tucked away safely. In the finale, Steels beat out Domo’s Jans Koerts and Luciano Pagliarini for the stage win. Dunkirk was the first major victory for the 23-year-old Chavanel.

The U.S. team took three more medals at the second round of the World Track Cup in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday. Tammy Thomas took gold in the women’s sprint in an all-American final with Tanya Lindenmuth, while Sarah Hammer beat France’s Cathy Moncassin in the women’s points race. The big upset of the weekend came in the men’s sprint, where Australian Sean Eadie beat out France’s superstar, Arnaud Tournant. Home team Australia took the overall team classification, followed by New Zealand and the U.S.

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something in thepages of VeloNews magazine or see something on VeloNews.com thatcauses you to want to write us, dropus a line. Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mail to this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter. Yeah...what he said! Wahoo! Way to go, Patrick! (see "Friday'sfoaming rant: The Giro d'Cheech and Chong") Couldn’t have said it bettermyself—and believe me, I’ve tried! Let the dogs run, baby, howling and snapping at the heels of Frigo,Pantani, and company. It’s hard

The U.S. team took three medals on day 2 of the second round of the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney, Australia. The medal haul was led by Tanya Lindenmuth, who took gold in the women’s 500-meter time trial. Meanwhile, Jame Carney took silver behind Dutchman Robert slippens in the men’s scratch race, and Sarah Hammer was second behind New Zealand’s Sarah Ulmer in the women’s scratch race. On day 1, Southern Californian Josiah Ng took silver in the keirin, flying the colors of the Malaysian national team, and 7UP-Nutra Fig pro Greg Henderson of New Zealand took third in the points race behind

As if the 15 percent grade of Cliff Street wasn't enough for the collegiate competitors on day one of the 2002 National Collegiate Cycling Association Road Nationals in Burlington, Vermont on Friday, there was also the 40 mph wind gusts off Lake Champlain to worry about. Under these conditions, Jeff Angerman (University of California at Davis) and Kate Maher (University of California at Berkley) took home the Division I stars-and-stripes jerseys in the Summit Street Criterium, the first of three stages scheduled for the weekend. In the men’s race, Angerman had his hands full when he found

With a second-place finish on the stage 4 individual time trial, Lampre’s Ravais Belohvosciks moved into the overall lead at the Four Days of Dunkirk in France, taking the leader’s pink jersey from Janek Tombak (Cofidis). Friday was a split stage at Dunkirk, with Jean-Patrick Nazon (La Française des Jeux) winning in a sprint over Lampre’s Jan Svorada. Navigators’ Ciaran Power took fifth. The afternoon presented the riders with a flat 23.3km time-trial course, and it was Crédit Agricole’s Christophe Moreau who posted the fastest time of the day, covering the distance in 27:51.64.

For one it was a breakthrough performance. For the other it was just more of the same. But after a long day of racing at NORBA NCS No. 1 at Snow Summit Resort in Big Bear Lake California, Jimena Florit and Roland Green both had impressive cross-country wins to their credit. Friday’s racing opened with the women taking on three laps of the revamped 7.25-mile circuit, and right from the gun Florit (RLX-Polo Sport) looked to have the strongest legs. The Argentinean national who calls San Diego home pulled away from the pack on the first lap, growing her advantage to 58 seconds by the time she

Cofidis’s Janek Tombak pulled on the pink leader’s jersey at the Four Days of Dunkirk in France after winning Thursday’s second stage, 190km from Hellemmes to Steenvorde. Tombak beat Frenchman Didier Rous (Bonjour) for the stage win and took the leader’s jersey away from Patrice Halgand (Jean Delatour). The start of the race saw the ever-present Jacky Durand (La Française des Jeux) initiate an eight-man breakaway that would stay out on the road for the first 50km. That group was absorbed, but countered by Roger Hammond (Palmans-Collstrop) and Roberto Lochowski (EDS-Fakta). That duo would

Jean Delaour’s Patrice Halgand won the opening stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk in northern France, taking the 181.6km stage over breakaway companions Janek Tombak (Cofidis) and Linas Balciunas (Ag2R). The trio were part of a lead group of about two dozen riders that formed 75km into the race and included some notable sprinters as well as last year’s Dunkirk winner Didier Rous (Bonjour). The group would finish three-and-a-half minutes over the field, with Mapei’s Andrea Tafi and CSC’s Laurent Jalabert among those missing out. As the race approached the finish in Wasquehal, the attacks

Acqua & Sapone’s Giovanni Lombardi won his second stage in three days Friday, winning a sprint while defending champion Dario Frigo widened his overall lead in the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland. Lombardi's Acqua & Sapone team set up the 32-yea-old with perfection, delivering him an easy victory over Saulius Ruskys (Gerolsteiner) and Mapei's Robert Hunter. Frigo finished 10th as the main bunch split coming into the finish and the Italian took an additional five seconds on his key rivals. Racers slogged through heavy rains for the third consecutive day and there's no let-up expected in

On Friday, Saturn’s Mark McCormack took Team Mercury by surprise as he sprinted away in the final 400 meters for the day’s stage win at the Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico. Mercury still continues to lead the overall with Chris Wherry and Scott Moninger first and second, but McCormack’s win broke the race stranglehold by the 13-strong Mercury team. In the women’s race, Genevieve Jeanson put on a one-woman show, riding away early and holding off a six-rider chase that included four Saturn riders and Jeannie Longo. On Thursday, Jeanson’s Rona team set her up perfectly for the final

Learning from their mistakes of a year ago, Tour de France director Jean-MarieLeblanc and his team selection committee at least explained thistime why they are snubbing Italy’s most popular cycling stars Mario Cipolliniand Marco Pantani.You may remember that in May last year, when announcing the five wild-cardteam selections for the 2001 Tour, Leblanc said that he took the numberof French teams up to eight because his committee favored the potentialof young-generation home teams over the possible failure of older-generationforeign teams. This year, in his announcement in Paris Thursday

Telekom's Erik Zabel won the Rund um den Henninger Turm in Frankfurt on Wednesday, nipping Jo Plankaert (Cofidis) and Serguei Ivanov (Fassa Bortolo) in a sprint finish.The Telekom squad pulled back a three-man break with 30 km to go andthe race came down to a bunch sprint, with the world No. 1 rider pushingPlankaert into another loss. The Belgian has been active throughout thespring without securing a victory. Ivanov, second at Amstel Gold, continuedon his fine form with third. World champion Oscar Freire (Mapei)crossed the line fourth.1. Erik Zabel (G), Telekom, 206 km in 5:00:17 (41.26

Giovanni Lombardi(Acqua & Sapone) won the first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday, a 187-kilometer ride from Geneve to Malleray-Bevilard, taking a bunch sprint on a wet and cold day in Switzerland. Lombardi, who used to be the set-up man for Erik Zabel for many years at Telekom, is now doing the same thing for Mario Cipollini. Lombardi says his return to an Italian team "makes it easier to communicate," adding that working for Cipo "is an honor. He's the best sprinter in cycling." Cipollini skipped the race because of a cold, opening the door for his reliable lead-out man to

Try as he might, Lance Armstrong just can't win Amstel Gold. Second here in 1999 and 2001, Armstrong finished fourth behind born-again Italian Michele Bartoli in an exciting, attack-riddled race Sunday in the Limburg region of Holland. It's not as if he isn't trying. Once again, Armstrong was among the main protagonists in the 37th edition of this unofficial finale of the spring classics. Armstrong, along with longtime nemesis Michael Boogerd of Rabobank, made the decisive attack on the Eyserbosweg climb 40 kilometers from the finish in the 254km circuit race.