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

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