Fabio Sacchi of Italy, riding for Saeco, took the second stage of the Tour of Murcia after a 160km trek from Beniel to San Javier on Thursday, clocking 3hr 43min 04sec to hold off Spaniard Angel Edo in a sprint for the line. But Maia racer Edo was still smiling afterwards as he leads the field by five seconds from the Italian with Sacchi's compatriot Danilo Di Luca 5sec further back. Edo thought he had won the stage but lost out by a wheel rim in a photo finish after they just squeezed ahead of Dutchman Marc Lotz. Belgian Rik Verbrugghe had made a dash for the line 2km from the finish but

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.Wednesday's MailJust a little too much information, thank youIs it just me, or do we know more about RomanVainsteins’s scrotum than we needed?This just in Pantani's halitosis debilitates small girl...Armstrongskips tour of Murcia due to case of green apple

The Navigators cycling team announced Wednesday that Olympic match sprint champion Marty Nothstein has signed on for the 2002 season. The 31-year-old Nothstein, who most recently raced for Mercury, won the match sprint gold medal at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia, and was also a silver medalist at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Nothstein has also earned three world titles, in the match sprint and Keirin. The Navigators signing continues Nothstein’s gradual shift in emphasis away from the track to the road. According to a news release issued Wednesday by the team, Nothstein has

Australians Alison Wright (AIS) claimed stage 2 honors and Emma James (NSWIS-Trek) won stage 3 on Tuesday at Australia’s Tour de Snowy. But there was no change in the overall standings, with Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers holding onto the lead she first took with her stage 1 win. Stage 2 began in the town of Tumbarumba with the locals out in force to support the field of 67 riders, but as the field rolled out of town a pile up in the middle of the bunch brought down more than a dozen riders including race leader Melchers. All but one rider got back in the race, and the riders waited until

Wright wins the stage 2 sprint.

Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers took the early overall lead in the fifth running of the Tour de Snowy after winning stage 1’s 77km ride from Khancoban to Tumbarumba in Australia on Monday. The 26-year-old crossed the line in 2:22:27, proving too strong in the sprint for Switzerland's Priska Doppmann, with reigning Australian national champion Margaret Hemsley in third. All told, 69 riders lined up for the first of five stages. After some early but unsuccessful attacks, a group of seven riders broke away at the 43km mark, just as the peloton approached the first of the day's two climbs. It was

Germany's Petra Rossner (Saturn) won a bunch sprint in the 103.1km women's road cycling World Cup race from Cooma to Thredbo, Australia on Sunday. Australia's Rochelle Gilmore and world No. 3 Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands were second and third after a punishing race culminated in an exhausting 35km climb to this ski resort in the Snowy Mountains. The 35-year-old, who took gold on the track at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and is the reigning German national road champion, won in 3:14:25. "The race was fantastic in that I had the strongest team," said Rossner. "I might not have been

Lotto’s Peter Van Petegem won Circuit Het Volk, the traditional opener of the Belgian road season in Belgium. The Belgian, who was one of the so-called ‘killer V’s” of last year’s Mercury squad, won a 10-rider sprint for the finish into Lokeren, the northern Belgian community at the end of the 202km race. Copyright AFP2002

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.In the end, what do they win?Is this drug use and abuse ever going to end?I want to think that, yes, it will end sometime...I just wonder with what face these cheaters will look at their grandsonsand say: "I won that race," when deep inside (or not so deep) they

Saeco’s Danilo Di Luca finally broke the three-stage winning streak of Alessandro Petacchi at Spain’s Tour of Valencia, Friday, winning the fourth stage, a tough 148km ride from Tavernes to the mountain-top finish at Sommet De Campello. Spain’s Antonio Colom (Colchon-Relax) moved into the overall lead. Di Luca again showed the good form that recently gave him a victory at the Trofeo Laigueglia, winning what is surely the toughest stage at this year’s Tour of Valencia. the hardest stage of the Vuelta Valenciana from Tavernes to Alto del Campello on Friday. The Saeco attacked with 40km to go

Fassa Bortolo's red-hot sprinter Alessandro Petacchi won his third straight stage of the Tour of Valencia, a 157.9 kilometer run from Castellon to Segorbe, on Thursday. Like his earlier two victories of the week, Petacchi charged to the line, winning a tough sprint, this time at the head of a group of 38 riders as the charged to the finish at the end of , a 157.5km stage from Castellon to Segorbe. The stage was marked by a series of unsuccessful escape attempts, particularly on the day’s climbs: the Category 1 Eslida; Montana Toras (Cat. 3), Sacanet (Cat. 2) and Montemayor (Cat. 3). The

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi clinched the second stage of Spain’s Tour of Valencia on Wednesday; a 216km run from Calpe to Castellon. The Italian rider had also claimed the opening stage on Tuesday. The Italian rider also claimed the opening stage on Tuesday and both wins came after a sprint finish although Wednesday's lacked the first day's drama when world road race champion Oscar Freire and Mario Cipollini fell. Italian sprint king Cipollini grabbed second with German Erik Zabel in third. "I wasn't expecting a second win but I felt good at the end and I was able to exploit the

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi won the opening stage of the Tour of Valencia in Spain on Tuesday. The Italian won a sprint at the end of a 126km stage that finished in Calpe. Petacchi came out on top in a sprint ahead of Russian Dimitri Konychev in second and Angel Vicioso of Spain in third. Spaniard Luis Perez tried to slip the peloton during the final fourth category climb 24km from the finish, but he was caught at the foot of the hill. Petacchi's Fasso Bortolo teammates, aided by riders from Acqua Sapone, Mapei and Telekom cranked up the pace to carry the specialist sprinters to

VeloNews.com welcomes your letters. If you run across something inthe pages of VeloNews, or see something on VeloNews.com that causesyou to want to write us, drop us a line at WebLetters@7Dogs.com.Please include your full name and home town. By submitting mailto this address, you are consenting to the publication of your letter.A big Thanks! to those who make North American racing specialDear Editor;I would like to thank - and invite others to thank- in this public forum,a long neglected key player in the world of bike racing: Host Housing Families.It would be nice to hear from other racing

Danilo Di Luca(Saeco-Longoni Sport)won Tuesday's Trofeo Laigueglia in a sprint finish over 172km, in what is considered the opening round of the Italian cycling season. Di Luca outsprinted compatriot Eddy Mazzoleni (Sacconi-Caldirola)and Lotto’s Serge Baguet to win the 39th running of the race in his first season with the Saeco team. The race, characterized by a duel between Di Luca and Mediterranean Tour winner Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo), blew apart on the slopes of the Paravenna -the last climb of the race. Di Luca powered clear and went over the top with a ten-second advantage over

Michele Bartoli (Fassa Bortolo) won the 29th edition of the Tour of the Mediterranean, after finishing in the field in the fifth and final stage, won by his teammate Alessandro Petacchi. The Italian team had dominated the Med Tour from start, winning the opening team time trial and maintaining procession of the yellow leader’s jersey throughout. Petacchi won a field sprint into the French city of Marseilles at the end of a 120km stage that began in Rousset. Bartoli locked up the win on Saturday as won the race’s toughest stage, a 167km race that ended atop the steep slopes of Mount

Acqua e Sapone’s Giovanni Lombardi won the third stage of the MediterraneanTour, Friday, sprinting in ahead of a group led by Australian Robbie McEwen(Lotto) and La Française Des Jeux’s Baden Cooke. Alessandro Petacchi(Fassa Bortolo) maintains his hold on the overall lead.Starting in Villeneuve-Loubet, 170 took on the 142km stage to Hyeresriding toward the day’s first climb, the col de l'Esterel at 38km. On thedescent, none other than cycling’s most regular early escapee, Jacky Durand(La Française Des Jeux), joined forces with Philippe Gaumont, buildinga lead of 1:45, by the 65km mark. The

Mario Cipollini added another check in his win column Thursday as the Acqua e Sapone sprint star edged-out Crédit Agricole’s Thor Hushovdat the end of the 176km second stage of the Mediterranean Tour.The rain-soaked stage from Bouc-Bel-Air to Cannet got off to a quickstart when Thierry Loder (AG2R) launched an early attack just 9km fromthe start. The French rider built his advantage to more than three-and-a-halfminutes by the 80km mark. But racing alone in the rain against a pelotondriven by the Fassa Bortolo squad of race leader Michele Bartoli took itstoll and Loder was reeled back in by

With Kuala Lumpur’s mighty Petronas Towers shadowing the course, the 2002 Tour de Langkawi concluded with Sunday’s 75.6-kilometer criterium. When racing was done Australian Graeme Brown had his second stage win, while Colombian Hernan Dario Munoz made it home safely in the bunch, winning the overall title of this 10-day, 1310-kilometer race in Malaysia.

It was just a coincidence that the torrential rains came precisely at the moment Andrea Tafi stepped onto the award’s podium. But when word came down an hour later that the Mapei-Quick Step rider had been relegated to the back of the bunch for an irregular sprint, it seemed awfully appropriate. The penalty — handed down for throwing an elbow on the final straightaway — cost the 35-year-old Italian the green jersey, and continued what has been a frustrating trip to Malaysia for the aging star.

The lesson for the day was this: spend too much time hanging around the back of the peloton and you’re bound to end up in trouble. Among those in attendance were three former occupants of the top-10 overall here at the 2002 Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia.

Belgians might be passionate about cyclo-cross, but Zolder proved that their love of the sport doesn’t keep them mired in tradition. While ’cross usually conjures up visions of slop-covered racers sliding through mud and hurdling obstacles with almost ballet-like grace, this year’s world-championship course left the barriers, the log-strewn run-ups and the mud for the history books. Instead, with dry weather, no hurdles and temperatures in the 60s, the emphasis was on speed and a touch of teamwork. If Dutchman Richard Groenendaal benefited from a muddy, home-field advantage the weekend

The warning came courtesy of Andrea Tafi at the team dinner Tuesday night. "Don’t eat too much for breakfast tomorrow," he announced. "Wednesday will be a hard day."

The list of contenders for the 2002 Tour de Langkawi overall title was drastically diminished Tuesday, following a major shake-up on the race’s fifth day, a 129.7-kilometer trip south from Bangi to Melaka. Those still alive include Mapei-Quick Step’s Robbie Hunter, who retained the yellow jersey he’s owned since the first day of this race, last year’s TDL overall winner Paolo Lanfranchi (Alexia Alluminio), and even young Canadian mountain biker Ryder Hesjedal.

Another day, another sprint at the Tour de Langkawi. But for the first time this year someone other than Robbie Hunter crossed the line first. Led by a strong chase, then lead-out from his Panaria team, Italian Enrico Degano emerged from the peloton on the final straightway to take the win on Sunday in Malaysia. Degano and 131 others were all credited with the finishing time of 2:38:44 in the 129.6-kilometer stage.

It was supposed to be a battle of the world champions – the defending world cyclo-cross champion Hanka Kupfernagel from Germany and the reigning world mountain-bike champion from the U.S., Alison Dunlap. Instead, it was a former rainbow jersey winner from France who bided her time, made her move at the right moment and scored the win in the world women’s cyclo-cross championship in Zolder, Belgium on Sunday morning. In the end, Kupfernagel and Dunlap had to settle for second and fourth as 1998 world women’s mountain-bike champion Laurence Leboucher soloed in for the win, nearly a minute

To call it a sweep is something of an understatement. The Belgians were much more dominant than that. Mario De Clercq led an all-Belgian field sprint to the finish line Sunday, scoring his third rainbow jersey in five years in front of wild and very partisan crowd in Zolder Belgium. The 35-year-old De Clercq cruised across the line ahead of fellow Belgians Tom Vannoppen and World Cup winner Sven Nijs. The trio managed to put aside the usual Belgian infighting to cooperate nearly all the way to the finish, crossing just ahead of a hard-charging Richard Groenendaal of the Netherlands.

Degano (left) takes the sprint.

You could see this one coming a mile away — or 183.5 kilometers for that matter. That was the distance of the Tour de Langkawi’s Stage 2 run north along the western cost of Malaysia from Klang to Sitiawan. But one look at the dead flat course profile, and you knew the final kilometer would be the only one that mattered. And with a sprint in the cards, no one holds a stronger hand here in Southeast Asia than Mapei-Quick Step and its South African speedster, Robbie Hunter.

Davy Commeyne thought he had it in the bag. After dangling at the frontsmall group of leaders over the final two laps of the Under-23 men's worldcyclo-cross championship race in Zolder, Belgium, on Saturday, the youngBelgian had succeeded in fighting off a last-minute charge by Czech riderTomas Trunschka and closing sprint by Italian Franzoi Enrico."I looked to my left," Commeyne said. "There was no one coming."The problem was, he hadn't looked to his right. Had he glanced in thedirection of the wall lining the finishing straight at Zolder's motor speedway,he might have noticed the blaze

Robbie Hunter is best known for his sprinting, but on Friday the blond South African showed he has other talents, taking the 20.3km Stage 1 time trial at the Tour de Langkawi. Hunter’s win meant that once again the Mapei-Quick Step crew would be defending the race’s yellow jersey. A year ago the Italian-based team won just about everything meaningful in Malaysia, led by Paolo Lanfranchi’s overall crown.

The U.S. Cycling Federation announced its 2002 National Championship schedule Tuesday. The championship calendar includes road, track and cyclo-cross events for junior, under-23, elite and masters riders. The season kicks off with the National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCCA) National Road Cycling Championships May 10-12 in Burlington, Vermont. The collegiate championship event will be held in the northeast for the first time since 1993. The highly populated Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference will provide some great competition in its own backyard, led by the host school, the

Ivan Quaranta of Italy picked off the 117km opening stage of the five-day Tour of Qatar in Doha on Monday, winning a sprint finish at the expense of Brazilian Luciano Pagliarini and Jean-Patrick Nazon of France. Quaranta crossed the line in 2:43:44. Sweden's Magnus Backstedt led a nine-man escape after 26km and Frenchman Laurent Jalabert also joined the hunt as the leading pack held out until some 8km from the finish. Quaranta, a junior world track champion a decade ago, then chose his moment to snatch the victory. The Index-Alesia rider has been in good form over the past two seasons with

You couldn't blame Michael Rogers for demanding a spare bike be ready for immediate use as he rode the final kilometers to victory in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia on Sunday. After all, he learned 24 hours before winning the 733km race how "Lady Luck" can abruptly barge her way in unannounced and throw every winning hope into disarray. That a quick-minded spectator was there to lend Rogers his own bike on the previous stage was the most poignant moment behind his overall victory - by 21 seconds over Russian Alexandre Botcharov (AG2R) and 30 seconds on South Australian

Australian Michael Rogers overcame scorching heat, a near disasterous crash with a race marshal’s motorbike and his rivals to take overall leadership of the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under in Australia on Saturday. In the toughest stage of the race, 156km from Gawler to Tanunda, Rogers (AIS) finished second, 10 seconds behind Australian and former mountain-biker Cadel Evans (Mapei). Then 11 seconds behind him in third-place came Italian Daniele Nardello (Mapei). Going into the sixth and final stage, Rogers will now lead the race by 21 seconds from Russian Alexandre Botcharov (AG2R) and 30

Australia’s new generation of road racing stars came under fire from veteran Scott Sunderland on Friday for allegedly causing a bone-chilling crash that could endanger his 2002 season. For Robbie McEwen (Lotto) Friday’s 141km fourth stage in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under brought his third victory in the race and sixth in 15 days, but it was a different story for Sunderland (Lotto), Australia’s second-highest ranked rider on the world standings who has also been leading the climbers’ category here. McEwen won the stage from the Adelaide suburb of Unley to the former whaling station of

THE only thing that can seemingly stop Australia's Robbie McEwen from racing in full flight at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under is the finish line. By winning Thursday's 149km third stage on the Willunga circuit south of Adelaide, McEwen (Lotto) took his tally of wins in 14 days to five. McEwen won so comfortably, he could have been sitting in an armchair sipping fine wine in one of the many bed-and-breakfasts in the region. It was also the Queenslander's second stage win for the tour. And it saw the recently crowned Australian road champion take leadership in the sprinters' points

Stuart O’Grady’s (Crédit Agricole) bid to win the Jacbob's Creek Tour Down Under a third time hangs in the balance after he lost nearly a minute in Wednesday’s blistering-fast second stage of the South Australian event. Canberra's Michael Rogers (AIS) won the 150km stage from Italian Fabio Sacchi (Seaco), who deposed Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco) as overall race leader. Third at the same time was Italy's Andrea Tafi (Mapei). McEwen, the winner of stage one on Tuesday night, rode aggressively all day and was instrumental in the first major attack of the day. The overnight race leader and

Australian champion Robbie McEwen was the first to raise his hands in triumph at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under with an emphatic win in Tuesday night's first stage. McEwen (Lotto) won the 47km criterium at the Adelaide, Australia, beachside suburb of Glenelg from Corey Sweet (Uni of South Australia) and Dutch champion Jans Koerts (Domo). The trio formed the winning breakaway after only nine of 25 laps on the 1.88km circuit and held off a chase group of 10 riders after lapping the main bunch with four laps to go.

At 2 p.m. on September 17, the U.S. cycling community cried. There was nothing else it could do. After the shock and disbelief, the impact of the news set in: Nicole Reinhart was pronounced dead at 1:27 p.m. America had lost one of its brightest stars: the 24-year-old Saturn sprinter who always had a smile and a greeting for whomever she met. September 17 was supposed to be a shot at glory for Reinhart in Arlington, Massachusetts. At stake was the $250,000 prize offered by the organizers of the BMC Software Grand Prix for any rider who could win all four races in the series: Austin,

Johannes Huseby notched the biggest win of his career Saturday, beating New England cyclo-cross legend Frank McCormack in a two-up sprint to the finish line at the Castor’s Cyclo-Cross race in South Kingston, Rhode Island. It wasn’t a bad day for the McCormack family, however, as brother Mark clinched the 2001 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series title with a third-place finish. After initiating the winning breakaway, Huseby (Independent Fabrication) had to withstand Team Saturn’s dreaded one-two McCormack punch. Huseby not only survived, but launched a series of scorching

On Sunday, the focus in Baltimore changed from cyclo-cross nationals to the SuperCup as the weekend drew to a close, but the races were no less exciting than they had been the day before. On a completely different course, newly re-crowned national champion Alison Dunlap (Clif Bar) put a cap on her weekend by completing the nationals-SuperCup double in convincing fashion, riding away from a field loaded with challengers. In the men's race, Jonathan Page (Richard Sachs) made up for a disappointing fourth-place in the nationals race by winning a fast-paced shootout that eventually boiled down to

When the clouds blew away over night, and the sun came out Saturday morning to dry the nationals cyclo-cross course in Baltimore, it looked as if some of the element of chance would be taken out of the men’s and women’s elite races at Patterson Park. Gone were the slick, muddy conditions that threw Friday’s masters races into chaos. Instead, racers on Saturday were greeted with a sure, tacky surface on a cool but sunny day. But luck would intervene nevertheless.

Riding the coattails of its performance at the 2000 Olympics, British cycling hit the jackpot when it was announced that money from the National Lottery will fund a four-year development program at the rate of 4 million pounds (approximately $5.6 million) annually. Cycling, for many years the redheaded stepchild of British sport, is reaping the reward for its medal-winning efforts at Sydney 2000. The team emerged with one gold — won by Jason Queally in the 1km time trial — a silver in the Olympic sprint; bronzes in the team pursuit and women’s pursuit, plus a couple of fourth place

With the national championships just two weeks away, many of America’s best cyclo-cross riders showed up in Wayland, Massachusetts for the fifth stop of the Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series last Saturday. In the men’s pro race, a group of 11 moved to the front early, with Todd Wells (Mongoose-Hyundai), Saturn’s Mark McCormack and Tim Johnson the most well known names. But it was Matt Svatek (Wheelworks-Cannondale) surprising the group by launching an attack that saw him go clear for two laps. But unwilling to let Svatek ride away with the race, Wells took it upon himself to reel in the

Whether it was Geneviève Jeanson’s amazing performance at Redlands or cross country day at the world championships in Vail, North America and North Americans provided some of the year’s best bike racing. In this final installment of the 2001 VeloNews Awards we reveal the winners of the North American Awards. Note: All awards are for performances on North American soil. RIDE OF THE YEARGeneviève Jeanson entered the 99km final stage of the Redlands stage race with a healthy lead of nearly two minutes. Well, she didn't rest on her laurels. Within a kilometer of the start of the tough

The December 17 issue of VeloNews, the 14th annual VeloNews Awards issue, includes our "10 best" list, the things we will remember most about bike racing in 2001. Of course each of us had our own ideas about what stood out this year, so in addition to the final list, here is a look at some other memorable happenings according to the writers and editors of VeloNews. KIP MIKLER, EDITOR1. It’s rare for me to take in a race as a spectator, but in September I left the notebook behind and went to San Francisco for the Grand Prix. I joined thousands of rowdy fans soaking in the atmosphere and the

Since the start of the cyclo-cross season, American Jonathan Page has been living in Switzerland, contesting a European ’cross campaign. His biggest test to date came on Saturday at the opening round of the World Cup, in Monopoli, Italy. Page finished 23rd, 3:01 behind race winner Sven Nijs. With a top 20 placing, Page would have met a selection criteria for an automatic berth on the U.S. team for cyclo-cross world’s in Belgium. The following day, Page was back in Zurich for a local Swiss race. He’ll have one more crack at a top 20 World Cup finish, in Spain, December 2, before returning

Dutch sprint specialist and four-time Tour de France stage winner Jeroen Blijlevens signed a one-year contract with the Belgian Domo-Farm Frites squad on Friday. The 29-year-old, whose name means 'good life', has had two dreadful seasons and failed to add to his 73 career wins at all this past season, riding for Lotto. Blijlevens, who also has four career stage wins in the Tour of Spain, barely did better than that in the 2000 campaign chalking up two victories with Italian Polti team. Blijlevens has also fallen foul of the sport's authorities on more than one occasion. He

After highly successful seasons on both the men's and women's fronts, the team Saturn line-ups won't look much different for the 2002 season. The men's team will welcome three new riders -- Damon Kluck, Will Frischkorn and Jay Sweet -- while the women will add only one new face, 23-year-old Jessica Phillips. The men will see two departures this off-season, with Canadian Michael Barry heading to the U.S. Postal Service and Matt DeCanio joining Prime Alliance. In Kluck, 24, Frischkorn, 20, and Sweet, 26, Saturn will get an infusion of young talent on the men's side. Kluck

BASSANO, Italy — It is Monday morning and I’m still too drowsy to fully engage in the level of excitement with which my Italian work mates face the most mundane of activities. Our PR guy Marco mentions some event that evening hosted by Ciclismo magazine and so I somewhat reluctantly volunteer to go along, thinking it will be good to show my face and help schmooze some free press. I didn’t really understand exactly what we were going to, but figured it would be good for the company. My first clue was as we were leaving and he said "you’re going to wear that?" We arrive at an auditorium and

The top North American cyclo-cross racers were in Amherst, Massachusetts on Saturday for Round 3 of the Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series in search of UCI points, which will be used for U.S. world’s team selection. In the men’s elite race, an early attack saw Mark McCormack and Tim Johnson of Saturn joined by Marc Gullickson (Mongoose-Hyundai) break clear of the field on the University of Massachusetts at Amherst campus. For those in attendance last year,it was a familiar sight watching Gullickson take on the two Saturn riders. However, things didn’t go according to plan

We'll never forget the last time the Tour de France started in Luxembourg, in 1989. Going into the race, defending champion Pedro Delgado of Spain was the race favorite. That tag soon disappeared. Delgado, incomprehensibly, showed up late for his prologue time trial start. Two minutes and 40 seconds late! The next day, still in Luxembourg, Delgado bonked in the team time trial stage. His Reynolds teammates had to wait for him, and they finished dead last, losing almost five minutes. So, after two days of racing, the Spanish hero was 7:20 down on the new race favorite, Laurent Fignon.

The domestic cyclo-cross season continues Saturday, October 27, at the Amherst International, a selection race for the U.S. team that will compete in the world championships in Zolder, Belgium. The Amherst race will also crown the 2001 North Atlantic regional champions. A UCI category 3 race, Amherst International is the third leg of the seven-race Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series and will pay out $3500 in prize money. The event began 11 years ago as a University of Massachusetts dorm-room project by then-student Adam Hodges Myerson, who is still promoting the race today. National

Not everyone came to race, but the ones who did gave the crowd in downtown Miami plenty to cheer about at the final stop of the Pro Cycling Tour on Sunday. In the men’s race in was recent Prime Alliance addition Chris Horner getting to the line first in the 85-minute, plus five laps criterium that snaked its way around a 1.4-mile circuit in the shadow of the city’s skyscrapers. The event was originally slated to run 90 minutes, but when CycleScience’s Joel Chavez crashed hard into a barrier near the end of the first lap and had to be taken to the hospital, the race was neutralized, then

The women's sprint finish was a close as it can get.

Italian Danilo Di Luca of the Cantina Tollo team dominated a sprint finish to win the 95th edition of the Tour of Lombardy, the final event in the 2001 UCI World Cup road series. On-form Dutchman Erik Dekker lifted the World Cup trophy after finishing 13th in the 10th and final event. The 25-year-old Di Luca, an up-and-coming professional who was beaten by a whisker here two years ago, made sure of victory this time as he completed the rain-soaked 258km ride from Varese to Bergamo. He held off fellow escapees Giuliano Figueras (Panaria) and Michael Boogerd (Rabobank), who finished second

Now in its 16th year, Greenville, South Carolina’s two-day Michelin Cycling Classic has become one of America’s greatest events, a true season-ending classic. Cyclists from across the country and overseas gathered to join battle for one of the last times in 2001, with the streets of beautiful downtown Greenville as their battleground. And, though both days were contested on the same course, they led to very different results, with Juan-Carlos Pineda (7UP-Colorado Cyclist) and Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) emerging victorious in the men’s events, while Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Saturn) and Robin

Home team Great Britain topped the medals chart at the world masters track championships in Manchester, England, but U.S. riders reached the top step of the podium more than anyone else. In all, the U.S. team scored 19 gold medals and 47 total, while Great Britain took 16 gold and 68 total medals. For results from the final two days of competition, click on "View Race Results."

Another world's road race is over. And, for the third year running, the blue-ribbon event came down to whom was fastest in the final straightaway. Two years ago, in Verona, Italy, a dozen riders were still together when "unknown" Spanish rider Oscar Freire sprinted out of the last turn to win by four seconds. In 2000, at Plouay, France, there were two dozen that fought out the finish, with Latvian Romans Vainsteins taking the sprint and Freire in third. Now, in Lisbon, Portugal, almost four dozen riders were still together to contest the finish -- an unimaginable outcome for a race that had

After losing the junior men's time trial by 44 hundredths of a second last Wednesday, 18-year-old Oleksandr Kvachuk from Ukraine was in tears. So close, but so far. On Saturday, Kvachuk put that disappointment behind him and made a blistering solo break, to win the 121km road race by 1:07 over a chase group of four that was brought home by Dutchman Niels Scheuneman — whose silver medal joins the bronze he scored in the time trial. Commenting on his win, Kvachuk said, "After the time trial I was sad -- so today I decided to show that I am a real champion." He proved that with an astonishing

In a long career at the elite level Lithuanian twin Rasa Polikeviciute has almost won a host of big races -- a time-trial bronze medal at last year's world's, second at the women's Tour de France in 1994 and ’96, a silver medal in the road race at the 1996 world's, and third overall at this year's Hewlett-Packard Challenge and the Tour of Tuscany. Finally, on Saturday afternoon, the 31-year-old sprinted to her own rainbow jersey in an ultimately exciting elite women's 121km road race. Polikeviciute knew she was in good form -- fourth in the time trial on Wednesday -- but as she said: "In the

After taking her second rainbow jersey of the week, and her fourth world title in 12 months, Nicole Cooke said something quite insightful about the key to her amazing success. The defending junior women's road race champion was asked if she had an idol. After thinking for a few seconds, she replied, "Not really.... I set my own targets rather than following the lead of others." And that's exactly what the 18-year-old Brit did in the six-lap, 72.6km race on Friday morning. After the 64 starters rode as a pack for two easy laps, they reached the start of the main climb on lap 3. Feeling

Results from day 4 of the world master's track championships in Manchester, England. Click on "View race results."

The world masters track championships continue this week in Manchester, England. The U.S. continued its strong performance, with American riders picking up five more gold medals on day 3. For results from day 3, click on "View race results."

The U.S. took home five gold medals in the opening two days of competition at the world masters track championships in Manchester, England. On the men’s side, Keith Harrison (60-64) and Stan Gregg (55-59) won their respective 500-meter time trials, while Alphonso Whaley took gold in the 40-44 750-meter time trial. On the women’s side, Linelle Betts (45-49) and Suzie Tignor (35-39) won their 500-meter time trials. For results from Manchester, click on "View Race Results."

It wasn’t the expected sprinter who won the 95th Paris-Tours in France on Sunday, it was a climber. And it wasn’t just any climber, it was Frenchman Richard Virenque, who pulled off a major personal coup in winning the second-to-last race of the 2001 UCI World Cup series. Virenque, formerly of Festina and now riding for Domo-Farm Frites, just returned to competitive racing in August after serving a lengthy suspension from the sport after the Festina doping scandal of 1998. Spaniard Oscar Freire (Mapei-Quick Step) finished second in Sunday’s 254.5km race in France, and German sprinting ace

Stage 17 I woke up pretty slow this morning. Benoit, who usually out sleeps us all, was out the door before I even sat up. The hotel we were in was the same one we stayed at during the Vuelta Murcia. The town of Murcia is very nice and they love cycling. After breakfast it was back to the room to stretch and watch Benoit doze in and out of sleep as the radio speaker in the bathroom blared out with Europop songs that never make it back home. Benoit woke up for a second, stared at me in wonder and said, "Man you stretch too much." Soon after we were downstairs and on our bikes to the

Here’s a look at Saturday and Sunday’s action at the track world championships from Antwerp, Belgium. — Frenchman Arnaud Tournant upset pre-race predictions to win the world sprint title on Saturday, the main event of the world track championships. The 23-year-old from Roubaix near the Belgian border dominated compatriot and race favorite Laurent Gane over three heats after Gane won the first round and Tournant pulled level in the second. Another Frenchman, Olympic keirin champion Florian Rousseau grabbed bronze after he beat Germany's Jens Fielder in the match for third place. Gane, the

In the final day of competition at the world track championships in Antwerp, Belgium, a dramatic keirin final ended with only two men left upright. Australian Ryan Bayley was first across the line ahead of France’s Laurent Gane. The other four finalists — Jens Fiedler, Jobie Dajka, Pavel Buran and Florian Rousseau — were lying in a tangle of bikes and bodies on the back straight. The high-speed pile-up saw bike parts and riders flying through the air. Fiedler ran the final 125 meters carrying his bike to become possibly the first track cyclist to win a world bronze medal on foot. France’s

After 20 stages and more than 1,800 miles of racing, the 56th Vuelta a España will be decided in Sunday’s final 23.5-mile individual time trial. Saturday’s final climbing stage, the 112-mile 20th stage featuring two category-one climbs up Alto de Abantos high in the mountains north of Madrid, failed to rattle race leader Oscar Sevilla (Kelme), who retained his 25-second lead over Festina’s Angel Casero. Giro d’Italia champion Gilberto Simoni (Lampre) sprinted ahead of iBanesto.com Jose Maria Jimenez on the final switchback to win while U.S. Postal’s Jose Luis Rubiera crossed the line third

Nancy Contreras gave Mexico its first ever world championship victory when she won the women's 500-meter time trial at Antwerp, Belgium on Saturday afternoon. Contreras, 23, was fastest over the first 250 metres, clocking 19.539 and finished strongly in 34.996. A student of languages based at Metepec, some 70 kilometers from Mexico City, Contreras' previous international performances include a silver medal in the Pan American Games. Her husband and coach, Guillermo Guteirrez, was in tears as Contreras received the rainbow jersey. Canada's Lori-Ann Muenther followed her sprint bronze by

Swiss six-day star Bruno Risi took the world points race title for the fourth time in nine years at the Antwerp Sportpaleis on Saturday evening. Risi controlled the race throughout. He led a nine-man group that lapped the field just before half distance and built an unbeatable points score. Argentina’s Juan Curuchet took the silver after finishing the 40-kilometer race in the same lap as Risi but with six fewer sprint points. Franz Stocher of Austria placed third, a further six points in arrears. America’s only rider, Jame Carney, led the race on points in the early stages but missed the

Tammy Thomas came within one race of achieving her dream in her debut at the track world championships in Antwerp, Belgium on Friday. But instead the 31-year-old personal fitness instructor from Mississippi took the silver medal on her first world championship appearance. Thomas had to settle for a silver medal, after being beaten 2-0 by Russia’s Svetlana Grankovskaia in the best-of-three sprint finals. "I just didn’t have the legs in the race for the gold," Thomas lamented. "She was faster than me and I just couldn’t get it done. I’m happy with the silver though. This makes my

First-time world championship rider Tammy Thomas won through to the last four of the women’s sprint in Antwerp, Belgium on Thursday. Beaten by Germany’s Susan Panzer in the first match of the quarterfinals, Thomas hit back to level the scores and then won the decider with an attacking ride from the front, clocking 12.257 and 12.435 seconds. Also through to the semis is Canada’s Lori-Ann Muenzer, who took the first match against Szilvia Szabolcsi (Hungary) only to be relegated to second place for straying across the sprinters line. Unfazed by the upset, Muenzer took no chances in the two

The French Olympic sprint team heads for gold.

The Olympic sprint podium.

The first rainbow jersey of the 2001 World Track Championship went to Arnaud Tournant of France who won the kilometer time trial for the fourth straight year. Tournant, the final starter in the 21-rider field brought the event to a thrilling climax with a time 1 minute, 2.571 seconds, for a clear victory over last year’s silver medalist, German Soren Lausberg who clocked a 1:03.363 on Tuesday in Antwerp, Belgium. Tournant was the huge favorite, having dominated the event for the past four years since taking Australian Shane Kelly's title in 1998. But the Frenchman went one better than

The 56th Vuelta a España entered its final week with another fast day in the saddle in Tuesday’s 153-km (95-mile) 16th stage that finished well under the expected time following Monday’s rest day. Domo’s Tomas Konecny was fastest to the line while Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla easily retained the overall lead for the sixth day. U.S. Postal’s Roberto Heras and Levi Leipheimer remained in their respective fourth and sixth places overall. A steady breeze pushed the peloton along at a brisk pace to the day’s major obstacle, the category-two Cresta del Gallo just 13 kilometers from the finish line in

American Olympic sprint champion Marty Nothstein and the Chinese national team will not compete at the track cycling world championships, which are slated to begin Wednesday at the SportPaleis in Antwerp, Belgium. Nothstein, who recently turned in a sub-par showing at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, has turned down the chance to race at the event in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The move will reduce the U.S. team to just five men and four women. The Chinese, who won two medals at last year’s championships, apparently bowed