To say that Chris Horner is on a roll this spring is something of anunderstatement. A week after winning the Redlands Classic, he and his PrimeAlliance team stormed through the road events at Sea Otter. Now, Hornerseems in complete command of the Solano Classic. VeloNews’s NealRogers caught up with Horner both before the start and after the finishof Thursday’s road race at Solano.Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 8:30 a.m.VN: You’re off to an amazing start, winning the overall at Redlandsand the Sea Otter. What’s the secret to your early season success?Horner: [smiling]Totally relaxed…VN: Yeah? You

Acqua & Sapone's Miguel Perdiguero edged-out Telekom's Erik Zabel in a mass sprint and kept the Telekom ace from getting his hat-trick at the 39th Setmana Catalana. Zabel, the winner of the first two stages, couldn't get past Perdiguero while iBanesto.com’s Juan Miguel Mercado finished safely just a few seconds behind the lead group to retain his overall lead with just one stage to go. Perdiguero was satisfied with the victory in Setmana Catalana's penultimate stage after enduring some bad luck earlier in the season, with falls at the Vuelta a Valencia and Tirreno-Adriatico. "I've been

The Solano Bicycle Classic began Thursday, with the opening stage road race ending on a familiar note: last weekend’s Sea Otter overall winners Chris Horner (Prime Alliance) and Lyne Bessette (Saturn) atop the podium. On a winding course through green foothills that can only be described as gorgeous, top domestic teams fought through gusting cross winds to decide the opening stage of this Northern California NRC event. In the men’s 91-mile race—that began and ended with two long climbs—a missed turn by the lead group at mile 67became a point of controversy, as race officials scrambled to

Italy's Giuseppe Guerini gave Telekom its third stage victory in the Setmana Catalana, beating new overall leader Juan Miguel Mercado in a two-sprint to the line in a long climbing stage up the category-one climb to Col de Pal. Nearly three years ago, Guerini won the dramatic stage at Alpe d'Huez in the 1999 Tour de France when he collided with a fan on the course but recovered to take win. Nothing got in Guerini's way Wednesday except heavy fog and cool temperatures in the 157-km stage between Castello de Empuries to Pal. "I finally get to win again. I have forgotten what it's like to win.

Defending Giro d'Italia champion Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) didn'tstart Wednesday's stage of the 39th Setmana Catalana following his spillin the morning stage of Tuesday's two-part stage. Simoni crashed hard onhis right knee in the first sector and his knee didn't respond well toanti-inflammatories overnight.Saeco officials said it was better that Simoni not start than risk furtherinjury to the knee … With Simoni out, the SetmanaCatalana is with one less star in a race that many top riders choseto avoid, something that grates Vuelta a Espana director Enrique

Spain´s Juan Carlos Dominguez (Phonak) took the overall lead of the 39th Setmana Catalana in Spain on Tuesday after winning the afternoon stage of the two-stage second day, a 10.3-km time trial. Erik Zabel (Telekom) won the 106-km morning stage from Lloret de Mar to Empuribrava in a sprint to make it two in a row for the German at Setmana Catalana. Zabel later lost the lead to Dominguez, the overall winner here in 1997. Americans Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) and Tyler Hamilton (CSC-Tiscali), both riding into form for more important goals later in the season, didn´t push for the stage-win in

According to German television reports, Jan Ullrich’s knee injuryis more serious than originally thought. Ullrich didn’t start at Milan-San Remo after over-training caused pain in his knee. Team Telekom officialshad hoped Ullrich would be able to return to competition in April, butGerman TV reports that the 1997 Tour de France champion still has not trainedseriously on the bicycle and has been limited to working out in a swimmingpool. Mapei pushed to victory in the morning team time trial at the opening day of the five-day Coppi-Bartali in Italy on Tuesday. The five-man team, powered by none

Still basking in the afterglow of his dramatic victory at the93rd Milan-San Remo on Saturday, Mario Cipollini now says he willcertainly compete in the world championships in Zolder, Belgium in October."The worlds will be my Milan-San Remo of the autumn," Cipollini toldLa Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's a course well-suited for a sprinterand I will prepare 100 percent for it."Now that Super Mario is overall leader of the 2002 World Cup, Cipollinisaid he will race at Tour of Flanders (April 7) and possibly Paris-Roubaix(April 14). He said he will also race Ghent-Wevelgem, a race he's won

Saturn’s Lyne Bessette won the women’s road overall at the Sea Otter Classic in style Saturday, taking the final stage, along with the points jersey, in a two-up sprint against Rona superstar Genevieve Jeanson. Entering the circuit race with a one-minute, 20-second lead over teammate Kimberly Bruckner, and a comfortable 2:15 over Friday’s road race winner Susan Palmer-Komar (Talgo America), Bessette was poised for the overall victory; however the Saturn women were still without a stage win. With the assurance of a powerful team her defending her leader’s jersey, Bessette took matters into

There’s a reason they call them world champions, and Alison Dunlap and Roland Green showed why Sunday, each taking the overall wins in the Sea Otter Classic mountain-bike stage race in Monterey, California. In his first major mountain bike race since winning gold in Vail, Green (Trek-Volkswagen) earned his GC title by putting 46 seconds into Dutchman Bart Brentjens (Giant) and winning stage 4’s 36-mile cross country. Brentjens, the 2001 Sea Otter champ, would settle for second on the day and in the overall, after surrendering the 7-second advantage he had begun the day with. The pace of the

After 14 seasons as a professional, 35-year-old Mario Cipollini finally won the race he wanted to win more than any other. Cipollini, riding in the zebra-esque colors of his new team, Acqua & Sapone, survived a long day that saw many pre-race favorites succumb to crashes and injuries to win the 93rd Milan-San Remo. [nid:21955]Cipollini and the lead sprinters reeled in a two-man breakaway of Mapei’s Paolo Bettini and Panaria’s Giuliano Figueras with less than a kilometer to go after the pair had pulled away on the Poggio climb just seven kilometers from the finish.

Dutch racer Mirjam Melchers (Farm Frites-Hartol) won the 118km Primavera Rosa, winning a three-up sprint. The win puts her into second place overall in the women’s World Cup, 32 points behind Germany’s Petra Rossner. The race, the third in the nine-race World Cup, basically followed the final half of the men’s route of the Milan-San Remo. Melchers pulled away late in the race with Diana Ziliute (Acca Due) and Chantal Beltman (Acca Due) and beat the teammates in the sprint.

Chris Horner wrapped up the men’s road title at the Sea Otter Classic as he finished in the main field of the Laguna Seca circuit race Saturday, easily protecting the nearly three-minute lead he had in the overall standings. Saturn’s Mark McCormack took advantage of a final-lap charge and held off a closing field to earn a win in the final stage of the three-day, four-stage event, near Monterey, California. With just 20 laps around the twisting tarmac of the Laguna Seca speedway, there was little chance that anyone would come close to making a dent in Horner’s substantial 2:49 lead over

Herr San-Remo, aka Erik Zabel, says he's ready for the race he's won four times since 1997. Zabel, 31, told La Gazzetta dello Sport he thinks he can win again despite winning just the opening stage at Tirreno-Adriatico. "I've already ridden 5000 kilometers this season and I feel strong. I felt strong in the climbs at Tirreno, and although I didn't win a stage [after the first day], I just lost to Bettini and Cipollini in sprints, but I was close." Zabel is one of 200 riders from 25 teams lining up for the 93rd Milan-San Remo. Zabel called Milan-San Remo the "the world’s of the

With just a few hours of rest after this morning’s opening time trial, riders tackling this year’s edition of the Sea Otter Classic moved down to Monterey as Mercury’s Gord Fraser and Katrina Berger (Cannondale-USA) won on the tough and grinding criterium course through the streets of the historic Cannery Row district. After two stages, the day ended with U.S. Postal’s David Zabriskie and Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson maintaining their hold on the overall lead. Depth of field Seeing Fraser take a sprint finish in a criterium has been not an unusual sight in American racing over the past few

The first stage of the Sea Otter Classic mountain bike stage race, a criterium raced on mountain bikes with slick tires, was won Thursday by a pair of Americans — current world champion Alison Dunlap, and veteran pro Steve Tilford. Marking the inaugural year of the Fatboy Crit at California’s Sea Otter, the course was identical to that used by the roadies — a fast half-mile lap around downtown Monterey’s Cannery Row. In the men’s 50-minute race, cross-country world champion Roland Green (Trek-Volkswagen) got things started early, jumping out front and controlling the pace. But after 15

Rabobank’s rider Erik Dekker won the 37th edition of Tirreno-Adriatico in San Benedetto Del Tronto Wednesday. Dekker triumphed overall after the 162km stage around San Benedetto on Italy's Adriatic coast which was won by Italian veteran Mario Cipollini. Cipollini, riding for the Acqua e Sapone team, pipped Germany's Erik Zabel and Lithuania's Saulius Ruskys in a sprint finish. Dekker had stamped his authority on the race by winning Sunday's time trial in Rieti, taking over the leader's red and yellow jersey from Italian Danilo Di Luca. Many had expected Di Luca to take it back but

Alessio’s Franco Pellizotti won Tuesday's sixth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, a 208km run from Rapagnano to Montegranaro. Pellizotti held off compatriots Rinaldo Nocentini and Paolo Bettini in an all-Italian podium after a sprint finish but Holland's Erik Dekker retains the leader's red and yellow jersey. It was a red-letter day for the mop-topped 24-year-old from Bibbione in the northern region of Friuli near the Slovenian border who punched the air as he crossed the line for his first professional win in his second year. He had impressed greatly in last year's Tour of Spain when he

Editor's Note:VeloNews’s European correspondent Andrew Hood has landed back at his home base in Spain, just in time for the kick-off of the World Cup season.Once he gets his feet on the ground, Hood will be heading to Milan, for this weekend's Milan-San Remo, the first of the major Spring Classics.Throughout the coming months, Hood will be sending back daily reports on what’s happening in the European peloton.Italy's Danilo Di Luca got some revenge a day after losingthe overall lead of the 37th Tirreno-Adriatico, winning the 150-km5th stage from Rieto to Torricella Sicura. The

Riding in her first season in the senior ranks, Britain’s Nicole Cooke (Deia-Pragma Colnago) has won the 12th Trofeo Citta' Di Rosignano, a major event on the women's road calendar in Italy. The 19-year-old Cooke, a winner four rainbow jerseys as a junior, dominated the race which had over one hundred starters, including some of the best of the women’s peloton. Cooke rode aggressively throughout the hilly course, but it was on the final climb that she truly showed her strength and forced the pace. Only one-time world champion Rasa Polikeviciute (H2O-Pasta Zara) could follow. The

Saeco’s Danilo Di Luca, riding for the Saeco team, won Monday's fifth stageof Tirreno-Adriatico, a 150km ride from Rieti to Torricella Sicura.Di Luca, who posted a winning time of 3:39:51, finished ahead of second-placed Erik Zabel (Telekom) and Italian rider Giuliano Figueras who came third.Dutch rider Erik Dekker retains the leader's yellow and red jersey.Di Luca, who won Saturday's onerous mountain climb in his native Abruzzoregion, was among a group of eight riders who made the first significantmove on the Passo delle Campanelle climb.But the 27-year-old and his fellow escapees were soon

Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov rode into Nice to secure his first Paris-Nice triumph Sunday on the seventh and final stage won by Australian national champion Robbie McEwen of Lotto. After 157km of racing around Nice, McEwen held off Belgian sprinter Tom Steels, who finished second, and fellow Australian Baden Cooke to win his second stage of the first major stage race of the season. Vinokurov, a 28-year-old from Kazakhstan who honed his trade in France, took the lead of the "Race to the Sun" on Thursday on the climb to the summit finish at Eze, and took care to maintain his

Chris Horner defended his yellow leader’s jersey in the final stage of the Redlands Classic five-day stage race Sunday, but not without a scare from mountain biker Roland Green. The dedicated soldiers of Horner’s Prime Alliance team were forced to shut down the world cross-country champion after he spent much of the day in the 88-mile Sunset Road Race as the leader on the road. "It feels great," said Horner who could finally celebrate his second overall win at the traditional season opener of major American road racing. "Our guys refused to give up, and that was the difference." After

This early in the season, it can be considered either a major upset or a sign of things to come. Either way, Charles Dionne and his 7UP team will take it. The Canadian scored his first professional win Saturday, one day after his 22nd birthday, at stage 4 of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, the Redlands Downtown Criterium. With the help of his teammates, Dionne derailed the Mercury train on a blustery day in Southern California, giving 7UP a huge win to set the tone for its 2002 campaign. The women’s race also saw a surprise victor, though not of the same shocker magnitude, when U.S. criterium

Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi continued his winning ways when he won the hilly fifth stage of Paris-Nice after holding on to his lead amid a bunch sprint into Cannes on Friday. Deutsche Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokurov of the Telekom team finished just behind but off the podium to keep hold of the leader's yellow and white jersey two days before Sunday's final stage. Vinokurov, a silver medallist at the Sydney Olympic Games, however lost a second to the man who's chasing him down - French veteran Laurent Jalabert (CSC), a two-time winner of the race now five seconds behind the Kazakh.

Italian Paolo Bettini, who rides for the Mapei team, won the 213km second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico Friday. Deutsche Telekom’s Erik Zabel, who won Thursday's opening stage, retains the lead of the overall standings after he finished second. On a largely calm day of racing - due mainly to the flat outline of the stage - the peloton did not split until the latter stages when Bettini and teammate Oscar Freire, the world road race champion, launched an attack. The two riders were soon reeled in but Bettini anticipated the timing of the peloton's return perfectly to hold on to his slender lead

Chris Horner, the man with the yellow jersey at the Redlands Classic road race in Southern California, has said it several times during the five-day stage race this week: "It’s bike racing, anything can happen." Horner was referring in large part to Friday’s stage, the gnarly race to the top of Oak Glen. It’s been proven here before that he’s right, anything really can happen. Who knew, though, that Horner’s point would apply not to his own fate — the Prime Alliance leader defended the jersey just fine by finishing right behind the amazing Roland Green at Oak Glen Friday — but to that of

Deutsche Telekom's Erik Zabel won the first stage of Italy’s Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race over 124km between Massa Lubrense and Sorrento on Thursday. The German won a sprint finish which was littered with falls to come in ahead of Italy's Giovanni Lombardi and Jan Svorada of the Czech Republic. Polish rider Piotr Wadeckj suffered potentially serious head injuries after a heavy fall in the sprint and was transferred by helicopter to hospital where tests revealed early signs of hemorrhaging.

Chris Horner and Genevieve Jeanson both tightened their grips on the yellow leaders’ jerseys of the Redlands Bicycle Classic with impressive rides during a wind-blasted circuit race in the neighborhood of Highlands, California, Thursday. Both race leaders had to chase down dangerous breaks to secure their leads before Friday’s key stage, the mountainous race to Oak Glen. With the help of his Prime Alliance teammates, Horner won his second consecutive stage, while Jeanson (Rona) finished second to Saturn’s Lyne Bessette, protecting the lead she built Wednesday when she stunned the women’s

Fassa Bortolo’s Fabio Baldato won the Tour of Etna in Catania, Italy, Tuesday, sprinting clear of the peloton to triumph in the closing 100 meters.

Lotto’s Aussie sprint ace Robbie McEwen won the second stage of Paris-Nice, edging out overall race leader Alessandro Petacchi in a charge to the line in Belleville, France, Tuesday. McEwen finished ahead of Petacchi, who retained the leader's overall jersey, and Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu following a hilly 170km stage from Moulins to Belleville. Andrea Tafi of Italy and Germany's Danilo Hondo finished fourth and fifth. "I'm doing a lot better this year than last when I fell three times and had a really disrupted season,” McEwen said after the finish. “It's my eighth victory of the season but

Fresh off of his three-stage win streak at the Tour of Murcia, Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi grabbed the overall lead at Paris-Nice after winning a field sprint at the end of stage one, a 176km ride from Blois to Saint-Amand-Montrond on Monday. Petacchi took the leader’s jersey from Hungary's Laszlo Bodrogi, who won Sunday's prologue. The 28-year-old took the honors in the 176km stage, a slight climb, after holding off the challenge of Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu and Australian Robbie McEwen. The stage win was Petacchi's fifth of the season following previous successes in the Tour of the

Saturn’s Petra Rossner won the women's World Cup race in Hamilton, New Zealand, Sunday, making it two from two for the German sprinter in this year’s series. As was the case at the World Cup even last week in Canberra, Austrai, the race came down to a field sprint and Rossner, edged out the same rider, Australian Rochelle Gilmore second. Hanka Kupfernagel, riding in an international composite team, was third. The first New Zealander was Rosalind Reekie-May, who finished 11th. The Saturn team worked hard throughout the 107 km race to protect Rossner and to have her in the right position

The U.S. Postal team’s Victor Hugo Pena won the Tour of Murcia as the five-stageSpanish stage race wrapped up with a time trial in the city of Murcia onSunday. Czech rider Rene Andrle (ONCE), won the 12.9km time trial. Full race report to follow Stage 5, Murcia TT1. Rene Andrle (Cze) 15:22.69;2. Rubens Bertogliari (Swi) at 0:02;3. Victor Hugo Pena (Col) at 0:09;4. Jan Hruska (Cze) at 0:105. Grisha Niermann (Ger), at 0:16;6. Thomas Liese (Ger) at 0:18;7. Levi Leipheimer (USA) at 0:19;8. Oscar Camenzind (Swi) same time;9. Javier Llorente Pascual (Spa) at 0:21;10. Claus Michael Moller (Dk) at

Mapei's Laszlo Bodrogi won the prologue of Paris-Nice in Issy-Les-Moulineaux day, edging out Frenchman Didier Rous by 0.28sec after the 5.32km run. Spaniard Javier Pascual placed third, 4sec adrift with Belgian Nico Mattan, who won the prologue last year, fifth. Last year's winner, Dario Frigo, coming off a six-month doping suspension just in time to compete, kept well in touch and came in only five seconds off the pace. Bodrogi, 25, who has spent several years in France honing his skills, is the first Hungarian to turn professional in the cycling world. He has come to the fore over the

Talk about winding up the 2002 Allen Group Sequoia Classic with a bang … and a clang, and a clatter. Mercury came up bruised and battered in the 49-mile Visalia Criterium March 10 after a pair of crashes in the final laps derailed its famous train, and 31-year-old Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) snatched a victory in a race that he hadn’t won since he was 19. Action on the six-corner, L-shaped 0.7-mile course is always fast and furious, and this year was no exception, with the field in single file, attacks on nearly every lap and nothing staying clear for long. With a field sprint in the

Angel Edo won the fourth stage of the Tour of Murcia here on Saturday, extending his overall lead after an easy winning a sprint finish following a grade one hill climb 20km from home. Edo, not renowned for his climbing, registered a time of 4hr 16min 32sec over the 173.6km course, his compatriot David Etxebarria came second and Swiss rider and former world champion Oscar Camenzind came third. Beaten on the line twice in earlier sprints Edo, who leads the overall standings by 23 seconds ahead of Sunday's time trial final stage, was delighted. "They must have heard my victory cry way up in

The race is on to find the winner of the cycling seasons first major stage race when the Paris-Nice (March 10-17) kicks off Sunday. Italian Dario Frigo, who would later go on to become embroiled in the nastier aspects of last year’s drug-tainted Giro d’Italia, won Paris-Nice last year coming in ahead of Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania and Belgian Peter Van Petegem. Frigo was sacked by his Fassa Bartolo team when he was leading the Giro last June while he was discovered to be in possession of a host of banned substances. Like Frigo, the Paris-Nice was almost doomed this year when race

After winning the second stage of the Tour de Murcia, Saeco’s Fabio Sacchi the 178.5km stage from Molina to Alguazas on Friday. As was the case yesterday, Sacchi benefited greatly from the help of his teammates, who controlled the early part of the stage and then sent Salvatore Commesso away in a three-rider break, Lampre and Phonak to chase. The three were caught with just three kilometers to go as Lampre tried to set up its ace sprinter, the Czech Jan Svorada for the finish. Sacchi spotted the lead-out, moved in on the Lampre man’s wheel and sprinted with 150m to go. "I was well

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